Page 13 of Best Mistake Ever
All I can think ishe called me Dee, not Delilah, which I’m hoping means I’m – or rather Dee’s – back in his good books.
My heart thuds hard as I wait to see if I’ve earnt my sister a reprieve.
Finally, he looks at me again and gives a curt nod. ‘Okay. Let’s give it a try. We don’t exactly have a lot of other options right now anyway. Give your friend a call and see if we can come to an arrangement about cost.’
My whole body seems to sigh in relief and I feel my muscles begin to unknot.
‘Okay. Thank you. I’ll call him right now,’ I say, sitting back down at my desk and pulling my mobile out of my pocket. I busy myself looking up Pete’s number and when I glance back up, I realise Jonah is watching me with an intense, contemplative frown on his face.
I blink up at him, my skin rushing with tingles as the same unsettling feeling I felt under his gaze this morning washes over me again.
Before I can say anything else, he snaps his eyes away from mine and strides out of the room, leaving me sitting there staring after him, my whole body humming with a strange sort of tension.
I force the feeling down, then take a calming breath and tap on Pete’s number, once again crossing my fingers for a good outcome.
An hour later, I pull Dee’s car into a space right in front of my house and rush in on shaky legs, hoping to find my sister there to let her know about the – frankly pretty darn exciting – developments from the day.
I’m buzzing with adrenaline as I toe off my shoes and dash into my bedroom, finding her there, sprawled out on my bed. She’s sitting up against the headboard with her right leg propped up on one of my pillows, her phone in her hand and a look of nervous expectation on her face.
It takes me less than five minutes to run her through the events of the day, her expression changing from worry toexultation as I tell her that Jonah was pleased with the way his friend’s event went.
‘Phew! Thank goodness,’ she says, her voice light with relief. She sits up straighter and a flash of pain crosses her face as her swollen ankle shifts on the pillow.
‘How is it?’ I ask, realising in my excitement that I’ve not even checked about the outcome of the x-ray yet.
‘It’s not broken, but it’s a bad sprain,’ she says, her voice heavy with self-pity.
I force myself not to roll my eyes at her. She can be a real drama queen sometimes.
Not that I care too much at the moment. If she’s not able to go back to work for a while, it means I’ll be able to put my plan into action myself, which would be no bad thing since I already know how Jay’s festivals work, having been to one of them. So I say, ‘Sorry to hear that,’ in my most soothing voice.
‘I’m not sure how I’m going to get about. It hurts way too much to walk on it at the moment and it’s throbbing with pain even when I’m sitting still. According to the doctor, it could be up to two weeks till the swelling’s gone down and I’m able to walk around normally again.’
‘Okay, well, don’t worry. I can keep going in pretending to be you this week. So you can rest it for a few more days. Jonah didn’t seem to suspect anything today, so I think we’ll get away with it.’
I pause, considering how best to put what I need to tell her without worrying her too much. I decide to just go for it.
‘The thing is, Dee, he was talking today about you not passing your probation unless you pull your socks up. There’s quite a bit you’ve let slide and he’s not overly impressed with your marketing plan.’
At the look of horror on her face, I hold up my hand, trying to reassure her. ‘Don’t panic. I think I might have negotiateda bit more time to turn things round. You know my friend, Pete? Well, his partner, Jay, needs a venue for his festival this coming weekend – the place he booked had some flooding in the grounds so it can’t be used for camping – and I suggested we offer Gladbrooke House as a replacement venue, which both Pete and Jay thought was a great idea.’ I pause to check her reaction to this, but she just nods slowly and waits for me to finish.
‘It’s a relatively small festival, more of a big fight-the-winter-blues party really, so totally manageable to have it there at short notice. Anyway, I was thinking, if you’re not able to get around for a few days yet, perhaps I should keep doing your job till the festival’s finished, then you can take over again. Jay’s willing to pay a decent fee for the hire of the place, which seemed to satisfy Jonah. I think he’ll be reluctant to let you go when you’re bringing in business like that.’
‘Whenyou’rebringing it in, you mean,’ Dee corrects me.
My face heats. I’m not doing a great job of being subtle about it being an opportunity she wouldn’t necessarily have converted and I’m worried I’m in danger of upsetting her. The last thing I want is for Dee to think I’m trying to muscle in on her job, but I’m actually quite excited about the idea of being involved in hosting the festival at the hotel now.
‘I can help you with your marketing plans, if you like? For when you go back,’ I say tentatively.
Dee’s not looking at me now, but is staring down at her damaged ankle. ‘Okay. That sounds like a plan. If you’re really sure you don’t mind doing that?’
‘I just need to clear it with Jem, but otherwise, I’m good for it,’ I reassure her.
Finally, she smiles again. ‘Okay then. Let’s go for it.’
I nod and try hard not to grin. It all feels like a bit of an adventure now, something I’ve not had in quite some time, and it’s… enlivening.
‘So how did you get away with your new hairstyle?’ Dee asks, nodding at my hair, which I’ve had tied away from my face all day.
