Chapter Three
On Saturday afternoon, Anna escaped the house for a few hours, enticed by the April sunshine — and a desperate need to get away from the chores of washing and cleaning that had mounted up during the week. She loved to walk around the streets of Rotherhithe, taking pictures. As she walked she noticed that the trees were starting to bud, a sure sign that spring was on its way after the drabness of winter. Her passion was architecture, both old and new, and she liked recording buildings through the different seasons. Before she realised, several hours had passed and her legs were beginning to ache. With a sigh she decided to head for home.
As she walked she contemplated her life. She certainly wasn’t where she’d expected to be at this age. She’d hoped to have achieved so much more by the age of thirty but, with her twenty-ninth birthday approaching in the next week, time was rapidly running out. And here she was, still living at home, looking after her dad and brothers, in a job she was desperate to get out of, with no boyfriend and very few friends. Not so long ago, she and Daisy would have been out on the town together, drinking in a bar or a club, with or without their boyfriends, or going out for meals or to the cinema as a foursome. But now that Daisy’s relationship with Tom seemed to be getting more serious, and Mark had dumped her for the boss’s daughter, Anna was like a spare wheel. Daisy had mentioned that she and Tom were contemplating moving in together, so Anna imagined she’d be seeing even less of her friend in the future. Binge-watching Netflix looked to become a Saturday night norm for her. She’d spent a large part of last night scouring through job ads, but nothing had appealed to her. Maybe she should be less picky, keep her photography as a hobby and find a job, any job, which was better paid and gave her some chance of a social life.
But it wasn’t just her job that needed to change. Daisy had been right yesterday. She really needed to do something about her home life too. While she continued to pander to them, her dad and brothers weren’t likely to get up and help her out. They were used to living on easy street. Why would they want to change that?
After she’d flounced out of the living room last night, she’d hoped it would be enough to galvanise one of them into doing some actual cooking, but instead her dad had gone to the chippy and brought back fish and chips. At least he’d bought a portion for both her and Harry, but it was still a takeaway and required little effort on his part. This morning she’d got up to find their plates left on the worktop in the kitchen, with congealed smears of ketchup, and an avalanche of empty beer cans on the coffee table in the living room. So, before she’d started her weekend clean, she’d spent a good hour tidying up their mess. Part of her had been tempted to leave it and see how bad the squalor would get before they actually did something about it, but the other part of her was unable to live like that. Her mum had been house-proud and for the house to be anything but neat and tidy, even if it was to make a point, would feel like she was betraying her mother’s memory. Also she didn’t want any rows or arguments — she wanted a tranquil environment for Harry to study. With his A-levels approaching, he needed peace and quiet to make the most of his education, to give him the chance she’d never had. She decided she would try to start putting her foot down gently, to try to get the boys to do more, and then when Harry had finished his exams she’d sit them all down and tell them how she felt and how she wanted things to change. For the meantime, though, she decided she would just have to carry on.
* * *
Daniel woke on Sunday morning relieved to find that he was alone in his bed and there was no evidence of anyone else having been there. He lay back on the pillows, his head thumping.
At a loose end because Ben was away, he’d gone out to a bar last night with Charlotte and a bunch of others. He had a vague recollection of chatting to one of Charlotte’s model friends, Victoria, whom he’d had a fling with in the past. He’d only begun talking to her to alleviate the boredom of the evening. He used to enjoy going out to crowded clubs, where the drinks flowed freely and everyone gave the impression that they were living their best lives, but last night it had all seemed superficial. Perhaps he was getting too old to be socialising like that, he thought. These days he’d much rather spend his weekend nights snuggled up on a sofa with a woman he loved. Not that Victoria fitted into the snuggling category. She was incredibly glamorous and, from memory, very passionate, but he couldn’t imagine her settling down on the sofa in joggers and a T-shirt with a bowl of popcorn and a box set. He was ridiculously relieved that he’d come home alone last night and could spend the rest of his weekend doing whatever he liked. Perhaps he should change not only his lifestyle but also the women he went for. Going out with glamorous women was good for his ego, as well as his society image, but did little for his soul. And that was what he found himself yearning for — someone he could have a greater connection with.
Daniel sighed as he pushed back the duvet and headed for the shower. At least next weekend he’d spend Saturday night with Ben. He was determined to make their time together as special as possible. Not that he was trying to compete with Lucinda and Axel, of course.
In the kitchen, Daniel made a strong coffee and went up to the attic that he used as a studio. Last week had been busy, finished off with that interminable day of interviews, and he had a stack of photographs that needed to be uploaded and edited before he could send them off. He switched on his computer and began the laborious and often slow process of uploading the images from his camera.
Several hours later, Daniel’s stomach began to rumble and he decided to make himself some breakfast. He still had a long day’s work ahead of him if he had any chance of starting the week without a backlog. He quite enjoyed the editing process, particularly the fine-tuning to make the images as perfect as possible, but he wished he had a reliable assistant who could start the process off, so that he could just come in and perfect them at the end. Last night, Charlotte had been pushing him to give the job to the last applicant of the day on Friday, and he had to admit he was coming round to the idea. Yes, he could foresee a clash of temperaments, but if he laid the ground rules down from the very beginning, maybe it could work? The fact that she was interested in photography would certainly be of benefit, especially when it came to editing the photos. She’d said she was self-taught, which indicated she had a willingness to learn. Without wanting to appear big-headed, he felt there was a lot he could teach her.
His thoughts slipped back to his uncle, who was sadly no longer with them. Uncle Lewis had been regarded as the outcast of the family, and Daniel’s father had had a fit when Lewis had introduced Daniel to photography. His father had had much loftier aspirations for Daniel, pushing him into doing a business-studies degree with an emphasis on finance. Daniel, though, had hated the course. It was only when he’d found his love of photography that he’d had the courage to quit. His father had flown into a rage and their relationship had been strained ever since, even though Daniel had made a success of his chosen career. That day his father had vowed never to speak to Lewis again, and he’d kept his word, even when he’d found out that his brother had been diagnosed with terminal cancer. His attitude had pushed Lewis and Daniel closer together, and Lewis had become a father figure as well as a mentor. Daniel wouldn’t be where he was today without Lewis, and he would always be grateful for the time and love his uncle had lavished on him. So perhaps that’s what he should do, use his skills and knowledge to help another young hopeful get their foot on the ladder. He smiled for the first time that day. The thought was certainly appealing.
After eating his breakfast and heading back upstairs, he’d made up his mind. He would offer Anna Wright a trial period. If nothing else, it would free him up so that he could spend more time with Ben. If Lucinda allowed it, that was.