Page 11 of Shout Out To My Ex

‘Well, yes, and Milan and London and New York, obvs?—’

‘Obvs. Elle, we really need to go. The staff meeting starts in twenty minutes.’

‘We can be alittlelate,’ I say, resuming the search. I pop open the lid on the final crate. ‘We didn’t get home till after midnight.’

‘Yes, but it’s not a good look if the rest of the team arrives before we do. We’re the last to leave and the first to arrive. That’s the way we’ve al?—’

‘Can’t you just text Zara and ask her to open up? I want to find the list so I can show the team,’ I say, rifling through the final crate. ‘For motivation,’ I add for good measure.

Cass sighs, then leans against the doorframe and takes out her phone.

‘Why now?’ she asks. ‘You’ve never mentioned it before.’

‘I dreamt about it last night. I was accepting an award and I talked about it in my speech.’

‘Which award?’

‘A completely made-up, I-was-dreaming award.’

I close my eyes, trying to picture myself writing the list. A memory comes to me and I start searching again, this time with something specific in mind.

‘Yes!’

At the bottom of the third crate, I find four study planners – one from each year of uni. I take out the planner from first year and start thumbing through the pages. Cassie leaves her post in the doorway and stands behind me, looking over my shoulder.

‘Is it in there?’ she asks.

‘I think so. I have a vague recollection of— Oh my god, look!’ There on the page for September 25th is my list.

‘You wanted to design a range for Topshop? That was your pie-in-the-sky goal?’

‘Hey! At eighteen, Topshop was aspirational – don’t be so snobby. Primark, remember!’

‘Again, that was for charity,’ she retorts.

I ignore her and read through the list.

Branded range for Topshop

Special collection in collaboration with a shoe designer/accessories designer

Own fragrance

Red carpet look for Taylor Swift

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