Love Redesigned (14 page)

‘Why were we late today, Harry?’ Holly asked as she fiddled with the lens on her camera.

‘Because I had to pee,’ Harry said proudly.

‘Well, that’s perfectly normal,’ Daniel said reasonably.

‘How many times, Harry?’ Holly asked

‘Five,’ Harry said, even more proudly.

‘Five?’ Daniel asked him, incredulous. ‘But you only live an hour away. Did you drink a swimming pool or something?’

‘I was desperate, Daddy. You know how it is. When you gotta go, you gotta go,’ Harry said in an American accent. Daniel couldn’t help laughing at his little boy. He even caught a wry smile crossing Holly’s lips as she busied herself about the room, taking more snaps and jotting measurements down on her notepad. But seriously. It was no wonder she was in a bad mood, if she’d had to deal with that much toilet duty in the space of one hour. Although he’d never done it himself, Daniel could appreciate that it probably wasn’t Holly’s idea of fun on a Friday night.

‘Where’s Miranda?’ Holly suddenly asked, as she stopped what she was doing and studied him carefully.

‘She’s not here,’ Daniel replied, facetiously. Maybe it was his imagination, but Harry seemed to take the mention of Miranda’s name as his cue to wiggle his way out of his father’s embrace and hide behind his mother.

‘But I thought she’d be here?’ Holly said blankly.

‘Well, I’m afraid you assumed wrong. It’s just me. What do you want with Miranda, anyway? I know she’s not your favourite person.’

‘This is her house too. Or it will be once you’re married. I wanted to talk to her about her design preferences, likes, dislikes, hobbies—that kind of thing. For the redesign,’ Holly clarified.

‘Umm, why would you ever be doing that?’ Daniel asked, clearly perplexed.

‘Umm, because you’re getting married? I’m guessing she’ll be moving in here too. Don’t you want this place to be a reflection of her personality as well?’ Daniel didn’t say anything. He just looked lost. Of course Miranda would be moving into the house with him. But he’d not once ever thought of it as being
their
house. It was something he guessed would change in time. It would have to, if he was going to have a lasting relationship with Miranda.

‘Perhaps I got that wrong as well,’ Holly went on, covering his silence. ‘I just assumed she’d be moving in here with you. I hadn’t even thought that you might move in with her. Silly me,’ Holly said, jotting something on her notepad.

‘Just come up with some ideas based on my design preferences,’ Daniel said carefully. ‘This is for the business, remember.’

‘Oh, I remember,’ Holly said in a clipped voice. ‘If you don’t mind, I’d just like to have a look around on the ground floor today, take some pictures, and sketch up a few ideas. Is that okay with you?’ She looked up at him and fixed him with her clear blue eyes. She looked absolutely beautiful. There was no doubt about it. Even after what he imagined to be a full day of work and a trying car journey, she still looked amazing.

‘That sounds great. Why don’t us boys get out of your hair and go and see about rustling up something to eat?’

‘Yay!’ Harry screamed, and ran and clung to Daniel’s leg. ‘I’m starving,’ Harry whined—as Daniel began making his way towards the kitchen with Harry still wrapped around him. Daniel looked at Holly, who rolled her eyes at him as if to say,
kids eh?
Daniel gave her a happy smile, which she returned for the first time since she’d arrived.

It was nearly an hour and a half later before Holly stuck her head around the kitchen door. Daniel looked up to see a look of sheer surprise on her face as she surveyed the scene. The kitchen looked like a bomb had hit it, but Holly was looking not at the mess, but at the table where both Harry and Daniel were sitting, tucking into huge plates of pasta.

‘Something smells good,’ she said, suddenly seeming to realise that she’d been staring.

‘Spicy sausage meatball pasta. Would you like some?’ Daniel said, gesturing to the chair beside him. ‘We didn’t want to disturb your work,’ he added.

‘That would be nice,’ she said softly, smiling politely as she sat down. ‘Wow, Harry. Did you make this?’

‘Don’t be silly, Mum. I only cut the onion with a really really sharp knife,’ Harry said as he shoveled in a meatball. Holly’s face momentarily screwed up at the safety implications of Harry with a knife—but then Harry and Daniel both burst out laughing and she realised they were pulling her leg.

