The Bucket List to Mend a Broken Heart (23 page)

‘OK, right. Lots to think about then. So how soon can we meet? I don’t want Thomas changing his mind.’

‘I’ll talk to Rick, our director, and see who he’ll assign on accounts, then I’ll
get back to you ASAP about a meeting. It would probably be helpful for it to take place at the hotel so we can see the refurb and get ideas for the design. And seeing as you’re not far away, I’m sure we can schedule something in for the next couple of days.’

‘Great, that would be perfect. If Thomas doesn’t have to go anywhere he’ll be even happier.’

‘Perfect, then. I’ll go and have a chat with
Rick now and get back to you.’

‘Thanks, Abi. Speak soon.’

I can’t wait to jump out of my chair and go and tell Rick the good news.

I tap on his door, still a bit nervous after the memory stick debacle.

‘Come in,’ he calls.

I push the door open and poke my head in nervously. He doesn’t look very pleased to see me.

‘What can I do for you now?’ he says, sighing.

‘Well,’ I say, hovering in
the doorway. ‘I have a new client for us. I’ve just taken a phone call from a hotel on the seafront about doing their new leaflets. They’re a little boutique hotel that’s just had a refurb. I go to Spanish classes with the owners and you’ll be pleased to know I gave them a business card when they said they might need some marketing done.’

I thought Rick would at least have smiled, but I’m clearly
still in the bad books.

‘Anyway,’ I continue, ‘they want to arrange a meeting with us to discuss a plan of action. They’d ideally like to do it as soon as possible.’

‘OK. Give me their number and I’ll call them.’

‘OK. It’s just I said I’d call them quite quickly to let them know about a meeting.’

I don’t want to tell Rick that Lucinda stressed that she didn’t want Thomas to have time to change
his mind. I don’t want him to think that they’re going to be flaky clients.

‘Fine. I’ll call them now.’

‘OK, great.’

I sense that he doesn’t want me to hang around today and I walk back over to my desk.

‘Everything all right?’ asks Fran as I sit down.

‘Yes, fine,’ I say, still feeling slightly deflated.

All I want to do in this mood is go on Facebook and do some Joseph stalking, to see if
I can plan my bumping into him, but instead, like the trouper I am, I pick up the notes that I took from the museum and start to enter the dimensions into the design files.

I don’t notice the shadow fall over my desk at first, but I get the sense that someone is standing there.

‘Hi, Rick,’ I say with trepidation.

‘Abi, great work with the Vista Hotel. We’ve had a quick chat and they want a
complete rebranding operation. New leaflets, business cards, adverts, websites.’

His smile is infectious, and I feel my frown turning upside down.

‘I’ve set up a meeting with them for tomorrow afternoon. They’re keen to get the ball rolling before the summer season.’

‘Perfect.’

‘I’ve got Pat to put it on the calendar for us.’

I’m pleased to hear the word us, after the memory stick debacle
I’d half thought that he’d take the account away from me and give it to Linz.

Speaking of whom, she’s come up behind us.

‘Ah, Linz,’ says Rick. ‘You can come to the meeting tomorrow too. There’s going to be a lot of work with this new client and I’m sure that Abi’s going to need a hand with the workload as I think it’s going to be quite a quick turnaround.’

Linz flashes her pearly whites at
Rick.

‘Who’s the client?’

‘A boutique hotel on the seafront. Abi brought them in. See, you should always network as you never know where your next client is coming from.’

He walks off, and I don’t think I’m imagining that he’s got a spring to his step.

‘Well done, Abi,’ says Fran, leaning between the partition.

‘Thank you.’ My cheeks colour at the praise.

‘Yes, well done you,’ says Linz.
Her tone is less flattering than before.

I turn back to my Mac and try to channel the buzz and enthusiasm I had this morning. I seem to have been forgiven for my earlier office faux pas.

It just shows you what you get if you take matters into your own hands. If I hadn’t given out the business card I would still be in the bad books. Maybe that’s what I need to do with the list too – dangle a
carrot in Joseph’s face, or in this case, me. It couldn’t hurt, could it?

Chapter Sixteen

Three weeks, two days until the abseil and possibly only hours until I get back together with Joseph if the stalking plan works . . .

