Pippa’s face freezes in terror. It’s so cartoonish that even Gus is purse-lipped, struggling to keep it together. We make eye contact for a moment, subtly sharing a nod of solidarity.
‘Erm, well, I– it’s kind of a mix of everything,’ she stammers. ‘I just feel like where she’s been under my wing, she’s managed to pick up quite a lot over these four years.’
‘So, you’ve led on an event this big before?’ Evie asks plainly, already knowing the answer.
Pippa’s cheeks are growing redder by the minute. She keeps taking sips of her cocktail but all that’s left are the dregs, and each fake sip makes that fact even more obvious.
‘Well, Abbingtorn’s never really had an event to this scale. . .’ Pippa answers eventually, unable to meet Evie’s narrowed eyes.
‘And, Maddison, you are doing an amazing job handling the company’s first one,’ Evie says, giving me a warm smile.
It is a takedown of beauty– classy from start to finish with the kind of cut that goes deep without too hard a strike. Oliver and Maxwell are stunned and Pippa, bless her, is still too stressed out to realise just how hard Evie’s shut her down. Evie is everything I want to be and more, wrapped up in beautiful, pristine packaging. I wanted the job before, but now Ineedit, more than I need to breathe.
‘So next steps,’ Evie continues, clapping her hands together and snapping everyone back into business mode. ‘How rigid are these timelines?’
‘We can certainly make amends if you think they’re needed,’ Aiden answers.
She nods in acknowledgement, carefully flicking through the printout and hovering over a selection of dates.
‘I’m going away just before the Summer Splash. Aiden– cancel the house-sitters for that first weekend. I want you two to schedule an overnight.’
‘An overnight?’ I say.
‘By the time of the event, I need you two to know my house and the grounds better than you know yourselves. I’ll get two of the spare rooms made up, you can go up Friday night and Aidencan spend Saturday and Sunday getting you better acquainted. I’ll stock the fridges and pantries– I want you to feel like you’velivedthere. It will make the event run better and have my guests feel more at ease.’
It’s wildly unorthodox, but so is Evie, and, somehow, it makes perfect sense coming out of her mouth.
‘Aiden’s house-sat for me before– he can assure you there are no ghosts or anything of that sort,’ she adds in jest. ‘Does that work for you?’
‘Yeah, I can fit that in,’ I say, mentally flicking through our timeline.
I feel a flutter first, and then a stampede of butterflies kick at my poor, sushi-filled stomach. My breath hitches, but I vow to remain in control, grappling for the folder on the table and zeroing in on our notes.
Aiden’s hand slides over the one I still have under the table as he gives me a small, reassuring pat on my clenched fist.
‘Chill,’ he whispers. ‘The diary can wait. We’ll rearrange things together after this meeting.’
It doesn’t help anything. The butterflies grow more ferocious from the moment his skin touches mine.
‘I’ll handle the overnight expenses, of course,’ Evie says, head flicking between Oliver, Maxwell and Pippa. ‘So, are we done?’
We all nod because everyone knows by now that if Evie Eesuola says we’re done, then we are definitely done.
Nudge 26
The Coward’s Way Out
Days until the Summer Splash– 42
Days until no more Aiden– 56
Days since latest ‘disagreement’ with Benji– 11
Days since I last got a response from him– 6
I deserve better. I know that. I am not in denial. But then Benji texts me and I smile, and my memory grows selective.
I went through the removal process– deleted his name from my phone, archived the chats, even had a mock wake with the girls. I was done– I swore I was, and I like to think that I meant it. But then he texted.Sorry, life’s been hard.And I folded instantly.
