Heaven Can Wait

by Cally Taylor

  ‘I’ve got one,’ Troy’s friend said, snatching up his mobile and thrusting it in front of my nose. ‘What do I have to do? How do I get a free Big Mac?’

  ‘Me too, me too,’ squealed the girl, pushing her pink phone across the table.

  ‘You don’t have to do anything,’ I said, grinning inanely. ‘It’s just a, er, survey we’re doing in Tooting Broadway. And you’ve made Brian’s day. Haven’t they, Brian?’

  Brian clenched his teeth into the most bizarre fake smile I’d ever seen.

  ‘Why yes, they have, Lucy,’ he said as I kicked him under the table. ‘Yes indeed.’

  ‘Well, get your wallet out then, and buy these two a Big Mac meal each.’

  ‘Can I have a filet-0-fish meal?’ asked the girl, patting her non-existent stomach. ‘I don’t wanna get fat, innit.’

  ‘You can have whatever you like,’ I said. ‘That’s part of the promotion. Off you go with Brian and choose.’

  ‘Lucy …’ Brian said.

  I kept the smile fixed to my lips. ‘Just buy these helpful young people whatever they’d like.’

  ‘OK,’ he said, angling himself out of his chair and standing up. ‘Buy food. Right.’

  As Brian and his new best friends hurried up to the counter I glanced at Troy. He was flipping his mobile over in his hands and looked utterly dejected.

  ‘I’m really sorry,’ I said, picking up my copy of Railway Enthusiast magazine. ‘You’ve got a great phone, but it’s not one we represent.’

  ‘Whatever.’ He shrugged. ‘I never get free shit.’

  I flicked over a page and ooohed at a photo of a train.

  ‘What’s so special?’ Troy asked, trying hard not to look interested.

  ‘Oh,’ I said. ‘It’s nothing. It’s just a Shinkansen Bullet Train.’

  ‘Top speed of 186 miles per hour.’

  I scanned the page to check if he was right. He was.

  ‘Are you a railway enthusiast, then?’ I asked casually.

  ‘Nah.’ He pulled the hood of his sweatshirt up over his head and put his elbows on the table. ‘That’s just wrong.’

  Damn. If Brian was going to pass his task he needed to get Troy to admit to his passion for trains. It wasn’t looking good.

  ‘Why’s it wrong?’ I turned over another page and tried to look nonchalant.

  ‘It’s for nerds. Check out your man over there.’

  Over at the counter Brian was scratching his moustache and staring vacantly into space as Troy’s friends pointed at the overhead menus and whispered to each other.

  ‘Fair point,’ I said. ‘Brian might look like a bit of a nerd, but that doesn’t mean we all are.’

  Troy raised an eyebrow. ‘You into trains then?’

  ‘Absolutely.’ I reached for my Diet Coke and sipped it thoughtfully. ‘Brian’s taught me loads about the railways. He’s like a train genius.’

  Troy looked from me to Brian and back. ‘Is he your husband then?’

  Diet Coke shot out of my nose and sprayed Brian’s prize magazine.

  ‘Housemate,’ I said, dabbing the spattered page with a greasy napkin. ‘We’re friends.’

  Over at the counter, Brian was fishing around in his wallet. I didn’t have much time.

  ‘Are your friends into trains?’ I asked Troy.

  ‘Nah.’ He looked down at the table and batted his mobile from one hand to the other. ‘They’d laugh, innit.’

  What was the correct answer to that? I wasn’t sure.

  ‘Innit,’ I ventured, nodding sagely.

  ‘You what?’ he said, peering at me from under his hoodie as though I was insane.

  My cheeks burned and I glanced over my shoulder. Brian and his new friends were only seconds away from us. I had to be quick.

  ‘Listen,’ I said, leaning towards Troy. ‘Me and Brian hang out at Paddington Station, up on the bridge. Do you know it?’

  He nodded.

  ‘We hang out there a lot, so if you want to come and hang out with us or just have a chat about trains or pick Brian’s brains, you’re welcome to join us.’

  ‘Dunno, man. I’m pretty busy.’

  ‘Is there a day when you’re not busy?’ I asked, crossing my fingers under the table.

  He shrugged. ‘Monday night, maybe?’

  ‘Well, the offer’s there,’ I said, giving him my best friendly smile. ‘It would be, er, wicked, if you showed up.’

