night, my house. The black lacy underwear. I insist upon it.
I blush. Gosh. Normally I hate being bossed around, but somehow when Tod does it, I don’t seem to mind at all. I clear my throat and write back.
EileenCotton79 says: Well, if you insist …
Whew. Well, this should calm me down again – a message from Arnold. I thought I’d told him to bog off and stop looking at my profile, hadn’t I?
Arnold1234 says: I saw this and thought of you …
I click the link below his message. A video pops up. It’s a cat, eating its way through a large patch of pansies.
I burst out laughing, surprising myself.
EileenCotton79 says: This proves nothing, Arnold Macintyre!
Arnold1234 says: There are bags of these cat videos on the Internet. I’ve been watching them for hours.
EileenCotton79 says: Have you seen the one with the piano?
Arnold1234 says: Brilliant, isn’t it?
I laugh.
EileenCotton79 says: I thought you didn’t like cats.
Arnold1234 says: I don’t. But whatever you think, Eileen, I’m not a monster, and only a monster could fail to be amused by a cat who plays the piano.
EileenCotton79 says: I don’t think you’re a monster. Just a grumpy old man.
The dot dot dot lasts for ever. Arnold types so slowly. While I wait, I go back to his profile page. There’s still very little detail there, but he has added a profile picture now, a shot of him grinning in the sunshine with a straw hat covering his balding head. I smile. He looks very Arnold-like, and I feel a bit guilty about my decade-old picture, taken in very flattering light.
Arnold1234 says: I’m not grumpy all the time, you know.
EileenCotton79 says: Just when I’m there, then …
Arnold1234 says: You ARE quite infuriating.
EileenCotton79 says: Who, me?
Arnold1234 says: And you can be a bit on the petty side.
EileenCotton79 says: Petty! When??
Arnold1234 says: When we found out my shed stretched a little over our boundary line and you made me rebuild the whole bloody thing on the other side of the garden.
I make a face. I did do that, I must admit. Arnold was apoplectic, it was ever so funny.
EileenCotton79 says: Property laws must be respected, Arnold. Otherwise, as my new friend Fitz likes to say … what separates us from the animals?
Arnold1234 says: New friend, eh?
EileenCotton79 says: Yes …
Arnold1234 says: New FRIEND, eh?
I laugh as the penny drops.
EileenCotton79 says: Fitz? He lives with Leena! He’s young enough to be my grandson!
Arnold1234 says: Good.
Arnold1234 says: I mean, it’s good that you’ve made friends with her housemate. What’s their house like, then?
Belatedly I remember there’s one more message waiting for me. This one is from Howard.
OldCountryBoy says: Hello, dearest Eileen! I’ve just finished reading The Mousetrap, since you said it was one of your favourites, and I must say I loved it too. What an ending!
Something warm blooms in my chest. I start typing back. Howard’s always so attentive. It’s rare to find a man who’s more interested in listening than talking. We’ve discussed all sorts of things on this website – I’ve told him about my family, my friends, even Wade. He was very sweet and said Wade was a fool for letting me go, which I wholeheartedly agree with, I must say.
Arnold’s next message pops up, but I press the minus button to shrink it away again.
23
Leena
When the doorbell rings I’ve only just got out the shower; I quickly tug on some jeans and an old blue shirt of Grandma’s. It’s probably just Arnold – he pops in for a cup of tea from time to time now, and, after much frustrated insistence from me, has started coming to the front door instead of the kitchen window. My hair drips down my back as I dash down the hall, still buttoning the shirt.
When I reach the door, I discover that it is not Arnold. It’s Hank. Or rather, it’s Jackson and Hank, but Hank really demands my attention first, standing on his hind legs at the full extent of his lead, desperately trying to reach me.
‘Hello,’ I say, as Jackson pulls Hank back into a sitting position. I hurriedly finish my buttons. ‘This is a surprise!’
‘Do you want to come for a walk with me and Hank?’ Jackson says. His cheeks flush a little. ‘This is a peace offering, in case you couldn’t tell. From Hank, I mean.’
‘I … Yes!’ I say. ‘Yes, absolutely. Thank you, Hank.’ I do a weird sort of bow to the dog, then try to move on very quickly as though that didn’t happen.