The Secret

Ellie stood in front of the mirror and slicked a little pale pink lipstick over her lips. She checked her hair. She had washed it and spritzed it with curling spray. It looked glossy and her curls had a lot of bounce. She had put on a pale blue blouse and a knee-length black skirt with white embroidery along the hem and although she told herself it didn’t really matter, she had put on matching pale blue satin underwear, just in case. She sprayed a light spray of perfume into the centre of the room and closed her eyes, walking through it.

She grabbed her handbag and ran down the stairs, lifting her mobile phone. It was 7.15 pm, she looked in shock and walked into the lounge to say goodbye to Poppy.

‘Wow, you look beautiful, Ellie. It’s perfect, not too much but he can’t fail to see what he’s been missing! Poppy stood and appraised her. ‘How are you feeling?’

Ellie had told her about Alan’s surprise visit and Poppy had snorted, saying she bet he hadn’t really lost her number; he just couldn’t wait to kiss her.

Ellie took a breath ‘I’m nervous, to be honest. This morning answered a few questions for us I guess so, who knows what tonight might bring. But I’m excited, Poppy. I still love him, you know…’ Ellie looked down at her shoes a little and smiled up at her through her curls.

Poppy smiled and pulled her into a hug. ‘I couldn’t think of anything better than to see you happy and in love again. But don’t tell him until he tells you, OK? Just in case…’ Poppy had tears in her eyes. ‘ Did you put your toothbrush in?’ She teased her.

Ellie patted her bag. ‘Just in case!’ And they laughed.

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She smoothed down the front of her skirt and blouse, gripped the bottle of wine and knocked his door, her stomach threatening to fly out of her mouth. She was five minutes late and had panicked in the off licence, not knowing what wine to choose. She went for the most expensive, hoping it was a good one, and ran down the road to the flat. The street was the same, the trees taller and leafier.

Alan heard her knock and took a deep breath of relief. He had been clock watching since 7.15 and when she hadn’t arrived exactly at 7.30 doubt had started to creep up on him. He went to the door and let her in, taking the wine from her. They stood in the small hall and Ellie looked around, remembering the first time she had been here and the place was full of boxes.

‘This brings back memories!’ She smiled at him and he leaned in to kiss her on the cheek.

‘Good to have you back.’ He smiled and she followed him into the sitting room.

He wore a white shirt, open at the collar, his second of the night after spilling red wine on the first one, and black jeans. Ellie looked at him as he walked into the kitchen and smiled. He still looked amazing.

Ellie gasped as she looked around. The room was immaculate and much bigger than she remembered it. The old sofa had been replaced by an elegant 3 piece suite in dark purple velvet, the walls were decorated with cream linen paper and the windows were dressed with chiffon panels and large, heavy damask curtains with cream tassels. There was a proper dining table in place of the small one Ellie had unearthed and the floorboards had been sanded and varnished, showing the natural beauty of the oak.

Alan returned with a glass of wine from a bottle he already had opened. He stopped as he walked into the lounge and looked at her as she gazed around the room. She was standing in front of his bookshelf and started browsing. She pulled out a book, the Moon and Sixpence, and looked at it, smiling, before putting it back. She remembered.

‘Here you are.’ He gave her the wine and she smiled at him.

‘I can’t believe I’m here! It’s very exciting to be back…’ She grinned at him.

‘We had a lot of fun here, didn’t we?’ He laughed.

‘Oh, that we did, if by fun you mean sex… lots of it, if I remember rightly!’ She laughed and he blushed, looking at her sideways with a shy smile.

Ellie walked up to him, looked into his face and spoke to him gently, lovingly.

‘Don’t be embarrassed Alan. I didn’t regret it then and I don’t regret it now. I’m proud of the time we spent together. It changed my life, in more ways than one and I am so glad we met.’

Her eyes were bright; he looked deeply into them, saw love there and relaxed.

He took one of her curls in his hand and ran it slowly through his fingers.

‘After you left, I thought every girl with red hair was you… ‘ He looked at her and smiled. ‘It never was… until yesterday…’

He pulled her to him and they held each other, their eyes closed as they remembered together. It felt right.

They pulled away and smiled at each other and kissed gently before they pulled away.

‘This room looks amazing, Alan. Was it you or….’ She left the question hanging. She couldn’t imagine him living here with Rima and didn’t want to.

‘No, it was me. It took a long time but I’m happy with it. I’m going to dish up, have a look around the rest of the place if you want.’

Ellie wandered around the flat, opening doors and peering in. The bathroom was the same; the spare room had a new bed and a wardrobe in it, the bed made up with exquisite bed linen with blue roses on a white background. She thought to herself that Alan had very good taste.

She reached Alan’s bedroom and paused before opening the door. She turned on the light and stepped inside. It was a different bed, she noticed, and it was sitting on a new wall. She turned to where the bed was facing and couldn’t believe what she was looking at.

On the wall facing the bed was the Paul Gauguin painting they had seen in the gallery, hanging in its black frame against a pure white wall. She looked around and noticed it was the only decoration in the room, so your eye was immediately drawn to it.

She walked up to it and slowly reached her hand out to touch the frame, her eyes wide as she took in the painting. It was the most incredible thing she had ever seen. She stepped back and sat on the edge of the bed. It was the perfect distance away to be able to see the painting at it’s best and Ellie could imagine how amazing it would be to wake up looking at it every day. She sat there in awe.

Alan had cooked salmon and new potatoes with French beans. It wasn’t exactly gourmet but it was something he knew how to cook. He put their plates on the dining table and turned the dimmer switch down, lighting the candles on the table.

He realised Ellie still hadn’t come back into the room and went looking for her. He found her sitting on the end of his bed, staring at the painting, as he knew she would.

‘What do you think?’ He asked her, leaning on the doorframe.

‘I can’t believe you have it…’ She looked at him incredulously. ‘It must have cost a small fortune.’

‘It did. But I really wanted it and when it came up at auction I had a friend bid on it and here it is.’ He smiled at her. ‘It looks great there, don’t you think?’

Ellie nodded and stood, reluctantly walking towards him while looking at the painting over her shoulder.

She looked at him. ‘Why? Why did you buy it? I don’t understand, I didn’t think you were that much of Gauguin fan.’

‘I wanted something to remind me of you, something no one else would know the significance of.’ He looked at her and smiled. ‘My secret!’

She smiled. ‘Wow, that’s very flattering….’

‘Not really. If you lost the love of your life, you would do the same.’ He looked at her intently and she stared back at him.

‘ Food’s getting cold. Let’s eat.’