The rest of the weekend passes in a blur of cuddling (okay, maybe a bit more than just cuddling), takeaways, gazing at the incredible views of London and beyond, and watching films on Daniel’s enormous TV. By Sunday evening, I’m lying on the sofa wearing one of Daniel’s t-shirts, with my head resting on his lap. He strokes my hair as we watch the news.
My phone buzzes. It’s Kate. One text and one missed call.
Wtf!!?!? Daniel lives at The Shard?! Are you serious???? If that’s true, then I get that it’s amazing, but are you coming home?! Just got back from Max’s and no signs of life here! Tried calling earlier but no answer. Text me! x
I sit up, unsettled. I feel like I’ve been in a bubble this whole weekend. I sent a quick text to Kate yesterday rambling about how Daniel lives at the Shard, but she didn’t get back to me. Then I guess when she called earlier, Daniel and I must have been, umm, busy.
‘Daniel, I’d better go,’ I tell him.
‘Huh?’ He turns his attention away from the TV.
‘Kate’s wondering where I am and anyway, I’ve got work tomorrow. I need to get home.’
‘But why?’ Daniel asks.
‘Because all my stuff is at home.’
‘What stuff?’ Daniel asks.
‘My clothes,’ I add, a little exasperatedly. I move to get up off the sofa but Daniel grabs my hand and pulls me back down, smiling playfully.
‘Daniel, I can’t go to work in Friday’s crumpled old outfit, come on.’
‘You don’t have to go like that,’ he says.
I look at him, confused.
‘If you need clothes, we’ll get you some. Don’t go,’ he implores.
‘But the shops are shut, it’s too late.’
Daniel shrugs. ‘Order online. Next day delivery,’ he suggests.
I laugh. ‘Are you serious?’
‘Yeah,’ he replies casually.
‘But they won’t arrive before work.’
‘They will,’ Daniel insists. ‘You’d be amazed the lengths people will go to please you when they realise that you live at the Shard. I do it all the time, especially if I’m travelling and I need something last minute. I order loads of stuff online,’ he says.
‘But I can’t afford it, Daniel. I can’t go splashing out on clothes when I’ve got loads at home anyway,’ I say, although we both know he doesn’t expect me to pay.
He hasn’t let me pay for a single thing since we met. I really wanted to pay for the pizzas we ordered last night but Daniel wasn’t having any of it. He said he’d tell the chef to put anchovies on mine if I mentioned paying one more time.
‘Just use my card.’ He grabs his wallet and iPad from the coffee table and hands them to me.
‘Shop!’ he says before turning his attention back to the TV.
‘Are you actually serious?’
He shrugs. ‘Well, you’re not exactly buying haute couture are you? Just some work clothes. Go for it,’ he says, tuning out of the conversation as his focus fixes back on the TV.
I laugh, shaking my head as I swipe my finger across the iPad. I go onto a department store site and start browsing through work clothes. I find a regular black shift dress and choose size 12. I add it to the basket and select a cute pink cardigan, £40 down to £25. The news ends and Daniel starts channel hopping.
‘Really?’ He looks over my shoulder and appraising the contents of my basket.
‘What?’
‘It’s just a bit…dull.’
‘Well, I hardly work at Vogue, it doesn’t really matter what I wear. It just has to look vaguely professional.’
Daniel takes the iPad from me. ‘Let me have a look,’ he says.
He scrolls through the clothes and selects a red silk mini skirt with a scalloped hem and matching cropped jacket. The ensemble costs £299.
‘Seriously?’
‘You’ll look so hot in this,’ he enthuses. ‘Let me find a top.’
He scrolls through the shirts and blouses until he finds a silk cream shirt.
‘Perfect.’ He adds it to the basket. £95.
‘It’s a bit expensive,’ I point out. Daniel looks at me, perplexed, before remembering something.
‘You need shoes.’ He clicks onto the shoes page.
‘I have shoes,’ I point out but he doesn’t seem to hear me. He finds a pair of black leather ankle boots with giant gold buckles. £185.
‘What size are you?’ he asks.
‘Six.’
‘Great.’ He adds them to the bag.
‘Daniel, it’s a nice outfit but I don’t know if it’s really right for my work.’
‘Do you like it?’ he asks.
‘Yeah, but—’
‘If you like it, you should get it,’ he says as though it’s obvious.
‘I don’t know.’
‘Okay, let’s get both outfits, the boring black dress and cardigan and the cute skirt suit, and then you can see which one you prefer,’ Daniel suggests.
I shake my head. ‘You’re crazy.’
Daniel laughs. He edges away from me and starts pressing on the iPad.
‘What are you doing?’ I ask.
‘I’ll show you crazy!’ he says as he starts adding more stuff to the basket.
‘Daniel!’ I move closer.
‘I really want to see you in these.’ He clicks on a pair of lacy stockings.
‘Are you serious?’
