Don't Stop The Music

- ten -

CHAPTER X

- only one basket -

[Esther]

At dinner that night, Esther's dad broke the silence by telling Esther and Ivy he was meeting some friends soon. "Tomorrow night, I think. Squash with the old University boys."

"That'll be nice," Esther said. "You haven't seen them in a while."

Her father nodded. "It'll be nice to catch up with them again."

"As long as you're out of the house," Ivy muttered. Esther stiffened slightly, already bracing herself for the worst, but her father showed a remarkable amount of self-restraint and pretended he didn't hear. The prospect of meeting his friends must have put him in a good mood. 

She often forgot how little her dad saw other people until she really thought hard about it: her mother had left, he worked from home, and apart from the occasional day he went into the office to do some presentation or something, he only really talked to his daughters and the occasional chat to the neighbours when they crossed paths.

"Potatoes were a little dry today, Ivy," he said innocently, when he'd finished with his food. "Maybe less time in the oven?"

Then he got up, put his plate in the dishwasher, and went upstairs.

"Why don't you just cook it yourself if you've got a problem with it?" Ivy said, once he'd gone. "Dickhead."

"Ivy," Esther chided, and she grinned.

"Joke," she said, raising her hands. "Right, I think a dessert is in order. What's in the cupboards?"

While Ivy rooted around in the cupboard, Esther grabbed her phone and found Robin's contact number. This opportunity was too perfect to miss: while her dad was out they could use her equipment, and she wouldn't have to worry about him overhearing a fight while they worked.

> My dad's out tomorrow night so if you want, you can come over after school to write stuff.

You know, if you're cool with that.

Ivy looked over her shoulder, interested. "Who're you textin'?" she asked, with a piece of toast in her mouth, both sides thickly layered with Nutella and mini marshmallows clinging to the spread.

"Friend from school," she said, and Ivy raised her eyebrows.

"From school? What happened while I was out?"

"I've always had school friends," Esther said, pretending to be offended. She never took Ivy's jabs seriously; she knew they were all in good humour.

"But you never text them," Ivy reminded her. "Who is it, Eli? Or that girl you did that collab with a couple of years ago? The one with the glasses?"

"Nah, you don't know him. He's called Robin," she said. "He's helping out backstage too."

"Oh, a 'he'. The plot thickens..." she leaned over slightly so she could see the screen. "What are you talking about exactly? Anything scandalous?"

"Calm down, Ivy. It's totally innocent," Esther told her, just as the phone indicated he'd responded. She glanced down.

> Hell yes am I cool with this. No naked girls, right?

Esther laughed to herself and then remembered Ivy was still reading over her shoulder and switched off the screen abruptly.

"I promise it makes sense in context," she said, quickly, looking up at her sister's delighted grin.