Loving Danny (17 page)

‘But I love him,’ I said. ‘And he loves me. We’re soulmates.’

‘Oh, Naomi,’ said Mum. She came towards me and tried to hug me, but I left my arms hanging by my sides. ‘I know you love him. But love doesn’t pay the bills.’

‘We’ll work something out,’ I said.

Mum tried another tack. ‘Naomi, do you think that you would have changed your mind about law if it hadn’t been for Danny?’

‘I don’t know,’ I said. ‘Maybe.’

She was hesitant. ‘You know we like Danny . . . it’s just that you seem to have been very influenced by him.’

‘Influenced?’

‘Yes. Ever since you started going out with him you’ve done nothing but talk about him and his band. You haven’t seen any of your other friends – you hardly speak to
Debbie any more. Now we find out you’ve missed work too. And today, you lied for him. He’s a very strong character. Where have you gone, Naomi?’

‘This is me,’ I said, pointing to my chest. ‘This is the real me. Maybe I just didn’t realise it before.’

Mum shook her head in exasperation. ‘We’re not trying to upset you, we’re just worried about you. We don’t want you to make any foolish mistakes.’

‘I thought you liked him. You said you liked him!’

‘We do, Naomi. But he doesn’t seem the most responsible or stable person.’

She had touched a raw nerve, questioned the very things that had begun to worry me about Danny. Rather than admit that – to Mum or to myself – I reacted with anger. ‘What?!
I’m eighteen, I don’t want stability or responsibility. You’re so middle-aged.’

‘Don’t be rude to your mother,’ said Dad protectively. ‘We’ve got more life experience than you and we can see that you’re risking making a mistake. Maybe you
should take some time out for yourself . . . perhaps you should stop seeing Danny for a while, eh?’

‘No!’ I cried. I looked at Mum, pleading with my eyes. Surely she must understand. ‘You can’t ask me to do that. I love him.’

‘I think it’s for the best,’ she said flatly, her eyes downcast. ‘Just for a little bit, while you have a think about things.’

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. She wasn’t my rational, kind, understanding mother – she must be an alien replicant. She knew how happy Danny made me. How could she ask
me to break up with him?

‘I can’t do it!’ I shouted. ‘I won’t do it.’

‘Can’t do what?’ None of us had noticed that Emily had wandered into the room. She was wearing her nightie and looked bleary-eyed.

‘It’s nothing, Emily,’ said Mum. ‘Go back to bed. You’ve got school in the morning.’

Emily didn’t move. ‘I woke up and heard raised voices,’ she said, looking from Mum to Dad to me and then back to Mum again. ‘Has something happened?’

‘No,’ said Mum. ‘It’s all OK.’

‘Yes!’ I cried, certain that Emily would understand and take my side. ‘It’s not OK. Mum and Dad want me to stop seeing Danny.’

Emily walked over to me and placed her hand on my shoulder.
‘What?
Why?’

‘They think he’s a bad influence.’

Mum sighed. ‘That’s not exactly what we said, Naomi. We just said things were getting a bit out of hand and that maybe you should take some time to think about it all.’

I could feel my face growing red, the muscles in my jaw and forehead clenching. I stepped forward, unsure what I would do or say, my arms flailing in frustration.

‘I’m sure there’s another way,’ said Emily, stroking my hair. She chewed her lip in thought. She had taken it upon herself to play the mediator. ‘Naomi loves Danny
– she’s been so happy since she met him. Can’t you give him another chance and then see?’

‘For heaven’s sake,’ said Dad, irritated. ‘This is getting silly. What we have suggested is very sensible – some time apart for Naomi to sort herself
out.’

‘I can’t do it,’ I repeated.

‘It might not be your choice. You live under our roof,’ said Dad firmly. I didn’t like his insinuation.

‘I’m eighteen, I’m an adult. If you don’t want me to see Danny, I’ll leave home.’

Dad laughed. ‘And where exactly will you go?’

‘To Danny’s,’ I stated. My hand was already reaching for the mobile phone in my coat pocket. ‘I’m going to go round there now.’

‘It’s the middle of the night,’ said Mum. I could tell she was anxious, worried that she and Dad had gone too far.

