Page 89 of It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas
Saskia:
How about Monday at 1ish?
Mally:
Yep, that’s good for me. Is everything OK?
Saskia:
Everything’s fine, but would be good to chat about things. Have alovely weekend and see you next week :)
I re-examined the exchange again – our very first messages to each other.
Chat about what?This month was getting more perplexing by the day.
I checked my train app and found one that’d get me into London Bridge at 11.37 a.m. on Monday, which would give me just about enough time to negotiate the awkward Underground / Overground journey to Imperial Wharf without having to drag my suitcase – and myself – home, first. I’d never once stepped foot in their Chelsea Harbour apartment – I couldn’t work out if I was intrigued or terrified by the prospect. More than anything right now, I was monumentally shattered. I unmuted the film, resolving to move from this position as little as possible for the entire weekend.
Chapter 26
?Seeing someone in a new light
Three whole days later, I wasstillmonumentally exhausted.I suppose drinking your way through almost an advent’s worth ofminiature whiskys would do that. As would surviving on a diet of mincepies and stale Twiglets while stress-updating your LinkedIn profile tothe televised backdrop of fictional characters living their perfectChristmas movieland lives.
I hadn’t heard anything from Elle, despite my repeated attempts to get in touch with her. I had a few missed calls and voicemails of my own from unknown numbers – Tom trying to alleviate his guilt? – but I was in nowhere near the right frame of mind to listen to them right now. I needed to get through this weird lunch thing with Josh and Saskia, first.
After leaving my parents’ place as tidy as possible, I began my journey to Josh and Saskia’s riverside corner of the capital. I emerged from Imperial Wharf station fifteen minutes earlier than expected, so I decided to take shelter from the rain in the nearby Tesco Express. I might as well buy them a bottle of wine while I was in there, though there was no way it was going to cost me forty-five pounds.
As I negotiated the narrow aisles with my suitcase in search of the alcohol section, my stomach dropped. Because there was Saskia, browsing the cold meats in what could only be described as a very wary fashion. I watched with silent amusement for a few seconds as she picked up another packet, looked at its label, grimaced and put it back again. I was just turning around to make what I hoped would be an undetected exit when she spotted me.
‘Mally! Oh, thank God you’re here.’ We hugged awkwardly. She smelt of coconut, her shoulder-length Scandi-blonde hair still slightly damp from a recent shower – this morning had no doubt already involved all manner of yoga positions and liquified greens. ‘Tell me which one of these to buy for you, please, because Josh has been no help at all and I’m totally out of practice when it comes to buying this kind of… stuff.’
I think she means ‘meat’?
‘What, for lunch?’
‘Yeah, I’m so sorry, it was only this morning I remembered you weren’t vegan and that I should probably give you something, I dunno, deceased, ha ha, to chew on in case you didn’t like what I’d cooked. Josh told me not to bother and that you weren’t fussy and would eat whatever but… argh, listen to me prattling on. Anyway, feel free to choose anything at all.’
As she gestured towards the packets of processed meat, I noticed her hand was quivering. Surely the queen of mindfulness and breathwork wasn’t nervous about the prospect of little old me coming over? She definitely seemed on edge.
‘Honestly, Saskia, I’ll eat whatever you’ve made. I’m sure it’ll be delicious.’
I had a flashback to Mum’s baked polenta, and my stomach clenched in self-defence.
‘Ha, I’m being ridiculous aren’t I?’ Saskia said. ‘Sorry, it’s just that, well, inviting you over has been such a long time coming and now the day is here and I’m apparently screwing it up before it’s even properly begun, aren’t I?’
Fuck, she wasn’t just nervous, she was floundering. I’d forgotten I was almost ten years older than her. I needed to put her at ease.
‘Hey, I’ve got an idea. How about we skip the sliced dead animals and get a couple of bottles of something instead? I don’t know about you but I could definitely do with a drink after the last few days I’ve had.’
Saskia visibly relaxed as I took control of the mini shopping expedition. We selected a couple of mid-range ‘certified vegan’ bottles of wine and filled the silence with weather-related chitchat as I paid.
I bagged the bottles into a bag for life I had to fork out twenty pence for – Josh would no doubt have something to say about the reinforced plastic. The security guard bowed to Saskia as she left. She probably got this kind of worshipful attention wherever she went. I expected her to ignore him or smile politely. But, instead, she bowed right back. They high-fived as they rose in unison.
‘Ha, see ya, George! Give my love to Marie.’
Oh, right, she just knew him. Fair play.
‘Hey, we saw the news aboutThe Helix. I’m so sorry – what a shitty situation. How are you feeling about it all?’
