Perfect-ish by Jessica Seaborn

Author:Jessica Seaborn [Seaborn, Jessica]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781761340048
Publisher: Penguin Random House Australia

I sit in that Tempe cafe all afternoon, waiting for her. Wanting to help her. Wanting to talk to her. I see Maria in every woman that walks in – every mother with a child.

But she never arrives, and when it hits six o’clock the cafe manager has no choice but to ask me to leave.

‘Time for a toast,’ I say, raising my tumbler. ‘To Delia. And to leaving the house.’ We clink glasses, and Delia offers me a genuine smile. It’s the first one I’ve seen from her in months.

It’s a Friday evening, the first night after a day back at work for Delia since she split with Nico. We’re sitting atop cushioned stools in a new Lebanese restaurant – Tarboosh. The restaurant is quirky, both the colour palette and the furniture, with pastel blue lounges, khaki cushions, and ornamental lamps lowered down from the ceiling. Above the tiled floor, local artwork adorns the walls, which Delia clocked almost instantly when we walked in. Tarboosh smells of slow-cooked meat, garlic paste and freshly risen pockets of pastry. Heat from the kitchen envelops us; we’ve long since removed our coats.

It’s been two months. Eight weeks of Delia living in the house, slowly processing the end of her marriage. I’m beginning to feel like things are returning to normal. Delia has emerged from her grief and is ready to rejoin the world.

‘God, it’s good to be back,’ she says, sipping from her straw.

Her hair is different. She’s had it cut this week, in a new style – the top half is pulled back into a high bun, and the rest falls loose and stops just past her shoulders. She’s wearing a green skirt, muted in colour, high waisted and long, paired with a thick long-sleeve sweater. She looks rejuvenated. She looks happy.

‘I even missed the office, if you can believe that.’ She throws her head back with a carefree laugh. ‘I missed my desk, and I missed that old, rundown little Cafe Nero next to our building. You know, that one with the rude cashier and the manager who only ever tucks in half his shirt?’ Delia sighs, then continues. ‘I was worried it’d be awkward at work, but Sherryn wrote me a card and Kee kept offering to make me cups of tea.’

‘And Thomas?’ I ask.

‘Thomas cornered me in the elevator and told me a story about a friend of his who got divorced,’ she says. ‘You know, just in case I felt like I was the only person in history who’d ever got divorced.’

‘I bet you didn’t miss him.’

She’s got a knowing smile. ‘I shouldn’t complain,’ she says, glancing around the restaurant. ‘He let me have this review.’

‘Yes,’ I say. ‘It almost makes up for all the attention he gets when you’re the one doing most of the work.’

I spot the smallest hint of a nod before Delia exclaims, ‘I’m too excited to care about Thomas right now.’ She knocks back the rest of her drink and immediately orders another.

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