No.
Oh sweet Jesus, no.
‘Eleanor, what’s wrong?’ She felt Sal’s hand reach for her. ‘You look like you’ve seen a ghost.’
‘Laura’s wedding,’ Eleanor managed weakly.
‘Yes?’
‘Oliver.’ The name sent nausea through her body.
‘What about him?’ Sal’s confused face came sharply into focus.
‘I haven’t told Laura about Oliver. She thinks he’s coming to the wedding with me. This is a disaster. I can’t turn up and sit next to an empty place. It will be too late to cancel; the wedding is in like two weeks’ time or something ridiculous!’ Eleanor garbled, the panic pushing all of her thoughts out of her mouth uncensored.
‘It’s actually next weekend, but that’s by the by,’ Salcorrected. ‘Eleanor, don’t worry. We will sort it.’ The calming, steady voice of her friend soothed her slightly. ‘I will sort it.’
Eleanor gulped her wine and watched as Sal pulled out her phone and began typing furiously. ‘I’m emailing her now and explaining everything, just sit and keep drinking. Actually no, maybe order some food.’ She eyed her warily. ‘We don’t want you getting drunk and disorderly.’
Eleanor’s mind was racing. How could she have forgotten? How stupid could she have been?
‘Done!’ Sal announced. ‘Honestly, Eleanor, stopworrying. It will be fine. It’s not a big deal. If anyone can handle this, it’s Laura.’ Sal sat back and threw a packet of peanuts at her. ‘Now, eat these while I order us some proper food.’
Sal was right: between them Eleanor wouldn’t trust anyone else to help her in a crisis. Laura had been one of the senior managers in the office when she first joined the company. She was cut-throat, highly demanding and forthright, but with a heart of pure gold. Sal had introduced the pair and they had instantly clicked. Laura had left the company nearly two years ago but they had all stayed in touch.
‘OK,’ she mumbled. ‘OK, fine.’
Eleanor allowed her breathing to return to a somewhat steady rhythm, but her eyes kept anxiously watching Sal’s phone for any signs of Laura’s reply.
Luckily, she only had to wait ten minutes. Sal grabbed the phone before Eleanor could reach across the table.
‘Jesus, woman. Give me a second.’ Her eyes flickered back and forth. ‘It’s fine. Laura sends her love and can’t wait to give you a huge hug at the wedding. She says you’re better than any man and she hopes you’re doing OK. She also said that because it’s so close to the day, they have already ordered and paid for Oliver’s meal, et cetera, but they candelete his name from everything and you can bring a plus one instead,’ Sal read aloud. ‘See, I told you it would be fine.’ She passed the phone to Eleanor as proof.
‘Well, it’s not totally fine,’ she remarked. ‘I need to find myself a plus one!’
‘Hmmm, let me think.’ Sal grinned. ‘Ifonlythere was a deliciously handsome man who you were dating that you could bring.’
Eleanor threw a peanut at Sal, who deftly swiped it away with her hand. ‘I’m not bringing Ben! It’s way too soon. I’ll ask Freya.’
‘Fine. Have it your way.’ She shrugged.
‘Speaking of men … how is it going with that guy?’ Eleanor scolded herself for not asking sooner.
Sal fiddled with the label on the wine bottle coyly. ‘I don’t know. I think it’s going well …’
‘That’s a good thing, isn’t it?’
‘I guess.’
‘You guess?’ Eleanor pressed.
‘Yeah, but …’ Sal stopped picking the label and looked at her square in the eye. ‘I think I really like him.’
Eleanor couldn’t help but burst out laughing. ‘And that’s a bad thing?’
‘No,’ Sal huffed, tearing off strips of label and pulling them anxiously apart. ‘I’m not used to it, that’s all.’
‘I hear you.’ Eleanor took the paper from her hand and tossed it aside. ‘Honestly, I get it. But what is it that you’ve told me about a million times these past few months?’
