The Second Life of Nathan Jones

by David Atkinson

  I left the flat and remembered I had no car. I stood outside his apartment and wondered which direction the rapists and muggers would come sprinting from first. I walked quickly to a nearby bus stop and jumped on the first bus that came. It dropped me near Easter Road and I walked home from there. I tried to make sense of the last few days, the description ‘emotional roller coaster’ not really coming close. I’d fallen in love, had mind-blowing sex during an electric storm, appeared on TV (yes, it had only been a cameo appearance but an appearance nevertheless), suffered an interrogation about my sex life from a ten-year-old girl, been bashed and bruised in an accident and met up with James Cochrane again after all these years. I’d also managed to spend a few days cooped up in close quarters with other human beings without making a complete arse of myself and for that reason alone I thought I deserved a hot bubble bath and some wine.

  Any hopes I had of having a quiet evening alone were dashed when I arrived home, as parked outside my flat in her BMW convertible was Hayley Dunlop. I briefly wondered why she hadn’t just phoned or texted, then remembered my phone still wasn’t charged.

  Hayley literally jumped out of her car when she spotted me. ‘Where have you been?’

  ‘Well, I started the day in this beautiful Highland glen, then my boyfriend managed to total a seventy-grand vehicle, then—’

  ‘Yeah, very funny. I meant in the last hour or so.’

  ‘We had something to eat in town before heading back. Apart from that, sitting on trains.’

  ‘I thought you’d be back sooner. I need to talk to you.’

  ‘Okay, I’m listening.’

  ‘Not out here, inside.’

  ‘It’s a bit messy.’

  ‘No, it’s not; you always say that, and it never is.’

  ‘That’s because my idea of messy and your idea of messy are miles apart, Miss Dunlop.’

  ‘Yeah, whatever, just get in, oh, wait a sec …’ Hayley went back to her car and brought out a bag. ‘Nearly forgot.’

  ‘Nearly forgot what?’

  ‘Wine. C’mon, let’s get in out of the cold.’

  I didn’t think it felt cold, but then I’d been exposed to public transport and the elements on my walk whilst she’d been cosseted in her heated cream leather seats.

  I dropped my bag inside the door, turned up the thermostat for Hayley’s benefit and sat on my couch.

  ‘Right, we need some glasses,’ Hayley announced as she came in and sat beside me. ‘Oh, and before I forget I’m so glad you’re all right.’

  ‘I’ve got a sore bum.’

  Hayley’s nose twitched like a rabbit. ‘How did that happen?’ she asked suspiciously.

  ‘The accident.’

  ‘Oh, right, of course. I thought for a moment that Natha … No, never mind. Right, glasses.’ She bounced up and into my tiny galley kitchen and returned with some glasses.

  ‘What’s going on, Hayley?’

  She poured us two large glasses of Chablis and sighed.

  ‘Best friends forever.’

  We clinked glasses and I took a drink. She then bit her lip and as I watched tears started to form in the corners of her eyes and then she fell on me bawling her eyes out. I spilled some of my wine onto her hair, but I didn’t think she noticed.

  Between sobs she said, ‘I’ll have to wash my hair now.’

  She’d noticed.

  ‘Hayley, what’s going on? You turn up out of the blue with wine and now you’re upset; what’s going on?’

  ‘It’s James’s wife.’

  ‘What about her?’

  ‘She came into the office today and registered an official complaint against me.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘Why do you think?’

  ‘But you said you’d kept it all secret.’

  ‘She found out.’

  ‘How?’

  ‘James told her.’

  ‘But, I mean, well … I’m not sure I really understand.’

  Hayley sat up, put her wine down and blew her nose into a tissue. ‘The Law Society of Scotland are going to carry out an investigation into my conduct, on the grounds of unprofessional and unethical behaviour.’

  ‘She’s a bitch. She’s the one that cheated in the first place.’

  ‘True, but there are rules and regulations and I might have breached some.’

  ‘Might have?’

  ‘That’s what they said.’

  ‘Sounds pretty vague?’

  ‘It’s to do with law, of course it’s vague.’

