Page 10 of Molly: Part One
“Hello,” I shout as I walk in, I’m considered family here so I haven’t knocked the front door in years.
“In the kitchen,” Susan shouts back, it’s not like I expected them to be anywhere else, they all live in that huge, gorgeous kitchen. They have the most homely house I’ve ever been in. It’s the total opposite of the house next door, that was like a show home, I always felt like I was making the place untidy by just being there.
“Hey,” I say smiling as I walk into the room. Susan instantly comes over and pulls me into a hug followed by a kiss on the cheek from Pete. Declan and Lilly are back from university and are sitting at the table finishing their lunch. They both wave and smile around their food. Susan and Pete weren’t just lucky enough to have one set of non-identical twins but two. Apparently it’s genetic, Susan’s mum was a twin and so was her grandmother. No one ever expected Susan to carry two sets though. That was a shock announcement a little over nineteen years ago. The younger twins are now at university, Lilly is close by in Cheltenham studying interior design but Declan decided to go further afield to Exeter to study business. They are both back for the summer and I can tell by the smile on Susan’s face that she loves having her babies’ home. She had serious empty nest syndrome when they first went, she’s such a mother hen.
“Do you want anything to eat Angel?” Susan asks me. She has always called her children Angel and from a young age that included me. That’s why in the end Hannah and I decided to name our company Angel Designs. When we came up with our life plan at the age of about fourteen we decided to name our company after our own names so thought up Mollah. It sounded good to us. But when we really started looking into setting up our own graphic design company a few years later and did some research we realised that Mollah was a title of respect for a religious man in Turkey, it suddenly lost its appeal to us! So after what felt like months of brainstorming we finally came to the conclusion of Angel because it meant so much to both of us. We very quickly decided we were not having any imagery you would expect a company called Angel to look like, we were having no halo’s, wings or fairy-tale stuff. We went for more of an angels with dirty faces approach. Our logo ended up being black and greys with just a splash of magenta. The font we chose was edgy, nothing you would automatically put with the word angel but it worked for us, we loved it, well I still do.
“No, I’m fine thank you, a cup of tea wouldn’t go a miss though,” I say with a smile knowing there is always tea in the pot at this house.
“Of course, you sit down and I’ll bring it over.”
After a few minutes all five of us are sat around the table catching each other up with what has happened in our lives. I love these moments, I never had them with my family, they never seemed to care enough about what each other was doing. The Morrison’s house was different though and was always having ‘family meetings’ as we used to call them as kids. Times like these make me think that I want this with my own husband and kids one day.
“So Molly, how’s Max?” Lilly asks me.
“Ah well, that’s sort of one of the reasons I’m here. It’s over, I’ve left -”
“Thank god for that,” Susan butts in.
“Susan,” Pete scolds.
“Oh Angel, I’m sorry but I never liked him, he wasn’t good enough for you. I mean yes he was nice to look at but he didn’t treat you right.”
“No Susan, don’t apologise. You’re right. I knew it was never going to work really, I never loved him and I know I deserve better. And you know what? I’m going go get it. Today is the first day of the rest of my life.”
“Good for you Angel,” Susan says putting her arm around my shoulders.
“So where are you going to live?” Pete chips in.
“Well, that’s another thing, I -”
“I’ll go make up the spare room,” Susan butts in again. God I love her, she doesn’t even bat and eyelid about taking care of me like one of her own.
“Thank you but that won’t be necessary. Actually, Ryan has asked me if I will move into his place. I went there last night when I found…um…when I decided to leave Max. We stayed up nearly all night talking and he offered me the downstairs room, I was reluctant at first because he has barely moved in himself but he was adamant he wanted the company and he knows how much I hate being alone.”
“Well I think that’s a great idea, we know how much you two have helped each other this year, it will be good to have each other close by,” Pete says nodding his head at the idea.
“That was pretty much what we thought as well. I’m really excited, he’s taking me furniture shopping tomorrow and letting me decorate it however I want. I’ve never done that before. Ryan is the one who convinced me to live for me, not anyone else and I’m firmly following that advice starting now.”
“Good for you,” Susan says smiling.
“Is Emma around?” I ask. Since the accident Emma seems to have become the opposite of a recluse, she is never home but no one knows where she is. We know she’s not always at work because Susan has rang them before now to speak to her so we know she is only working part time but she will not let on where she goes or what she does other than work. I have only seen her a few times and she rarely replies to messages or answers her phone now. We are all worried about her and miss her terribly.
“No, she went out earlier this morning,” Susan says sadly.
“Oh well, I’ll try to catch up with her so I can let her know I’ve moved. Right, thanks for the tea but I’ve got to go and sort out ‘new Molly’,” I explain.
After we have all said our goodbyes I jump in my car and head to my next destination. It’s now nearly two o’clock so I don’t have much time before I need to be at Shane’s salon but lack of time has never stopped me before. I pull into a parking space behind my favourite department store and head inside.
After only fifty minutes I am walking back to my car with my arms full of bags. Operation ‘new Molly’ is well under way. I put everything in the boot and quickly head over to Shane’s. I don’t want to be late after he has done me a favour.
It’s now half past five and I have spent the last couple of hours being pampered by one of my closest friends and I am in a great mood.
Shane wasn’t surprised at all by what I wanted done, he said he saw it coming. He had texted Chris to say I was going to be there so not long after I had sat down he arrived to hear the gossip first hand and to check I was okay.
So as Shane worked away I told them everything, apparently they also thought Max wasn’t good enough for me. When I told them about living with Ryan they both starting fanning themselves asking if he walks around topless all the time and if so then can they both move in as well. That made me laugh. Everyone knows Ryan Evans has one seriously ripped body.
I am now leaving the salon a new woman, gone are my long blonde locks in favour of shorter rich chocolate brown waves with a full fringe. I realised after seeing the blonde bimbos last night that without me realising it Max had managed to get me to have my hair how he wanted. He was always dropping hints about how hot he thought blondes were and how good I looked with blonde hair. It wasn’t until I saw myself in the mirror this morning that I realised how much I actually disliked my blonde hair and how bad shape it was in after all the bleach. So I decided to go back natural, have the fringe back I used to have and it cut so it’s just resting where the swell of my breasts start.
