Chapter Twenty-Five
Four months later
‘So what time is Ken picking us up?’ said Jonno, tearing down the side of a bag of crisps and putting it on the pub table between them.
Lucy rolled her eyes. ‘Please don’t call him Ken.’
‘Why not?’
‘Because if he’s Ken, that makes me Barbie.’
‘Yeah, but not all Barbies are dumb blondes,’ said Jonno, looking very pleased with himself. ‘You’re one of the smart ones, smashing the patriarchy.’
‘Oh God, you’ve seen the trailer for the new Barbie movie, haven’t you?’
Jonno nodded. ‘It’s out in a couple of weeks, Marcia’s got tickets. It’s all part of her mission to improve me.’
‘How’s that going?’
‘I’ve finished all the Caitlin Morans,’ he said gloomily. ‘Now we’re on to the feminist movies. She’s adamant that a father of two girls should be able to see the world from their point of view.’
‘Shitting hell,’ laughed Lucy, eyeing the crisps but not wanting cheese and onion breath. ‘You might want to buckle in for a bumpy ride.’
‘Anyway, you’ve changed the subject. We’re off to Glastonbury today, but where’s Ken taking you tomorrow? Paris? Rome? Stockholm?’
Lucy scowled and gave him the finger. ‘Croydon. Kristoff is taking me to see my parents.’
‘Shit, that’s a downgrade. Is this their first encounter with Jet Set Ken?’
‘No,’ said Lucy patiently. ‘He’s met them once before, as you well know. My mum got all breathless and my dad dribbled over his car on the driveway.’
‘What a beautiful image. Which one of his wankpanzers was it?’
‘Actually, it was the Aston Martin,’ said Lucy, trying not to blush at the indecency of it all. ‘But I believe he’s picking us up in the Range Rover today. More practical for Somerset roads.’
‘Jesus,’ muttered Jonno. He drained his pint and shook his head. ‘I still can’t believe you’re dating fucking Kristoff, of all people.’
Lucy laughed. ‘It’s been over three months, Jonno. You can’t STILL be in denial.’
Jonno shrugged. ‘I miss you on Titan and that’s definitely his fault.’
‘Bullshit. I moved off Titan before he and I started going out. You’re just reinventing history because it gives you something to moan about.’
‘Writing about booze, though. How tedious for you.’ In March, LUNA had won the Shine Spirits account, which was owned by a collective of A-list Hollywood actors who were making a fortune selling premium gin and vodka in highly collectable glittery bottles.
Lucy had been promoted to the job of creative lead on the account, which meant she oversaw a team of LUNA designers and copywriters in London, Paris and New York.
She still had her flat in Bristol and worked out of the local office occasionally, but now most of her time was spent travelling.
‘It’s fun. I get to use words like artisanal and botanicals and hang out with Ryan Gosling.’
‘Who’s going to be a better Ken than Kristoff, I might add. Remind me how you even landed that job?’
‘Through sheer talent and hard work,’ said Lucy, pulling a snarky face.
She squirmed a little, because even though she’d put everything into the interview process and had already proved she could do the job, she also knew that Sasha had originally floated her name and got her on the shortlist. A huge favour repaid with a gentle nudge, and the rest was up to Lucy.
‘Yeah, well. You’re hardly ever here these days – if you’re not swanking around the Met Gala, you’re doing birthday holidays in Lake Como with Ken, drinking Nespresso with George Clooney.’
‘I’ve never met George Clooney, don’t exaggerate. And Kristoff will be here soon, so be nice.’
‘I’m always nice. He’s my fucking client, remember? As opposed to a client you’re fucking.’
‘Oh, get over it,’ sighed Lucy. ‘You’re just jealous – five months ago you were in a bar in Switzerland calling him K-Dog.’
‘Shit, was that really five months ago?’
‘Yeah.’ Lucy’s thoughts drifted to Nate, as they invariably did about three hundred times a day. It was hard not to think about him, because he was everywhere. TV, radio, online . . . the whole country seemed to be madly in love with Nate Lambert.
‘I wish I’d got stuck on that mountain too,’ grumbled Jonno. ‘You end up shagging a multimillionaire, and Nate Lambert ends up playing Glastonbury.’
‘It’s been quite a year for both of us,’ said Lucy casually.
‘We should definitely try to watch his set.’ She knew Nate was playing the Woodsies stage at six, and was hoping that Kristoff and Jonno would be pissed enough that she could sneak off and watch from a distance.
Even though she and Nate hadn’t spoken since their freezing encounter at Lee and Zoe’s wedding in January, it was nice to think that they were going to be in the same field, for a little while at least. The past few months had been a journey of self-rediscovery, and she felt ready for it.
‘Is today the last of your birthday presents from Ken, or are there more to come?’ asked Jonno, taking a swig of his pint.
