Journey’s End

by A. E. Radley

  “Yes, but we’ll make it work,” Emily promised.

  “Sorry, I’m being so nosey,” Hannah apologised again.

  “Oh, it’s no problem.” Emily smiled. She liked Hannah, she was open and talkative. Emily had noted that the stereotype of British people being quiet and reserved was often true. She’d often felt like a brash American when she’d been outspoken or inquisitive.

  “The reason I stopped by was to invite you to team drinks, if you have time. The rest of my team will be there, so you can meet all the designers. Martin’s team will be there. It will be fun, and you can network. Networking is really important in theatre. When there’s a deadline on and you need something doing fast, you’ll be glad you had drinks with them the week before.”

  Emily knew what she meant. It was always a good idea to befriend people so they felt more like helping you out when you needed them.

  “Sounds great, when is it?” She reached for her phone to open her calendar.

  “Thursday, straight after work. It’s at the Hogshead, just around the corner. I could pick you up and show you the way, if you like?”

  Emily quickly nodded. “Yes, please. I’m struggling to find my way around London. All these narrow streets, I like my grid system back home.”

  Hannah laughed. She walked behind Emily’s chair and tapped her shoulder. “Don’t worry, Cinderella. I’ll get you to the ball.”

  “Thanks, and thanks for the invite. I’m looking forward to it.” Emily added the reminder to her calendar.

  “No problem, us girls have to stick together,” Hannah replied. She looked at her watch and sighed. “Better get back to the theatre. See you tomorrow!”

  Hannah left, and Emily was alone in the cold, cramped room again. Being a scriptwriter certainly wasn’t a glamorous job. She felt homesick, despite the calls and texts to Olivia and Henry.

  She sighed and forced herself to focus on her laptop screen, shaking her mouse to wake the device up. She reminded herself that she’d be home in a couple more days, even if only for a short while.

  10

  Olivia tilted her head to the side and regarded the television advertisement with interest. The device really did replace all her current chopping utensils with one easy-to-use, easy-to-clean unit. And the free recipe book that came with it would no doubt be useful. The free shipping was also very convenient, although she wasn’t quite sure where they had come up with the original cost of shipping the small device.

  The advert dipped into a gloomy black and white scene, and the actress struggled to chop a mountain of carrots.

  Olivia’s eyes narrowed.

  Why is she chopping so many carrots?

  The actress cut her finger and rushed to the sink.

  She must be making at least ten carrot cakes.

  Her mobile phone vibrated on the sofa cushion beside her, and she jumped in shock. She snatched up the phone and slid her finger along the screen to answer the call.

  “Olivia Lewis,” she greeted.

  “Mrs Lewis, it’s Miss Costa, Henry’s teacher.”

  Olivia jumped to her feet and was already heading towards the door.

  “I was just wondering if I could have a few moments of your time after school one day this week?” Miss Costa continued.

  Olivia stopped dead with one arm already tucked into her coat.

  “Y-yes, of course,” Olivia replied. “May I ask what this is about?”

  “Oh, it’s nothing serious,” Miss Costa reassured. “Just a quick discussion about Henry’s progress.”

  Olivia felt her eyebrows knit together. She wasn’t sure if this was usual or not. The teacher certainly sounded unconcerned.

  “If this week doesn’t work, then next week would be fine, too. It could be the morning if the afternoon isn’t suitable?”

  Olivia realised she had remained silent too long while her mind caught up with the unexpected invitation.

  “T-this afternoon is fine,” Olivia said.

  “Great. I’ll keep Henry after class, and we’ll wait for you. I look forward to seeing you.”

  The line went dead. Olivia lowered the phone and looked down at the blank screen. She unhooked her arm from her coat and took a deep breath to calm her racing heart.

  She walked back into the living room and turned off the television. Any notion of investing in a Slice Dice Pro would have to be parked for the meantime.

