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‘Thanks, bye.’ Melanie scooped her phone from its bra holster and ended the call.
‘Sorry I just need a minute — is that OK?’ Melanie asked. Paige nodded.
Somehow Melanie could tell that this nod was slightly less aggressive than the others, leading Melanie to wonder if Paige had a nod for all occasions. But she didn’t have time to ponder that.
She went to the trusted to-do app and calculated that they would still be three boxes short to get them to the end of Saturday. Not a problem if the delivery came early on Saturday, but as they had bottomless brunch on offer, and bookings already taken, it wasn’t a risk she could afford to take. She opened up her list and added a note that they needed to secure three more boxes of prosecco ASAP. Hopefully her business partner, Louisa would pick up on that.
She quickly switched over to her family list and saw she was looking after Alfie that night. Of course, she was. Not that he wasn’t a joy to look after, and most likely would already be in bed, but, no actually it was OK because she could use that time to do some more admin for the bar — oh wait no she’d have to spend the time designing that damn flyer.
Temporarily halting her brain from going any more haywire, she added a quick note and a reminder to come back to it again later, before turning back to Paige. ‘Right, sorry about that. What can I do for you?’
‘You having problems?’ Paige asked.
Melanie couldn’t tell from her tone what Paige was getting at and Melanie’s heckles rose, a wave of defensiveness taking over. It was a very physical feeling, as were most of her feelings around Paige. She felt her spine straighten, her resolve strengthen.
‘Nothing that I can’t handle,’ she said with a genuine smile, because she would sort it; that’s what she did now.
Paige nodded. ‘No doubt.’
Another nod. What did that mean? Was she being sarcastic? Sincere? What game was she playing? The Paige in front of her now was not the same one that had sat in front of her in yesterday’s meeting.
Paige looked around. ‘I know you’re busy, but do you have five minutes?’
Melanie studied her again, trying to figure out what she wanted. Her blonde hair long on the top but undercut underneath. Her piercings that went all around her ear, and the small stud just under her full bottom lip. Her forest green eyes bright against the paleness of her skin were giving nothing away, as they held her own, and Melanie felt her heartbeat increase. Really heart? You’re so easily swayed by a pretty face. Melanie shook her head, her brain kicking in. She didn’t know Paige. She could be a complete weirdo, and if the way her moods fluctuated so wildly was any indication, then Melanie knew she needed to be wary. But then she saw something in Paige’s face. Could it be she looked disappointed? Was she expecting Melanie to refuse?
‘Look, don’t worry. It’s no problem. I’ll see you later.’
Melanie realised that Paige had misinterpreted her head shake. ‘No, it’s fine. Stop. Just hang on.’ Melanie glanced around at the staff. ‘Ari, can you cover the bar, please?’
Ducking around the pillar that separated the bar from the floorspace, Melanie came around and gestured to Paige that she follow. Taking them to a quieter corner, Melanie sat down at the table, rising once to adjust her skirt before retaking her seat. Pushing her glasses up her nose she waited as Paige sat. The silence started to stretch out.
‘So, Paige what do you need?’
Melanie watched as Paige’s shoulders tightened, and she played with her hair, running her hand through the strands. Then she grunted and grabbed her phone from her back pocket. Opening something up she placed it on the table and moved the colourful bespoke Lulu drinking glasses out of the way before pushing the phone towards Melanie.
Whatever Melanie might have guessed was on there, it wasn’t what she saw.
‘Did you make this?’ she asked.
‘No but I have a friend who’s a designer. I thought . . . Well, I thought . . . It might . . .’ Melanie waited as Paige’s words got quieter, sharper and grumpier. ‘Help. I thought it might help. She’s done them in several sizes for different posters, flyers, and socials. She’d done something similar for someone else, which is why she was able to get them done so fast.’
Melanie picked up the phone and zoomed in on the image. It was a perfect flyer to get the attention of a local artist. Grungy and yet arty, sure to attract the attention they needed, and more to the point, a million times better than anything she could ever have come up with. ‘Some of the details, such as contact details and deadlines might need changing. Seb is more than happy to make any changes we need. And she’ll do them quickly. She’s really good.’
Melanie nodded in agreement. This really was fast, but then, Melanie supposed that a girlfriend might well turn something around just like that. There was little doubt in Melanie’s mind that Paige was a lesbian . . . So, her girlfriend then, presumably, had done this incredible work for Paige as a favour, as couples were supposed to do, to help each other out and look out for one another. With a purposeful breath, Melanie refocused on the image. And if Melanie’s spirits rose slightly at the prospect of crossing this off her to-do list they sunk with the girlfriend realisation, and really, they had no right doing that.
‘If you give me your number or your email address, I’ll send them over to you and then you can send them over to Councillor Houghton. Like I said, I guessed on the deadline and the contact details — I’ve just used the Business Alliance’s email — so if that needs changing just let me know.’
Melanie handed the phone back over to Paige and recited her number. It didn’t take long for the images to come across.
‘Thank you. You didn’t have to do this . . .’ Melanie paused for a moment and pushed her glasses back up her nose. ‘Why did you?’
Paige opened her mouth to say something, but instead she nodded once, and stood up. ‘Don’t worry about it. See you later.’
And before Melanie could even utter a thanks, Paige was gone.
Melanie looked down at her phone, studying the images for the poster again. They really were good. Melanie’s mind drifted off a little as she conjured up what Paige’s girlfriend might look like. She wasn’t really getting far with that, so instead she wondered what Paige might be like as a girlfriend. She didn’t get far with that one either, because as gorgeous as Paige was, all Melanie had seen so far, was a mercurial attitude, a myriad of head nods and sullen silence, and that was not attractive at all.
She glanced down at her phone again and back to her messages.
