Chelsea, arms splayed, clutching her bouquet, threw her head back and laughed.
‘What was that for?’
‘You think I’m going to carry you across the threshold at the flat? Think of the stairs and my poor back!’ He grinned, kissing her cheek.
‘Married less than five minutes and already insulting me,’ Chelsea laughed, holding out a hand to Evie and Mollie. ‘I think I need champagne, please!’
‘Technically, we’ve been married a longer than that,’ Kit nudged her, then held out a hand for his own glass as his parents walked over.
Jemima looked both stunning and ridiculous in a black dress with a leopard print belt. The huge cream hat she wore was more style over substance, and she kept hitting everyone with it when she looked around.
‘Jem, take the bloody hat off would you, you’re going to take someone’s eye out!’ her husband slurred, slapping Kit on the back. ‘Well my boy, you did it. Love of a good woman and all that. Glad you managed to get down the aisle you two.’ He nodded at Chelsea, gesturing with his right hand, which already had a tumbler of whisky in. ‘The difficult ones are always the tigers. Try and hold out before having kids, it starts getting terribly dull then.’
He grinned, nodding, and walked in the direction of the bar.
‘How is he that drunk already?’ Chelsea asked.
‘Still pissed from last night,’ Kit whispered, and Mollie snorted. ‘Mum! So glad you’re here.’
‘Well, yes,’ Jemima looked around the studio like it left a bad taste in her mouth. ‘You know darling, if it was about the money, we could have given you some to have a reception somewhere more...’
‘More what, Jemima?’ Chelsea asked suddenly, her estate sharpness edging her words.
‘Roomy, darling. More roomy.’
‘Well it’s lucky they don’t have many people they like then, isn’t it?’ Tyler popped up from behind, an arm resting around Celia’s waist.
‘And who are you?’ Jemima’s overly lined eyebrows raised imperiously at the boy wearing trainers with his nice suit, his skinny tie already loose around his neck.
‘Her brother,’ Tyler pointed at Chelsea. ‘And her boyfriend,’ he pointed at Celia, then grabbed her hand, pulling her off. ‘Better dash – see you at the polo, darlin’, yeah?’
Mollie stifled her giggles, biting her lip and desperately avoiding looking at Evie as her shoulders shook.
Jemima made a strangled sound and strode off, as they burst into breathless laughter.
‘You know in old novels, they talk about people having an apoplexy?’ Evie snorted, ‘I think I finally know what that looks like!’
‘Tell Ty not to get us a wedding gift, Chels, because that was the best present I have ever received,’ Kit wiped his eyes, and then put an arm around his wife’s waist, ‘apart from your promise to put up with me until one of us dies, of course.’
‘Always the romantic,’ Chelsea grinned, almost floating as she glowed with the ‘rightness’ of her life. ‘Better mingle, be back in a bit!’
They disappeared into the crowd, hugging people and chatting away, their faces lit up by smiles, their eyes always drawn back to each other, to share something secret, a little grin, a moment.
Mollie rested her head against Evie’s and watched them, ‘I want that.’
‘You’ll have it,’ Evie squeezed her.
‘You have it,’ Mollie poked her in the arm, taking a few generous gulps of champagne.
‘I might...’ Evie looked across the room, where Killian was dressed in a shirt and jeans, with a smart waistcoat on. He looked like a pirate. A well meaning pirate, with Esme climbing up onto his back, her arms around his neck as they spoke to Evelyn, looking lovely in turquoise, with a purple scarf over her white hair.
‘I have that,’ Evie said suddenly, as Killian looked across the room and winked at her. ‘Sorry.’
‘Don’t be sorry, I’m happy for you,’ Mollie laughed, ‘I just sound super depressed and weepy. That’s what weddings are for, right?’
‘Right!’ A voice appeared by her ear, and she didn’t realise she’d been holding her breath until she looked up. Max. Looking delicious and entirely overdressed in a dinner suit. She watched as he smiled at her, wondering if his teeth had been whitened. And whether than tan was natural, a side effect of holidays and gardening, or a trip to the tanning booths. But his eyes sparkled and he smiled as he took her in, leaning in to kiss her cheek and lingering, just a second too long.
