The Show Must Go On

Chapter Thirty: I Wanna Get Better

Chapter Thirty Soundtrack: I Wanna Get Better by Bleachers

As the autumn sun droops lower, Kew Garden's largest conservatory comes into view. It's lit from within like a thousand fairies have dusted the plants inside, and it's become a lighthouse beaming over the lawns.

The grass crunches beneath my feet as I walk towards it. The air is crisp and sharp, not yet cooling but not far off. Summer is ending.

Tonight is Kew's annual orchid exhibition. Thousands of orchids from around the world are displayed in its largest conservatory, throughout the evening event. It will be an extraordinary insight into the challenges and rewards of habitat preservation.

It will also, for Mei and me, be an opportunity to stuff our faces with street food and gossip. We come every year.

She's somewhere inside, apparently. My best friend is a gifted doctor and a true empath, but she doesn't like planning too much. Sometimes that's fun, and sometimes that leaves us searching for each other in the June sun for three days during Glastonbury festival. Swings and roundabouts. No one's perfect. I do wish, though, that she'd met me outside tonight. There are a ton of orchids here, and it's not like I can use them as landmarks. They all look the same to me.

As I push through the glass doors, the smell of the plants overwhelms me. I close my eyes for a moment to truly experience it: the rich, earthy dirt; the warm, gentle splash of the sprinklers; the distant sound of a live band and the chatter of hundreds of visitors. It's peaceful and vibrant and wonderful.

Someone bumps into me. I open my eyes as I trip forward, only for a strong arm to catch me.

My mysterious saviour pulls me back against his chest, probably saving me from a broken nose. The paving stones beneath me look brutal.

I turn to thank him and, for one stupid moment, I'm speechless. Then I remember that I'm a grown woman and that I talk to attractive people all the time, or at least see them on TV, and also that this man just rescued me from bodily harm, and also that I have now been staring instead of talking, which is weird and stalkerish, and by now it's too late to say anything.

'You okay?' he asks. He's possibly asking about my foot but probably asking if I've suddenly forgotten how to talk.

'Yeah,' I croak out, unconvincingly. He releases me and I take a step back. Two.

Now that I'm not in his embrace, I can try to interact with this man. This very tall, very handsome man. This very tall, very handsome Hispanic man, with perfectly curly black hair and muscular arms and a rakish smile. He's looking at me. He's smiling at me.

'That could have been a nasty tumble,' he says.

'Thank God for your arms,' I say.

I say what?!

Oh my God.

Now he's laughing, though not unkindly. He has a great laugh.

'Sure,' he says with an Argentinian accent. 'If you say so.'

'Okay,' I say, 'well, I'm here to see orchids.' I thought this would sound convincing and cosmopolitan, but now that I've said it, it actually makes no sense at all.

He gestures widely. 'You're in the right place.'

'Yep. I love them.'

'Are you coming to the talk?' he asks. Maybe he thinks I am giving an orchid talk and he's an avid fan? Or maybe he's in a charity of handsome men who give talks to idiotic clumsy women? I can't think why he'd want to extend this conversation when I've barely managed to speak.

'I-'

'Ellie!'

Mei barrels down the path towards me. A flower petal has caught in her hair and she literally looks like an angel. My mysterious saviour glances over and his eyes stop on the petal. Great. As if I didn't look bad enough. Now my gorgeous genius friend is here to compare me with.

'Okay, well thanks!' I tell him. I can't stay in this conversation for another minute. 'Mei, where was that cactus you mentioned?'

'What?'

'Bye!'

I drag her away and refuse to answer her questions until we're safely out of earshot. I don't turn to check if he's watching.

We find a seat together on a stone bench beneath a willow. Around us, the air is still abuzz with music and I can smell the street food stalls, just out of eyeshot. At least if I've mortified myself I can leave with some good food. I quickly debrief on what Mei missed. I also pluck the petal out of her hair, just in case.

'Wait,' she asks, 'so the hot guy grabbed you, pulled you into his chest, and asked if you'd come to a talk with him?'

'He didn't ask if I would come with him: he asked if I was going. That's different.'

'Turtle, that was him asking.'

'What?'

'When was your last first date?'

That's rhetorical. She knows the answer.

And, with an evil grin, she says, 'Let's go find an orchid talk.'

*

We settle into the projection room in the basement of the conservatory. Apparently, there will be a talk on how orchid conservationists access remote areas. Mei insists that we should attend instead of looking at the real, living orchids upstairs, or eating, or drinking too many cocktails. Reminding her that we don't care about flowers had no effect. Reminding her that this man probably already thinks I'm a stalker was equally ineffective. With a sigh, I settle in beside her on the bench.

Also in the room are two teenagers kissing wetly in the back corner and a pensioner who won't stop coughing. No sign of the mysterious stranger. There's just a projected PowerPoint waiting to start.

'I told you he wasn't coming,' I hiss.

'What do you mean? I just really care about orchids in...' She squints at the presentation. 'Costa Rica.'

'C'mon, Mei, let's go.' The thought of sitting here, waiting for a man not to appear... Or worse, to appear and avoid eye contact, like he can sense the desperation oozing from me... Better to never try at all than to be rejected.

'Sit down and shush,' she mutters.

'Mei—'

He appears.

God, he's hot.

'God, he's hot,' Mei murmurs. I glare. She hisses, 'What? I'm in a relationship, not a casket.'

It's my turn to shush her.

Fortunately, he doesn't notice, instead striding to the laptop and pressing a button. The presentation starts. Onscreen blooms a picture of him, somewhere in a jungle, sweaty, smiling. It captions him 'Doctor Tomas Garcia.'

He nearly speaks and then catches my eye. He stops. Smiles. And my heart skips.

*

do I sense ... a love triangle?!?!

unrelated to Tomas, would you read a story about Mei? i love writing about their friendship and i've been thinking a lot about how different their love stories are. when i finish TSMGO i am tempted to write Mei and Gabriel's love story, going back in time a few years. i think they will be friends to lovers, second chance romance... plus Mei is a complete baddie who takes no shit and that would be so fun to write! lmk if you'd be interested.