Chapter 3
3
C ally popped a straw in the top of a blackcurrant carton and tried not to feel guilty about the impact on the environment. She admonished herself and made a mental note to try and find something on YouTube to do with the cartons as she hustled along on her way to meet Eloise for a coffee. She’d spent the morning working on the chatbot, sorting out problems with customers, then had worked for a couple of hours in the back of the chemist helping with a huge order. Now, she was on the way to Lovely Bay library to have a little mooch and check out the resources section to see what courses were available locally. Not that she had any clue what course she wanted to do, but she wanted to put the feelers out and dip into furthering the education that had been on hold for a long time.
As she got to Lovely Town Hall, she took in the beautiful old building and looked left in the direction of the library. A very unusual circular-shaped building that, according to local lore, had been built by an architect back in the day who had totally ripped off the design of the Albert Hall. Lovely Bay’s version was on a much smaller scale but just as beautiful. Cally had been to the library many, many times. In the days before her grandma had died, when she had been on a serious budget, she’d used the library as a free little resource to keep her mind active and allow the pages of a borrowed book to whisk her away from the realities of her carer role and the grind of her day-to-day life. She’d borrowed all sorts from the library’s shelves, including the Regency dramas her grandma had adored so much. With a book bag full of library books, she would go and sit by her grandma’s bedside and read every evening until her grandma had dropped off to sleep. In the end, when controlling the pain had been tricky, the narration of the Regency dramas had helped enormously. Cally tutted as she walked along and thought about her grandma, the old, familiar feeling of sadness still there right in the centre of her stomach. At least now she wasn’t sad and guilty, too.
As she approached the library and took in its lovely old architecture, she realised just how far she’d come since the year before. Then she had visited the library at least biweekly, often more, with not just a heavy bag full of books but also a very heavy heart. Now, that same heart was far from heavy. In fact, she felt as if she and it had a new lease of life. Meeting Logan and moving to Lovely Bay had taken her heavy heart and lightened it and then some. Now, she floated along freely, almost as if she was up in the sky, very near to the clouds. No longer underneath, holding the darn thing up.
Arriving at the library, she stood by the door for a minute, read through a notice detailing new opening times, and scanned a poster informing about an author talk by a local writer. Once inside, she glanced at the long lines of books stretching away from her. In her element, she strolled slowly down the first aisle, peered at the staff picks lined up along the top shelf, and read the little cards alongside them, looking for something that might take her fancy.
After a bit of mooching and with an armful of books, she went upstairs to the non-fiction department and the area for courses and qualifications with the intention of mooching through and looking for a course that would somehow lead to a better job. There was no way she wanted to continue with the chatbot long-term. It wasn’t what she wanted to do with her working life - would anyone love doing that job out of choice? Once she’d sorted a mortgage and her finances, she would train to do something more rewarding. As she got to the top of the old staircase in the centre of the building, she felt a bit of a sense of anticipation about the opportunity to change her life for the better. The upper floor of the library had always been her favourite. She’d loved just browsing it and imagining what she’d be able to do when she no longer had as many caring duties. In the library, she’d always felt as if surrounded by other people’s knowledge and words she’d been somehow sheltered for a bit from the responsibilities of her life. Reaching the top of the stairs, she paused to take in the scene: beautiful old tall windows that let in light, circular walls lined with old timber bookshelves filled with an array of textbooks and reference materials. Several large tables in the centre of the room equipped with computers and reading lamps. A few students here and there, scattered around, surrounded by books and engrossed in their work. She loved the sound, too; a calm quiet with nothing much going on at all. Lots of decompressing.
Making her way to the section dedicated to courses and qualifications, she scanned the shelves, her fingers brushing the spines of books on everything from business management to creative writing. She then sat down at one of the computer stations and browsed a platform offering various online courses run by the council for free. She scanned through the options, her eyes widening at the sheer variety available. Digital marketing, graphic design, project management, hospitality. Cally clicked on a digital marketing course and began reading the description. It promised to teach her the fundamentals of SEO, whatever that was, social media marketing, and content creation.
After spending an hour down a well of all things courses and not really having found anything that had taken her fancy at all, she gathered her things and headed back downstairs. She checked out a marketing book and a couple of thrillers and left the library, her mind, at least, buzzing with possibilities. As she stepped out into the daylight, the sun shone brightly, and she felt a bit of a sense of purpose about herself. Not that long before, her future, her housing situation, and her whole life had been teetering on the edge of disaster. Everything then had seemed so uncertain and up in the air; now, it and she were on a different trajectory altogether. Cally de Pfeffer was, at last, in control. Oh, how good did that feel?
H alf an hour or so later, Cally walked past the window of the coffee shop where she was meeting Eloise with her bag heavy with books and her head full of ideas. She was not sure about what she might do in the future once she was settled into a flat of her own, but she felt as if there was promise ahead of her. Promise and the future at last felt nice. Life was continuing to go on its way without her having to perpetually hold up the sky. She’d have some of that every day of the week.
Just as she got close to the coffee shop door, she could see Eloise hustling along, coming the other way.
‘Hiya! How are you?’ Eloise asked as she kissed Cally on the cheek.
‘Hi. I’m great! Really good.’
‘I’ll say! You look amazing.’
‘Do I? Thanks. Nice of you to notice. Ha.’
