Just the Two of Us

by Georgie Capron

  ‘And, darling, now that you have such an eligible man, I do hope that you are putting your crazy ideas about having a baby by yourself to rest?’ asked Annie. Lucy had been waiting for this. She had suspected that Annie was particularly thrilled about Rory’s arrival on the scene for this exact reason.

  ‘You never know, granny. Perhaps I won’t need to be a single mother after all!’ said Lucy.

  ‘I must say I’m jolly glad to hear it!’ said Annie. ‘I couldn’t have been more shocked when you told me you were planning on doing it alone. Daft idea… quite extraordinary!’

  ‘Yes, granny, you made that quite clear,’ said Lucy, hoping beyond hope that she would never have to face explaining the truth to her grandmother if events did not work out in her favour. She realised just how different her circumstances were this time around as the day she would be able to take a pregnancy test approached once again. She suddenly found herself unsure as to whether she would prefer to be pregnant or not.

  Ginny had made her nightly telephone call to her mother between courses, so Lucy had also finally filled her in about Rory too, playing the romance down as much as possible, determined not to raise her mother’s hopes. Ginny sounded terribly excited nonetheless. And like Granny Annie, asked Lucy whether she was still going to pursue the ‘donor route’, as Ginny referred to it, now that she had met a nice young man. Ginny and Gus didn’t realize that she had received another round of treatment earlier in the month, and Lucy hadn’t enlightened them. She merely told her mother that all plans were on hold for a while, to which she could hear her mother’s audible sigh of relief.

  Kissing her grandmother goodbye after dinner, she headed towards home, flagging down a black cab as she went. She called Rory and passed on Annie’s dinner invitation. He was delighted to accept, having heard so much about the infamous Annie. They planned to have a night in at Rory’s house the next day before going to the pub on Saturday, as promised, with Claudia and Dan. Lucy couldn’t wait to see the look on Claudia’s face when she saw him. She knew that they would get on incredibly well.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Having spent the whole of Friday night and Saturday cocooned in the love shack that Rory’s house had become, wrapped up in the all-consuming mutual adoration that was peculiar to lovers still dazzled by new romance, it was with reluctance that they geared up for their night out in the real world. They had barely left the house. Lucy had decided to see whether her period came the next day rather than going out to buy a pregnancy test. She was always extremely regular, so she knew that if she was late she could then take a test to confirm whether she was pregnant. The outcome didn’t feel quite as critical now. She still wanted to be a mother, of course, but now that she had Rory she realised she was prepared to wait a while.

  Lucy was very excited at the prospect of Claudia and Dan meeting Rory. Her best friend’s approval was of paramount importance to her. She knew that as soon as other people got to know him and see for themselves what an incredible man he was, the more real it would become for her. She might be able to stop pinching herself at her astounding good luck in finding him.

  Rory continued to amaze her on a daily basis. Physically, he was such a strong and striking man, yet he was so kind and vulnerable underneath. He had endless time for her. He had told her that this was the first time he had really let someone in, let someone get to know the real him, since Abigail died, and she was so glad that he had chosen her to be the one to do so. When he gave her his attention she felt as though he was thinking of nothing else apart from what she was saying, as though there was nowhere in the world he would rather be, no one else in the world he would rather be with. She had heard him on the phone talking to his various family members, giving the same tenderness and affection whether he was talking to Trina and Paddy, his brothers or sister, or any one of his numerous nephews and nieces. Occasionally he would just double up with laugher, a booming deep laugh that would reverberate around the room, echoing warmth through the house, and Lucy would find herself laughing along with him, having no idea what about. It was contagious.

  They had developed a jokey banter between them, lightly teasing each other and steadily building up the foundations of a deep friendship, which felt as secure and unshakeable as her relationships with Claudia and Tor.

  On Saturday lunchtime, Lucy called Claudia to confirm their plans to meet up that evening.

  ‘Luce?’ said Claudia, answering the phone at the first ring.

  ‘Hi Clauds,’ said Lucy. ‘Are you excited?’

  ‘OMG I can’t wait!’ shrieked Claudia. ‘I feel like I’m going on a first date… I’m nervous!’

