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As the taxi stopped outside Evie's South Kensington home Jacob was surprised at how unassuming it looked, and the fact that he was about to live in a three million pound house seemed like the most bizarre idea he’d heard all week. An even more bizarre idea than sleeping with his sister.
“Close your mouth Jacob, it’s unbecoming,” Evie said with a grin, her hand squeezing his reassuringly. “Welcome home.”
“Home... wherever you are is home for me now.”
He could see the redness creeping up Evie's neck, enjoying watching her trying to act composed as she paid the cab driver and they got out. He dutifully carried their suitcases to the door, wating for Evie to unlock it and usher them both into a new era.
As soon as they walked in four cats appeared at Jacob's feet and began to rub themselves against his legs. “They like you,” Evie stated in a proud voice, happy that her babies already liked him. “The calico one is Clio, the black one with white paws is Thalia, the completely black one is Erato and finally that cheeky little ginger kitty is Euterpe.”
“Those are... names.”
Evie rolled her eyes as she filled the kettle and switched it on. “They’re Greek muses, Jacob, did you learn nothing in Classics?”
Jacob didn’t reply for several moments, he was too busy trying to stroke all four cats at once. “I made sure I forgot every single thing I learned at that stuffy boarding school, besides since when did knowing about Greek muses help with being in a gang?”
“But you’re not in a gang anymore, are you? This is your fresh start, our fresh start.”
Jacob laughed, “Of course you would suggest my fresh start be filled with studying.”
“I am only letting that slide because my cats love you so much,” Evie stated with a slight smile as she placed tealeaves into a teapot and got two cups and saucers out of one of the kitchen cupboards. “So our bedroom is down on the bottom floor, and given you have a tiny suitcase of what I assume are clothes, I’m sure you can find some space in my closet. We can go shopping on Sunday for some new clothes, given that people of our status dress in suits and shirts that have seen an iron.”
“Oh my God Evie, I re-join the family for five seconds and now I’m supposed to act like the rest of you?” he said in a half-serious tone as he finally dragged himself away from the cats and went to stand by the dining table that Evie was now dressing with china.
“Well you know all too well that our family has expectations; expectations that you ran away from five years ago. So, given that you’re now once again a part of this family thanks to the week we’ve just spent together, those expectations are going to come back. If we’re to avoid undue suspicion we must, at least outwardly, appear to be perfect members of the Frye family.”
“Relax, I was mostly joking,” Jacob said as he leant down and kissed Evie. Her noise of surprise made him laugh and kiss her even deeper. “But when we’re alone get used to me showing my affection for you, for I am a man newly in love, with endless youthful stamina.”
Evie blushed a deep scarlet as she poured water into the teapot and brought it over to the table. “As much as I love and adore your endless youthful stamina, it’ll take me a little while to get used to this... us now that we’re in the real world, so to speak. This past week in the manor house was so wonderful, but it was like a dream, a place where reality didn’t exist.”
“Yeah, I get what you mean. Just know I’m here for good, you cannot get rid of me so easily this time.” He fluttered kisses down Evie's neck, ignoring her protests of ‘the tea can only steep for three minutes’. His hand reached down to her blouse and her breast, wishing there weren’t currently any fabric covering her wonderful pale skin.
“Jacob, if you ruin this pot of oolong I shall never forgive you.” He made a noise of discontent but stopped the kisses and sat down next to Evie as she began to pour the tea. “Do you take milk? Sugar?”
“Milk and three sugars, and no, don’t say anything, I know I’m ruining the taste of your precious oolong.”
She didn’t reply as she pointedly scooped three spoonful’s of sugar and dumped them into the fine china cup. As he stirred the tea he gazed at the sight of Evie pouring milk into her own cup, then take one of the shortbread biscuits and dunk it in. How could she be so beautiful whilst doing the simplest of things? The years of finishing school she’d been forced to attend—and had moaned about during one of the few summers spent together—had obviously paid off. She had a gracefulness he could never hope to achieve.
“So, I have to return to work tomorrow, ensuring the continuing security of this country does not end. I know you said you want to become a PE teacher, but honestly I think you should take a week or two to just rest and readjust. You were in a gang for five years, quite a different life to the one you’re going to be leading now. Besides, it’s not like you need to work straight away considering how much money you just inherited.” He could tell she’d spent time rehearsing her words, but then again, Evie always seemed to speak in perfectly rehearsed words. However he could see merit in those words, this life he’d just agreed to step back into was a world away from the life he had been leading for the past five years.
