‘Let me guess … Alfie?’
Alice could practically see the Cheshire cat smile creep on to Sarah’s face.
‘Have you spoken to him since he left hospital?’
‘No.’ Alice wanted to move off this subject as quickly as possible. ‘And I don’t want to.’
‘Well, you know what I think, don’t you?’
‘Go on …’ Alice was grateful she’d moved on but could sense the hint of mischief in her voice.
‘I think you should file for an insurance claim against your office building’s maintenance company, get a massive payout, and come and stay with me in Australia! Fuck staying in miserable London!’
Alice laughed. ‘And then you build me a granny flat and I become a permanent third wheel?’
‘I’m serious! OK, maybe not about the granny flat, but I’ve been thinking about it. I even asked Raph and he said you’d have a good chance of winning a case.’
Oh shit, she really was serious.
‘Thanks, but I can’t think about that right now. Maybe let’s prioritize me leaving my flat first? Small steps and all that.’
‘Fine. But if you want advice, Raph is more than happy to chat.’
Alice knew that it wasn’t fine and that Sarah wouldn’t be letting this go any time soon.
‘OK, thank you. Anyway … fill me in on life in Oz. What’s new?’
As Sarah launched into a full-blown day-by-day account of her life, Alice let her mind wander.
She was finding it hard to slot back neatly into her life as it had been before the accident – maybe, just maybe, that wasn’t the answer.
Maybe she did need to create a new life.
A new life surrounded by the people who loved her.
Alfie.
Sarah’s words flashed in front of her eyes.
He loves you. You know he does.
Alice hated how every time she thought of him, any hope she held about meeting up with him would be extinguished by the cynicism. How could he have loved her without ever seeing her? That was the work of movies and fiction. Plus, evenifhe did, Alice was certain that love would disappear the moment he laid eyes on her. She needed to forget him. And if she wanted to move on and away to the other side of the world, she needed to forget him fast.
67
Alfie
‘Sweetheart, are you sure you’re doing OK? You haven’t come over in weeks and we can barely get hold of you on the phone.’
This was exactly why Alfie had been avoiding her; it hurt too much to hear how deeply his mum cared. It also made the guilt one hundred times worse.
‘Sorry, I’m just so caught up with planning my return to work that I can’t seem to keep track of time.’
No. The lying was why he avoided her. He hated lying to her.
She paused. He could already sense the hesitation.
‘It’s just, we actually got a phone call from your headteacher … Mr Wilson.’
