by Foster, Zoe
‘Hey-hoo, are you decent?’ she heard Mimi holler as she opened the front door.
‘Where’s Niko?’ Lily asked.
‘He ducked to the spa to book us a massage for this afternoon.’
‘Get you two . . .’
‘I know! And yet, for some reason I thought it might be odd, being away with Niko like this. An overseas trip after only a few months is . . . quite accelerated, after all.’
Mimi walked over to the table, sunlight streaming in from the huge sliding doors facing out to the balcony, and took off her wide-brimmed straw hat, gently tousling her hair as she did.
‘Pah, life’s too short, especially for geriatrics like you two. I’m kidding, don’t give me that face. Just enjoy it. He’ll be gone soon and you’ll be Nigel No Mates eating fettuccine in Rome and missing him like mad.’
A grin crossed Mimi’s face.
‘That’s true, I suppose.’
‘So. I have news. Sasha, my old boss, emailed me about a job. They’re doing an Aussie Iron Chef series! And she thinks I could be a senior producer!’
‘Oh, how wonderful! What’s Iron Chef?’
Lily laughed. ‘It’s a stadium type cook-off, where top chefs battle a new chef each week. It’s awesome.’
‘Right up your rue. When do you start?’
‘No, no, she’s just recommending me to the EP. Hopefully I can meet up with him next week. Production starts soon, so I think they’ll need to get moving . . .’
‘I’m SO happy to hear this, Bean. Didn’t much like the idea of you all jobless and broke.’ Mimi walked to the kitchen and poured them both a glass of water.
Lily clapped her hands and did a little jump, her face beaming with glee.
‘I’ve bloody well got my mojo back, Mimi!’
Lily thought her jet lag when she arrived in Greece was bad, but that was only the baby sister of the jet lag she’d been feeling since she’d arrived home three days ago. She was trapped at the intersection of fatigue and confused, and couldn’t seem to shake it. Waking at four a.m., gasping for naps at four p.m., showering three times a day in order to ‘reset’, Lily was not quite the jetsetter she’d like to think she was.
And now, as she sat in the reception of the production studio she might soon be working for, her eyes lined and wearing a simple navy dress she’d picked up at Zara for this very appointment, she began to feel the demons of fatigue start clawing at her.
‘Excuse me,’ she said to the receptionist, a woman in her late forties with immaculate, shiny pink nails and an airline-hostess-worthy chignon.
‘I’m a little early; I’m wondering if there’s somewhere I could grab a coffee nearby?’
‘There’s a coffee cart down by the foyer, it should still be open,’ she said kindly.
‘Thanks, I’ll be right back.’ Lily stood up and walked to the lift, pressing the button with urgency. The reception phone rang.
‘Yes, Mr Riley. She is. One moment.’ The receptionist hung up.
‘Miss Woodward? Mr Riley is available to see you now.’
Fuck, thought Lily, shaking her head slightly in a dismal attempt to clear the cobwebs. Ever since she’d replied to Sasha’s email, this process had been set to warp speed. The interview had been immediately set for Tuesday, the highly confidential show outline had been emailed through for Lily to familiarise herself with, and straight-off-the-plane impressive haircuts had been urgently booked.
Lily, wanting to be straight up, had emailed Alice about what was happening. Alice had been half excited for Lily, half sad they might not be working together again, but mostly concerned with dribbling and gushing about Musical Jesus and his extraordinary penis.
‘Wonderful!’ Lily said to the receptionist, painting a smile on her face and spinning on her heels. She’d noticed when she’d put them on they were still a bit trashed from her big night out with the band a month back, but hopefully Evan Riley wouldn’t notice that.
Within seconds of being in his office, Lily realised he was precisely the kind of person who’d notice that. Apparently the male version of Sasha, Evan wore thick-rimmed, round glasses, had a shiny bald head, and sported a light-grey suit with a lilac shirt and mint tie. He looked impeccable.
‘Lily, hi, thanks for meeting me so quickly. Sash told me you were in Greece, and I know how hard it is to drag yourself away from those boys, let me tell you,’ he said, followed by the kind of bawdy, staccato laugh that flirted between hysterical and highly irritating.
