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I’ve always admired this about Josie. When she has an idea, she goes for it, full steam. She also always gives me her pizza crusts to finish, which I possibly admire even more, and she’s sliding them over to my plate when we’re interrupted by the woman at the table next to us, who’s taken a sudden interest in Rudy.
‘What a gorgeous boy, can I pet him?’ she asks, her hand reaching down.
Josie simply says, ‘No. He’s working.’ This is a common occurrence, so Josie continues talking to me, unbothered, ‘Anyway, it’s been fun, trying to figure out how to make this whole exhibition as accessible as possible. It’s just really cool knowing how many Disabled artists and curators we’re working with to get it right. It feels special.’
‘I can’t wait to be there on opening night. I’ll be whooping from the crowd during your speech,’ I say, chomping down on one of the crusts and sending pizza dust in all directions.
‘Please, the day you eventhinkabout drawing attention to yourself in a public setting is the day I wear sweatpants out of the house.’ She grins, adding, ‘But I appreciate the support. I want you to have the full experience when you visit, so if you catch me sharing specific details about any of the pieces from now on, please tell me to shut up.’
‘It would be my honour.’ I dust the crumbs off my hands and stretch my legs out under Josie’s chair, shifting my feet to avoid Rudy.
‘Tell me about your job. I haven’t heard a fun customer story inages. Anyone interesting come in?’
Nothing exciting ever happens at work. It’s the same people, the same conversations, the same stories every day. I wrack my brain for an anecdote. ‘I did have these three men come in at closing the other day who were like some sort of hapless sitcom trio.’ Josie raises her eyebrows in a question I refuse to entertain and I shut her down immediately. ‘Nope, don’t look at me like that. You know I don’t shit where I eat.’ She splutters out a laugh. ‘Speaking of which, one of them has verbal diarrhoea. Literally does not stop talking.’
‘Delicious. Tell me more.’
We’re in between the early-morning chaos and the hectic lunchtime rush and the shop is mostly filled with our regulars. There’s Belinda the eccentric octogenarian, soy-latte-Samantha, who will share intimate details of her life whether you ask for them or not, and Rufus, the man who comes in every day at ten o’clock in the morning and orders, to my constant consternation, a decaf espresso shot.
I’m refilling the coffee machine with beans when I receive a concerning text from Josie.
SOS!!! CALL ASAP
Knowing her, she could either be letting me know she’s fallen down the stairs and is currently in hospital in a full-body cast, or she wants to tell me she’s decided to start making model aeroplanes and would like to know if I’d be interested in a trip to Hobbycraft tograb some supplies. There’s no in between, and no way to know which one it’ll be today unless I call.
Mateo’s cleaning tables at the back of the shop, clearly trying to stay away from soy-latte-Samantha lest she tell him about her recent colonoscopy (I was not so lucky to avoid that particular topic), but I trust that he’ll head to the till if another customer comes in.
I pull up Josie’s number and duck into the stockroom.
‘What’s up?’ I ask, when she picks up on the first ring.
‘We’re throwing a party.’
I guess that answers my question about which end of the scale her emergency would be. ‘A what?’
‘Par-ty. You know, those things we avoided like the plague at uni?’
‘I thought that was boys?’ I put my phone on speaker and place it on a shelf while I riffle through one of the boxes in front of me, on the hunt for a KitKat.
‘That too, but you and I both know we avoided those for very different reasons.’ Her girlfriend Alina laughs in the background and Josie takes a breath before adding, ‘Anyway, you can’t say no, because I’ve already invited Max.’
I freeze for a second. ‘Max, as in, my brother Max?’
‘No, as in, the guy in the corner shop who gives us good deals on loo roll.’
‘His name is also Max, actually.’
‘Really?’
‘No.’
Josie huffs directly into the microphone. ‘Well, your brother is coming to our housewarming.’
I decide to address the Max topic later. There are more important things to discuss. ‘A housewarming?’ I finally spot my chocolatey prize and grab it from the depths of the box. ‘We’vebeen in the flat for almost six months already. I think it’s suitably heated up by now.’
‘Let her do it, Ava,’ Alina calls out, the vaguest remnants of her Colombian accent softening the sounds. ‘She’s already started making a playlist.’
Josie’s voice returns. ‘We live in an incredible home and we’re wasting it! I want to show off.’
