Happily Never After, page 22
‘Busy,’ he replies. ‘I’d forgotten how much work goes into taking a show from concept to reality. But it’s coming together really well and the production company have started recruiting contestants, so we should be ready to start filming soon.’
‘It must be so rewarding, seeing your ideas come to life in that way.’
‘No more rewarding than seeing your book in a bookshop, I’m sure. How’s that coming?’
‘Yes, good. I’m confident I’ll hit the deadline.’
‘I’m pleased for you.’
We lapse into silence again as we continue to walk. I don’t know what he’s thinking about, but my mind is in turmoil. The truth is that the book has hardly progressed at all since I’ve been home, and I’m in a complete panic about the deadline. In France, I’d have been honest and told him that, so why did I lie? Something’s definitely not right here, and I can feel my mood plummeting.
‘Tell me about this hotel,’ Finn says, finally breaking the silence. ‘One of my colleagues lived around here until recently and, when I mentioned to her that I was taking you out to dinner, she told me I absolutely had to book a table at The Mermaid.’
‘It is good,’ I tell him, relieved to be on safe ground conversationally at least. ‘In fact, it’s my go-to for any kind of celebration. Angus and I came here a few times.’
No sooner are the words out of my mouth than I’m regretting them. His face falls.
‘I’m so sorry,’ he says. ‘I never thought that this might bring up painful memories for you. Look, let me ring them and say something’s come up. We can get something else.’
‘It’s my fault. I shouldn’t have said anything. Don’t worry, there won’t be any painful memories dragged up. I’m over him, and the food really is superb. I’d challenge even Cara to match the standard of cooking.’
‘Would you go back to L’Ancien Presbytère, do you think?’
I consider the question for a moment. ‘Yes, probably. Preferably with a friendlier crowd though. What about you?’
‘Yes. I did enjoy it, even with the Double-Doubles giving me the evil eye all the time.’
Although I’m pleased that talking about our time in France seems to have loosened us up, there’s still an elephant in the room, namely Angus. Do I tell him that Angus came out after he left? I want to be honest, but I don’t know how Finn would react and I don’t want to cause any more awkwardness than there is already. Thankfully, I’m able to shelve my dilemma, for the time being at least, when we arrive at The Mermaid. Despite the nerves about seeing Finn, and the uncomfortable walk here, I’m starving and I desperately hope my stomach isn’t going to start rumbling as I peruse the menu.
‘You’re right, this is good,’ Finn observes as we take the first mouthfuls of our starters. Frankly, I’m grateful for the distraction of the food. Although the conversation does seem to have eased a little, it’s still not flowing naturally, and I’m no closer to deciding whether to tell Finn about Angus. I don’t know why I’m finding it so hard; all I need to do is reassure him that I had no trouble rebuffing him. I just feel weirdly guilty about it, for some reason, as if Angus and I were sneaking around behind his back.
‘That was lovely, thank you,’ I tell him when we arrive back at Liv’s house at the end of the evening. He’s been a perfect gentleman and walked me home, even though it’s out of his way because we walked straight past the station on the way here. I have enjoyed his company, but I can tell we’re both disappointed with the way the evening has turned out.
‘Do you want a coffee or anything?’ I ask, more out of politeness than a genuine desire for him to come in and prolong things.
‘No, thanks. I need to get to the station before the last train leaves.’
‘Of course.’ I reach up and kiss him chastely on the cheek. ‘It was lovely to see you. Thanks for coming down.’
‘It was the least I could do. I’ll be in touch with some dates for you to come and see the show being filmed, if you’d still like that.’
Would I? I’m so depressed about how this evening has gone that part of me just wants to crawl under the covers and forget Finn ever existed.
‘Yes, that would be great,’ my mouth says without asking my brain first. Typical Laura, I think. You’d rather put yourself through another excruciating non-date than risk offending him. I just don’t get it though. Why didn’t this work?
‘Only one set of footsteps,’ Liv’s voice calls from her room as I make my way up the stairs. ‘Disappointing.’
