“Sorry.” He muttered.
“Don’t be, you’re so lovely Simon. You’ll make a girl very happy one day.”
“But not you.”
“No, not me. Come on lets light these lanterns.”
We stood up and Simon pulled out a lighter to light our lanterns.
“To friendship.” He said smiling down at me.
“To best friends.” I replied, letting my lantern soar into the air and up over the landscape.
“I’ll always be here for you Ella, if you ever need anything I’m just a phone call and a drive away.”
“I know Simon, and thank you. You’ve been my guardian angel. I’ll never
forget that.”
We stood in silence watching the glowing lanterns glide through the air and across the rippling waves until they became a pinprick of burning light in the sky. I prayed in that moment that Simon would let me drift away as easily as the lanterns had. I wanted to be free to soar on my own, not tied down to this place or to him. He had been my rock but it was time for me to emerge from under his wing and make my own way, to find my own strength. Simon had always been a follower, but I wasn’t and I could never be with one either.
We said our final goodbyes outside Nan’s bungalow and Simon drove off back to his steady structured life. I went back into the warmth of the bungalow to spend my last night with my cute feisty Nanna before I headed back to my unpredictable, hectic and heart stopping life in the city.
7
“How are the final preparations going for the opening?” Frank asked me as I sat at my desk trying to catch up on all the work I’d missed since being away. I looked around the office at a loss for what to say. Although I had made the initial arrangements, I hadn’t been involved in finalising the last minute checks.
“It’s all good to go.” Chris piped up.
“Everything has been checked and double checked and all the attendees have been catered for. Kim has agreed to go to the club early on Friday and coordinate the caterers, entertainment and any other people involved to ensure it all goes off without a hitch.” Colin added.
I mouthed a ‘thank you’ to them both, they had covered my ass more than once this week since I’d come back to the office, and I was more than grateful that Kim had been drafted in to do the final checks on the day, something I was not looking forward to facing myself.
“Are you all coming? It would be good to have as many of us there as possible. It’s a golden opportunity to network and we all deserve a night out too to celebrate, don’t you think?” Frank looked expectantly at us each in turn.
“Ella and I will be there, we’re going together.” Chris answered for me.
“I can’t make it, my dog is sick and has a vet’s appointment on Friday evening. It’s not looking good.”
Colin dropped his head showing a rare display of emotion. I hadn’t ever owned a dog but I knew Frank did and he nodded back mournfully in solidarity with Colin.
“Sorry to hear that Colin, take whatever time you need. I know what it feels like to lose a fur baby.”
I winced at Franks words and looked over to Chris. He mouthed ‘love you’ to me and I took a deep breath in. I’m a Reid and I need to hold my head high, I thought. If Nan had taught me one thing it was that us Reid ladies never hid away, we took life by the balls and lived it to the full. You only had to look at my own Mum to see that was true. I’d been excited for this opening before everything happened and I’d worked bloody hard, not to mention spent a fortune on a knock out dress. To hell with Joe Madden, if he couldn’t handle me being there then tough, what was he going to do throw me and the rest of Parker Hayes out? It was a work event and I needed to be there. I’d go and I’d keep my head held high because I had nothing to be ashamed of. In fact going to this event may even help me move on.
On Friday evening Chris came round to ours to join in with the usual ritual of night out preparations. Robyn was coming with us too as our joint plus one so I felt more confident going into the lion’s den with them both by my side. Max had rung the home phone a few times and chatted to Robyn, but I hadn’t spoken to him. He always sent me his love but I knew he’d draw me back into Joe’s world if I let him into mine.
We turned up the volume on our party playlist as Chris preened his hair in my mirror, Robyn used my straighteners on her hair and I put the finishing touches to my make-up. We all sang at the top of our voices as Charli XCX sang about dirty sexy money.
“How you feeling about tonight baby girl?” Chris asked.
“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous, but having you two there helps. I just hope my being there doesn’t cause a problem for the company.”
“Why would it?”
“I don’t know, I just don’t want Joe to cause a scene. Does he know I’m home?”
“I haven’t told him or Max for that matter, they still think you’re away as far as I know.” Robyn shrugged.