Chapter Three
Lilith
On the morning of June the second, I went for my final run in Santa Marita. The Plaza del Cristo, with its towering plane trees and puddles of dappled shade, marked the close of my eight-mile circuit, and I had already begun to slow my pace as I rounded the final corner and pounded past Benedicta’s, past the memorial to the town’s legion of Civil War dead, and past @, the internet café where Nat pretended to work as he honed the perfect programme to hack MI5.
Bach’s Toccata and Fugue thundered in my ears and I could feel my pulse throb in my temples as I touched the sun-warmed bench that marked my finish line. I placed my left foot on the peeling green paintwork, pushed the heel down to stretch my Achilles tendon, swapped feet and repeated. My daily ritual.
I turned off my MP3 player and gave my head a moment to deal with the sudden silence. I knew I was courting deafness if I continued to listen to music at a volume that would make anyone else’s eardrums bleed, but I didn’t care. As far as I was concerned, it was only real music if I could still hear a phantom beat echoing in my skull three hours after I’d switched it off.
‘I’m surprised the pigeons haven’t issued you with a noise abatement order.’
To my dismay, Nat had seen me run past the café window and came to meet me with a bottle of mineral water. ‘Thanks.’ I took the water and wiped away the crystal beads of condensation with my thumb before taking a grateful drink.
‘I was going to call when I’d finished my shift. There’s this cool gig at Ben’s tonight – thought you might fancy it if you weren’t busy.’
I shook my head, and sweat spattered down onto the pavement. ‘Sorry. Stuff to do.’
‘Maybe tomorrow, then?’
‘Won’t be here. I’m flying back to England in the morning.’
‘Oh.’ His warm, hazel eyes widened in surprise. ‘You never said.’
‘No, well you never asked.’ I didn’t have to add that it was none of his damn business. My expression said it all.
‘Okay, okay.’ Nat held up his hands. ‘So, what is it this time? Another TV show?’
‘No, it’s not another bloody TV show. It’s work, if you must know.’
‘How long will you be away? Only, if it’s more than a few days, I’ll water your plants if you want…’
‘There’s no need. For God’s sake Nat, what is this? Twenty fucking questions? If you must know, Rosario’s taken my plants. I could be away for a couple of months.’
‘And that’s it?’
The fury I still felt at my father spilled to the surface before I had chance to check it. ‘What the fuck’s that meant to mean?’ I snapped.
‘You weren’t going to tell me, were you? If I hadn’t seen you today, you’d have buggered off without saying a word. I thought you and I were friends, Lilith. Maybe even more than that.’
‘Oh you have to be kidding me. You really are the last person I expected to turn into a needy bastard.’ I began to walk away, but to my surprise Nat fell into step beside me.
‘Needy? A woman I thought was my friend decides to fuck off to the Motherland for a few months and doesn’t even have the courtesy to call in and say ‘see ya’, and that makes me needy?’
I had never heard Nat raise his voice in all the years that we had known each other. Now the early morning market-goers stopped in their tracks to watch our scene and guilt-fuelled indignation swelled inside me. ‘We were never friends, Nat. I don’t know your birthday, your shoe-size or anything about your childhood. I couldn’t give a toss about your favourite film, and I really don’t see us settling down by the fireside with a sweet sherry to reminisce about the good times.’ I aimed my parting shot. ‘And if the separation anxiety really kicks in, try thinking of us as acquaintances who had the occasional mediocre fuck because you were too lazy to get off your arse and find a real girlfriend.’
Nat bit his bottom lip, and for one awful second his eyes misted over. Then he summoned the trace of a smile. ‘God, I pity you, Lilith. Have a safe trip, won’t you?’ He crossed the street without looking back as I thumbed the ‘on’ button and let the music obliterate my thoughts.
Finn
I dragged a Rococo wardrobe from the guest room into the corridor and hoped that I hadn’t managed to break off anything too priceless on the journey. ‘So, any particular reason we’re going into the removals business?’