‘It was a fucking disaster,’ I reply morosely as I cross the landing. I’ve barely taken another step before her bedroom door bursts open and she emerges, wrapping me in a hug without seeming to break her stride.
‘In. Now,’ she commands, manhandling me towards her room. ‘Tell me what happened.’
‘It was just really, really awkward,’ I tell her as Donna moves her legs to make room for me to sit down on the side of the bed. ‘We barely had three words to say to each other.’
‘Hmm. Why do you think that is? You told me you never stopped talking when you were in France.’
‘That’s exactly it. Maybe it just doesn’t translate here.’
She thinks for a long time before speaking again. ‘I do have another theory, if you’re interested.’
‘Go on.’
‘You go to France. You meet him. You like him. Yes?’
‘Yes. Nothing new there.’
‘Then this old woman turns up and starts babbling at you about true love and all that.’
‘I’m not sure where you’re going with this.’
‘Bear with me. Basically everyone around you, including some random mad old woman and me, I’m ashamed to say, has been on your case about how you need to get together with Finn. Maybe we just put too much pressure on you.’
I take a moment to digest what she’s saying. ‘Maybe. But that doesn’t explain why he was so stilted. I’m sure I’d have relaxed if he’d been more like his usual self.’
‘Yes, but think about it. These things go two ways, don’t they? Maybe his mates have been pressurising him just as much as we have. We’ve all loaded so much expectation on the two of you that it was frankly impossible for you to live up to it.’
I smile ruefully. ‘Are you seriously trying to tell me that you believe yourself to be responsible for screwing up my love life?’
‘Not all by myself, no. But I think I may have contributed, and for that I’m sorry.’
‘Wow.’
‘The question is, how do we fix it?’
‘Talk to him?’ Donna suggests. ‘That’s usually what people say, isn’t it?’
‘Yes,’ Liv agrees. ‘But I’m not sure that’s the best approach in this instance.’
‘If you say “just get naked and jump his bones”, I’m going to bed,’ I tell her.
‘I wasn’t going to say that. You need to recreate the situation where you were comfortable with each other.’
‘Go back to France? How on earth am I meant to persuade him to do that? Besides, the retreat is over and Cara and Hugh probably have a new bunch of guests. That’s before we even get to the cost.’
‘No. It’s not about the place. It’s about you. You both need to rediscover the people you were out there. Maybe you just need to take the pressure off yourselves and let this grow organically. So, talk me through a typical day.’
‘Well, we’d walk into town in the morning.’
‘Yeah, that won’t work in the current circumstances. Next?’
‘We’d have coffee together mid-morning and chat about how we were getting on.’
She thinks for a while. ‘Do you know where his office is?’
‘No idea.’
‘Bugger.’
‘I could ask him?’
‘No. He’s like a car with a flat battery; we need the surprise to jump start him.’
‘I’m not turning up to his office looking like a stripper or anything, Liv.’
‘I wasn’t proposing that either. Stop being so prickly. You’re going to surprise him with a coffee and a delicious pastry, that’s all. The tricky bit is where and how. If you can’t go to him, we need a way to lure him back down here.’
‘And your plan is?’
‘No idea. Leave it with me though.’
29
DI Harrison knew something was off the moment she walked into the morning briefing. If the stares of her colleagues weren’t enough to unsettle her, the presence of the DCI in the room definitely was. A formidable man with an equally formidable waistline that he put down to ‘networking lunches’, he pretty much never got involved in the day-to-day running of a case, especially one as relatively straightforward as this.
‘Good morning, everyone. Chief,’ she said, trying to keep her voice level. ‘Let’s get straight down to it, shall we? DS Rogers, we’ll start with you.’
‘Actually, Detective Inspector,’ DCI Venables interrupted. ‘I wondered if I might have a quick chat with you. Are you able to spare me five minutes in my office?’