  She placed her phone on the coffee table and started to pace. Her only frame of reference for parents being called into schools was from television, and she hadn’t watched that much television in her life. Emily was attempting to get her interested in some of her favourite shows, but it wasn’t going well.

  In most shows, parents seemed to be called in when the child had been fighting. But that didn’t appear to be the case this time. Besides, Henry would never fight anyone.

  She pivoted once she reached the end of the room and turned to walk back across its length.

  The teacher seemed very calm. It was unlikely that Henry was in trouble. He wasn’t ill or they would have informed her immediately.

  “Henry’s progress,” she muttered to herself. She looked up at the mirror. “What the hell does that mean?” she asked her reflection. She shook her head and began to walk to the other side of the room again.

  Maybe he’s a genius? Olivia thought. She recalled the previous morning when she had stopped him from washing his nose hairs with her expensive shampoo. …or not.

  She stopped in the middle of the large and silent room and heaved a long sigh.

  “This won’t do,” she muttered to herself. “It’s like a graveyard in here…”

  11

  Emily sat in the back row of the theatre with piles of paper on the chairs next to her and by her feet. She had her phone shouldered against her ear as she listened to Olivia’s soft tones.

  “The whole house?” Emily asked.

  “Yes, you can control it from an app,” Olivia replied. “Actually, I think there’s very little that can’t be controlled from an app these days.”

  “Hmm, so, how much does this cost?” Emily enquired. Not that it mattered, Olivia was free to spend her money on whatever she pleased. But Emily couldn’t rid herself of the worry about money.

  “Not a lot. And then Henry can listen to whatever he likes in his room, I can listen to my music in my office, and you can listen to those Backstreet Boys you’re so fond of,” Olivia teased.

  Emily rolled her eyes. “I mentioned one time that I used to like them, years ago.”

  “You forget I helped you unpack when you moved in,” Olivia joked. “If I’m not mistaken there were quite a few albums in those boxes.”

  “If you want to go down that path, we could discuss the contents of the box in the bottom of your wardrobe,” Emily suggested.

  “Well, no, no, we don’t have to... I mean, I was only joking,” Olivia stammered.

  Emily smiled. She could picture the adorable blush on Olivia’s tanned cheeks.

  “It’s okay, I’m only teasing you,” Emily admitted. “So, what else has been going on?”

  “Um, well… nothing much. I did look online at a… well, no, nothing much…” Olivia drifted off.

  Emily shifted to press the phone closer to her ear. She waited for a moment to see if Olivia would continue, but nothing further was forthcoming.

  “What is it?” Emily asked.

  “We should talk about it when you’re home.”

  Emily shifted uncomfortably. “That doesn’t sound good.”

  “It’s nothing bad,” Olivia attempted to reassure her.

  “Well, I’m going to worry about it now,” Emily admitted.

  She suddenly felt every single one of the miles between them. She wanted to see Olivia, to look her in the eye and be sure that she was okay. To be able to soothe away the worry lines that she knew were forming on her forehead.

  She noticed Hannah walking past and offered her a tight smile. Hannah smiled back and hurrie
d towards the stage to give Emily some privacy.

  “I… I wanted to talk to you about adoption,” Olivia blurted out.

  “Oh.” Emily froze. She hadn’t expected that. “Adoption,” she repeated.

  “Yes. I-instead of having a child biologically.”

  “Do you not want to carry a child?” Emily asked. She recalled that, when they had looked at a website about pregnancy and giving birth, Olivia had looked decidedly green. “Because I don’t want you to feel obligated to do that. I can carry another child, as long as you don’t mind more stretch marks and saggy breasts.”

  The sound manager walked past at that moment, clearly overhearing the conversation. Emily felt her cheeks heat up.

  “You’re beautiful, you always will be,” Olivia assured. “But no, it’s not that.”

  Emily waited for Olivia to continue but was greeted by more silence.

  “Then what is it?” Emily asked.

  “Oh, well, it’s the fact that there are so many children out there who already need a family,” Olivia answered quickly.

  Almost a little too quickly for Emily’s liking.

