‘But it’s fantastic, isn’t it, helping to make science an exciting, relatable subject for children. Don’t run yourself down.’
This was all for Eric’s benefit. He nodded sagely. Cassie winced as her memory catapulted her back to the shock of cold green slime cascading down on her head and 500 kids chorusing ‘Slime! Slime! Slime!’ like the mob at the Colosseum.
‘It’s all a business in the end, isn’t it?’ said Eric evenly.
Cassie could’ve hugged him.
* * *
Josie looked a bit different on Zoom. Everybody did – you were flat, after all. A two-dimensional image, like you were an astronaut phoning Earth from outer space. It felt a bit like that too.
‘If you change your mind and feel like coming back, you can always crash with me and Pal for a few weeks. I really miss you and I know Pal does too. By the way, a friend of mine is just opening a café in Islington – street food and eclectic interior kind of thing, and I’m sure I could get you a job.’
‘Don’t tempt me, Jos. I can’t explain it, I just feel like I can’t go back.’
‘I understand, if that’s how you feel, sweetie.’
‘Ever since Bea passed .?.?. and Gavin buggered off. It’s like London changed for me. It feels like the end of an era. I miss you and Pal terribly, but I can’t keep floating along day-to-day with no proper plan. I have to try and build something solid before it’s too late and people start feeling sorry for me and referring to me as “you used to be .?.?.”’
Josie looked hard at her.
‘You know, in my family we say every crisis is an opportunity. The universe never closes one door, but it opens another.’
‘I know, Josie, but I just feel like I’m stuck in the hallway and I haven’t the energy to keep trying all the feckin’ doors one after another. I feel like all that time I was buzzing along and holding on to my dreams, real life was happening somewhere else, and I’ve just woken up. Sorry for being a moany Mona. I’d better go.’
‘Wait!’
There was something in her tone that jolted Cassie to attention.
‘Just before you go, I’ve been meaning to tell you but .?.?. Look, I’ve a bit of news.’
‘Ooooh, I’m intrigued.’
There was a pause that felt anything but empty.
‘I’m pregnant.’
Time stopped. Dead.
‘Shit, Jesus, what? How? When? I mean, that’s fabulous.’
Nothing, nothing on earth had prepared her for this.
She registered that Josie was blinking a lot. She could also see in the thumbnail screen that her own face had collapsed and she was looking unnervingly like the Churchill dog. She pulled herself together instantly.
‘That’s .?.?. That’s incredible! Oh my God, Jos, I didn’t even know you guys were trying.’
‘We weren’t, that’s the thing. It just happened.’
Fate had taken a hand, or rather it had taken Josie’s hand and presented her with this most wonderful of gifts. Not Cassie. Not her with Gav in all the years they’d been together. Why was she so floored? Surely, she could’ve realised it was always a possibility.
‘Oh my God, I’m so excited for you. I couldn’t be more excited.’ She was aware of the concern on Josie’s face.
‘I’m sorry, I was going to save it for a better time.’
Normally, they could be savagely, delightfully honest with each other but this was too big, too unknown, too painful for honesty.
‘What? There isn’t a better time. This is the better time. It’s amazing. That’s what it is.’