‘One more to come,’ said Lucy. ‘He’s got Centre Court tickets for Wimbledon in a couple of weeks.’
‘Fucksake,’ hissed Jonno. ‘A dirty weekend in Lake Como, VIP Glasto tickets, and then Wimbledon. Thirty-three isn’t even a milestone birthday. What’s he going to do when you hit forty?’
‘Steady on,’ said Lucy quickly. ‘It’s not like I’m going to marry him.’
It was a throwaway comment, but Jonno paused, giving her an intense look that made her realise how well they knew each other. ‘Interesting,’ he said. ‘I thought this whole dating thing was about finding the one?’
‘It was,’ said Lucy, suddenly feeling a bit warm.
‘But that’s not Kristoff?’ Lucy noted that the references to Ken were gone, because now this was a serious conversation and Jonno’s fun was over.
‘No,’ said Lucy, a nervous, jittery feeling in her stomach. ‘I’m not sure it is.’
‘Shit,’ said Jonno, sucking through his teeth. ‘What’s he done?’
‘Nothing,’ said Lucy. ‘I’m just not sure it’s, you know, a forever thing.’
‘OK . . . Does Kristoff know that?’
Lucy shook her head, trying to look breezy. ‘We haven’t discussed it. We’re still in the “living in the moment” stage of our relationship.’ She used her fingers to form quotes around the words, hoping she didn’t sound too ungrateful.
‘Right. And that’s not what you want for the long term.’ It was a statement, not a question. Isn’t that what it all comes down to, in the end? thought Lucy. Whether Kristoff is what I want, for the long term?
The door to the pub opened with a blast of street noise and warm air.
Kristoff appeared, looking entirely delicious in a linen shirt, cargo shorts and white trainers – the perfect casual millionaire festival outfit.
The forecast for today was warm and sunny, so she’d gone for a miniskirt/vest combo that showed off her hastily fake-tanned legs, paired with white leather trainers and various beads and bangles.
Kristoff had suggested her leopard print all-in-one playsuit, which clearly demonstrated his lack of knowledge about toilets at festivals.
‘Hey, beautiful,’ he said, dropping a kiss on Lucy’s lips. He smelled musky and expensive, like someone had just lit a Diptyque candle in the Brunel Arms.
‘Hi, gorgeous,’ smirked Jonno. ‘I thought we agreed not to call each other the bedroom names while Lucy is around?’
‘You’re cute,’ said Kristoff, resting his hands on Lucy’s shoulders and clearly not planning to sit down anytime soon.
‘You want a drink?’ said Jonno. ‘The Limping Bishop is nice.’
‘We need to go,’ said Kristoff. ‘Andy is on double yellows, and Sasha’s waiting in the car.’
‘Sasha’s coming?’ asked Lucy, alarm bells ringing furiously.
‘Yeah,’ said Kristoff. ‘She asked if she could join us, so I got her a ticket.’
‘And you can magic up an extra ticket to Glastonbury, just like that?’ asked Jonno, clearly impressed. Presumably if Kristoff hadn’t been able to deliver, Nate would have. By any standards, Sasha was pretty well connected.
‘Titan’s a sponsor,’ shrugged Kristoff. ‘We’re handing out a hundred thousand free condoms this weekend, probably saving the UK from a wave of chlamydia and unwanted pregnancies. I have a number of VIP wristbands I can give to my guests.’
‘We are honoured to make the list,’ said Jonno, grabbing his jacket.
‘Let’s go.’ Kristoff turned to open the door, as Jonno gave Lucy a significant look that clearly communicated we’re not done with this conversation.
Lucy found Kristoff’s black Range Rover parked right outside, the rear door being held open by Andy, his driver.
She climbed into the back, where Sasha was waiting with a nervous smile.
They saw more of each other than they used to, now that Lucy was spending more time in the London office.
But whilst Sasha was always available to give advice or support with any issues Lucy was encountering on Shine, there was a wary distance between them that was presumably about Nate.
Lucy had been too busy to worry about it, but the knowledge that Sasha was coming today definitely took the edge off her excitement.
‘Hey,’ said Sasha stiffly.
‘Hi,’ said Lucy. Sasha shuffled into the middle so Jonno could climb into the other side, which at least meant Lucy wasn’t trapped between them.
‘Are we ready?’ said Kristoff, climbing into the front. ‘I’ve got a couple of calls to take on the way, but Andy will have us there in no time. Let’s go.’
They pulled into traffic, Lucy relaxing into the buttery leather seats as they navigated through Bristol.
Within minutes, Kristoff had plugged in his AirPods to take a call from his New York team, which mostly involved him listening and making occasional ‘mmm’ noises so they knew he was still there.
Jonno and Sasha both kept their voices low, discussing a meeting Sasha had had with a potential new client yesterday morning.