“Why not, you probably will anyway,” she chuntered under her breath.
Greg paused and turned to her. “Sorry? I didn’t catch that.”
She mustered up as much cheeriness as she could manage. “Yes, sure go on up, it’s open. I’ll get the kettle on.”
When the coffee was made she trudged up the garden, with minimal enthusiasm to the workshop. When she had made the suggestion to Greg, she had expected a little notification of his intention to call round, or for the visit to at least be at a more sociable time of day. She felt guilty for being so negative; he was doing her a huge favour after all. She pushed the door open with her bottom and found Greg lying on the floor under the sink. She placed the coffee down and leaned against the work surface.
“How bad is it?” she enquired, hoping the answer would be a positive one.
“Hard to say at the moment, the nuts are all seized…and there’s nothing worse than seized nuts!” He laughed heartily at his own joke. Mallory chuckled. It was quite funny after all.
She switched on the portable CD player and stuck in a Foo Fighters disc. Greg began to sing along as he worked. She stood and drank her coffee in silence as he faffed around with spanners, hammers and bolts under her sink. She realised she had a very clear view of his tattoo now. Something she had been curious about since her first encounter with Greg. She had always had a fascination with ink, but had never dared go under the needle herself. Greg’s tattoo was puzzling. The image showed the alphanumeric ‘K2’ wrapped in barbed wire.
“That’s an interesting tattoo on your arm, Greg, what does it mean?”
Greg stopped working and sat up. He pretended to examine the mangled bit of metal in his hand.
“Ah, it’s just something I had done last year,” he said glancing up at her. His expression told her he wasn’t going to elaborate.
“Oh right. Why K2? What’s the significance?” she pushed, figuring he had been personal so why couldn’t she?
“Maybe it’s a story for another time, eh?” He rose to his feet, scraping his hair back off his face. He came to where she stood, took a gulp of his coffee and went back to work. That’s the end of that conversation then, she surmised. She decided to take the empty cups back into the house and jump in the shower.
“I’ll be in the house if you need anything, okay?” She didn’t wait for an answer.
She felt refreshed after she had showered, towel dried her hair and applied moisturiser. When she was dressed she went up to the workshop again where Greg was just finishing up. He stood wiping his hands.
“You finished already?” Mallory enquired, hopeful.
“Na. You’ll need a new tap. I’ll pick one up and come back to fit it tomorrow if that’s okay?”
“Sure, if you don’t mind. I don’t want to keep you from anything.”
“It’s fine. I’ll squeeze it in. It’s not a massive job. I’ve got to go now ‘cause I’m working on my boat this afternoon and I need to get lunch before I go.” He tucked the dirty cloth into his back pocket and closed his tool box.
“Oh I could’ve made you some sandwiches or something to take, it’s the least I could do.”
“I’m quite capable of making my own sandwiches, thank you,” he snapped.
Seriously, what is his problem?! She opened her mouth to snap back, but thought better of it.
“Fine. See you later then.” She wasn’t sure what she was supposed to have done wrong.
“I’ll see myself out. See you.” He walked away. As he did so his mobile rang. “Aye, what is it? No I’m just finishing a job…where did they find it?” He froze. “Aye, okay. Thanks for letting me know.” He shook his head as he hung up the call. He turned to look at Mallory, “See you tomorrow.” There was a hint of sadness to his gaze. Before she could ask if he was okay, he was gone. Mallory wondered what the call must have been about. It sounded serious judging by his reaction.
After lunch, Mallory decided she would go for a walk with Ruby. This had become somewhat of a daily routine now and she enjoyed the fact the weather was improved of late. This time she decided to take a slightly different route, avoiding the bridge for once. As she walked past the houses one of the neighbours waved to her. She seemed to remember her name was Aileen. She had called around with a pot of Irish stew which Brad had devoured in one sitting. It was a good job Mallory had no appetite at the time as she didn’t get a look in.
“Good afternoon! Good to see you out and about, hen.” The neighbour called. Mallory waved back and smiled. It brought tears to her eyes when people she hardly knew showed such kindness.
