LITMIR.BIZ

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life as you would want it to be,’ observed Mr Spelling.

      Emma smiled, liking the description. ‘Yes, but I’ve already hit a hurdle. I haven’t got a clue what I would want if I could have anything!’

      ‘Springtime in Paris? Walking through the Valley of the Kings?’ Mr Spelling reminded her.

      ‘They’re certainly pretty snapshots from an interesting and varied life but I still need to add more depth to my story and the truth is, I don’t have any great ambitions, not any more.’ Emma sensed she was talking herself out of writing her book. Her tumour was about to take away the last of her dreams.

      ‘Any more?’ So you had ambitions once? You hold such power at your fingertips, Emma,’ he said, taking hold of her hand and looking at it. When he looked up at her again there was a shadow of regret in his eyes. ‘Just think, you have far more control over your destiny than any doctor. Your hopes and dreams are still there waiting to be handed to you on a plate.’

      ‘Or off a shopkeeper’s shelf.’

      Mr Spelling shrugged his shoulders. ‘You say tomato, I say tom-A-to,’ he said.

      ‘In New York, I think they say tom-A-to,’ Emma said with a surge of enthusiasm. ‘Mr Spelling, I do believe you’ve just given me the inspiration I needed.’

       I was still dangling my right foot in midair as I pondered my next step but then I looked up and was met with an encouraging smile from the kindly shopkeeper. I forgot all about my feet.

       ‘So, what would you like first?’ he asked, tipping his head towards the shelves of boxes that were lined up behind him where the hospital car park should have been.

       My heart quickened as I realized that everything I could possibly want was within easy reach. ‘I … I don’t know where to begin,’ I said.

       ‘Don’t worry, I have a reputation for being able to size up my customers and I sense that what you want most is a purpose in life, something with a bit of a challenge. How about we make a start with your dream job?’

       ‘I had that once.’

       ‘Then you shall have it again,’ he replied, sweeping a brightly coloured box off a nearby shelf. It shone with promise. ‘But if you don’t mind, I’ve made some improvements.’

       I didn’t need to ask what he meant. The colour of the box reminded me of a juicy green apple or, more precisely, the Big Apple, and I couldn’t wait to begin peeling away its skin to take a closer look.

       With my career sorted, the shopkeeper naturally wanted to know what romantic aspirations I had. He looked me up and down, fingers curled around his chin. ‘Is Alex good enough for you?’ he asked sceptically.

       I wrinkled my nose as he pointed to a shelf full of various other options, an enticing row of boxes in eye-catching gift wrap. ‘Not if you ask my friends and I have to admit that I had been contemplating moving to London and was expecting to have to make the break but … well, I still think there’s some potential there,’ I told him. I wasn’t ready to start my life from scratch and I didn’t have to. I could work with what I had and even make a few of my own modifications.

       ‘I’ll leave that one in your hands then but your decision isn’t binding. I can do a good deal when you’re ready for a trade-in.’

       ‘Don’t you mean if?’ I asked but my words were drowned out by the beeping of a car horn.

       I was standing in front of the hospital, my foot still dangling in midair and if the noise of the horn hadn’t already startled me, then the face of the person behind the wheel would have been enough to knock me off my feet. My arms flailed and as I stumbled, the torn pieces of card I had been holding in my hand were snatched away by a gust of wind. As the winner’s confetti fluttered around me, I stepped forward to claim my prize, not even registering that first step that I had been debating, or the next.

       ‘I thought you couldn’t bear the sight of hospitals?’ I said. The sun had broken through what had seemed impenetrable cloud cover. I shaded my eyes with my hand and Alex beamed a winning smile at me, his olive skin pulling taught across his square jaw. He had the decency to look just a little shamefaced. As he absentmindedly smoothed his hair, hair that was slicked back so neatly that it needed no taming, I noted the delicate sprinkling of grey at his temples and knew Alex was proud of this first sign of aging. He was only thirty-two but he was embracing the more mature look, he thought it made him appear more distinguished. ‘I couldn’t keep away, I’ve been thinking of you all morning. So tell me, how did it go?’

       It was my turn to smile. ‘Complete remission,’ I said and the tremor in my voice travelled down my spine in a delicious shiver.

       ‘Then that makes your next decision rather easy,’ he said with a meaningful look.

       ‘And what decision would that be?’ I asked.

       Alex leaned over and opened the door for me. He waited until I was safely secured in the passenger seat before he answered. ‘I would love to tell you but Ally took the call and she’s insisting that she should be the one to tell you,’ he said, picking his phone up from the well between the seats. He thumbed a few buttons briefly and then passed it to me before the call was connected.

       I gave him a quizzical look as I took the phone but Alex’s face was unreadable.

       ‘Ally, do you have some news for me?’ I asked when the call was answered.

       ‘Oh, no. Tell me your news first,’ Ally demanded into my ear.

       ‘I’ve been given the all clear,’ I said. I had already made frantic calls to my mum and Louise but it didn’t matter how many times I said it out loud, it still hadn’t quite sunk in. ‘All clear, Ally. At last, I have something in my life to celebrate.’

       ‘More than you think.’ Ally’s voice broke and there was a pause. I could hear a nose being blown. ‘I’m so relieved that you can finally get on with the rest of your life.’ There was another pause as Ally took a deep breath. ‘And what a life it could be. Someone called Kate rang from your old firm, when you worked in London. She wouldn’t give me all the details but she told me enough. She, or rather they, Alsop and Clover, want you back. She wants you to call her urgently. I’ll text the number to your own phone, OK? Emma, the job will be based in New York!’

       My eyes widened in shock. I was speechless.

       ‘Emma?’

       ‘New York? Seriously?’

       Ally laughed. ‘I’m so happy for you, Emma. Enjoy the moment. It’s been a long time coming.’

       I was still stunned when the call ended and I handed the phone back to Alex. ‘Why me?’

       He laughed. ‘One of the biggest PR and marketing firms in the world is offering you the job of a lifetime and you make it sound like it’s a bad thing.’

       ‘Oh, my God, Alex, I don’t think I can take this much good news in one day.’

       I could feel a scream building inside me as I took one last look at the hospital before Alex drove away. The pavement flickered white as the wind continued to play with the discarded remnants of my appointment card. I had left my mark on the hospital but then it had left its mark on me too and, in fairness, it was I who had taken far more of a beating. But I wasn’t interested in keeping score; we were even as far as I was concerned and I was ready to put it all behind me.

       It was only once we had driven through the hospital

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