Page 46 of The Happy Hour
‘We need to show the market at its busiest,’ Lola replied. ‘If we get Enzo being mobbed by customers in the background, that’ll help. You could bring yourboy, Jess.’ She pinned her with a stare. ‘I could get him to sign a release form, in case he wants to be involved.’
‘I guess,’ Jess said faintly. She knew this wouldn’t be the end of it, that Lola was going to get her back for keeping Ash to herself.
‘In fact,’ her friend went on, ‘how about we use your side project as part of the fundraising? You could create some motivational prints specifically for the market. They’re not that expensive to produce once you’ve got the design finalised, are they? Maybe we could sell some of them on Enzo’s stall?’
‘You can’t change what you sell without consulting the management team,’ Susie pointed out.
Jess was too stunned to speak. Lola hadoutedher?
‘What are these motivational prints, Jess?’ Roger asked.
‘It’s just something I do in my spare time,’ she scratched out, glaring at her friend. ‘Quotes on an attractive background. Some funny, some inspirational. I could create some more, and... we couldn’t sell them here, like Susie says, but I guess we could promote the link to my Etsy shop?’
‘Are you sure?’ Kirsty asked. ‘You’d be giving up some of your profits.’
Jess shrugged. ‘Lola’s right. They’re not that expensive to make or send, and once I’ve come up with the design, they’re easy to mass produce. I’d be more than happy to do some extra ones.’
‘Surely Wendy would love to have a selection in No Vase Like Home?’ Roger said. ‘Put them in frames, give them some additional heft. Haven’t you spoken to her about it?’
‘Oh no,’ Jess said. ‘I’m not sure—’
‘We’ll add it to the agenda for Sunday,’ Lola said, ‘but this sounds really promising.’
‘Great,’ Jess said quietly, but she felt a bit sick. She’d never told Wendy – or anyone here – about her Etsy shop, because she didn’t see herself on the same level as them. They were all professionals: artists and bakers, true creatives, not just making up whimsical signs in their bedroom. But now, in one fell swoop, Lola had announced it to everyone.
‘Let’s meet outside the pub,’ Spade said. ‘They’ll be open by twelve.’
Everyone agreed, and Jess’s stomach clenched. She could tell them that she wasn’t free, that they’d be fine without her, but now Lola had put her firmly in the centre of their fundraising efforts, and she would be working here anyway, so she couldn’t get out of it. And she wasn’t giving up Ash. They only had an hour as it was, and she wasn’t prepared to relinquish that.
That left only one option: bring Ash along, and introduce him to Lola. Make whatever they had together even more real. It felt like all of the parts of her life, that she had worked so hard to keep separate from each other, were colliding, and it was out of her control.
The group disbanded, everyone drifting back to their stalls to relieve whoever was covering for them. Spade was already talking to Brad who ran the hog roast stall, whatever story he was telling him involving some serious air guitar.
‘Jessica Peacock.’ Lola folded her arms. ‘Who is this boy Enzo and Spade were talking about, and why do I know absolutely nothing about him?’ Jess opened her mouth to reply, but her friend kept going. ‘We need a proper powwow. This evening at your place, with a bottle of wine. Is the lovely Terence going to be in?’
‘I’ve got no idea,’ Jess admitted. ‘But we can go to my room if we have to. Do you think that would also be a good time to talk about how you’ve just told everyone about the secret side project that I have purposely, for over a year now, kept to myself?’
‘You’ve just been waiting for the right moment,’ Lola said smoothly. ‘And now it’s going to help Enzo, this isexactlythe right moment to share your talents.’
‘You’re unbelievable.’ Jess shook her head, but she was smiling.
‘It’s one of the reasons you love me. And let’s not forget, you’ve got more explaining to do than I have. I’m not the one who’s been hiding an entire male person from her best friend.’ She pressed her hands against her chest. ‘I need to go and practise with my bandmate before Sunday. We want over a hundred thousand views next time, so we need to get it right.’ Lola kissed Jess on the cheek, then went to interrupt Spade’s air guitar.
Jess slipped quietly out of the market, not even passing No Vase Like Home on her way, and headed for the safe haven of Waterstones, where she could lose herself amongst a thousand different stories that had nothing to do with her. She had less than a day to decide which bits of Ash she wanted to share with her best friend, and which parts she was going to keep to herself.
Chapter Seventeen
I’m really sorry about outing your Etsy shop,’ Lola said. ‘But I was just shocked to hear about this Ash person from Spade, rather than you. And itisa good idea, letting everyone know about your prints, because they’re amazing and you shouldn’t be hiding them.’
‘
She was sitting cross-legged on Jess’s bed, while Jess sat backwards on her armless desk chair, twisting left and right, because she couldn’t settle enough to sit still. They had goblets of rosé wine, and Jess had set the fairy lights over her headboard to a soft pink, the mood cosy and subdued.
They could have been fifteen again, talking about boys in one of their bedrooms, posters unfolded from magazines Blu-Tacked to the wall, the crowd sounds of a televised football match echoing from the other room. Women, Jess realised, would sit in rooms and discuss love at every age: it was only the naiveness of their outlook, the nature of their sighs – from hopeful to world-weary – that changed.
‘I don’t mind really,’ she said. ‘I don’t think, anyway. I’ll get back to you once Wendy fires me for conflict of interest.’
‘She’ll probably set aside half the shop for you and your posters.’
