as terrified as I felt right now.
I got up, feeling my tummy churn and my heart beat hard against my chest, and went in search of coffee. Lizzie was standing in the kitchen, her wonky face devoid of make-up.
‘Morning, Electra. Sleep well?’
‘Nope. Next question?’ I said as I pulled the coffee pot from its stand and poured some into a mug.
‘Seriously, you’re going to be great, I just know it.’
‘Lizzie, I am so not, and I wish I’d never agreed to it. I’ll probably just run off stage in fright, if I ever manage to get my legs to walk me onto it in the first place and . . .’ I then swore loudly and thumped the table. ‘How did I ever allow myself to get talked into this?’ I groaned.
‘Because secretly, underneath all that understandable fear, you want to do it. For your mother, your grandmother, and for all those kids out there who need you to speak out for them,’ said Lizzie sagely.
‘That’s if I can speak . . . I tried to go through my speech and I could barely talk. Shit, Lizzie, what have I done?’ I sat down at the table and rested my head on my arms.
‘Darling Electra, we’re all going to be with you and I just know you can do it. Now, why don’t you go out for a run and clear your head whilst I make breakfast?’
‘Because A, you’ve all banned me from running in the park since my mugging, and B, I’ll just vomit up any breakfast you offer me.’
‘Get dressed, Electra, and go downstairs. There’s someone waiting for you in the lobby. He’ll look after you, okay?’
‘Really? Who?’
‘You wait and see. Now, off you go,’ she said in her best maternal voice.
I did so, still trying to work out who it could be that was waiting for me downstairs. Miles maybe . . . although when he’d kissed me goodnight yesterday (and it had been a very long and wonderful kind of kiss), he said he’d be round with Stella to collect me at three this afternoon.
There wasn’t anyone in the lobby, so I jogged outside and nearly had a heart attack as someone tapped me on the shoulder. I was obviously still suffering from the after-effects of the mugging.
‘Hi, Electra. Gee, I’m sorry to startle you.’
‘Tommy! What are you doing here?’
‘Well, you did offer me a job as your bodyguard, and I guess I thought I’d better give you a free trial to see if I measure up.’
‘But—’
‘Hey, I know you got a busy day, so let’s talk as we run, okay?’
‘Okay.’
So off we went, Tommy comfortably keeping pace beside me. He told me how Miles had contacted him and they’d met up for a coffee a couple of days ago. How Miles had explained to him that the Quran was actually a beautiful book full of wisdom and grace, but that like any religious or political organisation, there would always be extremists who took words out of context and twisted them to suit their own purpose. And that if things were to progress with Mariam, it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world to join them.
‘I mean, I’m still working on all that,’ he said, ‘trying to get my head around it and stuff, but I bought a copy of the book, and Miles is right, it is beautiful. Mind you, it’s so long and I ain’t the greatest of readers, so my death might come before I get to finish it,’ he chuckled. And it was good to hear him laugh.
Then he told me how he’d called Mariam and they’d met up (after a lot of persuasion from him apparently).
‘And I just told her that I knew why she’d ended the relationship and that if it came to the point where any marriage was needed’ – he then blushed as he told me she would have to remain chaste until it took place – ‘then I’d think about converting. So for now, we’re just gonna take things slow, you know? See how it all pans out. And if you’re still serious about the offer of being your security guy, Mariam and me are gonna be around each other a lot. That’ll provide a good test, I think.’
‘True, and you two had better get on, because I’m not keen on having any “domestics” in my team,’ I said, secretly thrilled.
‘I swear, Electra, any issues that me and Mariam have to deal with will be done