‘I’d prefer to get this done, Sir,’ she replied, trying to buy time to work out what on earth he’d want to talk to her about. ‘Then we can release the team to their work.’
‘I’m sure DS Rogers can deputise for you, just this once. DS Rogers?’
‘Umm, yes, Sir. That will be fine.’
Feeling thoroughly outmanoeuvred, DI Harrison followed the chief to his office.
‘Take a seat, Claire,’ he said wearily, settling his considerable frame into the chair behind the desk, causing it to creak ominously.
‘Sir, I have to object to DS Rogers running the meeting. This is my case and—’
DCI Venables held up his hand to stop her. ‘I’m taking you off the case, Claire,’ he said simply.
‘Why, Sir? I don’t understand.’
DCI Venables sighed deeply. ‘Certain information has come to light, which changes things somewhat. Am I right in thinking you visited the crime scene yesterday?’
‘Yes, but I followed all the correct protocols. I wouldn’t have disturbed any evidence.’
‘I’m sure you wouldn’t. It just so happens that your arrival coincided with one of the neighbours, a Mrs Jones, returning from a shopping trip. I’m not going to insult your intelligence, Claire. She says she recognised you as the victim’s girlfriend. She was surprisingly adamant about it, despite the twenty-year gap.’
‘Oh, come on, Sir!’ Claire tried to sound as if the idea was totally absurd even as the panic rose in her chest, threatening to squeeze the breath out of her. ‘Is this the same woman who was so hazy before? She’s unreliable at best, attention-seeking at worst.’
‘That may be true, and I hope it is. But, as of now, we have to treat you as a suspect. I’m therefore suspending you from duty on full pay until further notice. I’m sorry, Claire, but you know how much scrutiny the police force is under these days. We have to be seen to be doing everything exactly by the book. I’m sure it will all turn out to be nothing, so just enjoy a bit of time off, OK?’
‘It’s no good,’ Liv says, barging into my room a week after my date with Finn. ‘I’ve been wracking my brains and can’t think of a way to get Finn down here without him smelling a massive rat. I had it all worked out in my head, you know? He comes into the pâtisserie, looking a little nervous. He sees you behind the counter with a coffee and slice of Tarte Normande ready to go, the string music swells and voilà!’
I laugh in spite of myself. ‘I never had you pegged as such a romantic.’
‘Oh, yes. In the wilder versions, you’ve got a bit of flour on your nose, which he gently wipes away before kissing it. We’re talking full-on romcom here. Anyway, I’ve failed. Sorry. I’m pissed off too, because I’m sure a slice of my Tarte Normande would persuade him he never wanted to leave Margate again.’
‘You tried, and that’s the main thing.’
‘Have you got any ideas?’
‘Nope. I messaged him the day after we went out for dinner to say thanks, as you know, and got a pretty vanilla response.’
‘You could demand to see him. Say you need to talk.’
‘I think that would spook the hell out of him. Maybe it wasn’t meant to be, and we should just let it go.’
‘Nonsense. That matchmaker woman clearly saw something.’
‘Is this the same matchmaker woman you accused just a week ago of putting too much pressure on me?’
‘Yes, but we have to consider the possibility that she did have a point. All that kissing—’
‘Two kisses.’
‘—and your romantic morning walks. You didn’t shoot people down when they suggested there could be more, which means you were open to it. I just wish there was a way to get you two back together.’
‘It’ll happen if it’s meant to be, Liv. In the meantime…’ I indicate my laptop.
‘Oh, yes. I’ll leave you in peace. Don’t forget Donna’s bringing Chinese takeaway tonight. I think she does it deliberately to wind me up. She knows as well as I do that the stuff we get here isn’t a patch on real Chinese food. Did I ever tell you about the street market I worked at in Chonqing?’
‘No, but you can tell us both later. I need to get this done.’
‘Of course. Sorry. Do you want a cup of tea in a minute?’
‘That would be lovely. Thank you.’
