“Ooooh, water aerobics. I volunteer to take her to that,” I said, mostly joking, and I felt a surge of satisfaction when Phil cracked a smile.
“In all seriousness,” I said, pushing past him towards the front door, “put me to work. What can I do?”
He followed behind me, and I could see from his reflection in the glass of the front door that he was shaking his head, but I went inside anyway.
“There’s nothing,” he insisted as he pushed the door shut behind us, but I could see through the door to the lounge that there was a huge pile of half-made garments on the sofa, the sewing machine and accompanying detritus taking up most of the coffee table. It was my turn to shake my head.
“I know how to hem,” I said. “Let me help with the costumes.”
“I’m not that far along,” he said with a wince. “Nothing’s ready to be hemmed.”
“Well, start making a pile, and I’ll help on Saturday. And every day until the festival if I need to. I’ve got wheels now.” I smiled and held up the keys again. I was relieved when he started nodding.
“Okay, sure. Yeah, that would be really helpful.”
“Done,” I said, walking into the kitchen, where the sink was piled high with dishes. “And I’ll sort this.”
The tips of Phil’s ears went pink. “I was gonna do that now.”
“And now you can do something else instead,” I said, turning on the tap to get the hot water running. “Go be with Ethel.”
“She’s having a rest.”
“Then go get started on that pile.”
He was quiet for a moment as I started filling the washing-up bowl with water, but I could feel his eyes on me, and I had to force myself to keep a straight face. I nearly dropped a plate when he was suddenly right next to me, his hand on my waist.
“Thank you,” he whispered, the ends of his beard tickling against my ear. And then he pressed a kiss to my temple, long and firm, pulling me tight to him.
“Don’t mention it,” I said quietly when he pulled away. But as he walked out of the room, leaving me elbow deep in soapy water, I might as well have been giggling and kicking my feet with how huge my smile was.
Chapter14
Phil
Iwas genuinely uncertain how I’d made it through life without a fake girlfriend before. Amy started coming over almost every day, sometimes hanging out with Ethel whilst I did other things, and sometimes doing the other things so I could actually spend time with Ethel instead of just moving her around from place to place. I was getting so much more done. The costumes were actually getting finished thanks to Amy’s mediocre but invaluable hand-stitching skills, and honestly, they only needed to last a day anyway. The house hadn’t looked so tidy since I’d moved back in with Ethel after uni, and Amy had even been driving us to appointments since it was easier for Ethel to get in and out of the Defender than the Fiesta.
She’d been adding more crystals to the windowsill too, a new one in hand almost every time she came over, and the light would hit them just right each afternoon, casting beautiful colours onto the carpet and tablecloth. It was like she was making our life brighter even when she wasn’t there.
I’d also been able to do three paid jobs in one week, the most I’d done in months, usually working across the small dining table in the bay window from Amy as she worked for her dad. I’d now earned enough for the rental Fatima had found in Manchester for the fantasy ball. It was turning out to be an expensive summer, though at least now I was splitting the accommodation costs with Amy.
I was excited for the ball, actually, not least because I’d be there with Amy. But I also knew that our little arrangement was due to end shortly after, once her trial with her dad was up and she had gotten a permanent job with him. Which, of course, I had no doubt she would do– she was talking about it nonstop, and I could tell she genuinely enjoyed it. But I knew it would crush me to have to break up, even though we weren’t actually together. I was tired of censoring myself around her, having to pretend that I didn’t feel all the things we were pretending to have between us. I’d even found myself thinking about what to get her for Christmas before remembering we’d be long broken up by then. So yeah, thinking about the ball was already bittersweet.
And besides, I hadn’t even finished the outfits for the fantasy festival next week, and already the girls were sending me inspiration pictures for their ballgowns. My fingers ached at the thought.
“Just tell them no,” Amy said from where she sat cross-legged on the floor one afternoon, stitching the hem of Grey’s tunic. “You’ve made so many for them over the last year. Can’t they just reuse them?”
I laughed. “Yeah right. Rewear the same dress to multiple photographable occasions? Plus, Morgan’s the only one I’ve made a gown for before. Nothing else is dressy enough.”
“Not even this?” She nudged the red sequin abomination poking out of the middle of the pile that had accumulated between us as we worked. It was Chloe’s Fairy Godmother dress for the day we were all going asShrek 2characters– Grey as the titular ogre, Fatima as Fiona, Jack as Charming, Morgan as Puss in Boots, and me as Donkey. I’d even managed to whip up a Dragon costume for Amy, though I’d never admit to her how much that had added to the task of finishing the lot.
“It’s a bit campy, isn’t it?”
Amy shrugged. “You say that like it’s a bad thing.” She looked around the pile a bit more. “What about this one?” She pulled out a pale pink draped dress, which had taken me a painful amount of time despite its simplicity.
“Her yassified Witch-King of Angmar outfit?”
“Whatever that is.” She tossed it to the side. “My point is, you’ve done so much for them. If they don’t have something to wear out of the wardrobes you’ve made them so far, they can buy something.”
