The festival went on forever on Friday, it dragged from morning to afternoon because I knew I had a plane to catch that evening; I was constantly clock watching. Holly and I had spoken the day before, when I got back to my hotel room – she'd called me in a massive flounder.
'Ronnie, dear I didn't know even you were down to go to that awful debrief. It's just a load of old, white testicles slapping each other on the back for doing the bare minimum.'
'That's... horrible.'
I'd still been feeling unwell, so the imagery was unsolicited. But as disgusting as it was, it meant I could reschedule my flights, and it meant I could see Esti sooner. I hadn't told her. I wanted it to be a surprise. We'd spoken through text the majority of Thursday; she was constantly checking on me.
How are you feeling? Are you drinking enough water? Xx
I've been napping and drinking plenty of water, I'm watching an Italian talk show now xx
That's good, I'm proud of you. What's the talk show about? Xx
I don't know darling – it's all in Italian xx
I didn't hear back from her immediately after that, but eventually I received another text.
You're a fool. Xx
That evening, we spoke on the phone for two hours. I talked to Daniel too. He told me about his day at nursery, his new friend Jacob and that he had shown Beth his bedroom.
'That's wonderful. What else did she see while she was there?'
'Um, don't know.' He replied.
I heard Esti ask for the phone back then. She changed the subject quite swiftly, and we ended the call when I started to fall asleep.
'So, we'll see you on Saturday then?' Her hushed voice was so clear, I imagined she was in bed next to me.
'Yes.' I lied, with my eyes closing. 'Saturday afternoon.'
'I can't wait.'
'Neither can I.'
I spotted Liam and Ella at Flare but I didn't see Bradley at all, even though I was keeping a keen eye out for him. Liam was having his picture taken everywhere he went while Ella waited on the sidelines for him. In a rare free moment, I found her and wandered over.
'Hi Ella.'
She looked up from her phone briefly. 'Oh, hi Ronnie.'
'How's it going?' We were standing with our backs to a white wall, Liam was just ahead of us, getting snapped by a flurry of photographers.
'Same old.' She muttered, sipping from a plastic Starbucks cup in her other hand. 'Have you repented for all of your sins?'
'I think so, yeah.'
'There's another party tonight.' She glimpsed up and the corners of her mouth twitched. 'If you're up for it.'
'God, no. I'm going home tonight. Right after this, actually.' I was staring at Liam, he was still holding his head wrong; it frustrated me so much.
'Back to the ball and chain?'
'Yep.' I checked my watch, there was still three hours until check-in opened.
'You sound happy about that.'
'I am, very happy.'
'That's weird.' She flicked her hair back and yawned.
