She nods, defeated, and takes a moment to watch her sister through the window.
Her demeanour changes as she stands up and straightens out her silk pyjamas. “I’ll do the damage control with Greg and his family for when you return. If you can do one thing for me though and allow me to tell people you’ve gone travelling. I am not having a conversation regarding my ‘family’.”
I look up at her, no longer annoyed but saddened for the woman in front of me. “Mother, why are you so worried about what people think?”
“Harriett,” she says sternly.
I shake my head. “Fine, say what you want.”
She nods and walks off into the inner house.
Aradia makes her way into the garden room with her yogamat tucked under her arm.
She stops in the doorway and puts the mat down. She lifts her hands into the air as if she’s feeling it. “Oh, I sense some tension in here.”
“I told Mother I’m coming to stay with you and Grandma,” I say quietly, still not believing that I’ve made that decision.
She bounds over to me, bare feet slapping on the cool tiles as she runs, wrapping me in her arms. “Harri! That’s wonderful news. I’m so glad! We will have the best time getting to know each other and hopefully you can start healing that big caring heart of yours.”
“Thank you.” We stand smiling at each other. I can see small tears in the brim of her eyes.
“Are you OK?” I ask.
“I’m just so happy.” She’s still beaming with happiness.
We take a moment before she composes herself.
“Right, well, we will leave in the bug today.”
“Bug?” If she has some giant bug outside that we’re riding to her house on, I’m tapping out and Lauren is right. I’m on heroin and I’ve lost my mind.
“My rusty trusty old Beetle. He’s still going strong from the early sixties!” She chuckles and I laugh to myself. Of course, a Beetle. I really do need a break! She continues. “I have a few bits to sort out with Cassie and grab something from Harrods for Mama. She’s got the fancy streak your mother inherited, so need to get her some orange marmalade biscuits.” She chuckles to herself and shakes her head. “And after that, I think we will head off. Get home to Mama, your grandmother, around supper time. She’ll be so excited to see you. How are you with gardening?”
“Gardening? I haven’t really tried it to be honest.” I shift anxiously in my place.
“Well, we actually have a pretty impressive vegetable garden and there’s the village harvest market coming up. Maybe youcould help out? It’ll give you the opportunity to meet everyone in the village!”
“I mean, you’ll have to show me what to do, but of course I’ll help. It’ll make me feel better for staying in your house rent free. Actually, I didn’t even ask. Would you like me to pay something towards all these expenses?”
Her face is a picture of shock, like I shouldn’t have asked such a silly question. “Gosh, no, you’re family, sweetie. I wouldn’t take a penny from you.”
I smile softly. “OK, let me get some stuff together. I’ll have to pop to mine to get things suitable for the countryside.”
“Don’t worry about too much, darling. I have stuff you can borrow, and we can order you some things. It’s a village, not the moon. We have ASOS.” She winks at me and flows past to find my mother.
I finish my coffee and grab another pastry and head upstairs to pack my overnight bag. I really don’t have much with me, so I really could do with going back to the apartment.
I quickly shower and get myself dressed. I grab an Uber back to my apartment. Greg will either be there and asleep or he’ll be at the gym. Possibly at Lauren’s but my brain can’t think about that otherwise the poor Uber guy is going to get a matinee performance to my earlier emotional breakdown. And if she’s at my apartment… well then, I’m glad I’ve binge watchedDexter.
I make my way through our reception and up to our floor. I stand in front of our front door and give myself a pep talk. In and out. Grab some bits and leave. I turn the key and slowly open the door trying to be as quiet as I can. The apartment is empty and looks untouched from when I left. I make my way into the open living room to find uneaten Chinese and empty cans of beer strewn all over the floor. The last time something fried went past Greg’s lips was probably when he was a child.
I’m secretly glad my absence has caused him to eat stuffhe would never normally eat. I walk into the bedroom. Empty. Thank God, but I now doubt it’s the gym he’s at, so probably seeking some shallow reassurance from Lauren. I grab one of our suitcases and start filling it with jeans, jumpers and shirts. Summer is on the turn to autumn so best pack for chillier nights. I grab some of my skincare bits along with a few pyjamas and other essentials. I grab my camera that Greg got me one Christmas. I never use it, but would love to start taking more photos of places. I also grab my Kindle and iPad charger and shove them in the suitcase. I look over at our bed. Messy and unmade. I notice some pictures on my pillow. I crawl onto the bed to get a closer look. Pictures of us. For a second I feel guilty but my brain floods with images of him and Lauren and the sickness takes back over.
I grab my coat and suitcase and head for the door. I really need some time away from this place. I open the door and Greg is stood with his key ready to unlock from the other side. Well, this is déjà vu.
“Harri?” he says, looking surprised.
“I’m just getting some of my things,” I mutter.
