Chapter Twenty-Three
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Finn
“What the fuck are they doing up there?” I asked, glancing at the ceiling of the storeroom as something heavy clattered above us. It sounded as if someone was about to come crashing through.
“Fuck if I know,” Gem said, giving the ceiling an evil glare as we scooped the last of the sodden towels off the floor and tossed them into an enormous, rainbow IKEA bag. “Apparently there was a problem with some of the slates? And something had rotted? Something the landlord should have fucking noticed if he wasn’t so busy swanning around on my rent.”
“At least he agreed to pay for it and didn’t quibble the quote.”
“Yeah, but that’s only because the guy he suggested wanted to charge double.” Gem winced at another loud bang. “And your brother and Tristan both gave me some helpful wording to put in an email to the letting agency.”
“That always helps,” I said. I was glad Eli had offered advice without prompting when I’d first mentioned the issue in the family group chat because it meant I hadn’t had to convince Gem to ask him. Not that I thought Gem wouldn’t, but he was stressed, and I worried it might be an issue of pride or feeling like he was overstepping. Either way, it was all made easier when Eli just offered off the bat. “How long will it take?”
“Should be done by the end of the week. Depends if they can get everything they need.” Gem looked around at the mess that was the stockroom and shook his head. All the shelves had been pulled away from the walls, and there were a couple of large dehumidifiers whirring away, attempting to dry the room out as fast as possible. Gem had pushed the stock delivery back by a week to give it time to dry out because he didn’t want to store the boxes in a damp room—mostly because he was worried if they sat there, they’d start to mould. I didn’t think everything would stick around for as long as he seemed to think it would, but I didn’t say that.
Gem had been very on edge over the last few days, and at first, I’d put it down to the situation with the shop—as was only natural—but now I was concerned something else was going on. I just wasn’t sure whether to mention it because I didn’t want to make things worse. If Gem wanted to bring it up, he’d bring it up, and all I could do was be a good friend and support him as best I could.
And maybe dream up a few decadent ways to take his mind off everything.
“Fingers crossed,” I said as I moved the bags towards the door so Gem could take the towels home and wash them. “And at least you didn’t have to wait too long to find someone. I know when Mimbles and Mum had their roof redone, they had to wait six months to get booked in.”
“I guess, but this is more of a patch job than anything. Hopefully it’ll last.”
“I’m sure it will.” Gem frowned but didn’t say anything. I pursed my lips, both concerned and annoyed by his attitude. I knew it was tough, but I did wish he’d be a smidge more positive. It wasn’t as if the whole thing had caved in, and nothing had been lost. Still, I got the feeling it was just another stone on the pile Gem was carrying, and the weight was starting to get to him. He’d put so much pressure on himself to do well, and despite his promise to me that he’d do his best and give it one hundred percent, I thought the roof might have been a bit too much. Especially because it was only ten days until the shop’s grand opening, and nothing was ready. We were virtually back to square one in some places.
“What’s next?” I asked, looking around the room. “Clean the walls? Repaint?”
“Yeah, we need to clean everything. In here doesn’t necessarily need repainting if the stains come out. The shelves are going over them anyway. It’s not like anyone else is ever going to see in here. They might not even see anything at this rate.”
Gem walked away to grab some sponges, and I felt anger rising from deep in my chest. I wasn’t an angry person usually, and it took a lot to piss me off, but right now I felt like a volcano that was moments away from exploding. And not even taking some deep breaths was helping.
“You okay?” Gem asked when he returned holding an open package of yellow dish sponges.
“No,” I said, the word coming out sharp and snappish. “I’m not okay. In fact, I’m quite angry right now.” Gem opened his mouth, and I held up a hand to stop him from talking. “No, I’m not finished. Look, I know you’re stressed right now and that everything has gone tits up, but that does not give you the right to be so miserable. You promised me you were going to try your best, and now you’re acting as if the world has ended when all that’s happened is that you had a slightly leaky roof.” I took another deep breath. Gem was looking at me with a stunned expression like he’d never expected such an outburst from me. Neither had I, if I was honest, but I had to make him see sense.
“I know it’s a pain in the ass, and it’s set you back and is costing you time, energy, and money, but I am asking you to please try to see the positives or at least don’t mire yourself so deeply in the negatives. I’m not saying you can’t be upset that this happened, that would be dismissive of me, but I am saying you need to stop acting as if the apocalypse is nigh, and that you’re doing this on your own. I will be here every day if you need me, and I will do anything I can to help, but I will not sit by and watch you wallow in self-pity. You are better than this, and you know it.”
Gem stared at me, his mouth slightly open. I glared at him as if daring him to argue. I watched him weigh up the decision and tried to extinguish the anger burning in my chest by taking a deep, slow breath. I had said my piece and continuing to be angry was not going to achieve anything.
We both needed a break.
“I’m sorry,” Gem said. “I know I’m being a wanker. I didn’t mean to take it out on you.”
“Apology accepted.”
“I’ve never seen you angry before.”
“I don’t enjoy the sensation,” I said as faint, muffled shouting came from above us. “Although that noise isn’t helping.” A new idea flickered to life in my brain, one that would hopefully make both of us feel better and give us some space from the pressure of the situation at hand. Reaching out, I plucked the package of sponges from Gem’s fingers. “Come on. We’re taking a break.”
“But—”
“No buts. We’re both stressed right now, and it’s not doing either of us any good. We need a change of scenery. We can come back later when the builders have gone and do some tidying then.” I put the sponges into the bucket of cleaning supplies and went to retrieve my coat. “Come on. Let’s go.”