So he nodded, taking a sip of his tea. One of the cats was already on his lap, purring contentedly. Before this week Evie never in a million years would have thought she’d be sitting at her dining table, watching her brother, her lover, drinking tea and discussing their future. A future together. It was so unexpected but felt so wonderfully right.
Once they’d finished their tea and biscuits Jacob went to the bedroom to unpack what few belongings he owned—a few crumpled shirts and worn pairs of trousers, socks and underwear that were decidedly nondescript. His tiny bag of toiletries was emptied into the bathroom next to Evie's sizable collection of bottles and lotions and makeup. The rest of the suitcase was made up of a few worn paperbacks and several notebooks filled with recipes he’d collected over the years, all written in his almost illegible handwriting.
When he opened the top notebook he saw a photo of him and Evie. They must have been fifteen, given that summer had been the only summer they’d actually spent any amount of time together as teenagers. They’d lived their lives so separately, a fact that never failed to make him feel sad. But perhaps it was a good thing in the end, if they had been incredibly close twins then this love between them may never have blossomed.
He felt her hand on his shoulder, then her warm presence as she wrapped her other arm around his waist and leant against his back. He could tell she was peeking at the photo from over his shoulder. “I remember those two weeks; you spent the entire time trying to show off your new found muscles to our cousin’s friends.”
“Yeah cos I looked hot,” Jacob replied immediately, kissing Evie's hand.
“I think I was too busy worrying about my twenty GCSEs to properly notice, I just remember how stupid I thought you looked.”
“Ugh the GCSE years, father always looked so disappointed whenever I said that I was only taking twelve. Because I could never hope to come anywhere close to the mystical Evie Frye.”
“You stop that now, Jacob Thomas Frye,” Evie said in a false stern voice. “I am not mystical.”
“Oh you were back then,” Jacob replied, kissing her hand again. “You were the shining light I was supposed to look up to until it blinded me. At least now I get to kiss that shining light. And caress it, and—well, I shall have to give you a demonstration later.”
“Later I shall gladly accept that demonstration.” Evie said with a low, promise filled voice. “But first I need to file all of the paperwork I’ve accumulated from this last week.”
“Ugh you’re so boring. In that case, I’ll be busy making us a nice four course supper.”
Evie gave an embarrassed chuckle, “You may need to head to the shops, all I have in the fridge is milk, some pickles and a sorry looking head of lettuce and the cupboards are not looking much better.”
“Ahh yes I should have known, world’s worst cook.” Jacob kissed Evie's hand one last time before he disentangled himself from her and stood up, holding out his hand to help her up. “So where is the best place to get gourmet ingredients?”
“Harrod’s is a twenty minute walk away, and I’m sure you’ll be able find something suitable.”
Jacob snorted. He was food shopping at Harrod’s now. Two weeks ago he was sleeping on Danny’s couch eating cold, leftover pasta salad. And now he was a millionaire, living in a multimillion pound house with nothing but time and new opportunities on his hands. And he had her, his Evie, and that was the best new thing of all.
They walked upstairs and Evie showed him where the shopping bags were, then handed him her bank card. “The pin is 784598, you can pay me back when the lawyers have finished setting up your account.”
“Are we not going to do one of those joint bank accounts now we’re wonderfully, madly in love?”
Evie kissed him deeply, “We’re twins, not a newlywed couple. Unfortunately.”
His hand traced the freckles dappled across her nose and cheeks. “Well, we could always fly off to somewhere exotic where no one knows who we are, pretend that we are Mr and Mrs Frye.”
Evie couldn’t help but blush again at the very idea of pretending they were married. “You do realise I work for the government.”
“There’s a different government in Bora Bora, I remember that much from geography.”
“You are wicked... I have two weeks of paid leave left, how about next month?”
Jacob kissed her in agreement, then grabbed the shopping bags and spent ten minutes saying goodbye to the cats. As the door closed behind him he stopped momentarily and looked up at the sunny blue sky. For the first time in his life he felt complete and content, and it was all thanks to Evie. It was a sensation he could definitely get used to.