Just the Way You Are (34 page)

I put my hand on the doorknob. ‘It’s all coming together for you, isn’t it?’

‘So it seems. My mum was really happy to see you earlier by the way. She loves you.’

I was on a knife-edge, faced with an impossible decision. I could either tell him I loved him and hope he’d stay or keep my big mouth shut and wish him good luck. Suddenly, something Ivy said came back to me: “you just have to be a little bit brave.”

Something about those words hit me: she was totally right. You couldn’t live your life being afraid; sometimes you just had to jump in feet-first and worry about the consequences later. A life watching from the sidelines wasn’t really a life at all, was it? I’d been brave enough to let someone new – Graham – into my life and this was another leap I had to make.

‘Will you be around on the twenty-fifth, do you think?’

‘Yeah I think so, why?’ said Max.

‘Do you fancy coming to this do that
Sleek
’s publishing group are putting on? I think I told you about it; the Kiss and Tell Ball. It’s dead fancy and I might even end up with my article on the front cover! You can…bring Amira if you like.’

‘Sure, that sounds great.’

That was it: I’d been as brave as I could be and now the rest was up to Fate.

Chapter 31

January twenty-fifth, the day everything could come together or fall apart, finally arrived. I was up at the crack of dawn putting the finishing touches to my article. It had to be in by twelve on the dot and I didn’t plan on being late. Tonight was the Kiss and Tell Ball and everything was riding on it. My career, my love life, my dignity: everything was at stake.

Once I was finally happy with the article, I bundled it up and took it to
Sleek.
Butterflies fluttered in my stomach; I could really be in with a chance of landing the cover. As I walked in, I saw Maddie walking out. We nodded and exchanged cordial smiles with one another. We’d probably never be best friends but we’d at least agreed to a ceasefire.

I strode confidently into Paddy’s office and put my article down on the desk. I’d included all my research materials, so he’d know I’d done my homework before writing it.

‘Well Ava, this looks stunning!’ he said with an appreciative grin. ‘This’ll be a good read, I reckon.’

The fact he hadn’t even nearly called me Maria touched me. Maybe I’d finally made an impression on him.

Briskly, I walked back down to the car and whipped out my phone as it buzzed. What I saw on the screen made my face light up with happiness and I feverishly dialled Ivy’s number.

‘Hello Ivy, it’s Ava. How are you? Great. Listen, are you and Leo busy tonight? If you’re not I’d like to ask you along to a party my work’s holding. Let’s just say I’ve got a little surprise for you. Brilliant, it starts at seven at the Lowry. See you then!’

Max was going to be there and now Ivy and Leo would be too. The stage was set, now I just needed the story to come together.

As in all good stories, I had to get into my costume and prepare for my curtain call. When I got back to the flat, that’s exactly what I did. I’d spent most of the previous night agonising over what to wear and I’d finally chosen a white prom dress with a sparkly tutu skirt. The Kiss and Tell was described as “when prom night meets Disney” and given what I was planning to do I had to unleash my inner princess.

‘Wow chick, you look fantastic!’ Gwen breathed when I walked into the living room.

‘Do I look OK?’ I asked. I fiddled with the skirt and smoothed down the bodice.

‘No, you look bloody amazing! Graham won’t be able to take his eyes off you.’

My heart sank a bit. In the midst of all the excitement surrounding my big plan, I’d forgotten about inviting Graham to the Kiss and Tell Ball.

‘Would it be really bad of me if I told him not to come?’ I smoothed the skirt out and sat down on the sofa.

‘I thought you’d decided to keep your mouth shut and see how things go with him!’ Gwen chuckled and shook her head.

‘Part of me wants to commit to a relationship with him: he’s decent, dependable and he’s a complete gentleman. The only downside is… Well, he’s not Max.’

‘If you keep comparing everyone to Max, you’ll never find anyone. There’s no-one like him; I went out with him for about five minutes, remember? There’s still time for you to tell him how you feel, you know.’

‘I know, I’m going to.’ I shot up from the sofa and piled my hair into a bun, fixing it in place with some kirby grips on the worktop.

‘You’re what?!’

‘Paddy and Miranda put the kibosh on my feature about Ivy and Leo, so I came up with a new one. It’s about me, Max and the love letters; I’ve written him a special letter and when I go up to either make my winning speech or my losing one, I’m going to read it out.’

