Page 12 of People Change

Kian doesn’t turn round immediately. His head is bent low as he works to start the barbecue. It is black and rusty, though much bigger than one she has ever used.

‘Hi,’ she says.

He looks up and smiles, wiping his hands on his shorts. She briefly notices his tanned, small-muscled biceps against his white T-shirt. She quickly looks away.

‘Hey,’ he says.

‘Are you okay there with the barbecue?’ she asks.

He pulls the sides of his lips down in a gesture to meanNo, not really. ‘Do you know how to use one?’

‘I do not,’ she says. ‘It was an empty offer.’ She leans against the brick wall, and it feels like as long as there is enough distance between them she is safe. Though safe from what? From getting too comfortable? From saying the things she wants to say?

‘Well, I appreciate the offer, even if it was empty,’ he says. ‘I think we need to get more charcoal. I have my car with me, so I might just drive down to get it.’

‘You drive in London?’

‘Yeah. I don’t know how you people live without a car.’

‘You people?’ she says.

‘Londoners.’

‘Oh, I’m a Londoner now. I see how it is.’

He smirks. ‘I don’t make the rules. You never come up to Hull, so your Northern card has been revoked.’

She was smiling, but now she stops and looks out at the tiny, desolate garden. There isn’t much to look at, so that doesn’t help. She focuses her gaze on a crack in one of the paving stones.

She hears someone approaching and then Millie appears. At first she doesn’t notice Shirin because she’s standing to the side of the doors, and Millie does a little jump when she sees her. ‘You scared me,’ she says. ‘Kian – are you still okay to get the charcoal?’

‘And some beers,’ Henry shouts from inside.

‘And some beers,’ Millie repeats. ‘It’d be a real help, with your car and all. The corner shop didn’t have any.’

‘No problem,’ Kian says.

‘Amazing, thank you.’ Millie goes back into the house and Kian goes after her. As he passes Shirin he asks her if she wants anything, and she says no, thank you, and adds, ‘If you need any help getting stuff, though, I can come.’ The words spill out of her, and it is like her own mouth is betraying her.

‘That would be great, actually,’ he says. ‘If that’s not an empty offer too.’

She smiles, a very small smile. ‘No, I’d be happy to help.’

Kian’s car is pristine. It is 24 degrees today, and he opens all the windows to let the dead, dry air out.

‘It’s only a five-minute drive,’ he says before turning the engine on. Blink-182 immediately blares from the speakers, and he turns it all the way down, chuckling. ‘Sorry about that.’ He seems so at ease, while Shirin is sweating profusely – only partly due to the summer heat – and trying not to look over at his thighs, because she knows his shorts have ridden up since he sat down. She is not sure when she became such a pervert, but it is a side of herself she is not enjoying.

‘That’s fine,’ she says. ‘Do you sing in the car then?’ He is pulling out of his parking spot on the road, but still manages to give her a quick quizzical glance. ‘The music,’ she explains. ‘I thought it might be loud because you were singing or something.’

He laughs. ‘No, I don’t. Is that something you do though?’

Her cheeks flush stupidly. She sounds like a ten-year-old. ‘I had a car for a few years when I first got my licence, and I used to love driving around and singing loudly. I managed to keep my car for a bit while I was away at uni, until my dad said the insurance was too much and if I wanted to keep it, I had to pay for it … Needless to say, we got rid of it.’

‘I think I saw your car, you know, in Hull. It was a rickety red Ford Fiesta, no?’ he says, smiling.

‘It was not rickety, but it was red, so maybe you did. When did you see it?’

He shakes his head. ‘I think it was just before we all went off to uni. You were maybe at the Humber Bridge with your friends or something.’