I would not be able to get through this evening without my fidget toy in my bag – even if I didn’t use it once, I needed it to be there. I looked at my GPS. I was almost at Andrew’s house; it would not be logical to go back to mine now and collect it. Instead, I should pick Andrew up first and then double back to my house. That would be the most logical and time-saving method of retrieval. I sent my parents a quick voice message informing them that we were running a little late, then pulled up to where Andrew lived. It took him a few moments to appear, and when he did . . .
My God. He got better-looking each time I saw him. Like an ageing red wine – not to imply he was old, or bad for you in excessive quantities and high in tannins – but rather that he improved each time I saw him. And each time I did, I noticed something new too: this time it was his walk. He walked with a confidence and self-assuredness that was most pleasing to behold. It was the kind of walk that you might give when walking up to a podium to receive a prize, or a graduation walk. Long, wide strikes. A purposeful walk.
He was wearing a simple outfit again. Jeans and a white shirt. I liked that. Clean colors, clean lines. I hated patterns; they did things to my brain and eyes that made me need to physically blink. I once went on a date with a man who wore paisley and had intricate tattoos on both arms; by the end of the evening I had a throbbing headache. And when I went to bed that night and closed my eyes those patterns were all I could see, as if their imprint was being projected onto the back of my eyelids. I’d had to tell him I couldn’t go on another date with him on account of his clothing choices and tattoos. He’d been offended and called me shallow. But what people don’t realize is that I seeeverything.
Every little detail. Nothing is ever filtered out. Everything rushes in. Where most people see a tree, I see all the leaves, branches and bits of bark too. I have enough detail to contend with already, so when someone comes into my space looking like an optical illusion I cannot deal with it. So I was very glad and grateful for Andrew’s choice of clothing. He climbed into the car and, without saying hello, I turned to him. ‘I accidentally left something at my house.’
‘What is it?’ he asked.
‘That’s private,’ I said, and pulled off slowly. ‘I need to go and fetch it. It’s not too much of a detour, perhaps only thirty minutes, so we won’t be too late. I’ve already notified my parents. Are you okay with that?’ I asked, but quickly realized I’d done that thing where I hadn’t actually asked the other person’s opinion but had just told them what I was planning to do anyway, regardless of what they really wanted.
‘Sure. Of course.’
We drove in silence for a while before Andrew started fiddling around the car, looking at its various components. Pressing buttons, opening compartments, looking down at the floormat.
‘This is in such great condition. Are you enjoying it?’
I smiled. I’d been going out on unnecessary excursions, even if it was just a drive around the block for no other reason than to feel the wind in my face.
‘I am,’ I replied. That didn’t sound quite right, didn’t really match my feelings on the matter, so I amended. ‘I’ve been loving it.’ Synonyms includedenamoured, infatuatedandimpassioned.
I pulled up to the large gate at the bottom of the enormous walled property I lived in. I pressed the remote control and the gate creaked to life. In my head, I called it the Slowest Gate In The World (™), because it was.
‘Wow, this is a slow gate,’ Andrew commented.
‘I know. The electrician says because it’s so old we would need to replace the entire engine.’
Andrew stared at it as we drove in. ‘I’ll take a look and see if I can’t Frankenstein it for you.’
‘Frankenstein?’
‘Add some new parts to it. Perhaps remove some old ones.’
We drove in and I stopped and waited for the gate to close behind me, as I usually did. The driveway was thin and steep and wound up through the huge forest-like garden.
‘Wow. What is this place?’ Most people had this response to my house. Not that many people had ever come here.
‘You know I told you my mom is a wedding planner?’
‘Yes.’
‘Ten years ago, she bought this piece of land and wanted to turn it into a wedding venue. She was planning on slowing down in her retirement and running the venue, but that hasn’t happened yet. I think she’s addicted to all the stress and chaos. So this has been sitting empty until my mom builds her wedding venue.’
‘It’s enormous!’
‘It would’ve been subdivided and made into townhouses if she hadn’t bought it.’ The land was on Northcliff Hill, the city’s largest hill, with the most amazing views. The properties here were all enormous and steep as it was, but this was a quadruple stand and somehow my mom had found it and bought it. It was beautiful, untouched, full of rocks and trees and wild grasses. Rock rabbits and mongooses inhabited my mini park, as I liked to call it, and I even had some eagles nesting in one of the trees. She’d planned on building the venue at the top of the stand, looking out over the twinkling lights of the city below. It was amazing at sunset here too. And at night, because we were so high up, away from the lights and the smog, you could actually see the stars.
‘There was a tiny one-room cottage here when she bought it, so five years ago I asked if I could add to it and moved here.’
‘This is incredible,’ Andrew said. We reached the very top of the property and parked the car. My cottage was small and rudimentary. I didn’t need anything fancy; I lived here alone and a small two-bedroom cottage was more than enough for me. Andrew turned and looked at the view. ‘You can see the entire world from here. It feels like you’re in the middle of nowhere, but you’re still in the city. It’s insane.’ He looked around. ‘You can’t even see your neighbors.’
‘That’s the point. After all those years in boarding school, I needed space.’ Boarding school had been challenging for me in terms of personal space, although I had been lucky enough to get my own room for those five years. Well, that’s not entirely true, it was actually a small unused storage cupboard under the stairs that I’d moved into of my own volition. There had been an objection raised by the house mistress at first, but when she couldn’t give me a logical reason fornotliving in the abandoned storage room, and the school found nothing in their endless rule book to say I couldn’t, they allowed me to stay.
‘Don’t you get worried out here, all alone? It’s such a big property, huge perimeter, hard to secure it all.’
I gave him a little wink. ‘That’s what these are for.’ I whistled and immediately heard the thump of the feet. Within seconds my two Belgian Malinois rounded the corner at such a speed that they kicked up dust. Andrew stumbled backwards in fright as they made a beeline for him.
‘Sit!’ I commanded, and the two dogs stopped dead in their tracks and sat. I walked over and patted them on their heads.