  ‘Steady on, Clauds, he is taken you know!’ laughed Lucy. ‘As are you, need I remind you?’

  ‘I know, I know! Dan thinks I’m completely crackers. He just sounds so great and I’m so happy for you. It’s too exciting!’

  ‘So where do you want to meet?’ asked Lucy.

  ‘Mmmm, not sure. Where’s convenient?’ asked Claudia.

  ‘I reckon Putney is about halfway.’

  ‘How about the Rose and Chalice?’

  ‘Brilliant, I love that pub,’ agreed Lucy.

  ‘Cool, see you later then,’ said Claudia, getting ready to hang up the phone.

  ‘Wait… wait!’ said Lucy, lowering her voice so that Rory couldn’t hear her. ‘Remember, Clauds, not a word about anything. I mean it.’ She hated the fact that she wasn’t being completely open with Rory, especially when he had been so honest with her about Abigail, but she didn’t want to scare him away when there was no indication at this stage that she was even pregnant.

  ‘Yes, yes, I know. I mustn’t mention a thing,’ said Claudia, having already been lectured several times about the impossibility of Rory finding out a single detail of donor insemination gate.

  ‘See you later,’ said Lucy.

  ‘Byeee! Can’t wait!’ added Claudia, blowing kisses down the phone.

  That evening Rory and Lucy both had showers before getting ready to head out, Rory going first and Lucy, for once, managing to resist his persuasive offers to join him, knowing that would make them very late indeed. Later, as she emerged with pink cheeks in a cloud of billowing steam from the en suite into the bedroom, she was greeted by the sight of Rory, his white towel wrapped around his hips, doing a Michael Jackson impersonation to ‘Thriller’ which was playing on the radio. Not wishing to be outdone, she joined him, moonwalking across the floor, her hair in a turban like the Queen of Sheba, prompting an energetic dance off that ended up with both Rory and Lucy collapsed on the bed, trying to catch their breath through hysterical laughter.

  ‘I definitely beat you,’ said Rory, bending over her and kissing her on the neck.

  ‘You did not!’ shrieked Lucy. ‘My moves are much better than yours!’

  ‘Oh, really… well we’ll have to see about that!’ chuckled Rory, showing her exactly what moves he was talking about.

  Shoving him off her, Lucy screeched, ‘Rory! You are incorrigible! Not now… we’re going to be so late!’

  ‘But you’re so irresistible, it’s not my fault!’ complained Rory, a wicked glint in his eye, trying to tug her towel down.

  Wriggling out of his grasp and bolting to her overnight bag that was lying in the corner of the room, she promised him that he could have his wicked way with her later if he got a move on now. She pulled on a set of matching underwear and a royal blue patterned dress, spraying herself with perfume and running a comb through her hair. No straighteners would mean she would have to embrace her natural wavy hair, but she felt confident enough to go au naturel with Rory, having crossed that bridge early on thanks to the rainstorm. She couldn’t believe it was only last Saturday when they had got together, it seemed like months ago!

  Rory pulled on his trusty jeans, some loafers and a pale blue shirt that brought out the striking colour of his eyes, then tousled his fingers through his hair, declaring himself good to go. Lucy’s stomach flipped at the sight
of him, she couldn’t wait to see Claudia’s jaw hit the floor.

  Having finished off her make-up while Rory took Rufus out for a quick walk around the block, they were ready to leave. They hailed a taxi and set off for the pub.

  The Rose and Chalice had such a rustic, cosy atmosphere, complete with burning fires and comfortable looking sofas, that it felt like an authentic country pub. Lucy began scanning the faces scattered about the place, looking for one she recognized, but she needn’t have bothered… Claudia’s shriek would have been audible across the river! Following the ear-piercing decibels, they spotted Claudia and Dan sitting at a table near the fireplace at the back of the pub, already halfway through their first drink.

