Meet Me at Willow Hall

by Carla Burgess

  ‘Oh!’ I gazed at him wide-eyed, delighted that I was going to be seeing him around a lot. He had such a lovely warm smile; it lit up his whole face. I couldn’t take my eyes off him. ‘Of course! You moved in on Sunday, didn’t you? I was wondering when we’d get to meet. Have you settled in okay? Is everything to your liking?’

  ‘Yes, everything’s perfectly fine, thank you. The apartment’s lovely.’

  ‘It is, isn’t it?’ I said, eager to keep him talking. ‘We had it renovated recently so it’s all fresh and new. I’m quite jealous you’re living there, actually. I felt like moving in myself.’

  Raising his eyebrows slightly, he looked at me with interest. ‘Why didn’t you then?’

  ‘I have my own house already. It’s only a ten-minute walk down the road and over the river. Close enough.’ Realising I was on the verge of giving him my home address and inviting him round for tea, I shut up and then noticed my fingers were still wrapped around his big, warm hand. Trying to pretend it was normal to hold a handshake for this long, I let go and tucked my hands into the pockets of my cardigan instead. To his credit, Anthony pretended not to notice and turned his attention to the shop.

  ‘It’s lovely in here. I love the whole vintage vibe.’ He turned around slowly, taking in the shelves of flowers, the display of scented candles on the shabby-chic Welsh dresser in the corner and the floral birdcages hung at different levels from the ceiling. ‘I like the fact you haven’t got any Christmas decorations up yet.’

  ‘Oh, they’ll be going up this weekend, don’t worry.’

  He glanced back over his shoulder and raised an eyebrow. ‘Still too early.’

  I laughed. ‘That’s the way it is in retail, I’m afraid. Some shops put them up as soon as Halloween’s out of the way.’

  ‘I know,’ he said, grudgingly. ‘So, why’s this shop called The Birdcage, then? You’re not trapped here, I take it?’

  ‘No, it was my mum’s shop. Her name’s Birdie. I take it you haven’t met her yet. She’s on holiday with her sister at the moment. Dad won’t fly.’

  ‘Yes, I’ve only met your dad. Nice man.’ He turned back to face me and smiled. ‘Well, if you’re not trapped here, perhaps you’d like to take pity on the new boy in town and come out to dinner with me?’

  ‘I’m sorry?’ I blinked in surprise, thinking I’d misheard him.

  He smiled. ‘No pressure or anything. I just can’t stand the thought of spending another night sitting in the flat sorting out boxes and I’d quite like to see a bit of Chester. That’s unless you already have plans, and only if your boyfriend wouldn’t object, of course?’

  ‘Oh! No, not at all. What time is it now?’

  He looked at his watch. ‘Half past five. What time do you close?’

  ‘Half past five.’ I smiled, suddenly excited. This was a vast improvement on my original plans for the evening, which involved a microwave meal for one in front of Emmerdale and a bubble bath. ‘Let me bring the flowers in from outside and then I can lock up.’

  ‘Oh here, I’ll help you,’ he said, following me out of the shop to where more buckets of flowers stood just outside the door.

  ‘You don’t have to. It’ll only take a minute,’ I said, bending to lift a container of roses.

  ‘No, here, pass it to me.’ He held the door open with his back and took the container out of my hands. ‘Do I just put them in front of this shelf?’

  ‘Yes, please. That’s perfect,’ I said, passing him another container. There were only half a dozen or so containers of flowers out today. It had been too windy and cold to risk more. Leaves scuttled along the pavement and my skirt flapped around my legs, lifting and billowing ominously as I passed Anthony the last container. I clamped it down with my hand, pink with embarrassment, but Anthony either didn’t or pretended not to see to spare my blushes. ‘Thank you,’ I said, as he stood back to let me through the door. I caught another waft of his aftershave and resisted the urge to sniff him all over like my parents’ spaniel. ‘I’ll just lock the back door and get my coat,’ I said, breathlessly, walking through the archway into the back of the shop where we created the flower arrangements. I’d intended to clear the stalks and leaves from the large wooden table before I left tonight, but it could wait until the morning. Locking the door, I set the alarm and grabbed my blue pea coat from the peg. Anthony turned the sign to closed as I dashed round switching off fairy lights and blowing out candles, and then held the door open for me when we were ready to go. I was seriously impressed by his manners. I wasn’t used to such gentlemanly behaviour.

