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When he opened his eyes, everything looked new, somehow brighter, shinier.
He exited the lift and headed for the train station.
He didn’t panic when he saw the train leaving the platform, nor when the overhead screen said the next one would be half an hour.
He turned back the way he’d come and put one foot in front of the other.
Judith would wait for him.
Judith drew up outside Carts’house.When she’d been here for his birthday party a mere two weeks ago it had been dark, and she’d been so nervous that she’d barely noticed her surroundings.Now, curiosity took hold as she took a proper look.It was a neat, two-storey townhouse, part rendered and part coated in limestone that was the in thing right now.She should know, with all Dad’s home designs.
Excitement mounted within her at the idea of going inside and finding out more about the man she was falling in love with.
She sucked in a breath.Yes.She could admit it now.This emotion that had fluttered in her heart since the moment their eyes first met.This was love.It made her feel like she was in one of those utterly romantic old movies, as if Carts was Humphrey Bogart to her Katharine Hepburn.
She wanted to wear fake furs and sit in a chic little bar and smoke Gauloises and drink fine white wine as rain fell on cobbled streets and Ultravox sang “Vienna” in the background.
With Carts, forever and always.
Smiling to herself, she was about to exit the car when she saw Solo bound out of the house, down the path and throw a leg over the red Ducati outside.He looked like a man with a mission.What were the bets he was off to see Polly?
After he’d driven off in a shower of exhaust fumes, she exited the car and made her way up to the front door.
Pressing the doorbell, she let her gaze roam around the tiny front yard.Neat succulents in pebble-mulched flower beds were laid out at meticulously spaced intervals.Now her inner domestic goddess replaced Katharine Hepburn.It could do with a few more flowers, some pansies and brightly coloured petunias maybe.
When he didn’t answer, she guessed he wasn’t home yet.Not to worry, trains could be delayed.She sat on the low front wall and waited.Crossed her legs.Uncrossed them.Got up and walked round the side of the house.Looked at the little splice of back lawn that was so neat she thought it must be fake, but when she bent down and ran her hands over it, found that it wasn’t.Peering in the small shed, she saw some basic gardening stuff.A trowel, a bag of soil improver and a lawnmower.It was kind of adorable thinking of Carts pushing it around his handkerchief-sized lawn.
Next, she peeped in the kitchen window.Everything was pristine.And completely devoid of anything that vaguely resembled a cooking implement.
Ten minutes had now passed, so she sent a quick message to Carts.I’m here.She went back around to the front of the house.Sat on the step and counted ants going in and out of a crack in a paver, and pulled out one lone weed from the path.
She checked her phone but there was no reply.And now, despite herself, she started to fret.
What if there’d been an accident?What if the train had smashed into a barrier?What if, as he’d crossed the road outside the station, in his excitement to reach her Carts had forgotten to glance over his shoulder as a truck hurtled towards him?Horrible images of finding the love of her life only to lose him had her eyes welling with tears.
Judith, this is silly, she told herself.
The panic started to turn her stomach to acid and sent icy fingers crawling up her spine.
But not for a single moment did she think he’d stand her up.
Finally, ten minutes later, having called him twice and sent three more messages, she called Polly.
“You haven’t seen Carts, have you?”
“Was Carts home when you left?”she heard Polly say in response, obviously to Solo.Despite her fears, Judith had to smile.
“No, but let us know if he doesn’t turn up.”
“Okay.”
She was just about to ring off when in the darkening light she saw a familiar figure getting closer by the moment, shoulders wide and his head held high.“It’s okay,” she told Polly, “he’s here.”
Joy and relief surged through her as she ran down the street and hurled herself into his arms.
Carts dropped his briefcase and embraced her.They stood in the street, hugging and kissing, as she told him she was worried he’d been in an awful accident.And he told her his phone had died.And they laughed and kind of almost cried, and that’s when she said it.
“I love you.”
