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‘I’ll bore you with that another time, but I’m thrilled that she got the contract in that case. Is she doing it with the women she’s been working with?’
‘Yeah.’ Melanie looked down at her emails. ‘In her application, Selena says that she supports some of the Women’s Aid shelters.’
‘Yeah and the LGBT one too,’ Paige said.
‘Do you know about the art therapy then?’ Paige shook her head. ‘Apparently some of the women she’s been supporting over the years keep up the art therapy and so here we are. Not only will this count towards the therapy but it also means the money being paid will go towards the charities that she’s working with.’
Paige nodded. ‘That really is great. I’m glad Selena went with so much green.’
Melanie chuckled, before she took the painkillers and drank some water. ‘Thanks,’ she said.
‘Don’t worry. What do we need to do first?’ Helpful not hindrance, Paige reminded herself.
‘So next, we have to set up a meeting. Find out what she needs to get it done, and we also need to get a final wall selected. Councillor Houghton said there were two in our community up for grabs, he just needs to see if there has to be any Council sign off. And then I guess she can get started.’
‘So does that mean it gets a little easier then?’ Paige asked, unable to hide the hope in her voice.
‘I’m not really sure. I keep toying with the idea of whether or not there should be a presence on social media to keep people updated. I suppose wait and see what Councillor Houghton has to say.’ Melanie exhaled deeply.
‘So email Selena now. Get availability off her to meet up,’ Paige suggested, ‘then turn the iPad off for a bit and we can all watch the end of Mary Poppins together.’
‘I wish I could, but I have too many other things to do.’
‘Can I help?’
‘I don’t think so,’ Melanie replied.
‘Have you heard any more from the health inspector?’ Paige asked softly.
‘I don’t want to talk about it,’ Melanie said firmly, before wincing, as if she’d just realised she’d been more abrupt than she meant to be.
‘I’ll go sit with Alf and Connie, at least let’s watch him until the end of the movie and you can work at the table, yeah?’ Paige watched as Melanie smiled, her eyes watering a little as she did.
‘Thanks. That would really help.’ Melanie’s voice wobbled a little before she looked back down at her iPad and tapped furiously at the screen.
Paige stood up and moved towards the sofa. She wanted so desperately to wrap Melanie up in a nice cosy blanket and have her sleep next to her for as long as she possibly needed. But instead she went and sat with Alf, taking it in turns to check both on him and on Melanie.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Melanie
Melanie couldn’t push her glasses up any further. Her headache that had been coming and going for the last week was now more of a low-key guest that had already overstayed its welcome and seemed to have now moved in. Not to mention that at this point she needed a to-do list for her to-do list.
She was sat at a table at the back of Lulu sipping her cold latte. Cold because she’d left it too long before drinking it, as opposed to purposely iced. Her iPad was on the table in front of her and her phone hooked into her bra. And she was knackered. Her usually immaculate make-up wasn’t quite right, and she could admit her first instinctive reaction to anything was emotional; she had already had three small cries today, almost all about the health inspection. The first cry in case they failed. The second cry was if they had to find money to make mandated improvements. The third over the fact it had happened at all. She had to believe that not having been immediately shut down was promising. But she didn’t want their scores on the doors to be affected. They really needed that five. Not just for them but it was a condition of the lease. Something else that the Neighbourhood Business Alliance had a say in.
Her headache intensified as Paige walked in the bar. Melanie was envious at the almost careless way she strolled towards her and she had to bite her tongue and remember not to get arsey at her friends.
‘What’s up?’ Paige asked as she sat down.
‘Nothing. You all right?’ Melanie asked.
‘Connie might be preparing for her next cruise soon, and it would seem my psychic, for psychic night, double-booked. And I can’t help but wonder, how is that even possible?’
Melanie couldn’t help the small smile that played on her lips, her mood mellowing.
‘So how are you really?’ Paige tried again. And just like that Melanie was emotional. It wasn’t that her sister wasn’t constantly asking her the same question. It wasn’t even that Louisa wasn’t asking. They were. But they needed her to carry on. They needed Melanie to be OK. When Paige asked, it hit different. It hit right in the chest if she was honest.
Melanie remembered her ex hardly ever asked how she was. And if she did, it was only to make sure Melanie was OK to do something for her. Like the time she was having a party; Laura had made sure Melanie was good, because Melanie had wanted to clean the flat from top to bottom right? And maybe organise the catering because she loved her and wanted to help her succeed right? The orders phrased like questions. The chipping away. For the longest time after the break up she had believed Laura, when she said the fault was Melanie’s for not being more attentive, for not catering to her every whim, for not giving enough. For getting it wrong when she did.