‘Oh, gosh, my pleasure. I am so excited to even be meeting with you.’
‘Well, you have some good experience. I mean, you probably don’t quite have the skill level I need, and you will need to get it tout-suite, because you’ll have a team looking up to you, but I believe good people can learn anything technical – it’s finding the right personality that’s hard, and eesh, if I could teach personality, let me tell you, I’d create a full-time college.’
Lily’s tiredness only compounded Evan’s manic conversational speed and delivery. She started to feel a bit like she did when she took too many cold and flu tablets.
‘Ha,’ she offered, smiling as he looked at her from his chair, across a lovely wooden desk featuring several small rubber rabbit toys. He caught Lily looking at them, and picked one up.
‘Kidrobot; amazing store in New York. My partner Matt buys me one every time he goes, which is far too often, as you can see from my zoo here. Anyway, so you like food, you’re into food, you worked with that gorgeous human being Jack Winters on The Daily . . . Tell me, which team does he bat for? It’s yours, isn’t it?’
Lily was taken aback before realising he meant men or women, not Lily specifically.
‘Oh, yes, he does, I’m afraid. Had a girlfriend for some time.’ She was careful not to mention that she knew her, or that they’d broken up, aiming to appear distant and professional.
‘Figured as much. Terrific talent though, hard to believe he’s fresh off the farm. So, you want to stay in food? It’s easy to find a good producer, but when they’re passionate about the content, it flows better, you know? And I think it shows, personally. Dreadfully obvious when you’re lacklustre.’
‘I do, yes. I produced cooking at The Daily for just over two years, and before that I did it for six months on The Barbara Bates Show, filling in for Naomi Giles, who was on maternity.’
‘Och, Babs, what a dame. True star, she was. Such a pity they took her off. Never mind, that’s how the margarita shakes, and she was nearing 200, I’m told. So, look, Lily, you know all about the show, you told me on email you’re a fan of the format, I think you’re pretty fab, Sasha gives you her golden thumbs up, which let me tell you, she does nay hand out to everyone, so you should feel very lucky. If you’re available to start next week, then I would love to see you back in here Monday morning.’
Lily looked at her new boss, wide slightly agape, her eyes wide.
‘Really? Ohmygod, thank you, that’s incredible. Thank you, Evan. Thank you so much, this is all, it’s just amazing timing, for one —’
‘Sasha’s loss is my gain.’
‘Thank you, Evan, I won’t let you down.’
‘No, you won’t. Now, before you go: Jack Winters. Do you think he will – and this is terribly out of school, and obviously not for Sasha’s eagle ears – but do you think he’s happy over there? Wouldn’t consider a station jump like you, would he? I don’t imagine it will come off, but oh, the idea of him as a host, it’s too much.’
Lily gulped, her heart racing as she immediately fast-forwarded to working with Jack again.
‘Oh, I have no idea; I’m sorry, Evan. You might need to talk to his management?’
‘Yes, of course, just being a weasel. Never mind.’ He stood up, puffing out his chest ever so slightly, which, with his paunch, was mildly reminiscent of the fat controller from Thomas the Tank Engine. Walking around to open his office door, which featured a print of an old bar sign saying ‘Beware of Pickpockets and Loose Women
’, he smiled at his newest staff member.
Lily stood up and took the hand he held out to her, shaking it with an enormous smile on her face, in utter disbelief at what had transpired for her professionally in the last week.
‘Stephanie will email you all the details, pay, contract, blah blah blah. You know we shoot out at the old Wonderland, yes? I recommend spending the weekend making a couple of new playlists for the drive.’
Lily laughed and bid Evan farewell, jubilant about her new job, but also thrilled that she now had such an effervescent, theatrical boss. Sasha was great, but she was so . . . understated. One thing Evan certainly was not.
36
With a half-eaten cheeseburger on her passenger seat and a caramel thickshake wedged between her thighs, Lily drove home, excited because Simone should be back by now.
The rehab place had no spots for now, apparently, so Simone had been staying at her mum’s for the past week, to stay out of temptation’s way, and be nurtured following the break-up and generally pretty shitty time. She’d come back this evening for an early-morning job tomorrow. Lily couldn’t wait to see her, and had bought her a beautiful silver bracelet in Greece she wanted to give her.
