Chapter 14

For the rest of the week, most of Arthur's routine coincided with mine. We travelled into the city together, and he met me outside the shelter before we took the train home. Either he or I cooked dinner, and we slept in my bed. Sometimes we did just that—put on pyjamas and slept in each other's arms.

Arthur wasn't always happy. Just because we were in the place we were together and he was becoming more confident in my feelings for him, it didn't mean it was a magic cure for his depression and dark moods. But at my encouragement, assuring him that him being silent and unsociable didn't upset me, he still stayed with me.

Other times, he would be livelier, more loving, and definitely sexier. He became more confident in the bedroom, too, and never failed to pleasure me, mostly before he had his own fun. I only fell more in love with him and imagined one day in the future we may have no need for two apartments anymore.

I didn't get the feeling of being watched or followed again that week, but on Sunday when Arthur worked and I didn't, I went into the city to buy a few things and was sure I was being observed. The feeling persisted as I took the train home and trudged up the endless steps. Several times I spun around, but I never saw anyone. As I got in the lift and the doors closed, I tried to shake off the feeling. I got out at Arthur's floor and went to visit Sophie. I hadn't seen her all week, too wrapped up in Arthur to have time for anyone else.

"So, how's it going?" She smirked and winked.

"It's going great."

"I've hardly seen him this week. Has he been at yours?"

"Only every night." I giggled.

"It must be love."

"Yes, I love him. He's everything I would want in a man."

"Really?" Sophie wrinkled her nose.

"I know you don't like him."

"It's not really that. Before you got to know him, I just thought he was weird and creepy. I could hear him laughing all the way down the corridor. Not so much now, since you two started dating. He's not really my cup of tea, even without that."

"Well, that's a good thing. I don't want competition," I teased.

We talked about other things besides Arthur, but as I left, Sophie joked that I'd mentioned his name at least a couple of hundred times and I was clearly "obsessed." I was about to open the door and leave, when the bell rang.

"I bet that's him, looking for you." Sophie smiled.

"Maybe." I opened the door eagerly, and found myself staring up at Paul, my ex. My smile left my face in an instant. "What are you doing here?"

"Who is this?" Sophie asked behind me.

"Can I come in?" Paul raised an eyebrow.

"I don't live here. This is my friend's house. He's my ex," I added for Sophie's benefit.

"I want to talk to you," he said.

"Right." I glanced back at Sophie.

"Are you okay?" she whispered, only just loud enough for me to hear. I nodded, stepped outside, and closed the door.

"What do you want, Paul?" I had no intention of taking him to my apartment, so I led him down the corridor instead, past the lift doors and away from Arthur's place. "Why have you been following me?"

"What makes you think I followed you?"

"I got that feeling a few days ago, that I was being followed. And clearly you have today, otherwise how did you know where to find me? You were on the train, weren't you?"

"Whatever. I don't want to fight with you, Audra."

"So, don't follow me home like a creep."

"Where's your place? Can we go there, sit down, and talk properly?"

"I'm not taking you to my place. Say what you have to say and go." I glared and took a step away from him.

"There's no need to be like that." He lifted both hands, palms out. "I come in peace."

I didn't answer, just looked at him and waited. In those moments, I wondered what I'd ever seen in him, and I compared him to Arthur. He wasn't as tall as Arthur but was heavier built—muscular from working out. I knew he had tight pecs and a six-pack under the bomber jacket he was wearing. His hair was cut short in a military style, and his blue eyes had an icy look in them. They always had, even when he was being loving.

"I wanted to repay you," Paul said. "I fucked up, massively. I didn't want to admit it at the time—"

"No, you lied about everything."

"I was addicted. I went to GA meetings and sorted it out. I'm running another company, now—a care service and escorts for kids without families. Something you should approve of. It's called Wimbletons—you can look it up."

"I've heard of it." I frowned, sceptical. Wimbletons was a new company, started up last summer, and was becoming well-known for its child services. I hadn't known Paul had anything to do with it. "How did you afford to set up something like that?"

"Uncle died. I have no cousins, as you know, and my parents are dead, so I got the lion's share."

"I'm surprised you managed to keep out of the casinos," I said bitterly.