Since I decided to try and see if I could help the list along a bit quicker by bumping into Joseph, I haven’t been able to think of anything else. I’ve got a busy weekend ahead of me. It’s the big Snowdon adventure, and having convinced Sian
to come, I’ve got to go on an emergency trip to an outlet shopping centre tomorrow night after work so she can buy walking boots. Which only leaves me with tonight to put my hasty plan into action.

It’s Thursday evening, and luckily for me I know exactly where he will be: his local Waitrose. I’d much rather have tried to run into him somewhere more glamorous that sold alcohol that you could drink
in situ, but beggars can’t be choosers.

The only slight spanner in the works is that I don’t know exactly what time he’ll be here. He’ll be coming after work, which could mean anywhere from six o’clock until about seven thirty, depending on how busy he is at the office. Which means potentially I’ve got to make my shop last an hour and a half. It’s either that or hang around outside on a bench
and wait, but somehow I don’t think that will give off the same air of casually bumping into one another.

I decide to start my trip with a familiarisation of the supermarket, walking round every aisle with an empty trolley to get the lie of the land, trying to work out if there are any good spots to bump into him. So far the wine aisles are looking the best, as they’re fairly near the entrance
and in a semi-circular area that means you get a good vantage point of at least three other aisles. Also, I know that Joseph can’t resist walking past a wine shop any more than I can resist walking down the confectionery aisle.

Now to try and make this look like a real shopping expedition. I wander down the sweet aisle, filling my trolley with bits for Snowdon. I stock up on emergency chocolate
rations and sugary sweets that are going to glue my teeth together, but might give me a much needed sugar rush when I’m halfway up a mountain. I’m not sure if you bonk when hiking, but I don’t want to find out.

I throw in some giant packs of crisps for everyone to share whilst I’m at it – although part of me wonders if they won’t make it past the car journey up with Sian.

I make sure that I
don’t get too focused on the shopping, and keep scanning for Joseph, I don’t want to come all this way and accidentally miss him.

I head down the cosmetics aisle and put in different foot lotions and blister plasters, and then remember that I probably should stock up on some tampons whilst I’m here. See, this is a really useful shop after all, and totally not just stalking.

I’ve just thrown
the box of tampons into my trolley before I look at it from Joseph’s perspective. My trolley looks like it belongs to a teenage girl who has a severe case of manky feet and is about to have a sleepover. There’s no way I can bump into him with this crap in my trolley, necessities for the weekend or not.

I break out into a cold sweat, and start to go into
Supermarket Sweep
mode, as I hastily try
to replenish the shelves with what I’ve taken.

I’m just putting back a packet of chocolate fingers when I hear my name being called.

‘Abi. I thought it was you.’

I look up in surprise to see Ben’s girlfriend Tammy in front of me.

‘Hiya,’ I say, as enthusiastically as possible. I push the chocolate fingers back onto the shelf a little too forcefully making the rest of the packets clatter noisily
onto the floor.

I bend down to pick them up, and hastily shove them back in embarrassment.

‘What are you doing out here?’ I say to Tammy. I got the impression that she lived in Portsmouth too.

‘I work round the corner – how about you?’

‘I had a client meeting near here,’ I say, in a very parroted voice. I’ve been rehearsing it in the car on the way over to make it sound natural, but it still
sounds robotic.

‘Oh, right. Having a bit of a binge, are we?’ she says, peering into my trolley, which is solely full of chocolate.

‘Just getting some bits for the Snowdon weekend – you know, for everyone to share.’

I look into her basket and notice it’s all bean sprouts and fresh vegetables. Of course it is.

‘Oh, right, yes, I forgot you were going to that. It’s a shame I’m racing. I had
a really good time when we went last year. The bunkhouse is a little rough around the edges, but it just adds to the fun of it.’

‘Can’t wait.’

I’m lying. I’d been really looking forward to it, but the closer I get to it and the more I find out about the rustic charm from Giles, the more I’m starting to worry.

‘So your little list should be finished soon.’

Hopefully even sooner if it goes well
in the supermarket tonight.

‘Yes, after Snowdon, it will just be wine tasting, a 10k run, the trip to Paris and the abseil.’

