Page 33 of From LA to London, With Love

Josh must have picked up something in my voice, or perhaps seen Erin and I speaking, because he immediately excused himself. I filled him in quickly as we walked back to the beanbags. Josh lowered himself onto a beanbag with significantly more grace than me, and spent the rest of the evening deep in conversation with Erin. As Erin was leaving, I went over to say goodbye and see if her chat with Josh was helpful. To my relief, while still understandably upset, she seemed slightly more positive about her future.

I found Josh stacking chairs after I’d waved Erin off. “Urgh, poor Erin. My heart breaks for her. Thanks for talking to her, it sounds like it really helped.”

“I’m glad. I think just hearing about how I still managed to go to university and found my own ‘chosen family’ gave her some comfort that her life wasn’t over. I hope her parents will come around, but if they don’t, at least she has the Pride House community to lean on for support.” Josh paused as he lifted a chair high into the air, dropping it on top of a tall stack. “Thank god Alex is going to sort out accommodation for her. Having somewhere safe to stay will make a huge difference. I spent my first two years out of home couch surfing, sometimes sleeping on the streets, and it was really tough.”

My chest contracted. Josh had never told me he’d had to sleep on the streets before. The idea of him or Erin being forced to do so made me sick to the pit of my stomach. “Once we’ve finished packing up, let’s ask Alex if we can help out with this fundraiser. This whole thing with Erin has really drummed home how incredible Pride House is,” I said.

The last chair stacked, Josh and I walked up to Alex, who was staring at a water stain on the carpet, frowning.

“I didn’t see this before, but I think the flooding affected the carpet in here as well.”

Josh groaned. “Urgh, that sucks. I’m so sorry about all the damage. I’ll have a chat with my boss at work about whether we have any spare merchandise we can donate for the auction.”

“That would be amazing. Thanks, Josh.” Alex lowered their voice. “I didn’t want to say anything in front of the kids, but it’s actually quite serious. If we can’t raise at least £20,000 by the end of the year, maybe more given the state of this carpet, we’ll have to close the center. There are pretty serious plumbing and damp issues, and we can’t let it get to the point where it’s a health and safety hazard.”

My heart sank. The thought of this fantastic space closing made the burrito sit even heavier in my stomach. What would happen to teens like Erin if Pride House closed down? “Oh no! That’s terrible. Let us know if you need help organizing the event, or if there is anything else we can do.”

“If you could help getting the word out, that would be great. I can MC the talent show, but if either of you, or both of you together, could be the auctioneers, that would be amazing!”

Josh looked at me, raising an eyebrow, and I nodded.

“Sure, we can do that. As long as we can bring two huge gavels to dramatically slam down whenever there’s a sale,” Josh said, vigorously miming smashing down a gavel in an attempt to cheer up Alex, who was rubbing their forehead and looking generally downcast.

Alex managed a weak smile. “Sounds perfect.”

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

SOPHIE

“WHAT THE HELL is going on there?” Rose asked as I fended off Alfie, who kept trying to lick my face or leap over me to lick Elliot’s face, bumping my phone in the process.

“Sorry, when I suggested having this meeting via Zoom, I didn’t take into account the fact that I’d be squashed in the backseat of a car between Elliot and Alfie, on our way to a film set, and that Alfie would be quite so…enthusiastic about everything.” I pulled an apologetic grimace at Rose and Mia, who were both in their offices, pretending to do actual work for their companies rather than planning their escape.

“Ha! Don’t worry, I think we’ve covered pretty much everything I wanted to talk about anyway—timing, potential clients, starting on a draft marketing plan. Mia, Soph, was there anything else you wanted to discuss?”

“Nope, all good here!” Mia said, smiling.

I straightened my phone and shook my head. “I’m good too. Next time, let’s meet in person, and I’ll leave Alfie at home!” I hung up, my chest filled with warmth. I was so excited about going into business with two of my closest friends.

Sitting in the middle car seat, trying to keep Elliot and Alfie away from each other while I spoke business with Rose and Mia, I hadn’t been paying much attention to the scenery. The car initially crept through Hampstead, before picking up pace as it got onto the A406 and then the A40. Houses, shops, and trees whizzed by in a blur. But as the car slowed and the grand old manor came into view, a buzz of anticipation washed over me. Was the buzz caused by excitement at getting a behind-the-scenes look at a movie set, or the prospect of seeing Chris again? Probably both. We’d spent most of Sunday, his only day off last week, together, and I’d seen him when he’d finished early on Monday, but I already missed him. God, I was pathetic.

The car drove us to the security checkpoint where the security guards, after checking my identity, called someone on the radio to pick us up. Before long, a young woman with wavy blond hair falling a few inches below her shoulders, dressed in jeans and a T-shirt that said “Strong Female Protagonist,” bounced toward us, smiling.

“Hi, I’m Jenny, Chris’s assistant. You must be Sophie and Elliot. It’s great to finally meet you. And I already know Alfie!”

Alfie bounded up to Jenny and started jumping all over her, looking thrilled to be reunited. Jenny bent down to give him a vigorous pat.

“Now Alfie, are you going to behave this time? Chris had to beg to have you back for a visit after last week’s antics.” She looked up at me. “I was so relieved you guys found him so quickly in Barcelona. Poor little guy. I hear you’re primarily to thank for that, so thank you! Now, please come with me, and I’ll take you to Chris’s trailer.” She started heading back the way she’d come, holding Alfie’s leash, making sure she kept him well away from the horses.

Alfie haphazardly leaped around, overwhelmed by all the exciting smells and the hive of activity.

So, this was Jenny. On first impressions, she seemed friendly and outgoing, and she clearly loved Alfie, which immediately put her in my good books. I could see why Chris hadn’t wanted to fire her, even if she hadn’t been doing the best job. Chris had mentioned that he’d chatted with Jenny about some areas for improvement, which she’d taken surprisingly well. He’d also found an intensive week-long executive assistant course starting next week in London. While aimed more at executive assistants for CEOs and other senior corporate roles, they’d both thought it would still be useful.

As we walked, I felt almost as overwhelmed as Alfie. The place bustled with activity. I had to focus hard on not ramming Elliot’s pram into the crew members, actors in period outfits, and shining horses that strode purposefully around us. Jenny led us to an area where there were several large trailers and knocked on the largest. It was bigger than a school bus and painted a shiny silver and white.

“Chris? Sophie and Elliot are here,” Jenny yelled.

After a pause, the door opened.