Chapter 3
In which Nick helps me with my homework – and I plot his downfall
After the initial jolt, Lily seemed to be a relatively unobtrusive lodger, although I always felt that 'lodger' was the wrong word, conjuring up an image of seedy, down-at-heel men. She led a relatively self-contained existence, and rather surprised me with how conscientious she was with her studies.
I'm conscientious with lots of things apart from studying – teasing, seduction, sexual conquest ...
In fact it was her studies that led to our first real contact. I had just got home after an afternoon stroll in the park seeking inspiration, stuck on my current novel, and had noticed Lily pacing up and down in the living room, looking unusually pensive. As I stood in the doorway observing her, she did not seem aware of me. She was barefoot and so I noticed how her toenails were varnished scarlet, just like her fingernails, and she carried herself lightly on her feet, carelessly graceful, even when obviously pre-occupied and not aware of an audience.
Dumb or what? Of course I noticed you. It's the oldest trick in the book.
'What's up?' I asked, and she jumped slightly.
A loss to the acting profession – that's me!
She hesitated, as if weighing up whether to actually answer me or just to say something non-committal. She then obviously decided to plump for the second as her explanation came out in a rush.
But this bit was real. I didn't want to use my tricks there, I wanted to succeed and uni is a lot harder than I'd expected.
"I'm supposed to write an essay and I don't really know how to write essays. Everyone thinks I'm clever because I got into this uni and on this course but they all know how to do these things and no-one ever really taught me, and that snobby bastard of a lecturer will just patronise me like he did last time but won't tell me what I have to do to get better and all those public school bitches will look down their noses at me even more and give each other knowing looks and ..."
"And I think you need to catch a breath – you've gone really red in the face" I said, which was true, even if it wasn't exactly gentlemanly. She took a theatrical deep breath and we both started to laugh.
And this was when I started to fall for him a bit – I hadn't realised that he could do 'funny'.
"I know", she continued ruefully, but now calmer. "It's really down to me, I've got to sort it out for myself – it's just I am a bit sort of stuck".
I looked at her for a moment, and realised that I genuinely wanted to help. I also reflected on how, while she was talking, I was mostly watching her lips, which were the same scarlet as her nails, and suddenly remembered a really dumb 'How to Seduce a Woman' guide that I had been asked to review, in which it said that watching a woman's lips while she talked was a way to show her that you were interested in her sexually, and that it would get her thinking the same way; and now maybe that bit had something to it after all ...
I already knew that you fancied me, my sweetheart, and I am almost always thinking sexually.
I snapped back to the here and now.
"You know what? I completely get what you are talking about. I felt just the same when I started at Cambridge. And even now I'm a successful writer they probably still see me the same way. I probably sell too many books for them to take me seriously. So let's see what we can do."
Lily led me into her bedroom and to the computer perched on the desk. She sat down and I leant over her to look at the screen, acutely aware of her warmth and her scent. I would have been content to just stand there, breathing her in, but realised I should actually say something before starting to come across the wrong way.
What do you mean the 'wrong way'? I like the 'wrong way'.
"So, Lily, what is it that you are supposed to write?" I began, sounding rather serious and self-important even in my own ears. I hoped that was not how she heard it.