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‘Well, after dinner, why don’t Alfie and I watch a movie while you two crack on with work?’ Connie suggested. Paige studied Connie and knew she was up to something.
Melanie looked to Connie, her eyebrow raised. ‘Are you sure?’ Then Paige watched as she cast the same unsure glance her way. ‘Is that OK with you? Do you have time?’
Paige nodded. ‘I think the bar has enough cover but I might need to nip down and check.’ Paige turned to Alfie. ‘You want to watch a film with Connie after dinner?’
‘With Mr Higgins too?’
‘Sure, he seems to like you.’
‘Yay.’ Alf celebrated with a huge grin. ‘Is Connie your mum?’ Alfie suddenly asked.
‘No, she’s my gran.’
‘Why did you call her Connie?’
‘Cos that’s her name.’
Paige, foolishly believing that was the end of it, watched as Alf bent back down to his food.
‘Pwaige, are you going to marry Auntie M?’
Paige nearly choked. No matter if she thought her mojo was slowly returning, that one came out of nowhere and she had no idea how to answer it. She quickly looked at Melanie who’d also frozen to the spot. Shifting her gaze, she looked to Connie for help, but all she did was smile deviously, before turning towards Alf.
‘I don’t know, Alfie. I don’t know if Paige is the type to get married. What do you think?’ Connie was clearly in the mood to stir the pot.
‘If she married Auntie M then she would be my Auntie too, right?’ Alf asked between slurping and biting his spaghetti, his whole face now covered in sauce.
Paige did not know what to do. But she found she didn’t want to let this little man down. When and how had he carved his way into her stone heart like that?
‘Do you think she would be a good auntie?’ Connie asked him directly while both Melanie and Paige sat frozen.
‘Yeah, but not as good as Auntie M. Because she’s the best and lets me eat chocolate for snacks.’
‘And is chocolate your favourite?’ Connie asked, moving Alfie along as if that whole interlude hadn’t just happened.
* * *
It was a little while later that Alfie was sat snuggled up with Connie and Mr Higgins that Paige and Melanie were able to begin their work, but Paige was distracted. Yes by Melanie, but this time by the obvious signs of Melanie’s discomfort.
Paige knew how stressed Melanie was, how much she was trying to do in one go, and Paige knew that Melanie needed her help, even if maybe Melanie wasn’t quite sure herself. As if on cue, Melanie pulled off her glasses and started rubbing at her temples. Paige got up, made a cup of tea for the grown-ups, grabbed a milk for Alf and a water for Melanie. Drinks sorted, she put the glass of water and the brew on the table for Melanie, pulling out some painkillers from her pocket.
Paige tried not to sigh. Melanie looked exhausted, the grey under her eyes sometimes partially hidden by her glasses, now painfully obvious. Her skin colour wasn’t looking right either and Paige was genuinely concerned with everything going on, including the surprise health inspection that Melanie was going to topple over. Grudgingly Paige could also admit the idea of looking after Melanie appealed. She didn’t want to say that she was falling hard, but it wasn’t just the attraction and the sex, it was the care and comfort, it was the place feeling like home.
It was problematic.
Because Paige wasn’t worth it.
So now she had to prove that she was. But she also had to make sure that she didn’t hinder Melanie either. Melanie put her glasses back on, turning to check on Alf.
‘Don’t worry, he’s fine. What do you want to work on first?’ Paige asked, thinking the sooner they got this done the sooner Melanie might get some rest. Paige nearly scoffed out loud. Melanie did not know how to rest.
‘So, who is this Selena and co. anyway? Wait, it’s not Selena Dante, is it?’ Paige asked.
‘Yeah, it is — do you know her?’
Paige smiled. ‘Yeah I erm, well we’ve worked together on some projects before. I hadn’t realised that’s what she’d called her art programme.’
Melanie looked up expectantly.
