by Ali McNamara
It wasn’t just the brooch. Sean was still being very secretive around me, and I didn’t like it. It wasn’t like him.
‘Didn’t you like the present I got you?’ Sean asks.
‘Yes, yes, of course I did. It’s wonderful, thank you.’ Sean had bought me a beautiful new MacBook Air for my birthday. It was tiny in comparison to the old laptop I’d been using, and so thin and light that I couldn’t quite believe it could do everything a computer was supposed to.
‘I was thinking of getting you an iPad, but then you wouldn’t be able to do all your work stuff on it as easily. I just thought with your addiction to – sorry – love of all things computerised and the internet these days, you’d appreciate something a little more portable to play with.’
I lean across the back seat of the taxi and kiss him. ‘And I do appreciate it, Sean, it’s a lovely gift, really. Now, where are you taking me for dinner? Why is it such a secret?’
Sean lightly taps the end of my nose. ‘Wait and see …’
The taxi begins to head into the heart of London’s West End, but when we drive straight through Covent Garden, I really start to wonder where we’re going. Maybe we’re going to see a show? But then it turns into West Street …
‘We’re not … are we?’ I ask, turning to Sean in amazement.
He nods as the taxi pulls up outside the doors of The Ivy restaurant.
As Sean pays the driver, I climb out of the taxi agog and stand staring up at this Mecca of celebrity dining. It’s the restaurant you always see the stars photographed outside of in OK! and Hello! Not that I buy them any more … But I still sneak a quick peek in the newsagent’s every week.
‘Pleased?’ he asks, as he takes my hand and we walk through the doors.
‘Of course I’m pleased. But how on earth did you manage to get us a table?’ I whisper, as I gaze around me in wonderment. ‘You have to book about six months in advance, don’t you?’
‘You can do it in two if you call in a few favours,’ Sean winks.
This was one of the joys of Sean having so many contacts through his business. He seemed to be able to ‘pull in favours’ just when it was most needed.
‘You’ve been planning my birthday for two whole months?’
‘Ah-huh. Yes, table in the name of Bond, please,’ Sean says to the maître d’.
‘Ah, yes,’ the maître d’ says knowingly, giving Sean a little wink. ‘Just one moment, sir.’ And he glides off into the restaurant.
‘But I thought …’ I stutter as we wait to be led to our table.
‘You thought what?’ Sean asks, smiling at me. ‘That I was up to no good?’
I blush.
‘Well, you shouldn’t have. You know how much I love you, Scarlett. I just wanted to do something special for you to prove it.’
‘This way, sir,’ the maître d’ says, reappearing. He gestures with a graceful hand. ‘Your table is now ready.’
As we’re led to our table, I’m still in shock. I can’t believe Sean has been planning all this for over two months. And there was me, doubting what he was up to. I’ll make it up to you when we get home, I vow to myself, trying to look relaxed and nonchalant as we pass through the restaurant. I’m desperately wanting to appear as if I come here all the time, while surreptitiously glancing from side to side to see if I can spot any famous faces. But disappointingly, the only person I see is a failed X Factor contestant who I never really liked that much, being overly loud to attract attention, and two members of the Emmerdale cast talking quite intimately over a couple of glasses of white wine.
‘Ta-da!’ Sean announces, as I’m still craning my neck at 360 degrees to celeb-spot around the restaurant.
I turn to where he’s gesturing, and I’m amazed to see some familiar faces already sitting at the table grinning up at me.
There’s Oscar, looking resplendent as always in a purple velvet suit and bright red shirt, and he’s sitting next to Sean’s sister, Ursula, who I haven’t seen in absolutely ages because she’s been away in Paris creating a new interior for an exclusive French perfumery. Ursula, definitely sporting Parisian chic tonight, wears an exquisite-looking little black dress. On the other side of Oscar is my mother; she looks lovely this evening in a Wedgewood blue and cream silk dress, most probably borrowed from one of the designer departments in Selfridges where she now works. She’d left her job in the local cinema when she’d suddenly been offered a position in one of the ladies departments; no-one ever knew why Selfridges suddenly phoned my mother up and asked her to come in for an interview, but they did, and within a week she was there selling expensive dresses to exclusive customers. I had my suspicions, and questioned Sean about it more than once, but he said he knew nothing. But the most surprising guests of the evening are two faces I haven’t seen in a very long time: my best friend Maddie and her husband, Felix.
