Chapter Twenty-Eight
Notting Hill
I steel myself as I walk into the kitchen for dinner. Mum is setting plates on the table, and I see Amelia is bringing over a bowl of salad. Dad has stepped inside, and from the smell of things, he’s been barbecuing chicken. Nicholas follows behind him, carrying a tray of steaks.
“Violet, you’re just in time,” Mum says cheerfully.
“Can I help?” I ask.
“Nope, we’ve got this.”
She transfers some roasted potatoes to a bowl and brings them to the table. Amelia takes her now-usual seat beside Nicholas, and I sit down across from my twin. I told them that I’m finally going to tell Mum and Dad tonight about my plans to go to Australia next week, and Nicholas said he’s ready to back me one hundred percent.
Now more than ever, I know I’m making the right choice to take this trip halfway around the world. After spending time with Noah in his home in Surrey, I know I love him. And as the woman who loves him, I want to support him.
That means going to Australia for this friendly.
Bella helped me with my plan, and Camden was a willing participant as well—he’ll assist on the day of the match. I booked all my travel, made arrangements with Maria and Amelia to cover me in the gift shop, and this is the last little piece I need to take care of before I leave next week.
Soon everyone is seated and talking, and I wait for a lull in the conversation to bring up the topic. “I have some news,” I say, pausing to take a sip of my water. “Noah reports back to training this week.”
“He’s going to Australia,” Dad says, smiling at me. “He told me he was excited about that tour.”
“Yes, he’s very excited about it. And so am I. So much so that I’ve made the decision to go to his friendly in Melbourne next week.”
I hold my breath as I look around the table. Nicholas and Amelia look as if this is a completely normal thing for me to say—after all, they got to absorb this information weeks ago.
“What?” Mum asks, putting down her knife and fork.
“I’m going to Australia.” I take a bite of steak to emphasise how casual I am about this conversation.
“Whoa, wait a minute,” Dad says, furrowing his brow. “Is Noah paying for you to go over there and watch this game?”
“No. He has no idea I’m coming. It’s a surprise,” I say, cutting another piece of meat.
“Violet! You barely know him!” Mum cries, aghast.
“This isn’t the kind of thing you surprise a man with,” Dad asserts. “It’s too much, too soon.”
“I disagree. If Amelia surprised me like this, I’d love it,” Nicholas says breezily. “If you had the opportunity to do something like this for me right now, you would do it, wouldn’t you, Peahen?”
She beams at him. “Of course I would.”
I love Nicholas and Amelia so much.
“Grand gestures are big right now,” I say.
“Grand gestures? What does that even mean?” Mum cries in exasperation.
“I want to show Noah how I feel about him in a big way. I can’t think of a bigger one than flying from London to Melbourne.”
“Violet. This is crazy,” she replies.
“It doesn’t matter if you think it’s crazy, this is what I’m going to do,” I say in a polite but firm tone.
“Always a butterfly,” Dad says, thrusting a forkful of salad into his mouth.
My heart lurches. “What?”
He grins at me. “Once again, you’re flittering. Dropping your responsibilities at the gift shop so you can chase after some footballer. I just worry about the amount of money you are spending to do this when you’ll probably be interested in someone else in a matter of weeks. That’s what you do, sweetheart.”
I feel sick. This what my dad sees when he looks at me.
A flake who has no real commitment to anything.
“I am not dropping my responsibilities at the gift shop,” I say, working very hard to keep the emotions out of my voice. “I didn’t leave anyone in the lurch. I have Maria and Amelia covering for me, and both of them are happy to do it.”
“Why even work there if you don’t intend to work?” Dad counters.
“Whoa,” Nicholas says, putting out his hand in a stop motion. “That’s not fair. Violet has worked there for years now, and this past month is the only time she’s asked people to cover multiple shifts for her. You’ve had more people quit than you’ve had Violet ask someone to work for her. That’s not flittering. I realise now that I was wrong to have ever called Violet a butterfly in the first place.” He looks at me, his dark brown eyes rimmed with regret. “I’m sorry, Vi.”
A lump rises in my throat. Nicholas has my back, and I love him so much for it. I’m about to thank him when my dad speaks first.
“Now you’re rewriting Violet’s behaviour,” he insists. “It’s not professional to bail on multiple shifts this month.”
“If I couldn’t have covered my shifts,” I say slowly, staring at my father, “I wouldn’t have made the arrangements to go. And I swapped shifts with Maria, so I merely am working different days. That’s not bailing.”
Mum looks aghast still. “But Violet, you can’t travel so far around the world like this!”
“Yes, I can,” I say. “I’m not a child. And I don’t need your permission to go. I’m telling you because I’m not going to be home, and I don’t want you to worry. I’ll check in with you the entire time I’m in Melbourne. But I’m leaving after my shift on Monday to spend the night in London, and then I fly out on Tuesday morning.”
