We can find him somewhere to stay first thing tomorrow.’
Rosanna chewed her lip and sighed. ‘Okay!’ she relented. ‘But,’ she added, holding a baton-like finger up in the air in warning, ‘if Sandro comes back, you’ll have to do the explaining.’
‘ Thanks, Rosanna!’
‘ There’s a single bed through there,’ she said, pointing to a door that led to the spare bedroom.
‘ A single, eh? Won’t that be a bit of a squash?’ Mark whispered to Elena.
‘ Mark!’
‘ Where are you sleeping, then?’
‘ Upstairs, with Rosanna.’
‘ Oh!’ Mark said, looking crestfallen. ‘That’s sounds like much more fun. Can’t I share with you two?’
Elena slapped him on the back and led him through to the spare room. It had low beams and he had to duck to avoid cracking his head, but it was cosy and he soon made himself as home, emptying out the entire contents of his rucksack even though Elena reminded him that he’d be leaving in the morning.
‘ God, Elena, I’ve missed you,’ he said again. ‘I was going out of my head in Harrow on my own.’
‘ You mean, you’ve only come out here because you were bored?’
He shook his head in mock anger. ‘That’s not what I meant and you know it! I missed you! I’m no good without you,’ he said, and his arms were around her again.
Elena rested her head on his shoulder and hugged him close to her. She felt so confused. First Reuben and now Mark. What was going on here? Was she being tested? Wasn’t it enough that she’d come out here to sort things out? Why were these extra obstacles being thrown at her? Or were they here to help her? Was Prof’s absence a sure indication that he wasn’t the one for her? But hadn’t he been thinking of her - eating Italian as he’d read her essay?
‘ You’re very pensive, aren’t you?’ Mark whispered.
She looked up at him. ‘Not pensive,’ she lied. ‘Just happy.’
‘ Good,’ he said.
‘ Come on,’ she said, taking his hand, ‘Rosanna will be thinking we’re up to no good.’
When they went back through to the living room, Rosanna had cooked up some pasta and they all ate at the table as if they were one big happy family. For a few minutes, nobody said a word but concentrated on the food, although Mark made many appreciative noises as he ate. Elena had to laugh at her earlier image of him sitting in his flat eating a ghastly microwave meal when, all along, he’d been on his way to her.
‘ It’s great to finally meet you,’ Mark told Rosanna as he all but scraped the pattern off the plate with an eager fork. ‘I’ve heard so much about you.’
Rosanna looked up at him and gave the tiniest of smiles. ‘And I’ve heard all about you,’ she said with great control.
Mark laughed. ‘I dread to think what you’ve heard!’
Elena glared at Rosanna, making sure she didn’t elaborate. She had a devilish glint in her eyes.
‘ So, Rosanna, what’s it like to be a model?’ Mark asked before Elena could think of anything else to say. Elena almost choked on her mouthful as she saw Rosanna flinch. Nobody asked her about her work. She was always incredibly secretive about it as if she were ashamed of what she did.
‘ It’s - er,’ she stumbled, staring down at her empty plate, ‘good.’
‘ Yeah? Don’t you get embarrassed? I mean, having people gawping at you all the time?’
Elena cleared her throat. Even though Rosanna had been threatening to drop her in it since the unexpected arrival of two of her fiancés, she decided to help her out.
‘ She only gets embarrassed when people ask her questions about it!’
‘ Oh!’ Mark said. ‘Sorry. It’s just, I’ve never met a model before.’
‘ It’s okay,’ Rosanna assured. ‘It’s just there’s not much to say. I sit there and they paint me. It’s-’ she gazed up at the beams in the living room as if hunting for the right words, ‘calm,’ she concluded.
Mark nodded, as if he understood perfectly. ‘That is definitely
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