Chapter 24
They spent almost all of Saturday in bed, only venturing out for food when they got hungry – which was often.
Sex seemed to give Ella an enormous appetite, and she couldn’t remember when she’d enjoyed food more.
When they finally dragged themselves out of bed that evening, they were too impatient to cook, and instead went for an early dinner at a local bistro.
‘Sex would have to burn off a serious amount of calories to justify this,’ she said as an enormous burger was placed in front of her with a silver bucket of golden, crisp fries with mouth-wateringly frayed edges.
All the sex was going to play havoc with her diet, but she found it impossible to care.
‘It’s still your birthday weekend,’ Roly said, grinning. ‘So we’re off the hook until Monday. We’ll have one last big blow-out at Nan’s tomorrow.’ They were regulars at Sunday dinner now with Christine and Loretta.
‘They don’t know it’s my birthday, do they?’ Ella asked, the thought suddenly occurring to her.
‘I may have mentioned it,’ he said with a smug grin.
‘Oh, you shouldn’t have,’ she gasped, mortified.
‘Don’t worry. You didn’t tell them, so no one’s going to think you’re trying to get more presents.’
* * *
It was obvious as soon as they walked through the door at Christine’s the next day that it was a celebration.
The table was decorated with balloons and flowers, and before dinner they had prosecco in the tiny terrace garden, all squeezed around the little wrought-iron table.
There were cards and gifts – a Molton Brown bath set from Loretta, a beautiful hand-painted silk scarf from Christine that had been made by an artist friend of hers.
‘Oh, it’s gorgeous,’ she said, clutching the scarf to her chest. ‘Thank you so much. Thank you, both.’ She turned to Loretta, who smiled and pulled her into a hug.
‘Happy birthday, pet.’
Ella wiped tears from her eyes. She was so touched. A few weeks ago, she hadn’t even known these people, and now they’d welcomed her into their family and were treating her as one of their own.
Roly took her hand and squeezed it, and she returned the pressure, feeling giddy with prosecco, love and happiness. She noticed Loretta follow the motion of their hands, a knowing smile playing around her lips.
‘Are you two…?’ She nodded at their joined hands.
Ella didn’t say anything, unsure how Roly felt about his family knowing about them.
‘Yep,’ he said easily, clasping her hand tighter as he turned to smile at her. ‘We’re… what did you crazy kids call it in your day? Going steady?’
‘Hey, I’m not that old,’ Loretta protested, beaming at them both.
‘Well, this is great!’ Christine lifted the bottle and topped up all their glasses with the rest of the prosecco. ‘I must say, I’m relieved.’
‘Relieved?’ Roly frowned.
‘I was telling Mum before you came,’ Loretta said. ‘I saw a thing on Facebook about you being seen with Pippa at some nightclub. It said you looked loved up and it was sort of hinting that maybe you were getting back together.’
‘We were not loved up! Ella was there too that night. We’re definitely not getting back together. But it’s good to know what you really thought of my girlfriend,’ he said to Christine huffily.
‘Oh, she wasn’t a bad sort really,’ Christine allowed.
‘She was just a little bit spoilt and selfish, but she’d have grown out of that,’ Loretta said kindly.
She hasn’t grown out of it yet, Ella thought. She’d want to get on that fast.
‘She was a nice girl, really, when you got to know her.’
‘We just like this one better,’ Christine said, raising her glass to Ella. ‘A lot better.’
* * *
They ate a glorious seafood stew fragrant with orange and cardamom, that Ella thought was one of the best things she’d ever tasted.
‘It’s lovely to see you two so happy, coupled up,’ Loretta said, smiling fondly at Ella and Roly.
‘Speaking of coupling up, will we be meeting your new boyfriend soon?’ Christine asked. ‘Isn’t he supposed to be coming over next week?’
A shadow flickered across Loretta’s face. ‘He was, but he had some awful hassle with his papers. Now they’ve confiscated his passport, and he has to bribe them to get it back. The officials there are so corrupt.’
Ella had an uneasy feeling. She willed Christine or Roly to ask the questions that were spinning around in her head, but to her frustration, neither of them did.
‘And now someone’s skimmed his bank card, so all his accounts are frozen and he has no way to access his money until he gets that sorted out.’
‘Sounds like a nightmare!’ Roly said.
‘He does seem to have an awful lot of bad luck,’ Christine said, her tone hard and devoid of sympathy. Ella was relieved that she sounded cynical. ‘It’s one disaster after another. Maybe you’re as well off without him.’
‘Poor Mike,’ Loretta said. ‘He’s had an awful time of it, but it’s hardly his fault.’
‘He’s never asked you for money, has he?’ Christine asked sharply.
Loretta blushed. ‘No, of course not.’ She frowned. ‘It’s not that he’s skint – you know he’s always sending me expensive presents.’
‘That’s true,’ Christine said.
‘It’s just a temporary setback; it could happen to anyone. Anyway, as soon as he gets it all sorted out, he’ll come straight here.’
‘I can’t wait to meet him,’ Roly said, smiling at her.
Dessert was birthday cake made by Loretta – triple layers of red velvet sponge, covered in white icing.
But it was unlike any birthday cake Ella had ever had before.
On top Loretta had created a whole scene – there was a tiny Ella running on a track towards a finish line that read ‘Happy Birthday, Ella’, while along the route little figures of Roly, Christine and Loretta cheered her on, their arms in the air.
At the finishing post, another Ella stood in cap and gown, a rolled-up scroll in her hand, and a pile of books stacked up beside her.
They all sang ‘Happy Birthday’ to her, but when she blew out the candles, her life in that moment felt so perfect, she couldn’t think of anything to wish for.
