This Time Around

by Davies,Amy

  Connie and I are meeting Rachel at a cafe near the shopping centre so we can fill our bellies and then hit the shops. Connie changed into a white shirt with a white tank that has ‘#Love’ printed on the front, and she went with her pink patterned Converse. Now me, I throw on a plain grey t-shirt and tuck it into a pair of denim cut offs and a put on a pair of black Converse. I add a little make up and I let my hair dry naturally so it has a little kink to it.

  We spot Rachel already seated at a booth in the diner, so we make our way over to her. Both her and Connie scream when they see each other. I smile at the interaction they have; a real bond. Even though Rachel is not blood related, Connie still tells people that she is her auntie and it is the same with Adrian and Claire.

  “Oh my baby girl, look how much you have grown. You will be taller than me soon,” Rachel says, smiling down at Connie.

  “Well that isn’t hard is it,” I wink at my best friend.

  “Shut it you. So tell me Miss Connie, what have I missed since we have been away? I want to know all the deets. Do not leave anything out.” I take the seat next to Connie and Rachel sits opposite us and they get to chatting about what has been happening in BH while we were away.

  Once Connie has filled her in on all details she turns to me. “Mum, can I go and say hi to some of my friends from school?”

  “Sure. But not too long okay, we have shopping to do.”

  “Okay.” She weaves through the tables to get to her friends table. I turn back to Rachel and see her watching Connie talk to her friends.

  “God, I missed the shit out of her. Glad to be home. So how have you been since we got back? I found it very hard leaving my bed; so comfy and warm and plushy,” she sighs into her coffee mug.

  “It has been amazing. And I agree about the bed thing. Connie sent Hetch in to wake me this morning because I just could not pull myself away from my fluffy pillows and my nice smooth sheets. That damn dog interrupted a very sweet dream I was having as well.” I pout as I clench my thighs together just thinking of the way Liam made love to me on my top deck, in my dream. Always my dreams.

  “Oh, hey I forgot to tell you that Adrian took on a new partner while we were away. Did you know the garage was in trouble? I swear I will kick his arse if he didn’t tell us. Oh, and from what I have heard around town the new partner is fucking hot. As in over six feet tall, dark and very sexy. The ladies seem to find problems with their cars so they can take it into the garage. Me thinks it is time we visit our ole pal, Ade.” She winks at me and I smile at her.

  “Sounds like a plan my friend. Sounds like a plan. Oh, speaking of hot, I thought I saw him at the pool this morning with a little boy. I swear to all that is Holy, it was him, Rach. The guy even had a spine tattoo that looked very much like his. He vanished before I could get a better look,” I tell her.

  “Are you sure? I mean I know that it has been ten years, but girl you have to let him go and move on. I mean look at you, you are now thinking that you are seeing him around the place. I get it, the sex was hot and he was mind blowing in bed but dude, there has to be someone else out there that blows his sexy time out of the water,” she winks at me.

  “I doubt that. It is not like I haven’t tried to move on, I have dated but we just never seem to click the way we did that night. Even in the small amount of hours we had together, he left an impression on my body, and what I wouldn’t give to have more of him. Damn the things he can do with his tongue and his fingers. Damn.” This time I wink at her and she bursts out laughing.

  I turn to my daughter and call her. “Connie, let’s go we have spending to do, kiddo,”

  “Coming, Mum,” she answers. I see her say goodbye to her friends and I take some money out of my purse and drop it onto the table. Rachel is already walking towards the door, someone is eager to go shopping.

  We spend the rest of day going in and out of nearly every store that is open. Rachel spoils Connie once again. She makes her try on outfit after outfit. Shoe after shoe and Connie laps it all up. She is never one to shy away from attention but in a good way, she always stays grounded and my little earth child. By the time we get home Connie is yawning like a trooper, she is so tired she can barely keep her eyes open.

