Page 48 of My Summer of Magic Moments

The waitress appeared with their drinks. ‘The tea?’

‘Thank you.’ Claire raised a smile.

‘And the wine.’ The girl placed the glass down in front of Sally. ‘I’ll be back in a moment to take your order, unless you already know what you’d like?’

‘Well, I’m ready. I’d like the brie and bacon panini, please,’ said Sal.

‘And I’ll have a smoked salmon and cream cheese baguette,’ Claire added, suddenly realising how hungry she was.

When the waitress had gone, Sal placed a comforting hand over Claire’s. ‘You go back to work this afternoon and write the best article you can. Let everyone know about that brave little boy.’

‘I will.’

‘And why don’t you pop round to our house later and we can carry on with a large glass of wine out in the garden.’

‘That sounds lovely.’

20

A smile across a dance floor

Norman, Newcastle-upon-Tyne

‘Hey, you okay?’ It was the next day. Friday, back at the office.

She raised her head. Refocused. ‘Yeah, fine. Sorry, I was off in a world of my own there for a mo.’ Claire smiled at Andrea; she’d been feeling really tired of late.

‘Well, hun, ’spect you’ve been busy and you’ve got a lot on your mind. When’s the move? Do you know yet?’

‘We’ve got the actual date now. A week to go. And yes, it has been busy, but I’m pretty organized now.’

‘Ooh, house-warming time soon then!’

‘Hah, I haven’t really thought about that yet, to be honest.’ She was still trying to get packed up in time. Hadn’t imagined having a party or anything, was just hoping to move in quietly and collapse for a day or two! The way she was feeling at the moment, a onesie and a mug of hot chocolate in the evenings might be in order for the next few weeks. What she was thinking about, however, was getting herself a kitten to celebrate. A cute cat friend to cosy up with at nights.

‘So …?’

‘Ah, I’ll think on it. Maybe. But I’ll definitely need a week at least to find my feet, get the main stuff unpacked and all that. It’ll be something small, if I do do a party.’

‘Fine by me. And let me come round and help you with the unpacking. Lighten the load. I could call in after next week’s training session. We need to keep them up, Claire. We missed last week’s. I know you’ve been busy and all that.’

‘Yes, you’re right – we must,’ she agreed. ‘We can catch up a bit tonight, at least.’ The Bella’s Babes team had been trying to keep up a regular run, but for the past two weeks life had got so hectic, it had drifted.

‘How does the following weekend sound for a celebratory girls’ night at yours? Or we could tie something in after race day? Our little gang from the office and a few bottles of Prosecco? A joint celebration.’ Emma and Jo were looking across, smiling hopefully. So they’d been scheming.

‘Actually, that does sound quite nice. I might still be in chaos, mind, but yes, I could do something at my new flat. I’ll do a few nibbles if you lot bring the booze. After all, it is a time to celebrate.’

Andrea was grinning from ear to ear. Her plan had obviously worked.

Claire was warming to the idea. Once she’d settled in. She could invite Lou and a couple of her other friends too.

‘Has no one got any news articles to write up round here? Is there nothing happening in the North-East at the moment?’ Julia’s boom of a voice came from the end of the aisle. Oops.

‘Just on it.’ Andrea marched back to her desk, raising her eyebrows as she left Claire’s and pretending to crack a whip behind her back. Claire stifled a giggle, then quickly got on with checking her emails. There were always tons of emails in her work inbox. Approaches for articles, often from the same batty people. Complaints about parking charges in the city centre, or requests to post an image of a lost dog – even if it had been missing for about a year.

Then she spotted one entitled ‘My Magic Moment’. She opened that first:

Dear Claire,