Was this why he’d been so distant lately? Was Gabe embroiled in a tempestuous relationship that for some reason he hadn’t mentioned to her or Lola? As she slowly made her way back up the stairs, Sally itched to know what the envelope contained. Could she do that holding-it-over-the-kettle thing and steam it open? OK, maybe not; she’d tried that once during her miserable time with Toby the Tosser. Not only had the letter not been incriminating — it had been a dental appointment — the steam had turned the envelope all crinkly, making it glaringly obvious what had happened to it.And hadn’t Tosser Toby enjoyed getting his money’s worth out of that little slip-up? He hadn’t let her forget it for weeks.
Back in the flat Sally heroically put the letter down on the table. No snooping; instead she’d get on with the job in hand. Rummaging through one of the kitchen drawers she located an advertising card she’d kept — how spooky was that? — froma small local charity asking for items to sell in their shop. Can’t Deliver? We’ll Collect! promised the card, which was jolly helpful of them. She called the charity’s number and booked them in for four o’clock. There, now she couldn’t chicken out. Once everything was gone, it was gone for good.
Clean, clear lines might actually be nice. De-clutter your surroundings, de-clutter your life. As she energetically dragged magazines out from under the armchair, Sally began to feel better already. She could become a style icon, a champion of minimalism and space creation.
Blimey, and she’d always thought style icons were boring! She’d be turning into Anouska Hempel next.
Gabe stopped dead in the doorway, taking in the scene. Finally he said, ‘What’s going on?’
‘Ta-daaa! Just call me Anouska Hempel.’ To match the cool, clean lines of the flat, Sally had even changed into a floaty white dress.
‘Who?’ As he studied the living room, devoid of ... well, pretty much everything, Gabe said flatly, ‘So that’s it, you’re off.’
‘What?’ It was Sally’s turn to be confused.
‘Leaving, taking all your stuff with you. Moving out, moving on...’
‘No!’ She shook her head, dismayed by the realisation that this was probably what he’d been praying for. ‘I’m not going anywhere. I just tidied up. I thought you’d be pleased! I started doing a little bit then I got carried away. And guess what? I think I like it!’
Gabe exhaled audibly — with relief or disappointment, she couldn’t tell. He put down his camera and said evenly ‘So where is everything?’
‘Gone.’ Sally’s spirits plummeted; she’d been so proud of herself. Why couldn’t Gabe be proud of her too?
‘Gone where?’
‘Charity shop.’
‘Why?’
‘Because I’m turning over a new leaf!’ If her leg hadn’t still been hurting she’d have stamped her foot. ‘Gabe, why are you being like this?’
He shrugged. ‘Probably because I’m wondering why you’re being like this. It isn’t you.’
‘Oh, for God’s sake!’ Sally’s voice rose in frustration. ‘All my life people have complained about how untidy I am, and now I’m doing something about it you’re being all weird.’
‘I’m not being weird,’ said Gabe, who definitely still was. ‘I’m just wondering who you’re trying so hard to impress.’ He eyed her white dress and make-up and said with an edge to his voice,
‘Off out somewhere tonight?’
Like she was some kind of prostitute or something. ‘Yes’ Sally stared back at him. ‘Is that allowed?’
‘Who are you seeing?’
Honestly, damn cheek. In actual fact she’d been invited over to dinner by her lovely boss Dr Willis and his wife Emily to celebrate her return to work. Annoyed by Gabe’s attitude, Sally said,’What are you, my mother?’ and flounced into her bedroom. If he was going to be this stroppy and horrible, so was she.
When she returned ten minutes later with a black and white checked holdall, Gabe raised an eyebrow.
‘So you won’t be home.’
Having earlier turned down the Willis’s kind offer of a bed for the night in order to save her the tube journey into work the next day, Sally had now changed her mind. Maybe by thetime she returned tomorrow evening, Gabe would have snapped out of his mood. ‘Well done.You should be a detective. Oh, by the way, you’ve got a lett—’
‘What?’ Gabe looked up from his laptop when she abruptly stopped in mid-sentence.
Sally’s brain shot into overdrive, replaying the last eight hours at warp speed. The letter ... where had the letter gone? She’d left it on the coffee table before launching into her tidying frenzy and now it was no longer there. Somewhere along the way it had got swept up in the whirlwind and deposited goodness knows where.
‘Come on.’ Gabe sounded like Jeremy Paxman only more impatient. ‘I’ve got what?’
OK, she definitely didn’t need him shouting at her, which was what he’d do if she told him the truth.
‘A lettings agent after the flat. He called earlier, wondered if you were still interested in renting it out.’ As she spoke, Sally limped over to the magazine rack and began feverishly flicking through the few magazines she hadn’t despatched to the charity shop.
‘A lettings agent? What are you doing now?’
‘Just looking for the ... um, piece of paper. I wrote down their name and number in case you wanted to call them back.’
‘Why would I call them back? I don’t want to rent the flat out.’
No? Well, you know, I thought I’d take their number anyway, I’m sure it’s here somewhere.’
Bloody buggering hell, this was the last time she ever tidied anything up. ‘Let me just check in the kitchen bin.’
‘Leave it.’ Gabe waved her away from the kitchen door. ‘Don’t bother. If I want to speak to a lettings agent I’ll look in the Yellow Pages.’
‘OK’ She’d definitely thrown the letter out. And now she’d lied to him too, but he’d been so arsey he deserved it. Feeling guilty – but not guilty enough to confess – Sally picked up her holdall and headed for the door. ‘Bye.’
Gabe was bent over his laptop, scrolling through the day’s photographs. He muttered ‘Bye,’
without looking up.
Bastard. He hadn’t even wished her luck for her first day back at work tomorrow.
Reaching for her stick and limping more heavily than she needed to, Sally clumped out.
Gabe let out a groan and sat back on the sofa. He hadn’t even wished her good luck for tomorrow. The last ten days had been a journey to hell and back. All he could ever think about was Sally and, clearly, all Sally could think about was Nick James. Equally clearly, Nick must have passed some comment about the mess she surrounded herself with, prompting this afternoon’s out-of-the-blue blitz on the flat.
Gabe rubbed his face then ran his hands over his messed-up hair in defeat. And what had that business with the phone call from the lettings agent been about? Was that Sally’s way of dropping a hint, subliminally indicating that before long she’d be gone? Shit, and to think that for the first few weeks of her being here he’d wanted her out.
The phone rang.
‘Hi, it’s me.’ Lola, finishing up at Kingsley’s, sounded in a flap. ‘Just to let you know I’m going over to EJ’s so I won’t be home till late. But if anyone feels like cooking anything and saving some for me, they could leave it in my fridge for when I get back.’
‘Sorry. I’m working and Sally’s already gone out,’ Gabe said evenly. ‘She didn’t say where.’
There was a moment’s silence, then Lola said, ‘Oh, that’s right, her boss invited her over for dinner. She mentioned it yesterday’
Hmm, lying to her friend, covering her tracks. Gabe wondered how Lola would react if she knew who Sally was really with.