She smiles sleepily, moving her head slightly on the pillow so that their foreheads touch.
‘You ok?’
‘Mmmm’
‘Fancy some exercise?’
Helen’s eyes open wide. ‘I….I thought you said….’
Kester chuckles as he throws back the covers and jumps out of bed. ‘Relax! I did and I’m keeping to it, I’m talking about a run. Come on!’
‘Kester!’ Helen pulls the bedclothes over her head.
‘Up!’ He tugs at the other end of the duvet.
‘Nooooo!’
‘Yes…do us good. Come on’
‘You do it twice. I’m ok here’ She yelps as he slides his hands under the end of the covers. ‘Not my feet! Not my feet! Please, no, not my feet!’ Squealing and laughing, she pulls her knees up and her feet from his reach. ‘I don’t do running…besides, I’ve got nothing to wear’
‘I can find you something of mine, you’ve got your trainers’
‘Are you always like this in the mornings?’ Helen groans, burying her head under a pillow.
‘No’ Kester says quietly after a few seconds.
Helen slowly uncovers her face and looks up at him enquiringly, rolling onto her side as he sits on the bed.
'I need to go for a run. Okay?’ he says with a meaningful smile, twisting and leaning sideways on one hand to look at her. He gently brushes the hair from her cheek and bends to kiss her forehead. ‘You stay there if you want. I won’t be that long’ He smiles and kisses her again before turning to reach and pull sweat pants and a top from the pile of clothes on the chair.
Helen lays her hand softly against the skin of his back. ‘You’d go for a run rather than….’ she whispers.
Kester draws a long deep breath through his nose. ‘Go back on what I said? Yeah‘ He looks over his shoulder and smiles sheepishly. ‘It was easy last night. After a few drinks, I mostly wanted to sleep’ He grins and pinches her chin between thumb and forefinger. ‘You’re alright, you go back to sleep for a while’
‘You’d do that…’
‘Rather than try and persuade you otherwise? Yep! …But I definitely need this run, ok?’ He stands up, clutching his clothes against him. ‘See you later’
Their eyes meet and his quiet almost embarrassed laugh dies away as Helen lifts one side of the duvet.
Tawny House, Manor Road
The Annexe
Chapter Eight
The Annexe ......later
‘Kester, are you there?’ Harriet asks as the answer phone cuts in. ‘Are you busy, dear?’
Kester snorts. ‘You could say that’
Helen snuffles and reaches for the telephone on the bedside table.
‘Noooo!’ Kester shoots out a hand, pressing down on hers before she has time to lift the receiver.
‘She might want something’ Helen says.
‘So do I!’ Kester growls.
Helen arches her back, laughing as he nuzzles at her throat. ‘Please, no more!’
‘No more?’ he laughs ‘you sure?’
‘Kester?’ Harriet’s disembodied voice continues. ‘Would you pop in when you and Helen are back from wherever it is you have gone? When you get a moment, of course’
‘She knows I’m here’ Helen groans and pulls a pillow over her face.
‘Hmm….yes…possibly… might have something to do with the fact your car is outside’ Kester chuckles dryly.
‘Oh…it is, isn’t it? Now what?’
‘Now what, what?’
‘We’re not starting that again are we? Now what do we...I…do?’
‘You’ve stayed over before…it’s no big deal. She knew you were staying last night’
‘Yes…but I was in the other room and we’ve usually surfaced before two o’clock in the afternoon!’
‘It matters to you?… What she thinks, I mean’ Kester rolls onto his back, lifting his arm for Helen to snuggle underneath, kissing her hair as she lies against his chest.
‘Yes’ Helen answers after a few moments. ‘I think it does’
He hugs her and laughs softly ‘She’d be chuffed to bits to know you’re here with me now, like this’
‘She would?’ Helen looks at him with a disbelieving smile.
‘Honestly!’ Kester lays his arm along her pillow as she turns over.
‘But why?’ she asks, laying on her stomach and raising herself on her elbows to face him.
‘Several things…’
‘Such as?’
Kester hesitates before counting them off. ‘Well….It probably means you’ve left much of what happened to you behind…as much as you can do’ he adds carefully. ‘She’d be really pleased about that. She was more than upset when all that came to light…’
Helen lowers her eyes and nods.
‘I’m really proud of you, you know’ he says quietly. ‘You didn’t have to tell the others’ He brushes his fingers down the side of her cheek and gently lifts her chin. ‘That was brave’
Helen gives a tiny shake of the head. ‘I had to explain….didn’t I? The atmosphere would’ve been so awkward otherwise. It was obvious Beth and Nathan had heard me shouting….and what I’d said’ She puts her hand over his, holding it against her cheek. ‘I couldn’t have done that without you…’ she says, pressing her lips against his palm. ‘And you don’t know how much talking to them has helped me. It’s still there…the horror of it all…but somehow…it’s not as important as it was’
‘I’m glad. Mind you’ Kester says with a huff ‘You didn’t HAVE to let Nathan hug you for so long! Beth? Yeah, fine…but Nathan? Something going on between you two?’ he pulls in his chin and tries to look serious.