‘Very funny, you two,’ Holly said as she piled some pasta onto a plate. Without asking, Daniel poured her a glass of wine. She took a grateful sip. ‘Hmm,’ she said, looking at the bottle. ‘Sauvignon blanc from Marlborough. My favourite.’ Daniel just smiled at her. He truly and honestly hadn’t meant to pick out her old favourite from his collection. It was just a coincidence, he told himself. He hadn’t fancied red himself, and it had just seemed to be the obvious choice.

After they’d eaten some of Stephanie’s delicious homemade ice cream for dessert and completed a communal effort at loading the dishwasher, Holly set Harry up in the living room with his favourite DVD
du jour
—like a good mum, she’d come prepared, and Harry was delighted when she pulled the movie out of her bag.

Holly retrieved her notes and sketches and began to set everything out on the kitchen table. Meanwhile Daniel poured more wine for them.

‘Oh, I can’t,’ Holly said as he was about to top up her glass. ‘I’m driving,’ she added by way of explanation.

‘Go on, I can always get Perkins to drive you back,’ Daniel said persuasively, keen for the evening to continue. He got the impression that Holly’s plan was to talk through her initial ideas for the house and then scarper back. And he’d had such a pleasant evening, despite the lack of football, that he wanted it to go on just a little bit longer.

‘Okay then,’ she said, without putting up too much of a fight. ‘Thank you for getting Harry to eat. He can be difficult sometimes, and it’s been a bit of a mission all week,’ Holly said, with genuine gratitude in her voice.

‘No problem,’ Daniel replied, enjoying her praise. ‘I just got him involved, that’s all—that seemed to do the trick. I guess there’s not always the time to do that though, if you’re busy during the week.’

‘I am busy, but I always make time for Harry. He comes first,’ Holly said defensively.

‘Don’t take it as a criticism,’ Daniel said quickly, holding his hands up. ‘My comment was by no means meant as one. In fact, I think you do a great job with Harry. He’s lovely.’

‘Thank you,’ Holly replied more calmly. ‘It’s just… when you’re a single mum, people always seem to think that because there’s only one of you, your child must be missing out.’

Daniel decided to steer their conversation into safer waters. ‘Let’s see your plans for the old place then,’ he suggested, and Holly opened up her sketches and plans and proceeded to talk him through her thoughts.

‘As I see it, this ground floor space is okay, but I don’t think it’s as functional as it could be,’ she explained, pointing to an area on the plan. ‘We could open this area up and that would give greater access and a bigger sense of connection to the kitchen. At the moment, it’s a little segregated from the rest of the living space.’ She looked at him closely, clearly trying to sense if she was barking up the wrong tree.

‘I like it,’ Daniel said truthfully. He had intended to give her a bit of a hard time, like he would with any of his consultants or contractors, but what she’d suggested was actually rather good.

‘And with the kitchen, I think you’re missing a trick with this exterior wall here out onto your lovely terrace. I’d enlarge the sliding doors and use the entire length of this wall as your doorway made from glass. We could use bi-fold doors, or maybe even install a remote-operated lifting system. It would give you amazing light, seeing as the aspect is south-facing.’

‘If there’s a remote control involved, I’m sold,’ Daniel said, smiling broadly. He liked the sound of that. Holly then went on to show him some sketches of new furniture layouts for the living areas.

‘You did all this in under two hours? They’re amazing,’ Daniel said, incredulously. He thumbed through half a dozen hand-drawn sketches: new furniture plans incorporating some of his existing pieces with new bits he would never normally look twice at. It all worked though.

‘These are just my rough ideas, I’ll go away and polish up the sketches and generate some grander 3D visuals for you, when I have time. Then, if you want to go ahead, we can discuss the rest of the house, and of course my fee,’ Holly said in a businesslike fashion, completely ignoring his compliment.

‘That sounds like a good plan.’

‘Right. Well, if you don’t have any further questions, I’ll let you get back to your night of football,’ Holly said, and began to gather up her drawings and notes.

‘But you haven’t finished your wine yet,’ Daniel protested, feeling their goodbye was going to come sooner than he’d expected.

