Free The Late Blossoming of Frankie Green by Laura Kemp

up because her mouth had dried up.
    â€˜Shall we do it now then? On the stairs?’
    â€˜WHAT?’
    â€˜Joke. It was a joke, Frankie. Calm down. Let’s just eat.’
    Floyd led the way into the kitchen and started rattling around for plates and cutlery. ‘Sit down,’ he told her, while he laid the table, switched on the radio, then complained she was far too young to be listening to Radio 2 and switched it to 6 Music. ‘Good day?’ he asked warmly, uncovering plastic cartons of fragrant Thai rice, noodles and vegetables, and unscrewing a bottle of wine. He seemed to be completely at home here, busying himself with the food and looking up every now and then with ‘go on, I’m listening’ eyes.
    How could he be so normal, she thought, when I’m having a meltdown? ‘It was okay. Did some hair. You?’
    â€˜Dreadful,’ he said, plonking himself down on the seat next to her. That was another thing, she thought, he didn’t seem to have any personal-space issues. Surely if you were about to embark on an intimate journey with someone, you’d at least have the decency to be a little distant at first? ‘A lawyer broke down on me, the bus was disgustingly sweaty and now I’m being forced to converse with a statue.’
    â€˜I don’t think I can go through with…’
    â€˜Fine. Have a drink, eat something,’ he said, with his mouth full, waving his fork at the feast.
    It was as if he’d waved a magic wand instead because she began to defrost with her first bite. And after half-an-hour of his company, she had relaxed a little.
    â€˜I’m so sorry about earlier,’ she said, clearing the plates. ‘This is just really alien to me.’
    â€˜Oh, I do this all the time… not!’ he said, smiling. ‘This is why I’m here tonight, nutjob, to work it all out.’
    He was right – neither of them had done this before and she needed to trust him or there was no point continuing.
    â€˜But if you want to back out…?’
    Frankie had been waiting for this – she knew there’d come a moment when she had to commit herself either way. She needed to move on, like Jason was clearly doing, and she needed to prepare herself should he come back. It was like having to take some nasty-tasting medicine. Well, actually it might be a really tasty spoonful. It might just be a bit humiliating and cringey in the build-up to swallowing it. But she had to do it regardless. ‘Not at all,’ she said, clearly.
    â€˜Me too. But the first thing we should be clear on is that we can stop this at any time if either of us wants to,’ he said. ‘We’ll need a safety phrase too – for example, I dunno, say Custard Creams – should anything happen mid-clinch that we’re not happy with.’
    â€˜Like what?’ she asked horrified, being reminded of Jason’s handcuffs. ‘Because I’m not doing anything kinky. If you’re a pervert, you better tell me now.’
    Floyd cracked up laughing and then regained his poise. ‘I’m not. It’s just, sometimes people say stop in the heat of the moment and they don’t mean it. It’s like acting.’
    Frankie didn’t think she’d ever done that with Jason, but she nodded anyway.
    â€˜You want to add anything?’ he asked.
    â€˜Neither of us should be involved with anyone else. It’d be too complicated, grubby, if anyone else was involved.’
    â€˜Totally,’ he nodded, kindly, unaware he resembled a child with noodles down his front.
    â€˜And could we make sure we always have a cuddle?’ she said. ‘Because I don’t want it to feel dirty, and we’re mates so…’
    â€˜Fine. Now,’ he said, rubbing his hands, ‘you got a list then of what you want to do?’
    Oh lordy, this was the gift that kept on giving her a red face. ‘Well, I’ve had a few