This London Love (32 page)

Olivia had also told her to get over herself and give Kate a call, because wouldn’t life be better with her than without her? Meg had grudgingly admitted that of course it would, but every time something had happened with them so far, some other obstacle had been thrown in her path. She was tired of building her hopes up and seeing them dashed, as she explained to Olivia.

Her mum had told her in no uncertain terms that she needed to toughen up, her disapproving look telling Meg she hadn’t raised her to give up so easily. Meg knew it was the truth. However, giving up was
so
much easier
.

Meg got up, threw on her soft cream dressing gown, stepped into her slippers and padded down the stairs to the kitchen. On the table sat some of Kate’s roses in a glass vase; the sunflowers and the rest of the roses were in a vase in the lounge. Meg put the kettle on, picked up a rose and inhaled its scent. Outside, the rain was lashing down again — at least her plants would be happy.

“Can I have one of those?”

Meg glanced up to see Tanya in the doorway, dressed in pyjama bottoms and a hooded sweatshirt.

“A rose?” Meg asked, before putting it back in the vase.

“I’d prefer a cup of tea.” Tanya sat down at the kitchen table. “What are you doing here, anyway? Who’s at the shop?”

“Jamie and Greg — I’m getting my first Saturday off in forever.”

“About time too. And did you over-order on the white roses? Never seen so many in the house when I came in last night.” Tanya yawned and ran her hand up and down the back of her head.

Meg shook her head as she added two teabags to the pot and turned around. “They were a gift actually — from Kate.”

Tanya raised an eyebrow. “Sending flowers to a florist — that’s brave or stupid, depending on how you look at it.” She pursed her lips. “Which way are you going?”

Meg smiled. “I think more brave.” She paused, then nodded. “Definitely brave.” She turned back to make the tea.

“So are you giving her another go?”

Meg chuckled. “You make her sound like a fairground ride.”

“I didn’t sleep with her, so I can’t possibly comment.” Tanya paused. “But are you?”

Meg didn’t say anything, instead making the tea and carrying the pot to the table, along with the mugs and the milk. She sat opposite Tanya and locked eyes with her.

“I don’t know, is the honest answer. Jamie thinks I should. Mum thinks I should. Even my dad has an opinion, which is
really
weird. But they’re not the ones in the firing line, are they?” She squeezed the teabags and shook the pot.

Tanya reached over the table and stopped Meg’s fiddling. “What are you waiting for exactly?” she asked. “I mean, we’ve been over for a while and
you rejected me
. I accept that. But now you meet someone who you like —
and I know you like her
— and you’re not willing to truly give it a try?”

“But look at how it’s gone so far.”

Tanya shrugged. “Pretty well, I’d say. So your dad’s seeing her mum — so what? You didn’t tell her about us — it happens. None of this is about me or your dad, though; it’s about you and what you want. And she clearly wants you if these roses are anything to go by.” Tanya sucked on her bottom lip. “We’re about to make a fresh start, and you could do that with Kate. Wouldn’t that be better? Better than sitting here in the rain, making endless pots of tea and wondering ‘what if’? And this isn’t something I say lightly — I’m just sick of seeing your moping face.”

Meg stared at Tanya and exhaled. She looked up at the clock on the wall, then back at her ex. Then Meg poured the tea and pushed a mug over the table to Tanya, before pouring her own.

Tanya clicked her fingers together and jumped up. “I nearly forgot,” she said, disappearing. She returned moments later with a small white envelope addressed to Meg. “I picked this up with my mail yesterday and only realised last night.” Tanya handed it to Meg. “No idea what it is.”

“Me neither.” Meg frowned, holding up the small envelope to the light, peering to see if she could solve the mystery. She didn’t recognise the writing. Meg sliced it open with her finger and pulled out a Sainsbury’s receipt with a Post-It note attached. The Post-It note read: ‘Never Forget x’. Meg’s breath caught in her throat and the corners of her mouth edged upwards.

Tanya screwed up her face. “What is it?”