  ‘Right, yeah but—’

  ‘S’up man?’ interrupted his friend, rounding the table and sitting down. ‘Getting fresh with the old bird?’

  What? How rude. Since when was I—

  ‘Shut up,’ Troy said, reaching across the table. ‘Give us a fry, man.’

  ‘Lucy,’ Brian hissed as he sat down opposite me. ‘What happened? Why did you send me off to get those kids some food?’

  I winked at him. ‘I’ll tell you on the way home.’

  Chapter Twenty-eight

  Thursday 9th May

  Day Thirteen

  My hand shook as I opened the door to the office. After the excitement of Brian’s task the night before, it was time to get on with my task again. And it wasn’t looking good. It was day thirteen, Archie was in love with me, and the last thing he’d said was ‘Fuck off, Lucy.’ Not good. Not good at all.

  I took a deep breath and stepped into the office. Archie was curled over his screen, headphones jammed onto his ears. His hair was still short, but his jaw was dark with stubble and the Gamer T-shirt was back. Pissed off Archie: 1 point. Lucy make-over: nil.

  ‘Morning, Archie,’ I said, smiling nervously.

  The muscles in his jaw clenched, but he didn’t reply.

  ‘Hello, SpongeBob,’ I said, picking up the little plastic statue from the corner of his desk, determined not to give up. ‘How are you?’

  ‘I’m fine thank you, Lucy,’ I squeaked in a silly voice, bouncing the cartoon figure in front of Archie’s face. ‘Don’t you think Archie is looking smart toda—’

  ‘Haven’t you got some work to do?’ he said, snapping off his headphones and glaring up at me.

  ‘Yes,’ I squeaked in the SpongeBob voice. ‘I mean …’ I switched back to my normal voice. ‘… yes, I do. I’m very busy, in fact. No time to chit-chat.’

  I hurried away, weaving through the office until I reached my desk.

  ‘Did you see Archibald?’ Nigel said, nudging me the second I sat down.

  I ignored him, switched on my computer, and flicked through my Javascript manual. Maybe if I looked studious he’d just go away.

  ‘Hey.’ He nudged me again. ‘Did you see Archibald’s hair?’ He was grinning from ear to ear. Idiot. ‘Did you see his hair, Lucy?’

  ‘What about Archie’s hair?’ I snapped.

  ‘Archie, is it now?’ He raised an eyebrow. ‘Well, Archie has only gone and cut all his hair off. The beard’s gone too.’

  ‘So?’

  ‘He won’t tell us why he did it. Do you know?’

  ‘No idea.’

  ‘Really?’

  I slammed the book shut and glared at him. Geoff and Joe had both stopped typing and were, oh-so-casually, listening in to our conversation.

  ‘Why are you so interested in Archie’s hair, Nigel?’

  He leaned back in his chair and looked from Geoff to Joe. ‘Well, it’s a bit weird, isn’t it? You and Archibald both go off sick yesterday afternoon and then he comes back with a new hairstyle.’

  ‘So what?’

  ‘So … something going on with you two, Lucy?’

  ‘No. Nothing. Nothing’s going on with me and Archie, got it?’

  ‘Oooh!’ He pulled a face and pretended to lift a handbag up to his chin. ‘No need to be so touchy.’

  ‘Then how about you shut up and let me get on with my work?’

  I glared at Geoff and Joe until they withered under my stare and started typing again. Nigel just shrugged and turned back to his monitor. It was going to be a long day.

 
; At lunchtime Nigel, Geoff, Joe and the rest of the office got up and pulled on their coats. They were obviously on their way to the pub but no one had mentioned it to me. Hardly surprising, considering the filthy mood I was in.

  As they filed out of the office, Nigel leaned across Archie’s desk, pulled back one of his headphones and said something I couldn’t hear. Archie shook his head, glanced across at me, but looked away the second our eyes met.

  ‘All right then,’ I heard Nigel say. ‘I’ll see you later.’

  And then the office was empty. Apart from Archibald and me.

  OK, this was my chance. All I had to do was get up, go across to his desk and have a chat with him. What was the worst that could happen? He could never talk to me again and I’d fail my task? OK, better not think like that. Think on the bright side. Or not at all. Just GO!

  ‘Archie,’ I said softly as I approached his desk. ‘Could we have a talk about what happened yesterday?’

  He was just about to reply when the door to the office swung open.

