‘I think I’m getting the hang of it!’ Tilly cries as she picks up speed.
Harper is a little way ahead, zipping along confidently. Rachel jogs to keep up with them, filming as she goes.
Wind rushes past as she speeds up.
‘Weeeeeeee!’
She’s flying, the park zooming by. All her worries about the bookshop, Alfie and her future disappear, blasted away by the cold air scouring her face. After everything that’s happened, this is exactly what she needed. A moment of carefree fun, a moment of feeling like a child again –
‘Slow down, Tilly!’
The path that started out flat has turned into a slope and Tilly realizes she is gaining momentum, moving faster and faster.
‘I don’t think I know how!’
‘Well, stop then!’ yells Rachel, running to keep up.
‘I don’t know how to do that either.Shit!’
She veers towards a nearby bench, falling headlong into it with a crash, sending a plump pigeon that had been resting there flapping into the air with a loud coo and a scattering of feathers. Harper is laughing so hard she is wheezing, bent over. Tilly brushes her knees down, glad that nothing seemsto be broken, then turns towards Rachel, whose whole body is shaking with the effort of containing her glee, Tilly’s phone still held in her hand.
‘That bit better not be on camera.’
50
Tilly spots Liz Cohen at the back of the restaurant, seated at a table next to a log fire and beneath a ceiling that is entirely covered with baubles in delicate pastel shades. She is tapping heatedly on her phone and is dressed in a crisp green trouser suit that makes Tilly tug nervously on her corduroy pinafore dress. Was a shirt covered in a print of books too much? Well, it’s too late to do anything about it because Liz looks up, smiling broadly and lifting a hand in greeting. Tilly waves back, her stomach a knot of nerves and excitement.
‘It’s great to see you,’ Liz says, doing the obligatory air kisses and gesturing for Tilly to sit opposite her.
‘Wow, I feel like I just walked into a Christmas film,’ Tilly says, taking in the array of baubles, ivy and softly glowing lights.
‘It’s a great time of year to be visiting,’ Liz says, glancing quickly at her phone.
Tilly follows her eye, spotting a flashing mail app icon with 127 unread emails. ‘I’ve always loved London at Christmas – everything looks so pretty and inviting.’
‘Although New York at Christmas is pretty great too,’ Liz says with a lift of her eyebrow. She begins counting things on her manicured fingers, ‘The Rockefeller Center Christmas tree, the Dyker Heights Christmas lights in Brooklyn, Central Park in the snow …’
Tilly laughs. ‘My husband took me skating one Christmas at the ice rink beneath the Rockefeller Center. It was exactlyas magical as I’d imagined it would be from watching all the films. Even if I did fall overa lot.’
Liz chuckles. The waiter takes their orders and then Liz settles her hands on the table in front of her.
‘Let’s get to it, then. I wanted to speak to you, Tilly, because I’m expanding my team. The role is within the commercial fiction team, dealing with our bestselling brand authors, as well as new but high-profile authors. We recently published the debut novel of actor and director Ben Arnold –’
‘I saw that, it’s been everywhere.’
Liz nods. ‘It’s done well for us.’ Which Tilly knows is an understatement.
The book was in both theNew York TimesandSunday Timesbestseller lists for weeks and whenever she listened to the radio or opened a magazine, it was to find Ben Arnold talking aboutThe Untraceables. She read the book; it wasn’t bad at all, although she wondered whether it would have received the same hype if it hadn’t been written by an Oscar-winning film star.
‘We’re looking to grow that side of the business,’ continues Liz. ‘With your experience working with high-profile authors, we think you could have the steeliness we’re after.’
‘Well, I have certainly worked with some challenging celebrities, so I think I could handle whatever your fiction authors have to throw at me.’
‘I can see that. I have to say, I was impressed with you when we spoke before. But you seem even … more comfortable in your own skin now. There’s a confidence to you that wasn’t there before. We really value that at Alphabet. You’d be working on novels right from the beginning – and for our high-profile authors this can mean being heavily involved in brainstorming and story planning – all the way through to publication and publicity. It’s a busy team but you’d be working with the best of the best.’
Like so many times in the last year, Tilly wishes she could tell Joe. That Alphabet in New York wanther. She knows exactly how excited and proud he would be, though, and that brings her a sense of comfort. She pictures him sat at the bar across from them, watching and smiling, a drink raised in congratulations.
‘Wow. I don’t really know what to say.’
