There was a huge interactive map in the middle of the room, so she headed for that and tried to work it out.Okay, she was there… She pointed to the large red cross on the board, and the cafe was there… Her gaze went from the map to her left, and yes, there was the cafe she’d sat in earlier with Bernadette… so that must mean that the lifts were… Hang on.
Her focus went back to the cafe and she peered intently, really wishing she’d worn her specs – she’d left them in her bedside drawer prior to the misguided sexy time with that lying twat this morning, and had forgotten to pick them up when she popped home.
But was that…?
She peered harder.Yes.It was.Maybe.Possibly.Estelle?
Leaving the map behind, she strode over, pressed her face against the glass, and saw to her relief that she was right.Estelle.But she was sitting at a table with a woman Amber didn’t recognise: a petite, slim, striking lady, her white hair pulled back in a very elegant chignon at the nape of her neck, perhaps in her sixties or seventies, it was hard to tell.
Aw bollocks, a new quandary.Interrupt them, or wait until they were finished, or go home and forget all about this, put it down to a mental aberration and go to bed with a bucket of chocolate chip ice cream.
Bugger it.She hadn’t come this far…
Neither of the women glanced up when she pushed the door open, so she was all the way to their table before Estelle noticed she was there.‘Amber!’
Amber went to speak, but… nothing.This was as far as her plan, such as it was, had got her.Go to hospital.Find Estelle.She should have asked Wiki Taxi Driver what she should say next.
‘Em, hi.’
Okay, not exactly profound, but a start.
‘I’m sorry to interrupt, but I just wanted to have a quick chat.I can wait over by the cakes until you’re done though.’
A sudden, violent gnawing pain in her stomach, combined with the sight of the cake display, reminded her that she’d had nothing to eat all day and she was famished.
‘No, please, don’t.’The white-haired lady was saying now, in a voice that made it very obvious she probably came from the posh side of the city.‘I was just leaving.’She then put her hand on top of Estelle’s and said, ‘Perhaps we can speak again in a day or two?Please give me a call and let me know when is best for you.’
‘I’ll do that.And, Clara, thank you so much.You’ve no idea what this means to me.’
The woman Estelle had called Clara then smiled and said softly, ‘I think I do, and that makes me very happy.Take good care of your lovely mum for me.She’s a very special lady.’
‘I will,’ Estelle replied, nodding, and Amber saw that, for the second time today, her former best pal of a decade, who hadn’t even cried when they’d got to the sad bit inMamma Mia, had tears in her eyes.
Amber stayed standing until Clara had passed her, with mutual smiles, and then sat down in the seat Clara had just vacated, suddenly bursting with something to say.
‘Okay, I know it’s none of my business, but who was that?’
Estelle wiped her eyes with the palm of her hand.‘Erm, her name is Clara Kelaney.’
The name vaguely rang a bell, but it took Amber a couple of seconds to put it together.‘Oh.Is she married to Sir Lester Kelaney?He was one of the speakers at that funeral I went to with your mum years ago.The doctor guy.And it’s so crazy, because it was his ex-wife I was sitting here with when I met you in here earlier.How random is that?’
‘Actually, not so random.Turns out they all know each other.My mum.Bernadette.Clara.A few others.They’re all in some sort of friend group that meets up every year on the anniversary of that funeral.Clara just told me all about it.All these years, I thought my mum was the most straightforward, uncomplicated, strait-laced woman there ever was, and it turns out she had a whole other side to her.My mind is blown.’
‘Must be the day for it,’ Amber said, empathising with every bit of Estelle’s weariness.‘I’ve been thinking I’m having an out-of-body experience all day.’
It gave Amber a tiny twinge of joy to see that made Estelle smile.Putting everything that had happened between them to one side, she was devastated for what Estelle was going through.
‘Me too,’ Estelle nodded.It was a brief but much-needed moment of lightness, but it took a step back into awkwardness when they both fell silent.
Amber realised that she was the one who’d come here, so she was going to have to be the one who took the lead.Besides, Estelle looked utterly exhausted, and right now all Amber wanted to do was hug her.
‘Look, I know this is a terrible time for you, but I couldn’t stop thinking about you, and your mum.If I’m being completely honest, I feel beyond crap that I cut Marge off too after we fell out.I was just so… Urgh, I don’t want to make excuses, but I was just so hurt.And devastated.And truly, I’ve had absolutely no fricking idea what I’ve been doing for the last two years because I was just trying to get my heartbroken arse through every day and take care of my boys and hold it together.I’m so sorry.I just needed to tell you that.If you hate me, I understand.’She paused, and wondered if it was too soon for half-jokes and half-truths.‘I mean, it’s fine if you do.I kinda hate you too.’
The twinge of joy was back when that made Estelle smile again as she said, ‘Completely understandable.I’d hate me too.I’m sorry, Amber.I really am.When you asked me earlier if I’d do it again and I said I would… I’m sorry about that too.I have my reasons.I don’t expect you to get it.’
‘Then tell me.Explain it to me.You might need to tie me to the chair, but I promise this time I’ll listen.It’s a new me.’
Estelle began to shake her head and for a second Amber thought she was going to refuse, tell Amber she was a cow, and leave, so there was more relief when she didn’t.Instead, she said, ‘I had the happiest childhood ever.And amazing parents.I think you know that.’
