5
The following evening,Carole was testing paint samples on the living room wall when her doorbell rang. After popping the miniature brush back inside the paint capsule, she answered the door to find Tom on her doorstep.
“Hi, Carole,” he said, then noticed the paint rag she was wiping her hands with. “Sorry, have I caught you at a bad time?”
“No, I was doing some paint colour tests on the walls, but I’m just about finished.”
“I wanted to offer you some of these fairy cakes,” Tom said, now holding out the plastic box in his hands. “Evie made so many when she was here yesterday, and I’ll never eat them all. I should’ve thought to hand a few of them over the fence last night when we were talking.”
Carole saw the collection of cakes inside the box, each one drenched in thick icing and bright sprinkles.
“Those look lovely. Come in and I’ll pop the kettle on.”
She beckoned him inside and through to the kitchen. After filling the kettle and setting the pretty little cakes onto a plate, she said, “Would you mind giving me a second opinion on the paint samples I’ve just dabbed all over my living room wall?”
“Of course.”
Tom followed her to the living room, which looked out onto the street. Carole had brushed the paint samples onto the fireplace wall, and they both stood for a moment contemplating the four colours dabbed there.
“So, I’m getting rid of this old fireplace,” Carole explained, pointing to the dated electric fire which was horribly noisy when it was turned on, and which she’d be glad to see the back of. “I’ve got someone coming during the week to take it out and deal with the electrical connections in the wall behind it. I’m thinking of getting a small media unit instead with some in-built storage and decent lighting, to make things look more contemporary.”
“Sounds like a great idea,” Tom said.
“Once this fireplace is gone, I want to be ready to start painting, because until I’ve redecorated in here and chosen a new unit for the space, I’m not unpacking any of the stuff I’d usually have in this room.”
“Makes sense.”
“I like all of these paint colours,” Carole said, gesturing to the samples she’d painted on the wall. The shades ranged from blush pink to primrose yellow to sky blue to sage green. “I want something light and airy, and I’m leaning towards the pink, which looks great there right now, but I wonder if I might feel differently about it in the winter months when the room is much darker because it’s north facing. What are these rooms like during darker days, in your experience?”
Tom considered the samples on the wall for a moment before answering. “It’s true that this part of the house will feel darker in the winter. That’s my experience living next door, at least. I think that sage green shade might feel surprisingly dark in the winter, and if it was me, I’d stick to either the pink or the blue.”
“You don’t like the yellow?”
“Is it yellow? I thought it was cream. Maybe if it were yellower, I’d like it, but that’s just my taste.”
Carole considered the paint samples. “Hmm, now that you’ve said it, I can see it does look more creamy than yellowy. I was leaning towards the pink anyway. Do you think it will look too cold during the winter? Pink can be that way sometimes.”
“Listen, I’m no interior design expert, but I like the pink and blue. Either will work, I’m sure of it.”
Carole nodded. “I just really, really don’t want to end up with a room that feels dark in the winter. The walls in my ex’s house were all grey—light grey, dark grey, medium grey—and it was much too dark and gloomy for me.”
“I don’t think you’ll end up with a gloomy room if you choose the pink or the blue.”
“Thanks, I appreciate the advice.”
The kettle finished boiling and they returned to the kitchen. Carole felt encouraged by Tom’s advice. It was nice having someone handy who she could bounce her ideas and plans off, someone who lived in the same sort of house as she now did and who could share some useful knowledge with her. She might only be debating a paint colour for a living room, but it was important to her that she get it right, after living in her ex’s gloomy grey house for so many years.
“It looks good in here,” Tom said, taking in the white walls of the kitchen. “Is this the redecorating you’d just finished last night when we got talking?”
Carole nodded as she stirred the teabags in the mugs.
“Well, you know what you’re doing. You’ll have this whole place brightened up in no time.”
Tom accepted the mug she handed him. When she waved the plate of cakes towards him, he shook his head.
“Come on, I’m not about to stuff my face with one of these while you aren’t eating anything,” she said, and plonked a cake on a plate for him.
“The whole point of bringing these to you was so I didn’t have to eat them all,” he laughed, but made her happy by unwrapping the cake and taking a bite.
