Cassie’s Engagement Party
‘I can’t believe Cassie’s having a party in Sloane Square!’ I scoff.
Kate shrugs. ‘Well, apparently, it’s got the best raw food restaurant in London,’ she says, as she pulls off the cap of her lipstick and perfects her pout, angling her phone screen to get a reflection.
‘Cassie said their courgette spaghetti’s to die for,’ Kate comments. ‘Not to mention their energy balls.’
I groan. ‘Please tell me alcohol is a raw food?’
Kate laughs, puckering her lips. ‘I bloody hope so. They probably do a spirulina cocktail or something.’
I grimace. The longer Cassie and Mike have been together, the more and more hippyish they’ve become. They both subsist entirely on an organic raw food diet and even got an allotment together, where they spend their Sunday afternoons tending to their crops. It’s quite cute I suppose, and it does have its perks for friends and family. I’m still working my way through the bag of home-grown spuds she gave me last time we hung out.
‘Each table is named after a different tree. They’re all made from different types of wood. Oak. Pine. Willow. Checked out the website today,’ Kate says as she pops her lipstick back in her bag.
‘Bloody hell. A place like that would last five minutes in Lewisham,’ I remark, trying to picture it on Lewisham High Street.
‘Can you imagine?’ Kate sniggers.
‘Slotted between the fried chicken shop and the kebab joint!’
‘With Ferret Man coming in to pick up a wheatgrass shot to go,’ Kate adds and we giggle as the tube pulls into Sloane Square.
We link arms as we walk out of the station onto the frosty street. Christmas is only a few weeks away and as we chat, our breath turns to mist as we talk about everything and anything like we always do. Kate’s just as dedicated to her role as Mollie Ralston in The Mousetrap as she was to playing Desdemona and tonight is one of the rare occasions when she’s let her understudy step in so that she can take the evening off. But tonight is kind of a big deal.
‘It’s so cool that Cassie’s engaged!’ Kate enthuses as we walk through Sloane Square towards the restaurant. The square is lined with trees, prettily illuminated with ethereal blue light, shimmering stars dotted in their branches. It looks magical.
‘Our little wand-bearing pixie all grow up!’ Kate adds.
‘It’ll be you next,’ I comment, only half-joking.
‘Or you,’ Kate says, nudging me.
‘Steady on!’ I retort, although I can’t help smiling. Chris and I have been together for nearly two months now and while it may still be early days, it does feel right. In fact, everything feels sort of right at the moment. I finally typed the words ‘The End’ on my novel a few weeks ago, work is going well and I’m pretty sure if I stay focused, I might even be in for a promotion next year. At least for maternity cover, since my colleague Katie’s baby bump is growing by the day.
We walk to the end of the square and pause by a fountain that’s iridescent with frost as Kate checks Google Maps on her phone.
As she’s getting her bearings, I gaze at the pretty lights, the double decker buses chugging along emblazoned with ads for Christmas movies, and the designer boutiques lining the square, when all of a sudden, a familiar figure catches my eye.
‘Right, it’s this way,’ Kate says, slipping her arm back through mine.
‘Wait. It’s Daniel,’ I croak as I stand, rooted to the spot, watching as he emerges from a boutique, laden with bags. He looks dashing, as ever. His flawless, chiselled features almost otherworldy. He’s wearing a long expensive-looking coat over a suit and looks breath-takingly handsome and for a second, I feel that pang of lust and awe that he used to inspire in me until I register his expression. He looks tired and irritable and rolls his eyes wearily as a taxi he attempts to wave down drives past, as if it’s the biggest inconvenience in the world. Suddenly, my awestruck feeling disappears.
‘Such a rich boy. Look at all those bags!’ Kate whispers, even though Daniel’s on the opposite side of the street and there’s no chance of him hearing us, let alone spotting us standing here, lurking behind the fountain.
‘He must have dropped thousands on all that stuff! Crazy!’ Kate adds.