  She’d started to identify the tell-tale signs of when Olivia had prepared a statement in advance. Often it was because it was a complicated matter and she wanted to make sure she got her point across. But sometimes because she was lying and there was something hidden beneath the surface.

  “Should we be having a baby when there are children who don’t have a family?” Olivia continued.

  “That’s a tough question,” Emily admitted. “There’s no easy answer.”

  “It seems like a good idea,” Olivia said.

  “In principle, yes,” Emily agreed. “But adopting isn’t that easy. We’ll have to go through lots of checks, financial, psychological, and more. Then we wait to be approved. And if we get approved, then we have to wait for the right child who will work with our lifestyle. It could take a very long time.”

  Olivia sighed. “I… just…”

  Emily waited. Olivia’s speech pattern always slowed as she became more stressed or confused. Emily had learnt that it was best to give her time to say what she was trying to process.

  “There are… so many children in the world who need families.”

  “There are,” Emily agreed. “And, as I say, in principle, it’s a good idea. I don’t know if I’m ready to go through that process. Or even if we’ll be successful. But then again, whatever we choose is going to be hard. Having a child when you’re in a relationship with a woman is damn difficult. It would be easier if one of us could produce sperm.”

  Another member of the backstage crew walked by and looked at Emily curiously. She smiled politely at him and then turned away.

  Olivia was right, we should have discussed this at home.

  “Straight couples can decide to have a baby, or even accidentally have one. Same-sex couples have to plan it, spend money on it, justify it.” Emily let out a deep sigh.

  “You sound like you’re having doubts?” Olivia asked.

  “No, I’m not having second thoughts, I want to have another child with you. I just don’t know if I’m ready for someone to interview me about how to be a mother.”

  “I understand,” Olivia promised. “It isn’t something I relish either. But think about it. I have been reading up on adoption.”

  Of course you have, Emily thought.

  “And I have some links to send you.”

  Of course you do. She smiled fondly to herself. She really missed her wife.

  She felt like she was being watched and wondered which member of the production crew was going to overhear her bizarre phone call next. She looked up to see Nicole standing over her with an apologetic expression.

  “I’m sorry but I have to go, I’ll call you later,” Emily promised.

  “Okay, I’ll send you those links.”

  “You do that. I love you.”

  “I love you, too,” Olivia said.

  Emily hung up and let out another sigh. She closed her eyes and leaned her head back.

  “Trouble in paradise?” She heard Nicole pick up some papers from the chair next to her and sit down.

  She opened her eyes and looked at Nicole. “Not trouble exactly. Olivia wants to consider adoption.”

  Nicole chuckled. “That’ll be fun,” she joked.

  “Exactly.” Emily was relieved that Nicole appeared to share her reservations. “I’m all for adopting, I think it’s a great thing. I know there are children in the world who need to be adopted, and I think people who do adopt are incredible, I really do.”

  “You don’t know if it’s for you. That’s fair enough.”

  “Is it?” Emily started to wonder.

  “Of course. Adoption is something that you don’t just fall into. There’s a lot of soul-searching before you even apply. And then the application process is long and difficult. While two teenagers can create life behind the bike shed at school without society raising an eyebrow, a couple wishing to adopt has to jump through hoops of fire.” Nicole brushed some lint from her skirt. “Why’s Olivia thinking about adoption anyway?”

  “No idea,” Emily admitted.

  “Maybe she doesn’t want to ruin her figure.”

  “Well, she did nearly lose her lunch when she read about what pregnancy does to the body,” Emily admitted. “But we got over that. At least, I thought we did.”

  “Is everything okay?” Nicole asked.

  Emily looked up at her boss. “I… I’m struggling a little. Being away from them. I thought I’d be okay, I thought I’d slip back into my old routine, but I haven’t. Knowing they are both home and I’m here, it’s hard. And just then, I wanted to be with her. Having a serious conversation over the phone is hard. It’s all hard.”

