When I got home from work, I found a note he’d left saying he was going to bathe Alfie and read him a bedtime story. At the bottom, he’d underlined the words,I will be back for our bed-sharing, so don’t fall asleep. His note had given me a burst of much-needed happiness.
‘It was okay,’ he says, with an optimistic tone to his voice. ‘Rory was home. It was a little awkward, but after, I avoided going into town and went to play Xbox at Jamie’s flat.’ He laughs. ‘I took out all my frustration on the aliens in Jamie’s new game.’
‘How was Alfie?’
Oliver chuckles. ‘He always makes me laugh. It’s nice to be back doing baths and bedtime.’
That’s odd – why did he use the words ‘be back’?
I’m about to question him when he answers for me. ‘Molly banned me the other week from seeing Alfie. It was after I’d argued with Rory in a pub and he punched me on the nose.’
‘I see. Did Rory start the fight?’
He shakes his head. ‘Rory made a comment about how he picks up Alfie from nursery. It made me cross. I tried to punch him, but I missed. He tried to calm me down, so I went in for another punch. Rory blocked it and gave me a whack to the nose.’
‘Oh…’
‘Molly had every right to ban me from seeing Alfie. Fighting has never been one of my strengths, Nelly.’
‘Perhaps you should stick to things you are good at.’
He pauses. ‘Then, later in a club, I decided to go home with his sister.’
We both go silent. The thought of Oliver getting intimate with Rory’s sister makes me feel uncomfortable. I turn away from the pillow wall and face the opposite side.
‘I didn’t sleep with her. I stopped myself just in time. It was a stupid revenge tactic.’
His words send my stomach on a nauseating spin. I remind myself that just because Oliver and I share a bed, it doesn’t mean he can’t still sleep with other women.
‘It wouldn’t have been right to sleep with her just because I was angry at Rory and Molly for not letting me see Alfie.’
Another silence follows. I think about what he’s told me. At least he could see it was wrong and he stopped himself. In a lot of my visions, I rarely see such restraint when it comes to affairs of the heart.
‘Nelly? Are you asleep over there?’
‘No,’ I say in a quiet voice.
‘I didn’t fancy her. Rory’s sister.’
I rearrange my pillow and turn away from the wall.
‘I’ve apologised to her since then,’ he says, making me lift my head from my pillow and look over in the direction of the wall. ‘She has accepted my apology.’
He’s taken responsibility for the pain he’s caused. ‘That’s good, Oliver,’ I say softly.
We both go silent for ages. Just as I think he’s fallen asleep, he says, ‘Nelly, I’ve been thinking again about all the people who once lived in this house.’
‘I am warning you. It’s addictive.’
I hear him pat his pillow. ‘I am imagining a romance between a footman and a maid years ago.’
‘Are you switching genres?’
He chuckles. ‘This is an exclusive. Don’t tell my agent.’
‘Do you have names for your footman and maid characters?’
He pauses for a few moments. ‘John and Mary. John’s new to the house. He carries coal up three flights of stairs to see Mary, the maid who has caught his eye.’
