Page 23 of Will You Stay Another Day?
‘Ha! Relatable. A swim in the sea was my bargaining point. Harry endured it, to laugh at my dancing later on. He was a natural. But no one wants to see my cheesy moves.’
I wouldn’t say that, she thought as an image came into her head of him sweeping her up into his arms last week, laying her on the bed.
God. Could she be any more mushy? If she was texting this to Em, her friend would have sent back laughing face and vomit emojis.
The fish and chips gone, Dylan put their polystyrene trays into a nearby bin and they walked towards the sea. Bitter salt air, crashing waves, unsteady sand underneath her feet, chilly air… Lili linked her arm with his. Which was okay. They were only mates.
But what if she wanted more?
There. She’d said it – at least in her head.
Willing it to give her an answer, Lili fixed on the ocean. There was no end to the horizon; the water stretched onwards forever. Life was not like that. You had one short chance to find happiness. Was she really going to deprive herself of love until the end of her days? Wasn’t she brave enough to risk it when the prize could be so very exciting?
A large wave crashed onto the sands as if the ocean was telling Lili to wake up to the fact she’d not felt like this about a guy since a schoolgirl crush on her biology teacher. Lili looked up at the sky, searching for the first star of the night. Starlight took thousands of years to reach earth and as stars lived billions of years; the light people saw now probably mostly came from ones that were still alive. But like humans, eventually they aged. Did Lili want her light to go out before she’d experienced love and passion – the things that had always been missing with dates previously?
She shifted her head down from the sky to Dylan and his strong features, the carefree hair sticking out from underneath his hat, a man content to just stand and watch, without feeling the need to talk, even though they hardly knew each other. That was self-confidence. Yet a frown was etched into his forehead.
Perhaps he had a question for the ocean as well. Dylan looked at her and went to speak but stopped.
‘What?’ she asked.
‘Nothing. It’s nothing.’
They walked up towards the pier and onto the promenade where crowds were waiting. On the way she smiled to herself and discreetly tucked the amber hawthorn leaf she’d brought with her into his pocket. He’d probably soon get bored of this joke between them. The aroma of hot chocolate and mini donuts gave a demanding call and they surrendered to it, their lips soon covered with sugar. Dylan took photos to send to his brother later. Apparently Harry’s favourite childhood food was fairground donuts. A DJ played the latest hits as they strolled past a stall sizzling with sausages, but despite the heat from it, Lili shivered. Dylan immediately pulled off his beanie and pulled it over her head. Laughing, she protested but he insisted. Seven o’clock arrived and the show kicked off with bursts of psychedelic sparks. The crowd jumped at bangers and clapped as fragments of light rained down. Afterwards Dylan and Lili went back on the beach, to return to the car park.
‘Great night,’ she said, linking arms again, daring to pull him in closer than before. ‘Thanks for asking me. That fountain firework at the end was stunning.’
He pointed to a bench and they sat down. ‘Not too cold?’ he asked.
Yes, and she knew how he could warm her up.
‘Because there’s something I’d like to discuss,’ he said.
No need. I feel it too. She looked out at the ocean and ran a finger over the beanie. Okay. Grief had changed her. Maybe in an adventurous way. Despite loving the single life, despite the misery that played out as her parents’ marriage disintegrated, maybe now was the time to go for a relationship that had meaning. She turned to face him, tilted her head upwards, and she leant forwards, directing her mouth towards his.
15
Dylan sneezed and she jumped back. ‘Excuse me,’ he said and smiled. ‘Harry has this condition where he sneezes when the sun comes out. Believe it or not it’s called ACHOO syndrome. Perhaps I’m sensitive to the moon.’
‘Well, you did wear that Dracula cape. Don’t tell me you avoid sunlight. I mean, I haven’t actually seen you during the day.’
‘You’ll have to find out.’
So he wanted to meet again.
‘As I was saying…’ He pulled a pair of gloves out of his pockets and put them on. ‘I had an ulterior motive in inviting you here today. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it since we met.’
Was it possible to beam on the inside?
‘It’s great that we are only mates,’ he said.
Wait. What?
‘Because I’ve got a professional proposition, and you know what they say about not mixing business and pleasure.’
She didn’t blink.
‘When we clear someone’s house, we sort the items into four categories. Ones valuable enough to be sold, those to throw out, any we need to take to the recycling plant and items we can donate to a charity shop. A collection of bags of items to donate has built up at our warehouse. I tend to take them further afield where the house move is down to a local bereavement. People often worry about walking down the street and, say, seeing a stranger in a loved one’s clothes.’
