Chapter 34
Adam
Despite everything, all the other shit going on, I feel a prickle of anxiety at the prospect of this woman, Eve, turning up on my doorstep at such short notice.
I got back from the hospital twenty minutes ago, and this afternoon I have an appointment with a mortgage advisor before my next session with Okie. When I suggested a cup of tea, I thought she’d name a day, or say that she’d let me know when she was free... but I should have known. The way she was when she stood in my hallway a couple of weeks ago made it clear what kind of person she was when it came to getting things done.
There’s a rap on the front door, and I check my phone. She’s two minutes early, which I also should have expected.
‘Hi.’ I swing the door open and she stands there, her formal attire replaced with a simple mid-length dress and Converse. Her short hair is tied back in a stubby ponytail, that unruly fringe framing her face. Her green eyes seem duller, somehow, than when we first met. ‘Come in.’
I stand back to let her pass, and she walks straight past me through to the kitchen before spinning around.
‘Sorry!’ She claps a hand to her mouth. ‘The layouts of our houses are exactly the same, so I sort of knew where to go.’
I laugh. ‘Don’t worry. Make yourself at home.’
She pulls a chair out from under the kitchen table and sits down. I marvel at her boldness — I’m a hoverer, I won’t take a seat until I’m explicitly told to — and flick the kettle on.
‘Tea?’
‘Hmm . . . coffee?’ she asks. ‘Extra strong.’
I laugh loudly, despite myself, and she frowns at me. ‘Sorry, you’re just really... direct.’
She shakes her head, running her fingers through her fringe. ‘That seems to be the theme of the week.’
‘I have always imagined that direct people must get told they’re direct quite a lot.’ I get out the cafetière and pull the good stuff out of the fridge. The stuff I usually save for Sundays. ‘Illy?’ I ask.
‘What?’ She looks up at me suddenly, her eyes crinkled in confusion.
I hold up the jar. ‘Illy coffee?’
‘Oh my god.’ She slaps her leg and laughs, her mouth wide. ‘I thought you were saying you loved me in text speak.’
It takes me a second to get it, and when I do, I snort. ‘No!’ I splutter, laughing, feeling my cheeks heat up.
‘Then Illy would be great, thanks.’ She smiles, and I quickly turn away.
We discuss a few people on the street as the coffee brews — she knows surprisingly little about any of the neighbours, despite having lived here almost as long as me — and I question her about why I haven’t seen her around much.
‘I’m usually in work for about twelve hours, and I get taxis on the weekends as a general rule.’ She shrugs. ‘Does that sound pretentious? I can’t always tell.’
‘No,’ I say, placing our mugs down on the table. ‘Why aren’t you in work today?’
She stands up and takes the milk from the fridge without asking. ‘Long story,’ she says, splashing some in her cup and then putting it back.
I nod, deciding not to enquire any further.
‘What do you do?’ she asks.
‘I’m a maths tutor.’ I grimace. ‘Used to be a teacher, but OFSTED sucked the joy out of it for me.’
‘A common story, I hear.’
‘Sadly, yes. Loads of parents were asking me about private sessions anyway and I just thought — sod it. Less money, sure, but you know. Life’s too short to wake up dreading every day.’
‘Yes,’ she says, after a moment. ‘I imagine it is.’
God, what am I doing going on about my career motivations? I’ve only had the woman in my house three seconds and I’ve already managed to bore her.
‘Well, cheers,’ I tap my cup against hers, and she taps back and then looks down at her fingernails.
‘Right.’ She slaps her hands on the table suddenly, and I jump. When she looks up, that fierceness is back in her eyes. ‘I think Old Sausage needs an appointment with the vet, so we need to catch her. I’m thinking some kind of box with a stick, and a bit of food inside it. You know like on Looney Tunes ? The box will fall when she nudges it and we’ll have her trapped.’
Eve looks very satisfied with her plan, but I decide to cautiously offer my own suggestion. ‘What if we just pick her up?’
She stares at me for a second. ‘We could do that, I suppose.’
I grin. ‘Might be a bit easier.’
She nods, biting her lip as if she’s trying to suppress a smile. ‘Fine, yes, let’s do that. Do you have a car?’
‘No.’
‘Me neither.’ She taps her chin with her finger, her eyes gazing beyond me. ‘We’ll get a taxi. Whoever catches her, I mean. We can split the fare.’
‘Sounds good.’
She takes a sip of her coffee. ‘This is really good.’
‘Yeah, I love it.’
‘Who was that woman who was here the other day?’ she asks.
I am thrown by the suddenness of the question. ‘Oh. That’s my ex.’
Eve grimaces. ‘Sorry.’
I wave my hand. ‘Don’t worry about it.’
Our eyes meet for a moment, and something stirs inside me. Something vaguely familiar, but before I can identify it, she looks away.
She straightens her shoulders — something I’ve noticed she does when she’s about to pull things back to where she wants them to be — and pushes her chair back. ‘Right, so—’
‘What do you do?’ I ask, suddenly, realising she didn’t tell me earlier, and feeling like the conversation can’t end here, like I need to know more about her.
She stands up anyway, and her face becomes impassive. ‘I work in marketing.’
The energy has shifted now. She’s closed things down, and the easy back-and-forth we just had seems out of reach.
‘Do you enjoy it?’ I ask, as one last-ditch attempt, as she pulls her bag onto her shoulder.
Eve stares out of the window, her hand reaching for her fringe again. ‘I do, yeah.’
I stand up too, feeling suddenly as though I’ve said something wrong. ‘Well, should we...’
‘Yes.’ She turns to me, nodding. ‘Right. We’ll keep our eyes peeled for her, and whoever finds her first, take her to the vet. OK?’
‘I can hardly expect you to drop work if she comes by in the middle of the day.’
‘It doesn’t matter,’ she replies hastily, and turns towards the door. I follow her through the living room and into the hall where, as though something has just occurred to her, she turns quickly towards me. ‘Of course, that wouldn’t be fair for you, either. I’m sure you can’t just drop whatever you’re doing.’
‘If I’m here when she comes over, it usually means I haven’t got a student. But if I can’t for any reason, I’ll let you know?’ I smile at her. ‘I don’t think the plan needs to be too rigid. We’ll figure it out.’
Her eyes search my face for a second, and then she nods. ‘Yes, no, definitely.’
‘Great.’
We stand, facing each other. There’s something charged in the air around us: awkwardness, but something underneath, too.
Unexpectedly, she holds out her hand. ‘It was nice to meet you again.’
I laugh at the formality, and she smiles shyly, shaking her head. I take her hand in mine, only for a millisecond, and register the soft warmth of it. My pulse quickens.
‘Bye, then.’ She pulls her hand away and opens the front door, giving me one final glance over her shoulder as she leaves.