Page 30 of The Wedding Pact
They both leaned over the letter, written in the beautiful penmanship of someone who hadn’t spent their lives predominantly typing to the point that five minutes with a biro caused hand-cramp. August read it aloud.
Dear Flynn and August,
Welcome to your new home, and welcome to Elizabeth Street. I hope you make many happy memories here, as I have.
I hope you can forgive the bed situation. When my previous residents moved out, my son and I took a look at the beds and decided they were too scruffy and dated. We have therefore replaced the master bed with a brand new one. Because of this, will you mind awfully purchasing a second bed for the spare room by yourselves? I wasn’t sure what size bed you would like for the second room, or frankly whether you wanted it to be a full bedroom at all, or had other plans for it. The previous tenants simply had a sofa bed in the second room, which worked quite well for their set-up.
Should you need anything, you can find me at the top of the staircase in apartment 4. Though if the thing you need involves heavy lifting or a sharper mind, you may have better luck calling upon some of your other neighbours.
Warm wishes,
Mrs W. Haverley
‘She’s so nice,’ August said, on finishing the letter. A pinprick of guilt at misleading the woman stabbed at her. But they hadn’t done anything very wrong, she was sure they would be ideal tenants, and she had no plans to move out, frankly, ever, which had been Mrs H’s only concern about singletons.
‘She is,’ Flynn agreed, and their eyes met.
‘Are we both thinking the same thing?’ asked August. ‘That we should just get married for real so this isn’t awkward?’
‘That wasn’t quite where I was, but we’re in the same area,’ he said. She’d been joking, of course, but she felt him watching her as worry etched its way across her features, and he added, ‘It’s fine though, it’s good that she’s nice, and she seems to genuinely be happy we live here. We’re still us, in holy matrimony or not.’
‘You’re right,’ August shook herself out of it, determined to let moving-in day remain magical. Because she was here! In her dream home! With no bed …
‘Right, then,’ she said. ‘I’ll see if Bel could drive me over to Ikea or something after she’s done at work so we can pick me up a flatpack bed and a mattress. In the meantime, could you give me a hand bringing my boxes up and into my room? Some of the stuff is living room/kitchen but I just shoved a lot of it in together so it’ll be easier for both of us if I can just empty it out onto the floor of my room and ignore it for a few days.’
The two of them carted all the boxes and suitcases into the flat, and Ross-Geller-Pivoted the armchair up the narrow staircase without, mercifully, scuffing the wall.
‘No,’ said Flynn, stopping her before she could take a box marked ‘bras’, that he’d lifted previously and found to be surprisingly heavy, into the second bedroom. ‘You take this bed.’
His chivalry, though appreciated, was betrayed somewhat by his own eyes, which gazed at that big, comfortable bed with the longing of someone about to eat their last slice of pizza before going on a month-long cabbage diet.
‘No way,’ she said, walking into the master bedroom with Flynn following her. ‘Your room, your bed. And no offence to those bags under your eyes, but you look like you need a good night’s sleep. Jeeeesus.’ She sat on the edge of the bed and immediately flopped backwards. ‘And you are going to get a hell of a good night’s sleep on this baby.’
Flynn sat down beside her. ‘Why don’t you just take this one? Wow, this is … ’ He too lay back on the bed, so they were side-by-side, staring at the high ceiling above them. He cleared his throat. ‘This is horrible,’ he said, clearly lying. ‘I hate this bed.’
‘You do not hate this bed,’ August said, turning her head to face him.
‘How do you know? How do you know my back isn’t seizing up as we speak?’
‘It’s obvious you love this bed; you’re practically snogging it.’
Flynn laughed. ‘I am not.’ He faced her. ‘But seriously, you take it. And the room.’
‘Nope. This is your room; this was part of the deal. I wouldn’t feel right going back on my word. And I don’t need some white knight to give me his coat – or room – thank you very much.’ She said it with a smile though.
‘August,’ Flynn said, and sat up, so she did the same.
‘Flynn.’
‘You don’t need to keep acting like you pushed me into this, or apologising for unexpected turns of events. I’m very much a grown up, and we’re in this together now.’
‘But it was my idea,’ she pressed.
‘And I went along with it, very willingly. It was a good idea. An idea thatIwould never have thought of, but that’s just because I don’t have your imagination. But we’re here, the flat is great, I’ve finally got a place to call my own and you’re finally getting to live in your dream home. So let’s enjoy it.’
‘Let’s enjoy it,’ she said, nodding. ‘Shall I open a bottle of wine?’
‘I mean, it’s ten in the morning, but if that’s what you’re into.’
