Читать книгу I'll Be There For You - Kerry Barrett - Страница 14

Chapter 6

From: Jasmine55

To: MildredHubble

Dear Mildred,

I’m sorry to message you, but I was really interested in what you were saying yesterday about how your friend managed to get better. I’m not sure what happened but I couldn’t see the end of your message.

Anyway, I’m not sure if you’re still checking in on the website, but I’m finding it helpful to write all this stuff down, even if you’re not reading it, so I thought I’d carry on.

It’s a chicken and egg situation, I think. I’ve lost my powers and I don’t know if I’m feeling so lost, and unhappy because they’ve disappeared or if I’ve lost them as a result of how hopeless I feel. Does that make sense? The worst thing is that I feel so guilty for feeling bad. What do I have to feel down about? I’ve got a great partner, gorgeous kids, a lovely house, no money worries. People have it a lot harder than I do. So why can’t I cope?

Don’t feel you have to reply, Mildred. In fact, delete this message if you like. I’ll never know, after all.

But if you are reading, I’d love to know more about your friend and what she did to get her powers back. It’s silly, really, because I’ve got a brilliant support network – my mum, friends, my partner – but it’s hard to tell them how I’m feeling right now. I’m quite a perfectionist, I’ve always been really driven, and admitting I’m not feeling that way is really hard. I think that’s why I’m finding it easier to write it all down, and tell you instead. Please drop me a line if you can – and if I haven’t scared you off by being so needy.

Jasmine x

From: MildredHubble

To: Jasmine55

Dear Jasmine,

I’m sorry I’ve taken a while to reply. Things are sometimes tricky at home.

Anyway, I know all about perfection, believe me. I’m a real control freak and so’s my husband. He’s properly type-A, as the Americans say. We should probably lighten up a bit, but that’s the way we are, I suppose, and we’re not going to change now.

Anyway, I’m so pleased you feel you can talk to me and I hope that if I can help you it will go some way to making amends for how I let my friend down. If I’m honest, I feel like I’ve let a lot of my friends down over the years. Family life gets in the way, you know? It’s hard to keep in touch with everyone when you’ve got little ones to look after – I’m sure you know how that feels.

Maybe online friends are the way to go? After all, we do everything else online now, don’t we? I do the weekly shop on the Internet, I read books on my kindle, I watch films online – it’s all digital. So it makes sense to have digital friends, too. Maybe we can be each other’s online friend? I’d like that. It’s easier to be honest, I think, when you’re not face-to-face.

And I’d really like you to be honest with me, Jasmine. It sounds to me like you’re having a rough old time of it, and I want to help.

I have to go now – my husband’s on his way home and I need to tidy up before he arrives. Perfectionist, remember? I’m going to have a think about what’s happened to you – maybe have a look in some books – and I’ll get back to you. Can you tell me a bit about what sort of witch you were before?

Love, Mildred x

From: Jasmine55

To: MildredHubble

Just knowing you’re on my side has made me feel better already. Does that sound mad? Knowing you understand what I’m going through and what’s happening to me means I feel better able to deal with it all.

So you asked what kind of witch I was before. Where to start? Witchcraft is everything to me. It’s my life. I’ve always been a very powerful witch and because my family, most of them at least, share my skills, I’ve had amazing support my whole life. Until things went wrong, I used witchcraft every day, in every part of my life. I use it for all the boring stuff like cleaning, finding a parking space, sorting out the laundry – you know. I’ve tried to use it for cooking but it doesn’t always work – decorating cakes is about the only thing that works in my experience. Trying to bake the cakes themselves using spells is always a disaster. At least that’s what my mum claims – she’s a brilliant cook and she never uses witchcraft to bake. My business is based around witchcraft. I use it at work every single day – at least, I did. And though my partner isn’t a witch, most of my friends are. So what kind of a witch am I? One who has witchcraft oozing through her veins. What about you?

Love, Jasmine. X

From: MildredHubble

To: Jasmine55

Dear Jasmine,

Oh, I wish I was like you. With witchcraft in the very essence of your being. But I’m not like that at all. I’m a perfectly capable witch. Competent. Practical. I don’t work any more – I’m a stay-at-home mum now – but when I did I used witchcraft most days. Only for things like filing, though. It was never the main part of my job, and it’s still not a big part of my life, not really.