The walk took her past the pub which was closed. She wondered how Greg was. He had been impolite on leaving this morning, but he seemed to be upset by the call he had received. Perhaps it had been bad news. She’d have to try and cut the guy a little slack, after all she knew there was something painful in his recent past and she could understand what that was like.
She called into the little shop to get a bottle of water. The shop owner, Colin, greeted her with a huge friendly smile.
He came around the counter to give her a hug. “Oh Mallory, it’s so good to see you out.” He stepped back holding her at arm’s length. “I know we don’t know you all that well, but if you need anything, anything at all…” he didn’t need to finish the sentence.
She smiled and nodded, biting her cheek to halt the tears that threatened. He was such a kind, thoughtful man.
“I was wondering, Colin, I’d like to get some fresh air and see some nice views. Where’s the best place to do that without having to go by car?”
Colin tapped his chin as he thought. “You know what? You need a boat trip.” He proceeded to give her directions down to the marina where there was a daily outing run by one of the locals. He said that she would get to skim the coast and see some stunning views and maybe even some seals. It sounded perfect.
She set off with a renewed enthusiasm, following the directions in her mind and hoping that she hadn’t ‘missed the boat’ already.
When she arrived at the little marina she stood for a few minutes to take in the view. There was a scruffy old chalkboard displaying the words,
BOAT TRIPS ON LITTLE BLUE,
£10 PER PERSON,
DOGS FREE
She looked around for the captain. She spotted someone with their back to her. He was wearing a woolly hat which was odd considering it was now May and it wasn’t cold. He turned and spotted her and a grin spread across his face. Greg.
“Hey, you’re out again. It’s becoming a habit.”
Why did everyone greet her as if she had been in prison? And why is he so mercurial? She wondered. She strolled toward the boat.
“This is you then, eh?” she asked gesturing at the boat. She wondered how many jobs this guy actually had. “I hadn’t twigged that you did excursions when you said you were working on your boat this afternoon.”
“Aye, it’s my day job.” He smiled. “You up for a trip out?” he asked.
She thought he almost looked hopeful.
“Why not? I could do with a bit of fresh air. How many of us will there be?” She wondered where the other passengers for the trip were.
“You’re it.” He carried on making the boat ready. “Bit of a slow day. I was just about to give up and go out by myself.”
“Are you sure you want me to tag along?” She suddenly felt a little uncomfortable, remembering his attitude toward her earlier.
“Aye, why not? I get sick o’ my own company. Get enough of it, day in day out.” He held out his hand to help her on board. She blushed as she took his hand, stepping on the ‘Little Blue’. She held out a ten pound, but he waved it away.
“Cute name.” She gestured to the sign, “the boat, I mean,” she clarified. “It has a cute name.” She watched as he tightened ropes and did a lot of other things that she didn’t really have a clue about.
“Aye, named it after my old dog; had him as a boy; he was a black lab; when he was a pup
he almost looked like there was a blue tinge to his fur; hence the name.” Greg gestured to Mallory to take a seat which she did immediately.
“Aww, that’s sweet.” Mallory saw yet another new side to this man she hardly knew. She looked out into the distance as Greg started the engine and steered the boat away from its mooring.
“Do you want the running commentary that I give to all my passengers?” Greg enquired of the sole occupant of the boat trip.
She gave him a puzzled glance.
“You know,” he gestured out to sea, “…and on my left we have a seal and on my right, oh look there’s another seal.” He chuckled.
She smiled and rolled her eyes at him. “No, it’s okay. I just wanted to get some fresh air, to be honest. Colin in the shop recommended a boat trip. Feel free to pretend I’m not here.” Mallory sighed and closed her eyes as she faced into the sea breeze. Ruby’s front paws were propped on the side of the boat as she looked out too; her little tail wagging.
When they got far enough away from the coast Greg switched off the engine and took out a flask. He sat opposite Mallory and offered her an empty tin mug.
“Thought we could sit and chill for a bit here, is that okay? It’s usually a good place for seal spotting.” He poured coffee into her cup.
