The Day We Left by Caroline Bond

Author:Caroline Bond
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Corvus

Chapter 47

HE WENT WITHOUT WARNING, which was a considered tactic. He didn’t want to be told to go away.

His heart was banging in his chest, and his mouth felt like it was full of chalk dust when he rang the bell. As he waited, he thought about how she’d look. He imagined her in her PJs and her eyes dark-shadowed. Beautiful as ever, but sad. And he couldn’t help but imagine her surprise at seeing him. It would be awkward, he was prepared for that. How could it not be? There was stuff they’d have to work through. He would be patient, careful. He wanted to be patient – he’d been working on it. This was his opportunity to be there for her.

The door opened.

He was thrown.

Carrie looked – as she’d said in her texts – okay. More than okay, actually. She looked fine. Dressed in jeans and an oversized white shirt. Bare feet. Painted toenails. Some make-up. She never wore much, but what she wore was effective. Her eyes were her standout feature. Lively. Intelligent. Eyes that were framed by thick, peaked eyebrows. ‘Oli! Hi.’

‘Hi.’

‘I haven’t missed a message from you, have I?’

He felt suddenly unsure. ‘No. I just thought I’d call round. On the off-chance. I wanted to see… how you’re doing.’

‘I’m okay.’ Her voice was sparky, for his benefit or her own; either way, it was good to hear. He’d been standing at her door too long. This was not how he’d envisaged it going. Then she smiled. ‘Sorry. How rude. Come in. I’m having a beer, do you want one?’

He’d intended to stay away from the booze, he’d wanted to keep his sober inhibitions intact, but it would seem rude to refuse. ‘Yeah. Great. Thanks.’

He followed her through to the galley kitchen at the back of the tiny house she shared with another girl. Laura? Oli had never met her housemate. Carrie’s half-drunk Moretti was on the side. She fetched him one from the fridge, popped the cap and passed it to him. There was a chilli bubbling on the hob – food for more than one. She saw the direction of his glance. ‘A couple of friends are coming round. Lara’s out with Harry.’ Lara. He’d been close. There was a defiant lilt in her voice. ‘We thought we should line our stomachs before we go to the pub to drown our sorrows. You not got a date tonight?’ She turned away from him and reached for the rice, measured some out into a mug.

It felt important how he answered, but the awareness of that made him clumsy. ‘Me. Um, no.’

At that she raised an eyebrow, mocking. It hurt that she still had him stuck in player-mode. She chucked the rice into the pan. It hissed. She tasted the chilli, found it wanting, sprinkled some more cumin in. Oli watched her dance around the small space, moving out of her way as she opened drawers and cupboards, putting out bowls and cutlery. It felt warmly domestic.

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