Page 32 of The Time of My Afterlife

I point to the board. ‘Is that the end of our planning?’

She nods. ‘If I think of anything else, I will let you know.’

‘Oh, and… can I check something – was the stick person with the spiky hair and ears that looked like jugs me?’

She touches her nose. ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about, Clark.’

13

FLORENCE

He’s gone home. I’m sitting on the sofa staring at my whiteboard and our ideas. Anxiety is nibbling away at me. We can’t fail again.

My phone starts to vibrate. I see that it’s Mum FaceTiming me. It’s late. I glance at the clock. It’s nearly ten. I hope she’s okay.

‘Hello,’ she coos, giving me a little wave. She’s sitting in her kitchen. Behind her, I can see the constellation of photos of Dad hung on the wall. For a few seconds, I zone out of what Mum is saying and gaze at his face.

She clears her throat, which jolts me back into the present.

‘Are you okay, Mum? You don’t normally call this late.’

She smiles. ‘I wanted to check you’re feeling all right, Florence.’

I blink several times with surprise. ‘Me? I’m fine. Why do you say that?’

With a hand on her chest, she says, ‘You’ve been a little short for a while and I’m worried about you.’

I’ve not been snappy. ‘Mum, I’m fine.’

After touching her earring, she fiddles with the neckline of her top. ‘I wondered whether you needed to talk.’

‘About what?’

There’s a pause. ‘Missing your dad? Or what you went through last year – perhaps?’

My heart aches. ‘I’m fine.’

‘Are you sure? Because in the café you looked stressed and you were a bit abrupt with me. I know you say you’re fine, but these things can come back months later and the other day I noticed it was the one year⁠—’

I don’t let her finish. ‘It’s okay, Mum. I am fine. Honest.’

She smiles. ‘You would tell me if you were struggling.’

My eyes have become watery. I blink like mad. ‘Yes.’

‘Are you happy, Florence?’ Her words echo inside of me. I remain silent. ‘Remember, you can always go back and speak to your counsellor.’

I shake my head. ‘Mum, I’m fine.’

‘Before I go, Steve has managed to get a discount on a wonderful all-inclusive to Tenerife and…’

I wish she’d stop mentioning this. She hardly knows Steve. He could turn out to be a psycho, a nutter or an axe-wielding murderer in Speedos. If anything happened out there, I wouldn’t be there to protect her. ‘Mum, you can’t rush off to Tenerife with a chap you hardly know.’

‘But I…’

I grip my phone with both hands. ‘Mum, if anything went wrong out there, I couldn’t rescue you.’

‘Yes, you’re right. Anyway, I’d better go. I must finish some ironing.’