  ‘Afternoon, fellas,’ said Sally, swinging her basket onto the edge of Archie’s desk and knocking off his pot of pens. ‘Oh, just the two of you, is it? Where’s Archibald today?’

  ‘Archibald?’ I said, confused. ‘What do you mean? He’s just ther—’

  ‘Want a sandwich, New Boy?’ Sally asked, poking Archie’s shoulder with an electricblue fingernail.

  ‘Sally,’ he said, waving up at her. ‘It’s me!’

  ‘Bloody hell.’ Sally jumped so violently she nearly knocked her basket off the desk. ‘What happened to you?’

  Archie blushed, but said nothing.

  ‘What’s this?’ she said, fingering his short crop as though it was infected. ‘What happened to you?’

  ‘A mistake,’ he mumbled. ‘A big mistake.’

  ‘I should say. And why the hell would you shave off your beard too? You look weird.’

  ‘Hey,’ I said. ‘There’s no need to be rude.’

  ‘What’s it got to do with you, Lucy?’ Sally clasped her fingers to her slim hips and stared up at me. For a small woman she could look bloody intimidating when she wanted to.

  ‘I just think you should keep your opinions to yourself, that’s all,’ I said, taking a step backwards. ‘You’re making Archibald uncomfortable.’

  ‘I’d say he looked pretty damned uncomfortable anyway.’

  ‘How do you know?’

  ‘Just look at him,’ she said, passing her hand over his hair. ‘He looks like he’s been shorn.’

  ‘Why do you care?’

  ‘Why do you?’

  ‘Stop it,’ Archie shouted, jumping to his feet and holding out his hands. ‘Stop it, both of you.’

  We both stared at him in amazement. Sally even squealed in surprise.

  ‘What is it with women?’ Archie said, shaking his head. ‘Why do you insist on interfering in my life? If it’s not my gran, it’s you, Lucy, and now you, Sally. Have I got loser printed on my forehead, or what?’

  ‘You’re not a loser, Archibald,’ Sally said, quickly regaining her composure. ‘But your hair and your beard were part of who you are and I can’t understand why you’d want to change.’ Her defiant expression had faded and she looked genuinely upset. ‘I can’t understand it at all.’

  ‘Archie,’ I said. ‘Can we just talk? Please.’

  He looked from me to Sally and back again, then rubbed his face in his hands. He looked exhausted. ‘Would you mind leaving, Sally?’ he asked. ‘Lucy and I need to have a chat.’

  ‘Fine,’ she said, glaring at me and snatching her basket off the desk, ‘but if she’s responsible for your new look, Archibald, I suggest you ignore everything she says.’

  The office door slammed shut and Archie and I stared at each other, neither of us saying a word.

  Chapter Twenty-nine

  Archie was the first to speak. ‘Sit down, Lucy,’ he said, gesturing to the empty chair at the nearest desk. I wheeled it towards me and sat down, feeling strangely nervous. It wasn’t like him to be so forthright.

  ‘Archie,’ I said. ‘I just wanted to tell you that—’

  He held up a hand. ‘Could I go first? Please, I’d like to.’

  I shrugged. ‘Sure.’

  He leaned back in his chair and fiddled with his stapler, opening and shutting the lid over and over again. Click-click-click-click.

  ‘I’d like to start by apologising for my behaviour yesterday,’ he said. ‘I have never sworn at a woman before, Lucy, and it was most unfair and ungentlemanly of me.’

  ‘That’s OK, Archie,’ I said, digging my heels into the carpet, carving little half moon shapes into the pile.

  ‘I was unusually emotional yesterday and I didn’t know how to handle it.’

  ‘Archie—’

  ‘Please.’ He held up a hand again. ‘Let me finish. I think the reason I acted so unreasonably yesterday was because you touched a nerve when you said you thought I was lonely.’

  I opened my mouth to speak, but changed my mind almost immediately and shut it again.

  ‘I was, am, lonely,’ Archie continued, ‘and when you showed up here for your interview I liked you straightaway, but thought there was no way you’d ever like someone like me. I thought you were out of my league …’

  I wasn’t out of anyone’s league, especially not Archie’s.

  ‘… and then when you got the job and you showed an interest in me it seemed like fate. I thought I was going to be happy, for once. I really believed things were going to change …’

  I felt my mouth fill with saliva, the way it always does right before I cry, and I swallowed hard.

