by Erin Green
‘I was thinking more along the line of guests,’ interrupted Russ.
‘Interesting point given Saturday morning’s visitor,’ laughed Asa, glancing at Esmé, who instantly blushed.
‘We’re all adults, so why have rules?’ asked Jonah.
‘That’s what I’m asking, do we say guests don’t get to use the shared areas so it’s bedrooms and bathrooms only or…’
‘That’ll prove interesting when Kane drops by… because he’s likely to become a permanent fixture now that he’s failed to move out of his parents’ house… no offence, Emma,’ said Jonah.
‘It’s Esmé. And none taken.’
‘OK, Kane’s slightly different given he’s a friend or brother to all of us,’ said Russ, looking around the group. ‘Guests of the opposite sex then?’
Asa shrugged.
‘No thoughts?’ asked Russ.
‘Not an issue, as far as I’m concerned. I don’t bring people back, friends or otherwise and I’m not offended by others having guests around the place when I am here, so no opinion from me,’ explained Asa.
No friends, nor family. How odd?
Esmé continued to watch Asa from the corner of her eye.
‘If I’m paying a fifth of the rent on this whole house then I’d like full use to be fair,’ said Jonah.
‘Agreed, but I wasn’t up yesterday when a young lady stayed for coffee so I can’t remark on how the others felt about it.’
‘I was fine,’ adds Asa. ‘Dam was too.’
‘Are you saying, I wasn’t?’ interrupted Esmé.
He shrugged, giving a wry smile.
‘If you call that comfortable, then hey, you were comfortable, babe.’
‘I was fine.’
‘So, there’s no need for a ruling,’ said Jonah.
‘Are you sure Dam was OK?’ asked Russ.
‘He was fine, the guy has different values but he’s still OK with what the rest of us do,’ said Asa, giving a deep sigh.
‘Touchy tonight, aren’t we?’ said Jonah. ‘Bad day?’
Asa flicked a dark stare in his direction before focusing on Russ.
‘What is it you do?’ asked Esmé.
‘Me?’ He seemed surprised that she asked, before replying. ‘I work at the hospital.’
‘Children’s?’
‘Queen Elizabeth.’
Esmé sat back, that wasn’t what she was expecting. She’d have said labourer, driver, warehouse work, security… well, anything that would allow such defiant tattoos. Employment couldn’t be easy to find given his choice of body art. But still, there were plenty of jobs within a hospital where contact with the public was minimal, cleaners, porters… the morgue.
Esmé visibly shivered as her thought hit home.
‘Are you alright?’ asked Russ.
‘Yeah, someone just walked over my grave,’ joked Esmé.
‘And your job?’ Asa’s question was unexpected, Esmé thought that conversation had passed.
‘I work in a stationer’s in Digbeth.’
‘Any chance of freebies?’ asked Jonah.
‘Hardly, the owner’s widow is as stingy as they come.’ She blushed.
‘Zip then, if there’s nothing to gain from having contacts with you as a housemate,’ muttered Jonah, drawing his fingers across his lips.
Bloody cheek!
‘This is taking much longer than I’d planned, so, to the final point. What if one of us doesn’t cough up the rent for next month?’ asked Russ, looking around the table.
‘I’ll hunt them down,’ spat Jonah, his flawless brow crumpled into a valley of lines. ‘Seriously, don’t screw me around where money’s concerned.’
‘He’s being realistic,’ added Asa, looking around the table. ‘One minute you have a job, the next… gone.’
‘Yours maybe, mine never,’ scoffed Jonah, picking peanuts from his teeth.
‘I thought modelling was pretty risky, job wise,’ said Esmé, as the table of males stared at her.
‘Unemployed, mio?’ he said, his hand touched his chest in a dramatic fashion. ‘Dooh! I’m a model. I’ll find work anywhere… the agency was honoured to have me sign.’
‘Any chance of freebies?’ asked Esmé.
‘You wish!’ snapped Jonah, before turning away.
Esmé glanced around the table to ascertain whether he was joking or serious. From Russ and Asa’s expression, Jonah wasn’t joking.
Asa grinned and shook his head.
