Page 6 of Love Me Ever After
While grateful I now had somewhere to live, I still hadn’t spoken to Ems.
Living with my ex would, without any doubt, be awkward as fuck.
We hadn’t kept in touch while I’d been away, except for the occasional like on the socials.
Throwing us back together in the close proximity of living in the same house brought up all sorts of warning flags.
There was a part of me which said I should have turned down the opportunity.
But I didn’t want to live in a hotel until something came available on the rental market, even though I could afford it. So I swore to myself I’d keep looking and that this was only a temporary solution until I found something else.
As soon as I saw Ems again, I’d tell her that.
An hour later, I stood in front of my storage unit, wishing with every bone in my body I could shut the door and turn my back on it. When I’d left, everything I owned went into storage with the intention of furnishing my own place when I returned. Now I looked at it, I had no idea what I needed to take to the new house and what I could sell or give away. The gaming chair I’d bought would likely be one casualty, not least because I didn’t play any longer.
My phone rang. Luke.
“Mason, where the fuck are you? Fraser’s just got here and Tasha’s ready to leave.” His grumpy tone crackled over the line.
“Sorry, went to the gym and lost track of time. Almost beat my PB on pull ups.”
“Don’t really care, mate. We’ve got a shit ton to do today and I don’t fancy still being at it by the time the football’s on later.” Luke huffed.
“I’m at the storage place.”
“Okay. I thought we’d go to the girls’ place first, get Tasha sorted then come back for your stuff after. We’ll need all the space in the van for Tasha’s boxes.”
I closed the door to my storage unit with a bang. Looked like Luke had everything under control.
When I got back to Luke’s, he, Tasha and Fraser were pacing around in the living room. Fraser and I were close friends. He’d been one of the people at Lane & Parks who had encouraged me to go for the secondment when it came up. Secretly I thought he might have been offered it too but, because he was getting married to Darcy, had turned it down.
“Come on, let’s get going.” Tasha practically bounced out of the front door the minute I opened it to come in, her excitement about moving in with Luke bubbling over. “I can’t wait to decorate in here.”
Fraser winked at me as we both clocked the look of horror on Luke’s face. “You’ll get used to it,” he said. “I’m sure she’ll calm down.”
Luke rolled his eyes. “As long as she doesn’t expect me to paint anything pink, we’ll be fine.”
The four of us crammed into the van Luke had hired for the day and drove over to the house.
Nerves bubbled in my stomach at the thought of seeing Ems again, but there was no going back now.
Sara threw open the front door as soon as she heard us pull up. “I’ll keep an eye out for the traffic warden while you’re packing the van.” She grabbed Tasha’s arm. “Keep me company?”
Luke, Fraser and I went into the house. I glanced around the comfortably furnished living room. A large sofa full of overstuffed cushions dominated one wall, a footstool in front of it, and there was a matching armchair against another. A TV was situated above the fireplace and small wooden tables housed all the remotes. It was decorated in muted, neutral colours. When I’d popped in to see the room, I hadn’t paid too much attention to the rest of the house, but it felt like somewhere I could be at home. It was a definite improvement on the poky, two-bedroomed flat above one of the town’s clothes shops that Ems and Sara used to live in.
“Mason, hurry up,” Fraser called from the first floor. “Tasha has alotof stuff.”
I took the stairs two at a time, following the sound of Fraser’s voice. Upstairs, one of the bedroom doors was open, the other two resolutely closed. I wondered which one was Ems’s and whether she was home.
Joining Fraser and Luke in my new room, I wondered how the hell the three of us managed to fit in there along with the stack of boxes and bags containing all of Tasha’s prized possessions. How was it possible for one person to have accumulated so much crap? In comparison, the stuff I owned didn’t even amount to half of hers. A cursory glance around showed there was also a bed which was staying, and a dressing table with a fancy mirror, lit around the edge with bulbs that was still to be moved out.
Immediately, I knew I wanted to get a new bed. The thought of sleeping where Luke and Tasha had fucked made my skin crawl. Thankfully, I had a futon in storage which would have to do until I sorted it out.
I pointed at the dressing table. “Do I get to keep that?”
Luke snorted, screwing up his face. “What do you think? It’s Tasha’s pride and joy. God only knows how I’m going to squeeze it into our bedroom, but she insisted.”
Fraser laughed, all knowing, the smug married one amongst us. “I’m sure you’ll manage. One of the first things about living together is learning to compromise.”
