The Art of Unpacking Your Life

by Shireen Jilla

  ‘I’m not the only person with news,’ Connie smiled encouragingly.

  Sara feigned nonchalance. Gus allowed his hand to slip on to her neck. ‘You haven’t told Connie? Are you hiding, Sara Wilson, eh?’

  Sara burst out laughing. Connie hadn’t heard her broad, relaxed cackle for a long time. Sara slid her left hand on to his leg. ‘Of course not. Connie was the first to know.’ She winked at her. ‘Weren’t you?’

  Sara leaned forward and grabbed her phone, scrolled through her messages and lifted the phone to show Gus. Connie was mortified.

  ‘What Connie doesn’t know is that I had to beg you to come with me to London.’

  Gus laughed loudly. ‘You can imagine that, can’t you, Connie, eh? Sara with her hands wrapped round my trouser legs. On her knees.’

  ‘It was worse than defending myself in court.’ She looked happy. ‘I really did beg.’

  ‘Well, you were silly,’ he grinned. ‘You only had to ask.’ He kissed Sara on the lips.

  Connie looked away. She was shocked. She had never seen anyone kiss Sara. Let alone with such possession. There seemed to be a part of Sara that only Gus could wheedle out of her.

  Sara nudged Gus. ‘You’re embarrassing Connie.’

  Gus looked briefly at Connie. ‘No, I’m not.’ His eyes were inextricably drawn back to Sara’s. ‘She is shocked that you have given in to your feelings for me. Too right, Connie, eh?’

  Connie realised that Gus understood Sara in the way that she did. It made her feel close to both of them. She smiled. ‘You must have drugged her.’

  ‘Excuse me,’ Sara retorted. ‘I can’t believe you said that. For the record, I did all the leg work. Utterly humiliating.’

  ‘Gus, are you moving to London?’ Connie was in awe of Gus and Sara’s decisiveness.

  Sara jumped in. ‘Not moving, staying until I’m through with my disciplinary tribunal. We’ve got the rest of our lives to work out the petty details.’

  Gus’s whole face lit up. He seemed delighted by her every word. ‘Sara’s declaration of love. I’m down there with petty details.’

  In the glare of their elated, new love, Connie felt a sense of hope. Life was moving forward inexorably even if it was painful in so many ways. She had had the most amazing week of her life with her dearest friends. She had had precious time with Luke, before it was too late. She would never regret that. And she would always love him. She was closer to Matt, more intimate with his relationship with Katherine. Dearest Dan was on his journey to the peace he deserved. She would be a large part of his move to Tuscany, because they had shared his decision together. Perhaps the group’s next reunion would be a working holiday on his new land. Or out in Africa with Gus and Sara. The idea made her smile. She was going to miss them so much. But at that moment, sitting on the terrace with Sara and Gus in the sinking light, she didn’t need more.

  Acknowledgements

  I am deeply indebted to Hilary Reyl for her tremendous literary smarts and constant support, my awesome agent Caroline Michel for being an unwavering champion, my editor Justine Taylor for her inspired notes and my dynamo publisher, Stephanie Duncan, whose creative brilliance and hard work has propelled Unpacking forward.

  I am grateful to Christoph Brooke for finding me a writing room with a view in his hotel, The Elephant; High Road House for saving my corner table; Elin Davies for filling the gaps left by the book. And Bob Marshall Andrews QC for bringing Criminal Law alive.

  Thank you to Cyrus Jilla for the privilege of such a unique view of the Kalahari, the Tswalu game reserve, in particular, guide Adrian Bantich for sharing his knowledge and passion for the wildlife and the bush. Trevor Carnaby’s Beat About the Bush was invaluable; The Wildlife of the Southern Africa by Vincent Carruthers was a great help.

  Lucy Yago Briggs and Francesca Brill for keeping my creative heart beating even on a dull, wet night.

  Camilla Cavendish, Anna Cotton, Charlotte Emmerson, Josephine Frampton, Katie Gagan, Charis Gresser, Kate Harri, Kate Holroyd Smith, Judith Howard, Anthony Howell, Becca Metcalfe, Nina Omaar, Denise and Mark Poulton and Sara Williams are the stars in my constellation.

  At the heart of the clan, Harri Pritchard-Jones for all his love and encouragement.

  Never least, so much love and gratitude to Guto, Ben, Cal and Amelia Harri. For being everything.

  A Note on the Author

  Shireen Jilla was a journalist before she turned her hand to fiction. Exiled, a dark psychodrama set in New York, was published in 2011. The Art of Unpacking Your Life is her second novel. She lives with her husband and three children beside the river in west London.

  www.shireenjilla.com

  This electronic edition published in 2015 by Bloomsbury Reader

  Bloomsbury Reader is a division of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 50 Bedford Square, London WC1B 3DP

  Copyright © 2015 Shireen Jilla

  All rights reserved

  You may not copy, distribute, transmit, reproduce or otherwise make available this publication (or any part of it) in any form, or by any means (including without limitation electronic, digital, optical, mechanical, photocopying, printing, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

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  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  eISBN: 9781448215195

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