Page 8 of The Promise of Tomorrow
‘Right… thanks,’ she said, and her voice hitched.
His brow wrinkled. ‘Elena? What’s the matter?’
Elena’s breathing heaved, her hands sweaty, tingled, and a sense of foreboding consumed her. No. She was being silly. The universe, some dark force, wasn’t out to get her. This silly trip-up wasn’t a warning, nor was the firework.
‘You can tell me,’ he said in a gentle voice she hadn’t heard from him before. Rory stepped forwards and brushed a flyaway lock of her normally military-neat blonde hair out of her face. Under any other circumstances she would have been taken aback by such a tender gesture.
She forced her lips to upturn and took back her phone. ‘Come on. Let’s help clean up that mess. I’ve pulled my back abit, that’s all. It’ll be fine.’ Elena gritted her teeth and went to go. But he caught her hand again and looked her straight in the face. Tears welled up and Elena suppressed a sob. She practically ran back into the office and headed for the toilets. She stood in front of the mirror, wiped her eyes, breathed in deeply. Okay. Armour restored. Her chin trembled.
Keeping that childhood promise a secret for such a long time, bearing the burden… It had been so very hard. But that had been the price for saving a life. A price ten-year-old Elena had been willing to pay.
5
ELENA
Radio blaring, as it had done the whole journey, Elena parked up outside her garage. She and Rory had agreed to take it in turns to drive to work. They got out and she made for the front door but had forgotten her bag. Elena ducked back into her grey Mazda to retrieve it and when she came out, Rory was by her side.
Gently, he pushed his body against hers sideways so that their arms touched. ‘I’m not going to mention it.’
‘What?’ she asked, avoiding eye contact.
‘Gary getting his revenge, this morning, on our amazing karaoke performance, by turning the fuel that drives our department into a slip hazard. My lips are sealed.’ He pointed to his mouth. ‘Nada coming out of here.’
‘But you did.’
He raised an eyebrow.
‘Mention it,’ she said.
‘Ah.’ He gave that boyish smile.
‘It was almost worth it, because afterwards Gary gave me the last of those lemon almond cakes Diego made for his coffeebreaks.’ She gave Rory a wry glance. ‘It’s no big deal. Honestly. I… didn’t sleep well last night. That’s probably the reason I?—’
Rory held up his hand. ‘You don’t have to justify why you got upset. If you ever want a hug, I’m here, just saying. You only have to hug for twenty seconds for it to raise serotonin levels and lift your mood and?—’
‘Please. If it makes you feel better, just do it. My brain can’t take any more statistics today, not after an afternoon working closely with you and Caz.’
Rory pulled her towards his chest. Oh. He smelt… nice, like fresh linen, mown grass, and a favourite book, all rolled into one, instead of the sports shoes or rubber wetsuits odour she’d been expecting. She would have closed her eyes, for a second, were it not for Tahoor’s curtains twitching to the left. As rain started to spit, they headed indoors. Elena slid across the three bolts behind them, switched on the lights and heating and Rory went straight into the lounge to see Brandy and Snap. Elena had moved the tank in there. The day after moving in he’d prioritised finding the best fresh bramble branches, and a grassy verge alongside a nearby quiet road had obliged. He took the lid off the tank.
‘Hello, my beauties. How was your day?’ He lifted up a nearby plastic bottle filled with water and lightly sprayed the leaves. He put the lid back. ‘Right. They’ve gottheirevening drink. Fancy that bottle of red I bought at the weekend?’
‘As long as you don’t put a spray nozzle on it. I’ll get changed. It’s a pyjamas night for me. Might grab a shower first. Meet you in the kitchen in thirty minutes?’ she asked, surprising herself. ‘We’ve still got chicken left from Sunday’s roast.’
‘Want me to rustle up a stir-fry?’
She gave him a thumbs-up and went upstairs. Elena threw herself on her bed and stared at the ceiling like she had thisafternoon when falling backwards. If Rory hadn’t been there to catch her today… He’d saved her again, like a guardian angel. Was that why he’d moved in? Was the universe using him as a puppet? Was it manipulating her day-to-day, putting her in danger, only to have Rory prevent the worst happening, to string out the torture until the grand finale? Her birthday, 21 December, was one month tomorrow. She only had to get through the next four weeks. Elena bit on her fist. She could do this.
‘Elena! Where are you? The stir-fry is almost ready.’ Rory stood at the bottom of the stairs. Elena came out of her bedroom, the aroma of fried vegetables wafting up the stairs. He frowned. ‘I looked in there five minutes ago. You’d disappeared into thin air. The shower wasn’t running. I called your name. I even checked in your office, but that was empty too.’
Her cheeks pinked up. ‘Oh… I had my ear pods in.’
‘Really? I didn’t hear the slightest movement in the bathroom.’ A timer in the kitchen pinged and he shrugged. ‘Anyway, looks like you’ve lost track of time. You’ve got five minutes to get into your pyjamas.’
But Elena was already walking down. She stopped, a few steps above him. ‘Love that sparkly top and its beading. Bit over the top, though, isn’t it, for a night in?’
‘Not at all! The gold goes well with the black jeans I’m wearing today. At least one of us is dressing up for dinner.’
Elena rolled her eyes.
