Shit. This is not going to plan.
‘If you must know it belongs to my ex-girlfriend.’
Beth takes a step back. ‘Emily – your ex-girlfriend has been here? In this flat?’
I haul myself to my feet. ‘No, she’s in Brighton. How do you know about Emily?’
She rolls her eyes. ‘At the restaurant you called me Emily several times.’
‘Did I?’ Shit – what is wrong with me? ‘Look, the locket was something I was meant to give her before we split up and I didn’t.’
Beth’s shoulders drop. ‘My friends have warned me about you, Rory.’
Scratching my hair, I cast her a puzzled look. ‘What have I done?’
She studies my face. ‘Take me to bed and let’s forget about Emily,’ she whispers.
Reluctantly I lead her into my bedroom. We begin to kiss on the bed and all I can think about is how Emily used to make me feel alive when we had sex. Beth has a nice body but it’s not like Emily’s. What the hell am I thinking?
Kissing Beth’s bare shoulder I find myself staring at the framed photo of Emily and Felix from Christmas last year. It’s been on my bedside table ever since I moved in. The two of them are standing in Vivi’s kitchen, against her extensive travel magnet collection, and both are laughing into the camera. I’d taken the photo after I’d escorted Vivi’s boss and his female friend out of Felix’s bedroom. Emily, Felix and I were so happy that night. It felt good to be Felix’s hero. I remember the warm ball of tingles which rushed up my spine when he jumped up and down with joy after hearing me tell off Vivi’s boss for kissing in a child’s bedroom.
Vivi was stood behind me trying to get an emotional Bill to apologise to Keith and at the same time telling one of her work friends to stop dancing on her sofa.
Beth has realised what I’m looking at. ‘Don’t tell me – that’s Emily, your ex-girlfriend and your kid.’
‘He’s not my kid,’ I say, with a sigh. ‘He’s her sister’s boy.’
She gets off the bed, walks over to my bedside cabinet, takes the photo, and puts it in the drawer. ‘Let’s get back to where we were,’ she gushes.
Irritation at what she’s just done makes me sit up. She had no right to do that to Emily and Felix’s photo. ‘Please can you put the photo back?’
I watch her smile fade. ‘Are you serious?’
‘Yes, please put it back.’
Beth stares at me. ‘Do you know how weird this is?’
‘Huh?’
‘Having your ex-girlfriend and the kid stare at us while we are inyourbed and about to have sex?’ I watch as she slams the photo down after getting it back out of the drawer.
We’ve decided to return to the living room fully clothed and sit at separate ends of the living room. Once she said how weird it was to lie in my bed with the photo of Emily and Felix on show everything felt awkward and odd. Sex was the last thing on our minds and she’d raced back into the living room to put on her cardigan. I grabbed a shirt from my wardrobe. An uncomfortable silence has taken hold of us.
The chain and locket have returned to the palm of my hand. Beth has noticed and is tapping something into her phone. ‘Look, Rory, I think we can both agree this date hasn’t worked,’ she says, casting me a cold look. ‘Can I have my phone charger back as I’m going to get off?’
‘Oh… well… here it is,’ I say, unplugging my phone and letting out an inner groan. ‘But it’s only charged to thirty per cent.’
Beth shoots out of her chair. ‘Goodbye, Rory,’ she snaps, grabbing her charger and races for the door.
The door slam makes me jolt. Taking my phone and flicking onto Facebook Messenger I read Emily’s message. She loves me. The locket falls from my hand and the chain coils onto the carpet. After picking it up and opening it I stare at Emily and Vivi. My heart begins to gallop. Somehow this locket needs to find its way back to its rightful owner before Christmas.
CHAPTER15
EMILY
To get Felix to smile again all I had to do was suggest we go see London St Pancras station. The powerful urge to forget about today and go home slowly diminished the more I sat and watched him. There are things about my nephew which always bring a smile to my face, his coppery mass of chaotic hair, his skinny, bean-pole-like frame and his ability to master any piece of technology. Today I’ve learnt sitting in silence and gazing at him helps me remove myupset filter. At home I have a million things to do and sitting still for five minutes is a rarity. When I do this Felix returns to being Felix, my nephew who I love dearly and who is still struggling with missing his mum and adapting to our new muddled life together. As we left the café, I made a promise to myself to try and find a tiny pocket in my day back home where I can watch him fiddle with my iPad, dance in the snow, or play ball with Baxter.
As we stood and waited for the tube train on a chilly platform, he leant his head against my arm. I don’t know whether he did it consciously, but it flooded me with warmth.
