Aurélie

Chapter Twenty Four

By the time she had got back to the main square the queue for the bakery had significantly diminished and she was able to go straight to the counter and order a fresh baguette and a farmhouse loaf. She also picked up a box of mixed macarons in pastel colours of green, pink, blue and yellow, they would go down nicely as dessert this evening. Heading back to the house she couldn't help but feel content.

Her phone buzzed in her pocket and her screen flashed up with a picture of her mother outside the temple of Athena, taken by Aurélie two summers ago when they went to Greece together, you could just make out Malcolm in the background, bottom up in beige shorts, bending over to adjust his sandal straps, navy socks just visible and Panama hat at a jaunty angle.

"Mum?" she answered.

"Darling, I've been meaning to call for ages. It's been absolutely manic since we got back from holiday. I'd left the girls in charge of organizing the summer fete and its gone tits up. I should have known better than to go on holiday six weeks before the biggest day of the WIs calendar. How have you been getting on with Lena, poppet?" Lucille's comforting voice came down the line. Lucille had been head of the Bath and Avon WI for two years, a fiercely competitive post that she had secured for herself after retiring from her city job in London which she used to commute to three times a week.

"All going well thanks, Mum. The first few weeks were quite a shock, lots of DIY and shuffling boxes. But the place looks beautiful now and Lena's students seem to be really enjoying themselves," She smiled to herself, thinking of Blake.

"So I hear. Have you made any friends?" Lucille nudged. Aurélie decided to ignore her mother's poorly disguised jibe into her love life and swiftly changed the subject.

"Everyone here is super friendly. I've been mainly helping Lena which doesn't leave much spare time but I've enjoyed exploring the city," more fibs, but it was such early days.

"Yes, well, be careful darling. You are so precious to us," her mother's voice softened. Aurélie could hear a car beeping its horn in the background.

"Are you driving Mum?" She questioned her mother in a reprimanding tone.

"Yes, but you're on the face free, so no bother," Lucille reassured her.

"Hands free Mum. Hands free... I'll let you go and call you during the week."

"Alright Relie. Love love."

"Love you Mum." She hung up the phone.

Aurélie put her phone back into her pocket, when she collided with a plaid shirt and navy cargo shorts coming around the corner.

"Urgh! Excusez-moi!" She looked up apologizing and startled.

"Relie! In a daydream?" Seb smiled down at her.

"Seb, I should have known it would be you!" She tried to keep the exasperation from her voice, he was everywhere.

Weren't capital cities meant to be big, sprawling places where you could get lost among hordes of people? Wasn't it large cities where people said you could be surrounded by people and still feel lonely? Oh to be lonely right now!

"I'm just walking over to the institute to pick up my new paints. Want to come with?" he offered an olive branch.

"Sorry Seb, there's a house guest arriving this afternoon and I'm not sure what time they're arriving. I should probably head back and put this away." She motioned to the delicious smelling bread she was carrying and a flicker of disappointment registered on Seb's face.

"Oh, no worries, maybe you could come over another time and check out my work that's up in the exhibition space soon?" He looked down at his tatty Converse trainers and rocked on his heels, scratching the back of his neck. He really was tall and lofty in a hipster kind of way, the complete opposite of golden, athletic, purposeful Blake who oozed confidence and dominated every space he occupied. By contrast Seb had a relaxed posture but his eyebrows were raised in a hopeful way when he looked back up at Aurélie.