Living My Best Life

by Claire Frost

  ‘Let’s hope so. Anyway, I know you have to get to work so I’ll stop gabbing on, but I can’t thank you enough for your support today, Bell. Having you with me made everything less nerve-racking. You’re such a good friend, thank you. And just so you know, if I was looking for a female partner, then you would so be her,’ she grinned.

  Bell smiled to herself all the way through the bus journey to work. Until she checked her email and was assaulted by a hundred new requests for figures and information and extra meetings. She quickly checked her personal email, too, and saw a load of messages from various members of the committee.

  The fair was now only a week and a half away and the organisational questions were piling up, making her feel a bit sick at the thought of everything that still needed sorting. Although it would have to wait until at least this evening as she spotted another five emails land in her work inbox in the time it took her to get off the bus and walk to the front door of the Style It Out building. On her way up the stairs to the office, she quickly fired off a message asking for one final committee meeting at the weekend. After that she’d just have to hope for the best.

  Chapter Twenty-four

  Bell

  On Saturday morning, Bell commandeered a couple of tables in the community centre’s café and spread out all the many pieces of paper she’d managed to accumulate over the past few weeks, from a list of stalls and who was going to man them, to a record of the football teams who’d signed up so far. With Louis on board for the tournament, they’d already had twenty teams of five sign up and pay the fee of twenty-five pounds a team, which was five hundred pounds in the bank immediately, but they could definitely do with more people. They still hadn’t had the bouncy castle confirmed, as the council’s health and safety person had got involved and had to check that everything complied with the rules, but she hoped Lynne and Marcus would bring good news on that front when they arrived.

  Bell’s phone lit up with a couple of notifications. The previous weekend she had bitten the bullet and reactivated her Facebook account in order to help spread news of the fair and the whole fundraising effort far and wide. She’d been careful to only really use it for this purpose for the last week, but obviously she hadn’t been able to resist a quick peek at Colin’s page.

  It seemed he and Tina were very much still an item and he’d even changed his profile pic to one of the pair of them together. In the whole of the ten years Bell had been with Colin, she was fairly sure his profile image had been him on his own, and his statuses had never been anywhere near as effusive as the ‘Colin is feeling lucky to be snuggled up to the kindest, most gorgeous woman tonight’ he’d posted the other evening.

  At first, she’d felt anger and nausea rise up into her throat when she’d seen his posts, but now, a few days down the line, she was just grateful that his happiness had meant he’d given in on the house price. Bell knew she was happier herself now they’d split up, so why shouldn’t he be happier, too? She’d felt very grown-up at that point and had smugly messaged Suze to tell her, who’d quickly replied, saying,

  Well if Tina is happy with someone who ends his emails kind regards, then good luck to them both! x

  And Bell had choked on her glass of wine. Thankfully, the notifications she’d just received weren’t about Colin cosying up to his sweetheart, but were in fact Facebook friends telling her they were going to try to come to the fair the following weekend, which was cheering.

  Once the whole committee had arrived, Bell asked each of them to report back on what they’d managed to get done and what was still outstanding.

  ‘We’ve finally had sign-off from health and safety for the bouncy castle,’ Lynne said, and Bell breathed a sigh of relief. ‘And Marcus managed to get them to hire it to us for free after explaining why we’re trying to raise so much money. They’ll be here to set it up at eight on Saturday morning and we can have it till five o’clock.’

  ‘That’s brilliant, you two!’ Bell said. ‘Laura, how have you got on with the spit-roasted pig?’

  ‘Well, after a fair amount of begging and promising things I won’t mention in front of the children,’ she said, nodding at Lisa, Ian and Matt as everyone laughed, ‘I’ve managed to wrangle us a pig, a spit and two men to cook it, along with a load of bread rolls, fried onions and apple sauce.’ The rest of the group cheered, but Laura put her hand up to silence them. ‘I’m not done yet, och no! I’ve also got a small whisky and gin distillery from Derbyshire to come down and give tastings to anyone over eighteen, and flog their wares, of course. And they’ve also donated a couple of bottles to the raffle.’