* * *
‘What do you think about this boyfriend of your mum’s?’ she asked hesitantly as they walked home later.
‘He seems all right. He’s very handsome, isn’t he – for an older dude?’
Roly had always placed too much importance on looks. ‘You don’t think there might be something dodgy about him?’ She was tentative. She knew how protective he was of his mum, and she didn’t want to upset him. She just wanted to give him a nudge, plant a seed of doubt in his mind.
He groaned. ‘You sound like my nan,’ he said, rolling his eyes. ‘She treats Mum like she’s a complete idiot when it comes to men.’
‘It’s just because she’s worried about her.’
‘I know, but she should give her credit for having a bit of cop.’
‘She’s just trying to look out for her. She doesn’t want her to get hurt.’
‘Mum’s tougher than she looks. She can look out for herself. Okay, granted she does have form for getting involved with complete tossers. I guess I’m living proof of that. But that was a long time ago. Sometimes Nan treats her like she’s still a clueless teenager.’
Ella decided she’d better let it go, at least for now. ‘I’m not criticising your mum,’ she said, touching his arm. ‘Lots of really smart people get taken in by catfishers.’
‘Catfishers? Is that what you think is happening?’
‘I don’t know. I think it’s possible.’
‘You watch too much Internet,’ Roly scoffed and they walked on in silence. ‘So, what exactly do you think this bloke is up to anyway?’ he asked a while later. He sounded scathing, but there was a hint of uncertainty in his tone.
‘It sounds like a romance scam to me. These people woo women online, convince them they’re in love and they want to be together.
Then they have a sick child who needs an operation, or they’re being held hostage by corrupt officials in some foreign country and they have to bribe them to get out, or their bank account has been hacked and they can’t access their money.
’ She glanced at Roly, but she couldn’t tell what he was thinking.
‘Then the requests for money start rolling in – medical bills, bribes for corrupt officials, loans for plane fares…’
‘But you heard Mum. He hasn’t asked her for any money.’
‘Not yet maybe. Besides, would she admit it to your nan if he had?’
Roly frowned. ‘No, probably not.’ He was silent for a while.
‘But what’s in it for this bloke anyway?
Mum’s not rich. And besides, he’s obviously got plenty money himself.
He really does send her all these expensive presents.
She wasn’t just saying that to get Nan off her back.
I’ve seen them – Gucci scarves, Marc Jacobs bags… ’
‘They could be knock-offs.’
‘It’s still an awful lot of trouble to go to for, what, maybe a few grand at the most? Not exactly a criminal mastermind, this suspect of yours, is he?’
‘It’s worth it if they do it to enough people.’
‘It sounds like awfully hard work. Wouldn’t it be easier to, like, rob a bank or something?’
‘Ah, bank robbery isn’t as easy as it looks in the movies.’
‘Rats! That was going to be my next career move.’
‘Thinking outside the box! I like it. Ray would be so proud.’ She was glad they were back on joking terms.
‘Look, I get what you’re saying,’ he said when they got to the door. ‘But I really think this bloke is on the level.’
Ella didn’t think he was a ‘bloke’ at all, but she didn’t want to push it and risk putting Roly on the defensive. Besides, maybe he was right. For Loretta’s sake, she hoped so.
* * *
‘This might have been the best birthday weekend I’ve ever had,’ she said to Roly as they lay in bed later. ‘Definitely the most surprising.’ They were knotted around each other, the window open to the humid evening air. The sheet was kicked off, twisted around their ankles.
‘Do you want me to go back to my own bed?’ she asked. She was so comfortable, she really didn’t want to move.
‘No.’ He wrapped an arm around her and pulled her closer. ‘Stay.’ He dropped a kiss on her shoulder.
‘But I have to get up early for work in the morning.’
He shrugged. ‘That’s okay. I like having you in my bed. When you’re here, I can just… fall asleep.’
It wasn’t how Ella had expected that sentence to end. ‘Huh!’ she huffed. ‘So I’m a soporific presence?’
‘A relaxing presence.’
‘Boring, in other words. Sleep-inducing. Thanks very much.’
Roly grinned. ‘You’re not boring. You’re very exciting.’
‘Not exciting enough to stay awake for. I bet Pippa didn’t make you feel like that?’
‘God, no!’ he said, way too emphatically for her liking. ‘No way. I kept one eye open at all times with Pippa.’
‘So it’s just me who puts you to sleep?’
He laughed. ‘Don’t be so grumpy. It’s a nice thing.’
She arched an eyebrow sceptically. ‘Well, it’s not very flattering – here I am, naked in your bed, and you’re telling me I send you to sleep.’
‘That’s not what I’m saying. It’s more that it’s okay to fall asleep when you’re here.
I can just… let go, and I know when I wake up everything will still be the same.
’ He sighed, a frown of concentration furrowing his brow as he searched for the words.
‘It’s like… have you ever had that thing on a plane where you feel like you have to really concentrate to make it stay in the air?
So you can’t fall asleep because if you do—’
‘It’ll plummet out of the sky when you’re not paying attention and you’ll die in a ball of fire.’ Ella nodded. ‘Everyone knows that.’
‘Well, it’s like that. When you’re here, I can go to sleep because I know you’ll keep the plane up.’
‘What if I fall asleep?’
He smiled. ‘You’d still keep the plane up.’
‘How?’
‘With the power of your mind.’
‘Even when I’m asleep?’
‘With your subconscious mind.’
His eyes were drooping closed, and she leaned forward and kissed him. ‘You might want to work on your pillow-talk. I doubt many girls would be impressed by that as a compliment.’
‘What about you?’
‘I like it.’ She turned away, smiling into the pillow.
‘That’s okay, then. Because you’re the only girl I’m interested in impressing.’