  ‘So, where have you come from, Anthony?’ I said, as we walked up the street towards the city centre. I raised my voice over the sound of cars and buses rumbling past, and he bent his head closer so he could hear.

  ‘I’m originally from Shropshire, but I’ve just moved here from Manchester.’

  ‘So, not too far away then.’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Why Chester? Do you have a new job here?’

  ‘No. I just like to move around. See new places.’

  ‘Really? Blimey, I don’t think I could be bothered with all the hassle of moving my stuff from place to place.’

  He shrugged. ‘I choose furnished rental properties and keep my belongings to a minimum.’

  ‘Oh, okay.’ I raised my eyebrows, a little surprised by his answer. I couldn’t imagine a life where I moved around from town to town. The only time I’d left Chester was to go to university in Liverpool for three years, then I’d moved straight back home. Presumably, that would seem boring to a man like Anthony. I remembered my dad saying he’d only signed a three-month contract. Dad would have preferred six but Anthony had seemed like the ideal tenant so he’d gone along with it. It was a shame he wouldn’t be sticking around for longer. ‘So, what do you fancy to eat? Anything in particular?’

  ‘Mmm, something with potatoes and gravy. Preferably a pie.’

  I looked up at him in surprise. He was so posh, I’d half expected him to say venison or something, although to be fair he hadn’t specified what type of pie. It could well be a game pie he was craving. He looked at me and laughed. ‘What?’ he said. ‘I’ve been starving all day! Don’t tell me you’re one of these women that nibbles on lettuce leaves and calls it a meal.’

  ‘Not at all. I just… I don’t know.’ I laughed and peeled a strand of hair away from my face. I didn’t know him well enough to start joking about how upper class he was. ‘There’s a pub up here that serves nice food. We’ll go there.’

  It was only a few minutes’ walk, which was a relief because the cold wind was making my eyes water and I didn’t want mascara all down my face. I couldn’t believe I felt so nervous and excited about going to dinner with this man I’d met less than half an hour ago. This wasn’t me; I didn’t go all fan-girl crazy over men I’d just met. I was sensible and practical. The fact that I’d got engaged to my last boyfriend rather too quickly was beside the point. That had been a big mistake and one I would not be repeating any time soon.

  Anyway, this wasn’t a date. I was just being neighbourly, that’s all, and taking care of my parents’ new tenant. It wasn’t nice to be all alone in a new city, especially with Christmas approaching. No matter how much he liked to move around and be in new places, he was bound to get lonely sometimes. And he might even have a girlfriend already. Just because he lived alone didn’t necessarily mean he was single.

  I breathed the cool night air deep into my lungs as we approached the pub to try and calm my nerves. Anthony opened the door and stood back to let me enter first. The pub was quiet so finding a table was no problem. We sat at a table for two next to the window. He smiled as he passed me a menu and my stomach fluttered.

  ‘See, they have pie,’ I said, pointing at the menu.

  ‘Mmm, so they do.’ He smiled.

  A waitress came over and took our drinks order. I noted that he spoke just as courteously to her as he had to me and it made me like him even more. I found
myself watching the way his eyes crinkled at the corners when he smiled up at her. At a guess, I’d have said he was about ten years older than me. Probably thirty-five, or thirty-six. The waitress jotted down our order and walked away.

  ‘So, I take it your boyfriend won’t mind you being out with me tonight?’ he said, turning back to me.

  ‘I haven’t got a boyfriend.’

  ‘You haven’t?’ He raised his eyebrows in surprise. ‘I find that hard to believe.’

  I narrowed my eyes at him to hide the fact I was flattered. ‘What about you? Will your girlfriend mind that you’re out with another girl?’

  ‘I haven’t got a girlfriend.’ He rested his chin on his hand and smiled.

  I raised my eyebrows. ‘Wife?’

  ‘Absolutely not.’

  ‘Boyfriend or husband?’

  ‘Nope.’ He shook his head, slowly.

  I sat back and looked at him. ‘I find it hard to believe no one’s snapped you up yet. A handsome, eligible man like you? You must have hordes of women after you.’

