The Last Word (24 page)

Tabby sat there until one in the morning. He didn’t come home.

***

I am not going to be one of those mopey cows, Tabby promised herself as she slid into a seat at Carluccios. I am going to be strong, and independent, and thankful for everything.

‘Darling! What’s wrong with your face? Have you been eating too many carbs?’ Her mother sat down, after air kissing her, and Tabby decided a large glass of wine and a calorific cake were in order.

‘How was the honeymoon?’ Tabby tried for cheerful, but her voice was manic.

‘Wonderful! Just wonderful!’ Her mother’s hair was lighter, her skin was deeply tanned, and she gave off an aura of complete contentment. She was still Claudia Riley, but there was some softness there, a happiness that Tabby couldn’t quite fathom, but seemed to come from Liam. Urgh.

‘Sad the wedding’s all over now?’

Claudia clasped Tabby’s hand with both of hers. ‘Darling, it was never about the wedding. Now I get to be with the man I love. I get to be his wife. I’m ecstatic all of the wedding stuff is done with! Now I can get back to my life.’

Tabby looked at her mother warily, and Claudia shrugged. ‘I know, it doesn’t sound like me. But I’m just so happy. Speaking of, where’s your lovely gentleman?’

Tabby steeled her jaw so she wouldn’t burst into tears when the waiter appeared. Claudia took one look at Tabby’s face and ordered a bottle of white wine and two slices of chocolate cheesecake.

Tabby’s mouth opened in surprise. ‘But there are carbs in cheesecake!’

‘Sometimes, in life, carbohydrates are completely necessary. Now, what happened to Harry?’ It was the first time in a long while that Claudia had sounded like a mother.

‘You were right, he was too good for me.’

‘No one’s too good for you. If he thinks that he’s a moron, and good riddance,’ Claudia snapped, then smiled up at the waiter as he poured their wine. ‘Thank you.’

‘Who are you, and what have you done with my mother?’

Claudia sighed. ‘Look, darling, I can be a bitch, OK? It’s not news. I’ve dealt with men stomping all over me my entire life, including your father, and it’s taken me a very long time to figure out how to be strong without tearing other people down. I’m working on it, I really am. I hope you know I love you more than anything. If I’m critical it’s because I see how wonderful you can be when you’re not weighed down with self-doubt.’

‘I’m weighed down with self-doubt because you’ve been critical of me my entire life!’ Tabby exclaimed.

‘Well, I was waiting for you to grow a backbone and tell me to go to hell! If you’re not going to stand up for yourself, Tabby, if you don’t think you’re worth it, no one else will.’

‘You’re meant to stand up for me! You’re my mother!’

Claudia sighed deeply. ‘Well, we both know I’ve never been very good at that. I was trying to stop you from being like me. I was trying…never mind. I don’t want to have a screaming match in a cafe, it’s uncouth. I’m sorry.’

‘You’re sorry?’

Claudia shrugged. ‘Yes, I’m sorry. I’m sorry I’ve made you feel bad about yourself when all I’ve ever wanted was for you to be able to say with complete conviction that you know you’re a wonderful, talented person. You are, and I’m very proud of you.’

Tabby’s throat closed up, and she tried not to cry into her drink. ‘Where is this coming from? My entire life, nothing, and now all this in fifteen minutes?’

Claudia sipped her wine, and stared at her daughter. It seemed like an eternity before she spoke. ‘There’s no one reason. Maybe because I’m so happy with Liam. Maybe the therapy is finally kicking in. Maybe I’m getting wiser with age.’ She paused before laying down the final line. ‘Or maybe it was seeing you with Harry. Seeing that you could be happy and confident and loved. Seeing that you’d got there without my help, in spite of me. That you were still open to love, that I hadn’t fucked you up too much.’

‘Mother!’

‘Oh, whatever. I’m a grown woman. I’m allowed to say “fuck” in public.’ Claudia rolled her eyes.

Tabby grinned, her first proper smile in days.

‘What?’ Claudia smiled automatically.

‘It’s just the first time that I’ve been overwhelmingly convinced that you’re my mother.’

They clinked glasses.

‘So, tell me. Harry.’ Claudia tried again, pushing Tabby’s slice of cheesecake closer towards her.

‘I screwed it all up, Mum, I really did. He was wonderful, and loving, and I threw it back in his face. I wrote this article – ’

‘Yes, I read it.’

