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‘Here.’ He hands his phone to me. ‘My new year present to you.’
My eyes widen. ‘Are you sure? It’ll cost a fortune.’
‘I don’t like to see you sad.’
My smile comes back instantly. ‘Thanks, Mike.’ I peck him on the cheek and dash outside.
I punch in Dominic’s number – already I know it by heart. Since I got back from Africa, I’ve been phoning him from my landline two or three times a week, even though I know my bill will give me a heart attack when it arrives.
Tapping my foot, I wait for the number to connect. The night is cold and there’s going to be a hard frost. I wish I’d thought to bring out my coat as, already, I’m shivering. Then I hear Dominic’s phone ring and a second later, he picks up.
‘Dominic?’
I hear the smile, the warmth, the love in his voice when he says, as if he can’t believe his ears, ‘Just Janie?’
I hug Mike’s phone as if that will bring my Maasai warrior closer to me. ‘Happy new year, darling’ I say. ‘Happy new year.’
Chapter Fifty
So it’s a new year and I’ve made a whole list of resolutions. This year they extend beyond not swearing and losing half a stone. This year they will involve going all out for what I want. Oh, yeah.
The salon is quiet, business slack. All the Christmas decorations are down now and everywhere looks as dull as dishwater. But perhaps that’s just in comparison with the African plains. The sky is grey and baggy. Darkness falls at three o’clock and the evenings stretch interminably, but long nights alone have given me plenty of time to plan.
‘You’re mad,’ Nina says as she gnashes on a Granny Smith. ‘Stark raving bloody mad.’
‘I sent him a message last night,’ I continue as calmly as I can, ‘on Facebook.’
My friend tuts again. ‘Can’t you get it back? How do I talk you out of this?’
‘It’s what I want,’ I tell her. ‘It’s what he wants.’
‘Is it?’
‘I believe so.’
She runs her hands through her hair. ‘It’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard.’
Last night I wrote to Dominic and asked, begged, him to come to live here – with me, in Nashley. I’ve thought long and hard about it and know it’s the right thing to do. We should be together and if we can, then we should give it all we’ve got.
I imparted that knowledge to Nina as we were having our morning coffee together in the staffroom of the salon and now she’s in a complete strop with me.
I don’t know what to say to Nina’s comment. Is it so wrong of me to want to be with my loved one? I can’t understand why Nina is being so hostile.
‘This is a once-in-a-lifetime love,’ I point out. I’m absolutely sure of it. ‘I can’t let that slip through my fingers.’
‘What nonsense,’ she scoffs.
But is it? Thirty is well behind me and yet it’s the first time I’ve ever felt like this. If I don’t make it with Dominic, what are the chances of me finding someone who makes me feel like this again? Does it sound ridiculous to say that I feel we were destined to meet? That against all the odds, we should be together? They say that there is someone for everyone and I feel, most definitely, as if I have found my soul mate. How many people can say that with absolute conviction?
‘What will he do?’ Nina asks. ‘For work? Will they even let him in?’
‘We let everyone in, don’t we?’
‘How’s he going to pay for his fare?’ my friend wants to know. ‘Are you going to send him the money?’
That was my plan.
Nina rolls her eyes without me having to say anything.
Since New Year’s Eve, I’ve been missing Dominic desperately. I think the days we spent together over Christmas have only served to intensify our love for each other.
‘He hasn’t said yes yet,’ I point out. But he will. I’m sure he will.
‘This is what they all do, Janie,’ Nina goes on. ‘If he comes over here, he’ll go through your bank account in no time.’
‘There’s nothing in my bank account for him to go through,’ I remind her.
I’m also still in debt to Mike to the tune of a thousand pounds. I will, however, be paying that back the minute I get my salary this month, which will be any day now. As well as all the extra hours I worked in the weeks before the holiday, I was on a product-selling frenzy that Alan Sugar would have been proud of. If it was in my power, no one went out of the salon without a bottle of shampoo or conditioner or some essential hair grooming requisite. With all the overtime I did before Christmas and my extra commission on sales, I’m hoping that I’ll be able to clear my debt to my neighbour completely. I haven’t told Mike yet about my plan to bring Dominic to come and live here and I’m praying that he’ll be far more supportive than Nina has been so far.
