Twelve months later…
‘Grab your passport, we’re going on holiday!’
Nancy watched Harriet stroll into her house, and waltz straight into the kitchen, flicking the kettle on. She closed the door, a confused frown creeping across her face, and followed her friend.
‘I’m sorry, what?’ she said, sitting down on the breakfast bar stool and allowing her friend free rein to make the coffee as she always did. Harriet classed Nancy’s house as her own and seemed to feel completely at ease whenever she was there. They had been friends for so long, they were more like sisters.
‘You and Jack, me, Isla and Tommy – we’re going on holiday.’ Harriet rubbed her hands together and set about searching for some more coffee as the pot was empty. Her shoulder-length light brown hair was always immaculate, styled straight with subtle blonde streaks throughout and hardly ever up in the mum bun that Nancy regularly sported.
‘In the top left,’ Nancy pointed, guiding Harriet to the correct cupboard. ‘I’m sorry but I just don’t understand. Where are we going? How long for? When?’ Nancy laughed as the situation started to settle in her mind.
Harriet plonked the coffee granules jar on the side and walked over to where Nancy was sitting. Leaning on her forearms, she exhaled. ‘I know this sounds a bit crazy and last minute and totally not like me…’
‘You can say that again.’
‘…but you need a holiday and I could do with a break and I’ve found this lovely hotel in Ibiza which is perfect for us and they have a kids’ club and loads of restaurants and cocktail bars…’ Harriet nudged Nancy at the mention of cocktails as if that would sway her, but actually, it was the mention of the kids’ club that turned her stomach. Jack would never go to a kids’ club, not in a million years.
‘I don’t know…’
‘Wait, I’ve not even told you the best bit. You don’t have to pay for a penny.’ Nancy looked confused. ‘It’s on me. All of it. Just please say you’ll come?’
‘So let me get this straight.’ Harriet stood back to listen to Nancy. ‘You – Mrs Work-a-holic – have decided to take us all on an impromptu holiday to Ibiza. You are paying for the whole thing and all I have to do is pack our bags and leave?’
‘Got it in one, babe.’ Harriet winked and resumed her stance back at the worktop to make the coffees, her long legs straddling the washing basket positioned in front of the machine where it pretty much stayed constantly.
‘What about work?’ Nancy felt uneasy – this was totally out of character for her friend.
‘They can cope without me.’ Harriet brushed off the comment but then paused and turned to look at Nancy as she placed down the coffee, raising her eyebrows. ‘What?’
‘They can cope without me,’ she mimicked. ‘Come on, Hari, I have known you for about twenty-two years and that crappy line is not going to cut it with me.’ She raised her eyebrows and crossed her arms.
‘Babe, I don’t care if you believe me or not, fact is, I’m offering you a holiday – do you want it or not?’
‘I don’t know. It’s a bit short notice and I can’t just uproot Jack like that. He needs warnings and notice and…’ she noticed Harriet’s raised eyebrow. ‘What?’
‘You’re making excuses.’
‘I’m not! You know what Jack is like.’
‘Nance, you need this.’
‘Why? I’m fine.’ Harriet made a pfft noise. ‘What?’
‘You are not fine. Don’t think I don’t know what today is.’ Nancy didn’t think she’d remember. Why would she? After all, it was Nancy’s husband that had walked out on her exactly a year ago, not Harriet’s. That was a whole other story.
‘I am fine,’ she insisted, blowing her coffee after she had tried sipping it and burnt her top lip. She licked away the smarting on her lip and placed the cup back down.
‘Well, that may be the case, but I think you deserve a holiday after the year you’ve had, and Jack will be fine. We will get through this and he will have a great time. I promise.’
‘You can’t make that promise, Hari.’
‘I can and I will.’ She poked her tongue out, slid the biscuit jar across the counter and spun the lid off, fingering her way to the bottom to reach the bourbon.
‘Hari, be serious for a second though. Think about it, you know Jack; he’s not the easiest child to spring surprises on. I don’t know how he will cope with this – it’s not just a small change in routine.’
‘Babe, I get that. But you need to start thinking of yourself too. You need some down time. This last year has been—’ she paused, to think of the right word ‘—challenging for you – in more ways than one. I have spent the last twelve months watching my best friend slowly lose the plot—’
‘Thanks,’ Nancy laughed, although the comment did sting a bit.
‘Am I wrong?’
‘I thought I was doing a pretty good job of holding it together to be honest.’
‘Hon, you have done a great job. Don’t take it the wrong way. What I mean is that you’ve had a lot on your plate and it has been a bloody hard year. I just wanted to mark this one-year milestone with something positive and exciting.’ She smiled. ‘I want this date to have positive connotations, that’s all.’
Nancy felt her chest constrict with emotion. Harriet did remember, and that small token of friendship and kindness was exactly why Nancy had been drawn to Harriet all those years ago when they’d been ten years old and Nancy had just moved to the area. Her first day at a new school had been so incredibly daunting, and then Harriet had walked up to Nancy and said: ‘Come and sit next to me, I need a partner for science week and if you are mine then I won’t get put with Jenny. I only have one rule; you have to work hard because I’m not sacrificing my mark again this year…’ And they had stayed best friends ever since.
