by A. E. Murphy
Chapter Five
Eloise
The sound of the phone ringing wakes me from my deep sleep. I roll over and check my digital alarm clock on the bedside table. It’s three in the morning. Who the hell is calling at three in the morning?
Sluggishly, I climb from my bed and make my way into the hall, using one hand to push the hair back from my face as I go. My fingers snag in the knots and my foot catches the carpet runner in the hall, causing me to stumble before I reach the stairs.
“Damn it.”
The phone stops ringing the second I place my hand on the receiver.
“Double damn it.” I was looking forward to giving them a piece of my mind.
I turn away, ready to head back to the comfort of my bed, but it starts ringing again. The caller ID shows a number I don’t recognise. I pick it up and place it to my ear, my mouth open and ready to start cussing.
“CAN YOU HEAR THAT?” My hand immediately pulls the phone away from my ear as the sound of heavy metal music fills the receiver, along with an angry sounding male voice. “CAN YOU HEAR ME? BECAUSE I CAN’T HEAR MYSELF!”
“Umm…”
“THREE WEEKS. YOU PROMISED ME YOU’D SORT IT AND IT’S NOT EFFING SORTED!”
“I… what the hell are you talking about?”
Whoever it is falls silent for a moment. “Shit… you’re… you’re not Blackburn.”
“It depends on which Blackburn you need. If you’re looking for Darren, he left yesterday and won’t be back until Sunday.”
“Oh…” he curses under his breath. “Look. My neighbour is… Jesus I can’t fucking concentrate. Can you hear the music?”
“Yes. What property are you in?” I’m only assuming he’s one of Dad’s tenants. My assumptions seem to be correct, though.
“The Mills apartments. Number three.”
“Oooh.” I cringe. “You live next to the bald headed guy with the beefy arms and dodgy tattoos of naked women on his biceps, right?”
“Yes. Is there any chance you can call Darren and get him to sort this?”
I wince. Nothing I’m about to say is going to appease the poor man dealing with this kind of noise at this time. “No, he’s away with my uncle working on a new building project, otherwise I’d call him. Just a second… let me get my mum.”
“You’re just a kid? Fuck… I mean… balls I’m sorry. I keep swearing. It hasn’t been a good day.”
“Hang on, two seconds.” I place the phone on the table and run up the stairs. Only we would have a corded landline in the twenty-first century. I don’t bother knocking before I open the door to my parent’s room. Mum should be alone and she always wears a nightgown. “Mum?” Light spills across the clean, beige and green room after I flick the switch. Unfortunately I come face to face with an empty bed.
Where the hell is she?
“MUM?” I shout, hoping she’s somewhere else in the house whilst I grab my mobile from my bedroom. I call her twice but get no answer. Looks like I’m going to have to deal with this by myself.
Picking up the landline again I place it to my ear. “I’ll be there soon.”
“No, that’s… I’ll just wait for your parents to come back. Don’t leave…”
“If I don’t do something, my dad won’t be happy. This is a family business. It’s nothing I haven’t dealt with before.” I hang up and rush to get changed as the phone rings again, no doubt the angry tenant calling back to persuade me to stay. At least mum left the car behind. Thank God.
I really shouldn’t be doing this, but that building is ours and we have other tenants there who are sick of that nobhead’s crap. Luckily he’s on his final warning and I know just what to do to get him to shut up before my dad hopefully evicts him tomorrow.
I park in an empty spot outside of the building and spin the keys around my forefinger as I move towards the well-lit entrance. Using a green fob, I unlock it and wince at the sound of a heavy bass beat echoing through the halls as I step inside. I make my way through another door on the right and pace down the hallway towards apartment number three.
Knocking loud enough for our tenant to hear over the music, I wait patiently as the chain rattles and the door finally clicks open.
My mouth falls open and my heart begins to hammer as my palms sweat.
“Eloise?” He frowns and tilts his head, his eyes widening to match my own. “What are you…? Eloise Blackburn.” Blowing out a breath after laughing a little, he steps into the hall, dressed in only a black vest that shows his delicious arms and muscled chest and black, flannel pyjama bottoms that hang loosely from his hips in a way that should be illegal. I force myself to keep my eyes on his face for fear that I might never be able to tear them away from the rest of him. “I never put two and two together.”
“I’m here to save you from that.” I motion to the next apartment door and wave my torch a little.
“With a torch?”
“Kind of.” I grin and shuffle on the spot a little as my face flushes with heat. I hate that piercing stare he has; it makes you feel warm in all of the wrong places. “Actually I can’t evict him myself, but I can stop the music. I just need your help.”
“My help? Let me get my shoes.”
I wait with my back against the wall as he disappears into his flat and comes back moments later with his shoes on, but no jacket. I’m so glad it’s not a cold night; covering up his chest and arms would be a tragedy.
“Why do you need my help exactly?”
“You’ll see.” I smile wickedly and practically skip along the hall. “There’s a maintenance room in the basement. We’ll have to take the stairs.”
“I’m really sorry for calling you so late, it’s just… it hasn’t been a good day and I really needed my sleep. If I’d known you’d have driven out here at three in the morning, I never would have called.”