‘And now – ’ Tabby felt the sob rising up in her lungs, waiting to constrict her throat and make her choke.

‘Now he’s hurt and upset and wondering whether he’s been a fool. You just have to convince him you care about him. It was a mistake,’ Claudia said rationally.

‘Yes, but he won’t see me! Won’t take my calls, return my messages. I’m completely frozen out. It’s radio silence.’ Way to go not being whiny, Tabs, her inner bitch pointed out.

‘Oh darling, you’re completely going about this the wrong way. You know how tangled up you get when you’re passionate about something. And you’re terrible at apologising, you get that from me.’

‘So?’

‘So, you need to work to your advantage. Apologise in print.’

Tabby considered this, poking her cheesecake with her fork, still unable to eat until the problem was solved.

‘You mean send him a love letter?’ Tabby wondered aloud. ‘Or an apology letter.’

‘No, I mean send him an article. If you embarrassed him publicly, apologise publicly. Best way to set the record straight. And to prove how much you care.’ Claudia grinned. ‘And it probably won’t hurt that dick over at the Guardian to read it, either.’

Tabby sat in stunned silence for thirty seconds until she started to smile. ‘I love you, Mum.’

‘See, I’m not so awful, right?’ Claudia grinned, and they both finished the bottle of wine and two slices of cheesecake pretty quickly. After all, Tabby had an amazing article to write.

***

‘Tabs, you’re starting to terrify me. It’s been ten hours.’ Rhi knocked on her door. ‘Go to sleep.’

‘Don’t need sleep. Just need coffee. And words. Important words. Like “love” and “sorry”.’

‘Greatest words in the dictionary. They fix everything, honestly. Now please, just nap for a bit. Just to undo the fact that your hands are shaking from the five cups of coffee you’ve had.’

‘I’m a writer, Rhi. This is how I work,’ Tabby yelled, and got up to slam the door. ‘This is important!’ she screeched, although Rhi had already left.

She scanned the pages she’d written: too long, too over the top, too mushy. Not really her, at all. But, she supposed, her style was bitching about things she hated, and gushing about stuff she loved. But the ‘stuff’ wasn’t usually a person. It just felt too…personal. Which was the whole point. Baring her soul to her work mates, her competition, her friends, followers and the world. Telling everyone who knew her and didn’t, that she loved Harry Shulman.

When she woke up, it was four in the afternoon, and she was drooling on her laptop. It was not an unusual state to be in. While she was sometimes taken by the Muse, unable to type quick enough to get it all out, the state of frenzy was different: this wasn’t just her writing, this was her life. It was important. It would make or break her. And she definitely thought way too much.

She scanned the page, sighed, and picked up her mobile.

‘Neil? It’s Tabby. I need another favour.’

A dry voice at the other end of the phone informed her the last favour he did, bypassing the editor, resulted in a very upset editor.

‘Come on, Neil, this will make it all better, I promise.’ Tabby clicked ‘send’. ‘It’s jumping through cyberspace to you right now. It’ll fix everything, honest.’

‘I really don’t know, Tabby, if I get in trouble – ’

‘I will take the fall. I probably won’t be working at the paper much longer if this doesn’t work out anyway. Please?’

Maybe it was the desperation in her voice, or maybe Neil read the article, but he agreed. Finally, Tabby could relax. Until the article got published. And then she would have some major grovelling to do. Tabby sighed and stretched, if she was going to have to grovel, she should at least look fabulous. She put her laptop gently on the floor, and stretched out across her bed. Everything was going to be fine. Within minutes she was asleep, exhaustion overcoming her nerves.

And there it was, the next morning:

Confessions of an Emotionally Unstable Writer

by Tabitha Riley

I know, simply by writing this from a personal perspective, certain journalists will brand me a pointless blogger, and insist I return to the realms of Twitter and Wordpress. But here’s the thing: perspective pieces are the truest form of writing, they give a sense of the issue and the writer. And you guys know me by now. You respond to my stupid wonderings, you question when I ramble, you elucidate when I am confused. You, dear readers, are my friends.

And so I must apologise for my previous article. It was a shameful, ill-advised attempt at getting payback. And everyone knows, when you try and strike back at an ex, it never works out well. Especially when he works at the Guardian and is trying to ruin your reputation.