  ‘What happens now?’

  ‘I don’t know. I’m suspended.’

  ‘Aw, sweetie.’

  We sat for a moment, the only noise breaking the silence being the odd sniff from Hayley.

  ‘What did James say?’

  ‘Oh, he’s really upset. It seems she wound him up and he just blurted it out and I don’t think he realised she’d take it that far, nor the consequences for me.’

  ‘What happens next?’ I asked, holding Hayley’s hand.

  ‘We finish the wine and I spend the night on your couch.’

  That set us both laughing, lightening the mood a little. ‘I meant with work?’

  ‘Who knows? I’m not allowed back until the investigation’s finished, which could take weeks. If they find against me I might be disbarred – that’s unlikely, but possible. One thing’s for sure, I’m glad I made partner before this happened. They wouldn’t have offered it to me now.’

  ‘I suppose it gives you some extra time to see James.’

  ‘Yeah, I suppose.’

  She didn’t sound very enthusiastic, but I kept my opinion to myself.

  Chapter 26

  I had to wait until the next morning for my bubble bath. I don’t think I’d ever had one while nursing a hangover before. After the Chablis we’d managed to polish off a bottle of Pinot Grigio and three cans of cider that Hayley had discovered lurking at the back of my fridge.

  My friend had already showered and left earlier, wisely deciding to take the train back to Glasgow. She’d arranged to meet with an employment lawyer to discuss her case. I would have thought she’d be able to work all that out for herself, but she insisted that another lawyer would give her an objective view.

  I’d agreed to drive her car back to her flat later and share a takeaway tonight. Sober this time – well, soberish.

  As I lay soaking in my bubbly bliss I heard my now fully charged phone ringing. I ignored it; nothing would entice me out of the water for at least another half-hour. It rang twice more but I decided whoever and whatever could wait.

  Eventually I had to move and, after towel-drying my hair and wrapping myself in my black fluffy bathrobe, I picked up my phone. All the missed calls were from Nathan and he’d also sent a text saying, ‘Kat phone me ASAP!’

  How on earth had that man ever managed to get by without me? I phoned him to see what new crisis had befallen him. ‘Nathan, what’s up?’

  ‘Can you meet me at the civil court in Chambers Street in an hour?’

  ‘Court? Why, what’s happened?’

  ‘I’m not sure.’

  ‘What do you mean? Is everyone all right?’

  ‘I think so.’

  ‘What’s happened, then?’

  ‘Laura came by this morning.’

  ‘Did she?’

  ‘Yes, and she had company.’

  ‘Her boyfriend?’

  ‘No, that would have been easier. She had social workers.’

  ‘Social workers, plural?’

  ‘Yeah, and they took the girls away.’

  ‘Away where?’

  ‘I don’t know. All I do know is that I have to be at the court for eleven.’

  ‘That doesn’t sound good.’

  ‘No, it doesn’t. I don’t suppose your friend Hayley’s around, is she?’

  ‘She went home to Glasgow this morning.’

  ‘Can she come back?’

  ‘I doubt it. Anyway, she’s got her own problem
s to deal with.’ I briefly outlined what had happened. ‘I doubt she’d be able to help.’

  ‘She knows her way around a courtroom.’

  ‘She probably knows where the café is to get coffee; anything else I’m not sure about but I’ll get there as soon as I can.’

  *

  I texted Nathan as I arrived, and he met me at the front door of the imposing building. He looked shell-shocked.

  ‘Laura’s taken out a non-molestation order against me.’

  ‘Have you been molesting her?’

  ‘Not for a long time but that’s not what it means. She’s done it to stop me seeing the girls.’

  ‘Can she do that?’

  ‘She’s done it.’

  ‘What does it all mean, Nathan? I don’t really understand.’

  ‘She’s in there now; sitting before some lawyer-type person telling them a pack of lies.’

  ‘What’s she saying?’

  ‘Well, I don’t know exactly, do I? I’m not allowed in and I’m out here speaking to you, but she’ll be laying it on thick that I’m a danger to the girls and reckless because I crashed the motorhome.’

