chestnut from the bag Hannah had picked up from one of the food stalls outside in response to the chip pillaging.
‘I’m going to stage an intervention,’ I said, drinking down a mouthful of the festive ale. ‘I’m going to get Finn on his own—’
‘Impossible,’ Chloe cut in.
‘So, it’s just the two of us,’ I soldiered on, ignoring her scepticism, ‘landline unplugged, mobile’s off, doors locked, curtains closed, that sort of thing.’
‘Nice,’ nodded Hannah, with a cheeky grin.
‘And I’m going to force him to listen to what I have to say.’
‘I suppose that could work,’ said Chloe.
‘You could tie him up,’ giggled Hannah, clearly quite taken with the idea.
Chloe gave her a sharp nudge.
‘What?’ she protested. ‘It might come to that.’
‘It won’t,’ said Chloe, a smile tugging at her lips.
Hannah looked disappointed and I couldn’t help but laugh before drinking more of my pint. This proactive show of force was going to be the right way to go about it; I just knew it.
‘I’m going to own this situation,’ I told the pair, putting my glass back down with a thump. ‘No more buggering about.’
‘It’s the only way,’ Hannah agreed, pinching another chip.
‘Actually,’ said Chloe, nabbing a second chestnut for good measure, ‘I think you might be right.’
* * *
My stirring speech in the pub had further fuelled my determination to reach a resolution and, as luck would have it – which must have been a positive portent – the perfect opportunity to put my forceful plan into action presented itself the very next day.
I had finished work and was locking the garden office, when I heard Finn crashing about in the studio. Because of the cold, Nell was wearing her dog socks. She hated them really, and still hadn’t worked out that her feet felt better for having them on, but at least Finn wouldn’t be able to object to having her in the studio if he hadn’t swept up. I didn’t want to run the risk of taking her home before I tackled him, in case he sloped off before I got back.
‘Come on,’ I said to Nell, giving her head a rub. ‘Let’s get this done.’
I purposefully marched the few steps to the studio and hammered on the closed door, allowing myself no time to think or run through what I was going to say.
‘Freya,’ said Finn, when he opened the door, thankfully before my courage failed me.
‘Can I come in?’ I asked, sliding past him before he could say no, ‘and don’t worry about Nell. She’s got her socks on, so her feet will be fine.’
After a look at Nell’s feet, which made his eyebrows shoot up, Finn closed the door and I leant around him, slid the bolt across, crossed the studio floor and ran up the stairs which led to the living space above.
‘What the hell,’ he gruffly objected, as I took the steps two at a time and didn’t look back. ‘Freya?’
‘I won’t keep you a minute,’ I told him, as he rushed to follow me. ‘I promise I’m going to make this really quick.’
I didn’t focus on the finer details of my surroundings, but ‘functional’ and ‘basic’ would have been the best words to sum up what I did notice. Cosy home comforts were few and far between and I couldn’t see a phone handset anywhere.
‘Do you have a landline here?’ I asked.
‘What?’ said Finn, frowning.
‘A phone,’ I reiterated, as I mentally ran through my intervention checklist.
There was no need to draw the curtains because we were high up and no one could physically get in now because I had barred the only entrance.
‘No,’ said Finn. ‘No landline. What the hell’s going on?’
‘Mobile then?’ I said, pulling mine out of my jeans pocket.
‘You know I have a mobile,’ said Finn, waving the ancient model about before I swiped it out of his hand. ‘Hey!’
‘Trust me,’ I told him, feeling the adrenaline pump through my veins as I marched to the bedroom, or the space where the bed was. ‘I’m going to put it here with mine and if it rings, ignore it.’
Finn stood with his hands on his hips and a less than amused expression on his face.
‘Here, Nell,’ I said softly, ‘lay down.’
She ignored me and crawled under the table, circling twice before settling with her head on her front paws.
‘Good girl,’ I praised.
Now the scene was set, I wasn’t sure what to do next. The initial influx of adrenaline was starting to wane but I couldn’t give up. Not when I’d