Chapter 79
79
It was a two-pronged attack, of which Daisy had thought the first part would take the most time, but once she sat down to do it, everything came naturally. It wasn’t her usual style of painting, but then nothing about this situation was normal. Who on earth painted pictures to get their fiancé back? But she needed to use what she was good at, and this was where her skills lay. So with dozens of pieces of postcard-sized paper stacked and ready to be used, she got to work.
The idea came from her trip around London – the visual diary she had made of her journey, using her paintings. The idea was similar, only this time, it was a visual diary of her and Theo’s journey together.
The sketches were simple outlines, with just enough detail that you could tell what was going on. The first one was of Theo standing in the shadow in the Narrow Escape , followed by one of the pair of them standing on the towpath with hands raised in what was clearly an argument. But that was where the rows ended. Next came their first trip to the boatyard, followed by their first kiss. Then came Daisy’s trip in Slimbridge, with Johnny in between them. There were so many memories she wanted to put down on paper that she could have easily spent weeks doing them all, but time was paramount and so she had to be selective. Amongst the memories she chose was the time Daisy decided she wanted to fly a kite for the first time, and so Theo took her to a kite festival. There was the day when they went to Hever Castle in Kent and the entire field was covered in bluebells and one in Heybridge, where they would frequently drive the boat too. And then, at some point, she reached the more recent paintings. The ones that were going to make her heart ache.
‘Okay, we are all cleared up for the day,’ Bex said. ‘I’m going to have to get off. Are you okay? Claire says she can stay with you tonight.’
Daisy looked up from the painting she was working on, only to find her neck muscles had seized. She had no idea how long she had been in the same position, moving from one picture to the next and back again each time a layer had dried, but it was long enough for her body to feel the effects. Still, she was about to carry on anyway when a sudden thought struck.
‘Crap, I’m meant to walk Johnny. I can’t see Theo, though. Not yet, not now,’ she said, looking at Claire pleadingly. ‘I don’t suppose you could get him, could you? And maybe walk him? I just really want to get this done.’
‘You don’t want to see Johnny?’ Claire said, sounding nearly as concerned about this comment as she had about the actual breakup.
‘Of course I want to see him. But I’ll be able to see him a lot more if I patch things up with Theo, and I really need to get this done. Please?’
‘Sure.’ Claire nodded, though the look of concern remained on her face. ‘Yes, I’ll go and get him now.’
‘Thank you.’ Daisy offered her a fleeting smile before turning to Bex. ‘And I don’t suppose you can do me a favour before you go too, can you?’
Bex looked at her, but unlike Claire, her immediate response wasn’t to smile and agree. Instead, her eyes narrowed on Daisy.
‘Why do I get the feeling that I’m not going to like this?’
‘You are,’ Daisy said. ‘I promise. I just need you to find a place for me. Well, two places, actually.’