  ‘How did she find out?’

  ‘Millie told her on the phone yesterday.’

  ‘Well, I suppose you did crash it, though, didn’t you? So not much you can do about that.’

  ‘Whose side are you on? It was an accident. I didn’t want to hit Bambi.’

  ‘Bambi’s mother, more like.’ I noticed how red his face had become and I wondered if his blood pressure had risen to dangerous levels.

  He might be about to have a stroke.

  ‘Don’t be silly.’

  ‘What do you mean don’t be silly? I’d have killed it.’

  ‘Killed what?’

  ‘The deer.’

  ‘Oh, yeah, so what happens now?’

  ‘After I got off the phone to you I did phone a legal firm, one that specialises in family law, but they told me at this stage I’d be wasting my time and money as the court would almost certainly grant her the order and it’s only after it’s in force that I can challenge the terms of it.’

  ‘That doesn’t sound right to me, but then what do I know?’ I tried to think it over. ‘Don’t you think it’d be much harder to stop an enforcement order being enforced after it’s in force?’

  Nathan blinked at me. ‘I didn’t understand that sentence.’

  Before I could elaborate the door opened and Laura appeared. I’d seen her on TV, but she’d been crying her eyes out and I had to say, grudgingly of course, she radiated beauty even with an angry frown. She had behind her what I can only describe as an entourage. She led a group of grim-faced, blue-suited men, with a well-preserved skinny blonde lady bringing up the rear holding a pile of papers. Laura halted when she noticed Nathan and let the blonde push her way to the front. She pulled the topmost of the papers out of her bundle and spoke without making eye contact with anyone. ‘The judge has granted Ms Laura Connor a non-molestation order against Mr Nathan Jones effective immediately.’

  I leaned over and said into his ear, ‘Laura Connor?’

  ‘That’s her maiden name.’

  ‘Are you divorced now?’

  ‘If we are nobody’s told me. Maybe she’s got a very efficient legal team on her side.’

  Skinny blonde lady pulled out another piece of paper and handed it over to Nathan. ‘This is a copy for your records pursuant upon and from said previously alluded to order being granted, implemented and enforced by the Edinburgh & Lothian Civil Court in line with the terms set out under and crystallised in the Children (Scotland Act).

  ‘You should seek and retain individual and independent legal counsel in connection with this enforcement and in any event ensure you adequately familiarise yourself with the pertinent and relevant restrictions and clauses set out in said document to ensure you do not involuntarily or without due care and attention inadvertently breach the terms of the order. To do so would render yourself subject to serious legal consequences including, but not exhaustively nor exclusively, a possible custodial sentence in conjunction with a fine and potential further sanctions.’

  Once the blonde had stopped speaking she turned on her heel and marched back down the hall; the entourage all followed her.

  Nathan turned to me. ‘What did she say?’

  ‘Beats me.’

  ‘Why don’t I understand what anyone’s on about today?’

  I noticed that Laura had pulled away from the pack and had turned back towards us. She hesitated, then marched back down the hall, her eyes fixed on Nathan. I noticed for the first time that at the end of the hall Millie had appeared, looking around for her mother. She spotted me, and I gave a little wave, unsure of my ground in this weird environment. Hayley often went to court and I wondered how she coped in this strange adult playground. Maybe she did just sit in the café looking at Facebook.

  Laura stopped in front of Nathan and said nothing for a moment, just staring at him. She quickly glanced over at me, looking down her nose, then said, ‘Nathan, I’m sorry that it had to come to this, but I couldn’t have you doing anything stupid to the girls again, egged on by your punk girlfriend here. You had me worried sick for days and the fact you wouldn’t answer your phone to me made me mad as hell. What were you thinking, Nathan? What were you thinking?’

  ‘You’d taken the girls away from me; I wanted to see them—’

  ‘You could have asked, you moron; you didn’t need to steal them.’

  ‘You stole them, not me.’

  ‘Hardly, I’d moved them somewhere for a better life. You whisked them away in a smelly van.’

  ‘A top-of-the-range camper … motorhome, hardly a smelly anything.’