‘You look ridiculously beautiful,’ he said softly, eyes not leaving hers, ‘dangerously so, in fact.’
Evie let out a little huff to show she was unimpressed and then cheerily said, ‘Hiya, I’m off to challenge Ez to see who can eat the most flying saucers in thirty seconds, see ya!’
And she was gone, leaving them alone. Which wasn’t bad, except that those butterflies in Mollie’s stomach weren’t the good kind of butterflies. These were moths, batting around and telling her this was a really bad idea.
‘I’m so glad you invited me today Mollie, I was starting to take your rejection a little personally,’ he shrugged, hands in pockets, dinner jacket open so that he looked like a catalogue model.
‘I doubt you take anything personally. In fact, I doubt you take rejection as a concept at all,’ she smiled, feeling like she was slipping down a dangerous hill, and all she wanted to do was scamper back to flat land.
‘Well, I thought I was very reserved in my pursuit,’ he smiled, ‘I only asked half a dozen times.’
Max wiggled his eyebrows and looked so silly and normal for a moment, that Mollie let her defences slip, just a bit, sipping more slowly at her champagne and letting that warmth settle around her. She was enjoying this brief moment of flirtation. It felt... adult. Fun, even. Maybe that’s what this whole journey had been about, a way to move forward, to remember that she was an adult with needs and desires and she could –
‘Hey Molls.’
She turned to find Jamie smiling down at her awkwardly. She hadn’t seen him for a couple of weeks, and he looked the same but different. He wore a grey suit, looking broad and safe, his tie matching the pale green that she, Esme and Evie wore.
‘Not wearing your army blues?’ Mollie smiled, trying not to take in how bright his eyes looked against that grey, how strong he looked there, smiling at her like he wanted to make peace. ‘Is that a thing?’
‘Sort of,’ he smiled, shrugging.
‘Didn’t want to weigh your suit down with all those medals of honour, eh mate?’ Max piped up, smiling widely at him and holding out a hand, ‘Max.’
‘Yeah, I remember you from the workshops.’ A nerve jumped in Jamie’s jaw, clutching Max’s hand and shaking, ‘How’s your little girl?’
‘Good. Heard you’ve been giving little Esme ideas of becoming Rocky Balboa?’ Max laughed, ‘I think it’s great, more girls need to learn self-defence. I wish Liv was a little less... typically girly sometimes.’
Jamie blinked, not really sure how to respond to that, settling for shrugging, until a delicate hand tapped on his shoulder.
She was beautiful. Obviously. A delicate, gentle face, soft dark curls falling over her shoulders, a cute fifties dress that Mollie would have loved to wear. But anything was going to hurt, wasn’t it? Whether she was beautiful or not, smart or funny or kind, or not. Mollie was going to feel every nerve ending ripped through her chest and stuffed back down through her throat. Not that she was being dramatic.
‘Oh hey, this is Abby.’ Jamie turned to them, ‘This is Max and Mollie.’
‘Hi,’ she smiled, waving a hand awkwardly, so that Mollie suddenly really liked her. ‘This place is beautiful. Did you do all of this?’
‘Just the food stuff,’ Mollie shrugged, ‘Evie, my friend, is the arty one.’
‘Just the food, she says!’ Max laughed, putting an arm around her shoulders and talking to Abby, ‘Like she couldn’t make gravel taste like ambrosia!’
Mollie swivelled her head to
look at him, and shared a look with Jamie, who seemed to communicate with the slightest quirk of his left eyebrow, ‘God this guy’s a bit of a prick, isn’t he?’
‘I’m a terrible cook,’ Abby shrugged. ‘You get used to ration packs and eating for necessity instead of enjoyment.’
‘You’re army too? Wow, didn’t think women who looked like you would be allowed to put themselves at risk,’ Max grinned and Mollie pulled away, feeling her own what a prick expression on her face.
‘Oh no, we’re all allowed in now, big, small, ugly, pretty, stupid, smart. It’s pretty equal,’ Abby said, deadpan, and Mollie liked her even more.
‘Didn’t you just say you wanted Olivia to be less girly?’ Mollie frowned, ‘But now you think pretty girls shouldn’t be in the armed forces? That poor girl is going to have a helluva time with you.’
