Page 23 of Love at First Site

‘Why don’t you suggest Monday next week? That’s soon enough to be keen without being desperate. Do you know where they are?’ Dad asks.

‘Ava looked them up yesterday. They’re in Alwoodley. I can get a bus out there from the flat, but I think it takes around an hour.’

‘Nice. I didn’t realise there were offices there, though. I thought it was all big houses and stuff.’

‘Well, I’ll see when I get there, won’t I?’

‘You’d better ring them now,’ Mum interjects. ‘Get in there before someone else. You don’t know how many applicants they’ve had.’

Realising she’s right, I dial the number Deborah left me in her email and step out into the garden. I don’t want an audience for this.

She answers after just a couple of rings. ‘Deborah Smythe speaking.’

‘Hello, Ms Smythe, it’s Ella Mackenzie. I just got your email inviting me for interview, so I’m calling to arrange a time.’

‘Goodness, I only sent it half an hour ago. You’re keen,’ she laughs, and I kick myself. I should have waited until lunchtime or early afternoon.

‘I happened to have a gap in my diary, so I thought I’d call now,’ I tell her. It’s not a lie: I do have a gap in my diary at the moment. It has no defined end, but she doesn’t need to know that.

‘Not a problem,’ she purrs. ‘When are you available?’

‘I’ve got a few commitments this week, but Monday next week looks pretty good. Does that suit you?’ Again, not strictly a lie. I have promised to do something about Ava’s garden this week. That’s a commitment, isn’t it?

I wait patiently while she consults her diary. Eventually, she comes back.

‘Mr Atkinson and I could see you at eleven-thirty next Monday.’

‘That’s perfect, thank you.’

‘We will look forward to meeting you then. Do you have the address? I’ll email it to you anyway, just to confirm.’

I actually feel a bit trembly as I put down the phone. I’m excited, obviously, but I’m also nervous. It was all very well discussing this in theory over a cup of tea in Ava’s back garden yesterday, but what happens if I go in there and make a complete fool of myself? I’m going to need all the help I can get from Ben, that’s for sure. Ava’s working this morning, so I bash out a quick message to her.

The building firm only want to interview me!!! Going to need to borrow your husband for serious tuition…

She won’t get it until her next break, so I wander back indoors. Mum and Dad are looking at me expectantly.

‘Well?’ Mum asks.

‘Next Monday at eleven-thirty. I probably should have waited a bit longer before I called. She called me keen.’

‘You are keen, though, aren’t you?’

‘I don’t know. It seemed like a good idea when Ava was talking me into it yesterday, but I’m really not sure I’m cut out for construction. Also, if I come across as too eager, it puts them in a better negotiating position. I read an article online about it. I need to play it a bit cool. I shouldn’t give them the impression that I’ll work for peanuts just because I’ve been made redundant. I’m still worth the salary I was earning at Orchestra.’

‘Yes, but you don’t want to miss out because you were too demanding either,’ Dad says. ‘You need another job, Ella, and this might be it.’

‘I know. At least I’ve got the best part of a week to prepare. Something tells me I’m going to be spending a lot of time with Ben over the next few days.’

After a celebratory cup of tea and a bacon sandwich (‘You’ll need the energy if you’re tackling that wilderness of Ava’s’), I pad upstairs to have a shower. It’s going to be a warm day, so I select a pair of shorts and a T-shirt before consulting with Dad on the best tools for the job.

‘I’ll come over with you,’ he tells me after we’ve raided his garden shed. ‘I’m supposed to be collecting Teddy and bringing him back here, but I could give you a hand instead if you like.’

‘Are you sure?’

‘Yes, I haven’t got any plans today, and your mother will be glad not to have me and the dog under her feet. To be honest, I’ve been dying to get my hands on that garden, but Ava would never let me. She thinks I’m too old and I might have a heart attack. I don’t know why I put up with the cheek of the girl. Anyway, if we get all the rubbish out of there today and tomorrow, we could maybe have a little trip to the garden centre on Thursday and get some new plants to go in.’

By lunchtime, we’ve made good progress, but my hands and arms are covered in scratches. Dad isn’t much better, and is sporting a couple of impressive bloodstains as well. We have discovered a couple of roses in among the assorted weeds and brambles, but not much else. The stuff we’ve cut and dug out is starting to form a fairly impressive pile on the grass. Teddy, naturally, has been ‘helping’, which largely seems to have involved sniffing around the ground we’ve uncovered and periodically relieving himself against the pile of detritus.

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