Page 44 of The One That I Want

Saffron stares at me as if to say, ‘See? I’m irresistible.’

‘Evie always wanted a cat,’ says Olivia, ‘but Mummy said no so often…’

‘I eventually stopped asking,’ says Evie, finishing her sister’s sentence. They’re best friends as well as sisters and sometimes, it’s like they share one brain.

‘So,’ says Tristan, who has endured a good fifteen minutes of three women talking outfits (mine) and hairstyles (Olivia’s latest) and shoes (Evie’s), ‘you had something you wanted to discuss with us?’

Evie sits up and crosses her legs, then reaches for her glass of wine. ‘You go, Liv,’ she says to Olivia.

‘Which topic?’ asks Olivia.

‘Surrendered pets, obvs.Notthe other thing,’ she replies, an edge to her voice.

I know right away from how quickly she shut her sister down that the ‘other thing’ is Tyler. Hopefully, we can circle back to him and his alleged wrongdoings later, just us girls.

Olivia regards her sister for a moment, her lips pursed, before turning to me and Tristan with a smile.

‘We have a proposal. It’s about the money you set aside from Grandad’s inheritance.’

She’s referring to the sum that Tristan earmarked for a charitable endeavour. I look over and meet his eye, and I can tell he’s thrumming with excitement.

‘Actually,’ he says to them, ‘I’m glad you’ve brought that up. I did write a cheque for the Avian Wildlife Trust of the Hebrides,’ he adds, referring to his grandfather’s favourite charity, ‘but I’ve yet to put proper thought into anything else. What did you have in mind?’

Now the sisters exchange a look, with Evie sitting up even straighter and nodding encouragingly at Olivia.

‘Well, as you probably know,’ says Olivia, ‘many families who adopted pets during the pandemic are now finding it difficult to keep them.’

‘They’ve had to go back into work and school and the pets aren’t coping being alone all day. And many people are finding pet ownership too expensive to sustain,’ says Evie.

‘This means shelters across Greater London – and the UK – are overrun with surrendered cats and dogs,’ Olivia continues.

‘Oh, are you thinking of opening a shelter?’ asks Tristan.

‘Well, at first we were, yes,’ answers Olivia.

‘But then we realised there’s something else we can do, something that will have greater impact,’ says Evie.

‘Precisely. What we’re proposing is to create a sort of scholarship programme, but for pet owners in need. If they’re struggling financially to keep their pet, they can apply for a bursary from our not-for-profit,’ Olivia explains.

‘And, if their pet is suffering from separation anxiety while they’re out of the house, they can ask for a subsidy for pet daycare or even a pet carer to come into the home,’ adds Evie.

I look at Tristan, who’s listening intently and beaming with pride.

Olivia reaches into her handbag and takes out a bound document. ‘We’ve done our research, and we’ve put together this proposal.’ She hands it to Tristan, who starts flipping through it, his eyes perusing each page.

‘It’s in two stages,’ she says, ‘with the first focusing on Greater London. And if we’re successful, we can consider expanding to the rest of the UK.’

Tristan lingers on one page, his lips moving slightly as he reads.

‘Read it later, Tris,’ says Evie. ‘It’s just research and figures and projections.’ She sighs and rolls her eyes as if she’s a teenager andnotthe twenty-something co-founder of London’s next not-for-profit.

‘This looks fantastic,’ he says, finally tearing his eyes from the proposal. He looks at them in turn. ‘Very impressive. I’ll look it over and we’ll set up a meeting this coming week to talk it through, all right?’

‘Thanks, Tristan,’ says Olivia with a modest smile.

‘Iknewyou’d like it,’ says Evie, slightly smug. ‘We totally smashed it.’

‘Evie!’ scolds Olivia playfully.

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