Page 92 of Twilight at Croftwood Library
‘Okay. You need to talk to her properly and you can’t blindside her by rocking up when she’s at work. She’s staying at my place. Come round tonight about eight. I’ll have spoken to her by then and I know she’ll at least hear you out. Hang on.’
Steph ran back to the van and wrote her address down then ran back to the car and handed it to Oliver. ‘Wait downstairs and I’ll come down when I’ve spoken to her. Don’t let me down.’
Steph invited herself to her own flat that evening to have dinner with Lois. They ate pizza and drank a couple of bottles of beer each. She wasn’t entirely sure how Lois would react to the news she’d invited Oliver round so she waited until just before eight o’clock to tell her.
‘I need to get off in a minute, but I need to tell you something first.’
Lois, quite rightly, looked dubious. ‘Okay…’
‘Oliver’s coming round.’
‘Round here? Christ Steph, I go to all these lengths to avoid him and then you invite him round?’
‘Look. I know. I know how he treated you, but you need to hear what he has to say. Trust me.’
‘I can’t carry on letting him in when he won’t choose me. I need to be the only person he wants. I deserve that.’ She carefully wiped a stray tear away.
‘You do. And that’s why you need to hear him out.’ Steph took her hand. ‘He came to see me, and I roasted him, believe me, in front of Zoe too. I sent him off and he just went and sat in his car. He didn’t leave and we were watching him and then he laid his head down on the steering wheel and I had to go out to see if he was okay. Anyway, let’s just say that the man is beyond sorry, Lo. All he wants to do is to talk to you. Please.’
‘Okay. So where is he?’
‘He’ll be waiting downstairs. I’m going round to Tom’s so you two can talk. Are you going to be okay?’
‘Yes, it’ll be fine.’
Steph hugged her. ‘It will be. But don’t just fall back into his arms. Make sure it’s on your terms.’
Oliver was indeed waiting downstairs. He was pacing back and forth in front of the door and looked terrified when he saw Steph come out.
‘Go on then.’ She held the door open for him.
‘Thanks. I appreciate this.’
‘Well, like I said, don’t let me down.’
50
Lois heard a gentle knock at the door and went to open it. Oliver looked so worried that she couldn’t help but feel sorry for him.
‘So, you got Steph on side?’ she said as she stood aside to let him in.
He looked a bit sheepish. ‘I needed to see you. To explain that things have changed.’ He unbuttoned his coat but looked unsure as to whether he was actually welcome and didn’t go as far as taking it off.
‘Things have changed for me too, Oliver. I’ve got a meeting at the London Library tomorrow about a job.’
‘Wow, that’s amazing, you said you’d love to work there.’
‘I did.’ She sat down and he tentatively perched on the edge of the chair opposite her.
‘You know, I’m not with Amy anymore. The pregnancy, well, she wasn’t. It was a mistake.’
‘A mistake?’
‘A last-ditch attempt, I think. But it’s over. Completely. And I know I’ve messed you around, Lois. I treated you badly and I hurt you and I have no right to expect you to turn around and forgive me, but I want you to know, there’s only you. For me.’ His eyes were pleading with her as he spoke, trying to convey to her how sorry he was.
It was everything she’d been wanting to hear but she needed to be sure and to make sure he understood.
‘I’ve hoped you would say that to me since we first met. Dreamed of it. Christmas and then the awards night were the best times of my life but only because I let myself go along with you, even though I knew it was going to come crashing down around me afterwards. I’m not the person I was before, the person who just settled for whatever was on offer and was happy with that. Working at Croftwood Library and winning the award showed me that I can expect better for myself. Christmas with you showed me that that’s what I need to hold out for. Those days were amazing, just the two of us and I want that kind of feeling in my life all the time. If it’s not with you, then so be it but I know I can be the person who gets exactly what she wants and I’m going to make that happen for myself. I don’t need to wait until the time is right for you to be ready. And I wanted to be with you, Oliver, more than anything. But I can’t worry that there might be someone more important to you than me.’