She wasn’t sure how she felt really. But she was enjoying being out in the fresh air.
“Yes I suppose. Am I not keeping you from anything? Another job perhaps?” She smiled
He shook his head and took a slurp of his coffee. “Na, Pub at night, boat trips three days a week and odd jobs two days a week…oh and entertainer at the pub on my nights off now, that’s me.” He sounded so matter of fact about the number of different things he had going on.
“Crikey! I’m not sure I could keep up with all that. I think I’ll just stick to making stuff, plain and simple.” The thought of juggling several jobs bewildered her.
“Aye, you should do that. It’s good to have something to focus on at times like this.” he said, knowingly. Her inquisitive streak was surfacing again. She wanted to pry about his situation but wasn’t sure if she should.
There was an awkward silence. She could feel Greg watching her. She suddenly felt sad again; lost even.
He leaned forward resting his elbows on his knees. “It sounds like a cliché, but it does get easier with time.” He looked down at his coffee. “You just need to keep busy.”
“Is that what you are doing with your gazillion different jobs?” she asked.
He looked up and they made eye contact. For a brief moment there was a sympathetic look in his dark gaze. But suddenly something changed in his demeanour, yet again.
“Na. I like the variety. Don’t get bored that way.” He straightened up in his seat and took another sip of his steaming drink. Why he kept reassuring her in one breath and putting up the shutters in the next one, she could only wonder. “Have you started eating properly yet?” he enquired, once again the question a little on the personal side.
“Why do you seem so interested in my eating habits?” She was frustrated by his insistence on being so direct and interfering.
“Sorry, I just see you wasting away, that’s all.” He looked out to sea. “You look different than when you first moved here.”
“Well, no offence, but that’s nothing to do with you.” She retorted harshly.
He held his hands up in surrender. “Okay, okay. Sorry I spoke. It’s just that if my little sister was refusing to eat I would have something to say about it.”
“Well, thanks for your concern, Greg but I am not your little sister. I am a twenty nine year old woman with her own life and I am fine. Don’t be so bloody patronising.” It was her turn to avoid eye contact and look out to sea now. They sat in silence for quite a while.
“So, you made any other friends in the village yet?” Greg asked.
Mallory let out a surprised snort at his insinuation that they were friends and then immediately felt cruel.
“Sorry. That was mean. I was just surprised to hear you class yourself as my friend.” She explained. “We haven’t exactly got along very well since we met, wouldn’t you agree?” Greg looked hurt and she felt terrible. “Great, now it’s my turn to put my foot in it, eh?” He didn’t answer. She had clearly hurt his feelings. They sat in silence again.
Suddenly he leaned forward again. “Look, I know I can be an arse, alright? I’ve never had a female friend, I suppose. I’ve two brothers who never dare let me meet their girlfriends for fear I’ll speak to them how I speak to you. I spend a lot of time on my own, by choice I hasten to add, and I feel sorry for you.”
Anger rose inside Mallory’s gut at his words. “You feel sorry for me?” she spat, “I don’t want you to go out of your way to be your version of nice simply because you pity me.” She was horrified and it showed as her voice rose.
“No you misunderstand me.” His voice rose too now, “That’s not what I meant. See? This is why I don’t do…this.” He waved his hand back and forth between them.
“What are you on about? You don’t do what?”
He placed his cup down and rubbed his hands over his face. He was clearly exasperated, but Mallory wasn’t sure with whom; her or himself.
“Look, that night on the beach, I really felt your pain.” He paused as if calculating each sentence. “I felt so terrible for what you were going through. I understood…I understand.” He looked skyward as if the words he was searching for may be written up there. “It’s not pity, it’s…it’s…argh...what’s the fuckin’ word?..empathy!” He raised his hands up in a swift ‘Eureka’ type of gesture.
Mallory’s eyes began to sting as tears threatened. He was relentless. Couldn’t he just shut up? Clearly he couldn’t.
