Fifty-Three
Nancy and Ari slipped out through the catering entrance, the heavy door swinging shut behind them with a dull thud. The night air wrapped around them, cool and damp, scented faintly with cut grass and distant roses. Gravel crunched underfoot as they kept low, darting past bins and crates.
Beyond the service yard, the manicured grounds opened up. They moved fast but quietly, dresses hitched and shoes in hand, weaving through topiary and creeping along the edge of the hedgerows like a pair of teenagers sneaking home past curfew.
Nancy’s heart was still racing from the intensity of their kiss. She couldn’t quite shake the feeling that she was walking on air. But reality hadn’t disappeared entirely.
‘Are we going to be OK?’ Ari asked her as they moved. ‘I mean, will this follow me?’
Nancy could see the worry etched on Ari’s face.
‘I don’t know,’ Nancy replied. ‘But you don’t need to wait for the police. They don’t have that kind of authority to keep you locked up like this. It might even be false imprisonment.’
‘That’s what I was thinking.’
‘So, let’s go. Fuck this fucking manor and every arsehole in it.’
Ari looked up at her then. ‘I don’t want to drag you into this mess, Nancy. More so.’
Nancy stepped closer, her hands gently cupping Ari’s face, forcing her to meet her gaze. ‘You’re not dragging me into anything. I’m already in it. You’re coming with me. We’ll get to Edinburgh and lie low. Just you and me. We’ll figure the rest out later.’
Ari’s eyes softened, but the tension in her shoulders remained. Nancy could tell that the weight of the situation was bearing down on her harder than she was letting on. ‘And if they send the police after me? God, the embarrassment of getting arrested… My mother will scream herself into an aneurysm.’
‘We’ll deal with that when we get to Edinburgh,’ Nancy interrupted, brushing a strand of hair from Ari’s face. ‘One step at a time.’
Ari hesitated for a moment, chewing on her lip as if weighing the risks. But then, slowly, she nodded. ‘Alright.’
There was still so much uncertainty hanging over them. But they couldn’t fix everything tonight.
Ari slipped her hand into Nancy’s, her grip strong. ‘Let’s go,’ she whispered.
And with that, they made their way quietly out of the gates and back to the car. It felt strange to be moving so silently, but Nancy didn’t care. The only thing that mattered was getting out of this house, away from the mess they’d found themselves tangled in.
When they reached the car, Ari held the shotgun door open for Nancy.
‘You’re driving?’ Nancy asked.
‘I’m certainly not letting you drive under the circumstances. You can’t be my driver. Not now.’
Nancy laughed. ‘I see what you mean. Alright. Take it easy on the clutch, though.’
‘I promise nothing,’ Ari said.
Nancy climbed in with an eye roll, and Ari slid into the driver’s seat and started the engine, the low hum of the car filling the quiet.
But then the backdoor opened. Ari and Nancy turned, surprised, half expecting some security guard to grab them.
Instead, it was an elderly lady. Paris’s Great Aunt Margot. ‘Well, my luck is in. I got the first car!’
Nancy looked at Ari. Ari looked at Nancy. They both looked at the old lady.
‘Err…’ Nancy began.