‘I know. Me too.’
Carla touched my arm again. ‘I’m so glad he sent you here. It was lovely to meet you. I really hope you enjoy the rest of your stay, and don’t forget,’ she handed over her card, ‘anything you want, just let me know.’
‘Thanks, Carla. For everything.’
‘My pleasure. Keep an eye on that boy for me, won’t you?’
‘Will do.’
She gave me another full-wattage smile and then strode off across the foyer, heading for a door marked ‘Staff Only.’
‘Come on, Humph. Time to go upstairs and see what we might fancy from room service tonight.’
Humphrey looked up from where he’d flopped over on to his side and was now sprawled out like a very small, shaggy rug.
‘Come on, lazybones. There might even be a charcoal biccie in it for you.’
At this, his ears perked up and he scrabbled up onto all fours.
‘Thought that might help,’ I said, laughing at his antics as we headed towards the stairs. As we climbed, one sentence from my conversation with Carla kept twirling around in my head…the way he talked about you.
Back in the room, I settled Humphrey in his bed with his promised treat and switched on the mini kettle as I laid a turmeric teabag in the bone china mug. I’d turned my nose up at these when I first saw them, but, actually, they were surprisingly enjoyable.
It doesn’t mean anything, I told myself as I gave the teabag a few dunks. As Carla had said, and as he himself had admitted, that’s just how Seb was with people he cared about. And there was no reading into that caring any further than needed either. We were friends. That was it. He cared about me as a friend. Just as he did Carla. Which was great. Lovely, in fact.
I squished the pillows up behind me as I flicked on the telly with the remote control. With a bit of luck, he might be able to find someone to present me with a rock the size of my dog too.
* * *
‘I’m thinking you could do with another weekend at that spa,’ Seb said, frowning at me as I answered his call distractedly while in the middle of ensuring my last emails of the day had all been sent and I could close my computer down for the weekend.
‘Hi. No, I’m fine. Just been a busy day. I’m very ready for the weekend. Did you need something doing?’
‘I’m hardly likely to ask that at gone five on a Friday night, especially after seeing you looking like you need to go and put your feet up with a big mug of tea.’
‘One sugar, lots of milk if you’re making.’
He grinned and gave me a salute. ‘Get your arse over here and I will.’
‘You say the nicest things.’
‘Yep. They always say I’m a charmer.’
I gave him an eye roll. ‘Did you really want something doing? You know I don’t mind.’
He shook his head and yawned. ‘Nope. I just shut stuff down myself and thought I’d see what you were up to.’
‘Well, I’m about to go and make that tea.’
‘OK, ring me back when you’ve got it.’
Ten minutes later, I was ensconced on my sofa with a soft snuggly blanket, a warm snuggly dog, a huge mug of tea and three chocolate digestives.
‘You look like you’re all ready to hit the town this evening,’ Seb stated upon popping back up on my phone screen’s video call.
‘Oh yeah,’ I replied through a mouthful of biscuit. My mother would not be impressed by my manners, but I was tired and it was only Seb. I’d apologised for speaking with my mouth full once before, at which he’d given a deep rumbling laugh, telling me that he wished that was the worst manners he’d ever seen. Army life was enlightening, he’d said. Deployment was another whole step again. After that, I hadn’t worried.
‘What you up to tonight?’ he asked, sliding down his own sofa into a slouch and taking a sip of what I knew would be black coffee.
