Present day #2
‘I just wanted to let you know that things have moved on a little, and we have a date.’
‘It seems everyone has dates on their mind around here!’ Glenda laughed at her own joke. Lilly and Clodagh practically ignored her, understanding better that this might be important news.
‘Portland and Montague have worked with the relevant agencies, and you will have thirty days to accept the offer on your flat or they will proceed with compulsory purchase and things could happen quite quickly after that.’
‘Can they do that?’ Lilly asked Mr Vaughan, in a way that suggested he might be on her side.
‘They can, and they have.’ He gave a wan smile, as if he might indeed, even just a little bit, be on her side.
Her instinct was to shout, to wail! Thirty days – a blink!
She felt the bloom of panic and did her best to keep it from her face, not wanting to alarm Clodagh or Glenda and wondering who she should write to next to plead her case.
‘Thirty days. That’s not long, Lil!’
She looked at her friend. ‘No, it isn’t, is it?’
‘And what about me? What’s my timeline?’ Clodagh picked at the skin around her fingernail, nervously.
‘As . . . as per the terms of your last letter.’ He blushed, and Lilly saw it then, the widening of his pupils, the dry mouth, the red scalp and the almost painful inability to hold the young woman’s eyeline, lest she look into his soul and see his feelings.
‘We will endeavour to have you settled in the new apartment within the next eight to ten weeks.’
Eight to ten weeks! It would pass in a flash.
Lilly felt the echo of loneliness that was her greatest fear, the very thought of losing this place and moments like this in the kitchen when the kettle boiled and she and the girls laughed around the table – all of it about to be lost, and it felt like there was very little she could do about it.
Quite out of ideas as to what might be her next move, how she might be able to effect a different outcome.
There was a knock at the door.
‘Lord above!’ Glenda shouted for no particular reason, but it certainly added to the drama.
Lilly went to the door.
‘Hi, is Clodagh here?’ The young man was handsome, well dressed and smiling as he gripped Apollo’s hand. ‘She said to try here first, so . . .’
‘I’ve been to the park!’ Apollo yelled as he slipped his hand from his dad’s and ran into the apartment. Mayhem . . . glorious mayhem . . .
‘Yes, let me go and get her for you. One sec.’ She decided against asking Sab in; this was, after all, a safe space for Clodagh, a refuge, and the last thing she wanted to do was put memories of Sab in it.
She knew how those images and thoughts could linger and taint a place, picturing her dad at the kitchen table crying, not long after her mum had packed up and shipped out.
Although if what Joshua had said was true it seemed almost inevitable that they were both on the move.
The date made it seem very real, imminent, and she recalled Denzel’s advice, that the wealthy developers had more money, time and resources than her.
They could tie you up in legal knots that would be costly, and you could end up with nothing.
They are quite powerful . . . I would advise you to take the money, take as much money as you can, and run.
‘We’re right here,’ she whispered to Clodagh. As she passed in the hallway, Lilly gave her an intense stare which she hoped conveyed that she was only a few feet away, should the young woman need anything.
Lilly hovered out of sight by the bedroom door, not to eavesdrop but to be on hand should the need arise.
‘All right, Clo?’ she heard Sab ask.
‘Yep.’
‘I think he had a nice time.’
‘Yes, he loves the park.’ It was heartbreaking to hear Clodagh’s voice sound so shaky.
‘He’s grown so much!’
‘Yep. Look, Sab, I don’t want to argue with you, but you can’t just turn up like that and take him. I was put on the spot. That can’t happen again.’
Lilly recognised the tremor of fear in her voice, and it took all her strength not to rush forward and scoop her up.
‘And you can’t kick me out of the flat and do a runner, but that’s what happened!’ He raised his voice.
‘I didn’t kick you out, I sent you back to your fiancée. The fiancée who is probably now your wife. You strung us both along – we had a child!’
‘I’m aware – a child you took away from me!’
There was a beat of quiet and Lilly held her breath.
‘As I said, Sab, I don’t want to argue with you, not here, not anywhere, but especially not here. This is my friend’s flat.’ Clodagh’s voice had calmed a little.
‘Well, we need to sort it out. I’m not going to let you disappear for eighteen months and not let me see my son! You won’t be doing that again!’
‘Okay, okay.’ Clodagh was doing her best to keep the situation civil.
‘I hear you. I think we should let things settle and make a plan, calmly and sensibly, like adults. You have my number now, so call any time; tonight, next week, whenever you’re ready.
As I say, let’s talk calmly and make a plan and—’
‘You are not going to shut me out again, Clodagh. He’s my son!’ Sab yelled then, igniting the atmosphere in an instant.
It was as Lilly was deciding whether or not to intervene that Joshua Vaughan ran from the kitchen and came to a stop in the doorway.
‘She said you can call her any time to make a plan. She literally just said that, and yet you’re still shouting!’
‘And who are you?’ Sab, jaw tense, stance rigid, pointed at Mr Vaughan.
‘I’m a friend.’
His presence seemed to do the trick. Sab shoved his hands into his jeans pockets and looked directly at Clodagh. ‘Next week, then.’ These parting words sounded curiously threatening as he made his way down the stairs.
Lilly came out into the hallway.
‘Thanks.’ Clodagh smiled up at Joshua as she closed the front door.
‘S’okay.’
Joshua Vaughan’s face broke into a smile that quite changed him.
‘Do you . . . do you like dinosaurs?’ Apollo asked, standing by the man’s leg. His little voice speaking quickly, his breathing loud, the only clues to suggest that seeing his parents shout at each other had upset him.
‘I do.’ He nodded.
‘Do you like sticks?’ was the little boy’s next question, a little calmer now.
‘Some sticks, not all of them.’
‘Do you like playing cars?’
‘Yes.’
‘What is your favourite kind of pasta?’ Apollo asked with his usual wide-eyed smile of interest, which was most endearing.
‘Erm . . .’ Joshua looked skyward, as if considering this. ‘I quite like the swirly corkscrew stuff. What about you?’
‘Pasketti.’ Apollo spoke as if this was the definitive answer before running off.
‘I see, pasketti!’ Joshua nodded.
Clodagh laughed, looking up at the man and smiling, as if seeing him for the first time; this young man who had very obviously shown up for her.
It was as ironic as it was conflicting that the one good thing that might come out of the harrowing possibility of losing her home was that the bearer of all the bad news might just be the person who brought joy to Clodagh and Apollo. Lilly honestly didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.