  They made their way through the crowded pub to their table, being careful not to nudge any drinks over as they did so. Lucy clocked Claudia’s gobsmacked expression at the sight of Rory, which, with a well-timed elbow in the ribs from Dan, she hastily rearranged into a normal smile. Both Claudia and Dan stood up to kiss Lucy and greet Rory, welcoming them and exchanging the usual platitudes of ‘Nice to meet you’ et cetera. Lucy was so proud to be here with such an incredible catch, she could feel the envious eyes of all the other women on her back, and felt a wave of smugness rise within her. She had been very impressed with the confident way in which Rory had introduced himself, firmly shaking both Claudia and Dan’s hand, saying their names whilst looking them directly in the eye. He asked Lucy what she would like to drink and offered to buy another round for Claudia and Dan, before turning to weave his way back through to the bar.

  Immediately, Claudia burst out with, ‘Oh my god, he is just divine! You lucky cow!’ to which Dan retorted, ‘Easy, Clauds or I’ll start to get jealous!’

  Lucy beamed. ‘I told you he was good-looking!’ she said as she helped herself to a handful of salt and vinegar crisps from the packet that was lying open on the table. She was really craving salty food at the moment, and thought she might get some chips with her meal to hit the spot. ‘I’m starving… in fact I think I’ll go and get some menus and help Rory carry your drinks. You’re eating right?’ she asked.

  ‘Definitely,’ replied Dan, peering over her shoulder to scan the specials that were chalked up on the blackboard.

  Lucy joined Rory at the bar and grabbed a couple of menus from the stand, tucking them under her arm then waiting for the barman to pull their pints.

  ‘They seem like a lovely couple!’ said Rory. ‘And this pub is a great find. The food looks amazing… check out that burger over there,’ he said, pointing over at a table to their left where a tower of pulled pork was spilling over a brioche bun.

  ‘Oh yum! I might have to get one of those,’ agreed Lucy, taking the two glasses of wine and following Rory back over to Claudia and Dan.

  ‘Here we go!’ announced Rory. ‘Yours was the Guinness right?’ he joked with Dan, before proffering a lager. ‘Only having a laugh, we Irish aren’t all as obsessed with the black stuff as you might think, you know!’

  They settled into a happy chat about Ireland. Dan had been on a recent work trip to Dublin which had included an enlightening tour around the Guinness factory. Claudia asked Rory all about his family, clearly doing her best to get as much information out of him as possible, eager to size him up. She shrieked with disbelief when she heard that he had seven nephews and nieces; three from his sister and four from his older brother.

  ‘Wow! I think having one nephew is more than enough responsibility for me!’ said Claudia, referring to Sebastian, now, incredibly, over one year old already.

  ‘I don’t think anyone would disagree with you, Clauds!’ laughed Lucy. ‘You’re not exactly what I would describe as a natural with kids after all…’

  Rory asked Claudia and Dan what they did for a living, showing interest in hearing about their respective careers, asking plenty of questions.

  As their food arrived, they passed out cutlery and condiments, marvelling at the mouth-watering pies and burgers. During dinner the conversation moved on to Rory and his architecture and Lucy began to tell them about his amazing house in Holland Park. Claudia was fascinated to hear about the development of the house from its less than desirable beginnings: her father had run a business renovating properties for years. As the conversation flowed, Lucy sat back and admired Rory, his endearing self-deprecation, the way the vowels rolled lazily off his tongue and those frequent bouts of deep laughter. She loved listening to all his anecdotes about life and could tell that both Claudia and Dan were held captive by him too.

  The two couples ordered a round of highly calorific desserts followed by coffees. By this time the alcohol had loosened their tongues and, as was so often the case, lowered the tone of the conversation. It was always at this stage of the night that Claudia was at her most hilarious, with Dan her witty sidekick, and she had all of their attention gripped as she described a recent sex-tape scandal at work that would have had even the most liberal of people blushing to the very roots of their hair!

  As the pub began to close, they spilled out onto the pavement along with the other punters, kissing each other goodbye and promising to organize another date for the diary soon.

  Claudia hugged Lucy tight and whispered in her ear, ‘This is it, I think it really is it!’

  Lucy beamed at her friend. If anything tonight had confirmed what she was beginning to suspect, that this really was different, that Rory really could be the one she had been waiting for.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  On Sunday morning Lucy was rudely awakened by Rufus’s sandpapery tongue licking her toes as they stuck out of the end of the duvet. He had somehow made his way up into the bedroom. Groaning, she whipped her feet back into the warmth and safety of her bedcovers and tried to shoo Rufus back downstairs to his bed. Hearing a wry chuckle, she opened one eye and peered out into the light of a new day. Rory was standing by the open door, his tall frame leaning against the wall, an eyebrow raised and a smile spreading across his cheeks.

