‘Good. Do you want to be a maternity nurse at all?’
‘No,’ I replied.
‘Good. Then don’t. What do you want to do, with your career?’
I hesitated. I did have an idea, but I had barely expressed it to myself, let alone anyone else.
‘Come on, I know there’s something. Tell Christal.’
‘What I want to do is go back to university, do an MA and become a nurse educator. I think I’d be good at that,’ I blurted out.
‘You wouldn’t begoodat that, my darling, you’d be bloody brilliant. Say it.’
I giggled nervously, then said, ‘I’d be bloody brilliant.’
‘That’s right. Say that every day and get your application in. Now, do you want to meet another man?’
‘Yes.’
‘Do you feel ready to be with someone?’
‘Yes.’
‘Is that person Nick?’
A smile spread across my face.
‘Yes!’
‘There you go. You’ve done the hard bit, which is knowing what you want. Now, all you have left is the fun part – going out and getting it.’
A wave of energy swept away my worry and exhaustion.
‘Because I’m bloody brilliant?’
Christal swept me into a feathery, sequinned, scented hug.
‘You’ve got it.’
I went back to the table and, ignoring Dorothea who was now bossing people into a game of Bride Bingo that no one had any appetite for, leant over and gave Steph a huge hug.
‘I’ve had a brilliant evening,’ I said. ‘And I’m so happy for you, but it’s time I went home. See you on the big day.’
Minty was dancing and, when I asked her if she wanted to leave, she cocked her head at the hunk she was with and said she’d see where the evening took her.
Next, I went over to Sue, who was slumped at the end of the banquette, asleep. I touched her shoulder and when I got no response, gave her a little shake. Her eyes opened slowly and tried to focus on me.
‘I’m going home now,’ I said. ‘I’ll drop you off, too. Where do you live?’
She mumbled the name of a small town not far from where we were, so I opened my taxi app and tapped in the details. Things were going my way that night: the cab would be with us in ten minutes. I helped Sue up, got both our coats from the cloakroom and steered her out into the cold night air, hoping that it would help sober her up, rather than make her throw up. We stood, shivering, as the night life of Taunton passed us by: giggling women holding each other up and talking about how much they were looking forward to getting into pyjamas; a group of rugby players, apparently not freezing in their shorts, singing ‘Oh Come, All Ye Faithful’ complete with a descant that I think surprised everyone, including the six footer producing it. Before long, a silver car drew up and I checked the registration number against my app, then hopped in before anyone else could try to pinch it. Sue, thankfully, made it home without being sick and we waited until she opened her front door and gave us a feeble wave before pulling away.
It was nearly midnight when I crept through the door of Lyonscroft. I tiptoed upstairs and towards my room. There was a band of light under Marilise’s door – was she still awake? Was she okay? Quickly, I ran into my room and kicked off my shoes, then hurried back and opened her door quietly. To my relief, she was sitting up in bed, tapping away at her phone.
‘Hello, Laura,’ she said, looking up and seeing me. ‘How was your evening? Do come in and tell me all about it. I like the photos you sent.’
She patted the bed next to her, and I remembered how much she had enjoyed hearing about the Christmas concert so, tired though I was, I sat down and told her about the evening, making her laugh when I described Dorothea’s party games. I skimmed over my conversation with Christal, eager to give her only the funny highlights of the night, but she wasn’t to be hoodwinked.
‘She sounds wise,’ she said. ‘What else did she say?’
