Annie locked up the salon for the day, half wondering if it might be for the very last time. She was out of options.
Almost.
There was that one last roll of the dice, but she knew it was a long shot and one that she truly wouldn’t have even considered if not for the fact that she was absolutely desperate.
Getting into the car, she checked her phone again for a reply to the message she’d sent earlier, before throwing it onto the driver’s seat.
A few minutes later, she pulled into her friend Gemma’s driveway, glancing at her phone screen once again under the pretense of checking the time.
She was much later than usual again today, and she felt guilty that the stress and strain of all this was affecting her life in more ways than one.
“Mum!”
Annie’s heart instinctively lifted as her little boy rushed out of the childminder’s house to greet her.
Charlie was always so happy to see her, and no matter how shitty she was feeling, his happy grin never failed to bring a smile to her face. He was full of chatter, having learned some new football move from Gemma’s son, Callum, who was a few years older.
“It’s called the seal dribble,” he chattered animatedly in the driveway while Gemma waved at Annie from her front doorway. “You do it like this.”
Annie watched as he took his scuff-covered football and began to bounce it on his head repeatedly.
“You see? You keep bouncing it like this while you run to the goal. I’m still trying to get it that I can keep an eye on target while I do it.”
“That’s brilliant, love,” Annie enthused as she ruffled his hair. She looked apologetically at Gemma. “I’m so sorry, I’m late again. There was a last-minute emergency at the salon and—”
“It’s fine, sure he’s no bother. And I hope you don’t mind but Nick already told me something was going on.”
Nick’s sister was a very understanding friend, but Annie never wanted to take the piss. Gemma had been an absolute godsend to her the last few years, taking care of Charlie while she was off working like a demon, trying to get the business up and running.
But with everything that was going on now, Annie worried if she’d even be able to afford her anymore.
Luckily he’d started school last year, which meant that she really only needed a childminder in the afternoons, these days, but who knew how things could change in the future?
At this point, Annie wasn’t sure how she was going to get through even this month with the amount of money owed to suppliers and the staff and business overheads to pay.
She wasn’t going to let those worries show, she resolved, as she chatted with Gemma for a bit before bundling Charlie into the car. She wasn’t going to allow him to suffer because of her concerns about them either.
When they reached home, Annie stared at the lovely house that had been theirs for the last two years. She’d never felt so proud as she did when #GlamSquad was doing well enough that she’d been able to get a mortgage on a place of their own.
She’d never really lived in a proper house before, not since she was a child at the O’Dohertys’, and when Charlie was a baby she’d been restricted to the poky flats offered to single mothers on welfare.
But through her hard work and efforts with the salon, she’d managed to get them out of social housing and into a place with a proper garden where her son could run around and play, where he could have his own room and she’d have a real kitchen—not a few inches separated from the living room by a foot of table.
She and Charlie had that now, but for how much longer?
“Mum, what’s for dinner?” he asked as he got out, tucked his football under his arm, and slammed the car door. No matter how many times she told him not to, he always did it.
“I don’t know. I’ll have to see what’s in the fridge.”
“But it’s Friday! Maybe a takeaway?” he suggested with a grin that always had the power to melt her heart. “Pizza?”
His eyes sparkled with enthusiasm.
Usually, Annie would have insisted they ate a proper nutritious meal prepared from scratch by her, but she wasn’t sure how many more chances they’d have to order in.
Memories of the hard times began to fill her mind once again. Days of nothing but tinned beans, tuna, and potatoes—and whatever cuts of meat were cheapest or on offer in the supermarkets. She didn’t want that for Charlie. She didn’t want that life again. She couldn’t—wouldn’t—go back to that.
Something had to be done.
The house was a two-bed duplex, and so bright and roomy inside. Annie could still remember what it felt like the first day she walked into it.
There was something about it; something new and fresh and warm, and she knew instantly that this was the place for her and Charlie. This was home.
Now, as she stood in the entrance, she wondered whether whoever came after her would feel the same. Because if the business went under and she had to forgo all her savings to pay her tax bill, she wouldn’t be able to afford this anymore.
“Mum, I got the menus,” Charlie shouted from inside the kitchen. Sensing her acquiescence about the takeaway, he’d wasted no time in taking charge before she changed her mind.
