Lifesaver by Voss Louise

Author:Voss, Louise [Voss, Louise]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Louise Voss
Published: 2011-12-10T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 21

I drove down to Gillingsbury, visited every estate agency I could find, and viewed three properties: a flat above a bookies’ (too seedy); a studio in a converted church (too small); and a place actually in Wealton, a first floor flat overlooking the duckpond (a definite possibility). It was a start.

When I got home again, I hid all the property details under the mattress, and rang Adam, on the spurious pretext that I was checking to see if the group dinner was still happening that Saturday. I’d felt irrationally disappointed that I hadn’t bumped into him or Max as I’d trailed round after Josh the agent in his too-big grey suit and bum fluff. At first, an answerphone message clicked on, and my throat tightened to hear Max’s little voice on the tape: ‘I’m too busy playing to come to the phone. Leave us a message instead’ - but before I could speak, Max was cut off and Adam’s voice interrupted with a brusque ‘Hello?’

‘Hi. It’s Anna.’

I paused, testing him, waiting for his own pause: the furrowed brow that could be sensed through a phone line. But he didn’t fail me, he jumped right in without hesitation, and it gave me a wriggling sensation of pleasure in my belly:

‘Anna! How are you? Lovely to hear from you.’ It was in his voice, that certain tone that you only heard when someone fancied you; a smiling warmth that screamed I REALLY LIKE YOU. I realized, with something approaching horror, that the same tone was in my own voice. I also realized that it had been a long time since Ken had spoken to me like that.

‘Great. I’m fine. Thanks. How’s Max?’

‘Oh, full of beans. Back to school this week.’

Then, something happened: we started talking. From a tiny acorn of small talk I suddenly felt as if I were standing beneath the great leafy branches of an oak tree of real conversation. In twenty minutes we’d encompassed Max; the vagaries of infant school library book selection; Mitch’s unenviable personal habits; the mosaic panels; the state of art education in the country as a whole; the state of the British theatre; my “new job” on the cable soap and Adam’s impressed congratulations. Each new branch growing seamlessly from the trunk of the call.

Without noticing, I’d taken the phone through to the living room and was lying sprawled out on the sofa, my leg hooked over the back of it, utterly at ease. I heard the unfamiliar sound of myself laughing, and imagined in my nostrils the sweet earthy smell of Adam’s hug from the other night. Uh-oh, I thought. I’m in trouble here. I could have talked to him all day. Part of me started to worry that I was keeping him from something more important, while another part of me started to worry about how much I wanted another of those hugs.

‘Right. Well, I suppose I’d better let you go. I was just ringing about—‘

‘Anna, I know I’ll see you at

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