‘Back to business, please,’ hissed Russ. ‘We need to take this seriously… we’ve all opted to live here, based on our incomes and lifestyles – it would be a pity if someone needed out.’
‘Wouldn’t it be best to wait for Dam to be here?’ asked Esmé again. ‘We’ve only just moved in and you’re discussing the possibility of one of us leaving already… surely we can move on to another subject?’
‘If you want Dam to be present, call him, he can join in via his mobile,’ snapped Asa, rolling his empty crisp packet into a ball and throwing it at the kitchen bin.
‘For fuck’s sake, I’ll get Dam,’ snorted Jonah, retrieving his mobile and speed dialling. ‘Hey Dam, we need your input… what’s going to happen if one of these losers gets kicked out or leaves this place?’
The group listened as a tinny version of Dam joined the house meeting. Jonah switched his mobile to loudspeaker and placed it on the table.
‘It puts a whole new outlook on the finances for us all, so stop kidding about please… listen,’ continued Russ, his irritation simmering.
‘Did you hear that, Dam?’ shouted Jonah, towards his mobile. ‘Pathetic! I don’t get the negativity, this is like living with my mother.’
Esmé smirked, having known the Jones family when they lived in their street.
‘Look, if we fail to plan, we plan to fail…’ said Russ.
‘Did you really just say that?’ laughed Jonah. ‘I hate frigging corporate talk at the best of times but seriously man, at home during a house meeting?’ Jonah shook his head. ‘Dam, did you hear that?’
‘But it’s true.’ Russ looked from Esmé to Asa for back up but neither one wished to back such robotic phrasing. ‘So?’
‘I say we split it between the remaining ones should anyone leave, it gives us control over who moves in,’ said Jonah, reaching for more crisps.
‘We were hardly in control this time thanks to Kaney-boy… no offence, new girl, but I didn’t choose to include a female. Kane bailed out and Russ agreed Esmé could take his place without consulting the rest of us… where was the planning in that?’ said Asa.
‘I hardly had a choice. We’d already waited a week for Kane’s deposit and then he bailed,’ explained Russ. ‘Was I supposed to say no, then?’
‘But you didn’t consult us, did you?’ adds Asa.
‘Hang on a minute, I am here, listening to this you know… let’s face it, Russ may not have consulted you all but it’s hardly difficult living with me.’ Face again, second time in a matter of minutes.
‘I wouldn’t choose for the house to be mixed, would you?’ Asa asked Jonah, and suddenly they were allies.
Jonah shrugged.
‘Dam, back me up here?’
‘I’m not too fussed to be honest, she seems OK, so far. Except the football match trick… that wasn’t funny,’ said Dam’s tinny voice.
‘You weren’t even here!’ Esmé retorted.
‘Yeah, but Kane phoned and mentioned it,’ said the tinny voice.
Great, another display of male solidarity.
‘I wouldn’t have chosen to move in with four guys but needs must, so like it or lump it. You’d think I was a leper the way you’re all reacting.’
‘She’s got a point,’ laughed Asa. ‘And, she’s definitely more entertaining with the house guests than Kane would ever be.’ He snorted as a rapture of giggles bubbled from the mobile.
‘Yeah, that’s a point,’ adds Russ, smirking.
‘News travels quick around here,
’ said Esmé.
‘It was too good to waste, let’s put it like that,’ said Asa, raising an eyebrow.
Esmé huffed and shook her head.
‘We aren’t getting anywhere, are we?’ moaned Russ.
‘How can we decide anything when Dam’s not present and we can hardly hear what he’s saying,’ said Jonah.
‘Give it a rest, will ya,’ snapped Asa, sliding his chair backwards. ‘I’m off before this one winds me up any more.’ He pointed at Jonah before adding. ‘Esmé, let me know how you get on with your vacuuming quandary.’
Ha, ha. Now, he thinks I’m an idiot too.
‘And meeting adjourned,’ sneered Jonah, banging the table top, before following suit and leaving.
‘It wasn’t actually, but given the lack of progress, it might as well be postponed until another night,’ said Russ, as he watched them depart.