‘What are you all doing here?’ I exclaim as I hug each of them one by one.
‘Sean organised it all,’ Maddie says excitedly. ‘Felix and I have been here since yesterday – flew in last night.’
‘But you’re supposed to be in … where is it right now? I’ve lost track.’
Maddie and Felix had lasted approximately ten months living as a ‘normal’ married couple, then decided to pack in their jobs for six months and travel around all the cities and countries neither of them had visited before they ‘finally settled down properly’. Personally I couldn’t see Maddie ever settling down completely, she had too much free spirit in her.
‘We were in Prague, but we flew back just for this. Sean was most insistent.’
I turn back towards Sean; he’s standing back watching in pleasure as I greet all my family and friends. He holds out a glass of champagne to me. ‘Happy Birthday, Scarlett,’ he says, grinning. ‘So – do you like your surprise?’
‘Oh, Sean,’ I say, almost knocking the glass of champagne out of his hand as I wrap my arms around his neck. ‘I love it, everyone I love is here to celebrate with me.’
‘I know,’ Sean nods as my expression changes and I look with sadness into his pale blue eyes. ‘But New York is a very long way for your father to come for one night.’
‘Yes; I wouldn’t have expected him to, not just for this. He did send me a lovely card and that scarf and necklace from Bloomingdale’s, so I can’t complain too much.’ I look brightly around at everyone else. ‘But at least I have all my other friends and family here – what more could I want!’
My birthday meal at The Ivy is wonderful, celebrating with everyone together again. We have rather too much wine following the champagne, and some rather expensive but absolutely delicious food. We do even spy a few celebrities during the evening, when two members of Take That are ushered swiftly past our table with three other men in suits on their way to a more secluded area of the restaurant, and both Oscar and Sean get very excited when there’s a rumour that Kylie Minogue is having dinner here this evening. But after several trips to ‘the little boys’ room’, neither of them is able to verify that rumour.
As we leave the restaurant later that evening, the waiting press lift their heads for a split second to see if we’re anyone interesting, then promptly ignore us when they realise we’re not. But I don’t care; I just feel incredibly happy and grateful to have such lovely friends and family.
‘When will I see you again?’ I ask Maddie as I hug her goodbye.
‘Soon, Scarlett, soon. We’ve only got a few more places to visit, then we’ll be back home again.’
‘You’re so lucky doing this,’ I say wistfully. ‘I wish I could travel more. Sean’s always away on business, but I never get to go anywhere or do anything exciting any more.’
‘I thought you were quite happy these days, making a home with Sean and running the business on your own without your dad on your back all day?’
‘I am. But …’
Maddie grins. ‘Don’t tell me you’re starting to get itchy feet again! How long did it take this time?’
‘Come on, I’ve known you since we were kids, Scarlett, and every time you get what you want in life, you’re happy with it for a while before you have to start looking around for a new challenge.’
‘Perhaps,’ I shrug. But, deep down, I knew she was right.
‘Try and be happy with the business, won’t you?’ Maddie continues. ‘It’s going great guns now. You’ve done a great job managing it since your dad has been in New York, and you know it. But more importantly, be happy with Sean. Look what he did for you tonight. That took masses of organisation and planning.’
I smile as I look back at the doors of The Ivy and reflect on the dinner. ‘Yes, of course I’m happy with Sean, why wouldn’t I be? He’s lovely to me.’
‘Good.’ Maddie hugs me again. ‘I’ll see you soon, Scarlett. Keep enjoying life, won’t you? Remember just over a year ago, how you were chasing around after a dream? Now you’ve got what you always wanted, you need to keep embracing it every day.’