‘Don’t be silly, Nay,’ said Emily. She tried to stroke my hair again, but I pushed her hand away. Her bottom lip began to quiver. I felt awful. She hated it when anybody argued
and here she was, right in the middle of it, trying to appease all three of us and getting nowhere. ‘Why don’t you sleep on it and when everybody’s calmed down we’ll talk
about it some more?’ she added, her voice shaky.

I mulled over Emily’s idea. ‘Will you change your mind about Danny?’ I asked Dad.

‘Of course not,’ he said stubbornly.

‘Well, in that case, there’s no point.’ I started walking into the hall. I felt strangely exhilarated. ‘I’m not going to change my mind about him either. So I might
as well go now.’

‘Naomi!’ Mum shouted. ‘Don’t be silly. Come back!’

‘Please don’t go, Nay,’ begged Emily, as tears began to roll down her face.

I was aware that she was following close behind me, but I didn’t turn around – I quickened my pace. As I slammed the front door behind me I heard Mum and Emily still calling,
‘Naomi! Naomi!’

I phoned Danny from the corner of my road. I prayed he was not yet asleep and would pick up. I hid myself behind a hedge, in case my parents came out looking for me. Going home was not an option
– I had left my keys in the hall and I couldn’t face Mum and Dad’s smug looks if I rang the doorbell in defeat. We’d never fallen out like this before and I wanted them to
know how important Danny was to me. I was desperately upset, and not quite sure what I was doing, but one thing was certain – they deserved to sweat a little.

Thankfully, Danny answered the phone immediately.

‘Please come and get me,’ I sobbed, before he could say a word.

‘What’s happened, Omi? Are you OK? Where are you?’

‘I’m at the end of my street. Please come and get me, Danny.’

‘Of course I will,’ he said, the tone of his voice coloured by a mixture of reassurance, confusion and concern. ‘Give me five minutes.’

It seemed to take forever for Danny to arrive. Standing there, waiting alone in the darkness, I felt cold and vulnerable. Every time I heard the sound of a car I stepped out
from the shadows, allowing myself to be illuminated by its headlights. None of them was Danny’s. One car slowed down, causing my heart to beat wildly in terror.
All I need now
, I
thought,
is to be abducted by some crazed sex attacker. My parents would think I was with Danny and nobody would report me missing for days.

I recognised the sound of Danny’s engine before I saw his car. For once I was pleased that he was speeding up my road; sod the speed limit – it meant he cared. As he screeched to a
stop he flung open the passenger door for me.

‘What’s happened?’ he asked again. I was shaking with cold, fear and anger and he looked panic-stricken.

‘Oh Danny, I’m so pleased to see you!’ I cried, leaning over and flinging my arms around him. ‘Please take me back to your flat. I don’t want my parents to see
me.’

He clasped me so tightly that I couldn’t breathe. ‘For God’s sake, what’s happened?’

‘It’s my parents. We had a row. They don’t want me to see you any more.’

‘What?’ he said, loosening his grip. ‘I don’t understand.’

‘Nor do I,’ I said. ‘They think you’re a bad influence.’

‘What? I thought they liked me?’

‘Please drive, Danny.’

‘OK, but will you please tell me what’s going on?’

As we drove I told Danny about how Dad had bumped into Martin Stevens and the argument it had caused. He listened intently, his expression growing stony cold with anger.

‘Your idiot parents don’t know what they’re talking about,’ he said. There was no longer concern in his voice, only indignation and spite.

‘I think they mean well,’ I said, trying to placate him. Angry as I was, I didn’t like to hear him talk about my parents so hatefully. He didn’t know them well enough to
judge them. ‘They’re just overreacting.’

‘They’re trying to control your life, more like. What right have they to tell you not to see me?’

‘None, Danny,’ I said. ‘They can’t make me break up with you.’

‘Damn right, they can’t. I hope you told them that.’

‘Of course I did. I don’t think they believed it when I walked out.’ I managed a shaky little laugh at my own gall. ‘I’ve never done anything like this
before.’

‘Well, maybe you should have. You’ve let them push you around for too long. They don’t understand you like I do – they’re just trying to turn you into a clone of
them. Listen, Omi, as far as I’m concerned, you can stay at mine as long as you like. Sod your parents.’

