Just the Two of Us

by Georgie Capron

  They continued driving east for about forty minutes before Rory pulled over and parked on an empty street in the middle of Tower Hamlets. With Rufus on the lead, they walked down Baxendale Street, the sun still shining proudly in a clear stretch of blue sky. As they neared the end of the road, Lucy began to hear what sounded like the hustle and bustle of a market up ahead. They turned into Columbia Road where they were instantly hit by a wall of riotous colour, an assault on the senses. The chatter of market shoppers mingled with the sing-song calls of East Londoners selling their wares. Lucy could not believe it: as far as the eye could see the street was lined with thousands upon thousands of flowers of all sizes, colour and description. Huge sunflowers as big as footballs unfurled their sunshine yellow leaves, their necks twisting towards the light from thick green stems. Stalls with every herb known to mankind filled the air with their aromatic aroma: purple sage, sweet basil, lemon thyme and coriander to name but a few. Calla lilies and amaryllis, shamrocks and chrysanthemums nestled next to towering ten foot banana trees. The barrow boys’ rhythmic chanting of ‘Everything a fiver!’ punctuated the chatter of shoppers at regular intervals.

  As Lucy feasted her eyes on her surroundings she turned to Rory and kissed him, ‘I love this place!’ she grinned. ‘It’s my idea of heaven!’

  Rory smiled at her, his arm around her shoulders, saying, ‘I had a sneaking suspicion you might say that! Now let’s walk all the way around the market, and you better choose the ones you like best, cos I’m going to fill your house with flowers when we get home!’

  Lucy clapped her hands in anticipation, giving him another kiss and declaring him to be officially the best boyfriend in the entire world.

  Upon hearing the word boyfriend, Rory spun her around to face him, raising an eyebrow and saying, ‘So I’m your boyfriend, am I?!’

  Lucy blushed as she realised that she may have jumped the gun a little. ‘Do you want to be?’ she asked somewhat hesitantly.

  ‘Are you kidding? I would like nothing more!’ he said, bending down to kiss her. He spun her around in delight. Rufus was bemused at all the kerfuffle but wagged his tail happily.

  Soon, Lucy and Rory’s arms were both full with huge bunches of flowers, bursting from their sheaths of brown paper and tied with long strands of hessian. They stopped at the edge of the market and stacked their bundles of flowers high up against the wall, ordering coffees from a little cafe and perching on stools that wobbled precariously on the pavement. They sipped their drinks and people-watched, absorbing the wondrous scene before them and marvelling at the variety and infinite beauty of nature, so very evident here.

  Lucy thanked Rory again for bringing her and made him promise that they would come here all the time now that she had discovered it. They watched the crowds of shoppers passing by, Rufus sitting happily at their feet. A young family caught her eye, the toddler holding his mother and father’s hands as they swung him in the air, ruddy cheeks glowing as he laughed in delight. Lucy found herself caught unawares by an overwhelming pang of longing for a baby. She wondered whether Rory had similar thoughts. Meeting him had changed everything for her, but it hadn’t lessened her desire to become a mother. If anything, it had almost made it stronger, as she felt so secure and settled in her new relationship. She suddenly realised that her period hadn’t arrived. It was due today but she had forgotten all about it in the madness of the morning. The thought that it might be late terrified and excited in her in equal measure. She promised herself that she would take a pregnancy test at work the very next morning if it hadn’t come by then, though she was sure that it would have. Her body was no doubt slightly out of sync with all the excitement of these last couple of weeks with Rory. She didn’t want to do it when she was with him, anyway.

  After a while, they walked back through the throngs of people towards the car, the Victorian buildings of Columbia Road a striking backdrop to the endless market stalls. They piled the bouquets into the boot, momentarily cutting off their supply of sunshine for the journey home.

  Having made it back across London to Mayfield Road, they burst into the flat balancing bags, flowers and Rufus, while somehow managing to keep hold of Lucy’s keys. The sun was streaming in through the windows. Rufus went over to his now familiar makeshift bed and settled down for a rest after the excitement of the car journey. Lucy and Rory cut the ends off the stems of each gigantic bunch of flowers and arranged them into all sorts of containers and vases, filling every nook and cranny of the flat. It looked as though a florist had exploded. Lucy had never seen her flat look so beautiful! Within minutes, the room was filled with the sweet perfume of the flowers’ scent. As they stood back to admire their handiwork, Lucy’s mobile rang.