There’s a smile on my face as I watch Maddie and Felix drive away in a taxi back to their hotel. But it’s a fixed smile that fades as soon as they’re out of sight.
Because secretly, even though I know Maddie’s right and I should be making the most of everything I’ve got, I also know that, whatever anyone else thinks, there’s still something missing from my life.
Six
After the excitement of my birthday meal, life settles down for a while. Sean stops being all secretive now that his big surprise is out in the open, and we continue with our day-to-day lives in Notting Hill: Sean working long hours wheeling and dealing in companies – he’s a bit like Richard Gere in Pretty Woman, but without the 1990s soundtrack and dodgy haircuts – and me managing the popcorn-machine company with the help of Tammy and Leon.
I’d been reluctant to hire anyone at first when Dad had left for the States; it had always just been me, him and Dorothy for as long as I could remember. But it had soon become clear that I couldn’t manage the business on my own, so I’d advertised and Tammy and Leon had come to me from a very well-respected agency after a long application process. They were a young married couple, and had both recently lost their jobs in different companies in the City. We’d hit it off immediately when they’d mentioned at the end of their interview that they were about to go and see a movie I’d been waiting for ages for Sean to take me to. When I’d joked about this to them, they’d asked if I’d like to accompany them that night. I knew it wasn’t professional, and I should have said no, but I was desperate to see the movie. It was Bradley Cooper’s latest – my newest screen crush. After the movie, we’d all gone for free ice cream together at a local parlour where Leon knew the owner. And I pretty much decided over my chocolate and vanilla sundae that they were perfect for the job, and that we were all going to get on like one big happy family.
This morning, I’m madly searching around in my cupboard looking for a particular handbag to take to work with me. It’s a peacock-blue Accessorize bag with sequins and embroidery, and it matches my new purple shoes that I’ve decided to wear today. As I rummage about at the back of the wardrobe, I hear Sean’s muffled voice.
‘What on earth are you looking for in there? Although I can’t complain about the fine view I’m getting of you!’
I ease myself still bag-less from the cupboard. ‘Stop perving at my behind and help me find my bag or I’ll be late for work.’
‘Which one?’ Sean says, grinning at me from the edge of the bed where he’s lacing his shoes. ‘You have so many!’
‘The peacock-blue one, you know, with all the sequins. I can’t remember when I last had it.’
‘I can,’ Sean says, standing up and easing his jacket over his shoulders. ‘The night of your birthday. You wore your blue dress – remember?’
‘You’re right!’ I think for a minute. ‘I wonder if I put it away with the shoes I was wearing that night?’
I look around in the wardrobe again and, as if by magic, there it is, lying in a box with my blue satin shoes. I’d obviously been a bit too organised that evening.
‘Just ask Sean,’ he says, checking himself in the mirror. He doesn’t need to; he always looks so handsome when he’s wearing a suit.
I open the bag and quickly begin transferring the contents of yesterday’s handbag into this one. But as I put my hand inside, it catches against something cold and hard. I take a look inside and discover the dragonfly brooch. I must have forgotten I’d put it in there before we went out for the meal that night, and it must have got caught inside when I emptied it upside down on the bed at the end of the night to transfer my things back to my usual day bag. Yes; as I try and retrieve the brooch now, one of its delicate wings is indeed caught on the silk lining.
‘What’s up?’ Sean asks, coming over to see what I’m doing.
‘It’s Dad’s brooch. I’d forgotten I’d put it in here on my birthday.’ I manage to loosen the wing and free the insect again.
I stare at the piece of jewellery now sitting in the palm of my hand, its beady eyes looking right back up at me.
‘You never did find out why your father had that,’ Sean says, lifting the brooch from my palm and holding it up in the light from the window. ‘I thought you were going to ask him about it.’
‘I was, but to be honest I’ve been so busy at work over the last month or so it’s just slipped my mind, and what with the time difference and everything, we haven’t spoken to each other that often lately.’