Esmé looked at Russ’s doleful expression.
‘Sorry, have I caused you a problem?’
‘If anything, you saved the situation. It was your brother that created the issue. He promised us the money and then dragged his heels.’
‘That’s kind of you to say but they were expecting a houseful of lads and they got lumbered with me.’
‘They’ll get over it,’ said Russ, as he pinned the emergency contact sheet on the rear of the kitchen door.
Chapter Fourteen
‘Esmé? Are you awake?’
The rapping on the door woke Esmé with a start. Her mobile read twenty past midnight.
‘What?’
‘It’s Dam.’
‘Yeah, I know.’
‘There’s a bloke on the doorstep asking to speak to you… he’s refusing to go away until he’s spoken to you.’
So Andrew had found the address. She’d kill her brother.
‘Esmé, are you coming down to see him?’
‘Yeah, I’ll be two minutes.’
‘OK, I’ll tell him.’
‘Don’t let him in though, leave him on the door step.’
Silence.
‘Dam? Are you there?’ Shit, he’d gone. Did he hear that final part?
Esmé pushed back the duvet and leapt from the warm confines of her bed. Having rummaged about for clothing, she pulled a hoodie over her pyjamas, and ruffled her hair. A wet finger wiped beneath each eye removed any sleep.
The landing light blinded her as she left her bedroom. Barefoot, she plodded down two flights of stairs to find the rear view of Andrew seated on the bottom step.
‘What do you want, Andrew?’
He jumped at the sound of her voice and looked startled by the sight of her.
‘Esmé! Hear me out, please. Earlier when I said that we could…’
‘What are you doing here?’
‘Please don’t do this.’
Esmé pushed past him, walked to the front door and opened it wide, sweeping her free hand in the direction of the garden path. ‘If you don’t mind, I need to get my sleep, I have work in the morning.’
‘Esmé,’ said Andrew, as he leapt to her side trying to place his arms around her.
‘Get off, you have no right to touch me.’
‘But…’ Andrew took a few steps back, giving her some space but not as much as Esmé wanted. Her desire was a large wooden door separating them.
‘No! I mean it. We’re finished. I’m not happy with the decision but I have no choice. I spent seven years with you… we weren’t even engaged in that time, that’s how serious you were about me.’ She held up her bare left hand. ‘See, no diamond ring.’
‘If that’s what you want…’
‘Andrew, no! It was what I wanted until I walked in to find that earring and now I want nothing more than to return to my bed, alone. So, goodnight.’
‘I think she’s made it quite clear,’ came a male voice from the direction of the kitchen. ‘You need to act like a well-mannered gent and do as she asks.’
Esmé and Andrew turned to see Asa casually walking along the corridor, coffee mug in hand. His face was expressionless, and his body language non-threatening but his eyes were directly on Andrew.
‘Sorry mate, but who are you?’ Andrew stepped back on seeing the tattooed features.
‘That doesn’t matter. I heard her ask politely, so now’s the time to leave.’
‘Excuse me, who do you think you’re talking to?’ snapped Andrew, his chest inflating.
Asa calmly walked to the front door and stood beside Esmé.
‘You. I’m speaking directly to you, Andrew,’ said Asa, before he sipped his coffee and stared at him over the rim of the mug.
Andrew’s jaw tightened, he was agitated by the interruption.
Esmé watched as Andrew’s eyes travelled back and forth across the tattooed skin. Asa’s casual manner was annoying the hell of him.
‘Esmé?’
She shrugged, trying to control the grin that was threatening to spring to her face.
‘Seriously, she asked you to leave and so, you need to go.’
‘Do you want to take this outside, mate?’ asked Andrew, his bolshiness finally emerging.
‘Sorry, but I’m not your mate and I don’t remember suggesting anything of the sort. You’ve been asked to leave our premises. Esmé asked you politely and now, I’m telling you.’
‘Or?’ Andrew took a step towards Asa.
The lounge door opened, Russ and Dam appeared bang on cue.
‘Is everything OK out here?’ asked Dam, coming into the hallway.
‘Fine mate, just fine. Thanks for fetching her,’ said Andrew, as if Dam was his new-found buddy.
