‘We’re totally not,’ Devin said. ‘She looks like a wise woman –’
‘– from a Jane Austen series,’ Kate finished.
‘Yeah!’ Devin high-fived Kate.
Maybe she did. Crunchie’s brown eyes were very kind and perhaps shrewd.
Or, much more likely, I was just biased.
Up in my bedroom, I finished packing, throwing a couple of short, going-out dresses and a pair of teetery-heeled shoes into my wheelie case. The night at Jake’s Place, when Quin had complained that he never saw my legs, I’d felt bad for him.
There was no harm in being nice, especially at the moment.
Which was why I also flung in some expensive knickers and bras.
‘Crunchie! Let’s go!’ She came running for her last walk of the night. ‘Let’s just take off that fecking bonnet.’
Out in the woods, the torch lighting our way, Crunchie and I in perfect harmony, my head suddenly said, You relapsed and ruined everything.
Terrified, I tripped over a root. Even after I’d steadied myself I still felt like I was falling.
I needed to get home.
But once I was there I didn’t want to stay. So I made the impulsive decision to surprise Quin by being in his bed when he arrived home at 5 a.m. I had a key, the alarm code and an open invitation, so why not?
Keen to leave, feeling slightly panicky, I threw the last few things into my carry-on, said goodbye to Crunchie, Kate and Devin and off I went.
But it was strange, being alone in Quin’s house. Every time a floorboard creaked or a pipe banged, I thought it was a burglar or a ghost – something bad anyway.
I’d want to get used to it, though. This could be my home soon enough. Which was good. Proof that no matter what had happened with Luke – even if I had relapsed – I’d survived and built a new life. Quin’s noisy pipes, possible burglars, these were real, tangible markers of progress.
When I’d got into bed and was switching off the light, I suddenly realized that if my life were a movie, Quin would tumble in, in a few hours’ time, in a mad, snoggy, semi-undressed clinch with another woman. Who would transpire to be …？ The flight assistant from the plane? Shiv? Golden?
My money would probably be on Shiv.
The idea made me feel … bad. I couldn’t narrow it down to individual feelings. Just weird. Bad weird.
But I was too tired to get up, get dressed again and go home. If, in five hours’ time, Quin fell in here with his ex-wife, I’d just have to deal with it.
The bedroom light clicked on and I woke up, blinking against the brightness.
‘Hey!’ Quin looked confused. ‘You’re really here. I saw your car but –’ Dropping his luggage he declared, ‘Well, this is great,’ and, making me laugh, planted big, smacky kisses on my forehead, my eyelids, my ear.
‘How come, though?’ he asked.
‘A surprise.’
‘I’m so here for this sort of surprise. Okay, let me brush my teeth and all that, then we’ll get some sleep.’
Moments later, he came out of the bathroom, naked and smelling of toothpaste. ‘Budge over.’ He slid into the bed. ‘I mean, budge nearer.’
He hit the light and into the darkness said, ‘How come I arrive home and find you in my bed?’ He still seemed uncertain. ‘I mean, I’m happy and all –’
‘How happy?’
‘… That’s a bit of a leading question.’
‘Let’s see.’ I slid down his body.
‘What’s … going on?’ Then, ‘No. Don’t answer that. I’m just ecstatic it’s happening.’
70
Thirty-two floors up, high above the sea, blue light streamed into a cool, white bedroom, the huge windows suggesting vast space beyond. I slid from the bed, dying for my first look at Barcelona in the daylight.
And it was spectacular. Far below was a teeny pool, a miniature strip of sand and, stretching to infinity, endless sea and sky.
I was in Quin’s shirt – I’d woken during the night, chilly from the aircon. But I could spend every second in this room naked because no one could see us.
‘Oh, Quin,’ I said. ‘The view!’
From the bed, he said, ‘I’m looking at it.’
‘Haha!’ I pulled down the shirt so that it fully covered my bum.
‘Get back in here,’ he said.
‘I didn’t come to Barcelona to spend my time doing … that.’ I swept my hands in the direction of his groin.
‘I’ll be real quick,’ he promised, a gleam in his eye.