Read Online When You Walked Back Into My Life by Hilary Boyd - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Hilary Boyd
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moved ahead to open the door to the lifts.
‘Flora … Flora, wait.’ The voice came from behind her and a tall figure leaped to her side.
CHAPTER 5
21 September
Flora stopped, clinging onto the chair handles as she realised who it was. She saw Rene waiting, holding the door open, but she couldn’t move.
Fin was grinning from ear to ear. ‘God, is this a stroke of luck or what! I’ve been dying to see you again after the supermarket, but I didn’t know where you were.’
‘You’re here for an x-ray?’ She asked, realising how stupid her question was. Why else would someone like Fin be hanging around a hospital x-ray department?
He nodded. ‘I’m still getting pain when I walk, and they thought it might be some gruesome condition where the hip begins to crumble because the blood’s been cut off … altogether too much information.’
‘Avascular necrosis?’
Fin looked impressed. ‘That’s the one.’
‘And is it?’
‘They haven’t told me yet.’
Rene was watching her impatiently.
‘Listen, I’ve got to go,’ Flora said, beginning to move the wheelchair forward.
Fin glanced over at Rene and gave her a charming smile before turning his attention back to Flora. ‘Hey, don’t rush off again without telling me how I can get hold of you. Please.’
‘If you can manage the doors,’ Rene was calling, ‘I’ll go ahead and get the car round to the front.’
‘Thanks, I’m just coming.’ Flora was flustered, her heart jumping in her chest. ‘I’m at Prue’s,’ she muttered to Fin as she walked.
He frowned. ‘You’re living with your sister?’
‘In the basement flat,’ she said.
‘OK …’ He followed her, propping the door open as she moved towards the lift. ‘Could you give me your number though? I’m not sure I still have hers.’
She waited by the lift, hardly daring to meet his eye. She knew she looked a wreck, and all she could think of was Jake’s hands all over her naked body. The lift was taking a bloody age. Fin hovered, his eyes searing into her. Can hetell what I’ve been doing? she wondered. Not that he had any right to judge.
‘Flora?’ His tone softened to hardly more than a whisper, and she felt his hand on her shoulder. ‘Please. Can we meet up? Just once?’
She looked up at him finally. Their eyes met, and a frisson of pure longing passed through her tired body as she took in his familiar face, his expression both boyish and pleading. She tore her gaze away.
‘OK …’ She rattled her mobile number off. His face looked panicked as he tried to remember it while rooting around in his Eastpak for a pen, quoting the number back to himself. She relented, and repeated it more slowly. He found a pen and wrote hastily on the back of his hand. She remembered him often writing stuff on his hand or the inside of his wrist, and also her frequent, lighthearted advice to him that this wasn’t the best way to file information.
The lift doors opened and she wheeled Dorothea into the crowded interior, everyone pressing themselves against the sides to make room for the chair. There was no space for Fin, and she didn’t turn round as the doors closed.
*
Flora had thought she would sleep like the dead that night. When she got home, almost dizzy with exhaustion, she justate some toast, drank a large glass of water and was in bed before nine o’clock. But minutes later her mobile pinged with a message. Fin, she thought, as she reached across for it, and suddenly she was wide awake.
Last night great. Should do it again soon? Best, Jake
, read the text.
She fell back on the pillows, disappointed, and then cursed herself for giving in and letting Fin have her number. She felt suddenly on the back foot, as had so often been the case in the past – waiting for him, in thrall to him, however willingly. And although she wanted him to ring, part of her also dreaded hearing what he had to say: perhaps that he had moved on, or that he just wanted to exonerate
‘Flora … Flora, wait.’ The voice came from behind her and a tall figure leaped to her side.
CHAPTER 5
21 September
Flora stopped, clinging onto the chair handles as she realised who it was. She saw Rene waiting, holding the door open, but she couldn’t move.
Fin was grinning from ear to ear. ‘God, is this a stroke of luck or what! I’ve been dying to see you again after the supermarket, but I didn’t know where you were.’
‘You’re here for an x-ray?’ She asked, realising how stupid her question was. Why else would someone like Fin be hanging around a hospital x-ray department?
He nodded. ‘I’m still getting pain when I walk, and they thought it might be some gruesome condition where the hip begins to crumble because the blood’s been cut off … altogether too much information.’
‘Avascular necrosis?’
Fin looked impressed. ‘That’s the one.’
‘And is it?’
‘They haven’t told me yet.’
Rene was watching her impatiently.
‘Listen, I’ve got to go,’ Flora said, beginning to move the wheelchair forward.
Fin glanced over at Rene and gave her a charming smile before turning his attention back to Flora. ‘Hey, don’t rush off again without telling me how I can get hold of you. Please.’
‘If you can manage the doors,’ Rene was calling, ‘I’ll go ahead and get the car round to the front.’
‘Thanks, I’m just coming.’ Flora was flustered, her heart jumping in her chest. ‘I’m at Prue’s,’ she muttered to Fin as she walked.
He frowned. ‘You’re living with your sister?’
‘In the basement flat,’ she said.
‘OK …’ He followed her, propping the door open as she moved towards the lift. ‘Could you give me your number though? I’m not sure I still have hers.’
She waited by the lift, hardly daring to meet his eye. She knew she looked a wreck, and all she could think of was Jake’s hands all over her naked body. The lift was taking a bloody age. Fin hovered, his eyes searing into her. Can hetell what I’ve been doing? she wondered. Not that he had any right to judge.
‘Flora?’ His tone softened to hardly more than a whisper, and she felt his hand on her shoulder. ‘Please. Can we meet up? Just once?’
She looked up at him finally. Their eyes met, and a frisson of pure longing passed through her tired body as she took in his familiar face, his expression both boyish and pleading. She tore her gaze away.
‘OK …’ She rattled her mobile number off. His face looked panicked as he tried to remember it while rooting around in his Eastpak for a pen, quoting the number back to himself. She relented, and repeated it more slowly. He found a pen and wrote hastily on the back of his hand. She remembered him often writing stuff on his hand or the inside of his wrist, and also her frequent, lighthearted advice to him that this wasn’t the best way to file information.
The lift doors opened and she wheeled Dorothea into the crowded interior, everyone pressing themselves against the sides to make room for the chair. There was no space for Fin, and she didn’t turn round as the doors closed.
*
Flora had thought she would sleep like the dead that night. When she got home, almost dizzy with exhaustion, she justate some toast, drank a large glass of water and was in bed before nine o’clock. But minutes later her mobile pinged with a message. Fin, she thought, as she reached across for it, and suddenly she was wide awake.
Last night great. Should do it again soon? Best, Jake
, read the text.
She fell back on the pillows, disappointed, and then cursed herself for giving in and letting Fin have her number. She felt suddenly on the back foot, as had so often been the case in the past – waiting for him, in thrall to him, however willingly. And although she wanted him to ring, part of her also dreaded hearing what he had to say: perhaps that he had moved on, or that he just wanted to exonerate
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