  ‘Hello?’ she said as she pressed the green button on her handset.

  ‘Hi darling, it’s Tor! How are you? What are you up to?’ she asked.

  ‘Oh we’ve just been to the most amazing place in the whole world, Columbia Road Flower Market. Have you ever been?’

  ‘Oooh… I’ve heard about it but no, never been. Is it wonderful?’

  ‘It’s breathtaking! My house looks like the Eden Project, I’ve got so many flowers here, you have to come over and see it!’

  ‘I’m having tea with mum in Hammersmith this afternoon, why don’t I pop over on the way? I feel like it’s been a while since I’ve seen you and you can see your godson too!’

  ‘Great idea! Come over whenever you want. We’ll just be having some lunch.’

  ‘We?! Does that mean I’m going to get to meet the mysterious Rory then?’ asked Tor, clearly delighted at the prospect.

  ‘If you’re lucky!’ chuckled Lucy, winking at Rory who could overhear their entire conversation.

  ‘Well now just try and stop me!’ cried Tor. ‘I’ll be there within the hour; it takes me an age to get out of the house with all the baby crap.’

  ‘Okay Tor, see you when I see you,’ said Lucy.

  After that they nipped out to the local deli and bought some salads for lunch and a loaf of sourdough bread from the bakery. Lucy heated up some chicken mulligatawny and they dunked their crusty slices of bread into the creamy soup. They had picked up the Sunday papers and read them while they ate, Rory starting with the real news and Lucy with the supplements before swapping over… Lucy was now determined to keep up with Rory’s impressive knowledge of current affairs.

  She hadn’t been feeling quite herself that morning so she declined Rory’s offer of coffee opting instead for a pint of Berocca to try and give her immune system a boost. The liquids seemed to rush straight through her and suddenly she found herself desperate for the loo.

  To her surprise and disappointment Lucy found that her period had started. Her eyes filled with tears. Her head started to spin with a mixture of emotions at the realization that once again she was not pregnant. She hadn’t been thinking about it nearly as much as she had done in the two weeks that followed each previous cycle. She had spent more time and energy convincing herself that what would be would be, but now that the reality hit her she felt absolutely devastated. The by-now familiar and all-encompassing disappointment of yet another failed round of treatment washed over her like a tide of despair, rising up through her body and spilling out in her tears. It was bitter and almost tangible in its strength. She forced herself to try and be positive: this clearly hadn’t been the plan for her. And anyway now she had Rory, maybe she was meant to have a baby with Rory instead, following the traditional route of falling in love, marriage and starting a family. She dreaded to think how she would have broached the subject with Rory had she been pregnant and felt the tiniest flicker of relief that now she would never have to.

  She splashed water on her face and took a deep breath. There was nothing to be done but to resign her future to the fates. Life really was full of surprises, she thought. You could plan all you liked but it did no good. She remembered an old poster that she used to have blu-tacked to her bedroom wall saying, ‘Life was what happened when you
were busy making other plans!’ It was true, she thought as she looked at her reflection in the mirror, wiping the tears away. She knew now was not the time to sort through the puzzling and conflicting feelings that were currently zooming through her head like a snowstorm. She pushed them to one side and promised herself she would process it all properly the next time she was by herself. Rory, and Tor’s imminent arrival, were far too much of a distraction for any serious soul-searching to take place at this precise moment.

  About an hour after Tor’s phone call, as predicted, the doorbell rang. Lucy buzzed Tor in and she stomped up the stairs heaving Otto in his little car seat under one arm. Lucy felt her eyes smart furiously at the sight of baby Otto, the bittersweet realization that she was not pregnant swung dramatically towards disappointment at the sight of her godson. Pulling herself together, Lucy offered to help. Tor insisted on lugging it all the way up, saying it was the only exercise she got, eventually arriving at the top of the steps with slightly red cheeks, huffing and puffing. Brushing her blonde curls out of her eyes and kissing her friend hello, she walked into the flat to find Rory waiting to greet her.

