Page 33 of Summer at Croftwood Cinema
‘I don’t honestly know. I mean, it might come to nothing with him.’ She hoped that wasn’t true but it was the only thing that justified not telling him.
‘But it might not and if he finds out later on, well it could be worse than telling him now.’
‘He’s going to think it’s awful that I’m still married. And I don’t feel married, not in my heart, that’s the worst part. It really is just a technicality.’
Oliver stood up and took her empty coffee cup. ‘I’m going to open up. If you don’t feel up to it, have the day off. I’m not going anywhere today.’
‘Thanks Ollie, but I can’t hide up here forever. I need to face him if he turns up again and I think it’ll be fine now I’ve had a chance to prepare myself.’
‘Okay, good for you.’ He smiled. ‘Talk to him like you do to me and he’ll soon know you’re not going to take any nonsense.’
‘Thanks for that stunning piece of advice.’
‘You’re welcome. I’ll put a breakfast panini on for you in half an hour.’
Feeling more herself after the coffee and with the tempting thought of the panini, Patsy had a shower and made herself presentable.
The first customer through the door was Toby. He had his laptop bag slung over his shoulder as usual with what looked like a wool blazer tucked over the top.
‘Good morning, Patsy. Bit too warm for a jacket this morning once I got going,’ he smiled.
‘The usual?’
‘Lovely, thanks. And one of those croissants, please.’
‘No problem. Do you do any lawyering in real-life? Not online, I mean.’
‘Not normally, but I’m happy to give you advice if you need it.’
‘Obviously, I’m asking for a friend.’
He smiled, his eyes crinkling at the corners which Patsy found oddly reassuring. ‘You should know that anything we discuss, if you wanted to that is, would be strictly confidential.’
Patsy finished making his coffee and placed it on the counter, then pulled out a plate for his croissant. She glanced at him and saw that he was looking at her quite intently, waiting for her to say something else.
‘Look, I’m going to be here all day but if you’re not ready or you’d like to talk somewhere more private…’ He fished in the pocket on the outside of his laptop bag, pulled out a business card and slid it across the counter. ‘Call anytime.’ He smiled and then took his coffee and croissant and headed over to his usual table.
She wanted to ask him whether it was possible to get a divorce without having to confront Dan. She still didn’t know him that well but maybe that was an advantage in this kind of situation. The main thing was that she knew she could trust him.
Patsy took the card and put it in her apron pocket. It felt comforting. As if she had taken the first step in trying to defend herself against whatever Dan decided to do next.
Oliver had popped out but turned up again in time for the lunch rush.
‘I’m not doing anything so I might as well be here,’ he’d said. Patsy knew he was worried about her and now that she had got through the first couple of hours of the day she was feeling better.
‘Thanks for last night, Ollie. I really appreciate it.’
He shook his head. ‘No need to do that, Pats. You’d do the same for me. I do worry about you wandering around on your own now. Maybe you should stay in the flat for a few more days?’
It would have been so easy to accept his offer, to take the sanctuary, but it wasn’t a solution. She knew Dan would be back and she had to prepare herself for that. She couldn’t hide away until he got fed up with trying to find her because how long would that take? Past experience meant she knew how persistent he could be.
‘Thanks but I’ll be fine. Now that I know he’s around I’ll be more careful but I’m not going to be frightened into hiding away.’ She sounded a lot braver than she felt but it was important to her that she didn’t burden Oliver with feeling like he had to look after her.
‘Okay, well the offer’s there. Right, let’s crack on. These sandwiches aren’t going to make themselves.’
Patsy smiled to herself and started buttering rounds of bread, grateful to have something to keep her busy.
When it was time to go home, it was still daylight which was reassuring.
