‘Wow, Milly that’s fantastic! So, what’s the bad news?’
‘The exhibition is in two months.’
‘Okay, it’s not long, but you’ll work hard and get it done. You can do this.’
Emily took a breath. ‘It means I can’t fly out to visit you next month.’
A siren wailed on the street outside.
‘Why not? It’s only a week.’ His voice was small.
‘I need every minute, Will. There’s a big room to fill. At the moment, I only have three pieces.’
‘You can’t cancel – I need to see you. I’ve been counting the days. I miss you.’
She grimaced. ‘I miss you too, but what am I supposed to do?’
‘We can work something out…’
‘Like what?’
‘I dunno. You could work on it here.’
She rubbed at her forehead. ‘In hotel rooms?’
‘Yeah?’
‘I need all my stuff and I need space. Besides, I make a mess when I’m working. And how would I get it back in one piece?’
The shower shut off down the hall. Silence.
‘I’m sorry. I want to be there…’
He sighed, and she heard a muffled sound, like he was collapsing onto a bed. ‘I know. I’m just feeling sorry for myself.’
The bathroom door opened and Scott padded across the hall to his room wrapped in a towel.
‘Don’t cancel,’ he said. ‘Why don’t we see how you get on? Maybe you’ll get it all done super-fast?’
‘Will, this is important to me.’
‘I know…’
‘If you had an extra week to work on a song, would you leave it or use the time to make it better?’
He breathes out, long and slow. ‘Fair point.’
‘Anyway, we’re over halfway now; the second half will fly by.’
‘I’m sorry. We should be celebrating. You’ve got your own exhibition! That’s big, that’s massive. You’re so talented, it’ll be great.’
The forced brightness in his voice made her ache.
Emily bought an extension lead for the phone so she could sleep with it by the bed, the wire trailing in from the hall. It rang once, and she picked it up before it woke everyone.
‘Will?’
‘Babe.’ His voice, one word, filling her up.