OMG! Picked DD up yesterday. She’s just admitted to a punnet of grapes and already out of date bottle of milk left in the fridge at St A’s.
Thanks for reminder. Just extracted a half-eaten lasagne from DD’s fridge. PLUS it’s her bin day. She only just told us that as we were leaving!! Happy holidays, all!
Chapter 16
HEATHER
Heather’sbeensittinginthe corridor outside Georgia’s flat for over forty minutes. It doesn’t matter how many times she raps on the door or calls, or texts, or messages, Georgia isn’t answering. Heather knows she’s inside. She’d watched her journey home from the Winter Ball on their shared location app. It looked like a laborious and tortured walk at around 4:30am. Heather remembers (vaguely!) her own walk of shame after the shots on Georgia’s birthday and feels a modicum of understanding for her daughter. But only to a point. Georgia, herself, had asked for a twelve noon pick up; so it's slightly vexing she's still comatose at nearly 1pm, and Heather's left sitting on the floor outside her room, waiting.
She’s put the time to good use, to be fair. She now has an online shopping basket filled with knickknacks for the girls’ Christmas stockings and a few gifts for other people. Her main present for Georgia still eludes her.
She looks up from her phone when a thumping up the stairs alerts her to another person arriving on the second floor. A gust of cold wind heralds their arrival. The stairs, she can tell from the creak on the tread, are being taken two at a time. After a handful of seconds, Scott appears. His winter coat is wrapped tightly around his body, and he’s blowing on his hands to warm them up.
His face lights up. ‘Heather. What are you doing there?’
‘Waiting.’
Scott purses his lips and slowly inclines his head.
‘For?’
Heather uses her thumb to gesture behind her towards Georgia’s door.
‘She’s not answering.’
Scott’s eyes turn skyward, and he turns towards Brianna’s door. His hammering and hollering of her name is no more successful. He takes a step back and raises his hands in a ‘can you credit it?’ gesture.
‘Think it was a heavy night,’ Heather says.
Scott pulls his phone from his pocket, and ten seconds later they hear it ring out through the bedroom door.
Defeated, he stands alongside Heather and slides himself down the wall to join her on the carpet.
‘How long have you been here?’
Heather clears her throat. ‘Nearly an hour.’
‘Jeez.’ A puff of air blows out from his pursed lips.
‘I’ve been shopping.’ She shakes her phone in Scott’s direction.
He smiles again and the little dimple in his chin deepens.
‘Resourceful,’ he says. ‘I like that.’
Heather feels her cheeks pinken. It must be because she’s wearing her outside winter clothes inside. She loosens off the belt around her middle and pulls down the zip at her neck.
‘Bit stuck on a main present for Georgia, to be honest.’ She directs her voice to the opposite wall, careful not to look at him. This is the closest they’ve been since the spiking incident, and she knows how long it’s taken to recover from the aftermath of that encounter.
‘Yep. Me too. For Brianna, of course.’
‘Course.’
They sit for a few moments in silence whilst Scott huffs, puffs and removes items of clothing. Why are student flats always so boiling? He drops gloves, a hat, his coat and a scarf on the floor between them. Heather glances down. Then slowly twists her neck to look at him.
