No, Lenny fitted perfectly into the friends category.
And yet small gestures and throwaway comments had Adrian feeling confused, that something more lay beneath the surface.
On the way back from Wales they had agreed he would return on Thursday morning instead of Friday to check in with his mother and get her to sign some legal forms. At the same time, they would pick up mattresses and buy other items from the furniture store in Norwich and store them in the back of Adrian’s truck, ready for their trip down on Friday morning.
Even with Lenny being busy in London—despite assurances to the contrary, he’d had a mound of work to catch up on—he still managed to check in with Adrian each day. As Adrian put the finishing touches to the third kitchen design, and as though reading his mind, his phone pinged with a message.
Lenny: Shopping tomorrow. Hope you made a list.
Adrian: And checked it twice. Gonna give your credit card a good workout. What time shall I pick you up?
Lenny: Ten too early?
Adrian: See you then. Text me your address.
Lenny: Sounds like a date.
Adrian: Well we are picking out bedding together.
The phone went quiet for a while, and Adrian worried he had gone too far, but he could see Lenny was typing. Eventually, another text pinged through.
Lenny: Always the funny guy. Thanks again for agreeing to do this, Ade. Make sure you give me invoices for everything this time around.
Adrian: Look forward to seeing you tomorrow.
Had he overstepped the mark? Maybe he should dial the chumminess down a notch or two. He didn’t want to give Lenny the wrong idea and scare him away.
* * * *
“Is your mother okay?”
They had been shopping in the large department store in the centre of Norwich like an old married couple. Lenny had turned up dressed casually in a long-sleeved, old-fashioned rugby shirt in purple and yellow stripes, the style they don’t seem to wear on the field anymore, and a pair of well-worn jeans and trainers that only made him look hotter. As soon as they’d set off from his mother’s house, he told Adrian he had ordered the king-sized mattresses earlier in the week. They sat in the store’s loading bay ready to be thrown onto the back of Adrian’s truck. Both had the same idea when it came to bedding—something modest but comfortable. Four pillows—two for each bed—two king-sized quilts and covers in ivory for one room, navy-blue for the other, together with matching sheets. Not particularly imaginative, but neutral enough so that whatever décor Lenny decided upon, they would still be useable.
“I usually don’t see her more than twice a year, so it’s been a bit overwhelming for her lately. And when I do turn up to get her to sign important documents, she reciprocates by handing me a list of things she needs doing. When I declined and told her I’m only here to pick you up and drive to Wales, she got a little antsy. As you saw.”
“That explains the warm welcome.”
“Sorry about that. If it’s any consolation, my mother tends to be somewhat frosty with anyone she doesn’t know. At least she offered you a cup of tea. And I have to say again, Ade, those sketches are amazing, even though I only glanced over them. Maybe you can talk me through them tonight over dinner without my mother hovering over us. To be honest, I could do with someone like you on my team, to give clients some quick, imaginative visuals of how something could look. Professional architects and even interior designers are exacting and take so damned long to produce anything, as well as being expensive. You’ve got a hidden talent going on there. You even managed to get a hum of approval from my mum.”
Every time Lenny praised him about anything, a ripple of pleasure ran through Adrian. And Adrian had noticed, too, the way Lenny’s mother had glanced at them with something bordering lukewarm interest as she’d handed him a mug of tea—even though he had asked for coffee.
“She probably gets lonely now your dad’s not around.”
“Yeah, I did think that. You know, when I got back to London this week I phoned her every day, like a dutiful son. On Wednesday she asked me to stop calling so often. Can you believe? But I know she sees a lot of my Aunt Marcie. She lives across the street and they seem to get on really well.”
“Maybe I should introduce her to my mum?”
Lenny shook his head decisively.
“Incompatible. As soon as your mother mentioned anything about the church or religion my mother would call a cab.”
Each of them pushed a shopping cart as they wandered into the electrical section, while Adrian checked his prepared list.
“But all joking aside, Lenny. If she needs anything doing like moving furniture or lifting boxes, manual kind of stuff, you could give her my number. She’s met me now and I am local.”
Lenny seemed to mull the idea over, and after a while smiled and nodded
“I’ll let her know. That’s a nice thought, Ade.”
