Chapter 9
CARRIE
What with work, Carrie and Nessa hadn’t been able to arrange meeting up until this afternoon, several days after Nessa’s excited message.
They were going to go through the responses to the advert tonight.
Carrie didn’t have a shift at the club on Wednesdays.
However, she called in on the way to seeing Nessa.
She’d messaged Jez, having meant to speak to him this week, but it had been too busy whilst they were both working.
Jez looked up as she came in and passed her a steaming coffee.
‘Black straight-up, right?’ He smiled, emphasising the lines around his eyes, deep and wide, reflecting years of staying up late amongst smokers who’d been allowed indoors until the noughties.
Jez didn’t smoke himself. His vice – Carrie called it that – was still styling himself on George Michael, with the side-swept, textured layered hair he somehow carried off in his mid-sixties, the suits with white tees, the leather black bomber jacket and jeans.
Wham! music played quietly in the background. Off-duty, Jez always indulged himself.
He beckoned for her to sit at the bar. ‘So what’s the problem, Caroline?’
‘Ooh, formal, a proper meeting then, Jeremy,’ she replied and returned his smile. Knots formed inside. Deep breaths.
‘A problem customer? We’ve got rats or mould? You need time off? Sock it to me, kid.’
Carrie took a swig of her coffee and went to speak, but how to say it?
‘Oh.’ Jez put down his mug. ‘Looks serious. Everything all right, Carrie?’
‘I’ve come to hand in my notice.’ She passed him a letter.
Jez’s eyebrows shot upwards. ‘But… jeez… this is a surprise. Are you sure? You know I’m retiring next year; that means there’ll be a juggling of staff positions. Since you’ve been doing a brilliant job with promotions, there may be the opportunity to—’
‘No. Thanks, Jez, I’m going abroad. I need to get away,’ she said quietly. ‘I’m sorry if that’s a disappointment. You’ve been a brilliant boss – especially this last year. As Mum used to say – you’re a sound bloke.’
Jez’s cheeks flushed. ‘And Mel was a sound lass. So what’s up, chuck? You’ve not been yourself these last few months. I’d noticed even before Ariana and Rae spoke to me but I didn’t like to pry.’
Carrie put her elbows on the counter. She could tell Jez the truth.
He’d really been there for her, when Mum died.
Then there was that time she’d sat up with him one night, offering support after he’d been scammed out of a grand.
Jez had become something of the father figure she’d never had.
But now, Carrie’s gaze met his caring face, and she couldn’t bring herself to tell him about the fake account.
She just said there’d been a misunderstanding, that she didn’t blame her mates, but it seemed those friendships were over, and now Reddish, the UK, had too many bad memories.
Jez poured her another coffee, grabbed a bar of chocolate from under the bar, snapped it in two and they ate in silence.
Then he brought up the calendar on his phone.
‘Friday twelfth June suit you, as your final day?’
‘Thank you, that would be great. But… there’s something else.
’ She told him about actually putting her life up for sale, and asked him about giving a trial to the person whose offer she would accept.
‘Nessa and I will vet the applications as best we can. For starters they’ve got to be good with cats.
’ She gave a small smile. ‘I know it’s a lot to ask. ’
Jez gave a low whistle. ‘Well, well, well… selling your life. That’s a new one on me.
’ He raised his hands in the air. ‘What the hell! Okay, let’s do it.
One month’s trial it is.’ He reached across and patted her arm.
‘I’m going to miss you, Carrie. I was relying on you to plan my retirement party next year.
But I get it. You see… when I was roughly your age… ’
‘Were you ever that young?’ she asked, keen to lighten the mood.
‘Yes, missy, believe it or not! Younger in fact. When I was twenty-one, I ran away abroad too, with no real plans… Not that I’m saying you’re running away. I’m sure you’ve got everything sorted for when you arrive and—’
‘I don’t even know where I’m going yet.’ She sighed. ‘But I will leave the weekend after I finish here. It’s good to have an idea of the date now.’ She popped the last bit of chocolate into her mouth. ‘Tell me more about what happened with you.’
‘I upped and left without giving notice. Didn’t get my last payslip. Didn’t care.’
‘Why?’
‘It became too much, the nine till five, the early morning commute, everyone like zombies on the train. Working my apprenticeship at the bank with my whole career mapped out ahead of me. I was so chuffed when I first got money in my pocket. I felt so grown up paying Mum and Dad rent. I stuck it out for a couple of years because my parents were so proud and would tell their friends I’d soon be a bank manager.
When I chucked it all in, I couldn’t face telling my boss or my family. ’
‘Where did you go? How did you decide?’
He grinned. ‘Shut my eyes and put my finger on a map in an atlas.’
‘No!’
‘Yes! I’m very proud of that most impulsive and exhilarating moment of my life. Out of all the unusual, off-grid places in the world I could have gone – and believe me, I was ready to go anywhere, as long as it was away from the UK – my finger landed on Ibiza. The rest is history!’
‘No wonder you ended up in the clubbing business… So what did your parents think?’
‘They were cross, yes, but also worried.’
Carrie squirmed. A bit like Ariana and Rae. But then they also reckoned her successful account was screwed up.
‘Mum and Dad just wanted me to be happy… I miss them.’ Jez paused.
