Page 11 of Topped

I wanted to ask more but decided against it. Instead, I unlocked the door and gestured for Milo to go inside, closing it gently behind us before taking off my coat and shoes. Much of the flat’s floor was still the original hardwood, because it was too pretty to cover up. In the small entrance hallway, I’d added a pink and white rug over the top and painted the walls a cosy dusty pink, adding a few prints of Heather Bay I’d found in a charity shop.

Milo had slipped his boots off and seemed to be vibrating on the spot. “So, which room is Lizzie’s?”

“That one,” I said, gesturing at the door to our right. “Let’s see if she’s awake and how she’s feeling, then I can get her out.” The door was already slightly ajar, because I always felt bad shutting her in. Even though she was in her tank.

The room was the smaller of the two bedrooms, with a window that looked out over the town. When I’d first moved to Heather Bay, this had been my bedroom, but once I’d decided to get Lizzie I’d repurposed it. The walls were now a warm, sage green and I’d had a cream carpet installed to help insulate the room. Because although the vivarium was strictly temperature controlled, I didn’t want the room around it getting cold.

The vivarium took up most of one wall, out of direct sunlight and raised off the floor. Over the years I’d expanded and added to it, creating the best environment I could for my darling girl. “Good afternoon, my love,” I said as I walked in, flicking on the soft overhead lighting because it was already getting dark outside. “Are you awake?”

There was some movement from the hide at the top of the vivarium, and Lizzie’s adorable, buttery nose appeared from between the surrounding leaves. She slithered down the branches as soon as she spotted me, and my heart burst with adoration.

Technically, I knew snakes couldn’t feel love or affection, but she always seemed so pleased to see me when I came home from work that I had to believe she felt something.

“Fuck,” Milo hissed under his breath. “She’s gorgeous. And that tank… is that all hers?”

“Yes, they’re solitary snakes.”

“It’s incredible.”

“Thank you, I’m quite proud of it.”

“You should be. It’s awesome!”

I smiled, his praise doing something to my insides that I wasn’t going to look closely at. “Let me see if she wants to come out. Then, um, would you like a cup of tea?”

“Sounds great! Can you… will you bring her with you?”

“If she wants to come.”

“Does she usually?”

“Mostly. Unless she’s tired or shedding or not feeling like company.”

He snorted. “Totally get that.”

“But yes, she does like spending time outside with me. Although she isn’t particularly fond of some of my TV choices.”

“Yeah? What doesn’t she like?”

“Well, I, er, I like documentaries about true crime. And shipwrecks. But sometimes when I put them on she’ll knock my glasses off my face, or try and drape herself across the TV.” It sounded silly to say out loud, and I waited for Milo to laugh at me. But when he did laugh, it didn’t sound mocking.

“That’s fucking amazing! Wait, does that mean she has a preference? What does she like you watching?”

“She likes old movies,” I said, a tiny smile on my lips. “We watched Some Like It Hot recently. She seemed to enjoy that.”

“As she should, it’s a banger!”

I swallowed down the swell of emotion threatening to rise inside me and took a steadying breath as I crossed the room, opening the top of the vivarium and waiting to see if she wanted to come out.

Lizzie crawled eagerly towards me, peeking out the opening and climbing straight up my arm as soon as I offered it. Her favourite place to sit was either across my shoulders and neck or curled in a ball on my head. Like a rather large, heavy hat.

“Hello, beautiful,” I said as she settled across my shoulders, her nose nudging my ear and the side of my face before she looked around the room. It was easy to see when she spotted Milo, because she lifted her head like a periscope. I walked slowly over to him, watching as a delighted smile lit up his face. “Milo, this is Miss Elizabeth Bennet. Lizzie, this is Milo. He’s come to meet you.”

“Lovely to meet you, Miss Bennet,” Milo said, offering her a tiny wave. “Fuck, Rupert, she’s gorgeous! Those pictures don’t even do her justice.”

“She is. I might be biased, but I do think she’s the prettiest snake in the world.”

“Nope, she absolutely is. I’ll swear on it.”