Essie tossed her head. ‘Be seated,’ she said. ‘References?’
Liv sat down. She took a few sheets out of her bag, glad she’d thought to bring them along.
Essie scrutinized them and her expression gave nothing away. ‘Why should I hire you? And don’t waffle on.’
Liv swallowed. ‘Because I’m hardworking, do a great job and make my own cleaning products.’
Essie pressed her hand to a yawn.
Liv tried to think quickly. She and Jake needed every penny, and Essie was her heroine. What could she say that wasn’t sycophantic or dull? ‘In addition to that, I’m discreet and quiet,’ she said. ‘You’ll probably be working while I’m here, and I’ll be sensitive to that. When I was growing up, Georgia Rory was very important to me, helped me through some tough times in my childhood. I try to emulate her tenacity and attention to detail.’
Essie’s lips twitched ever so slightly. ‘Quite.’ She handed the references back to Liv, and turned back to her laptop. She started to type again. ‘That is all.’
Liv sat there for a while not knowing what to do. Eventually she stood up and said, ‘Um, thank you.’
Jane met her by the front door. ‘How did it go?’ she said.
Liv shook her head, puzzled. ‘I really have no idea.’
But that evening, the offer of a job had arrived in her inbox.
Even now, Liv was still astonished by Essie’s offer of employment.
When Anthony rejoined her on the bench, Liv snapped back to the present. ‘What happens now?’ she asked him.
‘We take a little time to pay our respects to Essie, then leave.’
She crumpled her brow. ‘But someone has to say a few words.’
‘Her instructions were clear, no fuss or faffing.’
‘But that’s wrong. We can’t just let her go likethis.’ Liv had brought along her copy ofThe Moon on the Water, which she took from her bag. She’d bookmarked a favourite passage and leafed to it.
‘What are you doing?’ Anthony said, touching her wrist.
She shook his hand away and squeezed past him off the bench, not meeting his eyes. ‘I’m saying goodbye. Someone’s got to do it properly.’ As she walked to the front of the room, she spoke to herself under her breath. ‘You didn’t say anything about banning prose, Essie.’
Taking a deep breath, Liv faced the rows of empty benches and visualized Essie at the back of the room, her dark lenses like bluebottle eyes, tossing her bobbed hair as if reluctantly granting her permission. Liv cleared her throat and started to read.
‘The wind shook the cherry blossom trees so petals danced around Georgia’s body like a flurry of snowflakes. She took a deep breath, stuck out her chest and batted them off her shoulders and from her hair. Her heart pitter-pattered when she thought about her next step into the unknown. The journey might be long, and the terrain would certainly be rocky, but she told herself that wherever she went there would always be flowers. She refused to be scared about whatever lay ahead…’
Liv’s voice wobbled as it echoed around the room. Afterwards, she hurriedly pushed the book back into her bag. Her legs quaked as she walked towards the polished wooden casket at the front. A sob rose in her chest when she thought about Essie lying inside, and she frantically plucked out her own image of the writer instead, wearing her blue embroidered dress and proudly clasping her crystal Constellation star.
‘Sleep tight, Essie,’ Liv whispered. ‘Sweet dreams.’
She stood there for a while, until Anthony appeared at her side.
‘I’d like to say goodbye, too,’ he said. ‘Alone.’
Liv obliged and stumbled outside. She stood on the doorstep for a while, taking gulps of the damp air. The rain had dispersed, and the sky had lightened from grey to the palest blue, weak sunshine winking through the clouds.
She peered around her, fearful that word of Essie’s death had got out somehow, and that she was to blame. She imagined photographers, inconsolable fans dressed as Georgia Rory, and chic people from the literary industry milling around, pretending to look at gravestones with their cameras and phones hidden under their scarves. But there was only a family of mourners at the far end of the yard, and her breathing grew easier.
More than ten minutes passed before Anthony joined her. Liv thought he might apologize for keeping her waiting, but he was quiet and his eyes were downcast.
As they walked towards the gates together, the sound of their feet on the gravel path was as loud as pistol shots.
When Liv closed the gates behind her, she shivered, feeling numb. ‘What should we do now?’ she said. ‘Find a pub and raise a glass to Essie?’
