Chapter Twenty-Four
Olivier – 36 Tilgate Road, Brighton
Olivier was rummaging through the box of moulds in the kitchen, looking to see if there were any with basic shapes he could work with for the aquarium, when the doorbell went. He could see a tall, slim figure through the distorted glass and immediately thought of Ashleigh. He glanced down at himself to check how he was dressed – he’d been so eager to get to work on his sketches inspired from yesterday that he couldn’t even remember what he’d thrown on.
Fine, he was fine. He ran a hand quickly through his hair too and opened the door.
‘Hey.’ She smiled tentatively at him and stepped a little closer to lower her voice. ‘Are you free? Nan’s about to go out and I was wondering if you could help me with getting the lights sorted out?’
‘Of course. Would you like to come in?’
‘Is it okay if I grab my pattern stuff too? I told her I was going to see if I could work here, if that’s okay? It takes up a lot of space, but I have to use every spare minute I can get.’
‘That’s no problem. There’s plenty of room here.’
Her smile was wide and bright, like a shot of sunshine straight to his heart. ‘Thank you. We can keep watch out the window to see when she goes. What do you think?’
‘It sounds like a plan. Do you need to bring Simon over?’
She shook her head and her smile somehow grew even wider and warmer. ‘That’s okay, she’s taking him with her for a walk and then to meet her friend for lunch. That’s so sweet of you to think of him though.’
He wasn’t sure how to respond to her compliment, so he just watched her step down from the porchway and then swing her long leg over the wall the way they always did, rather than walk to the gate. Did he want her to think of him as “sweet”? It was not a bad thing obviously but, he had to confess to himself, he hoped that she could see him as something a bit more than that.
‘Hey, I didn’t expect you to stay there holding the door open,’ she said as she jumped back into view with a large pad and a roll of paper under one arm, a record bag slung over her shoulder.
He realised he’d been standing having a reverie about her and reached forward to take the roll of paper from her. ‘That’s okay, I like the fresh air.’
‘Well, we’ll get plenty of that while we try and get the lights up. It’s really frosty out there today,’ she said with a little shiver as he showed her into the living room. He resisted the impulse to go get her a blanket and a hot water bottle.
She put her things down on the armchair, then stepped up to the window to check on whether her nan had left yet.
‘I’ll go grab the tools.’ He hurried upstairs to fetch everything from his room and tell himself to pull it together.
‘She’s gone already,’ Ashleigh told him as he walked back in with the boxes.
‘How long d’you think we’ll have?’
‘Oh, at least a couple of hours.’
‘Time for a coffee to help warm you up first?’
She shook her head. ‘If you’re ready, I’d rather get out there and then warm up afterwards. Otherwise I might chicken out.’
‘You’re no chicken.’ He passed her the jumper he’d also picked up from his room. It was thick and a dark blue like a sky sinking into twilight. ‘Here, would you like to put this on? It’ll keep you toasty, but it will be easier to work in than your coat.’
Her mouth went round and she took it, looking at it like it was a golden fleece, rather than just one of his jumpers. ‘Thank you.’ She shrugged off her long coat and slipped her head and arms inside the jumper, pulling it down over her. Olivier wasn’t a huge man, his build was more athletic than anything, but it hung off her slender shoulders. She rolled the cuffs on the sleeves up once and adjusted it across her shoulders, then gave herself a little hug. Olivier found himself wanting to do the same. ‘Blimey, itistoasty. Does it get that cold in Paris?’
‘No, I bought it for when I went skiing.’
‘Fancy. Do you do that a lot?’
‘I haven’t been for years.’ The last time had been with Nancy. They had done more socialising than skiing. Many drunken nights having parties that ended up in the hot tub. He rubbed the back of his neck as he thought about it.
He’d been so hell-bent on doing the things he thought would make him feel as though he was free, he hadn’t stopped to think whether he really was enjoying himself. He remembered feeling guilty about missing out on the skiing because the late nights and hangovers had kept him in bed the following day, although Nancy had been with him too, if he was honest but even that…sometimes it had just felt like a competition or a challenge to keep up with her. He’d been so amazed someone like her was interested in him at all that he’d gone out of his way to live up to being as exciting as he thought she deserved.
It still hadn’t been enough. He supposed he just wasn’t that exciting a person. He certainly hadn’t been exciting enough for her.
‘Are you okay, Olivier? You seem out of sorts today.’ Ashleigh spoke softly and stepped closer to him. He could smell the apricot of her shampoo and the scent of his own cologne on his jumper mingling around her and it spoke to something deep within him. He wanted to run his hands over his clothing but feel her body underneath.
