AllFreeNovel
Share Us
‘It’s hardly a renters’ market out there at the moment,’ Eddie said. He was examining his fingers now, wrapped around the mug, as if he was thinking about something much more personal than the current housing crisis. ‘And so, you can see how she’d be in a bad way about the coffee shop?’ Eddie said.
‘I suppose, it is her livelihood.’ She didn’t add that she wouldn’t have had it in the first place if it wasn’t for Pete. ‘But couldn’t she get some sort of loan and buy his interest out of the place? If it’s doing as well as it seems to be, I’m sure that there are plenty of investors who’d be jumping at the chance for a share in the place.’ The café always looked busy despite the exorbitant price for a cup of coffee Anya charged.
‘I’m not sure that’s Anya’s area of expertise.’
‘But there are people, agencies to help with all that sort of stuff, surely…’
‘I think she’s just hoping that he will continue to keep the place afloat until she can figure out something else.’ Eddie put down his knife and fork and belched loudly. ‘God, I needed that,’ he said sitting back in his chair contentedly. He looked rough, as if he’d spent half the night in the pub and the other half of it sleeping somewhere he shouldn’t have been.
‘You okay?’
‘Sure. I’m just a bit worried about Anya.’ He lowered his voice. ‘She has nowhere to live and she has to go back to open up the coffee shop again.’ Anya’s coffee shop was bang smack in the centre of the banking district. It wouldn’t be busy for Christmas – her customers would survive without her – but she would have to open her doors soon.
‘No, but I’m sure she’ll figure something out before too long,’ Liv said thinking of her mother’s warning the day before. There simply wasn’t room in her little flat for Anya and if she was completely honest, even if there was, Liv wouldn’t fancy sharing her home with the girl; they just didn’t click. And then there was Pete. At the end of the day, he was her best friend and while she didn’t want to fall out with Anya, neither had she any intention of making things awkward with Pete. ‘Come on,’ she said then, changing the subject, ‘you can have a cigarette and I’ll pay for this, then we’ll go for a short walk across the beach.’
‘Uh, do we have to?’
‘Yes. It’s how you’re going to pay me back for breakfast and you’ll feel much better if you can clear your head before you go back to Flannelly’s and get pulled into another mad drinking session.’
*
It was windier today, the waves crashing against the sand with a tightened ferocity that would put off even the most committed wild swimmer. The breeze whipped sand up around their calves as they walked. It was one of those days when only the locals would brave walking along here. As it was, she spotted a few walkers ahead of them, dogs running happily in and out of the water and one desperate surfer enjoying waves that were high enough to be worth chasing.
‘We could ask her to stay with us,’ Eddie shouted above the breeze.
‘Who?’ Of course she knew exactly who he meant, but she was playing for time.
‘Anya, of course, who do you think? The queen of England?’
‘Oh, no, Eddie, I don’t think that would work at all.’
‘Why not? It would only be for a week or two.’
‘She might say that now…’
‘Is that a dig at me?’
‘No, of course not, that was completely different.’ She shook her head. They’d had this out before. It annoyed Eddie that the flat belonged to Liv, her name on the deeds. She had looked into changing it because he’d pestered her so much, but her parents had been dead set against it and then, when she asked Maya, it turned out the legal costs alone were nearly as high as the national debt. ‘You and I, that’s different.’ She put her arm through his, but he shrugged it off and suddenly, she thought of the night before, the idea of that lovely ring, maybe sitting in his pocket right now. Was this a test? Was it some crude way of gauging if they could be together forever?
‘It seems a bit cold to me, owning your own flat and leaving poor Anya homeless when she could as easily bed down on the couch for a couple of nights.’
‘But, Eddie, it wouldn’t be just a couple of nights, would it? I mean, it takes time to find a place and then, there’s waiting until you can move in – I mean, if her business isn’t making enough money, can she even afford the deposit on a place?’
‘Oh, don’t be so naïve, of course she can pay for a roof over her head.’ He was sulking now – had he already promised Anya a place to stay? For some reason, this irritated Liv beyond reason.
‘And then there’s all her belongings – the flat is hardly big enough to hold our stuff – I mean, I’ve never seen Anya wear the same outfit twice. I’d say her clothes alone could fill up the whole living room.’
‘Bitchiness doesn’t suit you at all. Do you know that, Liv?’
‘Eddie, I’m not being a cow here, really. You have to see this?’
‘I’m done walking,’ he said pulling away from her and heading back towards the village. He left her standing there, open-mouthed and not entirely sure what had happened between them. This holiday was going nothing like how she had expected it to.
*
It took three hours, two taxi journeys and too many black refuse bags to count, but by nine o’clock Liv was back in her little flat and there was an undeniable sense of contentment about her, albeit sitting alongside a digging sadness at the idea of ending something that had taken up six years of her life.
A headache – isn’t that what Maya would have said? Could she really compare her relationship with Eddie to an enduring migraine? Anyone would miss a headache if they’d suffered with it for as long as she’d stayed with Eddie. And now, sitting here, sipping a large mug of hot chocolate, she realised that she had stayed with him. He hadn’t made any huge promises. There’d been no agreement between them. She’d just clung on, hoping that it might materialise into something more. She’d held on to something that wasn’t actually hers. All this time, she’d blinded herself to the reality: that she and Eddie were no more compatible than salt and sugar. This was an epiphany and although, initially, it made her wail like a banshee, facing up to it actually made her feel a lot better.
