Early next morning, Aria liberally sprayed anti-perspirant she knew cost a fortune onto her armpits, swooshing some behind her ears while she was at it.
Using his delicious-smelling soap to clean nails still clogged from pottering in her garden yesterday afternoon, she wiped her hands on a plush grey towel before straightening it up. There was little point in scrubbing till they were spotless, as she would have to tackle a much bigger garden this morning, but she didn’t come across products like this very often. The floor-length mirror allowed her to see herself for the first time in a while. Standing naked in front of it, she viewed a top-heavy woman with a slightly bigger butt and hips than she’d like. She could not pull off the sylph-like sass of Sophie, who managed to hold down two jobs without any limbs getting in the way, but overall she didn’t hate herself. She thought about what an unlikely friendship that had been, even back at school. Sophie was popular, always the centre of attention with her mad stories, whereas Aria had been continually told off for not putting her hand up in class. Was she confident enough to act her way through an evening withSophie’s mum, who was as sharp and outspoken as her daughter? Straightening her hair and throwing on her work uniform of t-shirt, dungarees and sweatshirt, she prepared to re-enter paradise showing no sign of her insecurities. They’d agreed to have the first getting-to-know-each-other session, of several Nic had scheduled, before she headed off to work. He was convinced these held the key to convincing Donna they were in love and they’d made a list of things to discuss last night. Nic was sitting on the floor, his laptop on the low coffee table, when she entered the airy open-plan room. She was touched when he abandoned his work to make her some toast. He poured them both a coffee from a pot he’d made earlier, and she probed more about the pictures he’d put up around the house. ‘Manga, right?’
He nodded. ‘Book covers and art boards.’
‘You collect them? Are they valuable?’
‘Some of them are. They can be hard to get hold of if they’re rare or signed by certain artists. Most are kept by publishers or returned to the creators. I’ve spent a lot of time sourcing them on my travels and via the internet.’
She smiled. ‘That’s the kind of deep interest we need to explore. As well as other things. Favourite food? Favourite colour? What car would you drive if money was no object? Oh, no forget that. You can afford any car you like.’
‘I can if these deals go through, Aria.’
‘Hmm. Do you have any tattoos?’
He shook his head and confessed his fear of needles, before turning the question back on her. When she shook her head, he asked her what she’d choose if she decided to take theplunge. Then he lifted his coffee and the iPad from the breakfast bar and led her to the sofa. ‘We need to be systematic about this as we only have a limited amount of time. Maybe start with low-hanging fruit as we could probably spend an entire year discussing our stances on politics or climate change. Imagine trying to compare our views on the economic divide between the west and Africa? You might start an argument about colonialisation? Cite lack of investment? Or you might tattoo “I don’t care much either way” across your forehead.’
Sitting down, she placed a cushion behind her back to make herself more comfy. ‘Was that query about economics or body art? It wasn’t clear. Maybe we are answering the question before the one just asked?’ she said playfully. ‘In that case I’d choose a four-leaf clover.’
He narrowed his eyes. ‘Are you cheating by ducking out of a difficult question?’
‘Nope, I’d answer your Africa query with “promoting fair trade not aid, giving locals agency and investing in infrastructure and education.”’ She laughed, hoping this game might bring them closer together.
‘So, tell me, why did you agree to faking your whole life this week?’ he asked.
She dutifully answered his previous query. ‘I never cheat and always try to tackle difficult questions head on.’
‘But you were perfectly willing to move into my house to trick a respectable council member into believing we are engaged?’ He paused to think about his next question as she giggled. ‘What’s your best attribute?’
She mentally spooled back to the question before. ‘I’m broke and homeless.’
‘You might need to rethink your personal branding,’ he teased. ‘OK another one.’ He waited a beat, as if weighing up the impact of his question. ‘What do you fantasise about?’
She didn’t try to hide her surprise as she thought for a second and then grinned. ‘My massive boobs,’ she said.
He was quick to reply, his eyebrows shooting up in mock shock. ‘You’re sounding quite narcissistic, Aria.’
‘Is that a question?’
‘No, it’s a judgement.’ He laughed again. Getting into this now, she gripped the edge of her seat waiting for his next one.
‘Favourite animal? Followed by favourite country.’
Inspiration came to her in a rush. ‘Armadillo. Oh no – we’re answering the question before. It was the sex question, wasn’t it? Ha ha, an armadildo!’ She slammed her coffee cup on the table. Collapsing into giggles, she was gratified he seemed to find it funny, even though she’d gone off on one. ‘Sorry, I couldn’t resist.’
He looked at the coffee table where she’d laid out pens and paper. ‘Are these for our brainstorm?’
‘Am I allowed to answer this question with something other thanItaly?’
He laughed. ‘Yep. We’ve moved on.’
She looked more serious. ‘I have to go to work soon, but I thought, after I get back, we could do some mind-mapping. It always worked for me when I was doing my revision. Not that I was a winner at exams.’
‘We can share our qualifications later,’ he smiled. ‘Get your stuff and I’ll drop you off at work. But before you go, I’ve been thinking about that contract. Hand on my heart, I can’t meet your demands about the marina. It’s such a vital piece of the jigsaw and important to the success of the whole development. But I am really happy to agree to the rest, and I think I can add value to your campaign with a few suggestions and contacts. I’m going to go a bit left-field here and propose we put the idea of a contract on hold. Are you up for trusting each other? Instead of an NDA just zipping it?’ He drew a line across his mouth and clamped his lips shut. ‘I am very discreet, and I think we both lose if word gets out of our duplicity.’
***
Arriving at the big house, Aria looked back on the last couple of hours. She’d seen a different side to Nic. And before he’d dropped her off, he’d consulted her on dinner tonight.
