Page 33 of For Love or Money
‘It’s my incident … area,’ Lesley said. ‘There’s not much to it so far.’
‘Well, it’s early days.’
‘Yeah. I’m going to keep digging on the internet, but I haven’t found anything so far. It’s kind of weird someone her age not having any social media footprint at all.’
They were interrupted by Al’s phone ringing. He took it from his pocket and frowned down at the screen.
‘It’s Peter,’ he said as he tapped in a reply, ‘asking if I’m at your house for some reason.’
Another message pinged and he read. Then he looked up at her, eyes wide with panic. ‘They’re on their way over, him and Stella.’
‘They’re cominghere? Why? How do they even know where I live?’
‘Apparently you’re having one of your drop-in meditation workshops tonight,’ Al said with a weary look. ‘You sent Stella the details?’
‘Ah feck!’ Why hadn’t she checked Madeleine’s content more thoroughly before sending it to Stella? She’d switched her photo and contact details, but she hadn’t thought to check the class details at all. She turned to the laptop on her desk and pulled up the website. Sure enough, there it was on the home page, big and bold – a drop-in meditation session every Thursday evening at seven, free to first-timers. Bloody Madeleine and her hippy-dippy, all-welcome ways!
‘Tell him ... it’s full up—’
But even as she spoke, there was a ring at the door. ‘Right,’ she said, snapping her fingers. ‘Sit on the floor.’ She threw her eyes around the room. ‘Oh Christ, the board!’ she exclaimed, her eyes landing on her ‘incident nook’.
‘What?’ Al looked up at her. He had already obediently settled himself cross-legged on the floor.
‘The board, the board!’ She waved at it frantically. ‘Get rid of it.’
Al jumped up to grab the board as she left the room.
‘Hello!’ she said as she threw open the door to find Stella and Peter standing in her porch. ‘Lovely to see you again. But I’m afraid I’m a bit busy at the moment.’ She lowered her voice and threw her eyes towards the living room.
‘Yes, that’s why we’re here,’ Stella said. ‘For the meditation.’
‘Oh! But ... you’re not enrolled,’ Lesley said, thinking quickly.
Stella frowned. ‘It says on your website that it’s a drop-in class.’
‘Oh, yes. Well ... come in and we’ll discuss it,’ Lesley said, waving them both inside. She needed time to think, but it felt rude to leave them standing on the doorstep any longer. She thought quickly as they stepped past her into the hall.
‘The thing is,’ she said, turning to them as she closed the door, ‘I’m afraid this evening’s workshop is full.’ She was so pleased with herself for coming up with this excuse on the fly that she couldn’t help smiling. She hoped she didn’t look too happy about turning them away.
Stella glanced through the door into the living room, where Al was sitting cross-legged in the middle of the floor. He smiled and gave her a little wave.
‘It’s just Al,’ Stella said to Lesley.
‘Yes, that’s right. I like to give all my students one-to-one attention, so I only take one at a time. So like I said, the class is full. Sorry.’
‘Oh.’ Stella’s face fell. ‘I see.’ She looked so disappointed that Lesley felt like a prize heel.
‘You really ought to put that on your website,’ Peter said.
‘You couldn’t even squeeze in a couple more?’ Stella looked at her hopefully. ‘Just this once?’
‘I’d love to. But it’s, um … it’s a health and safety issue!’
‘Oh?’
‘Yes! I’m not insured. What if you had an accident?’
Peter frowned. ‘What sort of accident? Meditation isn’t exactly a high-risk activity.’
