A Great Hope by Jessica Stanley

Author:Jessica Stanley
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pan Macmillan Australia
Published: 2022-01-10T06:24:19+00:00

23.

A six out of ten with dandruff and a LinkedIn. That’s what Sophie Clare had said. Dear Grace, I’m so very, very sorry. Her flat had been compromised on an almost cellular level. Moving very carefully, as though protecting another, more fragile, person from a shock, Tessa packed away her box of memories and vacuumed up the dirt from John’s daughter’s shoes. She got the last two slices of bread from the freezer and made herself toast and a tea with sugar. She washed her plate and cup, had a shower, put on her pyjamas and got into bed. Tomorrow she would be making one of the biggest presentations of her career. Monday night’s orgy of memories and regrets had derailed her preparation enough. She had a full diary, a tight schedule, firm goals and a strategy to achieve them. Any mental breakdown would simply have to wait. But when it came time to switch off the light, she found she couldn’t sleep.

Tessa’s post-breakup exile in Sydney had lasted eighteen months. Yasmin and Christian had always sworn they wouldn’t marry before their gay friends could exercise the same privilege. But by mid-2010, Yas had removed her coil, Chris had taken a proper job as a primary school teacher, and together they’d bought a small family house in Reservoir. They held a commitment ceremony at Collingwood Children’s Farm. Tessa flew down for it and charged a client for her stay at the Hyatt.

‘How are you, really?’ Yas squeezed Tessa’s hands on the dance floor. ‘You still miss him, don’t you? It makes sense other guys don’t match up. But, Tess,’ Yas said gently, ‘isn’t it time to come home?’ When Tessa bought her East Melbourne flat, Yasmin took only a sip of the sparkling she’d popped to celebrate. She was pregnant.

At her 2010 election party, Yasmin had been scattered and frenetic in the manner of all hosts, and it was Chris who’d showed Tessa around. ‘Thanks for making it this far out.’ He waved away her praise of their house: ‘not quite up to your standards.’ Out in the backyard, many of the guests displayed the triangle insignia of the Australian Greens on t-shirts and lapels. Christian led her to the centre of the group, announced, ‘Tessa works in corporate marketing for big business,’ and left her to fend for herself. She took refuge in her phone and, when the polls closed, the TV. It was even harder than she’d expected to hear John’s name. He’d been rejected by Grace, who voted for the Greens candidate. And he’d been rejected by his neighbours, who’d been happy to vote Labor for a century but didn’t vote for him. Tessa only wanted John to feel bad in one specific way: missing her. Her phone lit up with a text from Manny: Tess are you watching this? I feel like crying!

God, me too, she wrote back.

Her phone beeped again almost immediately. Let’s grab a drink when you’re settled in your new place. Before she could reply, Kerry O’Brien had crossed to John.

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