Page 59 of Alice Carver Manifests Her Perfect Life
‘Hang on,’ I shouted, running down the stairs, which wasn’t easy in the new boots. ‘Wait for me, I’m coming too.’
Astrid was in the hallway, tying up her shoelaces.
‘Where are we going?’ I said.
‘Matthew and I are going for a walk in the park,’ said Astrid. ‘So you won’t want to come. Besides, we’re leaving now, and you’re not ready. I’m not waiting for you to get changed.’
‘I don’t need to change. I’m ready to go.’
Astrid looked up at me. ‘You’re wearing that to the park?’
‘Yes,’ I said. I looked down at myself in the sequinned trousers and silver boots. And then I remembered that post of Charlotte’s I saw earlier this morning, of her by some miserable drab water in Scotland. But the dreary background made her new highlights and lipstick stand out and she’d entitled it ‘an injection of colour’ and I also remembered what I read inVogueabout the Gucci collection my outfit was mimicking, and worked with what I had. ‘It’s my “communing with nature in winter” outfit, actually,’ I said. ‘The cool silver palette matches the January skies and bare branches of deciduous trees, and then the multicoloured scarf is inspired by the richness of evergreen foliage, the sun’s red and gold rays – nature’s jewels. The whole outfit is at one with the natural world.’
Of course, Matthew chose that moment to come into the hallway, pulling on a black Canada Goose expedition parka. He did a double-take as he saw me. ‘Yes,’ he said. ‘That outfit does scream nature’s jewels.’
Astrid took a breath. ‘You’re going to be cold.’
‘Actually I’m pleasantly warm.’
‘That’ll be the synthetic trousers,’ said Matthew.
‘Negative energy spreads like wildfire, Matthew,’ I said coldly.
‘Yep.’ Astrid reached for her coat. ‘So, apparently, does gonorrhoea amongst the under thirties. That was some hard reading this morning.’
I shuddered. ‘You really need to surround yourself with more positivity, Astrid,’ I said. ‘I mean, what’s it got to do with you anyway? You’re definitely the wrong side of thirty.’
‘Because most people expect their doctors to have knowledge, Alice.’
‘You should stick with law. Less gross, and it pays better.’ I thought back to my bank balance.
‘There’s more to life than money,’ said Astrid.
‘Of course,’ I agreed, following her out the front door of the house she owns in Chiswick. ‘But it does help with paying the bills.’
Astrid zipped up her hideous thick parka. ‘In that case, I’ll have the £50 back you owe me from the Friuli wine.’
A lesser being might have complained that it was bloody freezing, but I was grateful. Grateful for the opportunity to be in nature. Grateful for the beautiful January lack of light and absence of warmth. Grateful to be able to repay Aziz for his kindness through proactive chaperoning. Grateful to not be as tedious as Astrid and Matthew, who were now wittering on about corporation taxation and justice, having just exhausted the scintillating subject of the ethics of psychometric testing. But I was also on the brink of hypothermia.
‘Christ, it’s absolutely freezing,’ I said, interrupting them at last, having trudged across wild, frigid terrain just as stoically as Laura Ingalls Wilder did inThe Long Winter. ‘And it’s been way longer than you said it would be.’
‘I told you not to come,’ said Astrid crossly. ‘Anyway, we’re nearly there now. It’s just taken longer than usual because of your silly boots.’
‘My boots aren’t silly.’
‘Of course not,’ said Matthew. ‘They’re perfect for rotavating the park.’
Astrid smiled and I imagined the heel of my boot accidentally making contact with the back of one of Matthew’s long legs.
‘Yes. Well, we left the park miles ago,’ I reminded him. We were walking in the sort of open countryside you see on the train ride home to the Cotswolds.
‘No, we didn’t. We’re still in Richmond Park,’ said Astrid.
‘What?’ I said. ‘No way this is a park. How come I never knew about it?’
‘Because you hate going outside?’ said Astrid.
‘I love the outdoors.’