  ‘I’m a bit scared about what you might have promised them, Laura, but well done, excellent work! Now, Di and Sarah, where are you at with the craft stalls?’

  ‘We’ve got all the local WI ladies to donate blankets and baby things they’ve knitted, and me and Di have got enough cross-stitched stuff for a stall,’ Sarah replied. ‘Plus, the WI is going to do what it does best and provide enough cake to feed the five thousand.’

  ‘Yay, sounds good, thanks, ladies. Ben, you’ve been looking after the photography display, haven’t you?’

  ‘Yep; while we haven’t been able to get the prints on a website for people to buy ahead of the fair, we’re going to hang all the pictures in the room down the hall on Saturday and I’ve got a local company to come along to make prints for people and frame them while they wait. I was thinking of charging ten pounds a print and then whatever the company want to charge for the framing service, is that okay?’

  ‘Perfect,’ Bell agreed and consulted her list. ‘Lisa, Ian and Matt, you’ve been spreading the word around your college, I know, and you were also looking after the traditional games.’

  ‘Yes, we had to google loads of them to work out what they are, but I think we’ve sorted hook-a-duck, hoopla and a coconut shy.’ Lisa nodded seriously. ‘Matt’s parents are getting us a load of coconuts from Aldi next week and we’re borrowing some balls from the school where my mum works. Plus, she has loads of bunting we can put up around the stalls to make it look more vintage.’

  ‘And my mum’s on the PTA at my brother’s school and is always running raffles, so she’s volunteered to be in charge of that,’ Ian added. ‘Some of the teachers at college have donated a few things for it, and we’ve got the whisky Laura’s sorted, but do we have much else?’

  ‘Hmm, I’m not sure. Okay, this week, let’s contact all the local hotels, businesses and anyone else we can think of and get them to donate a prize. I’m thinking hotel stays, dinners for two, that kind of thing, as we need some bigger prizes,’ Bell said. ‘Millie, you’ve obviously got Louis on board for the football tournament, which is brilliant, and Lee, who’s a PE teacher at the big secondary school down the road, is going to be in charge of the logistics for it, though hopefully he’s recruited some helpers too as we’ve already got quite a few teams signed up, and fingers crossed more will join up on the day. We’re hoping Louis is going to sign autographs and do selfies if people want them, all for a fee, obviously. How did you get on with the local press, Mills?’

  ‘Good, I think,’ she said. ‘They all seemed interested when I sent them the press release and made noises about coming down to cover it, so we’ll just have to see on the day. What I have managed to confirm is that Dream 105 FM are definitely going to set up in the car park for most of the day, so as well as playing tunes and running some giveaways, they were talking about holding some kind of dance-off or DJ-off or something, which will hopefully create a good vibe.’

  ‘Amazing,’ Bell replied. ‘Oh, and I’ve spoken to a few people at work and I’ve managed to get hold of a load of old stock, which they’ve agreed to donate for us to sell. Just summer dresses, last season’s slogan T-shirts and beach bags, nothing fancy – but my friend Suze is going to man the stall and I’m sure she’ll find ways to make people buy all kinds of things they never knew they wanted!’

  ‘Bagsy getting a sneak preview before we open!�
� Lisa laughed. ‘That sounds amazing, Bell.’

  ‘Well, hopefully, it will do well. Oh, and I’ve also contacted someone I follow on Instagram who makes really cool pottery and she’s going to come up from London for the day and sell her stuff, too. What else? Oh, yes, inflatables for the pool party in the afternoon. Thoughts, anyone?’

  ‘I might still have the flamingo I brought back from Ibiza last year,’ Matt said. ‘And we can ask everyone at college to bring any they have as it’s all anyone’s taking on holiday with them this year.’

  ‘Okay, fingers crossed on that, then,’ Bell said, ticking it off her list and deciding it wasn’t the end of the world if they only had a couple. ‘The centre’s lifeguards who would have been on duty on Saturday anyway have both donated their wages for that day to the cause, which is brilliant.’

  ‘I’d better make sure I say thank you properly to them at the weekend!’ Laura cackled. ‘Have you seen those guys’ abs? Seriously.’ She started fanning herself with a few pieces of paper from Bell’s pile.

