Subject: Re: Proposal
Hi Tilly,
It’s lovely to hear from you! That sounds great. Shall we meet up soon to discuss? It would be good to see you. I’ve missed our pub nights.
Rachel xx
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From: [email protected]
Subject: Re: Proposal
Hi Rachel,
That’s brilliant news. Esmerelda and her agent will be thrilled, as are we. I’m sending you over a draft contract and some potential dates for a meeting with Esmerelda. Do let me know if any of these suit you.
Tilly
It will be the first time seeing Rachel in months, and Tilly’s chest tightens at the thought.
Rachel was the ghostwriter for the very first memoir Tilly edited, and they clicked instantly. Tilly had been nervous about working on her first book, but as soon as Rachel came on board as the writer she felt more relaxed. In contrast to the highly strung celebrity chef whose memoir it was, Rachel was relaxed and down to earth. In the first meeting between the three of them, Tilly got stuck on a broken-down Tube and arrived at the restaurant ten minutes late, frazzled and apologetic. But Rachel had ordered drinks and was chatting away to the chef, who seemed surprisingly at ease. Rachel flashed Tilly a supportive smile that made her feel as if Rachel had her back.
Over the years they grew closer, meeting regularly at their favourite pub in Camden to catch up on industry gossip and the projects they’d been working on. Joe was a great listener but with Rachel she could talk in minute detail about the intricacies of the industry, knowing her friend understood and was just as invested. She shared Tilly’s taste in books too, and whenever they met up they’d each arrive with a tote bag full of books to swap.
It will be strange working together again but Tilly is aprofessional. If she can handle working with some of the celebrities she has to deal with, then surely she can handle working with her old friend.
‘Rachel is on board for the Esmerelda Love book,’ she tells Sade, popping her head around her boss’s door.
‘Brilliant news. I have a good feeling about this book. You’re on a good path right now, Tilly. Well done.’
Tilly knows the words of praise should boost her but she can’t escape the uneasy feeling about the email exchange with Rachel. And if she does get the promotion, she already knows that the first person she will want to tell is no longer here.
She pictures the copy ofMatildaon the coffee table at home, and the package waiting for her at Book Lane – which she hasn’t summoned the courage to collect yet. She isn’t sure she can face the bookseller after the way she acted last time. And despite her curiosity at what Joe might have picked for her next, does she really deserve another book when she still hasn’t read the first?
5
‘I come bearing pad thai,’ comes a familiar voice as Tilly answers the flat’s buzzer and presses the button to let her sister in later that evening.
Harper looks even more tanned than usual and Tilly wonders yet again how they are related. While Tilly’s own skin is so pale it often looks translucent, Harper has their father’s tanned complexion and hair that is more conker than Tilly’s carrot, cut in a messy bob that shows off the gold hoop earrings dangling at her neck, a souvenir from one of her many travels. As she shrugs off her coat Tilly clocks the pink-and-green woollen monstrosity that Harper is wearing.
‘I can’t believe you’re actually wearing that jumper.’
Tilly knitted it when she was in hospital visiting Joe. After reading, crafting has always been her way of relaxing, but what she has in enthusiasm, she does not possess in skill. The pink creature on the front of the jumper was supposed to be a rabbit but looks much more like a pig wearing an Easter Bunny costume.
‘Hey, I love this jumper!’
Tilly had a lot of time for crafting during those hospital visits so her family have ended up with a lot of handmade knitwear. She doesn’t expect them to actuallywearany of it, though.
She gives her sister a hug, catching a whiff of her citrusy perfume.
‘It’s nice to see you. I didn’t know you were coming over. No Raj?’ Tilly braces herself for the sound of footsteps lumbering up the stairs. Not that she doesn’t love Harper’s boyfriend, but since Joe’s death her small-talk game is seriously lacking.
‘Just me. I just got back from my trip,’ replies Harper as she plonks the takeaway bag down on the table and starts helping herself to plates and cutlery from the cupboards. ‘And I wanted to come see you, especially as I missed your birthday, which I’m still gutted about.’
