Page 96 of My Kind of Happy

We both laughed. Perhaps they were thinking about what the future might look like as a family. Wasn’t that what I wanted for myself one day? Although right now there was more chance of me flying to the moon.

‘Thank you for the offer but Biddy from the pet shop has offered to have him for as long as I need.’

‘Any news on her and the lover?’

‘Nothing to report, but I’ll keep you posted,’ I promised.

I’d told her about Biddy and her affair with Nigel. We’d agreed I shouldn’t do anything for now. But I hadn’t forgotten about them; maybe one day when the time was right, I’d get the chance to re-introduce them.

‘I wish Dad had found someone new after Mum died. I know he’s lonely and I feel guilty that I don’t do more with him.’ She sighed.

‘There’s still time, perhaps he just hasn’t met the one.’

Laura shook her head sadly. ‘For Dad there’ll only ever be Mum. Theirs was the perfect marriage, he says nothing could ever beat it.’

‘That’s so romantic,’ I said with a wave of affection for the man who’d been like a dad to me during my teenage years.

She nudged me sharply. ‘Look at the two of us: gooey pair. Let’s get cracking before we start weeping.’

An hour later, we’d done as much as we could. I’d practised all the displays back at the shop to speed things up and I’d already cut the stems to length to keep this evening’s work as quick as possible. We were both yawning as I was finishing off the last bits while Laura was giving everything a spray with water.

‘You’re bloody brilliant, Fearne Lovage,’ she marvelled, looping an arm over my shoulders. ‘I come out in a sweat with one vase of flowers to arrange, and you, cool as a cucumber can take on an entire scheme without turning a hair.’

‘Hmm,’ I said, trying not to picture the moment I’d first met Nina, face down on the counter and sobbing her heart out in a race against time to get ready for Rosie’s wedding. Victor would be delivering the rest of the flowers directly to the hotel at the crack of dawn in the morning and I’d be here at six a.m. to get started. ‘Let’s see if I’m still looking cool this time tomorrow.’

We were about to leave the room when we heard the sound of rapidly approaching footsteps in the corridor outside.

I opened the door as Marcia burst in, red-faced and perspiring.

‘You’re here!’ She marched straight to the window, threw it open and lit a cigarette, her elbow covering up the ‘no smoking’ sign. ‘Thank goodness for that!’

‘Um, yes,’ I said, confused. Laura and I exchanged worried looks. ‘As arranged.’

She took a long drag on her cigarette and blew the smoke out of the window before replying.

‘Everything, and I mean everything, has gone wrong today. So I wouldn’t have been surprised if you hadn’t turned up.’ She shut her eyes and massaged the bridge of her nose. ‘I should have gone home hours ago. I’m just glad it was my boss who took this booking not me. If heads are going to roll at least I should be safe.’

‘Which booking?’ Laura asked.

Marcia puffed out another cloud of smoke and this time forgot to aim it outside. She flapped her arms to disperse it. ‘Edelweiss. It looks great in here, by the way, very rude of me not to mention it straight away. Sorry. I’m a bit stressed.’

My stomach twisted. ‘Is there something I should know about?’

‘A major confusion over the bedrooms.’ Marcia rolled her eyes. ‘Major.’

‘Oh dear.’ I hid my relief; I was sorry for her, but at least it had nothing to do with my side of the event.

‘Is it sorted now?’ Laura, reading my mind, squeezed my arm.

‘Not yet.’ She took one more impossibly long drag from her cigarette, stubbed it out on the wall outside and closed the window. ‘The guests are saying that the conference fee they’ve paid to Edelweiss included overnight accommodation. Whereas Edelweiss told us that guests were settling their own bills. Whatever. It’ll work out in the end.’

She stood up straight, tugged her tight skirt down over her thighs and smiled at us. ‘They’re going to be thrilled with this, it looks great.’

‘Oh, thanks,’ I said distractedly, still thinking about Edelweiss and the mix-up over payment. What if the same happened to me and there was a dispute over who was paying my bill? An uncomfortable shiver ran down my spine.

‘Can’t you ask an Edelweiss representative about it?’ Laura asked.

‘You’d think,’ said Marcia wryly. ‘But they haven’t turned up yet. Their flight has been delayed.’