“You know what, for the first time in a long time, you might just be talking sense.” Meg drummed her fingers on her mug, before standing up abruptly. “I have to get showered and get going.” She picked up her mug of tea, kissing Tanya on the cheek as she passed her.

***

An hour later and Lucy was carrying Jess’s final suitcase out to her car, groaning under its weight as she bumped it down the stairs.

Jess was standing in the kitchen, washing up her favourite black-and-white spotted mug.

Kate stood at the kitchen doorway, a favourite position where they’d shared many conversations in their time together.

“You really have been my favourite-ever flatmate, you know.” Kate didn’t want to get misty-eyed, but thought it might happen anyway. She fiddled with her white belt and sucked in her stomach.

Jess looked up at her sister-in-law. “And you mine. But we will see each other again, so let’s not get too maudlin, okay?”

Kate smiled. “I know.” She paused. “But now you’re heading off to live with your girlfriend, you do remember the faults you need to work on, right? Emptying the dishwasher, cleaning toothpaste off the sink, emptying the toaster-crumb tray. These are things that can irk a lover.”

Kate heard the steps being taken at double-quick speed and turned to see Lucy, whose hair was stuck to her face from the rain, her black coat shiny with rain drops.

“What’s irking me?” she asked, poking her head under Kate’s outstretched arm and squeezing past her to stand next to Jess.

“Jess’s many faults — but I’ll leave you to find them out in good time,” Kate said.

Lucy waved her hand. “It’s fine — we had this discussion and Jess assured me she was perfect, as am I, so it’s all good.” She paused, before turning to Jess. “Shall we get going with the first load? I’ve given up hoping the rain’s ever going to stop, so let’s just get this show on the road.” Lucy dangled her car keys from her thumb and index finger.

Jess bit her lip as she looked to Kate and then back to Lucy. “Let’s do it.”

Kate stepped back and ushered them out. “No tears this time around — we’ll leave that till you return, okay?”

Jess stepped forward and gave Kate a hug. “Deal.” But she gave Kate an extra-tight squeeze for good measure anyway, before grabbing her coat from the rack.

“Mind the bike!” Kate shouted at their backs.

***

Kate waited for the sound of Lucy’s engine to fade and then wandered out of the lounge and into the kitchen. She opened the fridge, where Jess’s shelf stood empty. Then Jess’s cupboard — same thing, bar a single can of baked beans. Had Jess decided beans were no longer in her diet now she was co-habiting with her girlfriend rather than her sister-in-law?

Kate scratched the back of her head as she walked down the hall and stood in the doorway to Jess’s room, bed stripped, wardrobe bare. A black bag of clothes and another of shoes stood waiting to be collected, along with two other boxes by the door. The room smelt of vanilla and coconut, Jess’s go-to scents.

Kate recalled Jess moving in, just back from Australia, sad, jobless and single, her possessions then easily fitting into the back of her dad’s car. But nearly two years in London had seen her acquire a job, a girlfriend and possessions that required two trips even with Lucy’s back seat down — that’s what putting down roots meant. More stuff to cart about.

Kate walked down the hall and made herself a cup of coffee — just instant now there was only one of her to make it for. She walked through to the lounge and switched on the TV, listening to the rain hurl itself onto the pavement in violent patterns — it wasn’t giving up today.

So what could she do to cheer herself up? What would do the trick? Her mind was blank as she stared at a football show on the TV.

A bike ride perhaps? Too wet.

Go up to see her sister? But that would go dangerously near to Fabulous Flowers, where Meg would be. Sure, she couldn’t avoid the area for the rest of her life, but perhaps just for today.

Perhaps she’d get the tube and visit Dawn and Nick — they could go for a pub lunch. She picked up her phone and sent Dawn a text.

A shower, a coffee and a bacon sandwich. It was a plan.

Kate would make today a success if it was the last thing she did.

***

Meg clip-clopped down the stairs, her black tote bag banging against her hip as she did. Her hair was springy, her make-up perfect, her attitude gung-ho. She had everything crossed that this bubble didn’t burst before she turned up at Kate’s front door, because Meg was going to need every ounce of courage to follow this one through. As she grabbed her jacket from the rack, Meg heard a chair scrape back in the kitchen.

