It was a double bed for one, with occasional visits from her husband. ‘There’s nothing under there that belongs to him. Only a few bits in his bedside table and I’ve never bothered to see what they are.’ Fliss cringed at the fact the answers were more telling than she’d ever imagined. And what really irked her was that if Leon went on to ask what was under her husband’s bed in their London flat she would have little to no idea. She’d been there, of course, but only for short weekend visits with Hollie in tow or for the occasional weekend break to fit in some Christmas shopping. During the handful of visits, nosing under beds hadn’t been a priority. Why would it be? But as Leon’s question was making her realise, it could reveal very intimate details about a person. ‘What about you, then? You said you would answer the same question. What’s under your bed?’ she asked before he moved on to the parts of her life she realised she didn’t know enough about to answer.
‘Why don’t I show you?’
‘What?’ If this was his way of chatting her up it needed work.
‘Well, not my bed, but my flat? You can come and assess exactly how much work needs to be done. But I warn you, it’s not going to be pretty.’
The drive to Leon’s flat took less than half an hour as he drove them along the Thanet Way towards Herne Bay. It was one of the areas they’d looked at when considering the move, so Fliss knew the area a little, but had never visited for anything other than house viewings.
‘Lucky that you live so close,’ Fliss commented as they made their way out of the car towards a plush set of new-build flats.
Leon stopped suddenly, turning back towards his car. ‘I’m not sure I can go in.’ He placed his hands on the roof, leaning forward so his hair covered his face.
Fliss thought he was getting ready to throw up. ‘What’s up? You never told me what the damage is that I’ll be dealing with.’ She’d imagined some damaged plasterwork after a missed punch.
Leon stood up straighter, taking in deep lungfuls of air. ‘I haven’t been back to the flat since it happened. Sorry, I didn’t think it would be a problem.’
Fliss placed a hand on his back, mummy autopilot taking over, knowing he needed comforting. ‘Since what happened?’
‘The fire. It was an arson attack. The place was a crime scene for a while so I wasn’t allowed back, but to be honest I’ve been avoiding returning.’
Fliss soothed his back while wondering if the site of an arson attack was really something she should be taking on as a job. ‘Were you here when it happened?’ She figured he must have been judging by his current reaction.
Leon took his hands off the car and pressed them on his skull. His breathing was steadier but he still looked scared, like the thoughts were haunting him. ‘I got woken up by the fire alarm in the middle of the night. Fortunately the fire didn’t really take hold so I managed to put it out myself. Didn’t get to see the worst of the damage, though, and I’ve been sleeping on my mate Greg’s sofa ever since. I just keep thinking about how much worse it could have been. I was lucky.’
‘No wonder you haven’t been sleeping.’ Fliss realised she was still rubbing his back. ‘Would it help if I went in first? I could take some pictures on my phone. Then you could see the damage without having to go in.’
‘Thank you.’ Leon took a deep breath. ‘But I think I need to go in to stop myself from imagining it’s worse than it is. This sounds a bit silly, but do you mind holding my hand while we go in? I used to get panic attacks when I was a kid. I haven’t had one for nearly twenty years, but I got pretty close then. If I squeeze your hand it means I want to head out.’
Fliss offered her hand without question. Leon was all muscle, but beyond the tough exterior he was as scared as anyone would be in that situation. She definitely wouldn’t want to rush returning to her house under the same circumstances.
‘Have the police found out who did it?’ It was horrible to think this was an intentional act. Leon didn’t strike her as the kind of person who would be in the type of circles where this might happen.
They walked towards the building, Leon tense, but his grip steady. ‘They’re still working on it. They think it might be linked to a spate of recent arson attacks, although so far they’ve only been on commercial properties. Apparently it would have been a lot worse if they’d used an accelerant. At least my fire alarm was working. I hate to think what might have happened otherwise.’
‘Don’t dwell on thoughts like that. We just need to go and assess the damage that’s there. No thoughts about how much worse it could have been.’ Fliss squeezed his hand as they went into the building.
‘It’s supposed to be me squeezing your hand.’ Leon summoned the lift and, once they were inside, pressed the button for the top floor.
‘Just wanted to let you know I’m here.’ Fliss didn’t have to do this, but within a very short time she felt like she’d formed a bond with Leon. If he was going to be there for her fertility woes, she was going to help him get through this moment.
The lift arrived at the top floor and Leon led the way towards his flat. As soon as he opened the door the amount of damage was evident. The whole entrance was black from floor to ceiling from smoke damage. The remains of a doormat were melted and moulded into the blistered laminate floor. Leon gave it a kick to try and move it, but it was well and truly stuck.
‘Is it better or worse than you expected?’ Fliss was shocked at the damage having never seen the after-effects of a fire close up.
Leon let go of her hand and put his to the floor with a splosh. Clearly still wet from putting the fire out. ‘It’s a mess, but I was expecting it to be awful. It’s all fairly localised like the fire officer told me. The smoke damage didn’t even reach the other end of the hallway. I think I’ve just amplified the event in my head,’ he said, without looking at her.
‘I think it would have been scary whatever size the fire was.’
Leon reached his full height again and wiped his wet hand against his jeans. They moved along the hallway with Leon checking each room as they passed. Fortunately it seemed all the doors had been closed and, as they were fire retardant, the damage had only reached the outside. ‘So do you think you’ll be able to help out? I know it’s probably not your usual kind of work project.’
They reached the end of the hall where the walls appeared to be the same colour they originally were. The standard magnolia Fliss imagined every flat had been covered with when they were built. Leon opened the door to a thankfully unaffected open-plan kitchen and lounge.
‘Of course I’ll help. I’ll need to do a bit of research, but it doesn’t seem too big a job.’
‘I’ll make us coffee. Then I might have to go round sniffing my furniture to see if it stinks as badly as the hallway does.’ Having faced the concern of seeing the place, it was good to see Leon appeared calmer now they were in the flat.
Fliss went over and sniffed the sofa for him. ‘Seems okay.’ She sent him a cheery smile, trying to provide some reassurance. ‘Nothing a bit of Febreze won’t fix.’
‘Take a seat in that case and tell me if you think there’s any chance you can rescue my hallway. My decorating skills are rubbish, which is why I got somewhere that didn’t need me to do anything. Until now, that is.’
Leon came over with their mugs and placed them on the coffee table. Fliss noticed the flat didn’t give much away about him. Everything was how she imagined it would have looked in the sales catalogue.
‘Do they think they’ll catch someone?’ It would make Fliss feel safer working here if they did.
‘They’re checking all the local CCTV footage in the hope of seeing something. If it’s a serial