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‘Louisa’

‘Mhh’

‘Louisa’

The desk fully soft I openedspoken over reat eoverover her shoulder

‘Louisa’

I pushed ht with a start Beside htly open, his elbow bent at right angles in front of hiht ?’

I felt as if I had been caught doing sohts Why was I in here? What could I tell her?

‘What are you doing in Will’s bed?’

‘Will … ’ I said, quietly ‘Will wasn’t well … I just thought I should keep an eye –’

‘What do you mean, he wasn’t well? Look, come out into the hall’ She strode out of the roo for htenmy make-up was smeared all over my face

She closed Will’s bedroo to shts ‘Will had a teot it dohen he ca and I wanted to keep an eye on him … he said I should keep an eye on him … ’ My voice sounded thick, unfor coherent sentences

‘Why didn’t you call me? If he was ill you should have called me immediately Or Mr Traynor’

It was as if ether Mr Traynor Oh Lord I glanced up at the clock It was a quarter to eight

‘I didn’t … Nathan seemed to … ’

‘Look, Louisa It’s really not rocket science If Will was ill enough for you to sleep in his roo you should have contacted round

‘I don’t understand why you didn’t call Did you atte

‘I –’

At that moment the door to the annexe opened, and Mr Traynor stood there, a newspaper folded under his ar snowflakes froet a newspaper and soo the long way to Hansford Corner, to avoid the ice patches’

She looked at hi the fact that he earing the same shirt and jumper as the previous day

‘Did you know Will had been ill in the night?’

He looked straight at aze to my feet I wasn’t sure I had ever felt more uncomfortable

‘Did you try to callI suspect that intercom’s on the blink There have been a few occasions lately where I’ve ht Out like a light’

I was still wearing Will’s socks I stared at thee me for that too

But she see journey ho like this happens again, you call me immediately Do you understand?’

I didn’t want to look at Mr Traynor ‘Yes,’ I said, and disappeared into the kitchen

7

Spring arrived overnight, as if winter, like soed its way into its coat and vanished, without saying goodbye Everything becareener, the roads bathed in watery sunshine, the air suddenly bal in the air, birdsong the gentle backdrop to the day

I didn’t notice any of it I had stayed at Patrick’s house the evening before It was the first time I had seen hi schedule, but having spent forty minutes in the bath with half a pack of bath salts, he was so exhausted he could barely talk tohis back, in a rare attempt at seduction, and he hadas if he were swattingdiscontentedly four hours later

Patrick and I hadthe only other job I have ever held, that of trainee at The Cutting Edge, Hailsbury’s only unisex hairdresser’s He walked in while Sa for a nuave him what he described afterwards as the worst haircut not only that he had ever had, but the worst haircut in the history ofwith my own hair did not necessarily ot the job at the cafe with Frank

When we started going out, Patrick had been working in sales and his favourite things could have been listed as beer, garage chocolate, talking about sport and sex (doing, not talking about), in that order A good night out for us would probably co rather than handsoier than mine, but I liked it I liked the solidity of him, the way he felt when I wrapped myself around him His dad was dead and I liked the way he acted towards his mother; protective and solicitous And his four brothers and sisters were like the Waltons They actually seemed to like each other The first time ent out on a date, a little voice inhe had done in the seven years since had led me to doubt it

And then he turned into Marathon Man

Patrick’s stoave when I nestled into hi, like a sideboard, and he was prone to pulling up his shirt and hitting it with things, to prove quite how hard it was His face was planed, and weathered frohs were solid muscle That would have been quite sexy in itself, had he actually wanted to have sex But ere down to about twice a month, and I wasn’t the kind to ask

It was as if the fitter he got, the more obsessed by his own shape he became, the less interested he was in mine I asked him a couple of times if he didn’t fancy eous,’ he would say ‘I’ht The girls at the club – you couldn’t ether’ I wanted to ask how exactly he had come to work out this co to say so I let it go