"I told you, I got help. I haven't so much as played a game of cards in a year and a half. I got myself together when I lost you."

"You didn't seem to care too much about that at the time."

"I was on the defensive. When I calmed down, I realised what I'd done."

"So, why are you here now?" I asked.

"I told you. To pay you back. Look, can't we go for a coffee or something? If you won't take me to your place—"

I glanced past him at a slight sound, and saw Arthur watching from outside the lift doors, his face pale and sad. He dropped his gaze and shoved his hands into his pockets. Paul turned his head to look.

"Who the hell is that?"

"That's Arthur."

"Looks like a freak to me. I guess you get some real weirdos in a place like this."

"Go to hell, Paul!" I snapped, just as Arthur burst into loud shrieks of laughter and covered his mouth with both hands.

Paul shook his head and snorted.

"Arthur." I hurried to him and put my hands on his waist. "It's okay."

"Jesus fucking Christ. Now I've seen it all. Is that the best you can do?" Paul chuckled. "I didn't think you'd stay single for nearly two years, but that?"

Arthur pulled free of me and lurched, laughing hysterically, to his door.

"He should be in Arkham," Paul added.

I spun around, momentarily forgetting Arthur in my anger. "You know nothing about him, or me. Just go away and leave us alone."

"Not until we sort things out."

I ignored him, took Arthur's key from his shaking hand, and opened the door. I didn't look back at Paul, but ushered Arthur inside, closed the door, and put the chain on. Arthur laughed and gasped for another minute before he got control of himself.

"Who—who is he?"

"My ex. The one I told you about."

Arthur's eyes widened. "Does he want you back?"

"No. He didn't mention that. Apparently, he's come into some money and he wanted to pay me back for when he was an arsehole and lost all our savings and our home."

"He, um, he's, um—" Arthur barked with laughter again. "He's very good-looking. He has nice clothes. He's got so much more than me."

"He's a dickhead." I grasped Arthur's hand and tugged him down on the couch beside me. "Don't even think along the lines you're thinking. If he got on his knees and begged, I would never go back to him. I wouldn't even go for a coffee, as you probably heard him ask. I feel nothing for him. For a while, I hated him after everything he did. Now, he's just nothing. Don't worry about that."

Arthur nodded. "You loved him once, though."

"I thought I did."

"If you take the money, you could leave this shithole. You wouldn't have to worry anymore. You could forget about everything here, and me." He sunk his head into his hands.

"Stop it, Arthur. Don't you know by now, particularly after this last week, how much I love you? I'm going nowhere. Well, admittedly it would be nice to move somewhere better than this crappy apartment block, but whatever I do, you'll be with me, okay? I'm yours, Arthur. I'm not leaving you."

"But he has so much more than me," he repeated.

"I wouldn't care if he was the fucking prince of Gotham," I growled suddenly. "If he was the last man on earth, I wouldn't want him. I'd rather be lonely."

Arthur jerked his head up, eyes wide. "You said 'fuck.'"

I snorted. "Well, I'm not much of a lady when I have to deal with jerks like that. Seriously, do not worry about Paul. If I talk to him again, it won't mean anything other than me thinking about taking his money. Financially, I'm where I am because of him and if I can get out of the hole, great. Other than that, I won't give him the time of day. He means nothing to me. I love you."

Arthur nodded slowly. "I'm sorry for doubting. I thought maybe he would try to win you back."

"If he does, he's in for a disappointment. All he can offer me that I might be interested in, is the contents of his wallet, and even that wouldn't work if it wasn't for the fact that he lost over five grand of my money. It was a joint bank account, but almost half was mine."

"Five grand!" Arthur gasped. "I can't even imagine having that much money at once."

"Well, if I get even half of it, I can look at a nicer apartment. I wasn't going to mention this yet, but I was thinking this week, with you spending the nights at my place, and how happy I am with you, maybe someday we could have an apartment together. Somewhere a little way outside Gotham, maybe."

"You'd want to live with me? Even with all my problems?"

"They're not problems to me, Arthur. They're just part of you. Everyone has something they have to cope with. If I get money from him, I will have a deposit and bond for a better place. Although the rent would be more than here, we could afford it between us. Just think about it, okay?"