I was a PA back then. I like to think I was a good one. In fact, I must have been doing something right, because I married the boss! I met my husband when I started working for him, and he soon swept me off my feet. My husband is a witch too. A very good one, in fact. He sounds a bit like you – using it every day and in every way. Though I’m not sure he’d have married me if I’d not been a witch. He’s quite keen on making sure our powers aren’t diluted and that they’re passed on to future generations. He doesn’t really mix with people who aren’t witches at all. In some ways it’s a relief that both my parents have passed away – they weren’t witches and it would have made things quite tricky for me. He was the only witch in his family, and his parents couldn’t cope at all. His dad really favoured his younger brother, even though it was my husband who was the talented one. It’s left him with a few issues about keeping to ourselves – he thinks it’s easier that way.

Anyway, Jasmine, enough of me wittering on. Please keep in touch. I feel like we’re friends already.

Mildred x

***

The rest of the week was pretty normal. Louise and I actually spent a couple of evenings together catching up on Breaking Bad and eating dinner at the same time for once. It was really nice and I felt less gloomy about things, largely because I felt like I’d found an ally in Mildred. It was strange to feel connected to someone I didn’t know from Adam, but I was pleased to have someone to listen to my problems.

I didn’t see much of the twins on my work days but Lou said Fiona hadn’t done anything else witchy as far as she could see. I wondered what would happen at the baby group on Friday. I had Esme’s yummy mummy gathering to get through first. I was dreading it.

On Wednesday afternoon, Lou was called into work. She dropped the twins to me at the spa and all the staff and clients cooed over them.

Finlay was taking a few steps on his own now and he was thrilled when everyone applauded as he toddled to me unaided. Fiona looked at him suspiciously, then pulled herself up on my leg and took two steps herself before plonking down on to her nappy-padded bottom.

I scooped her up and kissed her smiley face.

‘Clever girl,’ I said. ‘Clever, clever girl.’

Finlay clapped his hands and I watched as sparks flew between his palms like an electric current.

Nessa had seen it too. She gasped.

‘Is he…’ she began.

Still cuddling Fiona, I knelt down beside my son and stroked his cheek.

‘I think he is,’ I said. ‘You clever pair.’ Finn gazed at me for a second, then he crawled off to investigate Ness’s shoes.

‘Both of them,’ I said to Nessa quietly.

‘And so early,’ she said. ‘That’ll be fun.’

‘It’s going to be a nightmare,’ I said, cheerfully. I was thrilled the kids were both showing signs of witchcraft even if I was powerless myself right now.

For now, though, I had more than just my lack of talent to worry about.

Lou came home from work about 10 p.m., looking excited and worried at the same time.

‘What’s the matter?’ I said straightaway, clocking her flushed cheeks.

She sat down next to me.

‘I’ve been offered a secondment,’ she said, shrugging off her leather jacket. ‘To be part of a major investigation. It’s quite a big deal.’

‘That’s brilliant,’ I said, squeezing her arm. ‘So what’s the problem?’

Louise bit her lip.

‘It’s really, really full on,’ she said. ‘It’s going undercover, investigating one of the biggest businesses in the country. It’s a massive honour that they’ve picked me to be part of the team but, Harry it’s going to mean a lot of late nights, long days and working at weekends.’

I made a face.

‘For how long?’ I asked.

‘I reckon about three months altogether,’ Lou said. ‘A couple of weeks first getting familiar with the company, before we go in, then maybe two months undercover and a week or so afterwards for debriefing.’

I took a deep breath. Being without Lou for that long was absolutely the last thing I wanted, but she was a really good detective, and I knew this could be an opportunity that wouldn’t come up again.

‘Do you want to do it?’ I said, taking her hand.

‘Not sure,’ she shrugged. ‘If this had been before I met you, or before we’d had the kids, then I’d have jumped at the chance. It’s a big pat on the back that they’ve asked me and it could lead to amazing things at work. Plus it’s working in Fraud – I’ve always wanted to get into that department. And the other members of the team are all amazing – I’d love to work with them.’

She paused.

‘But I don’t want to be away from you all for so long.’

I put my arm round her and pulled her close to me.

‘I think you should do it,’ I lied. I didn’t want her to do it. But I knew that any problems in our marriage weren’t going to be solved by me forcing her to turn down this opportunity. ‘We’ll just have to make a pact to really make the most of your days off and not just sit around the house in our pyjamas. You shouldn’t turn down a chance like this.’

‘Really?’ said Louise, still looking unsure.

‘Really,’ I said. ‘Listen, why don’t we see if we can book a holiday for afterwards? Just two weeks in Majorca or something at the end of the summer? It’ll give us something to look forward to. The kids would love it and we can spend some proper time together.’

Louise grinned at me.

‘That’s a great idea,’ she said. ‘You really think I should do it?’

‘I do,’ I said. ‘Ring them now and tell them.’

She leaned over and kissed me.

‘You’re amazing,’ she said.

I kissed her back.

‘I know.’