Simone’s mum was the original Earth Mother: she owned a small co-op and health food shop in Yamba, on the north coast. She chose to be called ‘Luna’ over her actual name, Debbie, and signed off all correspondence with ‘Blessings to you’, or ‘Love and light’, a practice Simone had dabbled in, but wasn’t able to commit to. It was the right place for Simone to be.
Spying Simone’s BMW coupé in the driveway as Lily pulled up across the street, she realised that the feeling in her stomach had morphed from excitement to anxiety. She and Simone had not once discussed Jack since the split, but it was bound to come up tonight. They might have even got back together, Lily thought with a sharp intake of air. After all, Jack would no doubt be impressed with Simone’s action to remedy things in her life, and maybe he was the forgiving type . . .
Opening the front door, Lily hollered a big ‘Yoohoo!’ and heard a delighted scream from upstairs, followed by rapid footsteps.
In moments, Simone, in leggings and a tight white hoodie, was on the stairs and racing down to greet her friend in the lounge room.
‘OMG, she’s home!’ she yelled before grabbing Lily, still clutching her shake and handbag, for a big hug.
‘How ARE you?’ Simone asked emphatically, squeezing Lily tight.
‘I am so good, Sim. You won’t believe what’s just happened. I am so, so good.’
Simone pulled back, her hands still grabbing each of Lily’s arms. ‘What?’ she asked, smiling widely, eyes huge and pupils enormous. Lily quashed the thought that Simone had probably taken something for mood bounce. She wouldn’t be so stupid – not now, not after she was trying so hard to stop all that.
‘I got a new job! Senior producer on Iron Chef!’
Simone squealed and clapped her hands.
‘Ohmygod, LIL! That is AMAZING! You were out of work for what, one week? Way to manifest, hun; you created that, you know. Oh! I’m so happy for you. We should celebrate!’
This was the part where Simone usually skipped to the fridge and grabbed some champagne, but obviously now she wouldn’t. Only, right before Lily’s eyes, she did, and it wasn’t until she was reaching for the champagne flutes that Lily spoke up.
‘Um, Sim, I don’t mean to play warden, but are you, should you be drinking right now?’
‘It’s a special occasion,’ she said with emphasis. ‘I think it’s allowed this once.’
Lily bit her lip, watching her flatmate rip the foil from the top of the bottle, not sure where to go from here. Was she a bad friend to allow this? Or was she a bad friend to stop it?
‘Actually, maybe I shouldn’t. I just had a thickshake and it will mix and I’ll feel spewy,’ Lily said, marvelling at her genius and subterfuge.
‘Um, I’ve seen you pour Red Bull INTO a thickshake before, I don’t think you’ – the cork was popped – ‘care about mixing dairy and fizz. Plus, babes, I never got to toast you for turning dirty thirty, and I damn well am now.’
Simone poured two glasses, replacing the bottle in the fridge and kicking it closed with a playful little tap of her foot. Lily knew she wasn’t going to win here. She dumped her bag on the dining room table and sighed quietly.
Simone walked over to her and handed her a glass.
‘To your new job, and your flirty thirties. You’re tanned and you’re hot and you’re smashing it. Love ya!’
They clinked glasses and Lily sipped the champagne, feeling sick to her stomach about letting someone trying to go clean have a glass of champagne on her watch.
‘Oh, I have missed you,’ Simone cooed to the glass, savouring the taste in her mouth before placing the glass on the table. ‘Both of you.’
‘Okay, I have to ask or I will never forgive myself; are you meant to be drinking?’ Lily blurted, acutely aware she was potentially igniting the wick of some powerful Simone dynamite.
Simone looked straight at Lily. ‘No. I’m not.’ And she took her glass and poured the remainder of it into Lily’s.
‘But I wanted the ritual and the fun, just for a second.’ She smiled sadly. ‘I know what I’m doing, babe.’
