Chapter Twenty-Three
Wednesday 11th December
Ashleigh – 34 Tilgate Road, Brighton
After spending yesterday evening working on the calculations for the pattern pieces, Ashleigh’s job for the day was to draw them out and cut them from her pattern paper to make the templates, then pin them all to her mannequin and check to see if it needed any adjustments.
It was also her job today to sneak out and put up the Christmas lights with Olivier at some point, and honestly, she didn’t know what she was feeling most excited about.
A restlessness that was making her feel like she could do the London to Brighton run and, still have enough energy to get everything done, was fizzing through her veins. Knowing Olivier was just next door was somehow both comforting and making her feel like she could barely restrain herself from going around there early.
Something in her had switched – maybe it was Romesh reassuring her that Olivier liked her too, or just how much fun she’d been having; the way she felt in herself when she was around him – like shecouldchoose to look on the bright side and find her own magic. He was one of her best friends and the fear she’d felt when he left seven years ago and she’d chosen not to call him had possibly robbed her of years of laughter and understanding between them. She knew she didn’t want that to happen again. For the rest of the time he was here in England, she wanted to spend as much as she could with him.
But she had work to do first. So, as soon as she’d had breakfast, she pushed the coffee table out of the way in the living room so she could roll out her paper and start marking things out. The only issue was that the carpet underneath kept making her pencil marks wobble off line and sometimes the nib tore through. She’d never made anything so big before that it couldn’t fit on the kitchen table.
‘You need something hard underneath,’ her nan said, standing behind the sofa and holding on to the back of it.
‘I know.’ Ash sighed. ‘But what’s big enough?’
‘The kitchen floor?’
‘I suppose, I’m just a bit more in the way there aren’t I?’
‘You aren’t in the way here?’
Ashleigh looked up with a frown. ‘I thought you were behind me with this project?’
Nan sighed and shook her head. ‘Oh, don’t be so sensitive please. There’s no denying that you’re taking up a lot of room.’
Ash looked down at the roll of paper spread out over the floor. She was taking up a lot of space but it was only for a couple of days. After Olivier made her reconsider some of her assumptions about how Nan felt when Mum had left her to live with her, Ash had been wondering if she shouldn’t try applying that lens to all of her nan’s behaviour.
But it was awfully hard when you were blatantly being told you were in the way.
‘I know why you’ve not been able to do this in your room too,’ Nan added.
‘Because it’s too small?’
‘And because there is a great bloody Christmas tree in there.’
‘What were you doing in my room?’ Ashleigh’s cheeks flushed. So much for not reverting to their teenager and strict guardian roles. It wasn’t like Nan was banned from her room, but Ash cleaned it herself and did her own laundry – there was no reason for her nan to go in there.
‘You left the door ajar and Simon got in there. He’d sniffed out that silly advent calendar you bought for him. Honestly, an advent calendar for adog. He’s got no idea what Christmas is!’
Ash almost laughed because her nan’s response was exactly as she predicted. ‘It’s formyenjoyment really. Nice to celebrate Christmas withsomeonein this house.’
‘And I suppose that’s why you’ve cluttered up your bedroom with an enormous tree.’ Nan tutted.
‘The tree was a prize. We won it at the quiz last week and Romesh and Olivier said I could have it. I wasn’t planning on keeping it in my bedroom, I was going to bring it down here.’
‘And put it where?’ Nan looked around the room with her eyes wide, as if there wasn’t a completely logical spot for it right in front of the window, if you shifted the armchair a bit. But of course,thatwould block the view of the neighbours.
‘Almost every household in Britain manages to fit a Christmas tree into their living room. It’s not that hard.’
‘You know I hate great unnecessary monstrosities like that.’
‘OhI know, of course I know,’ Ashleigh muttered. She blew out a frustrated breath and started rolling up her paper.
‘What are you doing?’
