Page 33 of The Reboot
She was tempted. But she shouldn’t skip a lecture just to spend a couple of hours more with someone who was barely part of her life. ‘Sorry. Can’t.’
‘I’m sure you could miss one day and still be top of the class, Brainiac.’
‘I really can’t. But it was great to see you, Roly. And the band. It’s really impressive.’
‘Seriously?’
‘Seriously.’ She stood. ‘Well, I’d better be off. See you in ten years maybe?’
‘Sooner than that. I’ll call you.’
‘No you won’t.’ She couldn’t figure out why he’d invited her tonight, why he’d wanted to see her. But this time she knew it was really goodbye.
10
Ella’s motherwasn’t convinced when she announced she was going to move in with Roly. ‘So now there’s nothing stopping you going on your trip!’
‘I don’t know…’ Her mother looked to Nora. The three of them were sitting at the kitchen table after dinner.
‘I won’t be on my own, so you don’t have to worry about me. It does mean I won’t be able to pay you back as quickly, but—’
‘Don’t worry about that. I’ve told you you don’t have to pay me back.’ She held up a hand as Ella began to protest. ‘But if you insist, at least take your time. You’ve waited long enough to get back on your feet. If you really want to move out, don’t let that stop you.’
‘Thanks, Mum.’
‘But Nora and I are perfectly happy to put off travelling a little longer.’
‘We are,’ Nora chipped in.
‘Don’t feel there’s any rush for you to move out.’
‘It’s not just about you, though – honestly. I really want to do this. It’s like you said – my life has been on hold for long enough. I want to get on with things, now that I can.’
‘Moving in with a boy, though…’
‘Itisa bit drastic,’ Nora said.
‘It’s not like that. Roly’s a friend.’
‘Is he? You haven’t seen him in years, have you? Not since you got sick.’
‘No, but … he’s had problems of his own. He was in rehab for a while. But he’s okay now,’ she added quickly, seeing the flicker of concern in her mother’s face. ‘He’s totally clean and sober.’
‘Still…’
‘Don’t rush into anything on our account,’ Nora said. ‘We’ve put our trip off this long, we can wait another year.’
‘But there’s no need to. Please don’t. I don’t want to hold you back any more than you want to hold me back. I really want to move in with Roly, whether you go away or not.’
Nora chewed her lip, a little smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. ‘What do you think?’ she asked Ruth, and Ella saw the twinkle of excitement in her eyes.
Ella turned to her mother. ‘If you don’t want to go, that’s fine. But don’t use me as an excuse.’
‘I happened to be looking at the website last night,’ Nora said, ‘and there are a couple of places available on the next departure of that South-East Asia trip we fancied.’
Ruth bit her lip, but Ella saw the dreaminess in her eyes, and could tell she was relenting.
‘There you go,’ Ella said, grinning. ‘It was meant to be!’
