Page 3 of Unless It's You
I drop my head in my hands and massage my temples, elbows resting on the desk. Maybe I can crawl under my cubicle and take the quickest snooze. I close my eyes, but visions of my great-aunt’s memorial service in the urban park across from her apartment in northern New Jersey dance behind my lids. I picture her face, with deep crevices from a life well lived, and a dull ache squeezes my chest.
At ninety years old, Evelyn was ready, slowing down so much in the last few years that she just wasn’t happy. How could her passing last month have been so surprising, then? I bite the inside of my cheek. No more calling her and hearing her voice.Stel-LA!she’d exclaim, singing my name with such happiness.How ARE you, my darling?
Ah. Shit. Evelyn’s just gone.
Ever since my dad died when I was eleven, Evelyn and I have been close. Dad was always restless, seeming like he wanted something more than our quiet life. I would tuck myself under his arm and watch travel documentaries of unfamiliar places, wide-eyed at the world outside of Jersey. I wanted to see them, too. Settling down with a family probably wasn’t the right choice for Dad.
My mom and two sisters didn’t get him. I felt like I did. Evelyn did. The three of us were kindred spirits.
Evelyn took us to London after his death. A healing journey. I fell in love with London and got to see Evelyn in her element: traveling and sharing what she loved with us. One day during the trip, Mom took my sisters shopping at Harrods, and I went with Evelyn to London Zoo. I felt like the most important person in the world to her. She really had life figured out. No husband, no kids, just living to the fullest exactly as she wished.
Long ago, I decided I didn’t want children, either. I wanted to live free and explore the world, like Evelyn.
I let out a rush of air and roll my shoulders back. I could’ve used a few more days in Jersey with my mom and my sisters. Just to hang out. Iwould’vestayed a few more days so I could be there in person for Evelyn’s will reading, which is now a video call on Monday, but I had to get back for this in-person meeting.
And again, which—like the will reading is—could’ve been a video call.
“Good morning!” Tessa, my boss, slows down as she approaches my cubicle. Tall and curvy, with gorgeous natural hair surrounding her round face like a halo, she figuratively andliterally runs this place. Pepper Me Marketing is a holistic advertising agency. We produce creative pieces like traditional TV commercials, videos for digital use and social media platforms, and other creative work for clients in London and all over the world. I’m the liaison between the agency’s creatives and clients, and I excel at making clients happy and ensuring we produce the best work possible.
Exhaustion aside, I’m pumped to be working on the Mentor Me and Sporting London merger. I volunteer with Mentor Me and see my teenaged mentee, Izzy, once a month for a coffee and a wander around London, or sometimes for day trips in nature outside the city, something Mentor Me likes to push as therapeutic for the kids. They’re not wrong.
But since Pepper Me is doing this project pro bono, it’s going to be on top of my already full workload.
Between Evelyn’s death and the breakup with Ben that’s been lingering over my head for the past six months, I’ve been distracted, so I’m hoping I can move forward and focus on work.
I’d have preferred to do it with a bit more sleep.
“Hey, Tessa.”
She steps right into my cubicle and pulls me into an awkward hug from my chair, squishing my face into her shoulder blade.
“So sorry about your aunt,” Tessa whispers in my ear, her lovely English accent makingauntsound a lot fancier.
“Thank you.” My voice squeaks and the ache in my chest turns to tears in my eyes.
She leans away, her hands on my shoulders, staring intently at my face, as if checking that I’m really okay. “Well then. We’ll get on with it, right?”
I nod and swallow away the lump in my throat.
“And apologies about the morning meeting, given your overnight flight.” She stands straight and purses her lips. “I tried for the afternoon, but half eleven was the best I could do. It’s a bit of chaos over at the charities. They’ve laid off a load of theMentor Me staff, and it’s mostly just Sporting London people left.”
“Oh no, really?”
“Yes, but I talked to the bloke leading the project on Wednesday—he’s basically a volunteer but has extensive brand management experience—and he sounds like he’ll be an excellent advocate for both charities.”
She turns her palms up gracefully and grins at me. “Anyhoo, he was eager to get this kicked off A-S-A-P, and you were out of pocket, so here we are. See you in half an hour, hey?”
With that, she whisks herself away.
As bosses go, Tessa’s not so bad. She puts up with me and mostly lets me do what I want around here, as long as I keep clients happy and get the advertising projects done on time. But she does like her in-person meetings with clients, especially early on.
I click my mouse and enter my laptop password, but get distracted by my vibrating cell phone as my desktop loads. A message pops up on my sisters’ text chain. It’s a text from my older sister, followed quickly by one from my younger sister, both up early back in the US.
Reese
How are you, Stella? Did you get in okay? It was so amazing being all together, even under the circumstances
Maddie