‘Jesus! I thought I’d let you relapse or whatever it’s called. So, how’s it all going, Sim . . . how are you?’ While Simone pulled out a chair to sit, Lily took a quick sip, not wanting to be the girl eating chocolate cake in front of the dieter, but now enjoying the champagne too much to stop. She sat down on the chair opposite and looked at her friend; still very skinny, she noticed, but slightly less . . . gaunt.
‘Yeah, better. I know I deserve a better existence and true joy, and pure self-love, and I’m dedicated to that . . . I was trying to replace real things, genuine things that were missing with partying and drugs, and I kind of always have.’
Lily nodded.
‘I found this great guy near Mum’s, Dashi, and he’s inCREdible, Lil. Like, he’s this amazing yogi who studied in India, and he taught me that transcendental meditation I’d been wanting to do for ages, and I’ve been doing healing and yoga with him almost every day, and I truly believe I was meant to find him, you know?’
‘A spiritual saviour.’
‘Uh-huh. I wrote a huge post on him yesterday, you should read it. He’s amaze, Lil.’
‘So will you drive up and see him still?’
Simone looked at her friend in a way Lily recognised from when she was confessing to having slept with men she shouldn’t have.
‘Well, I’m kind of moving up there. To live with Mum for a while. The agency is willing to give me six months off, but I don’t think I’ll need it. I feel so much better already.’
‘You just opened a bottle of champagne so you could have a sip,’ Lily said.
Simone nodded solemnly, her eyes big, her bottom lip pressing up over her top lip in a way that had been driving men wild since she was about thirteen.
‘And that’s why I need to remove myself from ALL temptation. All of it. All my friends, work, men, clubs, booze, this city, the whole lot.’
‘Speaking of men, have you heard from Jack?’ Lily said, as nonchalant as possible.
‘Mmm. So I didn’t tell you this, but I had a bit of . . . an episode just after you left for Greece.’
‘Episode? Like back-to-the-hospital episode?
‘Not quite. I mixed too many things, basically, then went hard on the rosé, fucking idiot. You were away and the girls weren’t answering, and so he was my SOS call, and he was amazing, Lil, he came straight over and was just the best. You know he’s had his own drug battle, don’t you? Hard to believe . . .’
Something began to twist and turn into the sides of Lily’s stomach. A javelin, apparently.
‘He’s a good man,’ Lily said in earnest.
‘Yes, he is, isn’t he, Lil?’
Simone was looking at her strangely, her head tilted on a
n angle, and a tiny smile was playing on her tightly pursed lips.
‘What? What is that look?’
Simone smiled in full and placed her chin between her hands, elbows on the table.
‘We talked about you a lot that night, actually. Or the following morning, really, once I had stopped all the vomming and was able to converse like a human being. And, well, if I didn’t know any better, I’d say he had a little thing for you, hun . . .’ Simone said, playfully.
‘What? Don’t be stupid, Sim. What are you on about?’ Lily’s breath quickened immediately, she hoped not visibly.
‘Oo-oooh, bit defensive, babe!’ Simone raised one of her perfectly thick, full eyebrows.
Lily crossed her arms and shook her head irritably.
‘You don’t know what you’re on about.’
Sitting up straight in her chair, Simone crossed one leg over the other.
‘I think you’d actually be a really cute couple; is that weird?’
Lily shook her head erratically and sipped deeply from her glass.
‘It’s funny . . . I went out with Jack because I thought he would be my knight in shining, normal armour, and he kind of was in the end, like, literally a lifesaver.’ She laughed. ‘But I was never present with Jack. I tried to go for Michael’s opposite, then basically treated him how Michael treated me.’
‘Speaking of the devil . . .?’
Simone swallowed before she spoke.
‘I still have some . . . stuff I need to work on there. We’re talking again, and, look, he has been making a real effort, Lil.’
So much for no men, Lily thought to herself.
‘He’s helping me get better. He drove up to see me on the weekend, and met with Dashi, and, I don’t know, if he can heal and I can heal, and we’re in it together, I feel like, maybe this was all for a reason, in a fucked-up way, you know?’
‘So you could get back with Tony Soprano.’
Simone sighed.
‘I know it doesn’t make sense. But I have to work it out for myself. All part of the process. And I trust the process. Whether he’s in my life or not, I need to get this closure.’