‘How was it?’ Taylor asked, sipping her lemonade. Paige explained how Pamela had somehow became even more patronising once she had told her she was autistic. How she felt like all her faults had been laid out and examined under a microscope, and how the report had made out like her brain was broken. Taylor took Paige’s hand and held it tight. Paige just let their hands dangle in between them, relaying the whole appointment while staring at her drink, alternating between spinning the glass around and lifting it to her mouth, the cool ice occasionally touching her lips.
The group of men behind Taylor knocked into her, almost knocking her off the bar stool. Paige helped steady her and checked she was alright.
‘Yes, fine,’ Taylor said, rubbing her lower back where she had been elbowed. Paige picked up her drink and downed the rest of it.
‘Let’s get out of here,’ she said, using their still joined hands to pull Taylor off the stool. Taylor tried drinking as much of her lemonade as she could before being forced to place it down on the bar as she was whisked away, Paige leading her through the crowds of people until they got outside. Paige suddenly became very conscious of their interlaced fingers and let go, embarrassed. Taylor took half a step away to give her space.
‘Do you want me to take you home?’ Taylor asked, putting her hands in her pockets.
‘No.’
‘Do you want to find another pub?’
‘No.’
‘What do you want to do?’
Paige thought for a moment, trying to work out what she needed in that moment.
‘Walk. The river is about a mile that way,’ she said, pointing down the road.
‘Then let’s walk,’ Taylor said, stepping into line with her friend as they strolled towards the river. Paige was still trying to organise her thoughts, so used it as an opportunity to check in on Taylor, asking how Dylan was.
‘He’s OK, still sober, and he passed his first year at university.’ Paige could see Taylor’s chest swell with pride, so she let her carry on talking about her brother and how proud she was of him, and how living with him had worked out so much better than she expected. How if anything their relationship was stronger than ever, even if Dylan did insist on interfering in her personal life. And she was grateful that he had gotten her back into climbing; she hadn’t realised how much she had missed it.
By the time she had finished talking about him they could hear the river gurgling behind the trees and shrubs. Taylor tried to lead them down the pavement that ran parallel to the river until they found a way through, but Paige said she knew a shortcut and disappeared into the shrubbery. From amongst the greenery she extended an arm back out, beckoning for Taylor to take her hand, and pulled her through. The leaves stroked their bare skin as they navigated through the shrubbery and twigs snapped underneath their feet. Eventually they broke through to the other side, the darkness of the vegetation changing into a cool light, and the sounds of the city behind them dying away.
The path by the river was fairly quiet. The trees and shrubs provided some welcome shade, acting as a wall between them and the outside world. In the few minutes it took them to walk to Paige’s favourite clearing they only saw two other people; a dog walker and a cyclist. They sat down on the tree trunk and gazed across the river. The field on the other side was full of tall grass swaying lazily in the wind. Paige pointed out all the various wildlife, relishing in Taylor’s excitement each time they saw a new animal. She had to reach out and put her hand on Taylor’s leg to stop her jumping up when they saw the heron.
‘Shhhh! You’ll scare him off!’ she whispered, letting her hand linger on Taylor’s thigh. A fuzzy warmth radiated up from her fingers and her heart rate increased; she wondered if Taylor could hear her pulse, it was so loud in her ears. Paige withdrew her hand, worrying her heart was beating so hard it would jump out of her chest. They sat in silence, painfully aware of how small the gap was between them. Taylor seemed to be concentrating hard on keeping her eyes facing forward. Paige couldn’t help stealing some sideways glances at her.
‘Thank you, for helping me through this,’ Paige said eventually, still watching the ducks as they drifted by. ‘Not many people would have done that.’
‘Maya would have, if she was here, wouldn’t she?’ Taylor asked.
‘Yes, but I have known Maya for a long time. We’re basically sisters at this point.’
‘That’s true,’ Taylor said, picking up a loose twig from the floor, peeling off a couple of leaves and scratching at the bark. ‘Has it changed anything, do you think?’
‘Like what?’
‘Well, do you feel different?’
‘I mean... I do have a DIFFrability’ Paige joked. Taylor laughed, making the butterflies in Paige’s stomach flutter even harder.
‘Seriously, though?’ Taylor asked, still concentrating on the twig.
‘I don’t know. I don’t feel any different. I might approach things differently now though, and not give myself a hard time over things like needing quiet and not liking being touched.’
