‘Where have you been?’ Ashleigh asked, to change the subject.
‘Oh, whooping a bunch of really arrogant men at poker.’ Noelle wiggled her eyebrows. ‘Thank goodness because the drinks here are almost as expensive as in New York.’ She hollered – albeit politely – to get the bartender’s attention and had him readying shots for everyone and a martini for her. ‘I’ll get a round in for everyone. What are you having?’
‘Oh, I just got one thanks. So, do you live over here now?’
‘No. I’m just visiting.’
‘I thought you were with Nick’s brother? Isn’t he a banker up in London?’
‘Yeah. That’s right.’
Well, that was a hell of a lot further than Paris to Brighton. Noelle and Stephen had the whole Atlantic between them. Ashleigh couldn’t help but ask: ‘How does that work? How often do you even get to see each other?’
Luckily, Noelle didn’t look fazed by the personal question at all. ‘Well, he was on secondment in New York over the summer; he only came back here in September. Then we managed a couple long weekends back and forth through autumn and since the wedding was happening, I decided to come over and stay through December, because, well…I’m a writer, so it doesn’t really matter where I am…and I was missing him like crazy.’
Back and forth. And missing him like crazy. ‘That sounds hard.’
‘It’d be harder not to have him in my life at all,’ Noelle said and then smirked a little. ‘And it makes forspectacularreunions, if you catch my drift.’
Ashleigh laughed. Ro would definitely have been on the same page in this conversation. ‘Do you think you’ll move here then, eventually?’
‘Well. It’s early days for talk of moving in together. And, honestly, I don’t know if I could live away from my family. It’d be a tough decision.’ Noelle frowned. Great, Ashleigh had managed to depress one of Beth’s bounciest friends.
‘Sorry. I didn’t mean to bum you out – it’s my special talent apparently.’
Noelle blinked and shook her head, putting her hand out to touch Ashleigh’s arm. ‘Oh, honey, you haven’t. I’m perfectly capable of letting my mind wander off and overthink a bunch of scenarios all by myself. It’s just a conversation I need to have with him and see how he feels really. He’s got his own family stuff to figure out too. It’s a two-way street after all.’ She slid down from her stool. ‘I’m going to go round up all the girls for these shots. Keep an eye on them?’
Maybe that was what Ashleigh needed to do too. Just ask Olivier. Figure out where she stood. Noelle had got her mind spinning. She was never usually so timid about speaking her mind – often to disastrous effect – but she had spent so many yearsnotsaying how she felt about him, it was hard to break the habit.
And, if she was honest, she was a little scared that he’d say this whole thing between them was just a fling. Somehow she wanted more than that, but also wasn’t sure she could cope with it if it did turn into something serious, because that would mean long distance. It was no wonder she was worried about asking upfront questions because she had no idea what she’d do with his answers.
Her muddled thought path was interrupted by a mass of young women swarming around the bar, Beth front and centre, to down their shots. Then the dancing continued and when Ash needed another break she found time to chat with Lisa and Geri too, trading stories about some of the best LGBTQ+ friendly places to go. They had booked a hotel for the weekend since they thought of Brighton as their second home and always came to Pride here in the summer as well as in London where they lived. They swapped numbers with a promise to get in touch next time they were down and meet up. Lisa was really into her vintage clothing, so shopping in some of the best second-hand places Ash frequented was definitely on the cards.
When it got late and people started flagging, they walked Geri and Lisa to their hotel on the seafront, saw others off into taxis and then Ash caught the night bus up to the station with Noelle and Beth, who were planning to take the last train back towards Loganbury. Only it was cancelled.
‘Oh my God. This always happens.’ Beth shook her head. ‘Now what?’
‘Now, you play us some music on the piano.’ Noelle dragged her over to the piano that was fixed in the station beside the seating area.
‘I don’t think I can see the keys properly.’ Beth hiccupped but lifted the lid anyway. ‘What shall I play?’
‘Something happy. Obviously.’
‘How about “Here Comes the Sun”?’ Ash suggested.
‘Oh, that’s beautiful. Yes.’ Beth, who despite being drunk, started playing The Beatles song off the top of her head. Noelle took Ash’s hand and they danced while Beth played, and the other commuters turned to watch. More than one phone was taken out to record Beth, because she was fantastically talented and the dreary, bleary atmosphere brought on by the too-bright lights and unreliable public transport was transformed.
God, Ash might not have many friends, but she did love the ones she had. It was also such a gorgeous, hopeful song. One of Olivier’s favourites.
When Beth finished there was a round of applause and calls to play more. Beth launched into Mariah Carey, to give the crowd something Christmassy and a bunch of people even joined in singing.
When she finished, protesting that she couldn’t do any more, they were all grinning and Ash didn’t really want the night to end. ‘Hey, why don’t you just come back to mine? It’s, like, five minutes away. You could crash there.’
‘Aw, thanks, Ash.’ Beth gave her a big hug. ‘Let’s go.’
The three of them went back out into the cold, their laughter gusting out in little clouds of frosty air. Noelle and Beth had their arms around Ash’s waist and she had her arms around their shoulders as they stood on either side of her.
‘We can call the boys to pick us up, right?’ Beth said, as they turned the corner onto Ashleigh’s road. ‘Dragging them out of bed at this time is pardonable on my hen night, isn’t it? I’d stay but I’ve got wedding things to do tomorrow. Less than a week to go. Eeek.’