  ‘Not so far as I’m aware, but thank you. I’ll take that as a compliment.’ His cheeks flushed slightly and he laughed as he fiddled with his menu with his long, elegant fingers. Realising I’d embarrassed him, I blushed and glanced down. Maybe that had been a bit much. I’d have to watch myself; I hadn’t even had a drink and I was showering him with compliments. ‘I’ve been single for quite a while, actually,’ he went on. ‘I’m not very good at relationships.’

  ‘Really? Why not?’

  He shrugged. ‘I work too much. So, what about you? How long have you been single?’

  ‘Four months or so. We broke up in July.’

  ‘What went wrong?’

  I smiled ruefully. ‘He worked too much.’

  Anthony laughed lightly. ‘What did he do?’

  ‘For a job, you mean?’ I winced slightly. ‘I was never completely sure, to be honest. He ran an IT company or something. Whatever it was required him being out of the country a lot.’

  ‘Where did he go?’

  I shrugged. ‘Places with no phone signal, usually.’

  Anthony raised a sceptical eyebrow. ‘Surely if he worked in IT he’d be going to towns and cities that had good network coverage?’

  ‘Exactly. I’m quite ashamed at how long it took me to realise he was stringing me along, but at least I got there in the end.’

  ‘How long were you seeing him?’

  ‘Just over seven months, but if you condensed that into the time we actually spent together, it would probably be more like one or two. He lived in London, so even when he was in the country it was difficult.’

  He wrinkled his nose. ‘London’s not exactly the end of the earth, is it. There are fairly regular trains, for a start. Did you go and visit him or did he come here?’

  ‘He came here.’

  ‘Always?’

  ‘Yes, apart from when we went to Paris one weekend.’

  The waitress appeared with our drinks and took our food orders. He thanked her before turning back to me. ‘You never got to see where he lived? Did that never strike you as odd?’

  I shrugged. ‘I was more concerned with when I was going to see him again. If we’d spent more time together, then maybe I would have. I suppose it doesn’t matter now anyway.’

  ‘You’re over him, are you?’

  ‘Yes.’ I reached for my drink and took a sip.

  ‘You don’t miss him at all?’

  ‘Not really. We didn’t spend enough time together for me to really miss him. I suppose I missed the idea of him at first. The possibility that he would come and visit me. But it didn’t take too long for me to realise that my life was pretty much the same as it had always been. If anything, it was easier because I didn’t have the agony of waiting for the phone to ring or the disappointment when he couldn’t see me, yet again.’ I sighed heavily and shook my head, more at myself than anything else. ‘It’s strange because, at the time, I was mad about him, but he feels like some kind of dream now.’

  ‘Dream? Or nightmare?’

  I laughed. ‘Oh, he was a dream. When he was around he was lovely. It’s just that he had no substance. He just came and went like some kind of stray cat. Anyway, let’s not talk about Patrick. What about you?’

  Anthony’s eyes flickered and he shook his head. ‘Nothing much to say really. I live a very boring, simple life. I run, work, eat and sleep, and that’s the way I like it.’

  I cocked my head to one side. ‘What job do you do?’

  ‘I’m a detective.’

  ‘You are?’ My eyebrows shot up in surprise. ‘Wow! I didn’t expect that.’

  ‘What did you expect?’ He laughed as he took a sip of his beer.

  ‘I don’t know.’ I shrugged. ‘Just not that.’

  ‘Does it bother you?’

  ‘Of course it doesn’t. Why would it bother me? I just didn’t expect you to work in the police at all, really. I thought you’d be something like… I don’t know… a barrister, or something?’

  ‘Why?’ He looked amused.

  ‘Because of your suit and your manners and how well-spoken you are.’

  ‘And detectives can’t wear good suits and have nice manners? What about Inspector Morse and Inspector Linley?’

  ‘I was thinking more of Rebus, but okay then.’

  He laughed. ‘We come in all shapes and sizes.’

  ‘Do you like your job?’

  ‘Yes, I love it.’

  ‘Does it get you down? Dealing with murderers and paedophiles?’

  ‘Of course. I wouldn’t be human if it didn’t. I’m primarily fraud at the moment, though.’

  ‘Oh, okay. Presumably that’s less emotionally traumatic to investigate than some other crimes?’

  ‘Yes, I suppose it is.’ He drummed his fingers on the table. ‘There’s no such thing as a victimless crime, though.’

