Roxy giggled, ‘Not sure that’s on the price list, but I’ll give it my best shot.’
Ailish liked her immediately. ‘You know what, Roxy, just do whatever you like. I’m going to leave it completely up to you.’
‘Ooooh, I love it when a client says that. Let’s get you all over to the basins.’
Ailish did as she was told, no longer even pretending to object. At the basins, the three of them chatted away to the juniors who washed their hair, before heading back to the big leather chairs, where their drinks were waiting for them.
Roxy got to work on her, while Kaden combed out Rhonda’s waves, and Alexis began working her magic on Gwen. They made small talk for a while, before Alexis hit on the all-important question.
‘So, where are you ladies off to tonight, then?’ she asked, as she sliced Gwen’s hair into sections with her comb, then pulled the strands up and cut into them with speed and precision.
‘Gino’s. Just along the road.’
Alexis nodded. ‘I know it. We used to go there sometimes on the weekend after work, before…’ She thought about it. ‘Beforethe pandemic, I guess. Not sure why we haven’t been for a while. Out of the habit, I suppose. And plus, half of the younger ones in here haven’t eaten a carb in years. They’d probably faint at the sight of pasta. We did love it when we went there. It was always a great night.’
Gwen agreed with her. ‘It always is. We’ve gone there on Hogmanay almost every year since we were teenagers.’
‘Really? Oh, you must have some great stories,’ Alexis teased, grinning.
Rhonda got in on the act. ‘Yeah, there was the year that…’ And off she went, for a good ten minutes, sharing stories of their nights out and exploits, with Gwen chiming in. They were laughing so much, it wasn’t until the story of the time that Rhonda had been dancing on a table at midnight and by 2a.m. was in the X-ray department of Glasgow Central because she’d fallen off it and broken three toes, that they realised Ailish hadn’t joined in.
Gwen rounded on her. ‘What are you thinking about, Ailish? Tell me it’s not that bloody ex-husband.’
‘It’s not, I promise. I was just thinking about…’ She stopped, suddenly realising that she didn’t want to put this out there. It was stupid. Embarrassing.
‘About what?’ Gwen pressed.
Ailish desperately tried to come up with something else that was on topic but drew a blank. She shouldn’t have had that cocktail.
‘Okay, it may have crossed my mind how different life might have been if I’d made a different choice on that first night we went to Gino’s.’
‘I think about that too,’ Gwen agreed. ‘I think you might have lost your mind, to be honest.’
From the third chair in the row, Rhonda emitted a confused, ‘Lost her mind about what?’
Gwen turned to her in surprise. ‘Dario!’
Rhonda was clearly none the wiser. ‘Nope, I still have no idea what you’re talking about. What happened with Dario?’
Ailish felt the rise of the red rash that always crept up her neck in times of embarrassment. ‘Och, it’s a long story. There’s no point dragging it all up again.’
Rhonda leaned forward. ‘Is it gossipy, surprising, and does it end with a sexual encounter?’
Ailish mentally ticked all of the things on that list. ‘It is.’
‘Then I’d like details please. Alexis, I think I’m going to need another mocktail.’
14
EMMY
The time between her tea break and her mid-shift break had felt like a week and a half, and it had been made even later by Mrs Bennet in bed four going for a wander that resulted in every member of staff on the ward searching for her for twenty minutes. In the end, they played back the cameras at the doors of the ward, and spotted that she’d managed to sneak out by loitering at the door until someone was buzzed in. Then she’d gaily swerved past them and done a runner. Or rather, a particularly nifty slow shuffle in her furry slippers. After some very anxious minutes, Emmy had had a hunch, and headed to the hospital café on the ground floor, where, yes, there was Mrs Bennet, in her dressing gown and slippers, enjoying a nice cup of tea and a ginger slice.
She’d gently steered her back upstairs, just in time to referee a disagreement between two patients about what they should watch on the TV in the day room and then speak to a concerned relative who’d called in for a progress report on their grandmother. Emmy never rushed family members off the phone, taking all the time they needed to feel reassured, becauseshe knew just how upset she would be if anything happened to Minnie.
In the end, it was almost half past three by the time she managed to get away, and she went straight to the staffroom for her car keys and phone. She switched the handset on and shoved it in her pocket.
Yvie’s and Keli’s breaks were staggered, so Yvie came in right behind her, while Keli was just about to go back onto the ward.