Gwen’s eyes widened with panic. ‘Chick, have you thought about this? I know I said to tell him how you feel, but in front of hundreds of people might not be the best place to do it!’

I grabbed my leather jacket from the coat hook and pulled it on. ‘It’s now or never, Gwen. If I don’t do it now, he could fuck off to Australia with Amira and I’ll never see him again. It’s like Ivy says, you just have to be a little bit brave.’

I muttered a goodbye to her and ran out the door before she had a chance to talk me out of it. Tonight was the night that could make or break everything.

***

The Lowry Hotel in central Manchester was a beacon of fairy lights when I arrived just before seven p.m. Strings were wound round the metal railings of the bridge that led you across the pond to the opulent building on the other side. The exterior of the building was bathed in a raspberry pink light:
Sleek
’s signature colour. In the distance, I could see people milling through the revolving doors. Hopefully, Max would be amongst them.

My phone buzzed with a text from Graham: he’d decided he didn’t want to see me any more as my refusal to go on a mini break was a sign I had commitment issues. He’d mulled it over long and hard and was now taking his colleague Michelle to the Peak District. I felt bad when I didn’t feel disappointed.

As promised, I waited outside for Ivy and Leo. They arrived soon after me, holding hands and looking like two teenagers in love.

‘Hi you two!’ I hugged both of them and kissed their cheeks. ‘You look great!’

‘Thanks darling, you look absolutely stunning,’ Leo replied. He handed me a single red rose and smiled. ‘That’s for you. It doesn’t even begin to thank you for bringing Ivy and me back together, but it’s a token of my gratitude. In my day, we gave girls flowers as a thank you gift, I-I hope you like it.’

‘Leo, it’s beautiful; thank you so much. Oh, congratulations on getting engaged by the way! When’s the wedding?’

‘We’re thinking around May or June time,’ said Ivy. ‘You’re invited, of course! That’s not the only good news we have… I went to see my consultant at hospital and the treatment’s working better than they thought. They think I’ll be in remission by later this year.’

A great relief washed over me. I’d been so worried about Ivy since she’d been diagnosed; to hear that she was on the road to recovery was the best news ever.

‘That’s absolutely fantastic, I’m so glad to hear that!’ I threw my arms around her and squeezed her. ‘Listen, I know I said my quirky Valentine’s story was going to be on you two and in a way it is. The article won’t be published in
Sleek
but I’ve just sold it to a huge lifestyle magazine. I got the email today; it’ll be published in next month’s issue. Everyone’s going to know your story!’

Ivy and Leo’s faces lit up and they thanked me over and over again for all I’d done for them. My heart swelled with pride; reuniting them had made me believe in true love again and had opened my heart to the possibility of finding it myself.

‘Let’s go in.’ I put an arm out for both of them and led them inside.

The main function hall was a hive of activity, colour and sound. Swathes of black fabric covered the room and little fairy lights were embedded in them. The main source of light came from a huge mirror ball that gently spun above the room and cast iridescent squares over every corner of the room. Splashes of colour – lime green, hot pink, bright blue – were everywhere, from the tablecloths to the bright and beautiful centrepieces.

‘Wow, it’s like a fairyland,’ said Ivy.

‘My work definitely knows how to throw a party.’ I led them over to one of the tables and got them chairs to sit on. Once I made sure they both had a glass of champagne and a plate of buffet food, I scanned the room in search of Max. I hoped against hope that he hadn’t changed his mind about coming or decided it was a bad idea.

‘Wow, look at you!’ Fran came from the throng of people and enveloped me in a hug. ‘You look bloody gorgeous!’

‘So do you!’ I gestured to her snake-print jumpsuit and cute up-do. ‘What a great party, eh?’

‘This is about the only thing the publishing group knows how to do well,’ she replied. She looked over my shoulder and grinned. ‘Is that Ivy and Leo sitting there? Can I meet them?’

‘Yup, that’s them; come and say hi!’ I said. I took her over to them. Fran looked like she’d just met Brad and Angelina.

‘Ivy, Leo, this is my friend Fran Robertson; Fran, this is Ivy St Clair and Leo Browning.’

‘It’s a pleasure to meet you both; Ava’s told me so much about you!’

‘All good, I hope!’ said Ivy.

‘Oh definitely!’

