Page 90 of It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas
We emerged into the cold, the riverside wind whipping rain across our faces. I had to shout to make myself heard.
‘Pff, it’s been handled so,sobadly that it almost doesn’t feel real.’
‘Yeah, just before Christmas, too. So horrid of them. I know a couple of people who work there.’
Huh, Josh had never said anything about that. Although I suspected that was likely because he didn’t want to concede he knew other people who worked for the so-called ‘mainstream media’.
‘Oh really? I had no idea. Who?’
‘Jessie Barker and Inga Andersen from the brand partnerships team – do you know them?’
Of course I did. They were tall and young and shiny, just like Saskia.
‘I know of them, but don’t hang out with them or anything. Have you heard from them since it all kicked off?’
‘Not directly – I saw some Instagram posts of theirs when it all came out. Jessie’s in a right state as she’s here from Australia on a sponsored visa and is trying to find out whether she can even stay in the country.’
‘God, that’s awful.’
We arrived at the entranceway of one of the identikit apartment blocks. The rhomboid-shaped water feature at the heart of the clinical communal garden appeared to be out of order. Saskia presented a key card to the door and it clicked open. We rode the lift up a few floors in silence, exchanging awkward smiles. Her nerves were starting to rub off on me. I swore she took a deep breath as she opened the door to what appeared to be a modest-looking apartment.
I counted four internal doors off the compact, hexagonal central hallway, which itself was a heaving mass of shoes, coats and exercise gear. A double mattress was propped up against the only wall without a door. I spotted the TheVeganSleepCo logo on its edge – it must’ve been their freebie one. It looked floppy and sad. Saskia kicked her shoes off into the tumbling tower of footwear.
‘Josh! We’re here! Look who I bumped into!’
Josh poked his head out of the kitchen doorway – which was even smaller than my own back in Hither Green. He seemed taken aback to see us together but managed to rearrange his face into a more neutral expression. ‘Hello. Wine?’
‘Fuck yes,’ Saskia replied, giving him a peck on the cheek.
He raised an eyebrow in amusement as I thrust the bag of wine in his direction. He said nothing about the bag for life, and saluted his obedience before putting them in the fridge, unscrewing a bottle that was already chilled and pouring its entire contents between three large glasses.
‘Shall I take my shoes off or…?’
Josh and Saskia exchanged a glance and Saskia shook her head quickly. Josh looked back towards me. ‘It’s totally up to you.’
I looked down at their socks and took my shoes off, placing them next to my suitcase by the front door. Josh handed me my glass of wine and I followed them through into the living room, which had a giant gap in the wall to open the small kitchen up into a more sociable space.
‘Ooh, that’s just crying out for a game of hatch catch!’ I said, without thinking.
Josh’s eyebrows lowered as he took a sip from his glass.
Saskia looked to each of us, confused. ‘Hatch catch?’
‘Oh, it’s just this silly game we used to play when we were younger. Though our hatch gap was a little smaller than this one, eh, Josh?’
‘Ha, yeah.’ He took out his phone from his pocket and started scrolling absentmindedly. Saskia nudged his knee with hers, and Josh looked up, re-pocketing his phone.
‘So, er, sorry about the job stuff and everything.’
‘Thanks, Josh. All a bit of a shock.’
As was discovering that you were in Scarnbrook.
Josh cleared his throat. ‘Yeah, I bet. So, umm, if you need any help with money or anything, just let me know, okay?’
Blimey, Josh was offering to help me? This was a first.
‘Oh! Thanks, that’s really generous of you. I mean, hopefully it won’t come to that. I’ve spent the whole weekend getting my CV up to date, but it’s a shit time of year to be job-hunting.’
