Page 35 of Summer at Croftwood Cinema
Patsy realised she was clinging to his arm and instead, changed to holding his hand with a bright smile. ‘I’m fine.’ She scanned the park for any sign of Dan, even though logically she knew that he was hardly hanging out there twenty-four-seven, lying in wait for her.
Ed unlocked the door and when it was shut behind them, Patsy made sure to lock it.
They headed up to the projection box because at the moment it was the cleanest place in the building, and unpacked the food onto some paper napkins that Patsy spread out on the floor between them. Ed popped the tops on two beers and they tucked in.
‘How did it go with the chair buyer? Was she keen to order extra like you’d hoped?’ Ed asked through a mouthful of noodles.
It seemed like a good ‘in’ to a conversation about Dan, and Patsy took it. ‘No, it wasn’t the person I was expecting.’
Ed looked puzzled and stopped eating.
‘It was Dan, my ex. I didn’t tell you everything about our relationship.’ And in fact she realised as she spoke that she was still going to hold back the truth, at least until she’d spoken to Toby about what her next steps might be. ‘I sort of ran away from him. I know that sounds dramatic and it’s hard to explain how I got to that point but at the time it seemed like the only option. He ended up in prison after that and I thought he was still there.’
‘He just turned up here out of the blue? And duped you into meeting him by pretending to be a woman interested in buying the chairs? Christ, Patsy. You ought to tell the police.’
‘He scared me but he didn’t actually do anything.’
‘It’s clearly threatening behaviour. If you had to run away in the first place, that tells me everything I need to know about him. Shouldn’t someone have told you he was out of prison?’
Patsy shrugged. She’d thought about that. ‘The authorities wouldn’t have known where to find me, as far as they know I still live at my old address and I started using a different name.’
‘You changed your name? You’re not really Patsy?’
‘No, I am but I used to go by Cleo James. I kind of reinvented myself in my teens. Patsy seemed a bit old-fashioned and Cleo was the obvious abbreviation of Cleopatra. So when I moved back to Croftwood, I switched to Patsy and my maiden name, Clements. I needed a fresh start and having a slightly different name made me feel like I wasn’t that person anymore.’ She wasn’t quite sure why she didn’t want to share the fact that she was, technically, still married. Holding back with Ed when she’d told Matt and Oliver already was odd, but something was stopping her.
‘Your name’s Cleopatra?’ Ed looked like he was about to burst out laughing.
‘Well, we’re not all lucky enough to have a name as ordinary as Edward,’ she said defensively.
‘My name’s not Edward.’ He looked less amused all of a sudden. ‘It’s Edwin.’
‘Edwin? In that case I think we’re both in the same boat.’
He grinned. ‘I used to get the piss ripped out of me for it at school. My mum and dad met at an Edwin Starr concert,’ he said by way of an explanation.
‘My mum was an Elizabeth Taylor fan but Cleo or Patsy are both okay. As is Ed,’ she smiled. ‘Imagine if you had a name that made you cringe but you couldn’t shorten it.’
‘Like…I can’t think of any.’
‘Me either.’
Ed took her hand. ‘Do you think he’ll turn up again? Do you know what he wants?’
‘I don’t know. He’ll definitely have an agenda, I just don’t know what it is yet. But it’ll be something to do with money, I expect.’
‘What was he in prison for?’
Patsy explained without going into detail about their relationship because it wasn’t necessary.
‘You can’t go home alone tonight.’
‘I’ll be okay.’ Oliver was still keen for her to stay at the flat but a couple of days in, she knew she was doing the right thing by trying to get back to normal.
‘I’ll walk you home after we finish here.’ He sounded insistent and she was moved by his chivalry, especially when it meant he would be walking the opposite way to where he needed to catch the bus home.
‘Do you want to stay at mine?’ It seemed the least she could do and she barely thought about it before blurting out the offer.
Ed blushed slightly. ‘I’d love to,’ he said with a shy smile. ‘If you’re sure.’
