‘Hello?’
I pushed open the studio door and was immediately greeted by Garbo and Hepburn bounding over to me, closely followed by Lando. I fussed over the dogs for a moment before entering the studio.
‘Oh, wow, this looks amazing!’
The room had been tidied up and there was a small table covered with a white cloth, gleaming glasses and cutlery, candles and a little vase of winter berries.
‘Thank you. I really am most grateful to you for posing for me.’
That’s right, I told myself firmly.You shouldn’t have got so worked up. This is a thank-you supper, nothing else.
‘It was my pleasure. Is the Nativity finished?’
‘All but. I hope the church likes it. Now, my cooking facilities here are limited and I’ve left a couple of things up at the house. Do you mind waiting while I fetch them? Here, have a drink.’
I accepted a glass of champagne, happy to wait in the warm studio while he dashed back up to the house. I looked idly at his workbench, touched to see the star I had made looking very smart for its coat of varnish and with a golden string run through a neatly drilled hole. I ran my eyes over the Nativity figures, each one exquisite and unique, from the lovely Mary to a solemn King, characterful sheep and an utterly adorable baby Jesus. A glossy brochure with bright photographs caught my eye, and without really meaning to, I took in what it was. Properties in Greece, and didn’t they look tempting? I bit my lip as I noticed a letter lying next to it, an estate agent’s logo and yesterday’s date at the top. I turned away quickly, unwilling both to violate Lando’s privacy by reading his letter, but also, unsuccessfully, to try to erase what I had seen. If the estate agent had written only yesterday, it must mean that Lando was still planning to go. His apparent prevarication the day before, and Daphne’s assertion that it would never happen were red herrings. How could I be so pathetic, to let my heart and mind wander over a man I barely knew? How could I keep blaming Timothy when my desperation was evident, and I was willing to overlook so much in my quest for a happy ending? Funny, for such a seemingly sensible woman I’m so hopelessly romantic. I walked over to the pretty table and sat down to wait, pulling out my phone as I did so, and opening my email. Mum had been so pleased I’d read her links and liked them, and had responded with even more, including a flat that a friend of hers was renting out and which looked gorgeous.
Hi Mum, thank you for these links. The apartment looks great, can’t wait to get moving. I’ll put in applications for some of the jobs and hand in my resignation on the first day of next term come what may.
Love, Penny
‘Right, I think that’s everything, sorry to keep you waiting.’
‘No problem.’ I tucked my phone back in my pocket. ‘I was just emailing Mum about India.’
‘Oh. Right. Great.’
He could sound a bit more enthusiastic, given that he was also off on a foreign adventure. Maybe he wished he’d chosen India rather than Greece.
‘Anyway, shall we eat?’
He put down a steaming plate in front of me, and I inhaled the rich aroma greedily.
‘This smells wonderful. Mushroom risotto, how gorgeous. But it has something extra – what’s that lovely earthy smell?’
He sat down.
‘Truffle oil, and a particularly good one I get from a woman in the village who makes her own. I hope you like it.’
As I tucked into the savoury, creamy dish and sipped the glass of wine that had replaced the champagne, I began to relax. Lando was excellent company, back on the good form I had seen at the Winter Wonderland. He made me cry laughing with scurrilous stories of his City days. He also showed himself to be a good listener, asking me about teaching and even drawing out a little about what had happened with Timothy. I was initially reluctant to talk about it, but his kind demeanour tempered my shame.
‘I felt so…discarded. We’d been together for such a long time; it wasn’t like going on a first date when someone doesn’t want to see you again and you know it’s only that you’re not into each other. It was more like I’d been a place marker – good enough until he wanted a proper life.’
‘You must have felt cheated.’
I stared at him. How could he understand that, so instantly?
‘That’s it exactly. But admitting that – it makes me feel foolish. Why didn’t I realise sooner? He strung me along, gave me just enough to make me keep believing that there was something solid to expect from him.’ A raw laugh escaped my throat. ‘The biggest joke is that I never even thought he was some grand passion myself. I loved him, but I accepted too much compromise. I thought that is what you did.’
‘Is that what you saw in your parents’ relationship?’
‘Oh no, quite the opposite. They adore each other, get on like a house on fire. I suppose what they have, it seems unobtainable, so rare. The truth is that I decided to settle. I didn’t have the guts to hold out for something better and risk not finding it.’
‘Well, you’re not alone in that. Isn’t that the sort of relationship many people are in?’
‘Probably. Anyway, all I can do now is move on and take some lessons from it.’
‘Move on to India?’
