What on earth was she going to do about it though?
Chapter Ten
Vanessa sat up in bed and looked at the red numbers on her alarm clock. Two forty-six. Why was she awake now?
She looked down at the empty half of the mattress, not quite sure for a moment whether Ben had stayed the night or not. He hadn’t. She remembered now that they’d had dinner together then he’d gone on to meet his flatmates in a pub near their home. She’d felt the need of an early night and had stayed in with a scented candle and the Pride and Prejudice DVD. She’d even found herself comparing Mr Darcy unfavourably with Ben. It must be love.
A sharp clatter on the bedroom window made her heart jump into her throat. That would be what had woken her up.
It was a windy night and Vanessa tried to convince herself that it was flying twigs from the trees at the perimeter of her small estate. Maybe acorns.
The roar of “Vanessa!” that followed changed her mind about that.
She leapt out of bed, pulled up the blind and opened the window.
“For God’s sake, shut up,” she hissed. “You’ll wake the whole Close.”
Dafydd ap Hughes flung his arms wide and opened his mouth, as if preparing for a serenade.
“Don’t you dare,” she scolded, too angry and embarrassed to be frightened. “I’ll call the police.”
“I’ve been buzzing you for hours,” he said. “I need to talk to you, Ness.”
“Go home. It’s the middle of the night. You’re probably drunk—go and sleep it off. Whatever you’ve got to say can wait until tomorrow.”
“You won’t talk to me tomorrow. You’ll avoid me and stick to that namby-pamby pansy boy of yours like glue. He’s not the one for you, Ness.”
Dafydd had raised his voice again.
Vanessa heard the window below hers open.
“All right, all right,” she said in a panic, fearful that she would become the pariah of the block if this continued. “Come to the door and push the buzzer. I’ll let you in. But only so you can call a cab.”
She shut the window and pulled on her dressing gown, her heart racing as she headed for the hallway. After all, this wasn’t a very good idea. Damn him, catching her at a bad time so she was too flustered to think. This was what he would have been counting on.
Perhaps she could call a cab for him and make him stand in the communal hall while he waited. Yes, that would be safest.
She buzzed him in and stood by the door, listening for the heavy tread of his boots on the stairs. It was like the approach of doom.
When he arrived at the door, she trembled to think that only an inch or so of wood separated them.
He knocked loudly.
“Ness? Come on, thought you were going to let me in.”
“You can stay there. I’m going to call a cab.”
“But I’ve got something for you.”
“Leave it by the door,” she said with determination.
“Oh, I don’t want to do that. It’s important. I need to hand it to you personally. And besides, it’s not the kind of thing you might want your neighbours to see.”
Vanessa’s heart thumped.
“What is it?”
“That video we made of us. But never mind. I’ll go and knock on your neighbour’s door, shall I, and leave it with them?”