Page 113 of The Happy Hour
‘Felicity, where do you want the sausage rolls?’ Jess put her phone back in her pocket and picked up the plate of crispy savouries that she’d moved off the cooling rack before messaging Ash. The gleaming, sunshine-yellow crockery Felicity had bought complemented her redesigned cream and duck-egg-blue kitchen. The Russian dolls even had their own shelf, where they were displayed properly, next to one of Spade’s framed tour posters from the Eighties.
‘Just out here, on the occasional table.’ She appeared in the doorway, in jeans and a turquoise blouse, her hair elegantly styled. She’d softened since the clutter had gone from her life and Spade had come into it, and now the property close to the park was every bit as stunning as Jess had imagined it to be before she’d set foot inside it last summer.
‘I’ve got the sound system set up,’ Spade announced, ‘and the playlist good to go.’
‘Is it some of your old tracks?’ Roger asked, sipping from a glass of lemonade. ‘No set from the Market Misfits?’
‘I might have sneaked a couple on there.’ Spade flashed him a wink. ‘The Misfits are having a day off. We’ve got gigs three nights next week, and Friday in the theatre, so we need to rest our instruments.’
‘I need to look after my throat.’ Braden reached for a sausage roll, then paused when Felicity gave him a cool stare. He shoved his hand back into his sleeve.
‘That’s only because you talk so much.Allthe time.’ Lola rolled her eyes and Braden shook his head, mock-disappointed. ‘It’s OK, I love you really.’ She grinned, and the teenager returned it.
The success of the Misfits had spread beyond the online world, and the three of them were enjoying low-key but well-attended gigs, supporting acts in indie venues throughout south London. Jess often got calls from her best friend, breathless with the wonder that people knew her name, paid to watch her and her friends play, sought her out via social media to tell her how much they loved her. She was living her best life – chaotic, busy, full of new experiences – and the Misfits still performed regularly at the market, never forgetting where they’d started.
Right now, Lola was on the sofa, sandwiched between Malik and Terence, who had found a jar of chargrilled artichokes from somewhere, and was working his way through them with a spoon. Jess wondered if she should have left him at home, but it had felt sad not to invite him today, especially as it was their last day as roommates.
A gust of flower-scented breeze blew in from the open French doors, and Artemis raised his head, perturbed at the interruption, then went back to his snooze.
‘Hello, it’s me! I’ve brought cupcakes!’ Susie stepped into the hall.
‘And I have courgette cake,’ Olga added, following her in. ‘Less sugar and carb. Healthy veg.’
‘Less joy,’ Braden said in his loudest possible whisper.
‘Now now,’ Roger tutted, but the corners of his mouth lifted up under his moustache.
Jess glanced at her watch. Wendy was due here in twenty minutes, for the big birthday party that they’d secretly planned – Jess had started the ball rolling – and they needed her to be last, because otherwise the surprise would be ruined.
‘The cake’s here!’ Felicity called, and Jess hurried out into the hall to greet Kirsty, who was carrying a huge cardboard box, with Enzo, Carolina and Sofia behind her.
‘Kirsty’s here too,’ Kirsty said with a wry smile. ‘But I appreciate the cake is more important. Red velvet muffin with vanilla twirls, and – of course – the pièce de résistance.’
‘Out in the kitchen,’ Felicity said, leading the way. ‘And I’m terribly sorry, Kirsty, of course you’re more important than the cake.’
‘Am I, though?’ Kirsty laughed, then added, ‘Don’t worry, Felicity,’ when the other woman’s cheeks went red. ‘Here we go.’
She put the cake on the counter and everyone crowded in. Jess could smell Spade’s spicy aftershave, and Olga was breathing in her ear.
‘This is so lovely, isn’t it?’ Peggy said to her husband John, a quiet man with pale skin and dark hair, who occasionally came out with the most wicked jokes Jess had ever heard. ‘I love your yellow crockery, Felicity.’
‘Thank you, dear,’ Felicity said.
Jess and Ash had bumped into Peggy and John at the Trafalgar Tavern one Saturday night, and over the course of the evening – as they’d all got to know each other beyond the stark setting of Cherry Blossom Lodge – they’d discovered that Peggy and John lived on the next road over from Felicity. When Jess had told the older woman, she’d made it her business to knock on Peggy’s door and invite her for tea. Now the house was restored to all its glory, Felicity’s new favourite hobby was inviting people round for tea – and showing off the original pieces of Carolina and Sofia jewellery she’d bought.
With Carolina’s arthritis being managed, and Sofia working on pieces alongside her sister, Enzo was busier than ever running their stall, and had even asked Jess for advice on how to set up an Etsy shop. Over the last few months he’d paid her and Wendy back the money they’d given him – even though both of them had put up a united protest – and Carolina and Sofia had made them both, and Lola, Spade and Braden, unique pieces as thank-you gifts. Jess only took off her kite-shaped pendant in the shower. It was her favourite item of jewellery.
‘Ready for this?’ Kirsty lifted the lid off the cake box, and there were coos and aaaahs and applause, and Jess felt suddenly sick.
‘Oh my God,’ she said. ‘Seriously?’
‘They’re made out of icing,’ Kirsty announced. ‘I worked really hard to capture all their expressions. It’s my most intricate creation ever.’
‘Thehares?’Jess couldn’t keep the horror out of her voice. ‘You didn’t think there were enough of them in the shop – and Wendy keeps ordering more like she’s fully possessed, by the way – you had torecreate themfor her birthday cake?’
Kirsty’s eyes widened in alarm. ‘She loves them though, right?’
‘She really does.’ Felicity sounded amused. ‘But I don’t think Jess shares that sentiment.’