  Nicole nodded. “I can imagine it is.” She paused for a moment. “What do you want to do?”

  “I don’t want to lose this opportunity,” Emily said quickly.

  Nicole smiled and soothingly squeezed Emily’s knee. “Good, but I don’t want you to be depressed either. Why don’t you see how things go? Maybe you’ll slip back into it, maybe you won’t. Either way, keep me in the loop.”

  “I will. I’m sure it’s because spending so much time at home has spoilt me. I’ll get used to it, don’t worry.”

  “I’ll try not to, but I did just discover you. I can’t lose you again so soon.” Nicole stood up and looked towards the stage.

  “I thought we agreed on the second backdrop?” she shouted to Martin.

  “This is the second backdrop,” Martin called back.

  “I may be getting old, but my eyesight hasn’t gone yet!” She turned to Emily and rolled her eyes. “I need you to stay, you’re the only person who doesn’t seem determined to drive me into an early grave.”

  “It’s early yet,” Emily joked.

  Nicole laughed. “Oh.” She reached into her inner jacket pocket. “This came for you.” She handed Emily a sealed envelope, her first name handwritten on the front.

  “For me?” Emily took the envelope.

  “Yes, the box office took it.”

  Emily looked at the envelope and quickly ripped it open.

  “There’s no other backdrop on the van,” Martin called from the stage.

  “Absolute incompetence,” Nicole muttered under her breath.

  A piece of thick paper fell from the envelope into Emily’s lap. She picked it up and examined it. It was a ticket, in the stalls for that evening for the musical showing just up the road.

  She held it up for Nicole to see.

  Nicole frowned and took the ticket from Emily.

  “It’s a great production,” Nicole said.

  “I didn’t book a ticket,” Emily said. “You didn’t request this?”

  Nicole shook her head. “I wouldn’t send you a ticket to a rival production. We have our own perfectly good musical on.”

  “Then who’s sent me a ticket?”

  “It must be an error,”
Nicole said. “I’ll take it back to the box office. Maybe it’s for another Emily?” She picked up the envelope and put the ticket back in. “I’ll return it to the box office, I’m sure someone will pick it up. Anyway, do you have the updated script for this next scene?”

  Emily reached for the papers on the floor and picked up the reworked scene.

  “Marvellous, we need to get that to Martin. And you need to speak to him about the last scene, there’s a problem with lighting.”

  “I thought he fixed that?” Emily asked.

  “So did I, but he had a question. You’ll need to talk to him.”

  “I’ll catch up with him now. You were right when you said it was hectic before a new show opened.”

  Nicole laughed. “You think this is hectic? Wait for opening night!”

  Olivia walked down the corridor of the school, weaving her way past children who were all eagerly trying to leave. She remembered the way to Henry’s classroom from the parent orientation night. She’d yet to meet Miss Costa, but Henry had described her as the teacher from Matilda so she had high hopes for his academic future.

  She turned the corner and approached the open door. Her eyes were immediately drawn to Henry. He sat at a desk, his brow knit in concentration and his cheek sucked into his mouth. He looked well and healthy, and Olivia breathed out the sigh of relief that she had been holding in ever since she’d spoken to Miss Costa that morning.

  “Mrs Lewis?”

  Olivia looked towards the front of the classroom. A young woman with long, brown hair and glasses approached her with her hand out.

  Olivia shook her hand.

  “Miss Costa,” Olivia greeted politely.

  “Please, Miss Costa is what my students call me. My name is Natalie.”

  “Olivia,” she returned in kind.

  “Olivia!” Henry’s voice boomed, having just noticed her arrival.

  Olivia walked over to his desk and bent down to kiss his hair.

  “How’s your day going, Henry?”

  “I got another star,” he said, ignoring her question. “And I’m going to get a badge tomorrow when I do my alphabet.”

  Olivia smiled. Henry had taken to education well. He enjoyed the process of learning and was academically minded. In his short time in school, he had already amassed several badges, stars, and certificates, which he collected with pride.