  I nodded, and waited for him to continue, but he just looked at me. I didn’t know what to say next. I didn’t know much about fraud really. ‘Are you investigating anything at the moment?’ I said at last, slightly bewildered by his silence.

  ‘Of course. Fraud’s a massive problem.’

  ‘I expect you have to work long hours?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Hence why you’re really bad at relationships?’

  ‘Absolutely.’ He smiled and took another sip from his glass of beer.

  ‘Not all detectives are single, though, are they?’ I sat back and moved my cutlery to one side as the waitress appeared with our plates of food. ‘Surely some of them are married and have families?’ I smiled my thanks to the waitress.

  ‘Thank you. Yes, of course they are. My friend John is very happily married.’

  ‘So, I suspect the problem is more you than your job.’

  He laughed. ‘That’s true. So, why has your mum gone on holiday without your dad? Are they splitting up?’

  ‘Oh no. At least I hope not. She’s gone with her sister to celebrate her birthday. They don’t go every year or anything. Mum and Dad still go on holiday together, but only in this country. Dad won’t go abroad. He’s terrified of flying.’

  Anthony laughed. ‘Your poor dad.’

  ‘Mmm, I know. I think he’s enjoying having the TV to himself.’ I cut into my salmon and carefully pushed it onto my fork. ‘I’ve been round to keep him company a couple of evenings but I think he’s coping okay. Have you been on holiday this year?’

  He shook his head as he chewed his mouthful of food. ‘I had a week off in the summer but I didn’t go away anywhere. I just visited family really. What about you? You mentioned Paris before?’

  ‘Yes, I went to Paris with Patrick for a weekend but other than that I haven’t been anywhere. I usually go somewhere with my friend Elena, but she’s bought a house with her fiancé so she couldn’t afford it. Besides, I doubt he’d have let her go anyway. They can’t be apart for more than a few hours before they start pining for each othe
r.’

  Anthony wrinkled his nose slightly. ‘That sounds a bit nauseating.’

  ‘They’re very sweet, actually. She was obsessed with him at school. It’s lovely that she finally got together with him.’

  ‘So, was Paris nice?’

  ‘It was lovely, yes. Have you been?’

  ‘A couple of times. Where did you stay?’

  ‘In a hotel near the Champs-Élysées. It was lovely. I’d never been to Paris before so it was lovely to see all the sights I’d read about and seen on TV.’

  ‘Did Patrick know Paris well?’

  ‘He seemed to, yes.’ I smiled a little sadly. ‘It was very romantic. He proposed to me, actually. He pulled out all the stops: violins, champagne, roses.’

  ‘He proposed?’ Anthony’s fork paused on its way to his mouth. ‘But I thought you’d only been together a short time?’

  ‘Yes.’

  Anthony put his fork down and looked at me. ‘You said no, of course.’

  I stared at him, wishing I could agree and say ‘of course I said no!’, but I’d said yes, so I couldn’t. I felt a quiver of shame and regret run through me and decided that, in future, I should just lie, or preferably not discuss Patrick at all. Especially with extremely handsome men who were practically strangers.

  Anthony raised an eyebrow. ‘You said yes? So, let me get this straight. You hardly saw or spoke to him, but you still thought it would be a good idea to marry him?’

  ‘I know, it sounds awful.’ I passed a hand across my face, feeling embarrassed.

  ‘Hey, it’s not my place to judge.’ Anthony held up his hands and laughed. ‘I’m just wondering how he got away with behaving like that when I’ve never been able to.’

  I smiled and rubbed my head, still embarrassed. ‘Well, he was behaving better at the time. When I first met him, which was just before Christmas last year, he was really full-on. He phoned me all the time and showered me with gifts. He made me feel special. And then it seemed like as soon as I started falling for him, it all stopped and he started not being able to see me. We had a big row about it around March time, and he said I wasn’t being fair because he had to make time for his daughter too, which made me feel like a monster. Anyway, we sorted that out and he allowed me to meet his little girl, and I felt like he was letting me into his life at last. It was just after that he took me to Paris and proposed. I must have been mad to say yes, but I thought he’d changed and that he must be serious about me to go to all the effort of organising a proposal that grand. I was swept away by it all. But when I got home, he was worse than ever. I hardly heard from him again at all.’