“I owe you,” Ash says.
As we head up the stairs, I look back and mouththank youto Ash. He doesn’t move. He watches me go. Our eyes are locked, and yet I turn away. And then I keep turning back to look at him, because I know he’s watching me.
32
Friday, a weekand one day before the election, and I’m sitting at Happy Hair getting my highlights and my trim and the town gossip from Jackie, who called with a sudden gap in her books a few hours ago. Ryan and Samira are out and about conducting unofficial and probably unhelpful opinion polls in the car park of Tesco. An excuse to hang out, I presume.
“Everyone knows what you guys are doing, but I just think that opposition guy is too strong,” Jackie is saying about Lynn’s electoral competition. “Did you know he used to be a magician? How are you going to compete withthat?”
“I’m no election expert,” I reply, “but sheseemsto have a groundswell of support.”
“Twitter isn’t the real world, sweetie,” Jackie says, carefully combing my fringe forward.
“I’m not talking about Twitter,” I say. “Frankly, I’ve never seen the Broadgate election mentioned on there. I mean in thecommunity. Our community.” I feel an unfamiliar bloom of pride as I say this last part.
“Well, I’m happy for you. It would be great to save the lido. My Gus loves a swim there, when it’s warm enough, between late July and roughly the third week of August.”
“We’re looking into the logistics of putting solar panels on the roof and heating it,” I say. “What do you think of that?”
“I think sign me up, bitch,” she replies.
The door opens and Ash is standing there, boilersuit on; as he clocks me, I see the surprise spread across his face.
“Mara?” he says, striding across the room and taking a seat in the spinning chair next to me. I feel an instant rush of warmth when I see him, followed by a wave of sadness. “I didn’t know you’d be here.” As he says this, he frowns at Jackie. “Jackie told me to come down for a cut.”
“Okay, interesting,” I say, looking back at Jackie, who has started whistling and playing with the brushes in her color trolley. “My appointment opportunity suddenly came up too.”
“Nothing to do with me,” Jackie says, like she’s not actually in charge of the appointments. “Your friend Samira suggested it.” My eyes catch Ash’s and we both offer up a shy smile to each other.
“You were away again,” I say, looking back from Jackie to Ash.
“I’ve been at my folks’. I needed space to work and think,” he says, the emphasis onthink. He’s looking out the windows to the bay across the street. I haven’t spoken to him in any detail about the trip to Vienna or had a chance to thank him properly about Chris because I haven’t had time alone with him, just that one solitary moment at the lido when he brought his cousin in. I have no idea what’s happening with him and Kate.
Our eyes meet and I quickly look down at my sandals, mypedicured toes something I was used to now. I wiggle the little blue nails.
“And how’s the, um, work going?” I ask Ash, glancing up at Jackie, who I wish would just disappear now. Fancy setting this up and then hanging around to hear everything.
“It’s good,” he replies.
“And, how is, um... thethinkinggoing?”
At that moment, Jackie interrupts. “Kate. For God’s sake, tell us about Kate,” she says impatiently, knocking over a rounded brush as she gesticulates.
Ash glances up at Jackie and then across at me and lets out a laugh as I roll my eyes. Mercifully Jackie finally gets the message.
“You know what, I’m just going to go and make a call, okay? Then you two can talk.”
As soon as she leaves, I say, “I’ve missed you at home. You don’t have to stay away.”
“I know,” he says. “I just felt a bit... I just needed space.”
“Are you back with Kate?”
“Did you go to Vienna to see that guy?”
“I didn’t see him,” I say.
Ash seems to perk up a bit at this. But before I have a moment to push him on Kate, Ryan enters the salon. Topless. With two friends in tow, also topless. Followed closely by Samira, who cannot take her eyes off Ryan’s chest.
