Page 10 of In This Together

She handed off the tray of empty mugs and pulled her blonde hair – dark roots starting to show – into a messy knot on top of her head. There really had been no point spending time straightening her hair this morning. Humidity had made it frizzy and there was little chance she was leaving the office today in any event.

* * *

An hour and two sips of coffee after taking instructions, Hannah walked into Andrea’s office with a bundle of papers. She found her boss staring out of the swanky wall of windows she’d inherited with her promotion.

‘Hey. I have everything you asked for.’

Andrea let out a short shriek as she spun quickly to face Hannah, spilling coffee from the mug in her hands. ‘Jesus, Han, you scared the life right out of me.’

‘Sorry, I’ll just leave everything here.’

Andrea crossed the room to her desk to grab a tissue and rubbed the coffee from her blouse. ‘Thanks.’

Nothing like sincere and high praise,Hannah thought. From anyone else, she might have struggled to hold her tongue, but Andrea was her friend and, despite her quirks, their years of friendship meant a lot to Hannah. Andrea had been there for her in her darkest hours.

Hannah had been in her penultimate year of college when she’d fallen pregnant with Luke. Everyone, her own parents included, told her to get rid of the baby. But she and Rod hadn’t wanted to. They knew it would be hard but they’d decided to marry anyway.

She hadn’t anticipated her own father kicking her out with a newborn baby because he just couldn’t stand the crying. Hannah was alone, penniless and homeless, whilst Rod was still trying to make it at college.

For the next six months, it was Andrea who took in Hannah and Luke. She had a one-bedroom rental in Brooklyn where the three of them lived, plus Rod, when he was home.

So people could see Andrea however they wanted to but Hannah would only ever see her as her very best friend and she was certain nothing could ever change that.

‘Andi, are you okay? I know you hate heart-to-hearts but you seem your worst combination of cranky and on edge since I came back from mat leave.’

Andrea stopped fussing her blouse and paused long enough for Hannah to know there was something up with her friend. But Andrea’s mouth opened and closed without words. Taking a document from the top of the pile in front of her, she turned her back on Hannah.

‘It’s just the new role. There’s a lot to be done.’

Hannah waited but Andrea offered no more explanation. ‘Okay, well, you know where I am if you want to talk or drown in tequila. God knows I wouldn’t mind a few child-free drinks.’

She made to leave and had reached the office door before Andrea said, ‘Hey, do you want to come to the concert on Thursday?’

Hannah’s lips curved into a smile. ‘Honour the legend that was Sir Presley John? Hell, yeah, I’m in.’

Andrea smiled. ‘My closet is yours, if you want to borrow something.’

Hannah nodded. ‘That’d be great.’ Though Andrea was slimmer than Hannah, her shoulders were broader than Hannah’s and Hannah was taller, which meant they averaged at around the same size eight. ‘While we’re on the topic, any specific requests for your dress?’

‘I trust you, and the women in Saks.’

* * *

Hannah always thought Saks had a certain smell about it. As she walked in the main entrance, she inhaled deeply and was struck by rich, clean scents like sandalwood and lemongrass, which could be summed up neatly by the word ‘money’.Hannah sometimes enjoyed shopping for Andrea when she was busy. Other times, it reminded her of what she didn’t have.

Once upon a time, Rod had been destined to be a professional footballer. He was one of the top three players in college. There were times Hannah would fantasise about what life would have been like for them if he hadn’t broken his back so early in his career – she would have walked into a place like Saks and picked out anything she wanted, paying a cursory glance to the price tag at best.

Stopping briefly to indulge in squirts of new scents from the perfume counter girls, Hannah made her way to women’s wear. Andrea had closets packed full of shoes and bags, so she needn’t worry about picking a dress to match particular accessories. Hannah went right to the evening dress collections.

Sir Presley John’s remembrance-cum-charity concert would be a star-studded event. The music industry would be out in force, not to mention the A-list movie stars that would turn up to an event like this, who had no doubt either never met, or had merely met in passing, Presley John. Any event that was big enough to take on Madison Square Gardens was always one of air-kisses, faux compliments and people blowing smoke up each other’s ass for no good reason.

Still, Andrea would need to look incredible and suitably like the newly appointed CEO of the Stellar label. Many faces in the music industry would now be blowing smoke upherass, following years of it being the other way around.

Hannah came to a stop in the middle of the Escada concession and began her search for the perfect dress.

There had always been something about Andrea, even at school, that made Hannah believe she would be a successful woman. Of course, back then, they both used to talk about being successful. But Andrea’s mom had once been beautiful and an incredible singer-songwriter. Her father had set up his own recording label. And Andrea was strong, sometimes too fierce, especially when it came to protecting her younger sister, Sofia.

Hannah and Andrea had spent hours hanging out in New Jersey, talking about all the things they wanted to be when they grew up. Hannah had wanted to be a singer, an actress, a fashion designer and, at one time, an exotic dancer – before she understood that the profession was not very exotic at all. Andrea, though, she had always said she wanted to be able to stand on her own two feet. She never wanted toneedanyone.

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