The attic - Chapter 4

Image source

Moira jumped in to clean the kitchen after Billy left, and by late afternoon she was totally exhausted. Luckily she had put the pork neck in the oven a few hours earlier, so she only needed to make the dessert and the salad, and that would go quickly so she had time for a nice long bath. By four o clock she climbed into a warm relaxing bath. 

She lay back with her eyes closed and soaked in the silence.  It was dead quiet, and you could hear a pin drop. She must have fallen asleep for a few minutes, but was awakened by the same noise that she heard before coming from the attic. She made a mental note to search for the source of the sound.   

Moira was totally relaxed after nearly an hour in the bath, and by six o clock she was all dressed up and ready to serve dinner.  She was still busy making the dessert when she heard Billy's truck pull up in the driveway.  After she put the meringue in the oven to bake, she went outside to see what was taking Billy so long to get inside, but just as she opened the door, she heard the familiar sound of her grandfather's old station-wagon starting up.

" Whoo hoo, I assumed you solved the mysterious problem with the battery?" she said jokingly.  She walked downstairs to help push Billy up the stairs.  

"Thank you Billy, I appreciate your help."

He winked at her, and smiled back.  She grabbed the chair and pushed him upstairs in a swift motion.  She pulled out one of the chairs, to make space for the wheelchair.  

"Would you like a glass of wine?" she asked while taking out two glasses.  She was so relaxed after her bath and she was looking forward to catching up with an old friend. 

She served dinner and Billy was quite impressed with her cooking skills.  

"Where did you learn to cook this way?" Billy asked curiously but it was her turn to make him blush.

"You know that it has always been my dream to become a chef.  You are looking at the number one student of the institute of culinary education in New York. I qualified two years ago, and started working as a chef in one of the top restaurants in New York."  

"Oh wow, that's great!"  Billy said and asked: "So what made you come back here?"

"I'd rather not talk about it and spoil our evening."  Billy didn't push it, and went off topic.  

"Perhaps you should show me your skills in the dessert area now.." 

She smiled and stood up to prepare the meringue.  She took some fresh strawberries and layered it on top of the meringue, and then topped it up with fresh dessert cream.  It looked absolutely gorgeous.

"Now I'm impressed!" Billy said with a big smile on his face.  

They ate in silence and it was only when he took his last bite that Billy said: 

"I'm glad you're back.  I missed this..."

"I missed you too Billy."

Before anything became to awkward, Moira stood up and stacked the dirty dishes on the kitchen counter. She was feeling a little bit dilly from all the wine and suggested that they drink coffee.  

"I make a mean cup of coffee.  You sit down while I make us some.."  Billy said, and a few minutes later he handed her the best cup of coffee she ever had.  

"Oh before I forget. I have a surprise for you!" Billy said while grinning through his teeth. He pulled out a cassette from his jacket pocket. 

"Can you remember this?"

"Wait, it can't be...I can't believe you kept it all these years."

It was a cassette that she made Billy just before she left.  It had all their favorite songs on it, and it took her weeks to compile. 

"Can we listen to it?"  She asked super excitedly. 

" It depends on the cassette player. These are not so readily available anymore."

"I'm sure I saw my old cassette player upstairs in the attic. I wonder if it still works? Let me go and fetch it."

Moira jumped up and within seconds, Billy heard her pull down the ladder in the hallway.

Moira pushed the door open and was glad to see that the door opened easier than before. She held her breath when she entered the attic, and quickly scanned the room to see where she saw the cassette player earlier this morning.  She saw it almost instantly and quickly walked over to other side of the attic to fetch it.  She grabbed it and within a minute she was on her way down again.  

She walked past the mirror on her way out, and didn't notice anything out of the ordinary.  

"I have to start cleaning here as soon as possible." she thought to herself.  She turned herself around to go down the ladder and was just about to step down when she saw something in the mirror.  She turned her head to check the attic, but didn't see anything.  

"It must be the wine talking" she thought and giggled at herself imagining things. She had only one hand to balance herself, and she clutched the cassette player in her other hand.  

Moira climbed down steadily and when she took the last step, her foot slipped again, and she fell.  Billy was just in time to catch her and she landed straight on his lap.  

"Oops, sorry Billy." Moira said while hanging on for dear life. She put her one arm around his neck and was still holding on to the cassette player in the other. 

"You could've hurt yourself badly. I don't want you going up there when there is no one here."

"I'm cleaning up there tomorrow.  Are you going to come and help me?"

Billy smiled at her.  The same old stubborn Moira.  

"Sure, I can come and help, but it is getting a bit late now. You need to get your beauty sleep."

Moira slept like a baby that night.  Somehow, Billy had a very positive effect on her and for the first time since she arrived, she was glad to be back. 

-To be continued-

Chapter 1 - https://steemit.com/fiction/@giantbear/the-attic-chapter-1

Chapter 2 - https://steemit.com/fiction/@giantbear/the-attic-chapter-2

Chapter 3 - https://steemit.com/fiction/@giantbear/the-attic-chapter-3