It makes it sound like I’ve still got loads left, but with the 10k and Paris booked for the week after next I’m really ploughing through it at a rate of knots. My stomach sinks at the thought of the abseil. At this rate if I’m not careful I’m going to be dangling off that
tower before I know it.

‘Ben mentioned that he was going to Paris with you,’ she says, nodding.

I suddenly feel a little awkward. ‘Um, yes, I do hope you don’t mind me borrowing your boyfriend for the day.’

To go to the most romantic city in the world.

‘Why should I mind? Besides, Ben says that it’s the last task he’s helping you with as then you’ll have practically finished your list. Then
I’ll get my boyfriend back all to myself. Without the list you’ll have no reason to spend time with him any more, will you?’

I’m taken aback as the words sink in. I’m pretty sure she’s just weed on her territory by telling me that I’m not allowed to spend time with her boyfriend once the list is finished. She’s got a polite smile on her face, but her tone’s changed. It’s more like the one she
used when talking to Sian.

‘I think he felt sorry for you. Thinking you’re out of your depth with the challenges, but then once they’re done, they’re done, aren’t they?’ She raises an eyebrow in such a way that I’m left in no doubt that she’s warning me off spending time with Ben.

I haven’t really thought about what will happen when I finish doing my list, but I guess I’d assumed we’d stay friends.
We get on really well and it’s refreshing to have a male friend that’s purely platonic, but clearly Tammy’s got other ideas.

‘I guess so – no reason at all,’ I say, looking her in the eye to indicate that I’ve understood her warning.

‘Great. Well, I best get on. I’m off to Ben’s tonight. Good luck with Snowdon!’ she says, the cheer entering her voice once more.

For a moment I’m too stunned
to move. I knew from the way she acted with Sian that she could be a little bitchy, but on the couple of occasions I’ve met her she’s been nothing but nice to me. Maybe Ben got it wrong and she’s more bothered about Paris than he realises.

But I don’t have time to dwell on Ben and Tammy’s relationship when I’ve got my own to sort out.

I look back down at the crap in my trolley and continue repacking
the aisles. I glance at my watch – it’s half past six already. Wow. I’ve managed to burn half an hour and have nothing in my trolley to show for it. Not bad.

I stare at the entrance again, this time using Tammy’s example and stocking up on fresh items. I have to be slightly careful as I’m away for the weekend so I don’t want to buy too much, but I guess I could always make a soup with them when
I get home. If I get home, that is. Imagine how amazing it would be if Joseph swept me off my feet
An Officer and a Gentleman
style and walked me out of the supermarket, abandoning our trolleys and taking me back to his house . . .

I snap myself out of the fantasy. I wonder what goes into a soup?

A thought pops into my head as I remember reading an article about supermarket dating, where single
people filled their trolley with green produce to advertise that they were available. Maybe if I had lots of green veg in my trolley it would subliminally give Joseph the idea that I’m still up for grabs.

I quickly peruse the veg aisle and by the time I’m finished I have nearly every green vegetable known to man. Pak choi and fennel soup? I’m sure that’s a thing.

I look proudly at my trolley
and start to think about what else would look impressive to Joseph. Perhaps some nice wine? I spend the next ten minutes agonising over two Riojas and in the end plump for one that’s fifteen pounds. It’s way over my usual budget, but I guess it’ll be worth every penny if it helps to convince Joseph that I learnt a thing or two about wines when I was with him.

I look round frantically, realising
that I haven’t been looking out for him, when I catch the eye of the security guard. He looks at me intently for what feels like minutes. In the end, I hastily push my trolley along to the next aisle.

I end up in the dessert aisle and ponder whether to put one in my trolley. I want to make it look like I’m going to cook a nice meal, but I don’t want it to look like I’m cooking for two. Yet, if
I choose a dessert for one then I feel that looks a little sad. Why is this so bloody difficult?

I take a quick look around me in the hope of spotting Joseph, but instead I see a security guard hovering a few feet away from me.

‘Um, is there something you wanted?’

‘No, no. You carry on,’ he says, waving his hand.

I turn back round but get the feeling he’s still watching me closely.

‘Have
you never seen anyone shopping before?’ I say grumpily, turning to face him.