Two people spend two years being exactly what the other person needs, and somehow mistake that for not being in love.
The knock comes while youâre still balancing the bottle of red against your hip, your other hand occupied with the overnight bag Lucy insisted you bring because, according to her, âsomeone always ends up staying for breakfast after one of my dinners.â Youâd laughed at the message when she sent it that afternoon, though now, standing outside her pale blue front door on a narrow Notting Hill street washed in the last gold light of early autumn, you realize sheâd probably been right more often than not. Lucy had collected people the way old houses collected books. Nobody arrived intending to stay for hours. They simply did. By the end of the night there would be empty wine bottles lined along the kitchen counter, half-finished conversations waiting to be resumed next week, and someone inevitably asleep beneath the knitted throw on her sofa. She had built a life that encouraged lingering.
She answers before youâve finished knocking a second time, cheeks pink from the heat of the oven, dark curls escaping the clip sheâd shoved them into sometime earlier. The smell that greets you is warm enough to soften the cool evening air still clinging to your coat. Garlic, thyme, roasting tomatoes, fresh bread. Fleetwood Mac hums from somewhere deeper in the flat, low enough that the music folds into the conversations already filling the rooms instead of competing with them. Lucy beams the moment she sees you, reaches for the wine without so much as saying hello, then notices your expression.
âYou said a few people.â
âI did not implyââ She steps aside to let you in. âDaniel invited two friends. Sophie brought her flatmate. James brought someone from work, and then Daniel texted me this afternoon about Harry because heâd just finished at the studio. Take your shoes off before you decide youâre annoyed.â
She looks over her shoulder as though sheâd nearly forgotten she said it. âMm. Heâs in the living room somewhere.â Sheâs already moving toward the kitchen. âDonât make it weird.â
âI wasnât planning on making anything weird.â
âI know. Thatâs why Iâm saying it.â
You shake your head, smiling despite yourself, and slip your trainers beside the growing pile by the radiator. The flat is louder than usual, alive with overlapping conversations that drift from room to room without anyone seeming particularly concerned about finishing one before beginning another. Lucyâs place has always felt like that. Every surface holds evidence of a life being lived. Paperback novels stacked beneath side tables. Records leaning against the wall because she still hasnât bought another shelf. Plants spilling over windowsills with varying levels of success. A half-finished crossword abandoned beside the kettle. Nothing matches, yet everything belongs.
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authors note: thank you to everyone who has been patient with lack of updates and new stories. Iâve been so busy and tired! Iâll be back on schedule soon â€ïž