Page 59 of Out of Control

“Yeah, right.” Adele turned back to the mirror and began brushing mascara onto her lashes.

“Where are you off to?” She’d been so full of Meeko she hadn’t properly registered what Adele had said about going out.

“I’m following your orders. I joined a couple of online neighbourhood groups and asked about stuff for new mums and babies. There’s a group that meets at St Michael’s church hall at two p.m. I believe my instructions from you are to infiltrate and then brainwash them into marching on the hotel to demand post-natal yoga sessions.”

“You are a star, Adele. I’ll give you a lift, it’s already almost two.”

“Thanks. And don’t worry, I won’t let lover boy down. For what it’s worth, I don’t think you and Dad were a good fit anyway.”

Fiona couldn’t meet the young woman’s eyes. Adele’s perspicacity made her feel like a teenager caught with an illicit boyfriend in her bedroom — even though it was unlikely she and Meeko would get that far.

“Now I’m seeing you properly in action,” Adele continued, “rather than merely reacting to the awkward position that me and Dad bamboozled you into, it’s obvious that you’re too independent and go-getting for him. Dad’s a staid traditionalist. I thought Mum was as well, but now I’m not sure.”

After dropping her at the hall, Fiona drove to the hotel and enquired about Adele joining the club, specifically questioning the availability of post-natal yoga classes. The woman on the desk had the joining form out in a split second but became less positive when pushed on the specialised yoga classes. Instead, she talked broadly about how the club was constantly innovating, and perhaps Fiona’s friend could put in a formal request once she was a member.

“Oh, she’ll definitely be doing that,” Fiona said with a smile as she swiped her debit card for Adele’s membership.

An hour later, Fiona helped Adele fasten Natalie’s seat back into the car. “Well?” she asked. “Were there any takers for Meeko’s yoga?”

“Well and truly smitten. There is no other verdict.”

“What?”

“You! You are well and truly smitten with Meeko and his future. Or, dare I say it more specifically, withyour jointfuture. You haven’t asked me how I enjoyed it or did Natalie behave.”

“Sorry.” Damn! She gave Adele a tight hug by way of apology. She was falling back into her old habit of obsessing over one train of thought and forgetting that other people had their own concerns too. It came from living alone and not needing to consider anyone else. It had made her good at her job — she could follow projects through without going off at tangents — but she’d often been criticised for excluding the opinions of others, thus missing beneficial ideas and failing to give the members of her team room to grow. “How was it for you? Tell me all!”

“Weird but reassuring. Full-on baby talk, but it made me feel better that I’m not the only one struggling and feeling a failure and sometimes wanting to go and dump Natalie on the doorstep of the hospital and demand they take her back.”

“Tell me you don’t really feel that way!” Still standing beside the open passenger door, Fiona held both of Adele’s hands and squeezed them. She had never wanted this girl to cross her threshold; two months ago, she was happy for her to be a nameless blur somewhere in Joe’s invisible ‘other’ life. Now, what she felt for her could only be described as love and respect. An infinite amount of respect for a girl who had found herself accidentally pregnant by a boyfriend who didn’t want to know, with a mother who’d scarpered without a word to ‘find herself’, and a father who’d been forced to move in with his reluctant girlfriend. Yet Adele had pulled herself together, matured at the speed of light and was becoming confident in her new maternal role. “Please say you don’t really want to abandon Natalie?” Fiona had tried not to love the baby. Then circumstances had given her no option but to get involved. Still she’d tried to hold back because she knew having Adele under her roof could only be temporary and any attachment that grew would eventually be torn apart. Temporary for all the right reasons: Adele needed to be independent, Fiona needed her own space, and maybe,subconsciously, she’d always felt her relationship with Joe wouldn’t last. However, despite her best efforts, Fiona did love the baby and the thought of her being dumped somewhere was abhorrent.

“Don’t look so shocked, Fiona. Yes, I have felt that way several times. Just like all the other new mums in there — and a couple of them areover forty— but none of us would ever do it. And I especially wouldn’t do it now I know I’m not the only one feeling that way — they’ve put me in the WhatsApp group and we can sound off in there whenever we need to.”

Over forty— Adele said it like it was a terminal disease. If Fiona hadn’t wasted her forties still laser focused on keeping any male emotional attachment at bay, she might have sat in a church hall and felt the support of other women around her. Women who, through that shared experience, might have become lifelong friends and still be supporting each other into their sixties. Suddenly she was aware of Adele speaking to her again.

“Calling planet Fiona! Calling planet Fiona!”

“What?”

“You’re hurting my wrists. Please can we get in the car and go home? It’s cold standing here.”

Adele’s words flicked Fiona back to reality. She immediately loosened her hands, stamped her feet and pulled her jacket closer across her body, trying to appear nonchalant instead of embarrassed.

Once they were on the main road, Adele picked up the conversation again. “Eventually I brought up the subject of post-natal yoga. Don’t forget it was my first time in a room of strangers and a brand-new environment — I couldn’t do it straight away.”

“No, of course not. What did they say?”

“They all patted their flab and moaned about the lack of time to fit in an exercise class and the lack of money for gym fees. And, well, how difficult making it to the hotel leisure club would be for various reasons.”

It was a blow. But Fiona had weathered greater storms at work. All it would take was another brain dump.

“Then I had an idea!” There was excitement in Adele’s voice now and, in response, Fiona could feel her heart lifting with anticipation. “If they can’t get to the yoga, why doesn’t Meeko bring the yoga to them. He wouldn’t have the security of a regular payment by the hotel — but that security has turned out to be worthless anyway — and we could only pay him according to how many people turned up. The church lets the group use the room for free and each time you attend you put a pound in the kitty to cover tea and biscuits, and any excess buys toys for the older babies to play with. It was agreed that if a yoga class was included, people would be happy to pay five pounds for the session. Meeko would get four pounds per person and attendance can be anywhere between ten and fifteen people.”

Fiona tried to compute the practicalities. “That sounds like an outcome with possibilities. And the potential to grow.”

“You sound like an estate agent describing a property ‘in need of modernisation’.”

“Let’s get Meeko round tomorrow to discuss. This evening’s job is taking down the tree — I’ve just realised it’s Epiphany today.”

---