  ‘You do that, Lau,’ Bell laughed. ‘Right, what else have I forgotten? We’ve got plenty of volunteers to take people’s money on the door and Rita and Tony are organising an army of oldies to walk round with collection buckets all day in case people have any spare change. Oh, and we’ve got face-painting and glitter nails being sorted, too. And Sheila and Sue are going to man a Pimm’s stall. They’ve offered to buy all the drink and fruit themselves as their contribution, which is ridiculously kind of them,’ Bell said, a little lump forming in her throat.

  ‘As long as they don’t drink it all between them!’ Marcus said and they all giggled. ‘What happens if it rains, Bell, or do we pretend I never asked that question?’ he added quickly.

  ‘Erm, I think we all just pray to the sun gods,’ Bell said. ‘It’s been gorgeous for the past few days and when I checked the forecast it seemed to say temperatures were going to stay in the early twenties for the next couple of weeks, but you never know, obviously.’ She wasn’t about to admit that she’d been obsessively checking the weather three times a day for the last week. ‘I’m not going to worry about it until we have to, as we have the whole centre at our disposal and we’d just have to make it work. Anything else?’

  ‘Is there going to be a master of ceremonies?’ Laura asked. ‘Someone needs to declare the fair open and introduce Louis, then tell everyone when the various activities are starting and draw the raffle and stuff. You’re doing that, yep?’ she asked, fixing Bell with a stare that meant there was no way she could refuse.

  ‘I guess . . .’ she replied. ‘Unless anyone else wants to?’ But immediately the rest of the group shouted her down and she was left with no choice. ‘Okay, well that seems to be decided. Right, well I think that’s it, but text, call or email me if you think of anything else as the week goes on or if you have any questions, and I’ll do my best to answer them. I’ll be here all evening on Friday and then from seven o’clock on Saturday, ready for opening at eleven. So I’ll see you all then – let’s get this money raised and save our centre!’

  They all cheered and Millie put her arm round her shoulders. Even though Bell was feeling completely overwhelmed by how much she still needed to do and how much she needed to check other people were doing, she cheered along with them until they were all whooped out.

  *

  As she sat on the bus home on Friday afternoon, her never-ending checklist looped through her head, snagging on all the things she still had to do, but Bell felt her heart thumping with anxious excitement.

  ‘What if there’s suddenly a freak storm, or an accident on the main road so no one can get here, or none of the stallholders turn up, or Louis forgets all about it, or everyone decides to go to the pub instead?’ she gabbled at Ben when he met her at the community centre that evening.

  ‘Bell, calm down,’ he soothed gently, putting down the takeaway coffee cups he was holding. He placed his hands on her shoulders and forced her to look him in the eye. ‘I’ve checked the forecast and there’s not a spot of rain predicted, the stallholders will definitely all come, and I’m sure Louis will too. And even if there is a major accident, which hopefully there won’t be, people will find other ways of getting here.’

  A moment passed between them as he finished speaking and Bell suddenly registered how close the two of them were standing. Their eyes remained locked for a beat, before he removed his hands and stepped back.

  ‘Now, do you want a flat white or a latte? I couldn’t decide which you’d prefer.’

  ‘The flat white, please,’ she replied, the corners of her mouth turning up despite herself. ‘And then we’d better get started – there’s a ridiculous amount of stuff to do.’

  ‘There’s always time for a coffee and a chocolate muffin,’ Ben declared, producing two delicious-looking cakes from his bag.

  ‘Try as I might, I can’t disagree with that statement,’ Bell laughed. ‘Okay, ten minutes and then we must get on.’

  The marriage of caffeine and sugar proved to be the perfect fuel, and for the next few hours the pair put up trestle tables, stacked chairs, and pinned up bunting to a soundtrack of classic nineties hits thanks to Ben’s Spotify playlist.

  ‘Do I sound like a complete old person by saying music was so much better in our day?’ Bell asked as the final notes of No Doubt’s ‘Don’t Speak’ played out.

  ‘Well, that would make me a complete old person, too, so I’m saying no,’ Ben grinned. ‘Right, I think we’ve probably done pretty much everything we can this evening, and I for one am starving. Do you fancy some celebratory fish and chips?’

