Outside, a car passes on the lane. Its headlights drag briefly across the ceiling, and then they’re gone.
I scoop the fat cat up into my arms before tipping the lighter fluid onto his body. Just before I leave, I tuck the cord and all my belongings into the long pockets of my coat, the cat surprisingly well behaved in my hands.
The last thing I do is take a match and set Pete alight.
TWENTY-SIX
KAT
I’ve only just gotLiam out of the flat when Ellie comes home after staying out for the night. Not a wholly unusual occurrence, but she doesn’t usually come home with flowers.
I’ve been so wrapped up in everything going on with me that I’ve barely asked about her. She swishes past me, looking for a vase, which we definitely don’t possess, and smells like unfamiliar washing powder.
‘Did you have a good night?’ I ask, pulling out a lemonade bottle and cutting the top off for her. She stands across from me and unwraps the flowers, looking a little bashful.
Very unlike her.
‘I’m seeing someone,’ she says.
‘Who?’
‘Well, don’t laugh, because he’s not my usual type, but it’s Sam.’
‘Coffee shop Sam?’
What the fuck?
I can’t exactly lead withWhat the hell are you doing with himwhen I’m banging a guy whose face I haven’t seen in years.But Sam?
‘Yeah. Don’t look at me like that. I know he’s not my usual type, but maybe that’s not a bad thing.’
‘He watches you like a hawk. And he’s rude to me.’
‘He’s just shy. But he’s so present. Like he actually cares about what I think and how I feel. That’s not how guys normally leave me feeling.’
‘I…’ Well, what can I say? I don’t like him? Bar pouring me coffee, I don’t even know him. ‘As long as he’s good to you, then I’m happy for you.’
She smiles while popping flowers into the makeshift jug as I pour a few mugs’ worth of water into it to weigh it down.
‘You seem different too,’ she says. ‘These last couple of weeks, you’ve not been yourself.’
I think about the right way to answer that.
‘Essays, you know.’ I say.
‘Maybe we need to go out and get you laid.’
She clearly hasn’t noticed the vast uptake in my cleaning of the place. Every time Liam comes over, we find new ways to end up with cum or sweat on something. I’m going toneed shares in bleach at this point.
‘I’m okay,’ I say. ‘But thank you.’
‘I’m going to grab a shower,’ she says, and I watch her go, trying to imagine her and Sam even conducting a conversation, far less ending up in bed…
I can’t see it, but he must be special to have hooked Ellie, the original single and proud party girl.
Ellie and I take a walk in the park in the afternoon, wrapped up to our ears in coats and scarves to fight off the biting chill.
It’s worth the two buses and the busy station in between to get to the park across the city. In the leafy suburbs, surrounded by people walking sausage dogs and ruddy-cheeked children rather than the far less cheery-looking people in the park close to the university.
