Me Before You: A Novel

bench with a cushion on it, and I sat there for some time, our faces lifted to the weak sunshine, listening to the sparrows squabbling in the hedgerow.
    ‘What’s up with you?’
    ‘What do you mean?’
    ‘You’re quiet.’
    ‘You said you wanted me to be quiet.’
    ‘Not this quiet. It alarms me.’
    ‘I’m all right,’ I said. And then, ‘It’s just boyfriend stuff, if you really want to know.’
    ‘Ah,’ he said. ‘Running Man.’
    I opened my eyes, just to see if he was mocking me.
    ‘What’s the matter?’ he said. ‘Come on, tell Uncle Will.’
    ‘No.’
    ‘My mother is going to have the cleaners running around like lunatics in there for at least another hour. You’re going to have to talk about something.’
    I pushed myself upright, and turned to face him. His house chair had a control button that elevated his seat so that he could address people at head height. He didn’t often use it, as it frequently made him dizzy, but it was working now. I actually had to look up at him.
    I pulled my coat around me, and squinted at him. ‘Go on, then, what do you want to know?’
    ‘How long have you two been together?’ he said.
    ‘Bit over six years.’
    He looked surprised. ‘That’s a long time.’
    ‘Yes,’ I said. ‘Well.’
    I leant over and adjusted a rug across him. It was deceptive, the sunshine – it promised more than it could actually deliver. I thought of Patrick, up at 6.30 sharp this morning to go for his morning run. Perhaps I should take up running, so that we would become one of those Lycra-clad couples. Perhaps I should buy frilly underwear and look up sex tips online. I knew I would do neither.
    ‘What does he do?’
    ‘He’s a personal trainer.’
    ‘Hence the running.’
    ‘Hence the running.’
    ‘What’s he like? In three words, if it makes you uncomfortable.’
    I thought about it. ‘Positive. Loyal. Obsessed with body fat ratios.’
    ‘That’s seven words.’
    ‘Then you got four for free. So what was she like?’
    ‘Who?’
    ‘Alicia?’ I looked at him like he had looked at me, directly. He took a deep breath and gazed upwards to a large plane tree. His hair fell down into his eyes and I fought the urge to push it to one side for him.
    ‘Gorgeous. Sexy. High maintenance. Surprisingly insecure.’
    ‘What does she have to be insecure about?’ The words left my mouth before I could help myself.
    He looked almost amused. ‘You’d be surprised,’ he said. ‘Girls like Lissa trade on their looks for so long they don’t think they have anything else. Actually, I’m being unfair. She’s good with stuff. Things – clothes, interiors. She can make things look beautiful.’
    I fought the urge to say anyone could make things look beautiful if they had a wallet as deep as a diamond mine.
    ‘She could move a few things around in a room, and it would look completely different. I never could work out how she did it.’ He nodded towards the house. ‘She did this annexe, when I first moved in.’
    I found myself reviewing the perfectly designed living room. I realized my admiration of it was suddenly slightly less uncomplicated than it had been.
    ‘How long were you with her?’
    ‘Eight, nine months.’
    ‘Not that long.’
    ‘Long for me.’
    ‘How did you meet?’
    ‘Dinner party. A really awful dinner party. You?’
    ‘Hairdresser’s. I was one. He was my client.’
    ‘Hah. You were his something extra for the weekend.’
    I must have looked blank because he shook his head and said softly, ‘Never mind.’
    Inside, we could hear the dull drone of the vacuum cleaner. There were four women in the cleaning company, all wearing matching housecoats. I had wondered what they would find to do for two hours in the little annexe.
    ‘Do you miss her?’
    I could hear them talking amongst themselves. Someone had opened a window, and occasional bursts of laughter filtered out into the thin air.
    Will seemed to be watching something in the far-off distance. ‘I used to.’ He turned to me, his voice matter-of-fact. ‘But I’ve been thinking about it, and I’ve decided that she and Rupert are a good match.’
    I nodded. ‘They’ll have a ridiculous wedding, pop out an ankle biter or two, as you put it, buy a place in the country, and he’ll be shagging his secretary within five years,’ I said.
    ‘You’re probably right.’
    I was warming to my theme now. ‘And she will be a little bit cross with him all the time without really knowing why