Chapter 21
Chapter Twenty-One
After work on Friday, Evie and Leo met Nicky at an East London canal-side pub. They arrived earlier than expected because Hayley from sales’ leaving party had ended as soon as she was presented with a mug that said, You were an adequate colleague, which caused her to storm off in huff.
‘Was that your idea?’ Nicky asked Evie.
‘No, indeed.’ Evie shook her head. ‘My choice was much ruder.’
‘Hayley missed out on her cake,’ said Leo. ‘Ange made her one, after all.’
‘I saved you a piece,’ Evie told Nicky. ‘It’s lemon drizzle. Your favourite.’
‘You’re a true mate.’ Nicky raised her glass in salute. ‘So – you two have been hard at it this week. How are you holding up?’
‘You’re talking about our work, aren’t you?’
‘Sure,’ said Nicky.
Evie could feel Leo’s shoulders shaking with laughter.
‘Our work ,’ she replied pointedly, ‘is going great! Keith and Kev are full of renewed vim and vigour, and apparently enjoyed telling Plumbing Ultra to shove it way too much because there was a threat of retaliatory legal action. Until Kev shut it down.’
‘How did he manage that?’ Nicky asked. ‘They’re a giant corporate and he’s one guy.’
‘We can only speculate,’ said Leo, solemnly. ‘But it may have involved – what’s the French word for “crocodile”?’
‘ Le crocodile ,’ said Evie.
‘ Merci ,’ said Leo. ‘Which is very like the word Plumbing Ultra used before Kev decided to leave them alone.’
‘And is everyone okay with you two being a twosome?’ Nicky asked.
‘Ange thinks it’s adorable, Nigel makes frequent gagging noises, Keith has taken all the credit for bringing us together, and Kev hasn’t said anything,’ said Evie. ‘Kev’s reaction, of course, being the only one that matters.’
Nicky finished her glass of wine and checked her phone.
‘Okay, you crazy kids, have to love you and leave you,’ she said. ‘I’ve got a hot date with a jockey.’
‘A jockey, as in horse racing?’ Evie said. ‘Aren’t they normally around five feet tall?’
Her six-foot-tall friend stood up and smirked. ‘Well, you know what they say about small men, don’t you?’
‘No!’ Evie called after her. ‘What do they say?’
She turned to Leo. ‘What do they say about small men?’
‘No idea,’ he replied. ‘And I highly recommend you don’t google it.’
‘Wise,’ said Evie. ‘Could be like the time I googled “pearl necklace” when I was looking for a present for my mum. Quite the eye opener.’
Leo leaned in and kissed her. ‘I can’t believe how boring my life was before I met you.’
‘You were an international model!’ Evie protested. ‘You went to swanky fashion parties and snorted cocaine out of Vicks inhalers!’
‘ One inhaler, one time!’ said Leo. ‘And I thought it was Vicks!’
‘You do own a dressing gown, though,’ said Evie. ‘There is that.’
‘I’ll have you know it’s top of the line Marks and Spencer,’ said Leo. ‘I’ll buy you a matching one if you like?’
‘Oo, yes, please!’ said Evie. ‘We can sit around like an old couple in a 1970’s British sit-com.’
Their glasses were almost empty. Leo said, ‘You know, it’s a beautiful summer’s evening, and we’re young and in love. Don’t suppose you want to stroll arm in arm along the towpath?’
‘Dodging cyclists, joggers and kids out robbing?’ said Evie. ‘You’re a true romantic, kind sir. Come, let us promenade.’
The towpath was crowded. Everyone else had had the same idea. Leo and Evie decided to cut through Shoreditch instead and wander the streets looking for a place to eat. A small slice of lemon drizzle cake each hadn’t gone the distance and now they were famished.
‘I like it over this part of town,’ said Leo. ‘Chelsea’s very–’
‘Clean?’ suggested Evie. ‘Oversupplied with Range Rovers and Tory-voting wankers?’
‘All of the above,’ said Leo. ‘I was going to say – predictable. Around here it’s more dynamic. You never know what you’re going to see round the next corner.’
They rounded a corner.
‘See?’ Leo exclaimed. ‘You’d never find that in my hood!’
