One?

by Jennifer L. Cahill

  ‘Gosh, that must have been a lot to deal with, and for the whole weekend without a break. Well…anyway, you are just marrying him, you are not marrying the whole family.’ Zara sat back as she considered this.

  ‘I hope you are right Zara, I hope you are right,’ Penelope sighed.

  The girls chatted for another hour about Zara’s love life, things were going really well with her gorgeous boyfriend from next door, and her life was considerably less dramatic and less complicated than Penelope’s.

  Just before Penelope went to bed she gave George a quick ring for an update.

  ‘Hi, it’s me.’

  ‘Well hello there, how was it?’ George waited for the response. They had been texting all weekend, but reception in the castle was terrible, so George couldn’t wait to get the full story.

  ‘It was ok, the mother was… the same as usual, but his dad was hilarious, I’ll explain all when we meet up. The castle was beautiful, but ancient and a really creepy. There were about twenty of them in the end, and their ancient senile aunt thought I was Grace Kelly and I had to play along,’ Penelope sighed.

  ‘Oh my god, you poor, poor thing. ‘George giggled sympathetically. She had witnessed Richard’s mother first hand at their graduation. She could completely imagine what the rest of the clan were like. That tartan was terribly oppressive.

  ‘Look, I’m nearly falling asleep here, but let’s chat about it on Wednesday, ok?’

  ‘Ok, can’t wait.’

  As soon as George had hung up, Penelope drifted into an exhausted sleep.

  Chapter 28

  Permanent

  Penelope woke up at 6 am much groggier than usual. She looked over at the alarm clocked and groaned, she reluctantly slid out of bed and into the shower. She had taken her ring off and her left hand felt naked without it.

  At 6.55 am Zara woke up five minutes before Xfm was due to wake her up. She lay there staring at the ceiling thinking… ‘I can’t believe my life, I love being in love!’ She bounced out of bed and headed down to the bathroom.

  Zara arrived into work at 9.15 am, she got a cappuccino downstairs before getting into the lift. When she arrived at her desk, there was a heart-shaped pink post-it note stuck to her Mac. ‘Please call me when you get in, we need to talk urgently, on the mobile. S xx’. Zara’s smile turned upside down in a second and a pit of anxiety began swirling around in her stomach. She carefully placed the cappuccino cup down on her desk, incapable of drinking another drop. She reluctantly dialled Susan’s mobile number.

  ‘Susan, hi, it’s erm, me, Zara.’ She waited for the response.

  ‘Oh hi, great… , listen I am up in the blue bottle room, can you pop up for a few minutes?’ Susan gave nothing away.

  ‘Yes, yes of course, I will be right up,’ Zara replied. She had a niggling worry that she was faced with a similar situation as before, as soon as everything seemed to be going right, she was faced with some bad news. It was out of character for Susan to summon her like that, and at that time of the day too.

  It took the lift an absolute age to reach the third floor, Zara reluctantly walked through the doors and she could see that Susan was not alone through the glass partition wall. Her hands began to grow clammy as she knocked on the door, more as a courtesy than anything else. Susan spun around and motioned to her to enter.

  ‘Hi Zara, have a seat, this is Helen from our HR department…’ Susan introduced them. ‘We have a bit of news for you, we have just heard that Joanna has decided not to come back after her maternity leave, and we have been very impressed with how you have covered her accounts, and above all… how well you fit in here.’ Susan paused to let Zara speak.

  ‘Thank you.’ Zara’s pulse began to race, she had no idea what was coming next, good or bad…’I really like it here and I think that really makes a person more productive when they are happy in work,’ she spluttered.

  ‘Quite right, quite right Zara.’ Helen nodded and smiled.

  ‘… and you see, now that Joanna is not coming back, there is a position open and we would love it if you would consider it… In a way we have already seen what you are capable of…’ Susan added.

  ‘Oh, I see, I see, well I would be very interested in a permanent position here.’ Zara breathed a sigh of relief and her breathing returned to normal as both Susan and Helen smiled warmly at her.

