Chapter 29
Early next morning, Aria liberally sprayed anti-perspirant she knew cost a fortune onto her armpits, swooshing some behind her ears while she was at it.
Using his delicious-smelling soap to clean nails still clogged from pottering in her garden yesterday afternoon, she wiped her hands on a plush grey towel before straightening it up.
There was little point in scrubbing till they were spotless, as she would have to tackle a much bigger garden this morning, but she didn’t come across products like this very often.
The floor-length mirror allowed her to see herself for the first time in a while.
Standing naked in front of it, she viewed a top-heavy woman with a slightly bigger butt and hips than she’d like.
She could not pull off the sylph-like sass of Sophie, who managed to hold down two jobs without any limbs getting in the way, but overall she didn’t hate herself.
She thought about what an unlikely friendship that had been, even back at school.
Sophie was popular, always the centre of attention with her mad stories, whereas Aria had been continually told off for not putting her hand up in class.
Was she confident enough to act her way through an evening with Sophie’s mum, who was as sharp and outspoken as her daughter?
Straightening her hair and throwing on her work uniform of t-shirt, dungarees and sweatshirt, she prepared to re-enter paradise showing no sign of her insecurities.
They’d agreed to have the first getting-to-know-each-other session, of several Nic had scheduled, before she headed off to work.
He was convinced these held the key to convincing Donna they were in love and they’d made a list of things to discuss last night.
Nic was sitting on the floor, his laptop on the low coffee table, when she entered the airy open-plan room.
She was touched when he abandoned his work to make her some toast. He poured them both a coffee from a pot he’d made earlier, and she probed more about the pictures he’d put up around the house. ‘Manga, right?’
He nodded. ‘Book covers and art boards.’
‘You collect them? Are they valuable?’
‘Some of them are. They can be hard to get hold of if they’re rare or signed by certain artists. Most are kept by publishers or returned to the creators. I’ve spent a lot of time sourcing them on my travels and via the internet.’
She smiled. ‘That’s the kind of deep interest we need to explore. As well as other things. Favourite food? Favourite colour? What car would you drive if money was no object? Oh, no forget that. You can afford any car you like.’
‘I can if these deals go through, Aria.’
‘Hmm. Do you have any tattoos?’
He shook his head and confessed his fear of needles, before turning the question back on her.
When she shook her head, he asked her what she’d choose if she decided to take the plunge.
Then he lifted his coffee and the iPad from the breakfast bar and led her to the sofa.
‘We need to be systematic about this as we only have a limited amount of time. Maybe start with low-hanging fruit as we could probably spend an entire year discussing our stances on politics or climate change. Imagine trying to compare our views on the economic divide between the west and Africa? You might start an argument about colonialisation? Cite lack of investment? Or you might tattoo “I don’t care much either way” across your forehead. ’
Sitting down, she placed a cushion behind her back to make herself more comfy. ‘Was that query about economics or body art? It wasn’t clear. Maybe we are answering the question before the one just asked?’ she said playfully. ‘In that case I’d choose a four-leaf clover.’
He narrowed his eyes. ‘Are you cheating by ducking out of a difficult question?’
‘Nope, I’d answer your Africa query with “promoting fair trade not aid, giving locals agency and investing in infrastructure and education.”’ She laughed, hoping this game might bring them closer together.
‘So, tell me, why did you agree to faking your whole life this week?’ he asked.
She dutifully answered his previous query. ‘I never cheat and always try to tackle difficult questions head on.’
‘But you were perfectly willing to move into my house to trick a respectable council member into believing we are engaged?’ He paused to think about his next question as she giggled. ‘What’s your best attribute?’
She mentally spooled back to the question before. ‘I’m broke and homeless.’
‘You might need to rethink your personal branding,’ he teased. ‘OK another one.’ He waited a beat, as if weighing up the impact of his question. ‘What do you fantasise about?’
She didn’t try to hide her surprise as she thought for a second and then grinned. ‘My massive boobs,’ she said.
He was quick to reply, his eyebrows shooting up in mock shock. ‘You’re sounding quite narcissistic, Aria.’
‘Is that a question?’