Taylor subtly slid slightly further down the trunk, increasing the gap between them.
‘By most people,’ Paige clarified quietly, making Taylor blush. They watched a wagtail ride an invisible rollercoaster in the air, spontaneously dipping and diving before climbing even higher than before. The trees around them rustled with the breeze. An open water swimmer slowly made their way down the river, their high visibility float trailing behind them, almost like a submarine’s periscope peering out of the water. Taylor had braced her hands on either side of herself, her fingers caressing the bark on the tree trunk. Paige could feel the butterflies trying to burst out of her as she reached down and put her hand over Taylor’s. Taylor turned towards her questioningly. Paige didn’t say anything, but instead leaned towards her, softly placing her lips on Taylor’s. It felt like someone had set off a fireworks display to rival London on New Year’s Eve as the warmth spread across her lips. Paige’s brain started going so fast, like all the trains in the world were running through it at full steam, pulling on their whistles as they passed. Taylor parted her lips slightly as she kissed back, overcoming her initial hesitation, allowing Paige to kiss her more fully. In that second, in that moment, the rest of the world melted away. Even the little wagtail no longer existed. It was just Paige, and Taylor, and the deep current of electricity flowing through them.
After a few seconds they pulled apart, Taylor’s cheeks as red as poppies as she blushed. She almost seemed like she wanted to hide. Paige just smiled softly at her, trying not to laugh.
‘Are you OK?’ Paige asked gently, trying to catch Taylor’s gaze.
‘Umm... I think so... I mean...’ she stammered, her gaze flicking up to Paige’s face.
‘Do you want me to have not done that?’ Paige asked, a slight tremble in her voice.
‘I never want you to stop doing that,’ Taylor said, finally raising her eyes to meet Paige’s.
‘Good,’ Paige said, kissing her again. She felt Taylor raise her hand and gently hold her cheek, deepening their kiss, drowning in each other. When they came up for air they could not help grinning at each other, chests heaving, nervous giggles drifting out over the river.
‘I do have a question, though,’ Taylor said finally.
‘Shoot.’
‘Are you going to tell Dylan, or am I?’
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Epilogue
Two years (and a few months) later...
Taylor, Dylan, and Maya were spread out at the bottom of a sheer rock face, with Paige getting ready to start her climb. Maya, who didn’t have quite the same enthusiasm towards climbing as the others, was lying down on a nearby patch of grass, soaking up the French August sun. This was the first proper holiday she had taken since getting back from Japan and she was determined to make the most of it, even if the other three ‘insisted on climbing’. She had bought a flat just a few miles from Paige, in the centre of the city, taking her boss up on their offe
r of choosing where to go next. She chose home. The city she was most familiar with and the friend she had missed so badly while on the other side of the world - and the man who kept stealing glances at her when he thought she wasn’t looking.
The grass around her bent to the contours of her body, and the sun hat she had been wearing was pulled low over her eyes. The blue skies overhead seemed to go on forever and they could see green and gold vineyards in the distance. Dylan, wanting to make sure she hadn’t fallen asleep, flicked water in her direction. She sat up and threw the travel pillow at him, nearly knocking him off the rock he was sitting on. He jerked his head subtly towards Taylor, who appeared to be shaking.
Dylan had just finished his third and final year of university, gaining a first class honours degree. He had decided to take the summer off to do some travelling and to take a ‘well-earned break’ before he started work writing for an online news outlet in the autumn. His console game collection had overflowed onto another bookcase. He was now sub-letting Taylor’s old house on his own, enjoying the freedom of bachelor life and the fact his sister wasn’t constantly nagging him to get his dirty socks out of the bathroom.
Dr Taylor Watkins had moved into Paige’s house last autumn. It had taken them a while to adjust to their new living situation. Taylor, who often held conversations with herself and enjoyed blaring her music as loud as she could tolerate, learnt to be quieter when Paige was at home. Paige, in turn, was slowly learning to be more flexible and spontaneous, even agreeing to this last-minute holiday suggested by Taylor.
Paige’s first book had been taken on by a publishing company, who had warned her that the niche market meant it might only sell a few thousand copies, only taking it on so they could diversify their portfolio. It had instead sold consistently well for many months, and her second novel did even better. She was currently writing her third, whilst juggling her teaching commitments, climbing, and spending as much time with Taylor as she could.
