Free Second Chance by Jane Green Page A

redness from her eyes, tinted moisturizer to even out her skin, now blotchy from the streams of tears. Eyeshadow to make her eyes bigger, blusher to bring colour to her face, recently an unbecoming shade of grey.
    Not gorgeous. Not now. But presentable. That’s the best she can hope for. As the doorbell rings, Holly sighsand smooths her hair behind her ears, then she walks down the stairs.
    She has often thought about a school reunion, but never thought it would be under circumstances such as these.

Chapter Five
    Olivia is first. Standing awkwardly on the doorstep proffering a bottle of wine, Olivia is surprised at how naturally she and Holly fall into each other’s arms, and when they pull apart, both wipe their eyes and smile, shaking their heads, too overcome with emotion to speak.
    A Saab crawls slowly up the road, and they turn, Holly squinting at the car, a man and a woman peering out of the window. She waves furiously as they pull into a spot, and Paul and Saffron make their way up the path, all of them smiling sorrowfully at one another, before wrapping each other up, one by one, in huge tear-filled hugs, unable to believe they are together again after all these years, unable to believe what has brought them back together.
    Holly is suddenly enormously relieved that the clattering group has made its way into her kitchen in her home. Olivia had suggested going out, didn’t want Holly to go to the trouble of cooking, preparing a meal, but Holly had known she couldn’t deal with this in a public space, needs intimate surroundings to talk about Tom, needs the warmth and comfort of a home.
    ‘How are you?’
    ‘You look fantastic!’
    ‘Look at you!’
    ‘Our friend the film star!’
    ‘Oh my God! How long has it been?’
    Their voices echo around the kitchen as they smile at one another, Olivia grinning at Saffron, Paul squeezing Holly’s shoulders, Saffron feeling, for the first time in years, that she doesn’t have to be Saffron Armitage, movie star, that she can finally be Saff. Just Saff.
    ‘It’s good to be here.’ Paul sinks into a kitchen chair, gulping from a glass of wine. ‘Horrible, awful circumstances but, Christ, it’s good to see all of you.’
    ‘Forgive the movie cliché,’ says Saffron, emotion choking her voice, ‘but I feel like I’ve come home.’
    Olivia breaks the sudden silence by prodding Paul. ‘You’ve obviously eaten well all these years,’ she says with a grin.
    ‘Oh charming,’ Paul says. ‘I don’t see you for, what, twenty years? And the first thing to come out of your mouth is an insult. I see you haven’t changed a bit.’
    Olivia puts her arm around Paul’s shoulders and squeezes, leaning down to kiss him on the cheek. ‘You look great. I’m just teasing. Anyway, you should be happy I still feel so comfortable with you.’
    Saffron wanders into the living room, looking at the photographs dotted around. She picks one up – Holly and Marcus grinning at the camera as they perch on a wooden gate in the country.
    ‘Holly,’ Saffron calls, ‘is this your husband?’ She holds up the photograph.
    ‘Yup,’ Holly peers around the doorway, ‘and those are my kids over there.’
    ‘I can’t believe it,’ Saffron shakes her head. ‘Holly Mac married. With children, no less.’
    Holly comes back in from the kitchen with a smile. ‘Hey, Paul. Speaking of married, I saw some spread you did in
Vogue
when you got married. Mr bloody Prada. I almost phoned you then just to laugh at you.’
    Paul dips his head sheepishly. ‘Ah yes. Did feel a bit of a poseur. Had the piss taken out of me for weeks, and only did it because Anna thought it would be great publicity.’
    ‘Was it?’
    ‘Yup.’
    ‘God, I love Fashionista!’ Holly says. ‘I used to spend a fortune with that other clothes website, but the service was crap. Everything always used to arrive about two weeks late because it was always out of stock, and they never apologized, which drove me bonkers. So