Helen snuffles. ‘Mmm…he IS rather nice’ she muses. She squeals as Kester retaliates by tickling her.
‘You’d better be joking!’ he says, flopping back onto the pillows again and pulling her with him.
She lies against his chest looking down at him. ‘I might be’ she grins. ‘You were saying about Harriet?’ she prompts.
‘Yeah…the reasons…let me see… She’d be proud it was me who…’ He stops mid sentence a flush rising up his neck. ‘That sounds all wrong’ he gives a low chuckle. ‘She’ll be pleased that…’ He falters again and blows to cool his face. ‘She’s always said that…’
Helen smiles and stretches forward to kiss him briefly on the lips. ‘It doesn’t matter. I think I know what you mean. She’d be proud you stuck it out’
‘In a manner of speaking’ Kester chortles.
Helen slaps his shoulder. ‘That you were kind and patient and all those other things that’ve helped me..’
‘Yeah….sort of’
‘That’s two’ Helen says ‘You said ‘several’’
‘Mmm…I did. I suppose she’d know how happy it’s made me that you’re happy. I’m presuming you’re happy?’
‘Am I ever!’ Helen laughs, unabashed.
‘Nice to know’ he smiles, running his hands down her back.
‘And?’
‘And?’
‘That’s only three…that’s still not several’ She wriggles as the tips of his fingers trace slow feathery circles against her skin. ‘Stop that and answer me!’
‘I’d rather…’
‘Hmmm, I had noticed…but….Anyway, whatever…I’d still find it embarrassing if she thinks we’ve…Who’s that?’ Helen turns her head sharply at hearing noises from downstairs and rolls onto the bed next to him.
‘No idea!’ Kester jumps out of bed, pulling on sweat pants as he hops his way to the door.
‘Ke-ster!’ Helen hisses, diving under the covers.
Kester points to the bathroom. ‘In there if you need to hide!’ he says with amused seriousness. ‘They had a key, whoever they are!’
He strides along the landing, pulling the door to the second bedroom closed as he passes and pads hurriedly down the stairs.
‘Harriet, is that you?’ The rustle of a bin bag and the clinking of empty beer cans and wine bottles lead him to the living room. He stands in the doorway. ‘Mrs. Brown!’
Humming along to the music from the personal tape player tucked into the pocket of her apron. Jeannie Brown, headphones clamped to her ears, remains oblivious to his presence and continues her tidying mission. She jumps visibly, putting a hand to her chest as she catches sight of him.
‘Oh my goodness, young Kester, you fair gie me a fright!’ She drops the waste sack and pushes the headphones from her head, ferreting in her pocket for the off button on the player.
‘What the hell are you doing here?’
‘Giving you a bit of a tidy…and you need it to be done right enough’ she says, looking around. ‘Your grannie says that you weren’t here and how it was that you were having a bit of a party the night before’
‘I am quite capable of doing my own tidying!’ Kester empties Nathan’s ashtray into the sack and stomps across the room to throw open the French doors.
‘Aye, so you are but I had me some spare time and your grannie didn’t want for your young lady t’feel that she had t’do it when you got back frae where you’ve been’
‘We haven’t been anywhere!’
‘Noo, that’s true, so it is but she saw it needed doing when she came to the window’ Jeannie picks up the sack again and bends to empty the waste bin, regardless of Kester’s chagrin.
‘Mrs. Brown!’ he says, taking the sack from her and dropping it to one side. ‘There is no need! We had a very late night, the party didn’t break up until early morning…’
‘So I hear’ Jeannie says, ignoring him and disappearing into the hall to reappear pushing a vacuum cleaner taken from the cupboard under the stairs. ‘But you’re up now’ she says, plugging the lead into the socket behind the door.
‘Yes…thanks to you’ Kester grumbles. ‘What are you doing here anyway…it’s not even your day for Harriet’ he raises his voice over the noise of the cleaner.
‘Och…I’m away tomorrow with the hospital so I came today instead’ Jeannie shouts back ‘Mind your feet laddie before I’m sucking them up with this machine’
‘Mrs. Brown!’ Kester prods the off switch and the room is silent again. ‘I may be up but….’
‘Miss Marchant still in her bed, is she?’ Jeannie fixes him with a questioning gaze, the corner of her mouth twitching along with the raising of her eyebrows. ‘Then you best be taking her a nice cup of tea while I get on. Daresay she’s worked up quite a thirst laying there’
Kester stands watching as, studiously ignoring him, Jeannie gathers glasses and coffee cups together on top of the low table.
‘You still here?’ she asks, looking over her shoulder. ‘Now, I would do it myself but I daresay you wouldn’t be wanting me to be disturbing you any longer than I need to’ she adds, smirking at the flush she has managed to bring to his cheeks. ‘A woman likes to be fussed over, so she does…especially…’
Sighing, Kester holds up a hand in submission and stomps from the room.