“Okay,” Gem said, still sounding suspicious. “Where are we going?”
“Out.” I almost said on a date, but I stopped myself. “We’ll go and get some food, and then we can either see what’s on at the Odeon or we can go to the board game café on Cornhill. I’m not sure if you have to book, though, but we can check the website while we eat.”
Gem nodded and then grinned at me as he reached for his tweed jacket. “I thought you weren’t spontaneous?”
“Sometimes the situation calls for it,” I said as I tried to ignore the way my face was burning. Gem was right, usually I pre-planned everything, but right now we both needed to get out. So mild spontaneity it was. After all, it wasn’t as if lunch and the cinema were revolutionary ideas.
“It really fucking does.” Gem patted his pockets. “Let’s get out of here before I fucking explode.”
We headed for the front of the shop, locking the door behind us as we stepped out into the bright, spring sunshine. There was still a chilly breeze, but feeling the sun warm my face as we walked down Steep Hill made my stress start to melt away. “Where do you want to get lunch?”
“Do you fancy Wagamama?” Gem asked. “I’m kinda craving Katsu curry.”
“Sounds perfect.” I grinned at him. And then my heart nearly stopped as Gem slipped his fingers into mine, squeezing my hand lightly as he continued walking. Like nothing was different at all. I swallowed, trying not to trip over my own feet as my heart raced. We hadn’t talked about anything changing, even though we’d originally promised we would, but this didn’t feel like a change. It felt like more of a natural progression.
Wagamama was packed, but the waitress managed to squeeze us into a small table looking out over the Brayford. There were numerous swans and ducks floating across the body of water, along with a couple of rowing teams from the University of Lincoln, which was situated just across the pool.
“You know,” I said once we’d ordered, “I wouldn’t even want to row on that water. It’s got to be freezing, and it’s always full of…”
“Shit?” Gem supplied with a grin. “Me either. Although I bet eighteen-year-old me would have jumped into it if I was drunk and you dared me.”
I rolled my eyes but couldn’t stop myself from smiling. “You wouldn’t be the first. And I’d have had no sympathy if you ended up with some horrible disease and hypothermia.”
“None at all?”
“Well, maybe a little.”
“I’ll take that,” Gem said. He looked so much more relaxed already, and it made me ridiculously happy to see him back to his bright, charming self. I never wanted to see him stressed or unhappy. It affected me in a way I’d never experienced before, and I didn’t enjoy the sensation. “Not that I’d have deserved it.”
“It sounds like you were an interesting teenager.”
“You can say enormous twat,” Gem said as he sipped his Coke. “It would be the truth.”
I laughed. “That has to come with some stories though.”
“It does but not many I’m proud of. I’m still surprised I actually passed my degree half the time. Although that might have something to do with the almighty bollocking I got from my mum when I finished my second year with a barely scraped two two.” He shook his head. “I’m surprised she let me back in the house that summer to be honest. She and my dad didn’t go to university, and she considered it a great opportunity that I was wasting.” He shrugged. “She had a fair point. And I realised I had a fair bit of growing up to do… after I’d stopped sulking.”
“I’d say I can’t imagine you sulking but…” I shot Gem a teasing grin, and he snorted.
“I get it. I’m a dickhead,” he said.
“You’re not.” I reached across the table and squeezed his hand. “I’m just teasing.”
“I know.” He smiled. “You’re cute when you tease me.”
I wanted to say something, but I had no words, and when I finally thought of something, our food arrived. I snapped my chopsticks apart and began to eat the glazed pork belly and greens that topped my bowl of ramen. “So, what do you want to do after this?”
“Not sure,” Gem said. “Want to go see a film since the Odeon is right there?”
I nodded. An afternoon on a comfy seat watching something fun sounded like a perfect distraction. “Sounds good. Any preference on what we see? There’s that new action film out, Red Shadow Rising .”
“Isn’t that the one with Jason’s brother?” Gem asked. I nodded. Jason happened to be the brother of one of the world’s biggest film stars, Henry Lu, who’d recently taken up the mantel of Hollywood’s latest action hero darling. It always made me laugh because in these films, Henry always played suave, charming men with oceans of cool who drove fast cars, beat the bad guy, and got the girl without putting a hair out of place, while in reality Henry exuded continuous golden-retriever energy. I’d met him a couple of times through Jason, and he was wonderfully sweet if a little over the top.
“Does it weird you out knowing that if Jason and Lewis get married, you’ll have a Hollywood superstar for a brother-in-law?”
“A little,” I said. “But they’d actually have to get married first.”
“You don’t think they will?”
I frowned. “No, I think they will but not for a while. They seem very happy as they are, and with Richard getting married, I don’t think Lewis will want to interfere with that.” Lewis could be ridiculously outgoing when he wanted, but he was also an overthinker and a homebody, and I wasn’t sure how he’d feel about being the centre of attention for the day. Especially because it would probably end up being a large wedding.
“Makes sense. And the film sounds good. Kinda stupid and easy to watch,” Gem said. He pulled out his phone. “I’ll get us some tickets.”
There was a showing with tickets left in half an hour, so when we’d finished our lunch we pottered across the street to the cinema where Gem bought us a tub of popcorn to share. And as we found our seats and settled in to watch, Gem leant over and kissed me gently. “Thanks for this. It’s just what I needed.”
My cheek burned as the lights dimmed, and I realised I could pretend this wasn’t a date as much as I wanted, but that wouldn’t stop it from being a lie.