Page 16 of The Winter We Met
‘What about other things you want to do – that trip to the Cenotaph, for example, that I mentioned, or what about the London Eye and—’
‘My mate who owns the flat I’m staying in, gets on well with his neighbour, Rob, who knocked this morning to check I’d settled in okay. He happened to mention the Cenotaph as well. His grandfather died during the war. I can get to Whitehall from Islington on the tube in half an hour, with a couple of changes. Apparently there is a service at eleven. To get a good view you need to get there as early as possible. Rob said, if I liked, I could go with him. But I’m at a loose end in the afternoon. To be honest you’d be doing me a favour.’
‘I look forward to hearing about it. My Sunday morning is brunch with Oliver and Buddy – I know it must sound silly, but it’s one of Buddy’s favourite times of the week. I take him out for a long walk when Oliver heads off to work, late morning. The rest of the week we’re both rushing around and too tired to play with him much in the evenings. If it wasn’t for that I’d have suggested us meeting tomorrow instead of today.’
‘It doesn’t sound silly at all.’
‘I’m off work Monday. I could meet you in London then, if you wanted, and show you around. But honestly, don’t feel obliged about tomorrow afternoon…’
Nik offered his elbow and after pausing for a second, I slipped my arm through it as we headed out of the pub’s car park, part of me feeling like skipping.
8
‘But you hardly know him,’ said Oliver as I approached the breakfast bar. He’d turned on the Christmas tree fairy lights even though it was daytime. Brunch was almost ready. It was utter luxury for me to have tomorrow off, as well as today. Consecutive days away were rare at Under the Tree. I poured orange juice whilst the kettle boiled for coffee. Oliver served poached eggs onto toast topped with mashed avocado and sprinkled freshly chopped parsley on top. It was one of our healthier meals. Well, almost – he sat down with me and shut his eyes whilst I performed the ultimate insult and squirted the whole of mine with tomato ketchup.
‘Finished?’ he asked in a solemn voice.
I giggled my reply. He opened his eyes and we started eating.
‘You can’t ever get married, you know,’ I said and wiped avocado from the corner of my mouth. ‘I’m not sure how I’d function without this once a week.’
A strange expression crossed his face for a fleeting second. He caught me looking.
‘I’m sure Nik makes a better breakfast,’ he said and rolled his eyes.
‘Meow!’
Buddy barked from his place on the sofa.
‘Seriously though, Jess. You hardly know the guy yet now you’re taking him along to the residents’ Christmas party meeting?’
‘I do know him. He runs a toy manufacturer called Junior Magic. He’s from Sydney. His grandparents were immigrants from Finland.’
‘That’s quite a rundown.’
I put down my knife and fork. ‘What’s ruffled you? He’s just a nice man trying to help out.’
Oliver stared at me for a moment, sighed and took a swig of orange juice. ‘It’s just… I don’t want to see you hurt. Working in a bar… so often I see supposedly nice men behaving like real jerks, all charm andlet me buy you a drinkuntil they realise they aren’t going to get what they want. More than once, every weekend, we have to deal with angry exchanges or tears… how can you trust this guy? He could be anyone.’
‘I’m nearly thirty and hardly some youngster fresh on the dating scene – not that this is a romantic thing. But I think I can recognise a superficial idiot when I see one.’ I bristled. ‘And growing up with some of Mum’s dodgy boyfriends I reckon I’ve got a pretty good gut feeling for these things. Don’t you trust my sense of judgement?’
‘A toy manufacturer travelling during one of the most profitable seasons for their business? And now he can suddenly drop everything and help you?’ He shook his head. ‘Something just doesn’t add up.’
‘He’s explained all that.’
‘Precisely. I think you should be careful. People aren’t always what they seem.’
I snorted. ‘Whatever’s made you so cynical?’
He broke eye contact and I felt insulted that he was treating me like some helpless damsel. I finished my brunch in silence, headed into my bedroom and shut the door. I only lasted half an hour during which my stomach tied into knots and I sat on the bed, hugging my pillow. Oliver and I never argued. Perhaps he was jealous of Nik – owning a business, travelling the world… yet Oliver wasn’t the jealous type and always said how much he loved his simple life. I got the feeling that was due to his past but Oliver so rarely opened up about his jobs prior to London. He’d only recently moved down from Birmingham when we first met and if I asked any questions he’d change the subject.
I opened my door. Oliver’s was closed and I couldn’t hear anything. The lounge was empty. He must have gone to Misty’s early. Buddy lay asleep on the sofa and I went over to the kitchen. Oliver had washed up and tidied away, apart from… I let out a huge sigh. He’d left out a dinner plate and in the middle was a large red kiss drawn with ketchup.
‘Friends again?’ said a voice behind me.
‘You made me jump, I thought you’d gone out,’ I said, swinging around. His bedroom door was now open.
He ran a hand through his tawny crew cut. ‘I couldn’t leave – not with an atmosphere between us. I- I do trust you to look after yourself, Jess, and know you don’t need me for that.’ He opened his arms and came forward, enveloping me in them. I nestled there for a moment feeling warm and safe. Eventually his arms dropped and he opened his mouth as if to say something, but then changed his mind. Oliver looked at his watch.