‘Yes, you do. It must be the glow of romance.’ Eloise joked.
Cally nodded and contemplated for a second. ‘It’s just that I’m happy, actually.’
‘Aww, I love that. It’s so nice to see.’
‘Thanks,’ Cally said as she walked into the café behind Eloise. The aroma of freshly brewed coffee and a hum of conversation enveloped them as sunlight streamed through large windows. After ordering two coffees and two Chelsea buns, they made their way to a small table in the corner.
Eloise plopped down into a chair. ‘So, spill the beans, Cal. What's got you so happy and glowing? And don't try to tell me it's not Logan because I know that look.’
Cally laughed and blushed. 'I don’t know. You’re right, I suppose. Being with him makes everything feel brighter, you know? Like anything is possible. The future is bright.'
Eloise nodded. ‘I'm so happy for you, truly. You deserve all the happiness in the world and then some.’
‘Thanks.’
‘You just seem, I don’t know, full and buzzy. Not flat.’
Cally laughed. ‘Well, yeah, I don’t have time to be flat and I no longer spend most of my waking hours worrying about other people. It’s so liberating.’
‘Yeah, three jobs make one busy.’
‘I've just been looking at courses. I feel like I'm on a new trajectory, like there's this whole world of possibilities opening up before me. And I want to explore that, to see where it might take me. That sounds a bit airy-fairy. Do you know what I mean, though? I never had the option for anything before. No time, no money and not a lot of inclination.’
Eloise's face lit up. ‘Sounds good, and yeah, I totally get what you mean. You’ve been waiting around helping everyone out for too long and now’s your chance to open your wings a bit.’
Cally nodded. ‘One thing I know: I can’t stay on that chatbot much longer. It’s doing my head in.’
‘I’m not surprised.’
Cally paused for a bit as two coffees and two Chelsea buns were put down in front of them. She looked at Eloise and sighed. ‘I have no idea what course to do.’
Eloise took a sip of her coffee and shrugged. ‘I guess the universe will tell you which one…’
‘Yeah, I’ll keep looking until I see something I fancy. Do you reckon it’s a good idea to do a course?’
Eloise nodded emphatically. ‘Yup, if you’re getting that calling. Life's too short not to do things.’
‘Exactly what I thought when I was in the library. I've spent so long playing it safe, settling for what fitted in around caring.’
Eloise nodded again. ‘Tell me about it. And you don’t need to do that anymore. Woohoo. How good is that?’
No words would ever be able to describe how good it felt for Cally not to have responsibilities. ‘I can’t even compute it sometimes. Sometimes I think the bubble will burst.’
Eloise smiled warmly. ‘Anyway, how’s it going with Logan?’
‘Yeah, fine, better than fine. Really good.’
‘You’ve got over the two different backgrounds thing?’ Eloise asked, raising an eyebrow.
Cally rolled her eyes. ‘Ha. No, not really. It’s still there. I’m just choosing not to focus on it. It keeps coming up for me, but I have to suck it up. It is what it is.’
‘Right. Good. Honestly, you need to get over that, though. You’ve found your person. You have that one-in-a-million connection,’ Eloise said earnestly.
‘Do we?’ Cally contemplated for a second. ‘Maybe that’s it. Sometimes, I feel like there's still so much I don't know about him, though.’
Eloise frowned, tilting her head. ‘Really? First I’ve heard of it. What? Like what?’
‘I don’t know. Like his past. I actually don’t know a huge amount about that,’ Cally admitted with a frown.
Eloise cocked her head. ‘What? Haven’t you talked about it?’
Cally shook her head. ‘Not really, no. I mean, I know bits and pieces, little snippets here and there. But whenever I try to dig deeper, to ask about his childhood or his family, he sort of changes the subject or gives me these vague, noncommittal answers that don't really tell me anything at all.’
‘You’ve not mentioned it before,’ Eloise said, her forehead furrowed in concern. ‘Where has this suddenly come from out of the blue?’
‘I don’t know, really. It came to me the other day and then I couldn’t stop thinking about it. You know how once you notice something, it looks so obvious?’
‘What are you saying?’ Eloise asked, leaning forward and narrowing her eyes.
‘No idea. It's not that I don't trust him. I just suddenly realised I don’t know much about the nitty-gritty stuff. You know?’
Eloise shook her head. ‘Right. I suppose everyone has their own pace in sharing stuff.’
Cally nodded slowly. ‘Suppose so. It’s not a biggie. I just realised it the other day. Or maybe he’s not got as much baggage as me, ha!’
‘I reckon just focus on the present. The rest will come in time. I'm sure of it,’ Eloise added.
‘Ever the voice of reason.’
‘One of my many skills.’ Eloise chuckled.
‘Indeed. Right done with that?’ Cally said, pointing to Eloise’s coffee cup.
‘Yep.’ Eloise pushed the cup into the middle of the table.
‘Right then, enough of this heavy talk. I say we go and find ourselves a proper Lovely Bay ice cream.’
‘Ooh, just what I fancy. I need a chocolate flake in mine.’
‘I can sort that. Then we can sit down by the pier and people-watch, like the nosy old biddies we are at heart,’ Cally suggested.
Eloise laughed. ‘Lead the way, Cal,’ she said, standing up and grabbing her bag. ‘You sure know how to show someone a good time.’