The Paris Trip: A feel-good, laugh-out-loud romantic comedy by Beth Good

Author:Beth Good [Good, Beth]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Thimblerig Books
Published: 2024-05-09T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

‘I need you to put these on, if you don’t mind.’ Leo deposited a pile of clothing in front of Maeve, a strange look in his face. ‘Don’t worry… I’ll step outside while you change. I’ll get us some coffee, how’s that?’

‘You don’t happen to have tea, do you?’ Maeve asked, verging on desperation after days of coffee drinking. ‘With a dash of milk?’

Leo pulled a face. ‘I think we probably have tea somewhere in the house. And milk. But I can’t guarantee that it will taste anything like what you think of as “tea”.’

‘As close as you can get it would be fantastic, thank you,’ Maeve said, aware of a ridiculous desire to fall on her knees and beg for tea. ‘Addiction is a funny thing, isn’t it?’

‘Hilarious.’

‘Am I being intolerably British?’

‘Not at all,’ he said politely. ‘Get changed. I’ll do my best to produce some drinkable tea.’

Once he’d gone, Maeve’s troubled gaze dropped to the clothes he’d left in front of her. They were very, um, colourful. She picked them up and examined them at arms’ length. The material was flimsy, screaming orange and scarlet… Some kind of robe? Plus what appeared to be a matching headscarf or bandanna. And a pair of dangly earrings. Thankfully, they were clip-on, for although she wore studs in her ears, she didn’t fancy sticking second-hand earrings in there.

It was like putting on clothes from a childhood fancy dress box. Or picking a bold new look and reinventing herself.

Why on earth did he want her to wear these? Presumably he had some vision in mind for his painting. But it wouldn’t be a vision that matched up to her personality.

Well, she had agreed to help him out in return for bed and board, so it would be mean-spirited now to back out. Hurriedly, she pulled off the summer frock that Bernadette had so kindly lent her, which was tighter-fitting than all the other clothes in her meagre store. Then she cautiously wriggled and shrugged her way into the brightly-coloured robe that he wanted her to wear, all diaphanous, multi-layered folds, like a fairy costume or something out of a pantomime.

There was a full-length mirror on the wall. She did a twirl in the bright costume, arms wide, staring at herself, and was astounded by her reflection. She didn’t look like Maeve anymore.

She wasn’t entirely sure what she looked like instead, of course.

But not herself. Maeve had gone.

And in her place was this strange, exotic, floaty creature.

Feeling a bit out of her depth, she clipped on the dangly silver earrings and arranged the bandanna about her head. It was orange and blue, a truly violent combination.

But if this was what he wanted…

Now she looked odd. There was no other word for it. And something else… Yes, she looked daring. Pirate girl meets Kate Bush. As though she would do anything. Be anyone.

Apart from Maeve, that was.

How her colleagues at school would chuckle to see her in this outlandish outfit. They would point and make jokes.

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