Page 23 of The Promise of Tomorrow
Elena stretched out in bed. Yesterday’s clothes were still on. She ran a finger over her face. So was her make-up. She had – she’d done it again – stepped out of her comfort zone! Elena sat up and reached sideways for a glass of water Rory must have put there. After a glug, she hugged her knees, feeling younger and more carefree than she had since she was ten.
She hadn’t gone to university like Mum and Dad, but had listened to their stories over the years from the eighties about them getting drunk on forty pence shots of vodka in a nightclub decked out like a tropical beach; of Dad throwing up on the dance floor after doing the ‘Jitterbug’; of Mum peeing behind a dustbin with a group of uni friends on New Year’s Eve. Dad apparently once went to a midday lecture still half-asleep and drunk. The two of them laughed about it now and rolled their eyes. Elena was ten years late in embracing the do-as-you-dare teenage life.
Now, sober but groggy, she yawned, mouth as dry as sandpaper. The last thing she felt like was a day in the office. Alcohol had stolen her passion for brainstorming. Having pulled openthe curtains, she rubbed her eyes. It was still dark outside, despite a few remaining pops of stars. From across the landing came the sound of Rory’s shaver. It stopped. Footsteps sounded. A knock on her door. He’d been a good friend last night. ‘Come in.’ The door opened.
‘How you doin’?’ he asked, mimicking Joey out ofFriends.
The smell of lemony aftershave wafted in. He didn’t wear it all the time, whereas Elena wore the same perfume every day. It felt reassuring. Rory leant casually against the door frame, his gentle nature at odds with his athletic look, the curve of his lip betraying his wicked humour, the floral shirt and bracelet shoutingYou do you and I’ll do me. He looked as if he’d slept the full recommended eight hours, eaten his five a day and done everything else the government had ever recommended, despite his clothes and hobbies that held two rebellious fingers up to convention. It made for an intriguing combination.
‘Fine,’ she replied with a lively tone.
‘Cup of tea?’
‘That would be great. Thanks for… looking out for me last night. Sorry if I was a handful.’ She grinned.
‘Save your apologies for Tahoor. You did fall into his garden and flatten one of his shrubs, after all.’
‘No!’
‘You hadn’t been out of the taxi one minute. It took a while for you to leave it. You felt so sleepy and cosy that you offered to pay the driver fifty quid to keep driving.’
Whoop! Now she had her own drunken story to tell. Who knew that, imprisoned deep inside Elena all these years, was such a happy-go-lucky person?
‘And you certainly don’t need to apologise tome,’ he said, eyes twinkling brighter than the stars outside her window.
Her eyes narrowed.
‘Three times last night, once in the taxi, you made me the happiest man in Cariswell. I’m so flattered. The driver didn’t know where to look.’
No! She wouldn’t have done that. Not with Rory. Not in public. A nervous laugh burst from her lips.
He pulled his phone out of his studded, white jeans pocket, went into an app, scrolled and then held the mobile in the air. ‘I love you, Rory,’ said a slurred voice. ‘Love you more than… than… my Karen Millen trouser suit… Even more than cheese on toast.’ She’d hiccoughed. ‘With all my heart. F’rever and ever.’
Oh. Thank God. At least all she’d done was declare her undying love and… She’dwhat? Holy mother of Merlot! The L word had never passed her lips before, or not with anyone apart from Mum and Dad, not even casually. Certainly not to a work colleague, to someone so very different to her.
‘Millie in accounts thought you’d be an amazing kisser,’ the slurring continued. ‘Why don’t you show me? As mates? Wait! No! You keep that pickle tongue away from me.’
Rory caught her eye, stuck his tongue out and waggled it.
Elena covered her face with her hands and groaned. ‘You are going to be unbearable now.’
‘The heart wants what the heart wants, Swan.’
Indignation filled her face. ‘You wish.’
‘I wasn’t sure whether to record it or not, but it was so funny,’ he said and held out his phone, eyes crinkling. She duly deleted the recording.
‘You can make me that tea now, to make up for it,’ she said. ‘Then I’m going back to sleep.’
Rory’s brow knotted. ‘But we’ve got to leave in thirty minutes. It’s a big day ahead, what with Derek wanting us to refine his pitch to product development.’
‘Not going in,’ she announced grandly. ‘I’m pulling a sickie.’
‘You’re joking, right? He needs you, Elena. Also, you’re so proud of the fact you’ve never taken a sick day in over a decade, let alone been off with no good reason.’
‘Exactly. Imagine the number of days off I’m owed,’ she said. ‘No one’s indispensable. Derek’s got you and the team. You’ve never taken a day off ill when you shouldn’t?’
‘No… I mean, there was one time, but I was only eighteen and?—’