Sean looks at me. ‘Miss him, don’t you?’
I nod. ‘A lot.’
‘Then why don’t you go and see him and ask him about it yourself?’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Why not take a trip to New York and visit your father, and take this,’ he holds up the dragonfly, ‘and solve the big O’Brien brooch mystery?’
My spirits lift for a moment. ‘Sounds like a great plan, but I can’t just leave the business, can I?’
‘Tammy and Leon would cope; you said only the other day how well they were getting on and how much you trusted them.’
‘Yes, but—’
‘And it’s not as if you can’t be in constant touch with them if you want to. Mobile phones and the internet do work over in New York, you know. And now you’ve got your new MacBook, you can even Skype them daily if you want and have important conference calls about the state of the popcorn industry.’
I pull a face at Sean. ‘Don’t tease me. New York does sound fantastic; I’ve always wanted to go there. But would you be able to get away from work that easily?’
Sean’s keen expression suddenly changes. ‘I can’t go with you, Scarlett. Not at the moment, anyway. We’ve got so much going on at the office, and so many things coming up in the next few weeks, it would be impossible.’
‘But I can’t go on my own. Not to New York!’
‘Why not, you’re a grown woman, aren’t you?’
‘I don’t want to go on my own, I want to go with you. Come on, Sean, we haven’t been anywhere in ages. It would be lovely to have a little trip away somewhere together, and New York would be so romantic.’
‘Not really,’ Sean says flatly. ‘I’ve been there loads of times. It’s not romantic at all.’
‘Yes, but that’s because it was business you were there for, and you’re hardly likely to see the city’s romantic side when you’re working there, are you? Well, I hope you didn’t, anyway!’ I say lightly, hoping to sway him, but really I know I’m wasting my time. Once Sean has decided on something, it’s rare he’ll change his mind.
‘I’m sorry, Scarlett,’ Sean says, taking me in his arms. ‘I just can’t right now. But you go. Go and visit your father, it will do you good. You’ve been …’ he hesitates ‘… unsettled just lately, and I think it will do you good to get away for a while and have a break from things.’
‘A break from us, do you mean?’ I look up at him in horror.
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br /> ‘No, not a break from us, you daft thing,’ Sean kisses the end of my nose. ‘Just a break from here.’
‘OK,’ I reply hesitantly, but I’m still not sure. ‘If that’s what you think is best.’
‘It’s just that Maddie mentioned—’
I pull away from him. ‘Maddie mentioned what? What has she been saying?’
‘Hey, Red, calm down.’ Sean tries to put his arms around me again. ‘Maddie hasn’t been saying anything, really. Just for me to look out for some key signs, she described them as. I thought she was talking nonsense at first. But when I sat down and thought about it, they were all already there.’
‘What sort of key signs?’ I ask, wriggling away from him. I couldn’t believe this, people wanting to organise my life again. Hadn’t they tried to do that last year before I came to Notting Hill? Everyone seemed to think they knew what was best for me then, and now it was happening all over again. Even Sean was getting involved this time.
‘Just things like you getting bored with life and starting to become obsessed with, I mean fascinated with, new things.’
‘And just what sort of things would these be?’ I ask, my hands on my hips.
Sean looks uncomfortable. ‘Well, as I’ve said recently, you do spend quite a lot of time on the internet, Scarlett.’
Oh my God, I can’t quite believe this. Here we are again. ‘And? What’s so wrong with that? What am I supposed to do when you’re away all the time on business.’ I emphasise the word business by doing that little air-quotes thing with my fingers.
‘You know I can’t help that. But you still do it when I’m home. You’re always on your iPhone, on Twitter or Facebook or some other social networking site.’
‘So why did you buy me a MacBook then, if you don’t like me using the internet so much?’ I demand. ‘It hardly makes sense, does it?’
‘I bought you what I thought you’d like,’ Sean says patiently. ‘If I’d just gone out and bought jewellery or perfume or something, you’d have thought it dull and boring.’