Page 97 of It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas
‘Yeah, but you know what Scarnbrook’s like. Everyone talks to everyone. I swear the whole village knew I was back before I’d even stepped foot in that shitty Airbnb. Hang on, did you book a dodgy place on purpose?’
‘Umm, I may have done…’
‘Elle!’ Despite everything, I couldn’t help but admire how bloody good she was at her job. After all, the depressing nature of the accommodation had inspired the final angle for my piece.
Elle looked at the floor and wrapped a strand of her dark hair around her forefinger, just like she used to do at school. ‘You uncovered a good story.’
‘Even though it won’t get published now.’
I grabbed a tissue from the loo roll holder and blew my nose, sitting on the closed toilet seat. Elle sat opposite me on the edge of the bath, and I handed her her own wad of bog roll.
‘Yeah, about that…’ Elle looked sheepish, yet another out-of-character facial expression for her.
‘Oh God, what now? You haven’t pitched it toThe Sun, have you?’
‘No, nothing like that. But… it may very well end up being published byThe Helixnext December.’
‘How? I don’t understand. We’ll both be working elsewhere by then, surely?’
Elle climbed into the empty bathtub, which in usual circumstances would’ve been a strange thing to do but right now felt weirdly appropriate. She lay back with her eyes closed and replied in a whisper. ‘I’m moving to New York, Mally. To work forThe Helixthere, instead. I’ve known about it for a while.’
‘Sorry, what?’
‘Back in the summer, I got approached by the US team. The new owner had heard good stuff about me. Made me an offer I couldn’t refuse. They’re paying for all three of us to relocate. We’ve found the cutest kindergarten for Frannie, and we’ve signed a lease on an amazing apartment in Brooklyn, too.’
‘That’s… amazing. Congratulations. But why didn’t you tell me this sooner?’
‘I literally couldn’t. They made me sign an NDA, because part of the reason why they wanted me to move over there was because of what was about to happen with the London office.’
‘Wait, youknewThe Helixwas shutting down in the UK?’
‘Yeah, I’m so sorry.’
‘Shit.’
I clambered into the bath with her, forcing Elle to tuck her long legs under her chin to create space.
‘Shit!’ I repeated. ‘You’re really leaving?’
‘Yeah, next month.’
My mind jumped back to what Rory had said to me after I’d stayed over at the start of the month – he’d seemed to be probing me about something unspoken. I’d assumed it’d been about the usual work stuff, but there’d been a whole extra layer I’d been oblivious to.
‘Next month? Jesus, Elle. What am I going to do without you all?’
We locked eyes, our broken faces – our shared histories – reflecting off each other. Elle grabbed my hands and started talking quickly.
‘But that’s the thing, this doesn’t have to be the end. I’ve got it all figured out, and that’s why I’m here, to talk to you face to face. You can move to New York, too! Not next month or anything, but once I’m there I can keep my ear to the ground for job leads. And I can definitely commission you to write more stuff forThe Helixas a freelancer – you’ve proven you’ve got the talent. And then you can find an apartment near us and—’
‘Elle, stop. Please. I’m not going to move to New York.’
She released my hands. ‘But you’ve only just found out! Surely you need to think about it some more? Imagine how amazing it would be!’
‘I don’t need to think about it. If the last couple of weeks have taught me anything, it’s that I need to stay put. I need to fix things between me and Josh. I need to try and rebuild my family.’
She looked at me with wide eyes before standing up suddenly. She battled with the shower curtain for a moment, clambered out of the bath and walked through to the kitchen. I followed quickly behind. She was crying again. Angry, furious tears that she removed any trace of as soon as they escaped. She yanked open the fridge and grabbed a bottle of vodka from the freezer compartment, and downed a huge gulp.
‘As soon as you got this Scarnbrook idea in your head, Iknewthis would happen.’
