Nell
PRESENT
“Are you busy tonight?” Alex asks, when he calls me unexpectedly at work on Friday afternoon.
“Not as such, but I have some work to catch up on.”
“That’s a shame.”
“Why?”
“Because I was hoping to see you tonight.”
My heart lifts. “I thought you were only arriving tomorrow?”
“I was, but we had a long session with our solicitor yesterday and everything is pretty much tied up, so Béatrice and I thought we may as well leave. We’re at Gare du Nord now; our train leaves in an hour. With a bit of luck, I should be with you in about four hours.”
“That’s wonderful,” I say. “Shall I get dinner ready?”
“Only something simple, please. I never thought I’d say this but I’ve had enough of French cuisine for a while. Too much rich food in too short a time. If I had more self-discipline it would help but I just can’t resist those desserts.”
I laugh. “How does pasta and salad sound?”
“Perfect.”
By the time I get home I only have an hour to get ready, make dinner, and remove the knife from under my pillow. Despite having new locks fitted, I feel safer sleeping with a weapon within reach.
Alex arrives and we hold each tightly in the narrow hallway.
“I’ve missed you so much,” he murmurs.
“Not as much as I’ve missed you,” I say, inhaling the scent of him.
He releases me and we move to the kitchen.
“What was it you wanted to speak to me about?” he asks, when we’re sitting at the island, a glass of wine in front of us.
For a moment, I have trouble remembering. And then it comes back to me with visceral force.
“It can wait,” I say, not wanting to spoil our first moments together in three weeks. It’s not the right time to tell him that I want to be a mother.
“No.” Alex takes my hands in his. “It sounded important and I’ve been imagining all sorts of things. I’d rather you told me now so that we can get it out of the way.”
I remove my hands from his and release my hair from its clip, giving myself time to come up with something.
“Christmas,” I say. “I wanted to talk to you about Christmas.”
“Ah.” He rubs his chin. “I wanted to talk to you about that too.”
I smile. “Okay, you go first.”
“I wanted so much to be able to spend Christmas with you,” he says.
“But—well, Stephane asked if we could spend it together. I think I told you that when I saw him on Wednesday, he said he wanted to make up for lost time? He’s changed so much, Nell, it’s like he’s grown up overnight.
Delphine told me he has a girlfriend so maybe that has something to do with it. ”
I somehow manage to swallow my crushing disappointment and replace it with a smile.
“So you’ll be spending Christmas in Paris?”
“Yes. Unfortunately, my dad can’t fly over as he has a hospital appointment he doesn’t want to miss on the twenty-seventh. But Béatrice and Victor will be there. Delphine too,” he adds.
“Of course.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. I’m happy for you, really.”
“I’ll be back to see the New Year in with you, I promise. I’ll book a flight or train to London on the thirtieth. Unless you have plans for the New Year?”
“No, no plans at all.”
“That’s good, because I’d like to take you somewhere to make it up to you for not being with you at Christmas.”
“You don’t need to make it up to me.”
He comes round to my side of the island, pulls me to my feet and takes me in his arms. “Yes, I do. Could you take ten days off, do you think?”
I can’t remember the last time I took such a stretch of time off.
“Yes, I’m sure that will be possible. Where will we be going?”
“I want it to be a surprise.” He moves back, searching my face. “Do you have someone you can spend Christmas with?”
“Romy and Rob are probably around,” I say, already knowing that they’re going to Romy’s family in Corsica for Christmas. “Do you have photos?” I ask, not wanting to talk about Christmas anymore. “Of Stephane? I’d like to see him.”
“Sure.” He takes out his phone, locates his camera roll and shows me a group photo. Béatrice is there but my eyes are immediately drawn to the tall young man standing beside her. I feel that I’ve seen him before—and then realize it’s because he’s the image of Alex.
“Wow, even handsomer than his father,” I tease.
My eyes move to an elegant blond woman sitting on a sofa, Stephane’s hand resting lightly on her shoulder.
Next to her is an older woman, dressed in navy, a triple strand of pearls around her neck, legs crossed neatly at the ankle.
“I’m guessing those two impossibly chic women are your mother and Delphine? ”
“Correct.” There’s pride in Alex’s voice. “They might look formidable but they are both very nice.”
“I’m sure they are,” I say, passing him back his phone. “Hopefully I’ll get to meet them one day. And Stephane,” I add casually.
“You will, I promise. I wish I could invite you for Christmas but—” He hesitates.
“You haven’t told them about me yet,” I finish for him.
“No, not yet.” He looks embarrassed and I laugh.
“It’s all right. It’s early days,” I say, moving to the cupboard and taking out some pasta, plus a jar of anchovies and some olives.
“I fully intended to tell my mum and Delphine about you when I got to Paris,” he says, as I put a pan of water to boil.
“Then Delphine phoned and said that Stephane wanted to join us for dinner that evening and I didn’t want to rock the boat.
But I know they’ll be delighted when I do tell them.
My mum is always saying that I need to settle down. ”
A thrill runs through me at his words. “Are we settling down, then?”
“I guess.” He looks at me, checking if it’s okay. “I mean, if I’m going to be moving in with you, that’s a commitment, isn’t it?”
“Yes,” I say, smiling. “It is.”
He takes our glasses and hands me mine. “To us,” he says, raising his glass.
“To us,” I repeat. I take a sip of wine. “I wanted to talk to you about that too.”
“About what?”
“About you moving in with me.”
About to take a drink, Alex pauses. “Please don’t tell me you’ve changed your mind.”
“No, not at all. But I’ve been wondering—as we’ve decided to commit to each other—maybe we should move, rent something bigger. A new start for both of us.”
He looks dismayed. “But you love this house. I love this house. And this part of London is great.”
“We don’t have to move out of this area, just out of this road. It would be nice to have more space.”
Alex frowns. “What’s brought this on? I’m not against the idea per se but wouldn’t it be better to wait a while?”
“Marcus has bought the house across the road.”
“Marcus?” He looks puzzled. “Across the road from where?”
“From here.” I point toward the hallway. “The house opposite mine.”
Alex frowns. “Wow. Isn’t that—well—a little weird?”
The hiss of boiling water tells me that the pan is ready for the pasta. I move to the cooker and slowly wind a bunch of spaghetti into the water. “I think so, yes.”
“When did you find out?”
“He came over on Monday to tell me.”
“So.” Alex’s brow wrinkles, working it out. “That evening, when you invited everyone over to meet me, he must have already known—maybe have already bought it?”
“He might have been waiting for the final signature, but yes, he’d practically bought it.”
“How do you feel about it?”
I turn from the cooker. “Uncomfortable. If you weren’t moving in with me, there wouldn’t be much I could do about it. But with you moving in, we have the perfect excuse, because it will be a little cramped.”
“I like cramped,” he says, coming over and putting his arms around me. He nuzzles my neck. “We have ten minutes until the spaghetti is ready, don’t we?”
“Thereabouts,” I murmur, holding him tighter.
He begins unbuttoning my shirt. “Perfect.”