  ‘We will have to speak to the recruitment agency and work out an appropriate salary and benefits, we would like to make you permanent asap. So the sooner we can get this sorted out the better.’ Helen added. Susan nodded in agreement. ‘Do you have any questions at this point?’

  ‘No, this has come as quite a surprise, can I email you questions in the next day or so as they occur to me?’ Zara was still in delighted shock about this.

  ‘Yes, of course, you can give me a call any time, and I’m sure Susan can fill you in on any of the practicalities on the second floor.’

  ‘Yes, Zara, you can ask me anything. Look Helen, we need to head downstairs, can I leave it with you to come back to Zara about the details and next steps?’ Susan was keen to get back to her desk.

  ‘Yes, I’ll take it from here. Zara, I will be in touch as soon as I get some news from the recruitment agency. It would be good if you could give your contact there a call to discuss the practicalities.’

  ‘Oh, yes, right, will do.’ Zara got up to head downstairs with Susan, her head was spinning from a combination of all of this excitement so early in the morning… and a lack of caffeine as her cappuccino was still sitting on her desk, growing cold. She had a delighted chat with Susan on the way back to their desks, she simply could not believe her luck, it was like a dream come true, new man, new job, new life…

  In EC1, Penelope was struggling to get any work done. Any time she tried to type an email, her engagement ring glinted up at her and she became completely distracted. Appointments for flower consultations, dress fittings and lunch menu tastings were piling up and it looked like she would be spending far too much time with her mother over the coming months. She minimised her Outlook and stared lovingly at her engagement ring.

  At lunchtime the two girls stepped out to grab a bite. Zara wandered out onto Soho Square to grab a salad and a Frappuccino. Penelope headed down towards St Paul’s to meet Richard.

  At the very same time, Charlie and Gerry sat chatting in the kitchen over breakfast.

  ‘What is up with Penelope? All of a sudden she is engaged? Is she nuts? She is only 28? What’s the bloke like?’ Gerry looked at Charlie intently. Charlie’s face dropped at the mere thought of Richard.

  ‘Don’t ask me, I think she has lost her mind, he is an absolute gobshite!’ Charlie exploded.

  ‘Jesus, settle down, is he really that bad?’ Gerry asked as he took a slurp of tea.

  ‘Yeah, he’s one of those trustafarian ponces, prancing around in his polo necks and tweed jackets.’ Charlie’s face was like thunder. ‘I swear he is just after a trophy wife, and she is so much more than that. I have never really trusted him. He always struck me as being a bit of a closet fairy,’ Charlie grunted.

  ‘Jesus! Gay? Really? But he obviously likes birds?’ Gerry was sorry that he had asked now, Charlie was furious.

  ‘Yeah, he kind of minces around, he’s tall and really skinny, blond hair… poncey looking.’ Charlie took a huge bite of toast and grimaced as he said this.

  ‘Hmm, what on earth is she doing with someone like that?’ Gerry was baffled.

  ‘I can’t even begin to imagine, there is nothing I can say, she looks so happy. I’d swear he is up to something though, I’ve never trusted him.’ Charlie was embittered. Gerry decided to move the conversation back onto music.

  At the same time Richard Lord sauntered down towards St Paul’s, to meet Penelope for lunch.

  ‘Hello darling.’ Richard stood up to kiss Penelope as she approached the table. ‘I hope you don’t mind but Russell and Alexa are going to join us. Alexa is simply dying to see the ring…’ Richard paus
ed to gauge Penelope’s reaction. Penelope grimaced inside, but managed a weak smile to cover her disdain. She felt like a show-pony sometimes, constantly being paraded in front of Richard’s coupled up friends. They were all so boring!

  ‘Yes, yes of course that’s fine.’ Penelope smiled at him again as she took her seat.

  ‘Good, good, excellent, they will be arriving shortly. Chablis?’ Richard was already pouring her a glass from the chilled bottle as he said this.

  ‘Hmm,’ Penelope muttered.

