Page 40 of The Midnight Book Club
“Antonia is harassing me about not getting out enough.I was going to ask to crash your Sunday roast, but now I think I might try my luck facing her wrath instead of one of your medieval experiments.”
“Tonight’s recipe is really just beef stew, so you’re probably safer with me.”
“No strange secret ingredients?Hair of calf?Essence of pork liver?”
“Not this time, I promise.James has already reviewed and approved it.The recipe makes enough for an army, so you’d actually be doing me a favor if you came by.Oh…”
He trailed off, prompting Aurelia to ask, “What?”
“Nothing.Never mind.”
They made a plan for Aurelia to stop by at seven o’clock so she could keep him company while he cooked, since James had been banned from the kitchen after ‘ruining’ one too many of David’s experiments by ‘helping.’
Having been in the same spot on her sofa for over an hour, Aurelia uncurled herself to go and make another cup of tea.Passing the bookshelves on the wall, she slowed as she caught sight of the rows of notebooks she’d unpacked and lined up there.She ran a finger along them and pulled out a notebook she had bought just before her mother became ill.Flipping it open, she saw that it was still blank inside—not a single pen or pencil dot marked its pages.
She carried the notebook to the kitchen, made tea, hunted down a pen, and then sat on the living room floor with the coffee table serving as a desk.Sipping her tea, her mind traveled back to her conversations with the characters, their plan to dream up a future for Vronsky, and what she imagined might make him happy.
23
Aureliahadstartedbywriting a few sentences, but soon enough she’d filled pages and pages of her notebook.She’d been so swept away by her writing that she thought her watch was broken when she looked down to see that it was a quarter past six.She jolted up, muscles cramped from sitting for so long, and dashed to feed Fezz, change into something presentable, and eat enough to tide her over in case David’s promised beef stew turned out to be inedible.
When she arrived at their flat just after seven o’clock, James greeted her at the door.He had a few inches on Aurelia but was only slightly taller than David and had auburn hair with a few freckles across his nose and cheeks.She hugged him in between taking off her coat and shoes, so it took her a minute to notice that he was carefully avoiding eye contact.
Putting a hand to his arm, she asked, “Everything alright?”
“Yes, yup.”He nodded quickly.
Aurelia wasn’t convinced and was about to ask him again when he offered her the glass of wine he’d been holding.
“You’ll need this,” he said, leading her toward the kitchen while still avoiding eye contact.“David’s in there mumbling about the humors being out of balance.”
“If I hear him mention ‘black bile’ again, I’m going home,” Aurelia declared, pretending to turn back for the door.
“Don’t you dare!”James laughed, visibly relaxing.“We’ve got to stick together.”
With the glass of wine in hand, Aurelia took a large sip and then followed James through the hallway which, like much of the flat, was decorated with items David had brought back from his many visits to Kenya, where most of his extended family still lived.
James ushered Aurelia into the kitchen, then backed away dramatically, true to his word not to interfere in David’s cookery.The kitchen was blessedly filled with the lovely scent of sautéing onions, mushrooms, and garlic.
“It smells amazing in here,” Aurelia said as she pulled out a stool from the kitchen island.
“Don’t sound so surprised,” David said threateningly as he brandished a wooden spoon at her.“Is that what you’re wearing?”he added, staring her up and down.
“Yes, clearly it is,” she said, tugging self-consciously at her top before pulling a face at him.“Were you expecting me to put on my medieval finest for ye olde beef stew?”
“Very funny,” he said dismissively, though she caught him eyeing her again.“So, why’s Antonia bothering you?”
“She thinks I’m housebound.”
“Are you?”
“Not really.I mean, maybe a little.I’ve just been very… engaged in what’s happening in the shop these days.”
“And what’s happening in the shop these days?”
Aurelia considered what she could share from the past week—toting up another lie she’d have to tell a friend.
“Hmm… Well, I’ve been making some overdue changes,” she said, thinking back to her conversation with Mark and the improvements she’d made.“It’s sort of nice to finally feel like it’s mine, not just like I’m watching over it for Aunt Marigold.”