‘Daddy issues for days,’ Abby added. ‘Believe me, we’ve all been there.’ She winked at Mollie, her winged eyeliner fluttering, almost not noticing as Jamie looked across the room at Esme, clambering on top of Evie and Killian.
‘All been there?’ he said quietly, watching his daughter with an inscrutable look.
Mollie placed a hand on his arm, ‘Never too late to fix it, babe. Go on.’
Jamie looked at her with so much gratitude, she felt it warm her.
‘Go ahead,’ she said, ‘I’m going to get Abby a drink, because she’s been standing here without one for far too long.’
Abby nodded and smiled.
‘What can I get you ladies?’ Max went to lead the way, and Mollie bit her lip, looking around desperately for a way to halt his obnoxious rambling before he ended up with his head through a window.
‘Oh, Bartie!’ Mollie grabbed Kit’s dad’s arm and pulled him over, ‘How are you?’
‘Hello gorgeous! Have we met?’ Bartie squeezed her around the waist.
‘I’m Chelsea’s friend, Bartie, we met the other night? Meet Max, I think you both work in the same industry! Fascinating. Excuse us, we’re just going to powder our noses!’
She grabbed Abby’s hand and dragged her away.
‘That was pretty ingenious!’ Abby laughed, taking the champagne flute Mollie handed to her. ‘Cheers to great escapes!’
They both looked over at Jamie, kneeling down to talk to Esme, pointing at her tiara and brushing a stray hair behind her ear in a way that was painfully familiar to Mollie. How many times had he stroked her face with his thumb like that, grinning in that way he did, to let her know everything was going to be all right? The two women stood sipping their wine, watching as the little girl embraced her father.
‘He’s good with her?’ Abby asked.
‘He is,’ Mollie said warily, unsure how much the woman knew. ‘It’s a shame he has to go.’
Abby nodded slowly, ‘Definitely a downside of the job.’
‘You have people waiting for you at home?’ Mollie asked.
‘‘Course,’ she shrugged. ‘We all do. Well ‘cept Jay, really. Only one of us who didn’t seem to have anything to come home for. That’s why he just kept going on more missions, daft bastard. They tell you it’ll break you and every single man thinks he’s the exception to the rule.’
‘So it broke him?’ She watched as he fluffed Esme’s skirt as she twirled for him, lifting her up to spin her around.
‘Breaks heal,’ Abby smiled, shrugging, following Mollie’s gaze. Then she looked back at Max, who seemed to be enjoying his cock-swinging contest with a very drunk Bartie. ‘So what’s the deal with the dickhead? The fact that he is raising a daughter terrifies me.’
‘Me too. I didn’t realise until just now. I thought maybe dating a grown up would make me feel like one. Instead...’ Mollie wrinkled her nose and made a face, ‘Oh well, you never know if you don’t try, do you?’
They resumed watching Jamie until eventually Abby turned to her and sighed, ‘Okay, I realise I’m breaking every code and probably messing with everything here, but you seem really lovely, and this is the happiest I’ve seen my friend in a long time. Well, ever actually.’
‘Okay...?’ Mollie waited with dread for whatever horrible thing was about to come next.
‘I think I’m here to make you jealous,’ Abby made a face. ‘As in, he was embarrassed to come here, and he knew I was visiting my brother and... well, boys are kind of dumb, right? But you’re not dumb, and you get this look when you see him, like everything about you softens.’
‘Oh,’ Mollie said, blinking. ‘Right. Well.’
‘I’m a busybody cow, right? I know, it’s a problem. I just... I came with him because he’s my mate, and he was nervous, but seeing you... life’s just too short for games, isn’t it?’
‘That’s why we’re trying to work out how to be co-parents before he leaves again,’ Mollie said, faltering slightly at the lie. They had stopped trying to work it out. Esme spoke to Jamie, Jamie spoke to Esme, and no one spoke about what happened when that deployment date came around.
‘That’s really smart,’ Abby nodded. ‘He seems like a different person. He’s got a purpose now. It’s a great thing to see.’
‘Was he really bad before?’
Abby shrugged, ‘He was just... hollow, I guess. Like he’d laugh along about TV shows or stuff on the news, read books and stuff, but it was like part of him was missing. You guys are that part.’
