Page 34 of Fireworks at Pennycress Inn
Zac frowned slightly. ‘What night?’
Polly widened her eyes. What if he’d been too drunk to remember that they’d shared a moment? What if he thought she was being weird? That it had been her fault that the friendship between them both had changed? If she was the only one that remembered, then it was her fault. She must have been acting differently around him.
‘You mean…?’
‘The kiss.’ She bit down on her tongue.Well done, Polly. A great way to approach the subject sensitively.
Zac cleared his throat. ‘Right, yes. I assumed that was the evening you were referring to.’
She looked across at him. He was still looking ahead, his eyes fixed on the road in front, but his knuckles had turned a greyish white as he gripped the steering wheel. This wasn’t a conversation he wanted to have. She swallowed. Well, mate, it wasn’t a conversation she wanted either, but here they were having to speak about the incident because, since he did remember it, it was obvious he couldn’t have just carried on as normal. He’d had to try to freeze her out. ‘Yes, of course. I just wanted to clear the air. Things have been weird, I mean, different between us and…’
Silence filled the car again as they approached a roundabout and Zac slowed to a crawl before speeding up again.
‘We used to be friends, and now, since the… kiss, you barely speak to me.’ She clasped her hands tighter together, digging her nails into her skin. Fab way to sound like a tormented teen with a crush. She tried again. ‘What I mean is we used to talk, used to hang out both at work and outside of work and then Stacey threw that leaving party for me and?—’
‘I remember.’ His tone was quiet, barely audible above the quiet roar of the engine and brusque too. He clearly didn’t want to speak about the offending incident.
‘Right, yes.’ Of course, he remembered. He’d just said he knew what she was talking about. She closed her eyes. How was she supposed to save this conversation now? She’d made a complete mess of it. ‘I guess what I’m trying to say is, it doesn’t have to get in the way of us working together, of us living together at Pennycress, either. We’re both adults and we can just put that stupid mistake behind us. Can’t we?’
Releasing his death grip on the steering wheel, Zac dragged one hand across his face and muttered quietly, his words barely decipherable. ‘It wasn’t a mistake.’
Polly shook her head. Now she’d gone and insulted him, too. ‘No, I didn’t mean…’
The car slowed again as traffic built up and Zac turned onto a main road.
What had she been thinking? Bringing up such a topic when they were both confined in this small space with no chance of an escape for over an hour and a half. She looked back out of the window and watched longingly as they approached a lay-by, despondent that he hadn’t decided to pull over and kick her out. ‘I shouldn’t have said anything.’
‘You’re right. I have been off with you, but that night, the kiss, that’s not…’ Zac sighed as the loud ringtone of his mobile filled the small space. ‘Sorry, I need to take this.’
Polly nodded as they slowed, and he bumped the car up on the grass verge before bringing it to a stop.
As soon as he’d pulled the hand brake up, Zac grabbed his phone and jumped out of the car, walking around to the back before bringing the mobile to his ear. So engrossed in the conversation he was having, he didn’t even seem to notice the rain pelting down around him.
With the rhythmic click-click of the hazard warning lights, Polly couldn’t hear a word he was saying, but looking in the wing mirror she watched as he paced along the verge, his hand gripping his hair as he spoke urgently into the phone. She frowned. Who was he on a call to? Clearly, it was a conversation he didn’t want to have in front of her or else he’d have answered it in the car on speaker.
Perhaps it was his dad ringing back to confirm how much he was going to sponsor the reserve or someone from one of the other companies he’d reached out to. It made sense that he didn’t want her to know how much he was raising, even though he’d heard her proposals and must realise there was no way she’d come close to raising even half as much as him.
She shrugged. She supposed that whatever it was, it was none of her business. She was doing what she could for the reserve and whether it was enough to secure the promotion, she wouldn’t know until decision day. But what had he meant when he’d said the kiss hadn’t been a mistake? Yes, he’d muttered those words and she may not have heard him right, but that’s what he’d said. Or something to that effect, anyway.
Finally unclasping her hands, she relaxed back against the headrest. Whatever he had said, she was certain about one thing and that was that she wasn’t about to bring up the conversation again in a hurry, so whatever he’d meant could stay a mystery. That short conversation had been the most uncomfortable few moments of her life. And that was including her ex-fiancé Ben’s break-up speech. Zac could keep his secrets; he could keep his elusiveness. She just wanted to get back home and try to block her ability to feel anything until the weekend was over.
22
‘You live here?’ Pulling the car to a stop outside the block of flats, Zac leaned across the steering wheel and tilted his head to look up. ‘Up there?’
‘Yep, this is me. Thanks again for the lift.’ Opening the door, Polly jumped out, a feeling of relief flooding through her body at finally being released of the stifling cage of his car. After Zac’s phone call had ended the awkward conversation about the kiss, they’d travelled the rest of the journey in relative silence. He’d obviously had something on his mind, something he hadn’t wanted to share with her, and so she’d let the gentle tunes of Classic FM wash over her whilst fixing her gaze out of the window. She looked upwards, the rain had abated, and the stark streetlights were doing their job in highlighting the row of empty beer bottles lining Mr Greene’s balcony on the first floor, each one sporting a single white feather, as well as the discarded trolley and pile of bin bags outside the shared doorway.
Turning, she stifled a scream as she came face to face with Zac as he stood in front of her; her damp tote bag over his shoulder and the small Tupperware box Nicola had given them in one hand. ‘I’ll come up with you. See you to your door.’
She frowned as she closed the car door. He was fast. Shaking her head, she stuck out her hand, waiting for her tote bag. ‘There’s no need. I can carry that.’
Zac looked between her and the door to the block of flats and back again. ‘All the same, I’d rather…’
Feeling her cheeks flush, Polly shrugged. Whatever. If it made him feel better, then sure, he could pretend to be her knight in shining armour. Although the truth of the matter was, she’d lived here the majority of her childhood. She’d grown up around here and, yes, it might not be all white picket fences and wheelie bins, but she felt safe here just the same. ‘Fine.’
‘This is all you had, is that right?’ Zac patted her tote bag with one hand as he held out the plastic box with the other.
‘Yep. I’m only here for the weekend and I’ve got a ton of stuff up in the flat still.’ Polly nodded upwards before holding her breath as she walked past the overspilling bin bags, stabbed her code into the keypad in the wall and pulled the heavy door open. Taking a deep breath, she immediately regretted her decision as her lungs filled with the acrid smell of stale urine. Gina and Ken had been up to their old tricks again then, letting little Cloud, their toy poodle, into the stairwell to do her business. She glanced behind and couldn’t stop herself from laughing at the look of disgust plastered to Zac’s face. ‘Don’t worry, it’s just dog pee.’
