Page 29 of Only You

Baz’s colour turned a darker shade of red.

“Look, I know nothing, man. I simply pay my rent and lay my head down here. Other than that...” Baz held his hands up in defeat.

“Well, tell your landlord he will hear from my lawyer,” Andrew said before taking Ana’s arm and leading her back down the stairs.

Ana turned her head, sending a shell-shocked Baz one last glance. She was glad Andrew had accompanied her. She focused on him as the pressure inside her chest built, squeezing tight. Ana tried hard to steady her breathing, in through her nose and out through her mouth. The odd breath catching as she fought to keep control. A further heaviness formed in the pit of Ana’s stomach as they walked away from the place she’d called home for the past four months. Not that she had much, but what she had, had been in her room, including all her textiles supplies and her precious sewing machine. Their loss hurt her more than anything, as without them, her course was going to be a lot harder.

Andrew stopped suddenly as they reached the ground floor, almost causing Ana to careen into the back of him. He turned to face her, capturing her icy hands in his warm ones, squeezing them. Ana looked up in surprise, and even through the haze of panic, she could read the concern on his face.

“You need to breathe,” he said. “In for four, hold and then exhale through your mouth.”

Ana followed his instructions, her focus locked on him until her breathing evened out. As the pressure in her chest eased, a new pressure built lower in her body. Where his hands held hers, tingles flashed up her arm, and she felt her face growing warm under his scrutiny. Ana pulled her hands away as an unfamiliar awareness flooded her system. “Thank you,” she heard herself mumble, no longer able to meet his gaze.

“No problem,” Andrew said. “Come on, let’s get out of here.” Andrew sounded his normal self. Ana shook herself, breathing a sigh of relief. What just happened?

Ana shot him a smile, unable to meet his eyes. She needed to get her scrambled brain back into working order before she did that. As they reached the door. Ana stopped, a thought crossing her mind. It wasn’t bin day until tomorrow.

“I need to check something,” Ana said, not wanting to get her hopes up. She made her way down the narrow hallway, along the side of the stairs, and towards the back of the building where the rubbish bins were situated. Before she reached them, she found her things piled high. James had been too lazy to throw them out, or he intended to sell them. Whatever it was, instead of throwing them in with the rubbish, he had piled them underneath the fire escape stairs. Ana breathed a sigh of relief as she bent down and rifled through the bin bags on top of her case, finding her purse and phone. She snatched up her sewing machine and held it to her chest, closing her eyes as relief poured through her. James was too stupid to realise the value of the machine. If he had, he would have kept it upstairs. Lucky for her, he hadn’t. That was one item she couldn’t have afforded to lose. Ana had spent the last of her limited savings on it after arriving in London. It was top of the range. With rent, food and travel, it was not something she could easily replace on her waitress salary.

“Is this everything?” Andrew said, looking at her with compassion as Ana’s heart constricted.

Ana nodded, unsure she could speak.

Andrew stepped forward and grabbed Ana’s suitcase and one of the bin liners filled with her clothes. “Come on, let’s get this loaded into the car.”

Chapter Nineteen

Ana

It didn’t take many trips to load Andrew’s car, and the car journey home was a silent one. Ana glanced over. Andrew was lost in thought, his jaw locked, and his knuckles white where he gripped the steering wheel. He was probably wondering what the hell he’d got himself involved in, or why he had exposed his daughter to someone like her. Ana sank into the car seat, shame eating at her as she stared out of the window. Her mind replayed the events of the evening as she asked herself again and again what she was going to do now.

Ana knew she needed to make plans. She didn’t have many possessions. When she’d left home, she’d travelled light. Maybe Andrew would be kind enough to let her leave some of her belongings at his house, if she moved in with Millie or George in the short term. She didn’t want to disrupt his and Olivia’s life any more than she needed to, but her friends probably had limited space, and they wouldn’t want all her clobber filling it.

“Thank you,” Ana said, touching Andrew’s arm as he pulled the car into the driveway.

Andrew sighed and turned to her. “I can’t believe you were living there,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck. “That place is not fit for animals, let alone human beings.”

“It was okay,” Ana said, feeling like she had to defend her choice. “It was somewhere to sleep and store my stuff.”

Andrew pressed his lips together as if she didn’t understand.

She was not brought up in poverty. Her parents had been very well off. Her father, like Andrew, would have been horrified if he knew where she’d been living. But he’d cut her off financially the day she left, making her live with the consequences of her choices. She hadn’t needed him or his narcissistic ways. She was now living her own life by her own rules.

“We can agree to disagree,” Andrew said, getting out of the car and grabbing her suitcase. “Let’s get you set up inside.”

Ana followed behind.

Olivia greeted them at the door, and Andrew’s mum gave them both a quizzical look. Once they had emptied the car, Andrew told Ana he was going to drop his mum home and asked if she could monitor Olivia. Olivia jumped for joy, grabbing Ana’s hand leaving her speechless. Ana smiled, saying goodbye to Linda, who acknowledged her with a nod.

“Come on, Ana,” a little voice said next to her, a small hand worming its way into her grasp. Snapping herself back into the present, Ana spun and dropped herself down onto one knee, Olivia’s hand still clasped in hers.

“I think it maybe past your bedtime,” Ana said, glancing at the enormous wall-clock that adorned the wall in the hallway. It was gone eight-thirty.

Olivia gave her a cheeky grin. “It is,” she whispered, “But I can’t sleep without a story.”

Ana smiled and raised an eyebrow at the little girl, who was grinning at her. “Is that a hint you would like me to read you a story?”

Olivia jumped up and down and sprinted for the stairs, leaving Ana on the floor. Getting herself up, she followed an excited Olivia to her bedroom.

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