Chapter 5
FRUSTRATION (UK)/TROUBLE (US) – ROLL A SIX BEFORE YOU CAN MAKE A MOVE.
It looked as if he was in luck.
As he set up the coffee machine, he noticed some cake tins and spatulas and a few bags of ingredients on the worktop. The sight of them sitting in what he thought of as his personal space sent a tingle of annoyance through him.
Telling himself to relax, he tamped down on his irritation, knowing he was going to have to get used to sharing his house with Soli for the next year and getting uptight about a few pieces of kitchen equipment lying around wasn’t a good way to start.
Anyway, it needed to look as if she lived in this house, he reminded himself, so having a few of her things scattered around would actually be a good thing.
He was just pouring the coffee into a mug when there was the sound of footsteps behind him and he spun around to see Soli standing in the doorway wearing a slouchy pair of pyjamas with a cartoon character on the front and her hair wild and sticking up around her head.
‘Morning,’ she said, hiding a yawn behind her hand. ‘You’re up bright and early.’
‘I always leave at this time,’ he said, averting his gaze as the idea of seeing her as she’d just rolled out of bed suddenly felt way too intimate.
‘So, you don’t have time to have breakfast with me?’ she asked, moving towards the kettle, which she flicked on to boil.
‘No, sorry. I need to leave in a minute.’
‘Oh, okay.’
She looked disappointed, but he pushed aside the sting of guilt this brought about. He couldn’t just change his routine to fit in with her. She’d need to work around him.
As if she’d sensed this, she leant back against the work surface, smiled at him and said, ‘Perhaps we could spend some time together this evening instead? It’d be nice to get to know you a bit better since we’ll be sleeping under the same roof for the next year.
We could spend a bit of time drawing up a list of dos and don’ts for the relationship. ’
He frowned as the uncomfortable reality of having someone at home waiting for him every night struck him. ‘Yes, of course, but perhaps not tonight. I have a really heavy day at work, and I’ll want to relax this evening. Once my workload’s calmed down a bit we’ll have plenty of time to do that.’
‘Perhaps we could just play a board game or two, then. It’ll be a fun, unpressurised way to learn more about each other,’ she suggested.
‘They’re great icebreakers and it’ll give us something else to concentrate on so we can chat freely.
Our cafe is a popular destination for first dates precisely because of that.
At least it used to be.’ A frown flickered across her face.
‘I’ll cook us a light meal and we can play afterwards? ’ she suggested brightly.
His phone had beeped for the third time in as many minutes and he plucked it out of his pocket distractedly and glanced at the screen, seeing with a wave of concern that it was a message from his financial director.
There must be an urgent issue for him to get in contact before the working day had begun.
He glanced up from the screen to see Soli was looking at him with a questioning expression.
‘Er, yes, okay. I should be back by about eight o’clock,’ he said, wondering what could have happened for Rob to try him three times already.
‘It’ll be useful for us to know what makes each other tick,’ she added.
‘Yes. Quite right. We’ll need to put up a good front at Hugo and Veronica’s party and it’ll help to be prepared for that,’ he said with a sigh, running his hand over his jaw as the idea of it sent a twinge of tension up his back.
Would they really believe he’d married someone like Soli of his own free will? She really didn’t dress, or act, like the type of woman he usually dated.
‘I’ve been thinking about your question – about what you’re going to do during the day when you’re not working at the cafe.’
‘Oh, yes?’
‘I’m going to arrange for a monthly stipend to be put into your bank account which you can use to go shopping for new clothes and book hair and beauty appointments and the like.
Those sorts of things ought to keep your free days busy enough and they’ll be practically expected of a woman who’s married to me and not working full-time, so it’ll fit our story. ’
She lifted a hand to smooth down her wild curls, then adjusted her pyjama top, her brow creasing into a bewildered sort of frown. ‘Okay. Well, thanks.’
Feeling satisfied with this act of generosity, he cleared away his empty mug and gave her one last nod before striding out of the house and setting off for the office, feeling a strange sense of relief at having something to focus on outside of Soli and his brand-new marriage.