She’s right, he’s carrying so many bags he looks almost weighed down. He stands by the side of the road, glances at his phone and looks thoroughly bored and put out until a cab finally pulls over and he climbs in with all his purchases, before pulling the door shut and disappearing into the London traffic.
‘Sophia, are you okay?’ Kate asks and I look round at her, feeling a little dazed.
‘Yeah, sure. I’m fine. Flash from the past!’
‘Splashing the cash on Sloane Street! If there was one person we were going to run into, it was him!’ Kate tuts and I smile, murmuring agreement, although I still feel a little shell-shocked.
So much has happened since I last saw Daniel. I’m no longer that lost girl, living in hope that a charming stranger might complete my life. I left her behind, just like I left Daniel behind. I’d pretty much forgotten all about him; he’s from a different world and I never expected our paths to cross again.
Kate stops to look at her phone and then squints down the street.
‘Oh, there it is!’ she declares, pointing a little further along.
As we approach the restaurant, we spot the gang laughing and joking inside. Cassie’s hard to miss in a purple tie-dye dress with flowing bat wing sleeves.
‘Kate! Sophia!’ she says, spotting us as we make our way inside. The restaurant is huge, with a tall ceiling, crisp white walls and bunches of dried flowers adorning the tables.
Cassie rushes up to us, enveloping us in her billowing arms.
‘Congratulations, Cass!’ I smile broadly as I wrap my arms around her.
‘We’re so happy for you!’ Kate gushes, her eyes sparkling as she gives Cassie a tight hug.
‘Thanks guys!’ Cassie grins, her face glowing. No doubt she would claim it’s down to the raw food diet, but she seems radiant with happiness.
‘Oh, let’s see! Let’s see!’ Kate says, inspecting Cassie’s hand, on which she’s sporting an ornate engagement ring with intricate silverwork surrounding a pink stone.
‘Wow, that’s gorgeous!’ Kate murmurs and I can tell she means it.
‘It’s really pretty!’ I agree, examining it. ‘A pink stone. Unusual.’
‘It’s a rose quartz. It’s the crystal of unconditional love. We thought it would be more appropriate than a diamond,’ Cassie explains, gazing affectionally at her ring.
‘Anyway, come and have a drink!’ she says, leading us over to the bar. ‘We’ve got champagne!’
Mike hands us glasses of champagne the moment we reach the bar and seems just as elated and glowing as Cassie. Their joy is infectious and everyone – Rich, Jack, and all our other university friends seem equally as happy and excitable, catching up on news and getting merry on champagne refills, which keep coming from Mike, who, despite being a hippy, is also an IT consultant as it turns out from one of our brief chats when he refills my drink, and presumably a well-paid one since the champagne keeps coming.
‘Oh my God, Sandra!’ I squeal, as she and Ted arrive. Since Sandra’s started going out more and Ted’s always up for trying out the latest quirky London places, I thought they’d be up for coming along.
I give Sandra a big hug, and as always, she’s wearing one of her knitted cardigans - a blue one she always used to wear. And as I pull her close, I have to dodge being speared in the eye by a knitting needle sticking out of her handbag.
‘Ted!’ I turn to hug him, which still feels a little weird. Despite him and Sandra being a proper couple now, I still struggle not to see him as my ex-boss - the punctuation Nazi who likes describing my writing as if it were a ‘pristine’ and ‘clean’ bathroom.
I hand Ted a glass of champagne and we catch up on work and writing-related matters when my phone buzzes in my pocket. It’s a message from Chris.
Just arrived at the station. See you in five xxx
I send my reply:
Great, see you soon xxx
Kate has started talking to Ted about some pop-up rooftop theatre initiative, but Rich catches my eye as I drop my phone back into my bag.
‘Just texting my boyfriend, he’s on his way,’ I tell him.
‘Oh! Your new man.’ Rich raises an eyebrow.
‘Yeah!’
‘Not the Robert Pattinson hottie who lived up the Shard?’ Rich jokes. Jack shoots him an unimpressed look.