  Russell and Alexa arrived in a flurry of name-dropping, air-kisses and rock-ogling. Penelope was getting very tired of it all. She felt sometimes as if she was marrying Richard’s friends as well, and they would never have been people that she would have chosen to socialise with. It was the same conversation over and over again, and none of the girlfriends had careers once they got married. Penelope had a niggling doubt about this at the back of her mind. Surely Richard was not expecting her to give up work as soon as they got married. She would have to make this very clear to him from the outset. On her way back from lunch, aided by half a bottle of Chablis, Penelope was deep in thought…

  ‘I am so sick of being out with Richard’s friends all the time. All they talk about is babies, weddings and who they know… that is getting married and having babies. I feel like I have gone from my mid-twenties to my mid-forties in one swift movement. I can’t believe the wedding is only a few months away. It’s all happening so fast. A bit too fast, but I don’t fancy taking the clan on, or my mother for that matter, on that one.’

  As soon as she was back at her desk, her phone rang.

  ‘Penelope, darling, it’s mummy here, I know you are soooooooo busy in work, but I just need a quick decision, about the starters for the menu, would you rather…’

  ‘Mum!’ Penelope exploded, ‘I am in work for god’s sake, I can’t think about this now!’

  ‘Well, there is no need to be rude dear,’ Grace’s voice wobbled with emotion.

  ‘Look, why don’t you decide, and then we can talk about it when I come over on Saturday…’

  ‘But…’

  ‘No buts mum, I am at work, I don’t have time to talk about canapés and napkins…’ Penelope sounded stern.

  ‘Alright dear, I will have a list for you on Saturday.’ Grace Chesterfield sniffed, extremely miffed.

  ‘Thanks Mum, I have to go now, bye.’ Penelope hung up, and shuddered. Her mother was constantly ringing her for ridiculous reasons like this, she had no interest in the bloody starters, or centrepieces, or seating arrangements. Only one thing to do…

  ‘Hi, George, it’s me… my mother is driving me mad!’ Penelope fumed.

  ‘Oh my god, what has she done now?’ George sighed soothingly.

  ‘She keeps ringing me all the time, asking my opinion on ridiculous details, I hate it all! I am not even looking forward to picking out my wedding shoes! Shoes George, I am not looking forward to wedding shoe shopping!’ Penelope sniffled.

  ‘Oh my god! That is serious, it’s not like you to be reluctant about shoe shopping, whatever the occasion!’ George gasped.

  ‘I know, I feel like packing the whole thing in.’ Penelope blew her nose.

  ‘Oh no!, that’s terrible, really terrible! Why don’t we meet up later in the week to have a chat about it? How is Friday evening for you?’ George tried to distract her with the prospect of cocktails.

  ‘Ok, yeah, that’s fine. Where will we go, I fancy going somewhere trendy, nice cocktails… you know…’ Penelope sniffled again.

  ‘Leave it with me, Pen, I’ll think of somewhere good.’ George reassured her.

  ‘Ok, thanks George.’ Penelope blew her nose, and perked up at the thought of having a slice of her old social life this weekend. The pressure of the impending nuptials was weighing heavily on her.

  Over in Soho Zara was walking on air. She could scarcely believe her luck, Glitter was practically impossible to get into, and there she was, all of a sudden a permanent employee. She didn’t care what money they offered her, she loved her job. All was going well with her new boyfriend, Zack. They had fallen into an easy pattern of seeing each other regularly during the week and for most of the weekend. The fact that they practically lived in the same house made life so terribly easy. Zara could scarcely believe how her life had turned around, and in a matter of months. She sat at her desk and started writing to Rob.

  To: Bobbyfun@yahoo.com

  From: Zara.S@glitter.co.uk

  Sent: 15.13 pm

  You are sooooooooooo not going to believe this… !

  Hi Rob,

  You are not going to believe this but… … .they have offered me a permanent position at Glitter?! They hauled me into a meeting this morning, I thought I was a goner, and then they announced that they would like to make me permanent. I am sooooooooooooooooo happy Rob. I love London. I love London. I love London! I can’t believe I was considering packing it all in when it all went t&ts up in Organicom. I thought that was good until I found this job. I love working in Soho. When are you coming in for drinks?? How are you?

  Zara xxxxxxxx

  Zara stared into space after sending the email, she could not believe her luck. Rob wrote back almost immediately…

  To: Zara.S@glitter.co.uk

  From: Bobbyfun@yahoo.com

  Sent: 15.14 pm

  Re: You are sooooooooooo not going to believe this… !

