Page 13 of The Notecard
‘Maybe I will then,’ says Keri. ‘Girl power!’
‘Girl power!’ I say, and I tap my wine glass against her crisp packet.
After Laura got back from the bathroom, we kept looking for her wedding dress. In the end, we didn't find one (obvs). Laura has an appointment at a wedding boutique at the weekend anyway. Mum’s going with her. I said I couldn’t make it. The thought of spending three hours watching Laura try on wedding dresses in a posh wedding shop in Knightsbridge is my version of a nightmare. I’ll be spending Saturday catching up with Beth and doing more planning for my trip. I haven’t told anyone but Keri about it yet. She’s the only one who understands.
‘I’ve got a date tomorrow night,’ says Keri suddenly.
‘What? When did this happen?’
‘We worked together in my last job. The dead pigeon job. His name’s Hugh. He’s so posh, Meg. Like it’s literally mental how posh he is. He pronounces plastic with an r.’
‘Plarstic?’
‘Just like that. I don’t know. He’s not my normal type at all, but there’s just something about him. Maybe it’s the posh accent, or that he’s called Hugh, or that he’s really hot.’
‘Just don’t let Hugh become another Jack.’
Jack was a boy that Keri fell for in a big way. Jack Cromwell had a trial at West Ham and was completing his FA coaching badges. They met in a Tesco Metro. They both reached for the last avocado, their eyes met, and two coffees at a local Costa later and Keri was in love. Three months later and she’s thinking about their first holiday together (probably Spain but maybe Greece), he breaks up with her instead because she’s ‘too much’ and he ‘just needs some space, yeah’ and that was it. At least it should have been. Keri, still convinced he was The One, her avocado, ended up stalking him until he confronted her outside of a Pret A Manger mid sandwich. She had the free-range egg mayo and hasn’t been able to have one since.
‘I’m not going down that rabbit hole again. No, this one will be different. I’m going to play it cool with Hugh. Don’t worry, Meg, it’s just one date. I probably won’t see him again. Yeah, that will be it. One date, Hugh.’
There’s a break in the conversation and we get back to Grey’s Anatomy. Meredith is falling for a new man. I’m still depressed about McDreamy. (Spoiler alert) I can’t believe they killed him off. It really makes you think about your own life. How fragile everything is.
‘Favourite meal?’ says Keri suddenly.
‘Sorry?’
‘Favourite ever meal. Like the best thing you’ve ever had anywhere in the world. What’s your all-time favourite desert island discs meal?’
I think for a moment and then it comes to me.
‘I had a meal in Italy. I went there while I was at university with a couple of friends. We got cheap flights and stayed in a really shit hotel miles from anywhere. One day we went to this little restaurant. It was all run down and the menu was only in Italian. We didn’t know what to order, and I pointed at something on the menu. I had no idea what it was. Homemade pasta with chunks of pancetta in a creamy sauce with fresh grated parmesan cheese and torn basil on top. They served it with the most delicious bread I’ve ever had, and we had red wine in little glasses. I don’t know if it was because I was young, or where we were, but it was perfect. What about you?’
‘Beans on toast every time,’ says Keri. ‘And not the low sugar and salt one, the real full fat Heinze baked beans on cheap white toasted bread.’
‘That’s your desert island disc meal? Beans on toast?’
‘I love it. I could eat it every day.’
We get back to Grey’s and a patient has been admitted to the ER with a branch sticking out of them. It looks painful.
‘Thanks for trying to cheer me up,’ I say.
She smiles at me and then her face changes to one of complete panic.
‘Shit!’ says Keri, jumping up. ‘The non-vegan vegan chocolate cake!’ says Keri, running into the kitchen. ‘It’s still in the oven.’
I pause Greys and follow Keri into the kitchen. She opens the oven door and takes out the cake. It smells good, and looks good too, if not a little burnt around the edges. I think miraculously she might have pulled it off.
‘It looks good,’ I say, as we stand looking at the cake.
‘Yeah, it does, doesn’t it?’ says Keri, looking proudly at her cake. ‘I’m quite excited. I’ve never had a vegan cake before.’
I tell Keri I’m going to take out the recycling. I grab the wine bottles from the side and a cigarette. We have a small bin outside where we put all the recycling. It’s the recycling from all the flats and the bin is nowhere near big enough. One small party and its overflowing. There’s three wine bottles and I take them outside. It’s cold now. I light my cigarette and lean against the doorframe of the house. I look along the road and I think about James. I know he’s still in London somewhere. I wonder where he is tonight, and whether he’s thinking about me. Probably not. Then out of nowhere I see a fox. He’s walking casually along the side of the road. He stops and looks at me for a moment. I look back at him. He’s beautiful. It’s just the two of us looking at each other. It’s primeval. I feel excited, but also strangely calm in his presence. He’s maybe twenty feet away from me. It’s strange seeing something so wild in London. He starts walking again, stops, looks at me and I know it’s crazy, but I swear he smiles. He keeps on walking across the road, into a garden, and then he disappears.
I finish my cigarette then head back inside. I close the front door and walk up the stairs to the first floor. There’s an old lady on the ground floor. She’s nice. I haven’t spoken to her much, but she seems like the sort of person who has lots of stories. There’s a man on the top floor who rarely comes out. I’ve only ever seen him once or twice. He’s like one of those rare animals that are only photographed once in a blue moon. The lesser spotted ‘man with beard’. I think he’s called Michael. I’m almost to our door when the door to the flat opposite opens. It’s our new neighbour. I haven’t met him yet. I’m annoyed it’s now because I look awful. My hair is a mess, I’m wearing slippers with a pair of grey tracksuit bottoms, a baggy yellow jumper, and my backup glasses.
I stop and when he sees me, he stops. We both smile. He’s handsome, but not in an obvious way. Not like James. He has dark hair, dark eyes, and a boyish face with patches of stubble. He isn’t that tall, but he’s slim and in decent shape. I notice his ears because they’re small and half hidden by his hair. It’s all in his smile though. He has one of those faces that when it’s not smiling, it’s quite plain. Resting plain face. But when he smiles, oh my god, it comes alive. He has two dimples just below his cheeks. I’ve always had a thing for dimples. He also takes good care of his teeth. They’re very white and straight. It’s the details. He takes care of the details.