‘No! Not the Robert Pattinson hottie,’ I reply, taking a sip of my drink. I can’t help thinking of Daniel, clambering into that taxi, his arms laden with bags, and I find myself hoping he’s found someone. Hopefully not a girl like me – someone he’s trying to impress with money – but a woman he might truly connect with. I hope he’s realised by now that he doesn’t need to sweep women off their feet with expensive gifts and lavish dates, and that he doesn’t need to polish a diamond in the rough like his dad did with his mum. Hopefully he was looking so tired and stressed out as he tried to wave down a taxi because he was in a hurry to get home to someone special, and not just to return to his luxuriously furnished, beautifully empty flat.
‘What’s up? Should I not have mentioned him?’ Rich remarks, and I realise my face clearly isn’t hiding my maudlin thoughts.
‘Rich,’ Jack tuts.
‘It’s fine, honestly. I was just thinking that I hope he’s happy, especially with Christmas coming up,’ I tell them.
Rich narrows his eyes at me. ‘Okay!’ he seems a little bemused. ‘Doesn’t he have family? Anyway, with a face like that, I highly doubt he’ll be alone!’
Jack glares at him.
‘I hope not.’ I think of that picture of Daniel’s parents, the pair who’d bought his flat as an investment and then never come to visit and I find myself truly hoping that this year, they might have made it over from Dubai. But failing that, I hope Rich is right and that he won’t be alone, even if he simply ends up hanging out with his horrible friend, Cleo. I don’t know if it’s the Christmas spirit talking, but I really do want him to be happy, like I am.
‘So, what’s the new guy like?’ Jack asks, changing the subject as he sips his drink.
‘Oh yeah!’ Rich adds. ‘Let me guess. He has the face of George Clooney and the body of Arnold Schwarzenegger?’
I roll my eyes and laugh. ‘No! He’s nothing like that.’
Rich looks a little deflated. ‘Well, what is he like then?’
‘He’s…’ I pause for a moment, searching for the right words.
Unlike Daniel, Chris may not have looks that can silence a room or bags of rich-boy charm, but I’ve realised that’s not important. What’s important is that he’s kind and sweet. He’s honest and respectful. He’s smart and sensitive. I like how we can chat for hours about something as simple as a book but he’s also there for me if I ever need a hug or someone to talk to. I like how he’s happy to simply hang out with Kate and Max and doesn’t mind eating takeaway in front of EastEnders. I like how he texts me something funny every day just to make me laugh. And I love the way that when he smiles, it’s like watching a flower blossom. His smile ripples across his face, his lips curl, his dimples deepen, his eyes crease and sparkle; and it’s impossible not to smile back. Chris doesn’t have the face of Robert Pattinson or the body of Daniel Craig, and he’s not a multi-millionaire, but he has a heart that is unparalleled.
‘He’s… he’s here!’ I enthuse, as I spot Chris walking into the bar. He smiles and waves, before hurrying over. His cheeks are flushed from the cool air and his lips are cold as he leans in and plants a kiss on mine.
‘Hey.’ I squeeze his cold fingers and look up into his big blue eyes, the ones I never seem to tire of gazing into.
‘How was your day?’ I ask.
‘Busy!’ he sighs, as he pulls his bag from his shoulder and places it on the bar, next to mine. The laminated spine of his latest library book protrudes from the front pocket; he must have been reading it on the train. The manuscript of my novel protrudes from mine. I printed it out so that I could annotate it during my lunch breaks.
‘But it’s better now,’ he says, slipping his arm around me, with an affectionate smile.
Rich and Jack watch, waiting to be introduced, and in fact, all of my friends have turned their attention to us, unable to conceal their curiosity – apart from Sandra, who gives Chris a friendly little wave.
‘Everyone, this is Chris,’ I pipe up, beaming with pride as Chris is swept up in a frenzy of hugs and handshakes.
Kate looks over at me and winks, and I can’t help grinning back at her. I’ve finally found the perfectly imperfect man. But more importantly, I’ve finally found myself.