This Book Made Me Think of You(8)
Sade slips her glasses off and twirls them in her hand the way she always does when she’s thinking. “How about Rachel Harding? She could be perfect for this project. I get the impression from Esmerelda’s agent that Esmerelda can be exacting…” Code for “a nightmare.” “Rachel is level-headed and pretty unflappable. Plus, she has the experience to go with it.”
“Rachel Harding?” says Tilly, looking up from her notebook.
“Yes, isn’t she a friend of yours? Can you call her to see if she has availability?”
“Um, sure.”
As Tilly returns to her desk after the meeting, the space cluttered with teetering piles of advance copies of books, she stares at her computer screen and writes and rewrites an email to Rachel several times before finally settling on something that is brief and to the point.
To: [email protected]
From: [email protected]
Subject: Proposal
Hi Rachel,
I hope you’re well. I know we haven’t seen each other in a while but I have recently acquired a new author—social media influencer Esmerelda Love. She has requested a ghostwriter and we all thought you would be the perfect fit. The book proposal is attached. Could you please let me know if you are interested and have availability over the next few months?
Tilly
To her surprise a reply comes in just minutes later.
To: [email protected]
From: [email protected]
Subject: Proposal
Hi Tilly,
It’s lovely to hear from you! That sounds great. Shall we meet up soon to discuss? It would be good to see you. I’ve missed our pub nights.
Rachel xx
To: [email protected]
From: [email protected]
Subject: Proposal
Hi Rachel,
That’s brilliant news. Esmerelda and her agent will be thrilled, as are we. I’m sending you over a draft contract and some potential dates for a meeting with Esmerelda. Do let me know if any of these suit you.
Tilly
It will be the first time seeing Rachel in months, and Tilly’s chest tightens at the thought. Rachel was the ghostwriter for the very first memoir Tilly edited, and they clicked instantly. Tilly had been nervous about working on her first book, but as soon as Rachel came on board as the writer, she felt more relaxed. In contrast to the highly strung celebrity chef whose memoir it was, Rachel was relaxed and down-to-earth. On the way to their first meeting, Tilly got stuck on a broken-down tube and arrived at the restaurant ten minutes late, frazzled and apologetic. But Rachel had ordered drinks and was chatting away to the chef, who seemed surprisingly at ease. Rachel flashed Tilly a supportive smile that made her feel as if Rachel had her back.
Over the years they grew closer, meeting regularly at their favorite pub in Camden to catch up on industry gossip and the projects they’d been working on. Joe was a great listener, but with Rachel she could talk in minute detail about the intricacies of the industry, knowing she understood and was just as invested. She shared Tilly’s taste in books, too, and whenever they met up, they’d each arrive with a tote bag full of books to swap.
It will be strange working together again, but Tilly is a professional. If she can handle working with some of the celebrities she has to deal with, then surely she can handle working with her old friend.
“Rachel is on board for the Esmerelda Love book,” she tells Sade, popping her head around her office door.
“Brilliant news. I have a good feeling about this book. You’re on a great path right now, Tilly. Well done.”
Tilly knows the words of praise should boost her, but she can’t escape the uneasy feeling about the email exchange with Rachel. And if she does get the promotion, she already knows that the first person she will want to tell is no longer here. She pictures the copy of Matilda on the coffee table at home and the book waiting for her at Book Lane that she hasn’t summoned the courage to collect yet. She isn’t sure she can face the bookseller after the way she acted last time. And despite her curiosity at what Joe might have picked for her next, does she really deserve another book when she still hasn’t read the first?
Five
“I come bearing pad Thai,” comes a familiar voice as Tilly answers the flat’s buzzer and presses the button to let her sister in later that evening.
Harper looks even more tan than usual, and Tilly wonders yet again how they are related. While Tilly’s own skin is so pale it often looks translucent, Harper has their father’s olive complexion and hair that is more brown than Tilly’s carrot, cut in a messy bob that shows off the gold hoop earrings dangling at her neck, a souvenir from one of her many travels. As her sister shrugs off her coat, Tilly clocks the pink-and-green woolen monstrosity that Harper is wearing.
“I can’t believe you’re actually wearing that sweater.”
Tilly had knitted it when she was in hospital visiting Joe. After reading, crafting has always been her way of relaxing, but what she has in enthusiasm she does not possess in skill. The pink creature on the front of the sweater was supposed to be a rabbit but looks much more like a pig wearing an Easter Bunny costume.
“Hey, I love this sweater!”
Tilly had a lot of time for crafting during those hospital visits, so her family ended up with a lot of handmade knitwear. She hadn’t expected them to actually wear any of it though.