Pillow Talk | Joanne One Shot Series

Better Together

"Hey, how was dinner?" Joe looked up from his laptop as Dianne appeared on FaceTime. It was weird seeing her in her own bedroom. It had become so natural, so normal, for her to just be around the house. Even after knowing one another for only a few months, Joe couldn't imagine this place without her in it. He had honestly never been so comfortable sharing a space with someone else. Not having her there was strange.

"Dinner was nice. The conversation was... interesting."

Joe saved his edit and closed his laptop. "What do you mean?"

Dianne moved to sit up on her bed, propping herself up on a pillow. "Well, I think it was all a bit of a ruse. Johannes wanted to treat me after yoga, which was lovely of him, but then he dropped a bit of a bombshell on me and now I don't know what to do."

Joe watched as Dianne's expression changed, giving away how she was feeling.

She sighed as she continued. "He's going back to South Africa after tour. Which I knew, of course I did, but I didn't realise how long he would be away for. I though it was just, like, a holiday but he's actually going back properly."

"OK" Joe said quietly.

"Basically, he dropped it on me that he's moving out. And now I need to make a choice. Find a new roommate to pay his share of the rent... or find somewhere else. I get it- there's no point him paying rent on a flat he's not going to be living in for the next 6 months or whatever, but it's just..." Dianne groaned. "I hadn't seen it coming. I should have, but I've been so busy with everything else that I never thought about the fact that our lease would be up soon. Or that he wouldn't be staying."

Joe twisted his ring around his thumb as he listened.

"It's just something else to deal with, you know? I've moved three times already since I came to London. I'd want to be close to you, but there's no way I could get anywhere around there on my salary. So I'd end up back up near Brent or Harrow or somewhere, which is miles away. And I'm rubbish at living alone. So I'd need a roommate but I don't really know anyone who would want to live with me..."

Joe noticed Dianne growing tense.

"Joe, I just don't know what to do. The landlord needs a decision by the end of the week."

"Why don't you do a pros and cons list for each option? Think about your choices carefully and decide which one suits you best." It was the most sensible suggestion he could think of.

Dianne smiled. "You're such a problem solver. See? This is why we're good together."

"It is. Anyway, I need to get this edit done by tonight, but I can look over everything with you in a bit?"

Dianne shook her head. "That sounds good.  Right, I'll go think and give you some space." She paused, her hand hovering over the button to end the call.

"Joe?"

He looked up.

"I love you."

"I love you too. So much."

///

Joe tried to focus on his editing, but all he could think about was Dianne's dilemma. Forcing himself to concentrate, he quickly finished as much as he could do and vowed to check it over in the morning before he uploaded it.

As soon as their call had ended, Joe had messaged Dianne: just checking, are you coming over tonight? 

She hadn't spent many nights in her own home since returning from Australia. In fact, there had only been 2 or 3 days where Joe hadn't woken up next to her.