Me-Before-You-by-Jojo-Moyes

‘It’s only easyJet. I’ll reimburse you the £39 if you’re that bothered.’
‘It’s not the cost. I thought you were going to support me. You said you were
coming to support me.’
He could look quite sulky, Patrick. When we were first together, I used to
tease him about it. I called him Mr Grumpy Trousers. It made me laugh, and him
so cross that he usually stopped sulking just to shut me up.
‘Oh, come on. I’m hardly not supporting you now, am I? I hate cycling,
Patrick. You know I do. But I’m supporting you.’
We went on another mile before he spoke again. It might have been me, but
the pounding of Patrick’s feet on the road seemed to have taken on a grim,
resolute tone. We were high above the little town now, me puffing on the uphill
stretches, trying and failing to stop my heart racing every time a car came past. I
was on Mum’s old bike (Patrick wouldn’t let me anywhere near his racing
demon) and it had no gears so I was frequently left tailing him.
He glanced behind, and slowed his pace a fraction so that I could draw level.
‘So why can’t they get an agency person in?’ he said.
‘An agency person?’
‘To come to the Traynors’ house. I mean, if you’re there for six months you
must be entitled to a holiday.’
‘It’s not that simple.’
‘I don’t see why not. You started work there knowing nothing, after all.’
I held my breath. This was quite hard given that I was completely breathless
from cycling. ‘Because he needs to go on a trip.’
‘What?’
‘He needs to go on a trip. So they need me and Nathan there to help him.’
‘Nathan? Who’s Nathan?’
‘His medical carer. The guy you met when Will came to Mum’s.’
I could see Patrick thinking about this. He wiped sweat from his eyes.
‘And before you ask,’ I added, ‘no, I am not having an affair with Nathan.’
He slowed, and glanced down at the tarmac, until he was practically jogging
on the spot. ‘What is this, Lou? Because … because it seems to me that there is a
line being blurred here between what is work and what is … ’ he shrugged,
‘… normal.’
‘It’s not a normal job. You know that.’