‘Nothing!’
‘Right, well.’ She eyes me warily like she wants to believe me but isn’t quite sure. ‘No pressure but I wanted to ask if you’d like to take over the running of Little Red.’
‘Are you going on holiday?’ I usually look after things when she does, but she usually gives me lots of notice.
‘No. I’m diversifying. I’m getting more and more interest from potential clients looking for corporate event planning. But I need someone to take over the kids’ side of things.’
‘Full time?’
‘Yep.’
‘But... I’ve got a job.’
‘A job you hate. And you’re as much a part of this company as I am. Come on, Heth, Little Red was named for you.’
‘No, it wasn’t.’
‘Yes, it was! What did you think I named it after?’
‘It could’ve been anything, couldn’t it? Little red hen? Little red caboose? All kind of childish things.’
‘But those things don’t mean anything to me. From the time you caught me smoking as a teenager and didn’t tell, and even when your hair was pink, you’ve always been my little red, Heather Feather.’
‘Why would you want to give it up?’ She’s not short on cash. Not with Harry by her side.
‘The boys are getting older. They need me a little less, and I need something other than dealing with other mothers. I get enough of them at the school gates. Playdates. Shit like that. Come on, take the sodding company off my hands. I’ll even give you shares.’
I find myself sinking to the coffee table, my mind a mess. Why me? I’m only just learning to function properly. ‘You think I could do this?’
‘Why not? You’ve done it before. You can carry on running the parties yourself, but not in those stockings, but I’d recommend hiring some new blood. Maybe introduce some new hosts, and I’d go with Disney-esque princesses. You could hire some theatre students on the cheap. Better still if they can sing.’
‘Mir, I don’t know what to say.’
‘What do you want to say? What does your gut say?’
‘My gut says it can’t believe you’d have this much faith in me.’
‘The only person who doesn’t have faith in you isyou. The rest of us know you’re amazing. And capable. And when you need to be, when you’re all in, you’re unstoppable.’
Bursting into tears might not be the best response but it’s the one she gets.
‘Heth. You don’t have to take it,’ she says, coming to sit on the coffee table next to me and slinging her arm across my back. ‘This table will hold both our weights, right?’
‘Yeah, it was Jammy’s. Everything she bought was built to last.’
‘I suppose all the good things are. Families. Relationships. Business. I wouldn’t dream of handing over Little Red to anyone else, you know.’
‘What are you going to do if I say no?’ I prop my head on her shoulder so she can’t see my face.
‘Tickle you until you submit, I suppose. You’re not really going to say no to getting out of that place, are you? Escape the office politics and gossips?’
‘It’s been better lately.’ Because of a certain blue-eyed man. ‘But no, I’m not going to say no.’ I’m going to say the opposite. Yes!’
Miranda squeals with delight as she squeezes me manically. ‘I’m so happy for us both!’
Me too, I think, as I wipe at my snivelling with my cardigan sleeves.
‘Hey, what happened to that Benji bloke. The one with the snotty nose?’