  ‘Up you get sleepyhead!’ he sang.

  ‘Nooo…’ whined Lucy, burying herself deeper into hibernation and asking in a muffled voice from beneath the duvet, ‘what are you doing up at this hour on a Sunday morning anyway, you crazy man?’

  ‘We’re going on an adventure!’ said Rory. Rufus was wagging his tail so loudly in appreciation of this early morning activity that Lucy could feel it whipping against the valance beneath her.

  ‘Really? Now?!’ asked Lucy, still firmly ensconced in bed. ‘Can’t we have a lie-in first?’ she pleaded.

  Suddenly the duvet had been sliced off the bed and Rory was poking her. ‘Up, up, up!’ he chanted, aiming for the ticklish side of her tummy. That did the trick, along with the cold blast of fresh air that was nipping at her skin; Lucy was out of bed like a shot.

  ‘Okay, okay… where are we going?’ she asked, flicking her fringe out of her eyes, feeling abnormally exhausted considering she hadn’t drunk more than a couple of glasses of wine the night before.

  ‘It’s a surprise. Somewhere cool, that’s all you need to know!’ announced Rory. ‘Jump in the shower and get dressed, I’ll take Rufus out and see you back here ready to go at nine?!’

  ‘Okay boss,’ Lucy said, giving him a weary salute. Despite her protestation, she loved him for his spontaneity and sense of fun; you never knew what he was going to do next, that was for sure.

  As always the hot pelts of water that sluiced over her body reinvigorated her. The fresh mint shower gel that she rubbed all over her skin made each cell tingle in preparation for the day ahead. She dried her hair vigorously with a towel before running a comb through it, detangling it as best she could and then brushing her teeth. Prepared for anything, she pulled on a pair of jeans, a red cashmere jumper and a pair of worn-out, old ankle boots. She did her make-up and gave her hair a final rub, trying to squeeze the water droplets out so that she didn’t catch a cold… there was no such thing as a hair dryer to be found at Thurloe Crescent, it occurred to her that she might
have to rectify that soon.

  Still yawning, she went downstairs and made herself a coffee while she waited for Rory and Rufus to return from their walk. Despite the light drizzle that had lasted for most of the day yesterday, Sunday had dawned bright and crisp, a perfect start to February, full of promise of the coming season.

  Lucy pondered where Rory might be taking her as she caught up on the news on the BBC. She checked her phone for messages, having received some lovely texts from Claudia last night singing Rory’s praises, and noticed that she rarely felt the need to log onto her favourite social media sites any longer, her go-to iPhone apps of Facebook and Instagram hadn’t been accessed for quite some time. Not to mention Tinder, she cringed at the thought of her awful date with that guy Ted. Perhaps she had finally got bored of snooping on other people’s affairs, or maybe it was because her life was now so full and happy in itself that she no longer had any need for it. Her lifelong obsession with comparing herself to others appeared to have come to an end, a wonderful side effect of getting older, she mused.

  Just then the front door banged shut, rousing her from her thoughts. Rory called her name to see whether she was still upstairs. Answering back, she tipped out her coffee and put her cup into the dishwasher before traipsing up the corridor to meet him in the hall. They were taking Rufus with them, it seemed, and travelling to their mysterious destination by car. Lucy clambered into the front of Rory’s Audi A3, Rufus lying down across the back seats as Rory revved the engine, pulling his sunglasses down over his eyes as he did so.

  They drove through the streets of London, blissfully empty in the early hours of Sunday morning, and listened to the strains of Steve Wright’s Sunday Love Songs. Rory accompanied each song, with Lucy doing her best to join in. They laughed at her unbelievably bad knowledge of song lyrics. Rory stopped frequently to ask her what she thought the words were to some of the most famous songs, correcting her moments later with something blindingly obvious and completely different. He told her that he preferred her versions, they were much more amusing.