Our Last Summer by Jennifer Joyce
Chapter 26
It had been a shock to the system the first time I worked on a festival. There was the alarmingly early start and then the sheer amount of work involved in running the event, but this time I’m prepared. I’ve organised bigger events than the Durban Castle Summer Food and Drink Festival so even the seemingly endless to-do list doesn’t intimidate me. I crack on with the job, designating car park space for staff, exhibitors and the public, and helping to set up stalls and seating areas while Mel focuses on the health and safety checks. Everything runs as smoothly as can be expected (there are always hiccups along the way, but we manage to smooth them over) and the stalls start to fill up with bread and cakes, cheeses, street food, and lots and lots of booze.
It’s already a gorgeous day, with the sun shining and a light breeze, and there’s a steady stream of couples and families arriving to browse and eat and enjoy the live music. By lunchtime, the place is packed. The reporter who covered the protest yesterday is back, but this time his focus is on Gillian as she poses in front of a gourmet ice cream van with a chocolate-dipped waffle cone topped with a scoop of caramel clotted fudge ice cream. When the photographer asks her to lick the ice cream while looking into the camera, Gillian tells him she doesn’t have the time or the crayons to explain why that won’t be happening, but thanks him for coming before moving on to the next task on her giant to-do list.
Mum’s here, lounging next to Laura, both of them sipping wine and giggling every time they attempt to climb out of their deckchairs, and Dad seems to be buying a bit of every cheese available, like a mouse armed with a bag-for-life and an empty fridge waiting at home. I’ve seen Yvonne and Ed knocking about too, and Heather said she’d pop over, though she probably won’t drag herself out of bed until mid-afternoon. Tomasz isn’t here yet – he’s working on the new-build houses again so he said he’d come over this evening, but it doesn’t stop me searching for him in the crowds, looking out for the floppy strawberry blond hair and freckles. I can’t wait until he gets here; I’ve decided that today is the day I will tell him how I feel because I cannot hold it in for a moment longer.
Originally it was Tomasz who made the first move, on Bonfire Night of this year, but although it’s less than three months away, it’s still far too long. That night was beautiful, with the stars and the fireworks, the heat and the crackle from the bonfire and the smell of smoke and roasting meat in the air. Tomasz’s fingers found mine as the sky erupted with bursts of red and green glitter, his cheeks pink from the cold and from the bold move. And then the kiss. So perfect. Unexpected but coveted. The swell in my chest. The beat of my heart, much louder, it seemed, than the booming from the sky. But as beautiful as that night was, I cannot wait.
Closing my eyes, I listen to the bustle of the crowds, the hum of the band playing in the distance, the sizzle and clatter from the demo kitchen. The smell of frying onions and popcorn and sun cream fill the air and a breeze cools the back of my neck even as the midday sun bears down. Today feels like a good day to begin a love story.
‘El-o-deeeeee.’
I open my eyes, turning to see Yvonne stumbling across the lawn in heels. She lifts a plastic cup filled with crushed ice and points at me with the other hand.
‘You need one of these, Elodie.’ She finds the straw clumsily with her mouth and slurps noisily from it. ‘G&T slush. Amazeballs.’
I wave my clipboard at her. ‘Working, I’m afraid. Maybe later.’
‘Forget work.’ Yvonne takes another stumbled step towards me. I’m beginning to suspect the wobbliness isn’t due to the heels on soft grass. ‘Come and play with me and Ed.’
‘Where is Ed?’ I crane my neck looking around the stalls but I can’t see my friend.
Yvonne gives a dismissive wave while she purses her lips and tries to catch the straw with them again. She takes a massive slurp before wincing and massaging her forehead. ‘He’s over there somewhere.’ She waves her hand again. ‘Talking to a boy. Works with him or something. Fit as, but so boring.’ She pulls a face before slurping at her drink again.
‘How many of them have you had?’ I nod at the slush while Yvonne stamps her feet in a futile bid to chase off the brain freeze. She stops the stamping to grin at me.
‘A few. Definitely more than one.’ She sniggers and captures the straw with her teeth. ‘Where’s Sacha?’ At least, that’s what I think she asks, because her words are distorted by the straw that’s still clamped between her teeth. ‘I’m gonna snog his face off.’
‘No.’ I shake my head. ‘You don’t want to do that.’
Yvonne releases the straw from her teeth and spreads her arms wide. ‘Er, yeah I do. I want to snog his face right off. Today. I’ve waited two years.’ She holds up three fingers. ‘Enough is enough. It’s kissy time.’ She puckers up and makes smoochy sounds into the air.
Seriously, how many gin and tonic slushes has she had?
‘We need to get you some food.’ Soak up the alcohol. Distract her from Sacha. ‘What do you fancy?’
Yvonne sniggers. ‘Sacha Nowak.’
I fight the urge to roll my eyes right up to the sun and guide her towards the nearest stall. ‘Vegetable kebab? Falafel burger with skinny carrot fries? Beetroot burger?’
Yvonne looks at me sharply, her expression a mix of anger and repulsion. She’s either going to shout at me or throw up. Which is fair enough. Beetroot burger? Perhaps we’ll swerve the vegan barbecue today.
‘Mac and cheese then?’ I steer her past the grill and point at the yellow bus up ahead. It’s an old US school bus, converted into a mobile kitchen. ‘Look, there’s loads of toppings you can choose from. Bacon bits, smoked sausage, meatballs?’