  ‘With your stinky feet it would have been smelly soon enough.’

  Now I knew where that slightly tangy scent that had pervaded the van had come from.

  ‘My feet have nothing to do with anything. You’d taken the girls and I wanted them back. It’s as simple as that. At least I didn’t go on TV trying to garner sympathy.’

  ‘Yes, you did.’

  ‘Well … yes, I did, but not until you’d done it first. I—’

  ‘It wasn’t my idea. The local police sergeant said that Lance what’s-his-face wanted a human-interest story and we … I fitted the bill. It’s probably not the wisest thing I’ve ever done, to be honest, but too late now.’

  ‘So, what do we do now?’

  ‘We go back to where we were before you started your nonsense. The girls live with me.’

  ‘And I have to make an appointment to see my own kids? I don’t think so. That’s not going to happen.’

  Laura smiled, smugly I thought, but I was biased, of course, and said, ‘No, that’s exactly what is going to happen now. If you want any contact with the girls at all you need to make arrangements via a senior social worker and all visits will be supervised as you are now seen as a danger to them.’

  I expected Nathan to explode but amazingly he just wilted, his whole body shrank, and his shoulders slumped as if someone had placed a huge weight onto them. I’d never seen anything like that happen before; I found it fascinating in a strange and unpleasant way.

  Laura smiled, pleased at the reaction, obviously enjoying herself, but her smile vanished when Millie ran forward and grabbed her dad around his waist. She cried, ‘Daddy, Daddy,’ tears pouring down her face.

  Laura’s eyes narrowed. ‘Millie,’ she said quietly but firmly. Her daughter ignored her. ‘Millie,’ she snapped, but again her eldest ignored her.

  Laura stomped forward, her eyes blazing and nostrils flaring – she reminded me of an angry, prancing dark horse. I’d endured my fair share of bullying over the years and that was all she was, a beautiful and captivating bully. Before she grabbed Millie’s arm I whispered in her ear, ‘Don’t worry, Millie; everything will work out.’

  There, my brain had managed to produce its first ever little white lie. It obviously took an extreme situati
on for that to happen. It seemed to calm Millie a little as Laura grabbed her arm and dragged her away up the hall.

  Nathan stood staring after his wife and daughter, shaking his head. I grabbed him by the shoulders and he lifted his head, his eyes finding mine. ‘You can’t let her get away with this, Nathan. You need to fight it.’

  He lowered his eyes and said, ‘I know, I will. I just need some time to work it all out.’

  ‘I’ll speak to Hayley again. I’m sure there’s lots of ways to fight this. We can get that Dads for Daughters bloke involved and …’

  While I prattled on Nathan sat down on a nearby bench and put his head in his hands. Three seconds later he slumped forward and collapsed onto the floor.

  See, I told you he was going to have a stroke.

  Chapter 27

  Sitting at Nathan’s bedside had become something of a habit for me. At least he hadn’t died this time and instead looked at me with a strange expression on his face.

  ‘What is it, Nathan?’

  ‘I’m just wondering why you’re still here.’

  ‘I can go, if you like. I need to take Hayley’s car back to her.’

  ‘No, I didn’t mean that. I mean, well, you’re amazing, beautiful, sexy and I can’t understand why you want to be involved in this mess.’

  I’d never dealt well with people complimenting me and my default position always seemed to be disbelief, though I enjoyed it nonetheless. I shrugged and squirmed uncomfortably in the hard plastic chair. ‘Aww shucks.’

  Nathan laughed, and I liked the fact that I could make him smile even when he was miserable.

  ‘What did the doctors say?’ he asked me.

  ‘I don’t know. I’ve not spoken to any of them.’

  He could have had a tiny stroke.

  ‘No, he hasn’t.’

  ‘Who hasn’t?’ Nathan asked.

  ‘You.’

  ‘Me what?’

  ‘Never mind. The doctors wouldn’t tell me anything anyway.’

  ‘Why not?’

  ‘I’m not next of kin.’

  ‘Who is?’

  ‘Laura.’