Page 28 of Will You Stay Another Day?
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The following Friday evening, Lili, Meg and Tommo sat in the staffroom, nursing cups of coffee and the lush donuts that Andrew had brought over from the Truro branch. The regional manager had called by the bigger store to announce that the company was celebrating a growth in profits, and she’d handed over a large tray of the treats. It had taken a while to start recovering from the pandemic. More profits meant more help to those in need; good news all around. It didn’t surprise Lili. She’d seen a change in customer behaviour over the last couple of years, the fading fear of possible germs on second-hand goods, the increasing footfall due to the cost of living and energy crises. Lili had just cashed up. Heavy rain beat against the window and none of them were in a rush to get home.
‘Meg and I have been talking, Lili,’ said Tommo, and he stretched. ‘How about we help you put up the Christmas decorations in here tonight. Neither of us has got anything on. It’s about time now, in the middle of November.’
‘Living life on the edge,’ muttered Meg and then blushed. ‘No offence, guys, but I bet you two were doing something far more interesting with your Friday nights at my age.’
‘November, at twenty-one? Let’s think.’ Lili concentrated. ‘I was in Sweden on the Scandinavian leg of one of our trips – so much untouched nature and brilliant public services, but boy was it expensive.’
‘As for me, I was employed in hospitality on a cruise ship, still not knowing what I wanted to do with my life; in the kitchens, washing-up mainly. Hardly glamorous, but I did fall in love with a Frank Sinatra tribute singer though. Mike. Great guy.’ Tommo’s voice softened. ‘He used to sing “The Way You Look Tonight” to me. It was my first proper romance, away from the whispers and sneers that existed back in 70s Britain.’
‘See.’ Meg shrugged. ‘You two had a life. I’ve no girlfriend. No car. Not got my own place yet. I’m looking at another flat this coming weekend.’ She glanced at Lili. ‘I took your advice and told Gran about moving out. You were right. I had to. But it went really badly. Oh, she didn’t say much and that made it worse; in fact, she put on a brave face and said much as she’d love me to stay, it filled her with pride to see me forging my own life – especially after everything with my mum and dad. But that night I heard her sobbing in bed.’
‘That’s really tough, gal, sorry to hear that, but you’ve got to follow your heart,’ said Tommo. ‘I learnt that a long time ago. You can’t live your life to please someone else, to please other people’s expectations. Like you said, you won’t be moving far.’
‘I know. And she’s got lots of friends and a busy life. Yet it leaves me feeling ungrateful. But I do, I have to weigh up everything. I feel I should be so much further on with my own goals, you know? Personally, professionally…’ Meg sighed and bit into the donut. The others shot her sympathetic glances. ‘Gah, ignore me,’ she muttered and wiped her mouth. ‘I’m still stinging from my ex Zoe saying I needed to grow up and get a proper job, to forget my online vintage clothes shop dream.’
‘Sour grapes if you ask me,’ said Lili. ‘At the wise old age of twenty-nine, I can inform you that the most important thing in life is to have a passion. It gives your life meaning and purpose. Mine is the charity shop and dealing with unwanted objects. You’re lucky to have found your calling, I reckon, Meg. Not everyone does. And look at you, working hard to carve out a future, with the business course, the research you do, too, learning about vintage fashion. Anyone can see you live and breathe it.’ She waved a hand in the air, referring to Meg’s outfit, the high-waisted pleated trousers and floral embroidered cardigan.
‘It took me till my late twenties to fully realise that my passion lay in life outside of work and all I wanted was a job to pay the bills and give me a comfortable retirement. Banking administration ticked the box,’ said Tommo. ‘My heart was in going on tours and attending events with my motorcycling. Christ, I missed the roads when on ships, and that helped me work out what was important. At least you know what excites you at twenty-one. You’re doing pretty damn well, if you ask me.’
Meg’s face brightened and she drained her coffee cup. ‘Okay, then. Let’s get this place decorated. I’m in! As long as I get dibs on choosing the playlist. None of those sentimental Christmas ballads for me. But first…’ With a flourish she checked the time on her phone. ‘Yes, it’s now officially out of hours, so, before we start…’ She faced Lili. ‘What’s the latest on signor Dylan? You hardly said anything in the pub, after he visited, and Tommo and I haven’t been given a crumb of news since.’
Tommo rubbed his hands. ‘We want the low down. It’s not been forthcoming despite me humming “That’s Amore”.’
‘And I brought in those biscotti to have with our coffee on Wednesday,’ said Meg. ‘But subtlety isn’t working so… have you seen him again?’
‘You two really need to get a life,’ said Lili.
They sat expectantly.
‘All right! We went to a firework display together last Friday.’
‘You never told us!’ said Meg.
Lili had done her best to forget that evening.
‘Not much to tell. He simply wanted to discuss us kind of doing business together. Long story short, I’m seeing him on Sunday because he works in house clearance and has some bags for me to look through, for the shop and?—’
‘Express House Clearances,’ said Meg confidently.
‘How do you know that?’
‘You can’t have expected me not to look him up on Facebook.’
Lili gave an exasperated tut.
‘Not that I found anything juicy on his business page, and everything on his personal one is set to private. Although the profile picture on that is of him with his arms around a guy with the same colour hair cut short, and he wasn’t as tall as Dylan.’
‘That’ll be his younger brother Harry. He’s away travelling at the moment.’
‘What are you going to wear?’ asked Meg, grinning.
‘Don’t forget your toothbrush!’
‘Tommo! This is highly inappropriate!’ Lili gave a small smile. ‘And… irrelevant. It’s never going to happen…’ Telling them the truth would get them off her back, and she reckoned they’d understand. ‘I’m focusing on me at the moment… wondering if I need to make changes in my life, now that my situation is… different.’ She gulped and tears sprung to her eyes. What was going on lately? ‘Perhaps change has been a long time coming, since Em. A romance would just muddy the waters. And anyway, he’s not interested.’ She braced herself for their disappointment.
‘Me and my big gob.’ Meg covered her mouth. ‘Sorry, Lili. Shouldn’t have pushed.’
