I find a release after her and it’s almost painful. She wraps her legs around me when I collapse next to her, careful that she doesn’t take my weight. For what feels like forever we hold each other, saying nothing, just being.
“I should use the bathroom.”
“That’s a polite way to say it.” I chuckle and release my grip on her.
“You can sleep in the wet patch!”
“Don’t I always?” I move, shifting the sheets so we’ll both be comfortable.
I hear her milling about the bathroom, the toilet flushing and then quiet which means she’s probably applying some lotion or something.
“Do you think it strange that Elise turned up today?” She raises her voice just enough so I can hear.
“No.”
The bathroom door opens and Blair reappears wearing one of my t-shirts, her face clean of any make-up and her eyes now tired.
“I was. I didn’t think I’d see her. Not for a while anyway.”
“She hasn’t got what she wanted. She’ll be buzzing round until she has.”
Blair crawls into bed and sinks into the mattress. It’s been something of an experience sleeping on it, given what it was used to.
When I was with someone in bed before, the wholeafterwardsescaped me. If we had to spend the night together, I did it asleep or fucking. No talking, not beyond telling them what I wanted to do to them and how.
Not this.
I pull her into my chest and wait for her to settle. Today has been enough. Everything has been enough.
“Sum Elise up in three words.” I don’t want to tell Blair what I think of her friend before she does. Even I have enough sense to know that’s one way of saying kick my balls into my stomach.
“Ambitious. Self-centred. Caring.” She looks up at me from lying on my chest. “What do you think of her?”
“Pretty much what you’ve said. She worries me.” It isn’t just me she worries.
“Why? She isn’t dangerous.”
“Think about it: she was going to become queen. Now she’s back to being just your friend and she has no standing; she’s completely reliant on your friendship. I don’t think she’s going to let go of her ambition that easily.” It’s a lot of words for an evening.
“Maybe you’re right. She was thrown by Ivy.”
“Everyone’s thrown by Ivy.”
I feel her relax.
“Elise said that she didn’t know Isaac had a sister. How much did she have to do with Isaac?”
“She spent time with your brother while he was in London with Goldsmith. Isaac was probably around for some of that.”
“I wonder what Isaac thinks of Elise.”
I laugh quietly. “Not much that he’d say. I don’t think he trusts her.”
“I’m not sure I do. But I’ve known her so long.”
“So you should know if to trust her or not. And if you don’t think you can, then don’t. It’s too dangerous. She could be dangerous.”
“You think she is.”