‘Totally,’ he says, straight-faced.
I don’t really know what to make of what he’s doing, so instead, I get up to make a cup of tea, as you do.
‘I’m making tea. Want some?’
‘Yeah, okay,’ he mutters as he carries on shopping.
I take my phone and head over to the kitchen, where I fill the kettle and type a WhatsApp massage to Kate while it boils.
Me: Hey, planning to stay a few more days. Daniel just bought me a load of clothes! Next day delivery!
Kate: Seriously?!? And he seriously lives at the Shard?
Me: Yeah!
Kate: That’s crazy!!!
Me: I know!!
Kate: So, you’re not coming home then?
I look over at Daniel, sitting in front of his enormous TV tapping away at his iPad. And then I gaze beyond, at the incredible panoramic views of the city. Can you blame me for not really wanting to hurry home to Lewisham? Daniel’s right, I may as well stay for a bit.
Me: No, I’ll stay here for a few days.
Kate: Ok. Text me a pic!
I take a few snaps of the flat and send them to her, and after she’s sent back a frenzy of wide-eyed emojis, I finally get around to asking her about the Mousetrap.
Me: Have you heard back from your audition yet?
Kate: No. They said they’ll let me know in a few weeks.
Me: Fingers crossed.
Kate: Yeah!
I send a few kisses before getting on with making the tea. Of course, tea at Daniel’s place isn’t just a bog-standard tea bag chucked in a mug. Daniel doesn’t do tea bags. Instead, he has loose leaf tea from Harrods. Pearl grey, whatever that is. According to the label it’s from Fujian, China. It does taste amazing though even if it takes five times longer to prepare. Finally, after it’s brewed in the teapot and I’ve decanted it into two cups, I head back over to the sofa and hand one to Daniel.
‘Thanks,’ he says. ‘I found some cool stuff for you.’ He places the iPad down on the coffee table and picks up the remote, flicking through the channels.
‘Have you already bought it?’ I ask.
‘Yeah,’ he replies nonchalantly.
‘What did you get?’
‘Clothes. Work stuff,’ he says as he pauses on a channel showing some gangster film. ‘Oh, this is meant to be good.’
‘Let me see what you got.’ I reach across to pick up the iPad.
‘It’s low on battery. Leave it.’ He moves his foot, nudging the iPad out of my reach.
‘But I want to see. What did you get?’
‘It’s just clothes.’ He shrugs. ‘You’ll see tomorrow.’
He takes a sip of his tea and watches the movie.
‘Alright. Well, thanks then…’ I murmur, as I watch the light from the TV screen sliding over Daniel’s face.
Why’s he being so funny about this? Is the iPad really running out of battery or does he just not want me to see what he bought? Is this really normality for him? Buying a ton of stuff at the click of a button without as much as a second thought or is he trying to impress me? He looks over.
‘What’s up?’
‘Nothing,’ I reply automatically, settling down next to him with my tea. After all, my profile did make out that I wanted a rich guy to spoil me – the wealthy yang to my impoverished yin – but it feels so strange.
‘Seriously, Soph, don’t worry about it. I like treating you. I just want a few more days with you, that’s all,’ Daniel says, giving me a sweet smile as he wraps his arm around my shoulders and pulls me close.
I smile back and snuggle next to him. I suppose he’s right. To him, this is just a little treat, but to me it seems like a big deal. I should stop being so uptight and just enjoy it. After all, it’s quite nice to have someone spoiling me and pampering me. It’s nice to have someone to cuddle up with on a Sunday night, particularly since I’m so used to spending Sunday nights alone, which hasn’t been easy the past few months with my parents away and all my friends coupled up. Why would I want to race back to Lewisham when I can be here with Daniel?
I turn to give him a kiss. ‘Thanks, Daniel.’
‘No worries,’ he says, kissing me back.
He leans forward and plucks a remote off the coffee table and points it towards a sensor at the top right-hand corner of the wall. Dark screens suddenly slide shut across the windows, throwing the entire flat into darkness apart from the flickering light of the TV. Daniel presses another button on the remote and the chandelier starts to glow gently, spilling soft light over our heads.
‘You can see the TV better with the curtains drawn,’ Daniel says, placing the remote back down.
‘Curtains!’ I snort.
Curtains are crappy old floral things hanging in flats in Lewisham. They’re not electronically-controlled blackout screens at the top of the Shard. Daniel raises an eyebrow at me, as if to say, ‘what?’ before kissing me on the forehead as gangsters shoot at each other on screen.
‘Can we watch something else?’ I ask.
‘Really?’ Daniel looks a bit disappointed but reluctantly hands me the remote. I flick through the channels, but although there are dozens to choose from, there’s still nothing worth watching.
‘Here.’ I hand the remote back to him. ‘Let’s just watch your gangster thing.’
He smiles that winning smile, takes the remote and flicks back to the film.