39. Melanie
Joni and Janis stared out of the window, nudging and pushing each other to get a better view.
‘Is she definitely coming?’ they asked, for the millionth time.
‘Yes, and please don’t go nuts when you see her. Be cool,’ Melanie told them.
‘ Be cool .’ The twins cracked up. ‘Mum’s telling us to be cool, like, seriously!’
Melanie grinned. ‘Okay, well, be calm then.’ She loved seeing her daughters so excited and happy.
‘You’ll scare her away with all your hype,’ Katie warned them.
‘You’re just as excited as we are.’ Joni nudged her aunt playfully.
‘I so am! The girls in the salon are dead jealous!’
‘Even Theo’s impressed you’re signing Xina,’ Amanda said, smiling from behind her new desk in the small area they were grandly naming Reception. ‘He’s fuming that he’s missing it, but he was so excited to go to his friend’s eighteenth birthday party in London.’
‘Is that the guy whose dad is a lord or something?’ Joni asked.
‘He’s a duke.’
‘Theo told us his parents had rented out a whole nightclub and flown in DJ Mastermix to play.’
‘They have.’
‘Oh, one of your la-di-da London mates.’ Katie grinned.
Amanda laughed. ‘Not so la-di-da. More full of crap and not my friend at all. It just took me a while to figure that out.’
Katie nodded. ‘You have us now instead, doesn’t she, Melanie?’
Amanda smiled. ‘Yes, I do.’
Joni held out her phone. ‘Look, Theo sent us a photo of Juniper. She is soooooo cute.’
Melanie glared at Joni. She had warned the girls not to go on about the new baby in front of Amanda. Theo was smitten, but that didn’t make things any easier.
‘Joni!’ Janis hissed.
Joni turned bright red. ‘Sorry, Auntie Amanda, I wasn’t thinking … It’s probably weird … Sorry.’
Amanda smiled. ‘It’s okay. Juniper is a very cute baby and she is part of Theo and Ross’s life now. I just need a bit longer to get used to it.’
‘Of course you do, and you’ve been incredible.’ Katie patted her shoulder.
She was right, Melanie thought. Amanda had been incredible.
She had handled the whole baby thing with such grace.
She was nice about Juniper from a polite distance and did not engage with any of Ross’s drama with Ruby, of which there seemed to be a lot.
She had drawn her boundaries and refused to let anyone cross them.
Melanie was so impressed with her. And Amanda had turned out to be a bloody brilliant assistant.
She seemed to be able to do everything and grasp all of the minutiae of running a literary agency with relative ease.
She was also firm with the persistent authors who turned up on the agency doorstep demanding to speak to Melanie ‘right now’.
Amanda saw them off quick-smart, but without insulting them or making them angry. She was a true diplomat.
‘Oh, my God!’ Joni screeched. ‘She’s here!’
The twins and Katie jumped up and down as Xina climbed out of a black SUV and rushed up to the front door.
Melanie gave the twins a final warning look as Amanda went to let Xina in.
She walked into the room wearing an oversized tracksuit.
‘ Hiiiiiiiii! ’ The twins bounced up and down in front of her.
‘Oh, hey, you must be Joni and Janis,’ Xina said. Melanie gave her a thumbs-up from behind the twins for remembering their names.
The twins stared adoringly at her. ‘Oh, my God, you know our names?’
‘Sure, your mum talks about you all the time.’
Melanie liked Xina more and more every time she opened her perfectly glossed lips.
‘She does?’ The twins sounded shocked.
‘Yeah, she’s really proud of you guys.’
‘She is?’ The twins turned to their mother in astonishment.
‘Yes, I am.’
‘And you must be well proud of her too. She’s like a rock-star book agent,’ Xina added.
Now Melanie wanted to marry her.
‘Uhm, yeah, like, sure,’ Joni said.
‘Totally. She works so hard for all her authors,’ Janis added.
‘She’s got me an unreal offer and that’s what every author wants,’ Xina said. ‘She’s my hero.’
‘Would you like tea, coffee, water?’ Amanda asked.
‘No, thanks.’
‘I’m Katie, big fan.’ Katie waved at her.
‘Hey, love your hair.’
‘Thanks, I decided to dye it pink for fun. New hair, new me.’
‘You rock it.’ Xina turned to Melanie. ‘Okay, can we sign so I can get home? I have tons of recording to do and I’m not great outside my house, but I’m getting better.
’ To the twins, Xina said, ‘Your mum is making me go outside for ten minutes every day because she says I have to do publicity in person to promote the book, which terrifies me. But it is kind of working. Like, I didn’t have a panic attack before coming here. I was chill.’
Melanie beamed at her. ‘Well done, that’s great news. We might up it to twenty minutes now.’
Xina groaned. ‘Really?’
‘Yes.’
‘Okay, I’ll try. She’s a bit of a slave driver, isn’t she?’ Xina said to the twins.
‘Try having her for a mum!’ They laughed.
‘Can we get a selfie with you?’ Janis asked.
‘Sure. Let me sign first and then we can take a few.’
Xina signed her contract, then took selfies with the twins. She blew kisses to them all as she left, out of the door and back to the safety of her car.