  “Baby girl, why don’t you go grab a quick shower and climb into bed. I will bring up a light snack for you, yeah?” I tell her as I place all of our bags on the couch. We can sort through all these tomorrow. The day has wiped me out. Getting back into our routine is a must. I want her to live her life and enjoy the little things. Because we do not know what is around the corner and you sure as hell do not know when such a precious life can end.

  Penny

  Setting the jug of orange juice on the patio table, I walk to the bottom of the stairs and call for Connie once again. Placing my hand on the bannister I lean forward hoping my voice carries up to her room.

  “Connie James Miller, get your arse out of bed now. Breakfast is ready and we are eating out on the deck, so please get a move on. I have things to do today.” Damn that girl sleeps like the dead, just like her mum.

  “I’m tireeed,” comes from her room.

  “Welcome to my world, kid. Now if you want to meet up with the girls at Grams’s house, I suggest that you one-” I tick them off my fingers even though I know she cannot see me. “Get your backside out of bed. Two, get that said backside down here and eat your breakfast. Three, shower and get ready, so I can drop you off on my way to see Uncle Adrian. Now move, kiddo.” I finish up with a shake of my head. As I reach the patio doors I hear Connie coming down the stairs and smile to myself. I take a seat and take a hold of my coffee mug and bring the liquid treasure to my nose and I inhale the smell, the smell of the Gods. I have the radio playing in the kitchen and the sound just reaches the deck.

  The sound of the seagulls and the small engine boats drown out most of the music. Sipping my coffee I watch the boats coming and going from our little harbor. I love sitting here and watching the men that I have known most of my life go to work fishing or just enjoying their retirement. I wave at Mr Biggins as his little tug boat glides past. That old man is as old as the town I swear it. I giggle to myself as Connie dredges through the door and plonks her bum down in the seat next to me.

  “Morning, babe. Pancakes? Or toast?” I ask her. I know she loves her pancakes and she will never refuse them.

  “Pancakes, please,” she says as she pours herself a glass of juice. I place three pancakes on her plate with some berries and syrup. “Thank you,” she says, and digs in.

  “So, what are your plans for today with the girls?”

  “I think we will go to the park and hang out there for a little bit,” she says, before filling her face with more pancake.

  “Okay, sounds like fun. But please be careful and call me if you need anything, okay? I have some things to do in town today, after I pop over to see Uncle Adrian and find out about this new partner he has at the garage. Con, do you know anything about the new guy? I mean have you seen him?”

  “Yeah. I have seen him. I went with Pop’s when he wanted to go and see Uncle Ade about something. He is tall and has really black hair. He was nice to me and he even gave me some crisps when Pop's and Uncle Ade were talking,” she shrugs her shoulders.

  “Oh, okay. That’s good that he is nice. Hopefully I will get to meet him later when I go down to the garage. Have you finished?”

  “Yeah. I am going up to shower. I will be as quick as I can.” She runs off and up the stairs to shower and get ready for her day. After clearing the table and feeding Hetch, I sit and wait for Connie. You see, she is just like every teenage girl or woman out there. ‘I will be as quick as I can’ really means that she will be ready in about an hour or so.

  Picking up my Kindle and my new cup of coffee I sit back on the deck and start reading the book I was reading on my flight home. And let me tell you, trying not to blush too much when reading a book is harder than I ever thought. I get lost i
n my books, they take me away from my reality. They let you escape and be someone different, even if just for a small amount of time.

  “I’m ready,” Connie shouts from inside the house, jarring me from a rather steamy sex scene I was reading. Oh, wow. I fan my face and shut my Kindle off. Picking up my now empty coffee mug I walk into the kitchen, and lock the doors behind me. Once I place the mug in the sink I walk towards the front door and I pick up my bag and tap my thigh.

