Sleeping Arrangements by Madeleine Wickham

Author:Madeleine Wickham [Wickham, Madeleine]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin

CHAPTER NINE

They seemed to have been lying still in the silence for an eternity. Half conscious, half asleep.

Entwined in a shared warmth, as the air gradually cooled around them. When Chloe blinked, stirred and looked around, she saw that the room, along with everything else, had changed.

The bright, white light had turned to something more mellow. Long golden shadows were stretching across the floor. Outside, the guitars had stopped playing; some Spanish girls were laying the tables for dinner and chatting to one another.

For a moment she felt too heavy to move. She felt slow and torpid and reluctant. Glimmer-ing on the horizon of her brain was the knowledge that there was a world outside this room; an existence she didn't want to apprehend or acknowledge. For a few minutes she lay quite still, staring at the ceiling, floating in unreality.

Then, with the strength of will that had carried her through life, she sat up. Without looking at Hugh she stood up and walked slowly over to where her dress had been discarded on the floor. Her new tight black dress. As she picked it up, she knew she didn't want to put it on; that its overt, tawdry appeal would grate on her now. But she had no choice, she had nothing else to wear.

'Chloe.' Hugh's voice hit the back of her head. 'Chloe, what are you doing?'

She turned back towards the bed, still holding the dress and looked at him silently for a moment, then said, 'I'm getting dressed.'

'No,' said Hugh. His darkening eyes met hers. 'Not yet.' Chloe closed her eyes briefly.

'We have to go. I have to go.' She picked up her underwear and looked at it for a moment, then sat down on the edge of the bed. Hugh came forward and put a hand on her shoulder.

'Don't go,' he said. 'Don't perform your vanishing act. Not this time.'

'What do you mean?' said Chloe irritably. 'What vanishing act?'

'You always used to disappear.' Hugh leaned forward and kissed her neck. 'You used to get dressed in the dark. Disappear into the night. I didn't even know where you were going.'

He trailed a hand down to her breast and gently circled her nipple. 'The thing I wanted most of all was to sleep all night with you. But you always left me. You always rushed away.'

Chloe slowly turned to face him.

'I always rushed away,' she said, and gave an incredulous laugh. 'That's really good, Hugh.' She pulled away from him and stood up. 'I rushed away.'

Her words pierced the warm air like a challenge. Like the first incision. Suddenly the atmosphere between them seemed tighter, as though someone had pulled a string and closed a window. Averting her face from Hugh's steady gaze, Chloe located her shoes and placed them side by side on the floor, ready to step into; ready to walk away. She stared at them and felt emotion bubbling at the surface of her eyes. Fifteen years' worth of emotion, pressing like hot hands at her cheeks and mouth, threatening to pull her apart.

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