‘No, it’s a judgement.’ He laughed again. Getting into this now, she gripped the edge of her seat waiting for his next one.
‘Favourite animal? Followed by favourite country.’
Inspiration came to her in a rush. ‘Armadillo. Oh no – we’re answering the question before.
It was the sex question, wasn’t it? Ha ha, an armadildo!
’ She slammed her coffee cup on the table.
Collapsing into giggles, she was gratified he seemed to find it funny, even though she’d gone off on one. ‘Sorry, I couldn’t resist.’
He looked at the coffee table where she’d laid out pens and paper. ‘Are these for our brainstorm?’
‘Am I allowed to answer this question with something other than Italy?’
He laughed. ‘Yep. We’ve moved on.’
She looked more serious. ‘I have to go to work soon, but I thought, after I get back, we could do some mind-mapping. It always worked for me when I was doing my revision. Not that I was a winner at exams.’
‘We can share our qualifications later,’ he smiled.
‘Get your stuff and I’ll drop you off at work.
But before you go, I’ve been thinking about that contract.
Hand on my heart, I can’t meet your demands about the marina.
It’s such a vital piece of the jigsaw and important to the success of the whole development.
But I am really happy to agree to the rest, and I think I can add value to your campaign with a few suggestions and contacts.
I’m going to go a bit left-field here and propose we put the idea of a contract on hold.
Are you up for trusting each other? Instead of an NDA just zipping it?
’ He drew a line across his mouth and clamped his lips shut.
‘I am very discreet, and I think we both lose if word gets out of our duplicity.’
***
Arriving at the big house, Aria looked back on the last couple of hours. She’d seen a different side to Nic. And before he’d dropped her off, he’d consulted her on dinner tonight.
‘Is it too cold to have a barbecue? I prefer to eat outside if I have company,’ he volunteered.
‘Really?’
‘What? Let me guess: you had me down as a man who collected Michelin-starred experiences? You’ll have to stop making assumptions about me, Aria Wilson.’
‘Fair enough.’ She thanked him for the ride and told him she’d see him later.
‘Text me when you’re done and I’ll pick you up if you like.’
Two hours later, her hands were muddy, and her back was hurting.
She’d made the mistake of picking up where she left off, pulling stones out of the dried-up stream and carting them to the water source to clean before chucking them back in her wheelbarrow.
She broke for a late lunch, munching on a cheese sandwich she’d made from some sourdough.
He hadn’t mentioned splitting the shopping bill – another feature of their cohabitation she was grateful for.
She vowed to make him some jars of chutney when the vegetables came up.
His house was starting to feel more of a friend than an enemy too.
She particularly loved opening up that panoramic glass wall to feel as though you were sitting outside, while you had your feet up on the comfiest sofa on earth.
No wonder he wasn’t keen on TV – the visuals were all at the lake.
She groaned as she stood up. Just getting the stones from A to B was so time-consuming, she hadn’t started on cutting back the grass that sent an endless supply of runners down the path of the water.
Abandoning it, she disinfected some shears and began cutting the box while the weather was dry.
The dense hedge was patchy, brown and skeletonised in places, and she carefully started thinning it to improve airflow.
The job was finished quickly, but mindful of spores, she spent an inordinate amount of time collecting up the clippings and leaves.
Then, making sure the tools were cleaned properly, she switched back to the ivy she’d started last time.
The air was significantly cooler when she sat down, sweaty and exhausted, on mossy grass that badly needed treating.
Working so hard, but barely making any progress, she figured she’d earned little to nothing for all the hours of toil.
She drained the water from her litre bottle and grunted in frustration.
‘Long day?’ Nic could not have looked cooler as he pitched up in front of her in a pale-blue crew-necked jumper and jeans. ‘I know the weather isn’t particularly hot today, but I figured you might like one of these?’
‘Oh, my God, you are amazing!’ Aria pounced on the ice lolly he’d brought, ripping the wrapper off and getting stuck in.
‘You’re a biter, then? I confess I’m a licker!’
She was amused to see Nic crinkling his nose at his double entendre. ‘I’ll be anything you want if you bring me these at the end of every shift,’ she replied coquettishly.