Yvonne takes a long, noisy slurp of her drink. ‘You know, Sacha saved my life last night.’
I nudge her into the queue at the bus’s hatch. ‘They’ve got cut-up hot dogs? Or barbecue chicken?’
‘You know, with the Craig thing?’
‘Pulled pork?’
‘He’s my hero.’
I sigh and drag my eyes away from the chalk menu boards. ‘Sacha is not a hero. He didn’t save your life. He told Craig to get lost, like we all have over the years.’
Yvonne isn’t really listening to me. She has a wistful look on her face, her eyes all big and dreamy, the hint of a smile on her lips as she plays out whatever fantasy is in her head.
‘We had a really good chat last night, actually. About work and how unhappy I’ve—’
‘Jalapeños?’
‘What?’ Yvonne’s dreamy look vanishes as she focuses on me, on the present – for her at least.
I point at the menu. ‘Do you want jalapeños on your mac and cheese?’
‘I don’t want mac and cheese.’ Yvonne jiggles her plastic cup. ‘I want another one of these bad boys. This is just ice now.’ She thrusts the cup at me before she wobbles her way across the grass.
I manage to get some food into Yvonne, plus a coffee, and leave her in the hands of Ed so I can get some actual work done. After checking the loos and making sure the next band is ready to set up, I cover the break of the ticket booth staff before I have a break myself. I’ve been craving mac and cheese topped with pulled pork, so I grab myself a portion and head for the deckchairs in front of the entertainment stage where I left Ed and Yvonne earlier. Ed’s relaxing in one of the deckchairs, sunglasses on, pint in hand, as he listens to the band. There are no free deckchairs so I kneel on the ground, using Ed’s discarded leather jacket as a makeshift blanket.
‘Where’s Yvonne?’ Her shoes have been tossed underneath Ed’s deckchair but there are no other signs of her.
‘Talking to Gillian, last time I saw her.’
‘What?’ I sit up, scanning the crowds of people. ‘My Gillian? My boss? Gillian Quinn?’
‘Chill out. She’s sobered up. Mostly. She had a little nap in the shade and she can pretty much speak in full sentences now.’ Ed nudges his sunglasses down his nose so he can look at me unhindered as he smirks, but the grin slides away almost instantly. ‘Oi. You better not be getting grass stains on my jacket.’
‘Don’t be so prissy.’ I’m still on the lookout for Yvonne and Gillian, because I can’t imagine Yvonne has sobered up that much in the last hour or so. Goodness knows what she’s babbling about. ‘Where did you last see them?’
Ed waves his hand in the general direction of the food stalls. ‘Yvonne went to get us some biscuits – I wanted a fudge sundae biscuit, which I’m still waiting for – but she got distracted by Gillian. Or it could have been the other way round, actually, with Yvonne distracting Gillian.’ Ed nods and slides his sunglasses back up his nose. ‘Yep, that sounds more like it.’
‘Yvonne said you were talking to someone before.’ I settle back down on the jacket and load my fork up with the cheesy pasta and pulled pork. ‘Someone you work with?’
‘Neil. One of the other youth workers.’ Ed rests his back against the deckchair and stifles a yawn with the back of his hand. ‘He’s here with his mum.’
‘Do you like him?’
‘He’s all right. He can be a laugh, but don’t get him started on football. He won’t stop.’
I blow on my fork before putting it in my mouth and chewing slowly. ‘Yvonne says he’s fit.’
Ed snorts, turning his head so he can look down at me. ‘Yvonne once went out with Craig Radcliffe. I wouldn’t trust her judgement.’
I load up my fork again. The mac and cheese is pretty good. ‘You’re my best friend. You know that, don’t you?’
Ed snorts again. ‘Have you been on the G&T slushes as well?’
‘I’m being serious. You’re my best friend and I love you. I’ll always be here for you, no matter what. There’s nothing you could tell me that would shock me.’
‘I bet there is.’ Ed purses his lips and tilts his head to one side as he thinks of something. ‘How about the fact it was me who broke your mum’s teapot? You know the cat one that’s missing an ear? That was me. I knocked it off the side but was too chickenshit to confess.’ He pulls the corners of his lips down in a grimace. ‘Sorry. I should have bought a new one. I will buy a new one.’
I shake my head. ‘Don’t worry about the teapot. Just remember, I’m here for you. Always. And you’re the best human being in the world, no matter what anybody says.’
‘Why?’ Ed struggles to sit up in the deckchair and twists so he’s facing me. ‘Who says I’m not?’
‘Nobody. But just remember, okay?’
‘Yeah, yeah.’ Ed settles back down. ‘Can you shut up now? I love this song.’
I want to say more but I spot Gillian over by the stage. Yvonne is no longer with her but I feel I should check in. Practically throwing the tray of mac and cheese at Ed, who doesn’t seem to mind and is already tucking in before I’ve managed to scrabble up onto my feet, I hurry across the lawn, sidestepping deckchairs and bags and small children. I’m three deckchairs away from Gillian when a hand reaches out, grabbing me by the waist and stopping me in my tracks.
‘There you are.’ Tomasz smiles at me, his freckled cheeks plumping up with the movement in the most adorable way. ‘I finished work early. I’ve been looking for you.’
I forget about Gillian. It doesn’t matter what Yvonne said, or how drunk she was when she said it. Tomasz is here and I’m determined that today is the day it all begins.