Page 27 of The Start of Something Wonderful

‘You were fab!’ chorus Wendy, Rachel, and Faye, popping up unexpectedly behind me.

‘Emily, what are you drinking?’ calls Hugh from the bar.

‘Portia, come and meet …’

I turn around and she is gone.

Fighting my way over to our reserved area, I collide with Céline, making her way backfrom the loo.

For a long, long moment we just stare into one another’s startled eyes.

‘Chérie, I amsoproud of you,’ she says quietly, kissing me tentatively on both cheeks.

‘I wasn’t sure you’d come,’ I say, biting my bottom lip, my tone perhaps a tad too cool.

‘Here we are,’ announces Hugh, returning from the bar with a tray full of glasses.

‘Sis!’ calls Susannah, pattingthe space next to her. ‘Come and meet Lionel, my agent.’

It’s almost closing time before Céline and I are able to have a few quiet words.

‘I’m so sorry for …’

‘Look,’ I say firmly, determined not to dredge up the past, and especially tonight, of all nights. ‘I don’t want to fall out with you. You had your reasons and …’

‘“Le cœur a ses raisons que la raison ne connaît pas.”’

I look at her inquisitively.

‘“The ’eart,”’ she says, clutching her heart, ‘“’as its reasons, which reason knows nothing of”. This does not excuse my behaviour, but …’

‘I’ve moved on, Céline, and if you and Mike are happy, then …’

‘C’est fini,’ she mumbles.

‘Excuse me?’

‘Eet’s feeneeshed.’

‘Really?’

‘Oui.’

‘For good?’

‘Toujours.’

I look deeply into her sad,blue-lagoon eyes. I want to say I’m sorry, but I’m not, so setting down my glass, I impulsively put my arms around her and just hold her tight.

‘Eleven years of my life …’

‘I know.’

A huge tear rolls down her cheek and splashes into her wineglass. I rummage in my bag for a tissue, resisting the temptation of telling her she’s better off without that lying, cheating, arrogant bastard.After all, it’s not so long since I was in her shoes, and I know only too well how irritating those well-meaning break-up clichés are, and how they can make you feel even worse. You have to find your own way through the break-up maze.

Corny though it may sound, I’m now discovering the power of one and no longer feel lonely when I’m alone. I wish I could make her see that there’s a world ofopportunity and adventure out there, just waiting to be found, but she has to have the courage to work it out for herself. As Céline is quick to point out, I have a passion for something that drives me and isn’t dependent on a man’s love.I’mthe one responsible for making my dream come true. For Céline, the beautiful, hopeless romantic, her dream of becoming a wife and mother relies on findinga husband – and soon.

‘Drink up. You’re coming to Waltzing Matilda’s with us,’ I tell her. ‘I seem to recall we once made an awesome Agnetha and Frida at Kirk’s Karaoke Bar in downtown Dallas, did we not?’