The yellow door was heavier than Nell expected. Iris had to pull it with both hands to let her in.
“It's stuck,” she said. “Ben was going to look at it.”
Nell stepped across the threshold. A hallway ran straight back to the kitchen. Light fell through a window at the end. No narrow corner to turn, no pile of shoes blocking the bathroom.
“Nice,” she said.
Iris shut the door. “Wait till you see the garden.”
“Show me after. What needs doing?”
On the kitchen floor were six boxes, all labelled in Iris's handwriting. At the flat she had written labels on things nobody could possibly confuse. SALT. SCISSORS. SPARE SCISSORS. Here, Nell could understand the need.
She washed her hands and tied up her hair with one of the new bands Iris had brought home before the win. Iris pointed out the cupboards, then got out of her way.
Nell unpacked plates while Iris washed the glasses. They didn't argue about where anything went. Nell knew which mugs she'd reach for, which bowls fitted inside which. When she found the ugly orange mug, she held it up.
“You brought this?”
“It survived.”
“That's not a recommendation.”
Iris took it from her and placed it carefully beside the others.
Nell had bought that mug for her sixteenth birthday. She'd thought it looked cheerful. Nine years later it looked like something you'd warn children not to touch. Iris still used it.
They cleared the counter. Nell made a tray of small sandwiches and a bowl of dressing while Iris washed salad. It was pleasant having enough room for two sets of elbows. The windows opened onto the little garden, where the previous tenant had left a folding chair.
At three, Iris took two cans of cold soda outside. Nell followed her.
“Five minutes,” she said.
“I'm not going to time you.”
Nell perched on the back step. Iris sat in the folding chair. There was a small patch of grass, a fence that needed paint, and a tree with no fruit Nell could name.
“I could put a table here,” Iris said.
“You could.”
“Eat outside when it's warm.”
Nell drank. The can was cold enough to hurt her hand. She liked the garden. She wanted to be here on an ordinary afternoon when they hadn't hurt each other.
“Are people coming today?” she asked.
“A couple from work. Just something small. The proper housewarming's a week tomorrow.”
“That's what the food's for?”
“Some for tonight. Some can wait.”
Iris watched a little bird land on the fence. “You could invite Sam next week.”
“Don't arrange that through me.”
“I was trying to be nice.”
Nell put her empty can beside her foot. The five minutes had been enough.
“Come on. I haven't done the cutlery.”
They went back inside. Iris turned the radio on low. A song they used to love came on and Nell sang the wrong words deliberately. Iris corrected her without looking up from the sink.
Nell sang them more loudly. Iris flicked water at her.
For half a song, they were sixteen again. Then the presenter came on and thanked everyone who'd entered the station's latest competition. Iris reached over and turned the radio off.
Nell didn't say anything.
At four-forty, the boxes were empty. The food was covered. Iris looked at the kitchen and let out a long breath.
“God. Thank you.”
Nell washed her hands. “You've got twenty minutes left. I'll wipe out those two cupboards.”
“They can wait. Come upstairs.”
The room with the window seat was at the back. Iris opened the door and stood aside.
There was no bed yet. Nell went straight to the window and looked down at the tree.
“That's yours if you want it,” Iris said.
Nell turned.
“Not like that,” Iris added quickly. “Not me buying you. Just a room. You could come and go. No rent while you get things straight.”
“I have a room.”
“I know. But this is nicer.”
Nell pressed her hand to the window seat. It had been painted white, and a little strip had peeled away near the corner.
She would have liked this room. She'd been happy in a much smaller one because Iris was just down the hall. That was part of what made the offer hard.
“I'm staying at the flat,” she said.
Iris's mouth tightened, then relaxed.
“You haven't got to decide now.”
“I did.”
Nell went downstairs before Iris could show her another room.
At five, Iris paid her the agreed amount. Nell checked it and thanked her. Her groceries, her choice. She could leave now, and she did.
At the door Iris said, “A few people from work are coming for drinks on Thursday. Could I book you again? Two hours for food. Three to five. A hundred and fifty.”
Nell hesitated.
“Not the whole evening,” Iris said. “You don't have to stay for the thing itself.”
Thursday Nell finished her bakery shift at two. Sam wasn't working that evening. They'd made a loose plan to go down to the water and talk, somewhere nobody else could interrupt them.
“I'm seeing Sam after,” she said.
“Then you'll be done in time.”
Nell looked back at the bright kitchen. Today hadn't been awful. Today had been useful, and some of it had been good.
“Three to five,” she said.
Iris nodded. “Three to five.”
On the walk home, Nell went into the grocery shop and bought the things she needed. She also bought strawberries, full price, without checking for bruised ones first.
At the flat she washed them and ate three standing at the sink. Then she put the rest in the fridge for tomorrow.