He took a deep breath, leaning forward toward her again his voice had calmed. “I know how hard it is. You’re in a strange place where you hardly know anyone and you’ve lost the one person in your life that would’ve made that whole situation okay.” He took off his hat and ran his hands through his flattened hair. “I get that. I get what you’re going through. I felt I wanted to help; no that I needed to help, but it turns out I keep making it worse.” He looked into Mallory’s eyes again. “Oh fuck and now I’ve fuckin’ made you cry again.”
Mallory sniffed and wiped at her eyes. “It’s fine. I’m not your responsibility!” she exclaimed, “I get that you understand, but every time I try to ask you anything, you go all mean and moody on me. I have no clue how to take you. If you want to be friends you have to change how you act around me. I can’t do with trying to second guess your mood and wonder if I have overstepped the mark.”
He slid over to sit next to her. “Right, this is stupid. Can we please just fuckin’ start over, eh?” He clamped his hand over his mouth. “Fuck, I’m sorry I keep swearing,” he apologised.
Mallory smirked, “It’s fucking fine! Just don’t fucking do it again, okay? It’s fucking rude!” she shouted. They stared at each other and then burst out laughing.
Once they had calmed down a little Greg nudged Mallory’s shoulder with his own. “So I’m guessing you’ll want to know my story, then, eh?”
She felt a little guilty for pushing him again. “Only if you want to tell me. We still don’t know each other from Adam.”
“Aye, well, I know your stuff so I guess it’s only fair.” He inhaled deeply. “What are your burning questions?”
She thought about it for a moment, “Look, it’s up to you how much you do or don’t say. I know that you lost someone. Maybe you can just leave it there if you prefer?”
“She was my girlfriend.”
Mallory glanced as he subconsciously rubbed his wedding ring indentation. “She was the love of my life if the truth be known.” He went on, “I’d been separated a few years and I met Mairi up near The Buckle by Glen Etiv whilst I was travelling around, camping. She was absolutely mad about climbing.” He smiled and closed his eyes. “She’d started as a wee bairn with her dad travelli
ng all over the place just to climb. That’s what she was doing in that area when I met her. She called it Munroe bagging…Oh, err, that means that she—”
Mallory interrupted him, “Greg, my name is Mallory, I was named after a climber. My dad was a climber. I know what Munroe bagging is.” She nudged him.
“Oh, of course. I forgot.” He rolled his eyes and carried on. “Anyway to cut a long story short; she’d done all the big climbs in the UK and most of the European ones. She was one of the youngest female climbers ever to achieve Scottish Grade 3 and she’d been dreaming of something even bigger. Anyway, she’d been saving up to go to Pakistan since she was a teenager; it was all she could go on about. Her face just lit up when she talked about it.” He paused as if finding it difficult to continue.
“She was so beautiful. But when she talked about climbing…” he shook his head as he trailed off. “I’ve always been quite outdoorsy myself. She managed to convince me to go with her a couple of times, but I just didn’t get it like she did. In fact, if I’m honest it scared the willies out of me being so high up.” He laughed. “Last year she met up with a team of professional climbers who she met through one of the big climbing websites she was always going on. They’d arranged a trip out to Pakistan and invited her along. She had the money and asked me if I minded. How could I mind? I wasn’t going to stand between her and her dreams, was I? Anyway, they set off in June to climb K2. She was in touch until they started the main ascent and then…nothing.”
Mallory didn’t quite understand. “What do you mean nothing?”
Greg huffed the air out of his lungs. “The news stations over there reported a freak storm.” His eyes welled up with tears. The memories clearly still very vivid and equally as painful. He cleared his throat. “None of the team made it down. The bodies were never recovered. I never saw her again. I never got to say goodbye and my sweet, sweet girl was gone.” His voice trailed off. A shiver travelled down Mallory’s spine. “I went out to Pakistan to see what else I could find out, but they gave up searching pretty damn quickly. She was declared dead on August twentieth along with the rest of her team.” He spoke through clenched teeth as he pinched the corners of his eyes with his finger and thumb. His anger was evident. “This morning at your house, I had a call to say they had found what they thought was part of her kit. Turns out it wasn’t hers.”
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