‘You should come and be my executive assistant,’ said Eden, looking at her list with pleasure.
‘I’d love to be an executive assistant,’ said Vonnie, pleased. ‘What would I have to do?’
‘Answer the phone, tell people I’m in a meeting when I’m actually having a sandwich. And what else? Oh yeah, never put anyone through to me if they call either you or me “pet” or “girl”.’
‘Why would anyone say those things?’ said Vonnie in bewilderment.
‘Because the Freedom Party is the most unwoke organisation in the history of the world,’ said Eden, smiling. ‘And I’m trying to change that.’
‘Unwoke?’ said Vonnie, confused. ‘I don’t understand—’
‘Don’t worry, Vonnie,’ said Eden kindly. ‘I can’t afford an assistant, anyway. If anyone calls me “pet” or “girl” on the phone, I hang up instantly. Eventually, they get the message. If you explain it to them, they come up with all the reasons why I shouldn’t get upset but when you hang up on them, it’s like training a dog – the treat is to talk to me if they play the game!’
Everyone laughed.
Eden ordered coffee from a waiter who’d been hovering since Meg had risen, goddess-like from her seat. Savannah ordered tea.
‘Anything else for you?’ said the waiter, gazing at Meg.
Her mother looked luminous, Eden thought. No wonder the waiters were in love with her. She hoped she’d age like her mother and be full of vitality the way Meg was. But she also hoped that if Ralphie suddenly turned out to be a gambling man and ran through the family’s money, that she wouldn’t remarry him fifteen years down the road.
Now that was the very definition of insanity. Sure, Dad was all changed and did his meditation and stuff, but Eden was never sure if he’d have the stamina to keep it up.
Mum seemed so happy on her own, which was why the wedding was such a shock.
That’s what seemed odd to her. She knew her parents loved each other. She loved them both but she could see their flaws. Her mother remarrying her father seemed to be a prime example of ignoring all the flaws. A true triumph of hope over experience.
Eden drank her coffee and remembered her maxim:she could not fix them – she could not fix anyone.
‘What’s first on the list?’ she said.
Vonnie waggled a fluffy pen self-importantly. ‘Today we’re talking about the jobs we have to do. Tomorrow, we’re going to the hotel to see how it looks and discuss the silk flowers I’m going to drape. Or some of you will drape,’ she added. ‘I don’t know if I can get up on a ladder.’
‘I can get up on a ladder,’ said Eden, mentally running through the following day.
‘Me too,’ said Indy raising her head from her ultra-black coffee. ‘Sorry, I’m a bit out of it here: after-shift exhaustion. I’ll be fine once I have this pastry inside me.’
‘I don’t know if I can come tomorrow,’ said Savannah, ‘it’s just a bit mental at work, but I’ll do my best.’
‘That’s OK, darling,’ said Meg. ‘I totally understand.’
‘Then, Wednesday, someone needs to pick up Sonya from the airport.’
‘Why can’t Dad do it? She’s his sister,’ said Eden.
‘He has something on,’ said their mother.
‘Like what? Splitting the atom? Pops is retired.’
‘It’s his meditation class.’
‘Really?’ said Eden.
Indy’s eyes met hers but Indy was smiling.
Eden held her hands up. ‘Fine, it’s his meditation. I can’t do it. Even though it’s summer, this is a busy a week for me.’
‘No problem, I’ll pick her up,’ said Meg.
