Chapter 60
60
Bex had been right about the rain and while that would have normally allowed Daisy the luxury of a lie-in, the fact she had Johnny with her derailed that plan.
Thinking about it objectively, bringing Johnny hadn’t been her wisest decision. Not only was he not allowed in the building, but he was used to being let out first thing in the morning when Daisy moved from Theo’s and headed over to the September Rose to start baking for the day. As such, he wasn’t content just to lie around. An added complication to his early-morning walk was that he would normally have his first feed of the day then too, and Daisy hadn’t brought any dog food with her.
‘Come on then, and be quiet,’ Daisy said as she slipped on her shoes and tied Johnny’s lead to his collar, ready to take him outside. ‘Just no barking, all right? I don’t want Bex to get in trouble for me bringing you here.’
Bex’s apartment was on the seventh floor, and normally Daisy used the lift, but the night before, with Johnny in tow, she had taken the stairs. She was aware there were probably cameras in the stairwell too, but it seemed like the right thing to do, and that morning, she felt the same. Getting in the lift with a dog in an apartment block where they were banned didn’t feel right. So Daisy pushed open the heavy door into the stairwell and led Johnny down.
The cool air brushed her arms as she made her way down to the sixth floor. It hadn’t seemed that far the night before, probably because she was too busy sobbing while Bex comforted her. But when she was three flights down, it already felt like she had been going forever. The last thing she wanted was for Johnny to decide he couldn’t make it all the way outside and relieve himself on the steps, so she picked up her pace. She had just reached the second floor and was about to start her last flight of stairs when the door swung open.
‘Hey!’ Daisy said, jumping out of the way, although she wasn’t fast enough. While avoiding being hit full on, the edge of the door caught the top of her arm, scraping it. Yelping, she jumped out of the way. ‘Watch what you’re doing!’ she said.
The open door revealed a man with sandy-coloured hair wearing sports clothing, staring straight at her.
‘Sorry,’ he said. ‘There’s not normally anyone in here at this time.’
‘Well, there is now,’ Daisy said, rubbing the patch of her arm where the door had scraped the skin. Removing her hand revealed an impressive graze – the type she hadn’t had since falling off her bike when she was younger.
‘I’m so sorry,’ the man said, still blocking the doorway and corridor behind him. ‘I’ve got some antiseptic wipes in my apartment if you—’ He stopped, his gaze moving from Daisy to Johnny, who had shifted behind her legs, although not well enough to remain hidden. Heat flooded through her. The man was bound to ask where she was going, and Daisy was going to have to tell the truth – that she was just visiting a friend. But she would have to lie about which flat that friend lived in. There was no way Daisy wanted to get Bex in trouble for this.
Though rather than calling her out for breaking the rules, the man laughed heartily. It was a great laugh that lit up his face and made him look substantially younger, though Daisy was still struggling to understand why he was responding in such a manner when he stepped to the side. There behind him was a fluffy Labrador retriever.
‘I guess we’re both up early for the same reason,’ he chuckled.