The Unexpected Life of Carnegie Lane by Virginia Higgins

casually and honestly.
    Sobian grabbed her hand and led her to their bedroom. The walls were covered with posters. Even though she had cleaned this room a thousand times, she had never paid any attention to the walls, or even who it was that her children had decided was their idol of the moment.
    “See this wall Mum; this is our dedication to Nate Bowman. The rest of the room is our dedication to his band. So you see… Now you know. He isn’t just a someone. He is to most of the world what Robert Smith is to you. Mum…you know Nate Bowman! Don’t you know what that means?”
    Carnegie could hear her, although she wasn’t really listening. She was staring at photos of her new friend, wondering how she had missed this. She sat down on the bed, mesmerized.
    “How old is he?” She questioned. He didn’t look a day over thirty, if that.
    “He’s forty one. Nearly the same age as you.” Olivia said, pleased she had her facts right.
    It took Carnegie a moment or two to get herself together, but she did it. Then once again she became the mother to two daughters, who were hoping for a day off.
    “Well, that’s all very interesting, now go! Get your lunches and off to school.” She said with authority as she got up and left the room without looking back. She didn’t need to look back, Nate Bowman was now permanently imprinted in her brain. She suddenly had a moment of being star struck. If he were to call her back, she only hoped she didn’t say something stupid. She also felt an overwhelming desire to go to the gym.
    Carnegie didn’t know it then, but flying in a mail cargo container in the belly of a British Airways plane, was a letter from Katalie Bowman, slowly making its way to her place. The letter was offering her management with all the appropriate paperwork included to formalize the invitation.
    The world continues to turn, regardless of what is happening in the background of your life. With the kids gone, Carnegie turned to the bathroom and began scrubbing it with rubber gloves and bleaches not really fit for human consumption. Yet her world was moving forward, even if it felt like it was still. It was only Tuesday, and the repetition of her life blended every day to become one. She didn’t know about the package, and what you don’t know, can’t change anything. That includes housework.
    Suddenly and unexpectedly, Carnegie Lane, mother of four, idol to inanimate objects, almost Author, was about to be represented by one of the most prestigious literary agencies in London.

I don’t care if Monday’s blue, Tuesdays grey and Wednesday too, Thursday I don’t care about you it’s
    Friday I’m in Love
    “ Friday I’m in Love”
    Written by The Cure
    The Cure – Wish Album 1992

5
    After the children were gone and the bathroom was squeaky clean, Carnegie decided to go and check her email. Just in case. There wasn’t one, and she was almost disappointed. She decided to YouTube some songs, this time, they weren’t blasts from the past. She looked up Sheeva’s Disciples, and clicked on one. There were pages and pages to get through. To her, having to discover new music was daunting. She had, for so long, been caught in a cycle of repetitive memory.
    As the song began to play, she decided she liked it. There was bass, drums, rhythm guitar, and there was lead. Then, there was an amazing vocal. She went into the girls rooms and looked through their CD collection. She found five Sheeva’s Disciples CD’s, which amazed her. Most bands these days were lucky to have two, let alone five. She grabbed one randomly, and went and put it into her large boom box stereo, the one with the speakers fit for a small stadium.
    For the rest of the day, she discovered a new band, a new sound, and it gave her a lease on life she never knew possible. Time flew along with the increments of the songs; one by one she made her way through four CD’s.
    The bus dropped off the kids at the corner of their street. They could hear