I wave him off. His apologies are pointless, especially since I know his day hasn’t been great. I want to ask him about Mrs Price, but I’m worried I’ll be overstepping. “It’s a family business. One day I’ll be taking over a portion of it anyway, if that’s what I decide to do. It’s good practice and besides, I have a Taser if the bald headed guy stirs up any trouble.”
We step into the cool stairwell and move to the door that leads down into the basement. I flick on the torch before unlocking the door and Mr Price uses the flash on his phone.
“Aren’t there lights down here?” He takes the lead as I guide him down the dimply lit stairs.
“Yes, but they are safety lights due to occasional damp and stuff. I’m not sure how it all works. I just know that it’s not very bright and extra light is never a bad thing.” This isn’t my first trip to the basement in this building. I spent my summer as a fifteen year old supervising builders and electricians as they touched the building up to standard.
He stops in his track and I come very close to colliding with his back. “You don’t know how it all works?”
“No, I mean yes… I know how… can we just get this done? I have classes in five hours.”
“You’re not the only one,” he grumbles and moves to the side so I can unlock the final door.
As expected, the room smells of damp and moss. It’s not the most pleasant smell in the world. It’s also very dimly lit, making me wonder why they bothered putting lights in at all.
“Over here,” I say, moving towards the fuse box situated behind shelves of cleaning supplies and a large water boiler.
“You’re not seriously going to mess with that are you?” Mr Price’s hand wraps around my bicep when I place my hand against the metal latch. His fingers are very warm against my naturally cold skin. I almost shiver at his touch, but quickly suppress it.
“Relax.” I hand him my torch and open the lid. “See? Everything is numbered.”
I look for the switch to flat number four and give Mr Price a wink before flicking it up.
“You’re insane. Is this even legal?”
I shrug. “Pr
obably not, but he’ll not want to stay without electricity and I left a message for my dad telling him what I was going to do. If he doesn’t approve, he can blame himself for not evicting the arsehole three weeks ago when he gave him a final warning after plenty of other warnings. You’re not the first to call at this time of night so don’t worry.”
“Fair enough.” He scratches at the slight stubble on his chin and waits for me to close the lid, before guiding me back around the shelves by my elbow. “Watch your step.”
I do as I’m told, moving carefully around a discarded mop bucket that we somehow avoided on the way in. “Are you hungry or anything?”
He glances at me out of the corner of his eye. “It’s past three in the morning. I don’t think it’s a good idea. You’re my student. I could lose my job.”
My lips pinch together in an effort to stop my laughter. “Actually I was just going to see if I could get you anything… I didn’t mean like we’d eat together or…”
“Oh.” He looks at the ceiling, clearly slightly embarrassed. “Right, of course. I knew that. Thank you for the offer but…”
“It’s late, I get it.” I smile, nudging his arm with my elbow. “I’ll let you get back to sleep. Thanks for coming with me.”
“No problem.” We stop at the door in the lobby that leads to his stretch of hallway. “Why did you need me?”
“I’m not allowed down there by myself. My dad would kill me. It’s not the safest place in the world and my level of clumsiness surpasses most people. Grace is something that escaped my genetic makeup.”
He looks to the ceiling again, this time smiling at my words. “Right, of course.”
“No hidden agenda, Mr Price. I won’t mention this to anybody I promise.”
“Me too.” I swipe the fob and the door unlocks, but he shakes his head. “I should walk you to your car.”
“You don’t have your key fob to get back in and this is a small town.” I motion to his clothing. “You’re not dressed and it’s nearly four in the morning.”
“This is an excellent point.” He pulls open the door and steps through before turning back to face me. “It’s odd hearing no sound. Thank you, Eloise.”
“No problem, Mr Price. Have a good evening. If there are any more problems, please just call again. I’m not sure how your neighbour will react and if he gives you any trouble, I’ll need to tell my dad about it.” I quickly add, before escaping the building and racing to my car.
“Thank you.”
I feel his eyes follow me through the glass window by the door, but I don’t turn back to check. Instead I race home, too hyped to even think of getting any more sleep.
There is one thing I noticed, I think as I lie in bed watching the tree near my window cast shadows upon my curtains, Mr Price didn’t look distraught so his mum must be okay. He only looked tired and a little withdrawn. This is good… I hope.
Isaac
I eat two apples and drink three cups of coffee on the way to school. Sleep evaded me after Eloise left last night. I tried to rest but failed. My guilt for calling a landline at such a late hour is intense, although it’s listed on my tenancy agreement as the secondary emergency contact number. How was I to know?
I don’t think Eloise blamed me, but at the same time a girl of her age should not have been out of her home at three in the morning. I should apologise again, but I don’t want to bring attention to her at school. Plus I’m not even sure if she’s in today.
My dad nods solemnly at me after I enter the staffroom. We haven’t spoken much since I left the hospital last night. There was little point in me being there. The staff were clearly annoyed with my still being present at one in the morning. I’ll go and see her on my lunch break. I’m just glad she’s okay and only has a mild concussion. Her spill down the stairs could have ended so much worse.