“Did you notice what Violet said? She’s working her shift on Monday. She’s not even taking the day off before she leaves the country,” Nicholas points out.
My parents decide they don’t like his logic, so they ignore it.
“I don’t like the fact you are spending thousands of pounds on an impromptu trip. I don’t like that you are flying all the way to Australia just for some man,” Dad says.
I look sharply at him. “You’re wrong about that. Noah is not ‘some man,’ he’s my boyfriend. I want to support him.”
“And you can’t do that when he’s playing here?” Dad challenges.
I refuse to get into the reasons why I need to be in Australia. Those are between myself and Noah, and I don’t need to lay them out for my parents to examine or poke holes through.
“I know this is the right thing to do,” I say calmly. “The arrangements are made, and I’m going.”
Mum sighs and picks up her cutlery. “This is the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.”
Dad keeps his gaze on me, and I go ahead and resume eating. “Violet. We love you. That is why we’re concerned. We’re used to your butterfly ways, doing things and then dropping them, but Noah is not. I hope this plan to fly off to Melbourne and surprise him doesn’t blow up in your face.”
I have to force the bite of potatoes I have down my throat, hurt by the words my dad is saying. Noah is not something I’m going to cast aside. And the only reason I cast things aside is because of fear. Fear I’m going to screw them up. Disappoint people if they don’t go as planned.
I shoved Noah away for the same reason in the beginning.
I almost lost him because of it.
I’m done being that butterfly. I’m now the butterfly that Noah sees in me.
And this butterfly is taking off for Melbourne on Tuesday morning.
* * *
“I’m so glad you could come over for dinner,” Aimee says, bustling around her tiny kitchen in Notting Hill. “You may remember, I make a damn good stir fry, if I do say so myself.”
I smile from my seat in the living room. Aimee is living out her dream of living in Notting Hill—which was inspired by a rom-com she read when she was sixteen—and has a very small flat. There’s really not enough room for both of us to be in the kitchen when she’s working, so I’ve taken a seat on her grey sofa, which is filled with cushions in all different colours and patterns. A rickety old coffee table is in front of me, piled high with fashion and beauty magazines. A worn antique rug covers the hardwood floor. There are bookshelves crammed full of books and bright floral art prints covering most of the walls, hung in a crowded, haphazard fashion. It’s a vibrant, fun look—a room that screams Aimee.
“What about this flat is Jules?” I ask, referring to our old uni friend who is her flatmate.
Aimee flashes me a huge smile. “Her room. I already had the place when I was looking for a flatmate.”
Right on cue, I hear a key turn in the lock. The door opens, and Jules appears in the doorway.
I rise from the sofa. Jules’s brown hair is longer now, tumbling to her shoulders, and she’s dressed in a white blouse, wide-legged navy trousers, and taupe heels. I know from her Connectivity page that she works for a pharmaceutical company in London doing marketing.
“Jules!” I say, smiling at her. “It’s been too long!”
She smiles back at me and returns my hug as I embrace her. “Hello, Violet,” she says, stepping back from me. “What a surprise to see you after all this time!”
“I know,” I say. “I was thrilled to hear from Aimee, and it’s like we picked up where we left off at St. Andrews. Except for doing years of catch-up, that is.”
“Do you want stir-fry?” Aimee calls out from the kitchen. “There’s plenty for all of us. We can do like we did at uni. Have dinner and listen to Violet talk for hours.”
I look at Aimee, who is grinning mischievously at me.
“Ha-ha,” I say. I turn back to Jules. “She’s exaggerating.”
She smiles. “You always were a master at conversation.”
Okay, that’s a polite way of saying I talk a lot.
Jules looks over at Aimee. “I’m going to decompress a bit in my room before eating.” She turns back to me. “It’s really good seeing you again, Violet.”
“You too, Jules.”
Then she retreats to her room. As soon as I hear the door shut, I look back at Aimee and smile. “I’m afraid she had flashbacks to me at uni,” I quip.
“No, she always needs alone time when she gets home,” Aimee says. Then she smiles. “And maybe she’s not quite ready for the full Violet experience again.”
I laugh at that. I never hold it against people who can’t handle my talking. I’m not everyone’s cup of tea, and I accepted that a long time ago.
“But I know someone who is,” Aimee continues. “Noah Darby.”
I find myself grinning at the mention of his name.
“I wish I could see Noah’s face when he sees you in the stands,” Aimee says as she begins chopping something on the cutting board. “He’s going to be stunned!”
I smile as I think of this. Noah will be stunned, there’s no doubt about it. But that’s the whole point of this trip. To do something he would never expect anyone to do for him.
“I’m so excited. I only wish I could spend more time with him in Australia. But Camden said they have the night off after the match so I’m hopeful we can spend that evening together before I have to fly back the next morning.”