  ‘You must be Tor,’ he said warmly, giving her a kiss on both cheeks as she said, ‘Nice to meet you, Rory!’

  ‘And you, little man, must be the famous Otto that your godmother has told me so much about! I can see why, he’s darn cute!’ said Rory as he tousled the baby’s slightly ginger hair.

  Otto gurgled in response, a spit bubble forming on his rose-bud lips, before a beaming smile spread across his chubby cheeks.

  ‘He loves you!’ said Tor. ‘He doesn’t smile for just anyone, you know.’

  ‘He’s grand!’ said Rory. He seemed genuinely interested in little Otto.

  ‘Can I hold him?’ asked Lucy, feeling very hormonal all of a sudden.

  ‘Be my guest!’ replied Tor as she unclipped the strap around Otto’s chest, releasing him from the car seat. Lucy picked him up and held him out in front of her, kissing his soft little cheeks and cooing over his beautiful blue eyes. ‘I can’t believe how much he has grown!’ she said to Tor.

  ‘Tell me about it!’ Tor rolled her eyes and collapsed onto the sofa.

  ‘Would you like a cup of tea?’ asked Rory.

  ‘I’m absolutely gasping for one, thank you. I haven’t had a second to make one for myself all day.’

  ‘Where’s Will?’ asked Lucy.

  ‘Oh he’s away on business so I’m coping with Otto all by myself, lucky me! The flowers are stunning by the way. You’re right, Luce, it is like the Eden Project in here!’

  ‘I know, I’m a lucky girl!’ grinned Lucy, reminding herself to count her considerable blessings.

  ‘I’ll say!’ agreed Tor with a wink, mouthing, ‘In more ways than one!’ while Rory busied himself in the kitchen.

  Rory came over to join them with a tray of biscuits and three cups of steaming tea.

  Tor thanked him as she took a sip, relaxing back into the cushions and heaving a deep sigh of relief. ‘It’s so nice not to have to be in charge!’ she said, yawning. ‘You just keep hold of him for me! Don’t mind me if I nod off… I’m so sleep-deprived!’

  ‘We’ll look after him, don’t worry. I absolutely adore children, and so, it would seem, does Lucy. You should let us babysit for you!’ suggested Rory. ‘Give yourself a break.’

  ‘Definitely!’ said Lucy. ‘I love looking after him, anytime, just give us a call.’

  ‘Thanks guys, I really appreciate it,’ said Tor gratefully.

  Lucy knew that Tor was absolutely dying to quiz her to find out whether she had done her pregnancy test yet, but thankfully she was too discreet to try and ask her anything so personal in front of Rory, particularly given the dilemma Lucy had recently explained over the phone. She decided she would text her the news that she was not pregnant later. If she told her that she had got her period, she might well up and burst into tears. She felt extremely hormonal, the usual PMT undoubtedly kicking in.

  Rory took Otto from Lucy and bounced him on his knees, provoking another bout of rapturous giggles from the baby who was as smitten with Rory as his godmother, and mother, appeared to be. Tor praised him on his natural ease with babies, saying it was quite unusual in her experience for men that didn’t have any children of their own. Rory explained that he had seven nephews and nieces and was therefore an experienced uncle.

  ‘It’s easy!’ said Rory. ‘You just bounce them around, chuck them up in the air, or fly them like superman. In my experience, one of the above normally gets a baby to stop crying sooner rather than later.’

  Watching him with Otto, Lucy felt another pang of sadness stab through her.

  ‘He’s the baby whisperer!’ laughed Tor as Otto began to close his eyes.

  The three of them dunked their biscuits in their piping hot cups of tea and chatted for an hour or so before Tor announced that she had better go if she was going to make it to her mother’s and back ready for bedtime. Gathering all her stuff together, she put Otto back into his car seat and clipped his little safety belt together. Unfortunately, Rufus, who had been sleeping docilely in his bed the whole time that Tor and Otto had been in the room, chose that exact moment to bound out of his bed straight over to the baby. Whisking Otto up and out of Rufus’s reach, Rory offered to carry him down to the car for Tor, and so the three of them made their way outside, with Lucy clutching on awkwardly to Rufus’s collar in case he took his liberty too seriously and ran away.