  ‘… but maybe you were right, Lucy. Maybe I was in love with the way I felt when I was around you. I’m just an idiot who is in love with the idea of being in love.’

  Archie’s voice choked on the word ‘love’ and I looked up.

  ‘Love is supposed to be a beautiful, amazing experience, Lucy, and I can’t think of anything more cruel than falling in love with someone who doesn’t love you back.’

  That was it, the line that broke me. Tears rolled down my face, curved round my nose and dripped off my jaw. I cried for me, for Dan, and for Archie. I cried because he deserved someone special and he’d fallen in love with me instead. It was all so horribly unfair.

  ‘Lucy,’ Archie said softly. ‘Lucy, please don’t cry. I didn’t mean to upset you.’

  I shook my head. The lump in my throat was so large I couldn’t speak.

  ‘Here,’ Archie said, passing me a clean, white handkerchief.

  The tenderness of the gesture set me off again and I buried my head in my knees.

  ‘Lucy, please say something. I feel horrible for making you cry.’

  ‘Archie,’ I said, swiping at my eyes. Thick, black lines of mascara streaked the handkerchief and I crumpled it up in my hand. I must have looked awful, but I really didn’t care. ‘You have to believe that I never meant to hurt you. I really, really didn’t.’

  ‘I believe you,’ he whispered, reaching for my hand.

  ‘And I wish I could tell you why I’m here, but I can’t.’

  He smiled. ‘Because you work here, Lucy.’

  ‘Yes, no, what I mean is … Oh, I don’t know. Archie, there’s a reason I got to know you. I really do want to help you find love.’

  He pulled away and frowned. ‘Why?’

  ‘Think of me as your guardian angel.’

  ‘Now you’re being ridiculous.’

  ‘Well yes, kind of, but I can help you, Archie. I know I can.’

  ‘I don’t know, Lucy,’ he sighed. ‘This experience has made me think maybe I’m better off alone.’

  ‘Archie,’ I said. ‘Can we be friends? Can we at least start there?’

  ‘I’d rather have you as a friend,’ he said, looking at me sadly, ‘than not at all.’

  ‘Then give me a hug,’ I said, holding out my arms.

  We wheeled our chairs together and hugged, a
wkwardly at first, and then more tightly.

  ‘Oi, oi,’ said a voice from the doorway. ‘What’s going on here, then?’

  Nigel was an absolute bloody nightmare for the rest of the afternoon. Whenever I stretched, swivelled in my seat or stood up to go to the toilet, he stopped whatever he was doing and stared at me.

  ‘What?’ I snapped after the sixth or seventh time I caught him gawping at me.

  ‘Nothing,’ he said, feigning indifference. ‘Just wondering when you’re going to admit that you and Archibald are an item.’

  ‘Read. My. Lips, Nigel. Archie and I are friends, nothing more.’

  ‘So why the tears and hug earlier? Did you dump him? Or did he dump you?’

  ‘Oh, for God’s sake.’ I sighed. ‘Archie and I are not, and never have been, involved. Romantically, or any other way. We’re just friends.’

  ‘Then why were you crying?’

  ‘That’s none of your business.’

  ‘So you and Archie aren’t going to dress up as each other for the fancy dress party tomorrow?’

  ‘What?’

  He smirked. ‘We have to dress up as our favourite things. Remember?’

  ‘Oh fuck off, Nige.’

  I turned back to my screen, desperately wishing I had my own set of headphones to jam onto my ears. Archie and I had agreed to be friends, which was a massive weight off my mind, but I still had plenty to worry about:

  1) How I was going to spy on Dan and Anna during their dinner date that evening without being spotted

  2) How the hell I was going to find love for Archie when I only had seven full days left

  3) Would Troy admit he was a railway enthusiast so Brian could pass his task?

  4) What to wear to the bloody fancy dress party

  The most urgent thing on the list was spying on Dan and Anna’s dinner date. Everything else would have to wait. Anna hadn’t said what time they were meeting up, so my plan was to get to the restaurant as early as possible.

  I looked around to check no one was watching and surreptitiously sniffed my armpits. Ew, the sprint into work had left me really stinky. There was no point hiding from Dan and Anna if they could smell me coming, I’d have to go home and get changed. I looked at my watch: 5.29 p.m. I’d have to be quick.