  “Come on, Hetch. Let’s go boy,” I call the beast. He goes everywhere with us, lucky for me he doesn’t need his lead anymore, he acts on voice commands. Again thanks to Matt. Once the three of us are in my car we open the windows to let some fresh air in. Summer in BH can be a killer when we have the hot weather and today is one of those days. The heat can be seen in clear waves rising off the asphalt and the tops of cars. Connie sits in the front with me while Hetch sits in the back with his massive head sticking out of the window and his tongue flapping in the wind; he always gets a smile out of people we drive past.

  Driving up to my parent’s house I see Justin and Matt playing basketball in the driveway. I laugh as I see Matt snatch the ball out of Justin’s hand and scores a slam dunk. Boys. The car comes to a stop and Connie bolts from the car to join in their game with Hetch in tow. Matt has always been a good looking man, he is Darla’s high school sweetheart as they say in America. They have been together since they were fourteen, and I can honestly say that they love each other now just as much as they did all those years ago. I smile at the three of them together as I climb out of my car. I walk towards them as Matt picks Connie up and swings her around, causing her laughter to fill the air around us. I have been lucky with Connie and the topic of her father. My dad, Matt and Adrian have been the perfect male models in her life. She has asked once or twice about her biological father, but once she was old enough for me to sit her down and explain to her about everything she hasn’t asked. She is happy with her life.

  As I get closer Matt puts my daughter back on her feet and walks towards me. He is just over six feet tall with chocolate brown hair and a perfectly toned body. My sister is one lucky bitch to snag him and keep him. He teaches at the local Comprehensive school in town, so he gets to enjoy the summer off and spend it with their kids and Connie. He is a God send.

  “Shit, I am getting way too old for this,” he laughs as he reaches me.

  “Old, my arse. Dude, you are super fit for your age. Believe me, I hear it enough from my sister and all the giggly teenage girls in town.” I wink at him and he shivers.

  “Please, do not bring up the girls from school,” he groans. “I actually had one girl ask me if she could help me watch the boys during the summer, just so she could spend more time with me. Freaked me the fuck out. I had to report it because she kept leaving notes on my desk,”

  “And what about the other women in town? They are of age,” I wink again.

  “Haha. Well they have very good taste, but your sister would have my balls if I even look at another woman, not that I would look, your sister is more than enough for me.” This time he winks at me and I fake gag. He hooks his arm around my shoulder and pulls me towards my parent’s front door.

  “Where is my darling sister today?”

  “At the salon, she wanted her hair done for the summer. You know how she gets.” I nod my head.

  “Yep. Hey, I can’t stay long I need to get over to the garage and see Adrian before I pop over to the hospital and see what my new shifts are, plus I have a load of things to do today,” I explain.

  “Cool. The Conster will be fine here. Me and the boys are staying for a few hours, so she will hang out with us.”

  We walk through the house and into the kitchen where both my parents are sitting at the table. Dad has his paper in his hand, flicking through the pages. Mum is sitting opposite him wrapping little pieces of red and white checkered cloth on top of little jam jars and tying the rope to secure the cloth. Mum makes the best homemade jam in the world.

  We stand there watching my parents talk about the kids, they haven’t noticed us yet. I smile, loving how much I want what my parents have. Matt clears his throat making my mum jump out of her skin. My dad, being the man that he is doesn’t even flinch.

  “Morning. I’m pretty sure that you married my other daughter, boy. Why do you have your grubby hands all over my baby girl?” My dad asks Matt. He kisses the side of my head and walks over the fridge.

  “Because I love her and we are going to run away together,” he says with dramatic effect. “I am surprised she has kept her hands off me for all these years and never revealing our sexy secret.” He winks at me and smirks behind his bottle of water. My mum giggles and I laugh out loud.

  “Oh my God Matt, good one. Yeah, they would never believe such a tall tale.”

  “Why not? I am sexy, I am wanted by hundreds of women,” he whines.

  “Yep and teenage girls,” I say through my laughter, making Matt bend over and pretend to throw up in the kitchen sink. I walk over to my parents.

