yourself to breakfast. That's if I've got anything you consider acceptable.'
Just to annoy him she added three large spoonfuls of brandy butter to her dish. It made the whole thing far too sickly. She wasn't going to admit that, so forced it down. Tony sat opposite her, munching on an apple. She'd bought them cheap on the market and although they looked nice she knew they were woolly textured and tasteless. He couldn't possibly be enjoying it. When he'd finished he made them both a coffee. She'd have preferred tea, she usually did in the morning, but she kept quiet and drank the coffee. Her headache improved, but not her mood.
She didn't want a relationship where what to have for breakfast was a source of conflict. She didn't want to live somewhere she couldn't hang her own choice of calendar on the wall and she didn't like the way he'd assumed he knew her answer about moving in with him a week before she was due to give it. Kate was right, seeing less of Tony, not more, might be a good idea.
'I'm going for a shower,' she said. As she allowed the soothing water to flow over her, Alice thought about living with Tony. She'd not really done that. She had of course weighed up the advantages and disadvantages, but she'd not really thought about what it would actually be like to live with him and spend all her free time with him. Or rather all his free time as she'd spend a lot of time on her own waiting for him to finish work. The more she thought about it the more sure she became that she didn't want to do it.
She waited until he'd had his own shower and was dressed before saying, 'Tony, I said I'd give you an answer by New Year, but I've already decided I'm not ready to move in with you.'
'Oh? What do you get up to that you don't want me knowing about?'
'Nothing. It's just that I like a bit of space sometimes.'
'What's that supposed to mean?'
'Just what I said. I want to have mad things for breakfast without explaining myself, or buy a pretty cushion I like even if it doesn't match the curtains. I don't want to have to tell someone whenever I leave the flat and give an account of where I've been and who I've spoken to when I get back. And I don't want to put up with you getting moody whenever I don't immediately agree to whatever you want.' She knew she'd left it a bit late to say a lot of this, but once she'd started it wasn't as difficult as she'd imagined. 'Oh, that cleaner stuff you use in the kitchen? Absolutely hate the smell of that and it gets in all the food. I never want to smell it again and I don't want to sit around waiting for you to come home from work, either. Here, Kate can pop in on her way home for a chat...'
'I've never said your sister can't visit you. She'd be welcome anytime.'
'No she wouldn't. You'd tolerate her, just as you tolerate me going to the pub with my old school friends.' Alice only met up with Melanie and the others once a month or so and other than work or seeing her family it was the only thing she did without him. Even so, somehow he always managed to want her to go out with him that night, or to otherwise find it inconvenient.
'You sulk from when I arrange it to when I come back, pretty much as you're doing now, pretty much as you do whenever you don't get your own way.'
He didn't deny any of it, didn't even offer to switch to squirting the kitchen with a different brand of disgusting chemicals. Instead he said he was going to go home and catch up on some work, which she felt rather proved at least one of her points.
Tony hardly contacted her for days. Alice wasn't too bothered about that, after what she'd said he'd probably still be sulking and no fun to be around. She was however starting to suffer cabin fever. Obviously she'd expected to spend most of the Christmas break with him, so hadn't made arrangements to meet up with any of her friends. Chances are they'd already made plans and anyway, if Tony did turn up or call her to arrange a date and she was out he'd just sulk all
Just to annoy him she added three large spoonfuls of brandy butter to her dish. It made the whole thing far too sickly. She wasn't going to admit that, so forced it down. Tony sat opposite her, munching on an apple. She'd bought them cheap on the market and although they looked nice she knew they were woolly textured and tasteless. He couldn't possibly be enjoying it. When he'd finished he made them both a coffee. She'd have preferred tea, she usually did in the morning, but she kept quiet and drank the coffee. Her headache improved, but not her mood.
She didn't want a relationship where what to have for breakfast was a source of conflict. She didn't want to live somewhere she couldn't hang her own choice of calendar on the wall and she didn't like the way he'd assumed he knew her answer about moving in with him a week before she was due to give it. Kate was right, seeing less of Tony, not more, might be a good idea.
'I'm going for a shower,' she said. As she allowed the soothing water to flow over her, Alice thought about living with Tony. She'd not really done that. She had of course weighed up the advantages and disadvantages, but she'd not really thought about what it would actually be like to live with him and spend all her free time with him. Or rather all his free time as she'd spend a lot of time on her own waiting for him to finish work. The more she thought about it the more sure she became that she didn't want to do it.
She waited until he'd had his own shower and was dressed before saying, 'Tony, I said I'd give you an answer by New Year, but I've already decided I'm not ready to move in with you.'
'Oh? What do you get up to that you don't want me knowing about?'
'Nothing. It's just that I like a bit of space sometimes.'
'What's that supposed to mean?'
'Just what I said. I want to have mad things for breakfast without explaining myself, or buy a pretty cushion I like even if it doesn't match the curtains. I don't want to have to tell someone whenever I leave the flat and give an account of where I've been and who I've spoken to when I get back. And I don't want to put up with you getting moody whenever I don't immediately agree to whatever you want.' She knew she'd left it a bit late to say a lot of this, but once she'd started it wasn't as difficult as she'd imagined. 'Oh, that cleaner stuff you use in the kitchen? Absolutely hate the smell of that and it gets in all the food. I never want to smell it again and I don't want to sit around waiting for you to come home from work, either. Here, Kate can pop in on her way home for a chat...'
'I've never said your sister can't visit you. She'd be welcome anytime.'
'No she wouldn't. You'd tolerate her, just as you tolerate me going to the pub with my old school friends.' Alice only met up with Melanie and the others once a month or so and other than work or seeing her family it was the only thing she did without him. Even so, somehow he always managed to want her to go out with him that night, or to otherwise find it inconvenient.
'You sulk from when I arrange it to when I come back, pretty much as you're doing now, pretty much as you do whenever you don't get your own way.'
He didn't deny any of it, didn't even offer to switch to squirting the kitchen with a different brand of disgusting chemicals. Instead he said he was going to go home and catch up on some work, which she felt rather proved at least one of her points.
Tony hardly contacted her for days. Alice wasn't too bothered about that, after what she'd said he'd probably still be sulking and no fun to be around. She was however starting to suffer cabin fever. Obviously she'd expected to spend most of the Christmas break with him, so hadn't made arrangements to meet up with any of her friends. Chances are they'd already made plans and anyway, if Tony did turn up or call her to arrange a date and she was out he'd just sulk all
Similar Books