‘Thanks,’ I said, still uncomfortable with the way he was slating my parents. I was angry with them, sure, but they had their good points, and when it came down to it, I loved them.
Why were Danny’s emotions always so extreme? He saw everything in black and white. ‘Maybe they’ll calm down by the morning,’ I suggested.

‘It’s already the morning,’ Danny reminded me.

I looked at my watch. ‘Damn, I’m due in the office in less than seven hours.’

‘You hate that job. Why not pack it in right now? You don’t want to be a lawyer anyway.’

‘I need the money, Danny.’

‘I’ve got enough money for both of us. I’ll see you right.’

‘Thanks, Danny, but I’m not sure.’ I thought on the spot. ‘I’m due a week off anyway. I’ll call in tomorrow and tell them I need a few days’ break
now.’

‘Great,’ he said. ‘We’ll have a lovely time, you and me. Just you wait and see.’

W
e did have a lovely time – for the first few days, at least. Being at Danny’s, away from my parents and the stifling environment of my
home, gave me a sense of freedom; it was like being on holiday. Arranging a break from work had been no trouble. By the time I called in – at ten o’clock on the morning after I’d
left home – it was evident that Dad had already been in touch with Mr Stevens to smooth the way. He came on the line and, in a rather fatherly manner, told me that the practice had agreed to
give me a couple of weeks leave ‘to get your head together’. After that, I should come in to discuss my future. I had no idea whether or not I would go back; I honestly didn’t
care one way or the other.

It felt strange staying in such a big house, with its gated drive and huge garden. It could not have been more different from my house, where the walls and ceilings were thin and everybody knew
each other’s business. Danny’s parents’ house was so vast and so quiet; once I was shut safely away in his flat, there could have been a party going on in the main house and I
wouldn’t have known about it. I still hadn’t met Mr Evans – he was away on another business trip – but Mrs Evans made me nervous and I dreaded bumping into her in the hall.
Ever since our first meeting, when I’d almost knocked over her precious vase, she’d made me feel awkward and clumsy. And because she expected me to be clumsy, I succeeded in acting like
it, tripping over my feet and banging into things whenever she was around me. When she spoke to me, I stuttered. It’s funny how someone else’s perception of you can have such a strong,
unconscious effect on the way you behave.

Emily brought some of my stuff round on the second evening. She told me Mum was waiting in the car outside, so she couldn’t stay long.

‘She’s really worried about you,’ she said. ‘Talk to her, Nay.’

‘I can’t. I’ll ring her when I’m ready.’

‘It’s horrible at home. Mum and Dad have been arguing and dinner time is worse than ever. Come home, Nay. I’m sure you can sort things out.’

‘I want to be with Danny,’ I said, trying to sound stronger than I felt. ‘Until Mum and Dad accept that, I’m staying put.’

Emily shrugged. She looked so sad that I felt guilty. I hadn’t meant to make everybody miserable. As much as I loved being with Danny, I knew I wouldn’t feel completely happy or
settled until I had made things right with my parents.

After Emily had left I went downstairs to see Danny. He’d given me a key to his flat, but I still felt that I had to knock before I went in. Every time I did it he laughed at me. ‘I
do wish you’d chill out, Omi. The only person who knocks is the cleaning lady. Make yourself at home.’

‘Sorry, Danny, I can’t help it.’

‘Stop apologising,’ he said, playfully squeezing my cheeks. ‘You seem really tense. What is it?’

‘Oh, you know, it’s just Emily coming round and thinking about all that stuff with my parents.’

‘Your bloody parents again,’ he hissed, rolling his eyes. Then, seeing that he had hurt me, his expression brightened. ‘I just love having you here, Omi. I really hope
you’ll stay forever. Just you and me.’

He kissed me and everything felt better, instantly.

At first, Danny treated me like a princess, cooking me breakfast and dinner and generally fussing around me. He’d take me out wherever I wanted to go and buy me presents,
like perfume and sweets. He even decided to take it upon himself to teach me to play the guitar, declaring me a natural when I mastered two chords at our first lesson. I’d never spent so much
time with one person and I was surprised to find that we never irritated each other or ran out of things to talk about.