  Bell looked at the empty wall in front of her and then at the pile of framed photographs she had yet to hang and was about to protest, until her stomach betrayed her with an embarrassingly loud growl that made them both burst out laughing.

  ‘Well, it seems like I have my answer,’ Ben grinned.

  ‘Only if I can have mushy peas, too,’ Bell agreed. ‘Though if you don’t mind going to get them, I’ll quickly hang these pictures while you’re out.’

  Half an hour later they were both happily munching vinegary chips, crispy cod and sweet mushy peas while admiring the photography class’s pictures on the wall all over again.

  ‘It’s a pretty impressive display, considering how rubbish we all were to begin with, isn’t it?’ Bell observed, taking a swig from one of the bottles of beer Ben had also had the foresight to bring back with him. ‘Well, all of us except you,’ she amended.

  ‘I was hardly Mario Testino. Not that I am now, obviously,’ he clarified quickly. ‘I learned so much from Sheila and also from seeing everyone else’s photos each week. And, of course, that shoot with Ade was amazing.’

  Bell’s now full stomach fluttered at the mention of Ade – not, for once, because of his model good looks, but rather at the memory of what he’d said to her about Ben. She glanced at him sitting next to her now and grinned. ‘Cheers to that,’ she said, raising her bottle and clinking it against his.

  ‘And cheers to you, Bell. Tomorrow is going to be amazing.’

  ‘Well, it’s thanks to you too – I’d never have been able to get so much done tonight without all your help.’

  They continued to smile at each other and Bell felt the same electricity build between them as it had earlier. Gradually their bodies closed the space between them until their lips were almost touching. Ben moved a fraction towards her and suddenly they were kissing. Bell’s brain tried to tell her a hundred reasons why none of what was happening was a good idea, but her heart pushed them all down and she lost herself in the deliciousness of the moment.

  She had no more conscious thoughts until some time later when Ben’s playlist threw up Rage Against The Machine’s ‘Killing In The Name Of’, and despite them both trying to block the song out, it rather poured cold water on their passion and they found they couldn’t stop giggling.

  ‘That’s quite an eclectic playlist you have there!’ Bell said as she
fought back more laughter.

  ‘Erm, yes, got to love the Shuffle button, right?’ Ben grinned ruefully as he closed his music app. ‘But until that point, I was quite enjoying things.’

  ‘Quite enjoying things? Rude!’ Bell joked. Their eyes locked again and her body gave an involuntary jolt. She forced herself to look at her watch and her eyes widened. ‘Shit, you do know it’s gone midnight? God, we need to be back here in less than seven hours.’

  ‘It’s fine, we can leave now and clear up this stuff in the morning.’ His expression became more serious. ‘Bell, I know it’s not far, but isn’t it a bit late for you to be walking home on your own? Look, why don’t you stay at mine and I’ll run you back to yours in the car first thing?’

  Bell could barely think straight through the fog of hormones swirling around her body, but the one thing she knew was that she didn’t want to mess up whatever it was that was going on between her and Ben, even if that meant they were just friends. So she made a great show of laughing off his comment.

  ‘It’s not that late, and we live in the Home Counties – it’s hardly the Bronx! I’m sure I’ll be fine.’

  Ben’s face fell before he visably shook himself and said in a rush, ‘I know. I guess what I’m trying to say is I’ve really enjoyed this evening and I don’t want it to end.’

  ‘Well, heaving those tables around wasn’t really that enjoyable, to be honest!’ Bell began, before catching his expression. ‘Sorry. I don’t, I mean . . . I’m not really up for a one-night stand!’ she blurted out awkwardly.

  ‘Bell, it’s fine,’ Ben said, grabbing her hand. ‘I didn’t mean it to sound like that at all. One-night stands are not my thing, especially with someone like you. Not that I don’t want to – y’know . . . I mean . . . Argh!’ They both started laughing again. ‘Look, I’d love you to come back to mine tonight, but we definitely don’t have to do anything. We’re both grownups and I’ve got a spare room. . .’ He took a deep breath and Bell couldn’t stop the corners of her mouth lifting.