‘I’ve got a few bits, thanks.’ He eyed the ingredients laid out in front of her. ‘What are you making?’
Kat shrugged, embarrassed at her lack of recipe knowledge. She knew what she had in front of her would combine to make a nice flavour, but that was as far as it went. ‘Umm, some sort of chicken gloop.’
‘Ah, my favourite.’ She didn’t miss the way Harry’s lips twitched in the corner.
He left the kitchen, returning a few moments later with an armful of clothes that he stuffed in the washer before turning it on. Kat tensed, half expecting him to try and take over but he seemed perfectly content to sit at the table, his long legs stretched out in front of him.
It was a bit intimidating trying to cook with him watching her, so Kat did what she always did when she was nervous and began to chatter. ‘So, I’m really happy with my room and I saw you’d cleared a shelf for me in the bathroom, which is great, thank you. I was wondering if maybe we should put together a few house rules. Nothing too serious, just a few guidelines to make things easier for each other.’ She tipped the chopped garlic and onions into the frying pan on the hob with a splash of oil and whacked up the heat underneath it.
‘Like what? Not getting undressed on the doormat?’
Kat felt her cheeks heat again. She wasn’t embarrassed, she’d just turned the burner up too high. She fiddled with the control and whisked the ingredients around the pan with a wooden spoon. ‘Well, yes, that would probably be a good starting point.’
‘Noted. What else?’
She glanced over her shoulder at him. ‘This isn’t supposed to be me imposing conditions on you, I was thinking more of a collaborative process, agreeing how we’re going to split the chores, paying the bills, that kind of thing.’
His ready smile fell. ‘I’m not really one for admin. Carmel used to do it all before she moved out. She helped me put everything on direct debits so it just comes out of my account.’
‘If you can let me know how much you pay, I’ll set up a regular payment into your account.’
He scratched his cheek. ‘Numbers aren’t really my strong point, either.’
Kat resisted the urge to sigh. She could understand why he was reluctant to discuss it, but this was getting them nowhere fast. ‘You have online banking?’ He nodded. ‘And you must get bills and statements.’
‘They send me emails. I check they don’t have anything in big red letters and that’s about it. I can have a look and forward you whatever I can find if you like.’
That would be a start. ‘Great. In fact we could probably set up an auto-forward rule on your email so anything in future comes to me.’
Harry laughed. ‘If you say so.’ He stood. ‘I’d better go get my laptop and you can perform whatever witchcraft you need to do.’
‘I hope you don’t think I’m being too pushy?’
He paused in the doorway and smiled at her. ‘Kitty, if you want to take over the admin stuff for the flat you can have it with bells on. You’d be doing me a big favour, I promise.’
While he set himself up at the kitchen table, Kat managed to brown the chicken, onions and garlic without burning anything, added it to a large earthenware pot with the rest of the ingredients and put it in the oven at 180°C, which was her default setting for pretty much everything. She kept waiting for Harry to say something but his attention was fixed on his screen.
Kat fetched her own laptop and in short order she had a spreadsheet set up to record and track their bills and set things up so she’d automatically get an email copy of everything she needed. A quick brainstorm and they’d also made a list of regular chores and agreed a fair distribution. She closed the laptop screen with a satisfied snap. ‘All sorted.’
Harry was watching her with that quirky smile. ‘Proper little admin queen, aren’t you?’
He probably meant it as a joke, but Kat began to worry she’d overstepped. ‘I just wanted to understand what my share of the costs was, I didn’t mean to take over.’
He pushed his laptop aside and folded his arms on the table. ‘I meant what I said before about you feeling like this is your home. You’re welcome here, Kat, just as you are. There are no tests to pass and it doesn’t matter if you aren’t the perfect housemate. I’m sure we’ll both do stuff that irritates the other person over the coming weeks but that’s part and parcel of sharing a space with someone.’
Kat knew he was only trying to be nice, but somehow it had the opposite effect. ‘I just don’t want to be a nuisance to you, that’s all.’
Harry shook his head. ‘You’re not a nuisance to me, quite the opposite. I want you here with me. I hated living on my own and you’ve already brought such warmth and light to the place. You have no idea what a gift it was to walk into the kitchen and find you cooking dinner.’
‘You haven’t tasted it yet,’ she joked, feeling awkwardly pleased at the idea she’d been able to make a small difference so soon.
Harry rolled his eyes. ‘Behave yourself, I’m sure it’ll be great. I’m not some kind of impossible-to-please diva, you know. I cook because I love it and it makes me feel good to seepeople enjoy what I make. But it’s really nice to not have that expectation sitting on my shoulders too, if that makes sense.’
It did. ‘I get it, I do, it’s just…’ She trailed off, wondering how to explain without sounding like a complete headcase. ‘I like to get things right so I overthink sometimes and then even basic stuff ends up feeling like a really big deal.’
‘You can’t live your life like that, Kat, worrying about what everyone else wants all the time, bending to fit in with them because you’re worried about how they’ll react. You have as much right to occupy this space as me, to ask for the things that you know will make you more comfortable.’ A deep furrow etched between his brows. ‘Is that what it’s been like at home for you all these years?’
The last thing she wanted to do was talk about her parents, so she stood and plastered on a semblance of a smile. ‘Not everyone got as lucky as you in the family lottery, Harry. I’d better check on dinner.’
