Isla left her water bottle at mine yesterday. I can swing by with it later, if you like
Sophie
LOL, you don’t have to drive forty minutes here and forty minutes back to drop off a water bottle. I had a spare. She took that to school today. It’s fine
Right. Of course it’s fine. Aye, I was hardly going to drive eighty bloody minutes to return a water bottle. I just... wouldn’t have minded seeing my wee girl for five minutes. Which is ridiculous, given I saw her only yesterday.
Sophie
Anyway, how’s the salon job going?
Struan
Good. The owner’s a bit prickly but the work’s straightforward
Sophie
Prickly? That’s not like you. Usually you charm everyone within five minutes
Struan
Maybe I’m losing my touch
Sophie
Ha! When pigs fly
Struan
Give Isla a kiss from me when you pick her up from school?
Sophie
Mei’s picking up Isla today, but I’ll give her one when I see her x
Struan
Okay. Cheers x
Mei is Sophie’s girlfriend. She’s great. I mean, sure, it took me aweewhile to get used to it when things between them got more serious. It shifted the dynamic a bit. But we’ve settled into a decent routine now.
I finish my sandwich. “Right, I’m going to head back to work. Mind if I put some music on?”
Ainsley waves a hand without looking up. “Whatever you like.”
I connect my phone to my portable speaker and queue up some Fleetwood Mac. “Dreams” fills the space, mellow and familiar. Ainsley doesn’t object, which I take as a win.
The afternoon settles into a rhythm. Sand, wipe, check for rough spots, repeat. Ainsley types and clicks and occasionally makes these tiny frustrated sounds she probably doesn’t realiseshe’s making. Once, passing the kitchenette, I catch her tapping her foot to “Go Your Own Way”.
“Would you like a cup of tea?” she asks after a while, peering out from the back. Her voice is polite but formal, like she’s ticking a box rather than offering an olive branch.
“Aye, please. Milk, one sugar.”
She nods and disappears again. A minute later she returns, coming over to pass me the mug. She rotates it just so, making sure I take the handle, as if determined our fingers won’t brush. I accept it with a nod of thanks and we go back to our separate tasks.
We don’t speak. The atmosphere isn’tfrosty, but it isn’t exactly companionable either. Just... focused.
The peace holds for another hour. Then?—