‘Chelsea is not a hood, Leo,’ said Evie. ‘But apart from that, I completely agree.’
They’d come across what looked the site of an abandoned old goods yard. Street art adorned the outer brick walls, but what really caught the eye was the chain link fence that surrounded it. Every inch of it was festooned with padlocks.
‘What are these?’ Leo lifted one to inspect it more closely. It was rusted brass and had ‘Gaz and Madz’ scrawled on it in fading black felt pen.
‘They’re lovelocks,’ said Evie.
Her subdued tone caught Leo’s attention.
‘Do I sense a history here?’ he said.
‘Not here precisely,’ said Evie. ‘But an ex and I–’ She could feel her cheeks burning. ‘We put one on the Millennium Bridge.’
‘And is it still there?’ Leo sounded intrigued and, to Evie’s annoyance, amused.
‘No,’ she said, shortly. ‘It got cut off.’
‘The padlock got cut off,’ said Leo. ‘Just checking.’
‘Don’t tease!’ said Evie. ‘I was making bad choices with men back then, and I don’t want to be reminded!’
Leo moved close and coaxed her into his arms. ‘Am I a good choice?’
Evie resisted, still irked. ‘Not if you keep laughing at me.’
Leo dropped a kiss on her hair. Then ran his thumb lightly over her cheek, and down over her lips. The summer evening light brought out the gold, blue, green rockpool colour of his eyes, and Evie drank in their beauty, the perfect planes of his face, and the soft fullness of his mouth. Which was still curved in a smile, the bastard. But before she could protest, Leo kissed her, and Evie forgot every objection and melted into him, one hand in his hair and one on his hall-of-fame arse, pulling him closer to enjoy his hardness, his pressing need for her. A tiny part of her brain clocked that they were alone, no cars, no people passing. A chain link fence covered in padlocks wasn’t the most comfortable back support for standing sex, but the only other option was a brick alcove that reeked so badly she could smell it from ten feet away.
‘It’s not exactly private here,’ Leo whispered. ‘Or, for that matter, hygienic.’
He could be reading her mind, except for the fact that she’d already fished a condom out of her bag and was unzipping his fly.
‘We’ll be discreet,’ said Evie. ‘No need to drop your pants. Just let me–’
Her skirt was light and billowy, and she could lift it up in front while maintaining her overall dignity. It worked handily as a cover too as, in record time, she’d clad Leo’s freed erection in the condom, pulled aside her desire-dampened knickers and guided him in. Leo moved slowly, cautiously, so as not to draw attention, and also because his quads were working overtime to keep his knees bent at the right angle. They locked eyes, and the concentration on his face and the sensation of his cock covertly inside her was ridiculously exciting. Evie felt her orgasm start to build, and her breathing became tell-tale ragged.
‘If I speed up,’ muttered Leo, ‘ everyone will know what we’re doing.’
‘Then keep it slow,’ Evie murmured.
He did, and with every measured, deep thrust Evie’s orgasm came nearer, but so gradually it was agonising. Leo’s breathing was ragged now, too, and his leg muscles were quivering with the effort. He shifted position slightly and that was the trigger. Evie came, so intensely and for so long it felt like endless crashing waves of bliss. Throwing caution to the wind, Leo grabbed her hips and finished fast and hard, burying his face in her hair as he came.
‘Okay …’ he murmured, after an age. ‘Are we ready for the uncoupling?’
‘Never,’ said Evie, dreamily. ‘This is us from now on.’
‘Only I think this condom is slipping.’
‘Oh, all right.’
It was a relatively straightforward process, except for–
‘Um, what should I do with this?’
Evie gestured around them. ‘Dump it with all the other used ones!’
‘That’s littering,’ said Leo, primly. ‘Do you have any tissues?’
Evie found a packet in her bag and handed it to him. ‘You know, I’m not sure you’re cut out for the wild Shoreditch life.’
‘I’m simply a tidy person,’ said Leo. ‘Nothing wrong with that.’
‘True,’ said Evie, with a smile. ‘There’s nothing wrong with that or with you. You’re absolutely perfect.’
She linked her arm in his. ‘Now, let’s go get something to eat before I become hangry and change my mind.’