Page 34 of Things We Never Said
April laughs. ‘Only we’re not students, are we? We’re thirty-something professionals. But no one can afford a flat anymore in London.’
‘Sure,’ Sean says. ‘But I still think it’s kind of fun. How much do you pay again?’
‘A thousand a month,’ April says.
‘Each? Wow.’
‘Yes. It’s going up to twelve hundred a month in June, too.’
‘Only ...’ Ronan starts. But April shoots him a glare, effectively silencing him.
‘Only what?’ Sean asks.
‘Only nothing,’ April says. ‘So, how have you been, Dad?’
‘Yeah,’ Ronan repeats, forking mushroom biryani to his mouth, ‘howhaveyou been?’
April, who isn’t drinking, waits until the second bottle of Chardonnay has been opened before she dares to say what’s on her mind.
‘So, Dad,’ she says. ‘Ronan and I ... um ... we have something to tell you.’
Sean sips at his wine and nods encouragingly. ‘Go on?’
April glances at Ronan. ‘Shall I, or ...?’ she asks.
Ronan shrugs. ‘Whatever you want. It’s up to you.’
‘Right,’ April says, taking a deep breath. ‘So, we want to move in together. We’ve found a great little flat in South Hampstead that we can just about afford. It’s small ...’
‘But lovely,’ Ronan interjects.
‘It is,’ April agrees. ‘And it has a little box room Ronan can use as an office.’
‘You know that I work from home most of the time, right?’ Ronan asks.
Sean nods. ‘Sounds good,’ he says, wrinkling his brow and smiling simultaneously because he senses that there’s more to come. ‘But won’t you miss this place? I thought you liked sharing with Matt and Aisha.’
‘God no,’ April says. ‘No, I’m sick to death of sharing.’
‘Aisha steals her make-up,’ Ronan says, raising his eyebrows. ‘And Matt won’t do any housework.’
‘Ah,’ Sean says. ‘The joys of sharing. I remember it well.’
‘We just want a place of our own,’ April says. ‘You get to a certain age and you want to be on your own, you know?’
Sean nods knowingly. ‘And then you get to a certain age and the worst thing you can imagine is being on your own.’
April bites her bottom lip. ‘Sorry, I’m being insensitive,’ she says. ‘I need a padlock on my mouth or something. I always have done.’
‘Not at all, sweetheart,’ Sean says. ‘I’m just being silly because I’m jealous of your set-up here. I want to live in Matt’s cool room and mix records at parties, I think.’
‘You could move into April’s room,’ Ronan offers, jokingly. ‘It’ll be free soon.’
‘The commute might be a bit of a drag,’ Sean says. ‘To Cambridge, I mean.’
‘Anyway,’ April interrupts, sounding frustrated by all the small talk. ‘There’s another reason we need to move.’
‘There is?’