‘That was intentional,’ she said, smiling. ‘I can still drive, plus I’d better get Harry home. It’s already way past his bedtime.’

Stay.
That was what Daniel really wanted to say.
Please stay.
But Daniel never begged for anything, and he wasn’t going to start now.

‘If you’re sure,’ was all he said, giving her a semi-smile. ‘That’s the second time you’ve mentioned me watching football. How did you know that was my plan all along?’ he asked, interested to know.

‘Oh, please!’ she exclaimed, throwing her head up to the ceiling. ‘You
love
your football. Plus, I saw all your TV gadgetry in the living room. You’ve probably got half a dozen mid-week matches recorded to catch up on. You haven’t changed
that
much, you know.’

‘You have,’ he said with feeling.

‘I know,’ she responded in a small voice.

‘But your wine choices haven’t,’ Daniel added, trying to lighten the tone. How did the mood get so serious, so quickly? ‘Are you sure you won’t stay?’ There. He’d said it. Not exactly begging, but it wasn’t a million miles away.

‘Thanks for dinner, but I have to go. Harry?’ she called as she turned her back on Daniel and went to find the boy.

Daniel had carried a sleeping Harry to the car, and he’d said goodbye to Holly on friendly enough terms. He wasn’t even seriously miffed that she hadn’t stayed. Sure, her brushoff had stung, but he could see she was being ultra-careful with Harry around.

And Daniel had really enjoyed himself. Which surprised him. In his younger days, he could never in a million years have imagined that he would find pleasure in cooking and enjoying a nice meal with his wife and son. It seemed so simple. On paper, so boring. But the reality hadn’t been boring at all. It had been relaxed and cosy. Daniel found himself wondering that night, as he stayed up late, catching up on his beloved football, if he would experience the same warm feelings some day with Miranda.

What the hell was that noise?
That was the first thought to enter Daniel’s head at the godforsaken hour of six-thirty the following morning. When his sleep-addled mind eventually realised that the racket was coming from his phone, its next question was:
Who the hell is calling me at this godforsaken hour?

Daniel reluctantly opened one eye and then the other one as he slowly reached across to the nightstand for his offending mobile phone. He’d thought he’d put it on silent, as was his usual habit before he turned in, but judging by this persistent din, he obviously hadn’t. And it wasn’t even ringing—no, it was even more annoying than that: it was chiming every time he got a text message. And guessing by the continuous, frantic trill, he was going to have a veritable essay to read in text format. Must be a work emergency, he told himself, as he readied for whatever fires he was going to have to fight on his Saturday.

But it wasn’t a work emergency. It was Holly. And instead of putting the entirety of whatever it was she wanted to say in one text, she’d separated it out, line by line, into a long string of noisy, annoying texts. The woman was infuriating, Daniel thought to himself as he quickly scanned the messages—not really making much sense from them. She couldn’t even text in an agreeable manner, at a decent time of day. Daniel forced himself to go back to the beginning and read each one properly.

Sorry it’s early…

But was wondering if…

Harry left his DVD behind.

Can’t find it anywhere…

Maybe still in DVD player?

Fhjkfbksjdhfjk

Hdjfhksfjks

Shdfkjhsdkjfhsk

Ojekjkehfhjfhsjhvb

Hhhhhhhhhhh

Sorry…

That was Harry

Hijacked my phone

Cheeky little monkey
;)

Anyway…

If you could have a scout around

That would be great!

He’s desperate to know where its gone.

Anyway

Thanks

Oh

And thanks for dinner

Daniel counted up his messages. There were over twenty of them. Twenty messages to ask about a sodding DVD.

‘Seriously!’ he exclaimed loudly, tossing his phone onto the bed. His phone responded with a
ting,
signaling yet another text message.

‘What now?’ he said grumpily as he snatched up his phone once again to see what Holly wanted now.

Wish I was waking up with you this morning.

Daniel did a double take before it actually dawned on him that this last text had in fact been from Miranda, not Holly.

Ditto,
he typed quickly and sent in reply to his fiancée. Holly would just have to wait for a response—his small way of punishing her for waking him up so early. On a Saturday. He made sure to switch his phone onto its silent mode, pulled the duvet up around him, and went back to sleep to salvage what he could from his Saturday morning lie in.