  As they waved Tor off with Otto safely ensconced in the back seat and Rufus straining to chase after the car, Rory turned to Lucy and said, ‘Your friends are so lovely! I think it’s about time you met some of mine.’ He looked at her with a mischievous grin, adding, ‘Though I wouldn’t want you to be put off now, would I?’

  Lucy shoved him and said, ‘Why would I be put off? Are they going to reveal all sorts of dark and mysterious secrets about you that I haven’t found out yet?’ She laughed as she kicked the front door shut behind her with her boot. Rufus rocketed forward like an uncoiled spring as she released her grip and bounded up the stairs with the agility and speed of a greyhound.

  ‘Well, you’ll have to wait and see! I’ll text Ben now and see if I can organize something for the weekend,’ said Rory, pulling his phone out of his jeans pocket.

  Lucy knew all about Ben. He had been Rory’s best man when he married Abigail. Rory had talked to her about the wedding a couple of times, and as always whenever she thought of Abigail Lucy felt moved to the point of tears. She couldn’t bear what he had been through. She felt nothing but sadness on their behalf, laced with a touch of gratitude that, though she wouldn’t have wished it on anyone, least of all Rory, she was able to be with him now. Ben was a friend of theirs from University College London, now a successful doctor married to an Australian physiotherapist called Chrissie, and with three children to boot. Lucy had heard lots about him and the rest of their university gang and couldn’t wait to meet them. She suggested that they hosted a dinner party at Thurloe Crescent, which Rory thought was a fantastic idea. He tapped at the screen and sent Ben a message, trying to ignore Rufus who was running about like a headless chicken, clearly full of far too much energy having spent the afternoon cooped up inside.

  While he was texting Ben, Lucy swallowed her disappointment and sent a message to Tor, Claudia and Nicola explaining that she had got her period. She tried to put a positive spin on the news, asking them not to worry, saying that it was probably for the best now that she had found Rory. She knew she was trying to convince herself more than her friends. They all pinged messages back agreeing that it was for the best, hoping that she was okay and asking her to call when she was next free.

  By this stage Rufus was about to explode with pent-up energy, so they decided to take him out for a late afternoon walk. Nipping into the bedroom, Lucy changed into her trainers and pulled on a warm gilet to protect herself against the evening chill. If she was coming down with something that was the last thing she ne
eded.

  They strolled around the block and into the local park, letting Rufus off the lead and watching him bound like a cheetah across the expanse of green grass, revelling in the space around him. Lucy and Rory walked hand in hand through the park, admiring the changing colours of twilight, that warm glow that bathed everything around them in a blanket of hazy light as though someone was twisting a giant dimmer switch up above them.

  As they walked, Lucy asked Rory to tell him about how he had met Abigail. Rory obliged and began to describe their first encounter, two fresh-faced, rosy-cheeked freshers, innocent and nervous in equal measure as their friendship, forged over pints of lager in the union bar, slowly developed into something more. Rory, fresh off the plane from Ireland, was infatuated by this freckly, green-eyed redhead and her English accent. Abigail was equally blown away by Rory. They had lived together in their second year with Ben and a couple of other medics, including their close friend Ed, before moving in on their own during their final year at UCL, getting married soon after graduation.

  ‘Have you ever considered getting married, Luce?’ asked Rory.

  ‘I’ve always wanted to get married,’ replied Lucy. ‘And I always assumed that I would…’

  ‘Did you ever come close?’

  ‘I suppose Alex was the closest I ever got to seriously considering it,’ said Lucy. ‘But that didn’t end so well. All in all, I guess the right man has just never come along.’

  When she said that, Rory looked at her long and hard and said, ‘Do you still believe that?’ He held her hand softly as he spoke and she felt as though the rest of the world surrounding them just melted away, that they were locked in a bubble of their own creation.

  ‘I’m not sure,’ she replied, barely able to process the hidden meaning behind his question, a flutter of excitement flickering through her like flames licking at burning coal. In response, he kissed her. It was such a tender, soft kiss that she felt her insides dissolve.