‘She is,’ Mollie nodded towards her daughter, dancing with her father as the music started up, Chelsea and Kit swirling around at the centre of the conservatory.
‘No, it’s you too, you guys have this weird magnetic energy thing going on.’ Abby grinned, ‘So, not that I don’t love the prick, he’s saved my life more than once, but now the pretence is broken, think there are any blokes here who wouldn’t mind a bird who can beat them in a boxing ring?’
‘Come meet Evie, she knows everyone,’ Mollie grinned, leading the way over to the group, Evie raising an eyebrow at the other woman. ‘Evie, this is Abby – find her a nice fella.’
Jamie looked up at his friend and tilted his head, then rolled his eyes. You couldn’t keep your damn mouth shut, could you?
Abby winked at him and turned back to back to Evie, who was laughing.
‘Oh great, I’m a pimp! I don’t know where this idea has come from, but nice to meet you!’
‘You too!’ Abby smiled, ‘Yeah, I was hoping you’d keep me company, as I don’t know anyone here, and these two are going to dance.’
‘We are?’ Jamie frowned and his friend widened her eyes. ‘We are.’
He held out a hand to Mollie, and Esme nodded, pushing them a little as Mollie took his hand and followed him onto the dancefloor.
Chelsea and Kit had already been swirling and stepping dramatically, but the music had softened and they stayed on the dancefloor, cradling each other as they simply rocked side to side. People joined them automatically, couples young and old, and Jamie drew Mollie close, hand on her waist as they swayed.
He kept his distance from her, dancing as he would with an elderly aunt, and Mollie felt slighted, even though they were technically still in a fight. Or a post-fight fuzz of awkwardness. Something.
‘Sorry about Abby, she’s a busybody,’ he said softly, ‘has a way of getting people to do what she wants.’
‘I like her,’ Mollie said, nodding. ‘It’s nice to know you have friends in your life.’
‘Well, that’s a bit backhanded,’ he laughed, ‘I’m such a horrible bastard I wouldn’t have friends.’
‘No Jay,’ Mollie shook her head, meeting his eyes, ‘and you know that’s not what I meant so don’t start a fight. You seemed like a lonely person. Like you had the army and not much else. I’m just glad that’s not true.’
Jamie nodded, staying silent as he held her a little closer, their chests touching. He moved Mollie around the dancefloor a little more, making her laugh.
‘Are you thinking the same thing I am?’ Mollie asked.
‘That godforsaken prom?’
Jami
e’s bright eyes softened as he looked down at her, ‘How they all got sick from whatever Smithie put in the punch bowl, whereas you, me, Chels and Evie and Nigel had already left to go sit in the park.’
‘And Evie had nicked almost all the food, her bag was bulging with sweets and crisps!’
‘I think she would have taken that sorry excuse for a chocolate fountain if she could have fit it in her backpack.’
Mollie snorted, shaking her head, ‘The fact that she brought a backpack to the school disco should have been a sign.’
They let the memory settle around them, smiling as they danced, their cheeks closer together.
‘We are old friends, aren’t we?’ Mollie said, pulling back to see his eyes, ‘No matter what, we are good, old friends.’
Jamie just stared at her, then closed his eyes and shook his head, smile still in place.
‘Are you trying to kill me Molls?’
‘What?’
‘You keep saying the word friends like it’s some magical bloody talisman. You weren’t my friend, you were the bloody love of my life.’
‘Well,’ she coughed, ‘we’re parents, we have history, we’re not together, so...’ Mollie shrugged.
‘Remind me why that is again? Why aren’t we together?’
Mollie’s mouth was a thin line, ‘Because.’
‘Not an answer that works with adults, babe. Shall I tell you why we’re not together?’ Jamie held her close, whispering in her ear. ‘Because you, beautiful, wonderful woman... are a coward.’
Mollie recoiled, trying to pull back from him, rage in her eyes, ‘What did you just call me?’
‘You’re a coward,’ he shrugged. ‘You were hurt, and you can’t let yourself believe we could have something, because it didn’t work out last time. And you’ll use Esme as an excuse, but Ez has had more turmoil with us figuring out how to be parents together than she ever would if we were arguing as a couple.’
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