“There’s a rumour going around that we’re dating,” is giggled in my ear as I make my way to the staff toilets, almost desperate to relieve myself of the three coffees I downed on the way here.
Katherine’s words sink in after a moment and I look at her over my shoulder. “What?”
“Apparently students have seen us ‘dating’ during our lunch hour.”
After blinking a few times, I roll my eyes and make my way to the toilet. “Who cares?”
The elation on her face is too much. I almost think she’s going to follow me into the toilets, which would be as awkward as it would be annoying. Fortunately she stops after I push the door open, but she’s waiting for me as I leave.
“So, I was thinking… I mean they say…”
“Who say?” I interject.
“People in general say there’s no smoke without fire.” Her eyes become round with hope.
Hope for what?
“Your point being…?” I urge her to continue, my eyes going to the clock on the wall. Only ten minutes until the bell rings.
“Well, maybe we are kind of dating? Maybe we could… I don’t know, possibly date outside of our lunch hour?”
How is it that I didn’t notice that coming? “I don’t date my colleagues. It makes things awkward when things go wrong.”
Her brows hit her hairline and her lips part slightly. “I… yeah, I get that. But what if it doesn’t go wrong?”
“It always goes wrong,” I mutter so she can’t hear, but then I speak words that she can. “Thank you, but right now, with the constant mood I’m in, it will definitely go wrong.” I leave her in the staffroom and make a beeline for my room. So much work to do and there just aren’t enough hours in the day.
When the lunch bell rings, I drive straight to the hospital, only stopping to pick up a decent lunch from Crystal’s coffee shop for my mum. It seems my dad has the same idea, as he’s already here when I arrive and a tray of food and fresh orange is spread along the table that hovers over my mum’s lap.
“My boys spoil me,” Mum says, her voice raspy as she taps my cheek. “I bet Isaac remembered my brownie.”
“I was in a rush,” Dad grumbles, his lips twitching with a smile, but that soon disappears when I reveal the sandwiches and the brownies. “Well… you’re not totally useless.”
Mum slaps his arm, but we both know he’s kidding with only a slight amount of bitterness.
“So according to school gossip, our Isaac has a new love interest.”
Not him too!
“Who?” My mum’s face brightens as mine darkens.
“Katherine Hart.”
“Really?” I scoff. “You’re going to believe the words of a bunch of bored school kids?”
My mum lets out a breath of relief. “I can’t stand that woman. Too materialistic.”
“This I agree with.” My dad nods slowly, seeming to think on it for a moment. “It could be worse. He could be dating Shauna Sharp.”
Who?
“Oh god no. She’s vile.” The tone in Mum’s voice is definitely one of disgust. So full of disgust, I’m surprised she hasn’t mimicked being sick with her fingers in her mouth. “You’ll find a nice lady when the time is right. Until then, stay away from my book club ladies.”
Book club? “Duly noted.” She’s in a book club?
Time passes and eventually I leave to finish up my day of work. I’m hoping above all else that mum is released tomorrow. She has no visible marks, but her eyes hold a glassy gaze that shows her dizziness and slight disorientation. What she needs now is rest in her own home.
It’s shocking how much a person can change in just a few years. My dad has gotten heavier, yet my mum has become visibly frailer.
I’m poring over the text books spread out across my desk when I hear a knock at the door.
I really need to install a peep hole. I hate not knowing who’s on the other side.
When I open the door, I’m shocked to see the young, red haired Eloise Blackburn standing with a large basket in her arms. I notice the black bow tied to the handle as my eyes scan her from head to toe.
What the f
uck is she doing here? Is she trying to get me put under investigation?
“I’m really sorry to bother you.” She doesn’t look nervous. The way she’s holding herself certainly shows her confidence, but her voice betrays her by trembling slightly towards the end. “My dad evicted your neighbour today. He wanted to give you this himself.” She shakes the large hamper slightly, causing the clear plastic that shields it to crackle. “But you weren’t home. Mum was supposed to bring it but she’s always doing something at the moment.” A shadow flickers across her eyes, showing an emotion I don’t have time to place as it only lasts a fraction of a second.
“Right.” I reach out and take the hamper by the handle, not bothering to look inside. “Well… thank you for bringing it to me and tell your parents thank you for the unnecessary gift.” Which is quite heavy.
“Sure.” She smiles brightly. “Take care, Mr Price.”
“You too, Eloise.” She walks away before I close the door and I find myself watching her move down the hallway until the security door that blocks the ground floor flats to the lobby closes behind her. Sweet girl.
The second I finish marking the day’s work, I start researching stair lifts. The last thing my mum wants is to be classed as handicapped, but my dad wants her to conserve her energy and she won’t sell the house so they can invest in a bungalow. A stair lift is the next best thing. The problem is they aren’t cheap and there isn’t anywhere in the immediate area that sells and installs them. I know there are companies that travel far and wide to install, but I wanted something closer so if anything goes wrong with it, they’ll be here within six hours rather than a four day wait.
After forty minutes of figuring out the prices of everything somebody who isn’t physically able needs around the house, I’m stressed out to my limit and ready to give up. At this point it’s probably best that I take a break and do some shopping.