‘I called them from the ferry. Sent them a postcard when I got there. Let them know when I got a job and a place to stay. They flew over a month later, even came to the nightclub where I worked. I made cocktails and will never forget the looks on their faces when they saw the swimming pool in the middle of the dance floor.’ Gently, he pushed her arm.
‘Enough about me. Wait, let’s get my laptop.
’ He disappeared, came back and turned it on.
He got up a map of the world. ‘Go on then… what you waiting for?’
Carrie gasped. ‘You seriously expect me to do what you did?’
‘Why not? Or are you chicken?’
‘What if I land in the middle of the jungle, or in Antarctica?’
‘Okay, I’ll let you have two goes and you have to take the option you prefer.’
‘You aren’t joking?’
‘Come on, Fletcher, you’re one of the strongest people I know – as proven by the way you handle troublemakers. Mel was the same.’
It was true, her mum had hated bad manners and had told Carrie to turf out people at the club who displayed loutish behaviour, quick smart.
Carrie closed her eyes and rubbed her hands together.
She pointed a finger and pressed it against the screen.
Jez chuckled as Carrie studied where it had landed.
‘I’m not going to North Korea.’
‘Better hope this is a better shot then,’ he said.
Carrie closed her eyes again and touched the screen once more. Jez didn’t laugh, and a shiver ran down her spine as she looked at the screen and the next chapter of her life. Wham! ordered Jez to turn the music up and, clapping his hands together, in time to the music, he grinned at her.
‘Suitably, this song is called “A Ray of Sunshine”.’
* * *
‘So don’t keep me in suspense, where are you going?’ asked Nessa as they sat in the pub near The Niterie, a couple of hours later, in front of two lagers and fish finger sandwiches.
‘It’s a Greek island called Paros, in the middle of nowhere… well, in the central Aegean Sea, to be exact, in between Turkey and Greece.’
‘Sounds great!’
‘Far better than the alternative,’ said Carrie with a smile. ‘Jez and I googled it… So it’s a busy tourist spot, with white cubes for houses and lots of cats and churches. There’s a castle, it’s brilliant for water sports, and orange and pomegranate trees are dotted around.’
Nessa sighed, fiddling with one of her ginger plaits. ‘Tempted to join you. Mind you, my white complexion wouldn’t thank me. I’d come back with a hundred more freckles.’
‘Liar. You love your Manchester life.’
Nessa grinned. ‘True. Call me a sucker for muddy canals, not sapphire oceans, for high-rise tower blocks as grey as a winter sky, but with bars on top, and pretty trees in all their two-dimensional glory, painted onto walls as street art.’
Carrie’s chest twinged. The affection in Nessa’s voice made her realise that, despite her problems, Manchester would always have a special place in her own heart.
‘Let’s go through those emails and find out who’s going to buy my Mancunian life and set my wings free. Or at least give me three thousand pounds – that’s a good amount for Greece. The flights won’t eat it up and will leave me enough money for accommodation until I decide what I’m doing.’
Nessa pushed away her plate and took out her phone. ‘Brace yourself.’
Carrie raised an eyebrow.
‘The first is from John. He’s happy to pay extra if you include your old tights and underwear.’
‘Ewww!’ Carrie pretended to be sick before laughing.
‘Number two is from Mick who’s only offering two thousand pounds as he doesn’t like cats. “They’re favoured by witches for a reason.”’
‘Delete,’ said Carrie.
‘Third is from Sally who wants to move in with her two new boyfriends, Ben and Jerry. And she’s not talking ice cream.’
Carrie grinned. ‘Tempted, but new relationships can’t be taken as reliable. God, this is the most fun I’ve had in a while.’
‘Fourthly… Meg. She plays in a band; will there be room for her drum kit?’
‘I couldn’t do that to next door.’ Carrie sighed. ‘Please tell me there’s hope with the final one. I have a life in Greece waiting for me. A Greek god of a husband, a job I love, guacamole on tap and—’
‘Guac is from Mexico.’
‘Don’t spoil the fantasy.’
‘Okay, the fifth…’ With a flourish, Nessa clicked the last email open. Eyes twinkling, she slid her phone over to Carrie.
Hello. My name’s Eliza Woods and I’d very much, most definitely, like to buy your life.
I need a new challenge. I love cats and used to own a very special one called Socks.
He’d catch bumblebees. Silly, I suppose, but I loved him for his quirks.
I also love dancing, even if sometimes I’m on my own in the living room, practising my moves.
I’ve got experience working in a factory and retail.
I visited Reddish. It looks like a great place to live – and that’s despite the local sweet delicacy being fly cemeteries!
I badly need to get away from the situation I’m in at the moment, as perhaps you do.
To show how serious I am, I’m willing to pay five thousand pounds to guarantee I’m the winning candidate.
I’d give the extra gladly and hope it helps.
I understand that the job or friend introduction may not work out.
But that’s okay. I’ll have a new place to call home, to feel safe, a bit of peace, and that was more than I could have dreamt of before I saw your ad. It’s priceless.
Whatever you decide, good luck with your next chapter.
Best,
Eliza
Carrie looked at Nessa. Nessa looked at Carrie. They didn’t need words to express that they’d found their buyer.