I got up from my chair. ‘I’ll give you three a chance to talk; I’ve got something to do over there…’

I muttered the rest and left. I had to find Max; he had to hear what I was going to say. Frantically I scoped the room, looking for any sign of him; even the teeniest little one would do. My eyes fell on him at the back of the room and my heart danced. He was wearing a classic tuxedo, complete with bow tie, and looked absolutely gorgeous. One thing jumped out at me: Amira wasn’t there.

‘Hey you!’ I yelled over the pounding soft rock music.

His face lit up when his eyes met mine. ‘Munchkin! I was starting to wonder if you’d come or not.’

We hugged and broke apart before things got too awkward. Nothing could wipe the smile off my face. He was here and he’d finally find out how I felt.

‘Is Amira not with you?’

‘Nah, she’s back at my flat sorting stuff out for Australia. Her visa’s been approved; we’re just waiting on mine. I got the job, by the way: the one I did the cookery demonstration for.’

‘That’s amazing,’ I replied. ‘Honestly, I’m really happy for you Max.’

‘Cheers. It’s all starting to feel real now, which is pretty scary. Like I’m
actually
going to be moving thousands of miles away! I’ve never lived anywhere except Leeds and Manchester; I don’t know how I’ll cope anywhere else!’

I giggled. ‘They’ll love you, don’t worry!’

Not as much as I love you though.

The champagne flowed, inhibitions disappeared and the party was in full swing. As per usual Mr Lloyd, the creepy head of the publishing group, began doing the rounds. He told us he felt “very lucky to have such beautiful young things working for the Sphere group” then tried to touch our waists or bums.

Around halfway through the night, the music stopped and Paddy stepped up onto the stage at the back of the room.

‘Testing, testing…’ He tapped the microphone until the hum of chatter dissipated. ‘I want to thank you all for coming tonight; I’d even go so far as to say this has been the best Kiss and Tell Ball yet!’

The room whooped and applauded.

‘OK, OK… I think I can speak for everyone when I say that
Sleek
magazine is proud to be a part of the Sphere family. We’ve had an excellent year sales-wise and our current pool of talent is second to none.’

This time, just the Sphere employees cheered.

‘In October, I set two of our finest journalists a competition: to come up with a quirky Valentine’s story that would entice readers to our magazine over our rivals. They both did a sterling job and I had a really difficult time choosing the winner. However, I’m happy to say that a winner has been chosen and their article will be featured on the February issue of
Sleek.
Drumroll please…’

The room waited with bated breath while Paddy took a pregnant pause before announcing who’d won.

‘The winner is… Ava Clements!’

My jaw dropped as I tried to take in that my name had been called. In a daze, I joined Paddy on stage. Surely this was an amazing dream?

I opened my mouth to speak then remembered that there was around a hundred people in the room. I struggled speaking to two people, let alone a crowd this big.

‘I…I-I…’

Oh no, please don’t let me projectile vomit on stage.

An intense, uncomfortable, sticky heat crept up my body and a wave of nausea washed over me. I desperately scanned the room, trying to pick a spot to focus on. My eyes fell on Max. He winked and smiled at me and I could feel my fears slowly dissolve.

‘I… Well, I’m shocked as you can tell! I certainly didn’t expect to hear my name being called out tonight; I didn’t even win a pack of felt tip pens at junior school, so this is a huge deal!’

A ripple of laughter resonated round the room. It made me relax a little. If I could make them laugh with me and not at me, then maybe this would turn out OK.

‘The article I ended up writing wasn’t my original idea,’ I continued. ‘My first one was going to be about reuniting two very special people after a fifty year separation. I did reunite them and I wrote the article, but it’s not the one
Sleek
readers will see in the February issue. It’ll be published in a massive lifestyle magazine next month, so watch out for that. Faced with the challenge of coming up with a new idea, I looked to my own experiences for inspiration. Some of you might know that at university, I received some beautiful love letters from an amazing secret admirer…’

I trailed off and looked at Max. He was staring blankly at me, obviously keen to know where this was going.

‘You might also know that the admirer recently started to write to me again. The article I wrote is all about my quest to find him and unravel the mystery of who took the time to write such powerful letters to me. And, as you’ll see in the article, I did. I started out with some pretty silly preconceptions about what he’d be like; a Bradley Cooper lookalike who loved animals, the environment and Romantic poetry or something like that! It’s fair to say I had some, er,
disasters
along the road, which you can read about in the article, but the biggest shock came when I found out who’d really been sending me the letters. It was someone completely unexpected and it’s safe to say, he didn’t match the description of what I thought my secret admirer was like!’