‘ Wow! ’ The twins looked at the selfies on their phones.
Janis turned to her mother. ‘Best day ever, Mum.’
‘That was amazing,’ Joni added.
‘Your mum’s brilliant,’ Amanda told them.
‘Awesome,’ Katie gushed, throwing her arm around Melanie’s shoulders.
‘She is kind of cool sometimes.’ Janis grinned.
Melanie smiled at Janis and Joni, thanking God for Xina.
Getting to know Xina and being able to talk about her had given her and the girls some common ground.
They were still well able to throw a nasty barb Melanie’s way, but Xina had been a great distraction and something for them to focus on when they came to have dinner in her apartment or when she saw them at home with Frank.
Melanie wasn’t delusional: she knew they’d always blame her for the marriage break-up, but she could live with that if they could all get on.
If Melanie was honest, she absolutely loved her new life.
The new agency office had been open officially for just a week, but it was perfect.
She had bought a house near her family, then set about dividing it into an office downstairs and an apartment upstairs.
It was small but ideal. For the first few weeks, she and Amanda had worked in the sitting room upstairs, surrounded by boxes, trying to ignore the sound of workmen knocking down walls to create the office space below.
It had been challenging, but so exciting too.
Every time Melanie looked at the discreet brass plaque at the front door – Melanie Miller, literary agent – it made her heart sing. She had done it. She had opened her own agency. Her dream was realized, and now she got to live it.
Frank arrived with a potted plant. He hugged her warmly. ‘I was going to drop this in last week, but the twins said the paint was still wet. Well done, you, the place looks amazing.’
‘Thanks, Frank.’
‘It’s a lovely gift,’ Amanda said.
‘I bet Mum would have preferred champagne,’ Joni suggested.
‘No, I love it.’ Melanie smiled at her ex-husband.
‘It’s a Swiss cheese plant. They’re known to be good for creative inspiration.’
‘That is so thoughtful, thank you.’
‘ Awww , Dad is the best,’ Joni and Janis gushed.
Yes, he was the best, but not for her. Melanie loved her single life. She had no interest in dating – not yet anyway. All she wanted to do was work and build up her list of gifted authors. She wanted to win all the awards. No goal was too high.
‘Bloody hell, Frank, that yoga class yesterday was tough.’ Amanda rubbed her thighs. ‘I never knew my body could twist into those shapes.’
‘I was the same last week. He makes it look easy, but it isn’t,’ Katie said.
Frank laughed. ‘You’re both getting really good, and thanks for spreading the word. I’m turning people away now.’
Melanie was proud of Frank. He was a new man, content and passionate about what he was doing. She realized how lost he’d been in the agency. He had obviously been completely unfulfilled for years. It was lovely to see him so happy.
‘I’m doing a class at the girls’ school next week. They want to introduce yoga to the timetable.’
‘You’re not to be embarrassing,’ Joni warned him.
‘No long speeches or quotes. Stick to the yoga,’ Janis added.
Frank chuckled. ‘Can I not even give a few inspirational quotes?’
‘NO!’ the twins said.
They all laughed.
Katie looked at her watch. ‘Right, time for my class with Amanda.’
‘Can we help?’ the twins asked.
‘Help your thick aunt to read?’
‘Katie!’ Amanda snapped.
‘Sorry, you’re right. I’m not thick, I’m dyslexic.’
‘And you’re doing so well.’
‘Thanks to you.’
‘Please can we help?’ the twins asked again.
Katie shrugged. ‘Okay, if you want to.’
‘We do. You’re always so nice to us, doing our hair, that we want to give something back.’ They headed into the small conference room with their two aunts and shut the door behind them.
‘We did well,’ Frank said quietly.
‘I’m so proud of them right now,’ Melanie replied. ‘It’s great to see them thinking of someone else and wanting to help.’
‘They seem to be adapting well to the change.’
‘I think so, but you’d know better. You see them more.’
‘I talk to them a lot about it and I really think they’re fine. You were right. Once they realized their lives weren’t going to change all that much, they accepted the new normal.’
‘How are you finding it?’
‘I’m adjusting, too. I miss you, but I’m busy and I’m getting so much out of teaching yoga. It’s good for the body but also the mind. You should come to one of my lessons.’ He smiled at her.
Melanie laughed. ‘Come on, Frank, you know I’d hate it and I’d only annoy you.’
‘Maybe,’ Frank said, ‘but you’re always welcome. Right, I have to get ready for the evening class. See you tomorrow.’
She walked her ex-husband to the door and watched him cycle away.
She was so grateful to have such a reliable co-parent and friend.
She looked at her plaque next to the door and smiled.
She did not have a single regret. Her decision had been the right one and she woke up, every day, grateful for having had the balls to make it.
She wasn’t cut out to be a mother. She knew her relationship with the twins would improve as they became adults.
It felt like a shocking thing to admit to not liking motherhood but, really, she had been lying to herself by not confronting it.
The sheer relief of being honest about what she wanted felt incredible.
Living here alone and working here was bliss.
She was finally able to be true to herself, and to her potential.
The silence when the office was closed, her bookshelves, answering only to herself, she absolutely loved it.
She was happy and content. This was the life she had truly always wanted.