"I don't need to think about it." Arthur smiled and his eyes sparkled. "If you really think you can put up with me in your space, I would love to live with you."

"It would be our space. And don't forget you would have to put up with me, too."

"I don't think that would be very difficult." He laughed softly.

"I'll go outside and see if he's still there." I squeezed his hand and got up.

"Shall I come with you?"

"No. Leave this to me." Arthur's presence would only prompt Paul to be more of an arsehole, I realised. I let myself out again, and much to my annoyance, spotted Paul standing at Sophie's open door, talking to her. She was even smiling at him.

"Hey." I walked over.

"You want to talk, now?"

"Yes. Let's go for a walk." I still had no intention of taking him to my place.

Paul said goodbye to Sophie and followed me into the lift, which miraculously, was waiting. As it clunked its way downwards, Paul gazed around at the dirty walls covered in graffiti.

"I know it's a shithole," I said. "What do you expect, when I hadn't even any money for a deposit on a place, and had to fall on the city services?"

"I'm sorry." He shook his head. "I lived in Waller Street for a year."

Waller Street, I knew, was in an even worse area than my place.

"I was serious when I said I wanted to make amends," he added.

"Well, insulting my boyfriend isn't going to make me want to listen to you."

"You're really with him?" His brow wrinkled, but he straightened his face quickly. "Sorry."

"He's a sweet man. He would never do anything to hurt me, and I'm happy. That's all you need to know."

"Fair enough." Paul stepped aside as the lift doors opened, to let me out first. I led him out of the building and along the street. "So, my uncle left me a lot of money. Like, enough to buy a house. A proper house, not just an apartment. I wanted to make amends. I know I fucked up with you; not just with the money, and I'm not trying to get you back. I'm seeing someone, actually. It's early days, but I'm telling you, so you don't think I have an agenda. Having to live like a rat and go to GA meetings made me think about the kind of person I was, and what I'd done. It wasn't just you either. I borrowed money from friends and colleagues and lost it. I lost them, in the end. I ended up alone. My fault."

"That sucks," I said, unable to bring myself to say I was sorry, which I wasn't. He'd got what he deserved.

"Yeah. At the GA meetings, we had to talk about how we'd hurt people. One of the main steps is making amends with those people. I was lucky in coming into money. Other people in the group didn't have that, and they just have to contact their family members, friends, whatever, and apologise. At least I can apologise with a chunk of money. You will take it, right? I'm not asking you to forgive me, because I doubt you will. My friends haven't. But at least take what I'm offering. It will help you and it will make me feel better about things."

I stopped walking and turned to face him. "There's really nothing else in it? You just want to say sorry for what happened, and give me some money?"

"Swear to God."

"How much are we talking?"

Paul grinned. "Now I can see the dollar signs in your eyes."

"Shut up." I smiled, despite my determination to stay annoyed. I couldn't help the smile, when I thought about the possibility of moving to a nicer place and sharing it with Arthur.

"Ten thousand."

I gasped. "But that's way more than—!"

"Call it a payment towards pain and suffering, as well as what I took from you. You must have done it tough, finding a new job and trying to find a place to live with no money. The city services are stretched to capacity. I've been there, too, so I know how shit it is. And I know you didn't have anyone else to call on for help."

"No, I didn't." I started walking again, hands in my pockets. If I took the ten thousand, I could rent a new place and keep it for a year without having to contribute from my wages, enabling me to build up savings. With Arthur's money coming in, too, we'd be set up for the foreseeable future. We wouldn't have to struggle anymore. It was way more than I was owed, but still—there had been plenty of pain and suffering, when I feared I'd be on the streets; when I had to spend a week sleeping on a friend's couch, praying welfare would find me a place; praying that one of the twenty-seven jobs I'd applied for would say yes.

Again, I stopped walking, and faced him. "There's really no catch?"

"None." He shook his head. "You never have to see me again. Get a new place with your, um, Arthur? Whatever you want. Forget about me."

"Okay. I accept." I offered him my hand to shake, hoping I wasn't letting myself in for problems later. "Thank you, for coming to find me."