‘See you,’ said Esmé.
‘Esmé…’
‘Bye Andrew.’ Esmé left the front door wide open and started for the staircase. ‘Thanks fellas, I’ll see you in the morning.’ She climbed calmly to the first landing determined not to look back until she was around the corner. Then she leant over the banister and peered down into the hallway.
Andrew was staring at Asa, who in turn stared back.
‘Now, me and the lads are fully aware that you’ve been parked over the road for the last few hours watching the house. We can see you’re upset. I’m sure you’ve a million and one things to discuss. But that doesn’t excuse your behaviour, OK?’
‘Hey mate, she’s my girlfriend… I can…’
‘No, you can’t. She made it clear she doesn’t wish to speak to you. In future, I suggest that you call her and make suitable arrangements to sit down and discuss your business. Harassing her at this time in the morning and making demands isn’t right. It’s not fair on her, or us.’
‘You can’t tell me when I—’
‘If I need to call the police, I will. She doesn’t need you stalking her.’ Were Asa’s final words before the heavy door closed firmly on Andrew’s heels.
Esmé watched as Asa calmly turned to the other two and shrugged.
‘Don’t ask because I haven’t a clue. I was in the kitchen making a drink but that didn’t look nice.’
‘Is she alright?’ asked Russ.
‘Who knows?’ replied Asa. ‘He’s been parked outside all night staring at the house.’
‘I’m not sure she realised,’ added Russ.
‘Which one of us is going upstairs to check she’s OK?’ asked Dam.
Silence descended on the hallway. On the first landing Esmé silently eased herself away from the banister and hastily tiptoed up the second flight of stairs.
Rap a tap tap
‘Yes?’
‘It’s me… Russ.’
Esmé climbed out of bed, wrapping her duvet around her pyjama clad body before she opened the door.
‘Hi Russ, what’s up,’ she said as casually as she could.
‘The guys were wondering if you were alright?’
‘I’m good, thanks.’
‘Sure?’
Esmé nodded, but dropped her gaze
Russ tilted his head to catch the line of her eye.
&
nbsp; ‘Need a cuppa?’ he asked, on seeing the glisten of a tear and the redness of previous tears.
Esmé shook her head.
‘Asa said you can beat him with the iron poker if it makes you feel better,’ he added.
Esmé cracked a smile.
‘No thanks, another time maybe.’
‘OK. I’ll leave you be, get some sleep and… shout if you want a drink bringing up.’
‘Cheers, Russ.’
‘Good night, Esmé.’
Esmé closed the door and returned to her tearstained pillow.
Chapter Fifteen
Day 6: Accept an invitation
It had been an emotional day.
Esmé’s feet ached by the time she arrived home on Tuesday evening. She’d missed two buses on her homeward journey from work so had to jump on the next best route and was dropped off a fair distance from home.
She breathed a sigh of relief on entering number seven’s gate, soon she’d be feet up, tea in hand and chilling.
She slid her hand into her pocket for the keys: empty. Instantly, she knew where they were – sitting on the hallway table inside number seven. A burning sting sprang from behind her eyes.
Could today get any worse?
‘The Dolman order has fallen through,’ complained Steely Stylo, as soon as she arrived in the office. ‘I asked you to phone last week to confirm the order but, oh no, too busy to care. A two thousand pound order up the swanny.’
Esmé tried to protest but Mrs Stylo’s retreating figure was hard to argue with. It wasn’t her fault, she had phoned as she’d asked.
An hour later, the office door burst open and a young man in a crash helmet and biker leathers walked in carrying a large bouquet box.
‘Esmé Peel,’ he announced, without lifting his visor.
‘Yes, that’s me.’
‘Delivery. Sign here please?’
The office stood still for a minute while Esmé got a grip of her senses. The delivery guy plonked the box on the nearest table and offered her his pen and clipboard.
‘Since when did Katrina send the delivery guys up here?’ asked Penny, peering over the top of her computer screen.
‘Since she started having this many flower deliveries,’ said Marianne, pointing at six different arrangements displayed around the office that had arrived earlier in a similar manner.