I’d like to be able to say that the book is providing a welcome focus since my disastrous dinner with Finn, but progress is still agonisingly slow. However hard I try to concentrate on the plot, I keep finding myself disappearing down a rabbit hole of analysis, replaying every snippet of our stilted conversation and trying to work out what I could have said to bring about a different outcome. I did definitely feel something on that day when we kissed each other, but it’s the memories of us wandering into Saint-Antonin-Noble-Val, chatting about everything and nothing, that I daydream about most of all. I mean, Angus and I used to chat, but it was usually about boring domestic things or the dog. Finn seemed interested in everything about me, as I was with him. He had a way of making me feel like I was the only other person in the world when we were talking. Damn it. I miss him.
As I’m sitting there, staring at the screen, I can feel something shift inside me. This isn’t Liv’s problem to solve, or Finn’s, or anyone else’s for that matter. The fact is that I need to see him again, if only to bring closure. I grab my phone and bash out a message to him.
Are you working today?
To my relief, the ticks go blue and his reply comes back quickly.
Staring at set design concepts at home. Why?
I’m smiling as I type.
Four o’clock. Time for a cup of tea and a delicious biscuit.
OK…
Have you got delicious biscuits?
I think there are some chocolate digestives in the cupboard. They might even be in date…
Here’s the plan. We’re each going to make a cup of tea and get a biscuit. I’m going to video call you in ten minutes, and I expect to hear all about the show. OK?
The ticks go blue but he’s not typing. Shit, have I overplayed this? Just as I’m beginning to think this was a really bad idea, his reply comes through.
See you in ten *smiley face emoji*
‘I thought you were in the thick of it and I was bringing you tea?’ Liv looks confused when she walks into the kitchen to find me fiddling with the teapot.
‘Yes, but I reached a good break point,’ I lie. ‘Anyway, you’re always making the tea. Time I made it for you for a change.’
She looks at me suspiciously for a moment before smiling. ‘Fine. Just make sure you warm the pot and use the timer. I’ll know if it’s over brewed. There are some Madeleines in the tin there. I’ll have one of those as well.’
‘Great. Why don’t you go and make yourself comfortable and I’ll bring it over when it’s ready.’
‘I assume you’re joining me?’
‘Not today. I’ve got a call I need to go on.’
Another suspicious look. ‘Really? You never mentioned it just now.’
‘It’s a last-minute thing.’
By the time I’ve made the tea and reassured Liv for a second time that nothing weird is going on, honestly, nearly fifteen minutes have passed. I practically run into my bedroom, shutting the door behind me and stabbing the call button on my phone.
‘Hiya,’ Finn says as the call connects. ‘This is a surprise. What brought it on?’
‘It’s partly an apology,’ I tell him.
‘What for?’
‘For my part in whatever happened when you came down here. I thought that doing something that we did every day while we were in France might give us the opportunity to reset our friendship.’
He sighs. ‘It’s me that needs to apologise,’ he says. ‘I was really looking forward to seeing you, but then I just kind of froze. I can’t explain it, and I’ve been trying to find a reason to get in contact and say sorry. But then I thought maybe this was what you wanted, and then it all got in a mess in my head.’
‘Me too. God, what a pair.’ As if choreographed, we each take a sip of our tea. I can’t help studying the background on my screen, trying to get a feel for his home.
‘So, tell me about the show,’ I prompt after a moment, before things can get awkward again. ‘Have you got the set design there?’
He smiles. ‘I have, but it’s top secret so I’m not sure I can show it to you.’
‘Worried I’m going to sell the idea to the competition?’
‘You can never be too careful but, as it’s you…’ He picks up the phone and switches to the rear camera so I can see his screen, which is one of those massive things that pretty much spans his entire desk.
‘This is a 3D rendering,’ he tells me as the phone wobbles momentarily. ‘Sorry, just grabbing the mouse so I can show you around. So, the contestants will stand at the podiums here, and there is a display on the front of each one showing their prize fund. Then this massive screen facing them here is where the auction items will be displayed, and this is where the really clever stuff happens.’
