‘Any advice?’ Lara asked tentatively.
Jenny raised her head. ‘Give up wine, immediately.’
Lara wrinkled her nose. ‘No can do.’
‘Then stay off property sites. How did you get on this one anyway? You said it was an online auction?’
Lara had glanced out of her home office window remembering how – and why – she had found the site.
Like most days when she had something particular on her mind, she had been staring out of a window. Looking into the vast expanse of the sky always helped Lara think. That day the sky had been a dull grey and tiny droplets of rain had trickled down the pane and dripped from the roof guttering on to thewindow sill. Beyond, the trees in the front garden and those in the park opposite and the ones that lined the road, were in full leaf, although, after several days of nothing but sunshine, they probably welcomed the rain. As one couple in the park, clearly did, because they were dancing in it, and jumping in the puddles. Lara had watched them, and as she did so, her mind had wandered back to Bluewater Bay and to a day when it had rained, and she and her parents had danced in it, and jumped in the puddles it had made.
Her mind always wandered back to Bluewater Bay during the last two weeks of August, due to the fact that it was the anniversary of the last holiday Lara had taken with her parents, fourteen years ago, in Bluewater Bay.
‘Lara?’ Jenny’s voice had cut through Lara’s memories.
Lara cleared her throat and blinked back the inevitable tears that welled up even after so many years when she remembered that time. She took a deep breath and explained to Jenny what had happened.
‘I had typed ‘Bluewater Bay’ into the search engine, as I do each year in August. I do try to stop myself but I haven’t succeeded yet. Anyway, I was scrolling through pages of news, events, and photos in the results, and I came across the auction site, and the cottage in Bluewater Bay. Without thinking it through, I visited the site. Just to glean more details and see how many potential buyers were bidding. I couldn’t believe how low the reserve was, and the fact that the starting bid was only a few pounds above that. Don’t ask me why, but for some reason I registered an interest, and then I went through the verification process, which you must do if you want to place a bid. Not that I intended to bid. But when they asked me to confirm I had funds to enter the bidding process, I even went as far as providing proof that I had the money. I hadn’t taken it further. I didn’t place a bid. I didn’t request the legal pack that was available. Ihadn’t gone to view the property, although I did take the virtual tour online.’
‘What were you thinking?’
Lara shrugged. ‘I wasn’t thinking. I was just looking. Bids could be placed twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week until the auction closed – which was today, and I checked back daily, simply out of curiosity. The site made it clear that the highest bidder who met the seller's reserve price would win the property, and would then be required to pay a deposit slash reservation fee, and have a set period of fourteen days to exchange and complete. Not all properties had such a short completion time. Most had twenty-eight days, and no reason was given as to why this one only had fourteen, but as I had no intention of taking part, it was irrelevant. Until last night.’
‘So that was your one and only bid? Last night?’ Jenny looked sceptical. ‘Before or after you had too much to drink?’
‘After. I promise you. Well, that’s not entirely true. I’d had a couple of glasses beforehand, and then, once I’d placed a bid, I had a few more. Large ones.’ Lara cringed. ‘I even went as far as opening a second bottle. Can you believe that?’
‘Yes,’ Jenny replied, frowning. ‘I know how you get at this time of year. Why didn’t you call me?’
‘Because I knew you were at your book club. And besides, you know I prefer being alone with my memories, Jen. It’s the only way I know to get through it. People say time heals, but it’s not true. Or maybe it is. Time does make it a little easier. Just not on certain days, or weeks, or anniversaries. Which in my case means, the last two weeks of August, most of September, thanks to Mum and Dad’s birthdays and their wedding anniversary, and of course, my birthday in October. Which is the worst one, obviously. And with this year being my thirtieth, it's extra hard for some reason. I think, perhaps, it might be because Mum and Dad had me just one month after they both celebrated theirthirtieth birthdays. Anyway, after looking at the page on the site for a few weeks, I placed my bid last night. The winning bid, apparently. Although not by much. At first, I’ll admit I had a bit of a panic attack. But it didn’t last long. It really does feel right, somehow. The place needs work but it was a bargain and, once refurbished, I can rent it out. I might even holiday there myself. Play your cards right, and I might invite you.’
‘Yeah right,’ Jenny smirked. ‘Since when has Lara Grey taken a holiday? In all the years I’ve known you, which, if memory serves me right is coming up for nine years now, you’ve never once been away for longer than a weekend. Every time I suggest we go away together, you always have an excuse. I don’t push it because I know … well, I understand how difficult it is for you. But … are you saying you think you might be ready? And to go back to Bluewater Bay? The place you went with…’ Jenny let her voice trail off, clearly thinking she might have said too much.
‘Honestly? I don’t know, Jen. But as crazy as this sounds, yesterday was Dad’s birthday and it was almost as if Dad told me to place that bid. I’m dreading my own upcoming birthday more than most, as I said, and I think I needed a distraction. But buying a cottage in the place where I spent the last holiday with my parents might not be my wisest decision. Time will tell, I guess. Which was one of the reasons I was calling in the first place. I need to take time off. I don’t know if the place is connected to the internet. If it is, I can work from there, but I’ll still need some time to sort the place out and to do it up a bit.’
‘You’re not suggesting you’re going to do the work yourself, are you?’
Lara laughed. ‘Why not? I can’t do anything electrical, obviously, or any major work. I’ll employ professionals for that. But general DIY stuff isn’t beyond me. And I can use a paintbrush.’
‘Hmm. Okay. How much time do you need?’
Again Lara shrugged. ‘No idea really, until I see the place for myself, but two weeks, perhaps. A month at most. That’s okay, isn’t it? As you said, I never take holidays, so this is a first for me.’
‘Of course it’s okay. No one here will mind. Although, like me, they’ll all be in shock when I tell them you’ll be away. I won’t tell them why. Or what you’ve done, obviously. I’ll leave that for you to say, if and when you want to. I’ll just tell them you’re taking a well-earned break.’
‘I promise I’ll be available if there’re any emergencies.’
‘There won’t be. Innovative software companies like ours don’t make rash decisions and expect our illustrators to come up with visuals overnight,’ Jenny joked. ‘Seriously. We’ve got everything we need from you for a while, I’m sure. And if we don’t, one of the others can deal with it.’
Lara’s job as an illustrator for Pliny Software entailed creating visuals for a wide range of products like apps, games, and websites, including designing characters, icons, illustrations and graphics for user interfaces, and environments for games, and other visual assets to enhance user experience, plus company brochures, catalogues, and all corporate materials and promotional products. That meant generating unique ideas, doing any research required, drawing rough sketches for approval, and producing final illustrations.
Generally speaking, she was given a reasonable amount of time to come up with her illustrations, but in any event, she wasn’t the only illustrator Pliny Software employed. There were three others, and they all worked in the company’s office in Woking. Lara was the only one who worked from home, because that was the way she preferred it, and the company was willing to agree to that because part of its ethos was to make its staff happy. The company believed that happy staff produced better results. Lara just wanted to stay away from people as much asshe possibly could, so that did make her happy, as had being told recently that the company considered her as one of the best in the business. Lara doubted that was true, but she was good at her job and she loved working for Pliny Software.
She did go into the office from time to time, mainly to discuss ideas face-to-face and to fully understand the needs, or a particular requirement, of the various departments, or the assignment. Sometimes it was also to catch up with her colleagues. Despite not really being a people person, she wasn’t a hermit.
Lara had booked a month off, just to be on the safe side, and Jenny had gone round to Lara’s for dinner that evening to either commiserate with her, or congratulate her. Or, as it happened, to do both.
‘What time are you leaving?’ Jenny now asked.
