I hadn’t thought of that. ‘Oh yeah.’
‘And you’ve found something you’re interested in. You chose it. And you’re good at it.’ She pauses. ‘I don’t want to be a lawyer.’
‘You don’t?’
She shakes her head. ‘I hated the work experience at my dad’s office.’
‘Have you told your parents?’
She nods.
‘What did they say?’
‘It helped that I was in hospital, and they felt sorry for me. They said there was plenty of time to figure it out. Mum said I could drop tennis, and once I get Grade 8, I can scale back on the piano.’
‘Wow, they really rolled over.’
‘It sounds like it, but my cousin says her parents made her drop stuff at sixteen so she could focus on her studies. That was probably their plan all along.’
‘At least they listened. They just want you to do well. They love you.’
‘Yeah.’ She gives me a weak smile. ‘Anyway. Enough about me. What have you been up to?’
I tell her everything she’s missed since we last spoke. I tell her about Beatland, the interviews, losing the internship and Mum getting it back again, not being allowed to do the archive anymore, and the otosclerosis leaflet.
We talk for hours; we order pizza and when I have to get back to my grandparents’ house, she invites me to stay over.
We make a pact to boycott the Leavers’ Ball and go somewhere fancy instead – just the two of us.
We giggle like our old selves.
But we are not our old selves.
Chapter 82
July 2016
Emily
I’m hot off the Eurostar and I’m exhausted and hungry, but I need to see Magda.
I stop off at the florist around the corner from her flat. When I press the buzzer, her son answers.
‘Is Magda home? It’s Emily.’
There’s a grunt at the end of the line, and I’m unsure whether it’s negative or positive. I’m deciding whether to buzz again when the door hums and clicks open.
When I reach her floor, she’s waiting at her door. Her expression is hard to read. I don’t know how badly I’ve offended her.
‘Come in,’ she says, when I hand her the flowers.
‘I won’t stay long.’
But the vodka comes out and I do stay long – far too long.
She has a way of eliciting far more from me than I was planning on sharing. But it’s less intrusive now. I’ve got used to her and I’m even starting to enjoy it. It’s like therapy.
Chapter 83