Life Or Something Like It. Annie Lyons

Finn. Do you like my Auntie Cat?’

      Finn glanced up at Cat, his eyes sparkling with amusement. ‘Well I don’t know. What do you think?’

      Ellie thought for a moment. ‘She’s actually okay. She took us to a really nice restaurant yesterday but I was sick.’

      ‘Oh that’s a shame.’

      ‘Yes it was. Do you think you might want to marry my Auntie Cat?’

      Cat nearly choked on the remainder of her sandwich and Finn laughed. ‘I think it’s too soon to say but probably.’

      Claire grinned at Cat. ‘Good for you, girl.’

      ‘I’m glad my future is all sorted then,’ said Cat shaking her head.

      ‘You should be. I’m quite a catch,’ joked Finn.

      After lunch, Cat went to buy more coffee and ice-creams for the children. When she returned, she noticed that Finn had joined the boys in a game of football. He had also picked up her beloved Kelly bag to mark the goals. ‘We needed some goalposts,’ he said with a grin. ‘You don’t mind, do you?’

      It was said as a challenge. Charlie was watching her with scowling expectation. She couldn’t refuse. ‘Okay,’ she said. Never mind about marrying him, she was starting to hate this man.

      They ate their ice-creams quickly and went back to the game. The girls had picked handfuls of daisies and were attempting to make daisy-chain bracelets. It made Cat falter for a second as she remembered making them as a child; why did every innocent activity she undertook with the kids bring back a forgotten memory? She sat a little distance away and watched as Claire showed them how to thread one stem through another. Cat closed her eyes and let the sun wash over her for a moment. She felt someone standing quite close to her and opened her eyes to see Ellie’s friend Daisy holding out a neat little bracelet of flowers. Cat hesitated for a second, so the little girl shoved it under her nose.

      ‘I made it for you,’ she said seriously. ‘You looked sad and I thought you would like it.’

      Cat was amazed and touched. ‘Thank you, Daisy. That’s very sweet of you.’

      ‘I made you one too,’ said Ellie, pushing her way forwards.

      ‘And me,’ squeaked Izzy.

      Claire laughed. ‘Nice to be popular, eh?’

      ‘Yes,’ said Cat, her voice wavering a little. ‘Yes it is. Thank you, girls.’

      ‘S’okay. Come on!’ cried Ellie as they skipped back to Claire.

      Cat felt flustered by her reaction and decided to distract herself by checking her phone.

      ‘You’re a slave to social media, aren’t you?’ said Finn jogging over, picking up a water bottle and taking a deep gulp.

      ‘I’ll have you know that social media is the thing that makes the world go round,’ she said.

      ‘Is it indeed? Isn’t it just for needy people with low self-esteem constantly searching for some meaning in their lives?’

      The comment was teasing but it made Cat bristle. ‘Actually, it’s very useful and necessary. It has helped people start revolutions and change the world.’

      ‘Oh right.’ Finn grinned. ‘How many revolutions have you started then?’ he quipped before jogging off to join the boys again.

      Cat was furious. She could honestly say that she’d never met such an irritating man in her life before. She stared back at her phone. Today was the day of the Paradise Rivers perfume launch and her feed was awash with comments from supporters and trolls. The reality TV star was trending and if she had been at work, Cat would have been delighted with this result. Today, however, she felt dissatisfied. She threw her phone to one side and turned her attention to the boys’ football game. Charlie had just scored a goal, shooting the ball past James. Finn cheered and gave him a jubilant high five. Cat found his exhibitionist chumminess with the kids beyond annoying. She couldn’t believe the magnetism he seemed to have over people. She liked Claire but she could honestly say that she wouldn’t be in a hurry to meet up with Finn again.

      At that moment she noticed a small dog running towards them. She watched in horror as it made a beeline for her handbag. The world seemed to move in slow motion and Cat couldn’t act in time to prevent the horror of the dog firstly sniffing and then lifting one of its tiny back legs before neatly peeing all over her prized possession.

      Charlie and James fell about laughing. To his credit, Finn did shout at the dog and shoo it away but even he was suppressing a snigger as he carried the offending article back to Cat.

      ‘You might want to wipe this,’ he chuckled.

      ‘Oh no!’ cried Claire, rushing over with a packet of wipes. ‘That looks like a nice bag. Was it expensive?’

      ‘Yes, yes it was,’ said Cat weakly as she observed the urine-soaked green leather.

      ‘First rule of looking after kids,’ said Finn cheerfully, ‘never bring or wear anything that you aren’t prepared to take home covered in urine, poo, vomit or a combination of all three.’

      ‘I’ll bear that in mind,’ said Cat through gritted teeth.

      On the way home Ellie declared it to be ‘the best day ever’, and even Charlie seemed cheerful.

      Later that evening, Cat sat in the garden with her brother, nursing a glass of wine. ‘So,’ he said innocently, ‘what did you make of Finn?’

      ‘Smug, irritating and a know-it-all,’ declared Cat.

      ‘Right,’ said Andrew. ‘So you quite liked him then.’ Cat stuck out her tongue. ‘Still. The kids enjoyed it and at least you didn’t have to deal with any vomit today.’

      ‘No just dog’s urine,’ she observed. ‘Anyway, things are improving. Ellie told me I was “okay”.’

      ‘Praise indeed.’ Andrew smiled. ‘Well I think you’re doing a great job, sis,’ he added, knocking his glass against hers.

      ‘I’m learning to go with the flow,’ said Cat.

      ‘Sounds like something Finn might say,’ observed Andrew.

      Cat frowned. ‘Don’t be ridiculous.’

       Chapter Six

      Cat paid the cab driver, adding a generous tip in recognition of the terrible Friday night traffic, and stepped onto the pavement, tucking the wine bottle under her arm. She looked up at the three-storey Notting Hill townhouse. The west London location had been the choice of Jesse’s wife, Alexandra, after she saw the movie of the same name and decided that if it was good enough for Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts then it was definitely good enough for Alexandra Lorenzo. Jesse had been desperate to make his supermodel wife happy and gave in quickly, despite the property’s impractical positioning for Hemingway Media’s east London offices.

      Even though she travelled the globe, Alexandra had a strong sense of home and had wanted to settle somewhere not too far from her family back in Barcelona. She also found the British reserve to be at odds with her passionate Spanish nature but Notting Hill had its own cosmopolitan identity where you could be who you were, particularly if you were rich. The house had been her project, not that she had broken a nail over it, but she had enjoyed working with the best architects, project managers and interior designers money could buy.