Paige started her climb, the yellowy-brown rock slightly crumbly in the French heat. Out the corner of her eye she saw Maya drag herself to her feet to come and watch, and even Dylan descended from his perch. She didn’t understand why, it wasn’t even that difficult a climb. She wedged her foot onto a small ledge, sending some dust trickling down the rock face. In some of the nooks and crannies, flowers had made their home. As a result the wall was speckled with colour, just like at the climbing centre, except the flowers danced with any light breeze. She could feel the heat beaming down onto her back as a trickle of sweat ran down the side of her face. Pausing to re-chalk her hands she looked over the nearby trees to the views beyond. Blue sky met patchwork fields in a beautiful duet. All she could hear was the slight breeze and the birds singing.
Eventually she made it to the topmost cam she had placed earlier in the day. Happily topping out, she signalled to Taylor that she was coming down, and started walking herself slowly down the wall. As she got closer to the ground she could hear the other three whispering between themselves, but couldn’t make out what they were saying. She landed gracefully on the ground, looking up at the rock face in front of her as she untied from the rope.
‘You know, Maya, I reckon you would be able to manage this. I know you think you’re not “really a climber” but the views from the top are amazing.’ Paige turned her head sideways to look for her friend, who was stood next to the wall, hands clasped in front of her and bouncing up and down.
‘Maya, what -?’ she began, turning to face her. The words were stolen from her mid sentence as she saw what Maya was so excited about. Taylor was no longer standing behind her, from where she had been belaying Paige. Instead, she had one knee on the floor, burning red cheeks, and held a small open box. Paige was aware of Taylor incoherently stammering some words, but all she could focus on was the simple, yet beautiful, diamond ring. The white gold circle rested in a purple velvet cushion, and supported a beautiful rectangular diamond, flanked by two smaller ones on each side. Paige had never seen anything so beautiful. Suddenly her hearing started working properly again, and she was finally able to understand what her girlfriend was saying.
‘Paige... will you?’ Taylor managed, her throat sounding as dry as the wall behind her, her nervous dimples shivering in anticipation. Paige was unable to form anything resembling words. She just nodded, gentle tears slowly beginning to fall down her cheeks.
‘Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!’ Maya screamed, jumping up and down, waterfalls cascading form her eyes. Dylan stood off to the side behind his sister, fists raised in the air in celebration. He would later say his eyes were watering from looking too hard at the sun.
Taylor scrambled to her feet and took the ring out of the box, and with trembling hands gently slid it on to Paige’s finger. It fitted perfectly.
Paige pulled her fiancée towards her, rapidly alternating between kissing and hugging her, not really knowing what to do with the bubbling joy that was overflowing inside of her. Eventually she calmed down enough to remember how to form words. She took both of Taylor’s hands in her own and looked into her eyes.
‘I love you,’ she whispered, squeezing her hands tightly.
‘I love you too,’ Taylor whispered back, her voice croaking, making them both laugh.
Dylan and Maya quickly demanded hugs off both of them, Dylan picking Paige up by the waist and spinning her around, Maya bombarding Taylor with a high-pitched flood of gibberish. Paige couldn’t stop grinning. Taylor kept trying to cover her burning cheeks and wipe away her tears, only for them to be replaced moments later. Dylan quickly ran over to the cool box and retrieved a bottle of champagne and glasses, making quick work of sending the cork into the air like a rocket.
‘So that’s why you wouldn’t let me help make lunch today!’ Paige said, pushing Dylan gently on the shoulder. He just grinned in response. Dylan filled up three glasses with champagne and handed them to the girls, using his water bottle to fill up a fourth for himself.
‘To love!’ he said, raising his glass.
‘To love!’ they all said in unison.
‘And to interfering younger brothers,’ Taylor added.
‘By nine minutes! Our age difference is nine. Freaking. Minutes!’ he said exasperatedly, while the others laughed. They drank and talked, Paige asking many questions about how long the other two knew for, and how long Taylor had had this planned. Maya was still communicating in decibels only bats could hear, and Dylan could not wipe the smug look off his face. Eventually, Paige turned to Taylor.
‘So,’ she said in mock seriousness. ‘Did you ever think you’d end up marrying a secret agent?’
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Rosie Williams lives in the south Wales valleys with her wife and two cats. Rosie first got into writing at a very young age, penning poems and self illustrated stories. This passion for writing was fostered in school, before becoming an escape from the real world as an adult. Now in her thirties, Rosie writes about the magic of romance allowing young and old to live vicariously through her characters.
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The Face of It Page 25