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“I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want you to think badly about me. Mum has a heart of gold and loves everyone on sight, but she can be full on. You needed to vent, and I found it amusing that someone else was on the receiving end of her enthusiasm. Please forgive me,” he said and kissed my wrist.
“I’ll think about it, all sex privileges will be revoked until I forgive you,” I said and bit my tongue to not laugh at his horror-filled face.
“That’s a harsh punishment, Adaline. Surely there is a way I can make it up to you?”
“I’ll think about it.”
“Can we talk about you yet?”
“If we have to,” I said and mock sulked.
“Why would your parents be angry if they found out about your hearing issue? It doesn’t bother me, why would it bother them, they’re your parents?”
“That is a difficult story to tell, can we please leave that for another time? It has to do with me asking you not to lend my mum or dad any money. Maybe I can tell you another time.”
“Ok, but can you tell me this, does my condition bother you?”
“No, I don’t care that you have haemophilia. Do you really not care I can’t hear properly? I’ll be totally deaf before I’m sixty, can you handle that?”
“I love you. I told you I loved you. That doesn’t change because you have hidden imperfections. I have hidden imperfections and am covered in stretch marks. It doesn’t matter. Are you hearing me?”
I nodded, unable to form words.
Callum
I tried not to let the fact that Adaline’s response to my declaration of love was silence. It had been weeks since I last told her at the hospital. Adaline hadn’t withheld sex like she’d promised. The next night when we’d gone to my mum’s for dinner, she was panting and sighing beneath me as soon as we got home. My mum had cosseted her as soon as we stepped over the threshold. I made spaghetti while they discussed the charity ball.
Our lives carried on, as usual, Scottie and I worked off and on in her shop, as well as taking on other jobs around the city. We still had a group dinner on Thursdays, alternating between our homes. My mum insisted that we have dinner with her once a week too. Adaline took this in her stride and now that I knew how her hearing affected her, I took more care to speak when she was looking at me. It was strangely heartening that she could hear me when I talked straight into her ear. I felt special that she didn’t always have to read my lips. When I was deep inside her, pushing and pulling, I could whisper sweet words, and she heard all of them.
I had talked to her about having her hearing tested again, but she wouldn’t entertain the idea, telling me that she preferred to be the way she was. I offered to pay for her to go private, but that was the wrong way to push her. The subject was closed, for now.
It had grown chilly in the evenings now that October had arrived, our evening meals were now in her living room. Scottie had finished building the store cupboard at the back of the shop and we had moved all of Adaline’s magazines into the room, leaving them in the same piles she had them in her flat. I bought a dining room table with enough chairs for our friends and us, plus a few more. We used my living room as a place to relax and watch TV.
I was flicking through the channels looking for a decent film to watch when Adaline come bursting through the French doors. She had her laptop open in one hand and a phone in her other. Kicking the door shut, she sat on the sofa and stared at me.
“Holy fuck,” she said and grinned until I could see all her teeth. Slamming the laptop lid closed she danced on the spot, hammering her feet on the floor.
“What’s got you all excited?”
“He’s going to sell me the comic, he confirmed in writing that he will sell it. I’m off to Hong Kong,” she said.
The seller of the comic she’d been trying to buy had been elusive for weeks. Constant emails and attempted phone calls hadn’t resulted in a positive outcome. She’d asked me to ring the number in Hong Kong each morning to see if Roland Yiu would answer. I questioned the seller’s name, it wasn’t Chinese, but Adaline has said it was common to have an English first name to help with familiarity. Each time I called there was no answer. Every day, she paced in front of me while I dialled the number.
“When will you go?”
“In a few days, I’ve just booked my flight. My buyer is over the moon, he’s so happy he’s agreed to upgrade my flight. Not first class but I get to go business class.”
“That’s great news, how long will you be away?”
“I hope it’s only a few days, but I’ll stay as long as the deal takes and then get the next flight home,” she said.
“I’ll miss you,” I said, pulling her by her t-shirt to me, so she had no choice but to fall into my lap. I slipped my hand up her leg to the top of her thigh and tipped her back to kiss her.
I didn’t want her to go, my bed hadn’t been empty in months. It was selfish thinking, but I couldn’t help it. She was everything to me, even though she didn’t love me back.
I shifted her to her back and settled between her thighs. I lifted her shirt off her body and popped her bra clasp before she lay back down. I could spend hours caressing her breasts. The curve of soft skin below her areola. The peak of her nipple when I stroked the skin was incredible. Adaline never failed to arch her back when I sucked on her hard nipple. She tugged on my hair to bring my lips to hers. I kissed her like a starving man, her soft tongue frantically chasing mine as I ground my pelvis against hers.
“I’ll miss you too,” she whispered.