  Well Hello There,

  I never thought I would see the day that you would be saying I love London over and over again. I can’t believe you have a real job at Glitter, you lucky minx. Life is very good with me, I may… fingers crossed… be joining the legions of trendy agency types in Soho in the not so distant future… soooooooooooooo… that means drinkies will be a regular occurrence.

  Rob xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

  ***

  On Thursday night Penelope opened her wardrobe and looked at all of the lovely tops that had barely seen the light of day in recent months. She had forgotten that she even owned half of these clothes. She started taking them out and trying them on one by one. Penelope was so excited about meeting up with George the following evening that she was already picking out what she was going to wear.

  The next day Penelope made sure that she could leave work at a reasonable time and she had her fingers crossed that no major incidents arose during the afternoon to prevent this from happening. Six pm came around relatively quickly and Penelope shut down and made her way to Soho, where George was already halfway through a delicious Raspberry Mojito.

  ‘Hello,’ George hugged Penelope.

  ‘Hi, it’s so nice to see you, god, I could murder one of those!’ Penelope stared longingly at the glass.

  ‘Coming up!’ George motioned to the gorgeous looking barman for two more mojitos. ‘Well… how’s Mummy!?’ George tittered.

  ‘Oh my god George, don’t even start me off! She is driving me completely mad. She is stressing me out so much that I think she is causing this skin rash…’ Penelope showed the little patches of red skin to George.

  ‘Oh no, poor you, is it sore?’ George rubbed Penelope’s arm gently.

  ‘No, not really, it just looks awful, and it kind of comes and goes,’ Penelope sighed.

  ‘Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear, … look, here the mojito might sort it out!’ George raised one eyebrow as she said this.

  ‘Hmmm, yes Dr George, I think you might be right.’ Penelope took a large sip of her mojito. ‘I’m seeing mum tomorrow, she keeps ringing me in work, so I said I would deal with all of the decisions when I meet her. I can’t stand it, George. Thank god I’ll hopefully only have to do this once in a lifetime, there is no way I could go through this again. ‘A thick strand of Penelope’s bob kept falling down in front of her eyes and she kept blowing it out of the way with no effect. It simply would not sit behind her ear! Her usual calm exterior had totally deserted her.

  ‘Well, that’s the plan, just get married once… just one wedding to contend
with. Look Pen, it’ll be worth it in the end, weddings are always stressful and there is so much to organise and emotions are running high.’

  ‘I know, but, shouldn’t it feel more exciting than this. I feel like I have a pit of dread growing in my stomach and it’s getting bigger every day.’ Penelope searched for comfort.

  ‘Oh, you are not preggers are you!?’ George nearly fell off her seat in shock.

  ‘God, no, nothing like that, there isn’t something actually growing in my belly… it’s just this weird feeling, I can’t quite describe it.’ Penelope trailed off.

  ‘Are you having second thoughts?’ George said softly.

  ‘I don’t know George, maybe it’s because it is all happening so fast, I don’t know, it’s just an awful lot to deal with,’ Penelope sighed.

  ‘Yes, you are right it is, I can’t say that I’ve been through it before, maybe you should talk to someone who has recently got married to see if everyone goes through this?’ George suggested.

  ‘That’s a great idea, but who…?’

  ‘What about some of Richard’s friends? Most of them seem to be married?’

  ‘God no!’ Penelope exploded, and George was quite taken aback by her reaction. ‘There is no way I would talk to any of them about this, they are all a bunch of stiffs, and they would absolutely love a whiff of scandal!’ Penelope began to regain composure. The strand of hair that kept falling down finally started behaving itself.

  ‘I see, I see, hmm, let me have a think about it and I’ll see if I can come up with someone.’

  ‘Ok, thanks Georgie, that would be good.’

  ‘So, how is the dress looking?’ George tried to lighten the mood.

  ‘It’s so gorgeous, except it is backless, so if I don’t get this rash sorted I’ll have to get something to cover my back up.’

  ‘Is it really that bad?’ George couldn’t believe it.