* * *
Soli finally let out the sigh of frustration she’d been holding in as the front door slammed shut behind Xavier.
Well, that had been an incredibly exasperating meet-up.
Awkward didn’t even cover it.
It was clear he wanted them to look like a convincing couple at the party, but he seemed reluctant to actually spend any time with her.
Work, apparently, was going to take precedence.
Her heart sank at the anticipation of the fight she might have on her hands to get his full attention.
She shook off her worry. She’d find a way to make it work. Her family was relying on her and there was no way she was going to let them down now.
Pouring herself a reviving cup of coffee, she mulled over what he’d said to her just before he’d left.
She really hadn’t expected him to give her even more money – not that it wasn’t welcome.
She’d been acutely aware as she’d hung up her clothes in the wardrobe in her room that the sort of things she wore – mostly high street store outfits or things she’d picked up from a great little vintage clothes stall in Camden Market – probably wouldn’t look quite right for someone married to Xavier McQueen, but his insinuation that she wasn’t the sleek, sophisticated-looking woman he’d hoped for in a partner had still stung a little.
Not that she couldn’t fix that if she splashed the cash around a bit.
It was going to feel pretty strange spending his money on frivolous things like that though, and she was going to have to get over that. If he was happy to give it to her, she should just be grateful for it.
She took a breath and straightened her spine, imagining herself into the role of the lady of the house.
The first thing she needed to do today was plan what she was going to make for their ‘getting to know each other’ meal.
She wanted it to be something that looked as if she’d made a bit of effort, which of course actually meant making a lot of effort.
Despite the fact they were only pretending, for the sake of her pride she wanted to be as good a partner as she could be.
Perhaps she could do steak with a peppercorn sauce and some lovely fresh seasonal vegetables. And Dauphinoise potatoes. Her sister loved it when she made that dish – which wasn’t often because it was pretty labour intensive.
Yes, something like that perhaps. And she’d make a dessert from scratch too. Something with lots of fresh fruit, like a summer pudding.
Her spirits rose again.
While she was out shopping for all the ingredients she could pick up a couple of board games for them to play this evening too. Games that might lead them to interesting discussions and help them to get to know each other a bit better.
With a sense of positivity and purpose surging through her now, she sat down at the table and began to make a list, planning a wonderful evening of food and entertainment for her and her new husband.
It would be great to finally feel as if she was on top of things and acting like the kind of daughter her father always wanted to have.
Yup, she was a grown-up now and determined to prove to Xavier that he’d made a good choice in her and that it would be money well-spent.
He was going to be so pleased he’d married her.
* * *
It was ten-thirty before Xavier made it home that evening, after having to deal with the crisis at work that had kept him, his PA and his financial director in the office, scrambling to close a property deal that they’d been working on for the last three months.
It had been a taxing day, but Xavier was pleased with the way it had gone in the end. He felt buzzed with success as he let himself in through his front door and made his way across the entrance hall towards the back of the house.
Striding into his kitchen, he experienced a shiver of disquiet as something niggled at the back of his brain.
He’d not even had a chance to let Soli know he’d be back late; in fact, he’d been so engrossed in what he was doing he’d not noticed how late it was until his PA had jokily pointed out they should eat before all the takeaway outlets shut for the night, but he’d figured it wouldn’t matter.
Soli had plenty of things to entertain her here in the house and she seemed like the resourceful type.
After flicking on the kettle, he leant back against the kitchen counter and took a moment to look around the kitchen.
There was something different in here, he was sure of it.
It smelt different. A bit like the French restaurant he loved to go to on the bank of the Thames in Southwark. Garlicky and delicious.
The kettle boiled and he made himself a cup of tea, lifting the teabag out with the spoon after swishing it around in the boiling water for a few seconds.
He never had the patience to let tea brew properly.
When he lifted up the lid of the food-waste bin to dispose of the teabag, the garlicky smell grew even stronger and he paused, staring down inside the bin’s depths.
It looked as though there was a whole meal in there – what looked like Dauphinoise potatoes and cooked vegetables.
What was Soli doing throwing so much food away? How wasteful.