Happy ever ... after

Chapter 13

It took Emily some time to come to terms with what had occurred at Martha's. To begin with, the old woman had proved to be much more fragile than she had initially assumed. The last few years must have been difficult for her. Such a sad story. But the real revelation of the evening had been Matt. To her surprise, and partial shame, she was starting to feel some affection for him. Although he had been horrible to her since she first moved in, it seemed they had both judged each other much too quickly. Could she blame him for having his own reasons, his own demons, for behaving as he did? He had only acted defensively to protect his mother. She could see now that, deep down, he was hiding a high sensitivity. What he had done for his mother was admirable. Emily was not sure that she would act so selflessly under similar circumstances.

It was with this confused state of mind that she met with Olivier after work. He could be adorable, and she owed him for helping her escape the solitude with which she had enshrouded herself for so long. When he finally asked about the dinner, she presented Martha as a very kind and very lonely old lady. Strangely, she could not bring herself to give any details about the son, instead choosing to emphasise Martha's loneliness. If she were questioned about her choice, she would probably justify it by a desire to safeguard Olivier, not to worry him.

They went to Olivier's together and quickly ended up in bed. He acted like he had not seen her in weeks. There, stretched naked by his side, she let him do. Exhausted by the journey, she wasn't really in the mood, but he had not wanted to hear that. She was content for him to do as he wanted as long as it didn't require her active participation. He stopped and, lying down by her side, he apologised. She turned her gaze and swiftly realised that he was not in a position to continue anyway. She reassured him that she didn't mind and blamed herself for not paying more attention to him.

***

At work, news of the imminent outsourcing had spread. All staff received a formal invitation to attend a presentation by a director the following Wednesday. The solemn tone of the note created uncertainty, and the atmosphere in the team deteriorated rapidly as a result. Ignoring all aspects of human psychology, the HR department had sent the note on a late Friday afternoon, thus successfully ruining the weekend of hundreds of employees.

Emily immediately assumed she would be one of the victims of the cull. Her job was the most stable element of her life, the one she had never imagined would change. It was her anchor, and she didn't know how she would cope without it.

She told Olivier straight away. He took her in his arms and squeezed her tightly. She embraced him back, partly to rekindle something that she could feel had deteriorated recently.

When he let go, she explained everything about work. He kept referring back to the facts, and told her several times, not to panic, which had the effect of annoying her further. After confusing her with a sterile talk about every problem having a solution, he asked her to move in with him. He added it would make him the happiest man in the world. To him, it seemed the most logical thing to do. His face had lit up with excitement, and Emily half suspected that he was expecting a grateful hug and a thank you kiss from her.

She didn't react all that well. Thinking she may not have heard him, he repeated his offer. This time she responded with a quiet 'thank you'.

They returned to his apartment mostly in silence. She was thinking about his offer. She knew that many women would remark how lucky she was, but she was struggling to feel that way. Less than three months after starting to talk about her place, she could soon be sharing once more. She didn't like how selfish she sounded. Was she so shallow that only her freedom mattered?

Olivier made her dinner. She didn't have much of an appetite, but he said that she would have a more positive attitude if she ate something. He kept insisting that she had nothing to fear and that she was welcome to stay with him. He would even cook her an omelette every night if he had to. He laughed at his joke. She tried to explain that it was not a simple question of money, but also the fear of being unemployed. He promised to review her CV. He paused and excused himself when his phone vibrated to answer a text message, and then returned to the conversation.