Page 29 of Coming Home to Maple Tree Lodge

‘This is great,’ said Beth, jumping onto the bed. ‘I’ve been stuck in a bland meeting room all week and now look, we’ve got a real fire, chocolate cake and, well, whatever’s in this cocktail!’ She held up the glass and took a sip. ‘My, that’s even stronger than the one Frankie made last summer.’

She put it down and curled her feet up underneath her legs. She had changed into old-fashioned blue-striped men’s pyjamas, fluffy socks and her long black hair was in bunches.

‘In which case, I’m going to take it slow,’ said Ella, putting hers down carefully on the rug.

She had changed into maroon silk pyjamas with a matching dressing gown.

‘Why?’ asked Hannah, shrugging on an oversized hoodie. ‘You like Frankie’s cocktails.’

‘I’ve got a Zoom call tomorrow and my face is going to be enlarged fifteen times onto a screen for a work meeting, I can’t look haggard,’ Ella told her, reaching out to smooth on some night cream onto her perfect pale skin. Her shiny blonde hair was held back in a ponytail.

‘Here, eat some chocolate cake,’ said Lily, holding out the plate. ‘You’re making me feel dishevelled.’

Ella gave her a slow look up and down. ‘You look fine, as always. That green really brings out your eyes.’

Lily glanced down at her hoodie before shrugging. She knew she would never be anywhere near as stylish as Ella.

‘Well, despite us not meeting up in some glamorous gin cocktail place,’ began Ella, ‘the most important thing is that we’re all together for once. Cheers.’

They all chinked their glasses together before taking a tentative sip.

‘How long has it been since us four were together?’ asked Bella, wrinkling up her freckled nose in thought.

‘Too long,’ said Hannah.

‘Well, we all made it to see Taylor Swift, didn’t we?’ said Lily.

That had been a night to remember at Wembley, when they had all dressed up and covered themselves in glitter to sing and dance along to all the music.

‘Well, the main thing is that we’re all together now,’ said Beth, reaching to her neck to fiddle with her necklace. It was a simple silver star pendant. She had given each of them one before she had left the shared house all those years ago. It had been given with the promise that they would always look out for each other wherever they were in the world.

Lily felt bad, as she reached up to touch her own necklace which she had deliberately worn that evening. She hadn’t done that, she found herself thinking. She’d broken her promise, especially with Hannah these past few months. Realising how grief-stricken the family still were had made her feel guilty that she hadn’t made more time to be with her friend.

‘Shame you never made it to Wicked,’ Ella told Lily. ‘You should have seen Beth’s pink fairy dress that she wore. It was outstanding.’

‘It was amazing,’ agreed Hannah.

‘And extremely short,’ added Ella. ‘All the men in the cinema were just looking at her legs rather than the screen most of the time.’

‘They were not,’ laughed Beth.

‘See for yourself,’ said Ella, scrolling through her mobile to find the photo.

She handed her phone to Lily who looked at the picture of her friends who were relaxed and smiling in the selfie.

‘You should have been there,’ said Hannah. ‘It was such a fun night.’

Once more, Lily felt a little rattled. As if she was the spare wheel in the friendship more and more these days.

‘I was on a deadline,’ she said, shuffling awkwardly on her corner of the bed.

‘Aren’t you always?’ murmured Ella before holding up her hand in defence. ‘I know! It’s your career, after all. And I can’t talk as I’ve got that Zoom call tomorrow.’

Beth shook her head. ‘Take it from me,’ she said. ‘The stars have been here forever. In the vastness of space, we’re just a tiny piece. So if you look at it that way, in the scheme of things, work’s not that important.’

Lily knew that they were teasing her but she felt a little upset. These were supposed to be her best friends. Supposed to understand why she worked so hard all the time. She had to prove it to her parents, didn’t she?

And yet, when she listened to her friends and the fun she had been missing out on, she wondered what pursuing her career was costing her. And, as it had turned out, all that hard work had been for nothing as she had been fired anyway.