Chrissy took the final drag on the spliff, seeing that the girl had one of her own.
‘Her stuff’s incredible, isn’t it?’ the girl said, putting hers to her mouth.
‘Is it?’ Chrissy replied.
‘There you are. I’ve been looking all over for you!’
Juliet was carrying a stack of white toast smeared in Marmite, holding the plate aloft. She offered it to Chrissy just as several hands descended from all directions. ‘Hang on, hang on. Play nicely you lot.’ Despite not feeling hungry, and not even sure whether she liked Marmite that much, Chrissy helped herself to a piece.
Juliet handed the plate over to the greedy pack and they moved away.
‘Watch her, she’s trouble that one,’ said Jazz, winking at Chrissy.
‘Sod off,’ Juliet replied, collapsing into the beanbag, sending Chrissy into the air. The taste of Marmite stuck in Chrissy’s throat through laughing so much.
‘I might have to head off soon actually,’ she said as the room started to spin. ‘Great party though.’
‘You can’t go yet!’ Juliet shrieked through a mouthful of toast. ‘We’ve got hash cookies for pudding. Or magic mushroom cake if you’re feeling particularly trippy.’
‘Well, I don’t really do that stuff. The odd spliff but—’
She was persuaded to stay nonetheless, and Juliet began asking questions about her love life, music, friends, jobs, usual topics really. Although Chrissy had trotted this stuff out a million times over the past couple of weeks it sounded vaguely interesting when she shared it with Juliet. She seemed particularly keen to hear about Dan, his band and his music. They talked a lot about Dan.
‘So what about you?’ said Chrissy, realizing the focus had been almost entirely on her.
‘Me?’ Juliet took off her hat, shaking out her hair. A trail of shiny black waves fell over her shoulders. ‘Jeez, it’s hot under there.’ She had an olive complexion, dark eyes, and with her hair down she was even more striking. ‘I’ll fill you in sometime, not now.’
Chrissy hadn’t shared those things about Dan with anyone else in Bristol, and the disappointment at not getting anything in return must have shown on her face.
‘I generally don’t tell people my stuff,’ said Juliet, lighting another cigarette. She looked quite forlorn all of a sudden. ‘Anyway it’s very boring, and to be honest no one ever asks.’
Chrissy wafted the smoke away and looked at her watch. ‘I really need my bed,’ she said, attempting to get out of the beanbag.
Juliet managed to stand up before her and held out her hand.
‘Thanks,’ said Chrissy.
Suddenly both Juliet’s arms were draped round her neck and she made her sway in time to the music. ‘You can always crash here,’ she said with a wink. ‘It’s what I normally do.’
‘Thought you were in halls.’
‘I use my room for work mainly. They let me kip down here for free whenever I want.’
She saw Juliet give a nod to a seventies-style punk standing by the door. He looked high as a kite.
‘How come for free?’ she asked.
‘Guess they feel sorry for me. Look, please stay. Come on, it’ll be fun.’
‘No, honestly. I’ll tag along with that lot heading back to Clifton.’
‘What about that coffee then?’ said Juliet, kissing her cheek. ‘When are we next in?’
‘Friday. Do you know Gianni’s?’ She was pleased when Juliet didn’t. ‘It’s on St Michael’s Hill. I recommend the hot chocolate though.’
Juliet followed her to the pile of coats in the corner. ‘Sounds like a date,’ she said, kissing her other cheek as Chrissy was buttoning her overcoat. ‘I’ll give you your notes back then too,’ she added, pretending to throttle herself, making choking noises. ‘So you don’t have to kill me.’
Chrissy looked down at her Docs, embarrassed now for saying that, and gave Juliet a grin.
‘Ooh. One more thing,’ said Juliet, disappearing for a moment. She had found someone to take a photo of the two of them and placed her arm around Chrissy’s shoulder. The Polaroid camera clunked and whirred. After a few minutes it spewed out the picture, wet and shiny, as if by magic. Juliet blew on it, wafting it back and forth then handed it to Chrissy. ‘One for me, one for you,’ she said. So they had to do it all over again.
Manchester: 2007
‘Anyway, get yourself ready,’ said her mother. ‘You’ll get the sack if you’re late again.’
Eloise checked her inbox first, before taking a shower. Nothing. And again after her shower. Still nothing. And every five minutes after that. So Juliet had abandoned them already. She could hardly blame her for giving up on her mother. Chrissy was probably the worst friend ever.
Then, just as she was about to turn off her computer, there it was.
From: [email protected]
Dearest Eloise,
I’m sorry, I should have realized that my popping up after all this time would give your mum a bit of a shock. I’ve been trying to find her for so long now. I tried all the usual ways on the internet but she never comes up. I thought she’d disappeared forever. Then one day I had a brainwave, remembered the name of Dan’s band and found their website. After several dead ends and great confusion, which I won’t bore you with, I eventually tracked you down. One of their old band members – good friend of Dan? – gave me an address and a number to try. I can’t tell you how amazing it was to hear your voice yesterday, Eloise.
I was terribly sad to hear about Dan. Is he by any chance your father? You’ll have to forgive me because I know nothing about what happened after Chrissy left university. We were forced to sever all ties. It was a difficult time for both of us. I can’t say any more than that really, except she was a true friend. She did something very important for me once and I never got the chance to thank her, not properly. So I hope that with all these years behind us now, she will want to see me again.
I hope to meet you one day very soon, Eloise. In fact, we have a new collection out so I am currently in the UK promoting it. I will let you know when I’ll be coming North.
Much love to you both
Juliet Ricci
Xx
PS My assistant Laura has just brought in my schedule for next week. I will be in Yorkshire and Manchester on Monday. Scotland Tuesday. I could fly up tomorrow (Sunday) and come and see you if you think that’s at all possible.
Tomorrow?
Tomorrow felt too soon even for Eloise. It would be foolish to rush into anything. But at the same time she didn’t want to lose the opportunity to reunite Juliet and her mother.
It was only after reading Juliet’s email another three times that she trusted herself to reply:
‘Hi Juliet,
Thanks for getting in touch. I’m working on my mum and hope we can meet very soon. Yes, you are right. Dan is my dad and I miss him loads.
Can you make