The thing is, I’m kind of a mad bitch. I try and act like I know what I’m doing, but unless I’m writing, I have no idea. This is all I am. I write about Jaffa Cakes and reality TV and why no one appreciates pre-CGI movies any more. I ramble and rant and call it art. But when it comes to the important things in life, like relationships, I’m a bit of a fool.

Like there’s this guy, readers, and I’m going to tell you all about him. He’s way out of my league. This man is so beautiful that I couldn’t even look at him without losing my breath. And so, as you probably figured, I decided to argue and fight with him, because it was easier than admitting that he was a bit of a hottie. And I’m an emotional wreck.

So the problem is, readers, that I wrote that article last week about an evil editor I was involved with, who took advantage of me and ruined my life. And this wonderful guy I’ve been telling you about, he’s an editor. But he’s not evil, he’s amazing. And he’s saved my life, given me a voice in a major paper, believed in me, supported me and loved me.

And I’ve pretty much treated him like a boa constrictor. Because I’m terrified.

I’m telling you all this so all of you know, all you hundreds of people who read this, people who know me, people who don’t, that I, Tabby Riley, shouty, pouty writing maniac, am completely in love with Harry Shulman, Specialist Blog Editor at The Type.

And if he ever forgives me for the first article, I’m hoping he’ll forgive me for this one too, and a few hundred other things I’ve done wrong. Because I want nothing more than to be his Girl Friday.

I can’t end this with, ‘Reader, I married him,’ because that’s mad and completely copyrighted. But I can tell you this, readers: I am fighting. Support via Twitter and in the form of cake is appreciated.

OK, so it wasn’t the best thing she’d ever written. But it was from the heart. So that had to count for something, right? And he’d forgive her. He had to.

Four hours later, Tabby was still scowling at her phone. Nothing. No response at all. Why hadn’t he called with that cocky voice, saying something like, ‘So you love me, do you, Tabs? Well, I am adorable.’ Nothing.

‘Maybe he fell back in love with Jenna,’ Tabby said to Rhi as they sat in the back garden, smoking. Tabby resolved to give up smoking. And drinking. And chocolate. And anything else that made her happy. Clearly she did not deserve to be happy.

‘How is that even possible?’ Rhi had no answers, and for once, was wondering along with Tabby. She had given her orders, and they didn’t seem to have worked. For now, there was nothing to be done, except drink copious amounts of tea, watch the light fading in the back garden, and hope that something happened.

‘Maybe…maybe all this happened so they could get back together and be happy. Maybe I was just a crossing path on the road of his life. He would learn that he still loved the woman who screwed him over, because I’m so high maintenance. And I would realise I was capable of love, but was also capable of severely fucking it up. Huh.’

Tabby was clearly at the exhausted, confused stage of acceptance. She had fought. She had lost. She was going to be graceful. She was better off for having met Harry, she was. And she was sure that, eventually, this gnawing sense of loss in her stomach, and the fact that she could occasionally smell his cologne on her pillow would fade. And she would stop wanting to cry.

Tabby mapped out her future in her head, and obviously, she would have to resign from The Type. If not for the fact that she wrote a ridiculous love letter, then because she couldn’t bear to see him every day, hear his voice, and not be with him. She had convinced herself she was a strong, independent, career-driven person. But it just wasn’t worth it.

Her phone rang, and she jumped for it, knocking over her tea in the process, and soaking Rhi.

‘Hello?’

‘Hello, Tabitha, it’s David. We’d really like you to come into the office tomorrow to talk about your contract. There’s been an interesting development on one of your articles.’

Tabby took a deep breath. ‘Mr Crane, thanks for calling, but I really don’t think I’ll be signing on for an extended contract. And I’m very sorry about the last two articles, they weren’t really up to scratch.’ Understatement of the year, Tabs.

‘Tabitha, I am calling you in because I want to offer you more money. The effect your last article had has been…electric. Look it up, we’re featuring it on the home…page. And there’s a link…or something. Just, look at it, and come in tomorrow to talk with me. Even if you don’t want to continue with us. Midday.’

David Crane hadn’t sounded so sure of himself the entire time Tabby had known him. Even if he didn’t know what a homepage was. Tabby frowned at Rhi, and went to get her laptop. Sure enough, Crane was right, there was her article, front and centre. Then, there was an article about the article.

‘Rhi!’ Tabby yelled from the living room. ‘Come listen to this!’