Chapter Thirty-Two
Felicity leaned over and pushed the car door open. ‘Road trip! Whoop whoop, I’ve got supplies!’
Lisa offered a smile and slid into Felicity’s car. She wished she could share her friend’s enthusiasm for the journey ahead, but she felt sick at the prospect of returning to the flat she had shared with Ben. She didn’t want to face it, but she knew ithad to be done. She needed to collect her things, and to walk away from their life together once and for all.
‘Rosy Nose?’ Felicity slid a bag of Rosy Noses towards Lisa.
Her stomach flipped at the sight of the fruity marshmallow and gum snouts. ‘I’m too nervous, but thanks anyway.’
‘I’ve got Globetrotting Percies if you’d rather.’
‘Honestly, I’m fine. I just wantthis to be over with.’ Lisa organised her rucksack at her feet and put her seatbelt on. True to her word, Felicity had removed the back seats from her car in preparation for Lisa’s belongings. She knew she could have driven herself, but her van needed a service, and if she was honest, she wanted to keep her new and old lives separate. Pulling up in her ‘purrfect pet sitter’ emblazoned van wouldno doubt evoke comments from Ben. If he was there, she didn’t want to hear his thoughts on her new career or life. Besides, Flick’s seven-seater had easily enough space for the things she wanted to take, and the added bonus of her friend along for company and fortification for her already-waning courage.
Felicity turned from the wheel. ‘I know, sorry. It’s just… well, I knew you’d befeeling like shit so I thought we’d make it about us, instead of… instead of what it is. We never did a road trip together; remember, we used to speak about travelling together?’
Lisa looked at Flick. ‘It would have been great, you know, if you could have come with me… when I left.’
‘I know, but I couldn’t just go and live in another country. You know my mum expected me to geta job, have a career. And, well, I didn’t… but it turned out for the best in the end… If I hadn’t have got pregnant when I did… well, Mum and I had so little time together.’
Lisa touched Felicity’s arm.
‘Anyway,’ Felicity said with a sniff, ‘when you asked if I’d drive you I thought, so—’
‘So why not now?’ Lisa smiled. She knew Felicity was right. This trip didn’t haveto be about Ben and the past. It was about moving on, her future and a new beginning. Sharing that with Felicity made it even more significant. She popped a Rosy Nose into her mouth and winced, it really was very sweet for quarter past nine in the morning.
‘That’s more like it: you, me, the open road and Robbie Williams…’ With that Felicity pressed play on Robbie’s greatest hits, wavedto Harold Martin, who was on a march down the road, and drove off.
As ‘Let Me Entertain You’ burst from the speakers, Lisa felt her spirits lift. Her mum had hated her listening to Robbie Williams when she was growing up. That disapproval coupled with her teenage-inspired insistence on liking any music her mother didn’t, ensured she had become an avid fan; she and Flick knew all the words.
Having karaoked, and filled their faces with the entire bag of Rosy Noses and a few of Percy’s globetrotting friends for a large part of the journey, both Lisa and Felicity welcomed the sight of the service station. They were in much need of a cup of tea, the toilet and savouries to see them the rest of the way. It was their first opportunity to talk since they had set out and Lisa decidedto tell Flick about all that had happened with Dom.
‘So it turns out him being at Houghton wasn’t a coincidence at all. He was checking me out.’
‘It all sounds a bit dodgy!’
‘No, his gran hired me to walk her dog. He didn’t want anyone taking advantage of her so he kind of followed me.’
‘As I said, dodgy!’
‘No, caring.’
‘So you must have made a goodimpression.’
‘No, terrible as it happens. I lost Jack, that’s the dog, and he found him, or rather Jack found Dom!’
Felicity laughed.
‘It’s bad, isn’t it! I asked him why he didn’t get me sacked. He said that my concern for Jack made it clear I cared. That and the fact he couldn’t resist calling me Rose were good signs.’
Felicity looked at her confused and Lisadecided explaining the wholeTitaniclink would be a step too far. She gave a shrug as if that had been a completely normal thing to do under the circumstances.
‘OK, I won’t ask. But you must have died when you found out he was your client’s grandson.’
‘It was a bit of a shock. He apologised for not saying before. To be honest, I’m not sure how much of a chance I ever gave himand you know what it’s like when you’ve gone too far with something.’
‘Well, he hid it from you, and that’s not good.’
Lisa swallowed. She still hadn’t discovered what Pete’s secret was and thought about the fact he was hiding something from Flick. What would she make of that? Having got no further with uncovering the reason for Pete’s text, Lisa changed the subject. ‘Anyway, despitethe fact Dom knows I lost Jack and that I took Fred to the doctor’s for having a shoulder blade—’