Harriet’s work ethic had only increased the older she’d got – thankfully Nancy didn’t have to work with her on a regular basis, otherwise their friendship might have been tested.
‘I won’t take no for an answer,’ Harriet pressed. ‘If you’re thinking of turning this offer down and spending the next year wallowing then I’m sorry but we can no longer be friends.’ She shrugged and cupped both hands around her mug again.
Nancy laughed. One of the things that made her love Harriet was her directness. She always knew where she stood with her. ‘OK, I’m not buying the stories that are coming out of your mouth but equally, I agree a holiday will be good for us all, so why not? How long have I got?’
‘We leave the day after tomorrow.’
Nancy choked on her mouthful of coffee and placed the cup back down. ‘Are you serious?’
‘100 per cent, why hang around when there’s sun, sea and cocktails to be had?’
‘You realise we have children, this isn’t a piss up holiday.’
‘I know that – but I have chosen a hotel in a really family friendly part. And there is the kids’ club so we just pop them in there and get cocktail time too! Best of both worlds.’
‘Sounding like mother of the year over there, Hari.’ Harriet poked out her tongue and sipped her coffee. ‘But I will pay my share – you can’t pay for everything.’
‘Babe, with all due respect, can you afford this holiday?’
‘Well, I can shift some things around and … um…’
Harriet held up her hand and stopped Nancy. ‘That wasn’t a dig, but honey, you are a single parent who works minimal hours and I know you don’t have expendable money to just swan off on holiday at the drop of a hat. Which is why I’ve sorted it. And before you say anything, I don’t want any money for it – call it an early birthday present, or maybe your Christmas present for the next ten years.’ She laughed and pulled her phone out of her bag as it pinged an incoming email.
‘I can pay you back in instalments. Hari, I can’t just have you pay for a holiday – you’re not my mum.’ The feeling of her doing that didn’t sit right for Nancy.
‘No, but I am your friend and I can afford this. Let me do this for you.’
Nancy exhaled. ‘How can you afford it though? I know you have a good job, but this isn’t just a weekend in a caravan.’
‘You know that contract I was working on since like forever? Well, it came through so I gave myself a little bonus. Figured I would take this moment to take a little break away because I have a new tender going through and if we get this, I am going to be flat out at work for the next eighteen months. So, it’s now or never.’
Nancy couldn’t argue with that. ‘Fine, but I’m paying for the taxi to the airport and any drinks or food we have at the airport.’
‘Deal. Mine’s a prosecco and a sushi meal.’
Nancy laughed. ‘I don’t know how you run your own business with two kids. I feel like half the time I can’t even get the washing and housework done on time, let alone put together contracts and marketing portfolios and all the other zillion things you do.’
‘You could totally do it, stop putting yourself down.’ Harriet dipped into the jar for another biscuit.
‘I actually don’t think I could. I don’t have the businesswoman persona that you have. I would crumble under the pressure.’
‘Oh shush! Although I would get more done if I didn’t have a child who was as stubborn as hell.’
‘I wonder where she gets that from,’ Nancy said under her breath with a smile.
‘What’s that?’ Harriet questioned, clearly having heard exactly what Nancy had said.
‘I said, are the kids OK?’ She poked out her tongue.
‘Yeah I’m sure you did. They’re fine. How’s Jack doing?’
Nancy’s stomach dropped a little. ‘He’s doing alright, could be better.’
‘School?’
Nancy nodded. ‘He’s just not fitting in. I can’t help but worry that this school isn’t right for him. It breaks my heart every morning when I take him in and he cries because he doesn’t want to be there. I walked past at playtime the other day and he was playing by himself.’
‘Did you ask him about it?’
‘Yeah, he said he likes to be by himself.’
‘Well there you go – as long as he’s not sad about it.’
Nancy exhaled. ‘That’s the thing though; he doesn’t really get the emotions so I’m worried that he doesn’t understand how he’s feeling.’
‘But if he doesn’t feel sad, and he’s OK, surely that’s all you want?’
Nancy nodded. ‘I guess so. He’s apparently not the same in the classroom though, seems to be constantly agitated and emotional, the teacher tells me. I’m going to go in again after the holidays and ask for an update meeting – they need to reassess his plan and see what needs changing. It can’t stay like this.’
‘Chin up, things will be OK. And now you have a holiday to look forward to.’
The doorbell rang and as Nancy stood, she said, ‘I won’t have the chance to look forward to it; it’s the day after tomorrow!’
‘Look, we have to go now because the kids only get two weeks off for Easter so we need to make the most of it.’
Nancy walked to the front door laughing. A holiday seemed like just what she needed right now. Maybe it would be the perfect antidote for her stress? At least she was eating properly again and sleeping a little better. She opened the door half expecting the postman to be there, but instead got the shock of her life.
‘Hi Nance, can we talk?’