Tanya appeared in the doorway, a half-eaten piece of toast in her hand. “Look at you,” she said, sweeping her eyes up and down Meg. “Ready for battle?”

They exchanged a knowing glance.

“As I’ll ever be.” Meg paused. “How do I look?” Meg puffed out her chest.

Tanya smiled. “Like a million dollars.” She stepped forward and hugged Meg to her, planting a kiss on her cheek. “Now go get your girl.”

Meg put up her umbrella — this weather was getting worse by the minute and was definitely not part of the script. But seeing as she’d yet to write the script, she figured it was all part of life’s rich tapestry. Today, she was going with her heart, trying to drown out the panicked voice telling her not to take a chance. And it was Tanya, her ex, of all people, who’d finally persuaded her — that, and the Sainsbury’s receipt. The house was sold and they were moving on. But would Kate be ready to move on with her? Meg could only hope.

Water splashed around Meg’s leather boots as she skipped along the pavement, the bricks of the surrounding houses weeping in the damp grey morning. A fine mist hung in the air and swiped her face as she walked towards the tube — her hair was going to be a flat mess by the time she arrived at Kate’s place.

She got a seat on the tube and sat in silence as the train rumbled its way through London’s basement tunnels. Meg’s eyes flicked over adverts for religious conventions, takeaway meals and online dating sites, but her brain took none of it in. All she was thinking about was Kate, what she might or might not say, how she would react to Meg finally deciding she wanted in. Kate had to say yes, didn’t she? It was the only outcome Meg’s brain was entertaining today.

Meg reached Kate’s stop and rode the giant escalators up to street level, jostling shoulders with tourists and Londoners alike. Once outside, she put her umbrella up and strode purposefully towards Kate’s flat. Within seconds, a gust of wind took hold of her umbrella and turned it inside out. Meg swore and tried to turn the umbrella back the right way. It refused. She wrestled with it for a few minutes, before giving it up as a bad job and depositing the umbrella in a nearby bin. So much for her carefully coiffured appearance. Her heart sunk, but then she rallied as she rounded the corner of Kate’s road, rain running down her face.

One thing was for sure — Meg was about to find out how much Kate
really
liked her.

***

Before she knew it, Kate heard the doorbell ring — Jess must have left her keys. Typical.

Kate rolled her eyes and trotted down the stairs. “Trust you to forget your keys!” she said, pulling the door wide.

But instead of Jess and Lucy standing on the doorstep in the rain, she was faced with Meg. Getting wetter by the second as the rain dripped down her face in tiny little rivulets.

Kate simply stared. “What are you doing here?” As first lines went, it wasn’t her most romantic, or even original.

Meg stared right back, before rubbing her face. “I’ve come to give you a rose. We had a rush on in the shop yesterday — we got an extra 24 delivered.” She rummaged in her bag and produced one of Kate’s roses. “So I brought you one. The rest you’ll get when you come over to mine.”

Meg’s hair was flat against her face and she was soaked to the skin. In Kate’s eyes, she radiated beauty.

Kate took the rose. “I’m coming over to yours?”

Meg nodded. “If everything goes according to plan. Which of course it
totally is
. My first plan was to come here, break my umbrella, get soaking wet and stand on your doorstep in the rain looking bedraggled — and that part has gone like
absolute clockwork
.” Meg gave Kate a lop-sided smile, before wiping some rain out of her eyes.

Kate stepped back. “Sorry — do you want to come in?”

“I don’t know.” Meg stumbled over her words. “Do you want me to?”

There was silence on the doorstep, the only sound being the steady boom of the rain on the pavement, the outside traffic and their hearts stamping an insistent beat.

Before Kate knew what she was doing, she was nodding slowly. Her heart had taken over, and seeing Meg looking like such a drowned rat only made her melt that little bit more. Warmth oozed through her body like hot chocolate.