“Thank you so much!” Amelia effused.
“Thanks,” I uttered half-heartedly.
Amelia’s grasp loosened on my hand as Sally led us out of the house. Our house. If only I were able to scrape together the funds to make it happen. I hadn’t realised I’d been sweating so much, but the cool Mancunian breeze dried the mist on my forehead. We both turned, and Amelia put her arm around me tightly. It truly was an amazing house, one that we could fill with cherished memories, but it didn’t stop me from feeling sick at the thought of actually handing the money over. Sally shook both of our hands and returned to her hatchback to complete some paperwork.
“We did it, Harry!” Amelia said excitedly.
“We did!” I responded insincerely.
“Do you think they’ll accept the offer? Or should we have gone higher?”
“I hope so. We can’t really go any higher, Ames.”
“Of course we can. Just look at the place. It’s beautiful. And nothing needs to be done to it; it’s perfect.”
I got back behind the wheel, and my hands were shaking l. Amelia didn’t seem to notice; she was so caught up in the adrenaline of buying her dream home. But in reality, it wasn’t ours until I’d shifted heaven and earth to come up with some more money. The mortgage offer we had wouldn’t even cover half of that, and by the time my new salary kicked in, this house would be snapped up by someone else. I needed to borrow some money from somewhere, anywhere, just for the short term.
“Listen, when we get back to the flat, I need to take care of a few things. Are you going to be all right on your own for a while?” I asked.
“What things?” Amelia asked.
“I just have to drop some paperwork off at my new office. I won’t be too long,” I fibbed.
“What paperwork?”
“Just some contracts and other bits and pieces.”
“I thought we could get lunch together. You know I don’t like being without my husband.”
“I know, but we can celebrate later! I’ll be looking forward to it.”
“I just wish you’d said sooner. I’ll miss you.”
“I’ll miss you, but it’s important.”
For the rest of the journey home, I could barely stop quaking with trepidation. I put on a brave face for Amelia, and she seemed like she was none the wiser, which made me feel awful. I needed to speak to Steve. He always knew where to get a few quid when he was feeling the pinch. He’d managed to raise enough to buy that caravan park, and he must have been doing well for himself. It would only be for a month or two, a quick remortgage, and we’d be back on track.
I dropped Amelia off on the street outside our flat. It was a huge block with hundreds of flats inside. You could smell whatever was cooking from the floor below, and the walls were paper-thin. Our neighbour must have had allergies because she spent most of the day sneezing and it sounded like it was right in your ear.
“I’ll see you later, Ames. A few hours, tops.”
“If you say so,” Amelia said plainly.
“What’s the matter?”
“I just don’t like you dropping these things on me at the last minute. We should be celebrating.”
“We can when I get back, I promise. I love you.”
“I love you too,” Amelia replied as she walked into the block of flats.
I loved Amelia, and I hated upsetting her. She would always pepper me with questions about something I thought was completely irrelevant. She would say it was because she missed me, but I always thought she just liked keeping tabs on me. I’d never given her a reason to worry, but I always felt like I was lying to her even when I wasn’t. The inquisitions were becoming more frequent, too. I put it down to moving stress and her growing anticipation of starting a family. But on this occasion, her instincts were bang on the money, and I couldn’t really blame her for wanting to know more. I didn’t like lying to her about anything, really. It sounds stereotypically misogynistic, but she did tend to overreact sometimes. I felt like I had everything in hand, and I didn’t have the brain capacity to keep up with her constant questioning. It was easier to just trivialise what I was doing.
I drove around the corner and parked up; I nearly ripped the steering wheel straight off the column I was gripping so tightly. I took out my phone and gave Steve a call. He answered, but I could barely hear a word over the rowdy sounds of whatever pub where he was currently drinking himself stupid.
“Ste?” I shouted.
“Harry! You back in Filey?” Steve boomed.
“No, mate. I’m down in Manchester. Are you out?”
“Yeah, friend. We are at the Plow. You should come down!”
“I just said I’m in Manchester. For god’s sake, Ste, go outside. You can’t hear a word,” I shouted. I could hear him making his way outside, and the background noise became tolerable to my ears.
“Right, go on. I’m outside.”
“That’s better. Listen, I need a borrow, and it’s a big ask. But it won’t be for long.”
“Harry, mate, I’m tapped. Everything I’ve got I spent on the caravans. I’m sorry.”
“No worries, mate. I understand.”
“What about your mum?”
“No chance, Ste. If Amelia finds out we took a penny from her, I’ll be single within the week.”
“Well, there’s always the Broadheads, but the interest will be steep.”
