Chapter 10 Flynn
Three hours ago
Karim took my clubs back with him and I got a taxi straight from golf. Amy is sitting on a suitcase in the living room, umbrellas and bags scattered around her, looking stunning in a flowery, frilly dress, her curly dark hair shining under the light. Her full lips are set in a line, her nose twitches, the freckles she is self-conscious about smattered over her nose.
She doesn’t greet me, just leaps up. ‘Where’s your stuff? Why aren’t you changed?’
She’s been increasingly tense the last couple of weeks and I tell myself it’s just the wedding. I put both my hands up to shield her attack. ‘Downstairs and I’ll do it when we get there.’
‘I’ll start taking stuff down,’ Amy says, reaching to scoop up all the matching umbrellas she bought for the bridesmaids. Secretly she’s had them monogrammed L and J, knowing Laura will want a keepsake. Amy is always doing stuff like that. Despite her huffing and hiding behind hard edges, she is thoughtful. Leaving me something to eat if she’s off out, bringing home prosecco if I’ve landed a new client. She once had an office chair delivered because I kept saying I had a bad neck.
I pull her towards me, her brown eyes widening as I dip my head to kiss her. ‘I haven’t even said hello properly.’
‘We don’t have time,’ she mutters, although her body leans into me and we sink into a kiss. Whatever is happening between us, at least this doesn’t change. Her hands move up over my chest and around my neck, and her tiny exhalation of breath makes the tight knot in my chest loosen – physically we have always got each other and that should count for a lot.
She stiffens against me. ‘I’ll take the umbrellas,’ she says, pulling back.
That leaves me with the rest, the suitcase bulging with I have no idea what.
‘It’s two nights, yes?’ I say, straining to pick it up.
‘I need it all.’ Seriously, what do women need that requires this much stuff?
I grunt and drag it to the door. ‘If there’s a body in here I’m not doing time for you, Amy. I WON’T GO BACK THERE!’ I shout as I navigate the stairs outside her flat.
It takes a while to cram everything in and Amy is increasingly twitchy, not helped when I chuck the car keys at her.
‘For fu— Flynn!’ She fails to catch them and has to retrieve them from the road behind her.
I cringe. ‘Sorry.’ I seem to be getting everything wrong recently.
I think of the ring inside my bag – a possible solution – and exhale slowly. I’ve been carrying it around for a week, but it hasn’t felt right yet. Squeezing myself into the passenger seat, things crammed into the footwell so my legs are forced to bend to my chest, I pull out my mobile.
I just need to send Karim and Bex over the list of timings and contact details, and ensure they have everything they need to run the three events we have on this weekend. I feel nervous about not overseeing everything. I want to relax, knowing I have a great team, but my brain can’t switch off. Twitchy, I think of the things that could wrong, and how I’m responsible. If my team have a bad weekend, maybe they’ll leave me, leave the company?
‘Finally,’ Amy says, starting up her tiny car with a little puff.
I bite down reminding her it took ten minutes for me to load the car with all her bags.
‘And you really will change,’ Amy says, side-eyeing my long diamond golf socks as she starts the car.
I look up from my phone, ‘Not loving my look, eh?’
She doesn’t respond. The prickle of worry I’ve had in the last couple of weeks tickles my insides. Normally she’d smile, indulge me. Since I’ve asked her about moving in, I’ve felt something shift. I flex my neck and force my worries down.
I give her a reassuring grin, ‘The moment we get there. It’s cool.’
She looks over her shoulder and starts backing out of the space. ‘It’ll be tight. I started packing last night. I made a list …’
I shift in the passenger seat and swallow another retort. The fact I made a list too is not going to help smooth things over. The good thing about Amy is once she lets rip we move on: she doesn’t hold a grudge.
‘Shall I put on some music?’ I offer.
‘In a bit. I just need to decompress.’