Camden and I have been texting back and forth the past few days, and he’s thrilled I’m doing this for his best friend. We’ve made a plan that when they go out onto the pitch for warm-ups, I’m going to be there, and Camden is going to point me out to Noah.
Goosebumps sweep over my skin when I think of the reaction he’s going to have. Shock, for one, but then knowing I’m there for him? That I was so excited to watch him play, I flew all the way to Australia for the privilege to do so?
Then he’ll see I’m wearing his shirt.
It’s going to be magic.
“Noah still doesn’t suspect anything is up, right?” Aimee asks.
“No. It helped that we didn’t see each other this weekend because he started training and I worked. Although he did want to drive up and back to get a cup of coffee with me, but I held him off.”
“What? You could have had coffee and quick hot sex and you let him stay in Surrey?” she teases. “What’s wrong with you, Vi?”
I laugh. “Trust me, it was hard. But I want him focused on training right now, not me. We’ll have to do the coffee and quickie sex things until I can get a job in London, but I only hope that once I get my art events approved and done, I can work on making London a reality.”
“When are you going to bring those up with your parents?” Aimee asks, adding some things to her wok, which instantly sizzles upon contact.
“I’m waiting until after Australia. But I will when I get back. I know Nicholas will support me, too, which helps.”
“He’s such a good brother. I wish I had a Nicholas. And a Noah.”
“You’ll find a man like them,” I assure her. “And then you’ll have lots of incredible, next-level sex.”
“Violet. It’s been a long time since I’ve had even mediocre sex. Maybe I should consider a hook-up with a hot guy to knock the rust off. Might be a solid plan.”
“Knock the rust off? Aimee!”
She laughs. “There might be cobwebs down there.”
I shriek with laughter. “Gross!”
“It is, isn’t it?”
We both laugh.
Soon she dishes up plates of fragrant chicken stir fry and opens a bottle of wine, and we both tuck in to eat in the living room. Our conversation is full of lots of laughs, and I’m crying at some points, but it also has some serious moments, too. Like Aimee confessing how hard it has been to build a life in London.
“It’s not like uni at all, where it’s so easy to make friends,” she says, pausing to take a sip of her white wine. “It’s been a struggle for me. To date. To make friends. I felt so at ease to approach people at St. Andrews because we were all in the same boat. All students. Most of us looking to make friends. And then I find myself in London—another foreign country—in a big city, in a job with nobody my own age, and I find it hard to meet people. In a city of millions of people. It’s crazy.”
“No, I know exactly what you mean,” I say. “When I went back to Dorset, I had some of my old friends living there. So in that aspect it was easier, but I was never as close to any of them as I was with you. When I connected with Bella at Christian and Clementine’s wedding, I was so excited. Because she seemed like someone who could become a close friend. Then Amelia texts me with a business proposal, and now we’re friends, too. But the biggest surprise has been reconnecting with you, Aimes. I’m so happy we’re hanging out again. This time, we’re not losing touch with each other. Never ever again. You’re stuck with me.”
To my surprise, Aimee almost looks teary. “I’m so happy about this, Vi. I’ve missed you so much. The idea of you moving to London permanently is the best news. The absolute best. Oh, and you’re stuck with me too.”
“I’m going to hug you hard as soon as we’ve finished eating,” I promise.
“I was just thinking the same thing.” She smiles.
“Dating is just as hard,” she says, picking up her fork. “I just want to find someone lovely and genuine and funny. Smart. That doesn’t sound like a high bar to clear, but it is.”
“It is, but it’s not impossible. Noah is proof of that.”
Aimee grins. “Noah is a unicorn.”
I laugh. “No. He might be Daddy Darby, but he’s not a unicorn.”
We both giggle at that.
I decide to bring up Luke. “You know, we have a really lovely aviary expert and falconer at Wintersmith Hall who is single,” I say. “And Australian.”
“I love you for trying to be my personal matchmaker, but I’d prefer dating someone a little closer to my postcode.”
I nod in agreement. “Okay. I’ll take him off the prospect list.”
The evening goes by far too quickly, and before long, I’m getting an Uber to go home. Aimee and I hug, and I tell her that as soon as I am back in Dorset, we’re making plans for her to come for a visit, which she eagerly agrees to do.
Once I’m in the back seat of the Uber, and the driver is headed back to the family home in Kensington, I notice how bright my mood is. I’m blessed to have old friends and new ones in my life. I know Aimee is going to be my best friend, and Bella and Amelia very close ones. I finally feel brave enough to take the necessary steps to have my own career in art.
And tomorrow morning, I’m boarding a plane bound for Australia, all to support the man I love.
A shiver of excitement sweeps through me, and I can’t stop smiling. I know what this gesture will mean to Noah. I picture the range of emotions on his face when he first spots me in the stands, and I grow emotional just thinking about it.
Hopefully he will know, even without me saying the words, how much he means to me.
And just how much I love him.