𝐀𝐩𝐡𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐚. ⁽⁽⁽ᵐᵃᵗᵗʸ ʰᵉᵃˡʸ⁾⁾⁾

The Country.

(Marlon Williams & Aldous Harding - Nobody Gets What They Want Anymore)

(Phoebe Bridgers - You Missed My Heart)

(Joni Mitchell - Cold Blue Steel and Sweet Fire)

George arranged to pick me up from Streatham; Matty had tried to insist on coming to fetch me, but he had reached the studio a couple of days earlier, and George would pass by my place on his way, so the logic was hard to refute. I sat waiting in the living room, my bag packed, whilst Helen brooded over her breakfast at the table. Rolo lay a few feet away with his dark, sad eyes fixed on me, still clingy ever since I picked him up in Battersea, though I didn't mind. I tried to think of the dignified name that I'd silently promised to both the dog and to myself, but Rolo was beginning to stick, unfortunately.

'Does Kate know?'

'Yes.'

'Does she know about your history?'

'I don't think so... not the full extent of it. She's not stupid though, she's seen the dumb articles.' And had the tact not to grill me about them, thankfully.

'What about that other girl he was seeing?'

'God, um...' I fidgeted with the zip on my case. 'He never mentioned her. I didn't see anyone like that at Reading. It's like she just... came and went.'

Primly stirring sugar into her coffee, Helen pulled her feet up onto the chair like a kid and turned to face me. 'I hope you have a nice time. Honest, I do. I'll be bored here, I think.'

'Call Leon or something.'

'I'm done with him.'

I blanched at her words. 'What? When?'

'There's been no bust-up or anything, you didn't miss any drama. I just told him over the phone last night, that it wasn't working. He didn't even object, he just wished me good luck with my life.'

'Holy shit. I always thought he was a bit of a, um...'

'A slimeball. Yeah.' She shrugged despondently. 'I might stay at Eve's for a bit.'

'You wouldn't like it anyway,' I teased. 'Too much mud. We were desperate to leave the West Country, remember?'

'Vividly.'

A loud knock came at the door, and she put her mug down reluctantly. 'Better get going then.'

I clasped Helen in a tight hug, and clipped Rolo's lead onto his collar. It was a fleeting goodbye, because I didn't want to keep George waiting, though I took a few seconds to gawp at the gleaming Jaguar E-type that had pulled up on the kerb.

'God, I thought Matty was the one into cars.'

'He sold his for that electric one. Some of us still enjoy collector's items.' He grinned, stuffing my duffel bag into the boot.

'Yes, but this is positively a Bond car.'

'Look, there are some perks you don't complain about. Who's this then?'

Rolo ended up on the back seat, so that every now and then I'd get a tentative poke in the elbow from his wet, black nose and he'd get a treat in return for staying calm. George was good company; he had a dry sense of humour, which I enjoyed, and a tendency to notice the details in things on the long drive, like weird buildings and funny number plates. He wasn't as hyperactive as Matty - in contrast, he radiated a sort of zen. I imagined he was implacable in the face of disaster.