Page 69 of Limits
El straightened her shoulders, pulling herself up to her full height and mustering a decent glare at Pav, despite her obvious nervousness.
‘Well, she’s crap,’ she told him. ‘But I expect you know that. Whether you give a toss remains to be seen.’
‘I –’
‘What happened? One minute she’s coming out of her herself, she’s my friend, I’m finally getting the real Millie: the funny, dry, kind woman I’d only seen flashes of before, and the next she’s totally shut down. She’s bloody worse now than she was when I first met her.’
‘I … I let her down,’ Pav said, his voice heavy and his chest constricting. He’d been angry with Millie at first for not listening to him, but over the last two weeks he’d realised that he was the one at fault. He should have been honest with her from the beginning. He should have taken care of her like he promised. The way he spoke to her … he let his ambition and frustration get the better of him, and he snapped. It was inexcusable.
‘Oh –’ El broke off and her posture relaxed slightly on seeing the dejection wash over Pav’s features. ‘Oh … right, well, at least you admit it. Do you … do you still –’
‘I love her,’ Pav cut in. ‘If she would just let me explain, then I …’
‘Thank God for that,’ El breathed, finally cracking a relieved smile. ‘I knew you weren’t a total wanker.’
‘Uh … thanks, I think.’
‘Pav, mate,’ Jamie said, drawing both of their attention. He was currently in Pav’s kitchen area, making a huge sandwich for himself. Pav rolled his eyes.
‘Make yourself at home,’ he said as he watched the greedy bastard slap the last of the ham on top of the brie he’d been saving for later.
‘El came over to see Libby ’cause she’s worried,’ Jamie told him, talking around a brie-and-ham-filled mouth. ‘As you’re in self-involved-broody-mode your bloody phone was off so I had to bring her round here.’
‘I think …’ El paused and tilted her head to the side. ‘I don’t know how much you know about Millie’s parents?’ Her expression was guarded and her eyes had narrowed. She was obviously torn between her concern for her friend and her desire not to betray Millie’s confidence.
‘I’ve met them,’ Pav reassured her. ‘I promise I knowallabout them.’
El blew out a relieved breath. ‘Right, great, well, you’ll know that it’s not a great idea for Millie to have any contact with them.’
‘Yes,’ Pav replied with conviction.
‘She came to me this week asking for an outfit she could wear to a press conference.’
‘What?’ Pav exploded; if he’d been holding another bottle it would have gone the same way as the first.
‘I think it has to do with her father,’ El paused. ‘I tried to get more information out of her but she clammed up and … well, I didn’t want to push her, she seems … fragile: really pale, thin, and she said the outfit had to have long sleeves. I caught sight of her forearms when I was adjusting one of the jackets and …’ El trailed off and bit her lip, glancing between the two men, obviously unwilling to betray another confidence.
‘What about her arms?’ was Jamie’s barely interpretable reply as he continued to plough through his massive sandwich. Pav ignored him; he was struggling not to punch something, hard.
‘I’ll sort it,’ he told El through gritted teeth and with his trademark confidence, which at the moment he was very far from feeling.
*****
‘Uh … I’m just heading out so …’
Libby narrowed her eyes at Millie and put her hands on her hips. Hilariously Rosie mimicked her gesture exactly, but with an added five-year-old foot-stomp. Beauty just gave a big hurrumph as she pushed her nose into Millie’s crotch in greeting. Lurking behind them all was an apprehensive-looking Kira.
‘I haven’t seens you inages,’ Rosie’s grumpy voice whined from the doorstep. Millie’s cool expression softened significantly as she looked down at the little girl.
‘I know,’ she said, her voice holding more than a hint of strain and her hand dropping unconsciously to the top of Beauty’s head. ‘I’m sorry, Rose-Pose. I just …’ She trailed off and swallowed, then surprised Libby by taking a step back to open the door so they could all step through. Libby could smell cleaning fluid in the air, and as she followed Millie through to the living room she frowned when she saw the meticulous throw cushion arrangements and immaculate space. Libby knew that Millie cleaned and organised when under stress; judging by the state of her house her current anxiety levels must be through the roof.
‘Rosie, Kira,’ she said as she walked over to the sofa. ‘Go take Beauty into the garden for a minute. I need to do some grown-up talking with Millie.’
‘Great idea, Libs,’ Kira said, backing away towards the garden door. ‘Grown-up talk’s not my forte.’
Rosie however scowled at her mother before skipping to Millie and giving her a hug. Beauty lumbered that way as well and sat her massive backside down on Millie’s feet. Millie looked startled for a moment, then a tiny smile broke through her strained expression. She laid one hand on Rosie’s head and the other on Beauty’s.
‘Rosie,’ Libby said in a warning voice. Rosie huffed but released Millie after another few seconds.
