Page 100 of The Reboot
‘Boring, in other words. Sleep-inducing. Thanks very much.’
Roly grinned. ‘You’re not boring. You’re very exciting.’
‘Not exciting enough to stay awake for. I bet Pippa didn’t make you feel like that?’
‘God, no!’ he said, way too emphatically for her liking. ‘No way. I kept one eye open at all times with Pippa.’
‘So it’s just me who puts you to sleep?’
He laughed. ‘Don’t be so grumpy. It’s a nice thing.’
She arched an eyebrow sceptically. ‘Well, it’s not very flattering – here I am, naked in your bed, and you’re telling me I send you to sleep.’
‘That’s not what I’m saying. It’s more that it’s okay to fall asleep when you’re here. I can just … let go, and I know when I wake up everything will still be the same.’ He sighed, a frown of concentration furrowing his brow as he searched for the words. ‘It’s like … have you ever had that thing on a plane where you feel like you have to really concentrate to make it stay in the air? So you can’t fall asleep because if you do—’
‘It’ll plummet out of the sky when you’re not paying attention and you’ll die in a ball of fire.’ Ella nodded. ‘Everyone knows that.’
‘Well, it’s like that. When you’re here, I can go to sleep because I know you’ll keep the plane up.’
‘What ifIfall asleep?’
He smiled. ‘You’d still keep the plane up.’
‘How?’
‘With the power of your mind.’
‘Even when I’m asleep?’
‘With your subconscious mind.’
His eyes were drooping closed, and she leaned forward and kissed him. ‘You might want to work on your pillow-talk. I doubt many girls would be impressed by that as a compliment.’
‘What about you?’
‘I like it.’ She turned away, smiling into the pillow.
‘That’s okay, then. Because you’re the only girl I’m interested in impressing.’
25
Ella spentthe next week in a haze of love. All she thought about was Roly – as she walked to work, as she went through her day at Citizens on autopilot, as she walked home again. Whatever else she was doing, she was also thinking of Roly. She couldn’t quite believe this was happening – that they could just be in love with each other; that they could fall into a relationship so easily with no hiding, no games, no unrequited pining on one side and indifference on the other. She was constantly taken aback by how open and honest Roly was about his feelings, how easily he said he loved her and talked about the future as if taking it for granted that they’d be together – next week, next month, next year… At first she kept waiting for him to pull away, but he never did. Instead every day they got closer; he became more loving and affectionate. It was a revelation to her that it could be like this, and it made her realise how insecure she’d been in her relationship with Andrew.
And the sex was glorious. She was astonished that something so extraordinary could just be a part of everyday life, something she could take for granted and look forward to at the end of a working day. Coming home to Roly, cooking with Roly, eating together, kissing and kissing and kissing. He occupied her every waking moment.
‘I should probably stop charging you rent now,’ he said one night as they lay tangled together in bed.
‘Now that we’re having sex?’
‘Yeah.’ He brushed a lock of hair behind her ear.
‘I didn’t just sleep with you to get off the rent, you know.’
He laughed.
‘Anyway, if you don’t let me pay rent, I’ll make you go back to signing on and you’ll have to explain yourself to Geraldine.’ Now that the Oh Boy! reunion had been announced, and Roly was writing with Phoenix, they’d decided it made sense for him to concentrate on his music.
‘It just seems wrong, though, now that you’re my girlfriend.’