She ordered two pizzas in the end. Charlie loved meat, while Annie liked to even out her meat toppings with some veg, something her son—like most five-year-olds—hated, though in fairness he was pretty good with food, and—vegetables aside—not at all fussy. In the early days, he’d had no choice but to eat whatever was available. No such thing as kids’ menus of chicken nuggets and chips or what have you. And despite her gradual change in income and circumstances, old habits died hard and Annie still insisted he eat what she gave him.
“Don’t forget your drink.”
“Can I have juice?”
“Nope. Water or nothing.”
“Yay, water!” Charlie quipped, without argument. His cheery temperament had a way of making her feel better even when she wanted to indulge in negative thoughts. He truly was her sunshine. He brightened every day, all day.
She badly needed that now.
“Hey, Mum, are we going on holiday?” he asked, picking up the invite to Villa Dolce Vita, along with the hotel info that had been sitting on the kitchen counter since she’d brought it home a couple of weeks ago. “It says my name on this.”
Annie’s heart turned over. “I don’t think so, love.”
“Why not? It looks nice. Callum’s going to Spain on his summer holidays this year—a big water park with loads of slides. Is there loads of slides there, too?”
“Not really. That hotel is very different to where Callum is going, definitely no water park, though there is a pool. And that’s not for a summer holiday either, just a weekend.”
“But I want to go.”
Annie’s smiled tightened. “I’ll think about it, OK? Now, eat up and then go and put your pajamas on, and maybe you can watch a bit of Paw Patrol before you go to bed.”
“Yay!”
Annie didn’t rush her shower that evening. She usually did, not wanting to leave Charlie on his own for too long in case he got up to any devilment, but tonight she needed every second of that warm water on her head and shoulders.
A migraine was still lingering, but not nearly as bad as when she’d had angry suppliers (and Lauren) in her ear.
Charlie helped with easing her worries, too. He helped with so much and he didn’t even realize it. Her son had the knack of doing the silliest things at just the right time to make her laugh.
Despite all the early hardship, he was her greatest blessing, really.
“Mum, I’m waiting!” he called out from his room now.
“In a sec,” she answered as she toweled off her hair and pulled an oversized T-shirt over her head.
She headed toward Charlie’s room but stopped short when she heard her phone beep, indicating an incoming message. Her heart hammered.
Hoping it was the reply she’d been hoping for, she rushed back to check but it was just a text from Nick.
Hope you’re feeling a bit better about everything. Just wanted to say that I’ll come along to the bank with you next week for moral support if you like?
Swallowing back her disappointment, Annie smiled. Nick was a great friend and she was lucky to have him in her corner.
“Mum!” Charlie called out again. “Hurry, it’s creepy in here.”
“How on earth can your own bedroom be creepy?” Annie asked, coming in and sitting on his bed.
“It’s too quiet, like one of those scary movies.”
“Ah, Charlie, I told you not to watch those movies with Callum, didn’t I? You’re too young for that stuff.”
“I know, but I couldn’t help it. They were just on. Mum, can I have two stories tonight, please, please?”
“I don’t know, hon, I’ve had a very rough day and I’m tired. I had to make a lot of calls to a lot of people.” She sighed. “There are a lot of people angry at Mummy at the moment.”
“Why would anyone be angry at you?” he asked, concerned. “You’re brilliant.”
She smiled, despite herself. “I’m glad you think so,” she said as she hugged him. “I wish more people did.”
“Nick thinks so,” he told her seriously.
Annie looked at him. “How do you know that?”
“I heard him say it just the other day at Gemma’s house.”
“Really?” She really hoped that Nick wasn’t talking to his sister about her financial problems in front of her son. She didn’t want Charlie to pick up on any issues. “You heard them talking about me?” she questioned. “What else did you hear?”
“Nothing.” He shrugged. “Me and Callum just went outside to play football then.”
She tucked Charlie in, snuggling under the covers and nestling him into the crook of her arm as she read him a story while he drifted off.
When he was finally asleep, she stroked his hair and eased herself out from beneath him, studying his face as she watched him sleep.
He looked so like his father sometimes it killed her.
Going back downstairs in her bare feet, Annie padded into the kitchen, then went to the fridge and poured herself an extra-large glass of wine.
After the week she’d just had, it was badly needed.