  “Morning, Daddy,” I kiss his head and walk around to my mum. “Morning, Mum. Mmmm smells divine in here,” I say sniffing the air.

  “Yummy, jam. I can’t stay I need to go over and see Adrian and then over to the hospital,” I explain. “I will text you when I am on my way home.” I kiss my parents and then Matt on the cheek before heading outside to say bye to the three kids. They all shout their goodbyes but do not stop their game. Climbing back into my car I turn the music back up and drive towards town to see my other best friend. The Score’s ‘Oh My Love’ plays through my car. I turn up the volume and sing along to the song and groove in my seat. I wave at people in town as I make my way to Brooks Auto repair and Custom.

  It doesn’t take me long to arrive at my destination. I park my car to the side of the garage and climb out and make my way over to the four door repair garage. Three of the bays are repair and one bay is for the custom jobs.

  Rock music is blasting from the speakers around the place, but it didn’t seem to bother the customers. I see no-one sitting in the office so I make a beeline for the car that has two familiar legs sticking out from it. I can tell that it is Adrian under the car because of the tattoo he has on his left calf. He had a pin-up girl tattooed there that looked just like Claire. Sweet if you ask me. I get closer and clear my throat.

  “I am kinda busy right now, so you can go over to the office and speak to my wife, she can deal with anything you need,” he says from under the car, not even bothering to slide out to see who he is talking to.

  I kick his foot this time and it startles him enough to slide out from under the car. His mouth opens to yell, but he snaps it shut when he sees that it is me. A big goofy smile spreads across his handsome greased face and he jumps to his feet, picking me up in a crushing bear hug. He spins me around making me squeal. I laugh out loud making Adrian laugh.

  “God, I missed you, Jelly.” Adrian uses my nickname that he gave me years ago, after a night of way too many vodka shots my legs were like jelly walking home. He places me back on my feet but he doesn’t let me go. “Why the hell has it taken you three fucking days to come and see me?” He tries to keep the stern look on his face but he fails something awful.

  “Sorry, Ade, I just needed to get Connie and myself back into a routine. I’m sorry I didn’t come by sooner.” I fake pout. “But I am here now and you, my little racer, have a lot of explaining to do.” I raise an eyebrow at him. He has the cheek to look nervous. I have only been away for four freaking weeks and he managed to take on a new partner. Obviously this has been in motion since before I left. I take a look around the garage to see if I can see the new partner that everyone is talking about, and drooling over if what Rachel says is true. I see that the restoration bays have two cars in them. I know that this is something that Adrian has always wanted to do, but he never got the right mechanics in to do a good enough job by his standards.

  He hol
ds his hands up in a surrender action but smiles at me. “I know, I know. You know I have wanted to add this to the garage, but no fucker was good enough. So when I got a call from an old friend from college, he told me about this guy who wanted a fresh start for him and his eight year old son. He has worked in his grandfather's garage for years, and when his grandfather passed away, he left it to him. But he didn’t want to stay in the city anymore, so I offered him half of this place after we talked for a few months. I looked into his work and background. This bloke has lived, Jells, he truly lived the rock star life,” he winks at me. Wow.

  “Okay, fine, I guess after that speech I forgive you.” I smile at my best friend. “So where is this new partner of yours?” Right at that moment a car pulls into the garage. A shiver runs through me as I turn and see a red Audi A3 stopping a few feet from us. I can partially see the driver as the sun shines down in the windscreen, I just about make out his frame. The door opens and a muscular tattooed arm reaches the top of the door as the driver uses it for leverage to pull himself out of the car. My spine goes ramrod straight as the guy straightens and turns towards us. He is over six feet tall, with ink black hair with a small faux hair style. My heart starts to beat wildly in my chest. He is wearing a dark gray tank with dark blue jeans. The grease stains show that he obviously wears these to work more often than not. His biker boots sound heavy on the concrete as he walks around the car towards Adrian and me. His aviator glasses shade his eyes, but it is his smile that makes my breath catch.