A Voice in the Distance by Tabitha Suzuma

perspectives is
some kind of universal truth.'
    Jennah closes her eyes and lets out an exaggerated
groan. 'Please, Flynn, it's nearly midnight, it's too late to
be talking about universal truths—'
    'OK – OK.' I hold up my hands, leaning against the
door, defeated.
    Jennah dries her hands on the tea towel, comes over
to me and puts her arms round my neck. 'Good things
don't always have to end. People do find ways of staying
together all their lives. It has been done before .' She gives
me a teasing smile, her eyes begging me to respond.
    'Yeah, I know, I know,' I reply, pulling her close. 'I'm
being daft. All I'm really trying to say is I don't want to
lose you.'
    We do the dishes together, flicking foam at each
other, back to the earlier chit-chat and playful teasing.
Later we brush our teeth and get undressed and argue
over the alarm clock setting and collapse into bed.
Nothing really matters – Jennah is smiling again, everything
is fine. There is no need to tell her about the wall
of darkness inside my mind.

Chapter Seven
JENNAH
    Rami rings one evening while Flynn is out at a piano
lesson. The baby is yelling lustily in the background.
Raising his voice over the sound of his daughter's wails,
Rami asks me what our plans are for Christmas.
    'Haven't really had a chance to discuss it,' I confess.
'Mum's staying in Manchester for Christmas with her
partner Alan and his two sons, so I guess I'll be playing
happy step-families with all of them. Flynn, I imagine,
will be going to Sussex with you and Sophie.'
    'Well, I spoke to my parents this morning,' Rami says,
'and they would really love it if you would come and
spend Christmas with us.'
    'Really?' I am touched, even though my heart lurches
slightly at the thought of spending my first Christmas
away from Mum. 'Then I could go home on Boxing Day
instead and miss the mayhem. Are you sure that
wouldn't be an imposition?'
    'Absolutely not. They'd love to have you. We all
would.'
    * * *
    When Flynn comes in, looking drained as usual from his
lesson with Kaiser, I relay the conversation to him. He
stares at me in disbelief. 'You're kidding me.'
    I look at him, stung by his reaction. 'No, I'm not.
But if the idea fills you with horror, we can easily change
it.'
    He pulls himself together sharply. 'No, no, of course
not. That's great.'
    'You're such a bad liar,' I retort. 'It's fine, I'll just tell
Rami my mother wants me home for Christmas.'
    'No, Jennah, come on. I was surprised, that's all,
surprised that Rami had organized it without . . .
Anyway, let's do it. It'll be fun.' He says the word 'fun' as
if it were synonymous with 'agony'. 'I just – I'm just not
a big fan of Christmas, that's all.'
    I relent, pouting. 'Humbug. Do you even know what
you're going to get me yet?'
    He flushes suddenly. 'Yep.'
    'Really?' I crow. 'What? Oh, give me one tiny clue.
Please, please! Have you bought it already?'
    He averts his eyes. 'Maybe.'
    'Tell me!'
    'Yeah, right. If I tell you, it will be like that scene in Friends where Rachel and Phoebe run around turning
the flat upside down, trying to find Monica's hidden
presents.'
    'So you have bought it!'
    'I didn't say that.'
    I put my arms round his neck. 'But you insinuated it!'
    He gives me a lopsided smile. 'Enough silliness,' he
says firmly. 'I might change my mind and take it back.
Now what we should really be discussing is what you're going to get me .'
    There is so much going on in the run-up to the end of
term that it feels as if Flynn and I hardly see each other.
What with rehearsals for the Purcell Room concert,
rehearsals for the Christmas recital, coursework deadlines,
end-of-term drinks and the usual diet of lectures
and classes, there is barely time to come up for breath.
We laugh when we meet in corridors at the Royal
College and greet each other with 'Hello, stranger' and
'Do I know you?', only occasionally having time to stop
for lunch with Harry and Kate. Flynn seems OK, back to
his normal self; the new dose appears to be