‘Make sure you don’t get your suit soaked before you even get there,’ Katie said, ‘You don’t want to look scruffy on your first day.’
‘Don’t worry,’ he said calmly, ‘I’ve got a taxi booked for today because I haven’t a clue when the buses run at this time, and I don’t fancy standing in the rain with a bunch of school kids either.’
‘Cool. Right then. Have you got everything?’
‘Well, I don’t actually need anything. I’ve got my bank details for my salary and some money for lunch. Other than that, not a lot.’
‘Oh, fair enough. Ring me if you get chance, to let me know how you’re getting on.’
‘I will. God knows when it will be, lunchtime probably. Failing that, I’ll be round tonight to fill you in.’
She wished him luck again and lay back in bed, making no effort to stifle the yawn escaping from her mouth. She’d barely slept thanks to her midnight rendezvous with Dave, his words tumbling around her head, mixing up her feelings and emotions. She’d thought she was falling in love with Jack, yet one visit from her former lover had put this in serious doubt. With another yawn and a groan, Katie tried to turn her thoughts to Jack and his first day at work.
Jack had been applying for jobs whenever he saw an appropriate one advertised, but there weren’t many good opportunities and he hadn’t had many interviews. He’d been so excited on Saturday when he’d dragged her through the streets to see his new building. It would do him good to have a job. The temping had been getting him down, not least because of the fact that he might go for a fortnight without work, and when he did get an offer it was often very poorly paid.
She’d also noticed, although she hadn’t said anything, that he’d moderate his own behaviour or enjoyment to make sure he could entertain her. He’d take her to the pub for a drink and then buy her whatever she asked for. Then she’d watch him make a pint last for an hour to avoid running out of money. When they went to the cinema, he always insisted on buying the tickets, even though on one occasion he’d been forced to borrow a five-pound note from her because he’d spent most of his money on the taxi. Two days later he’d turned up on her doorstep with a huge bouquet of her favourite flowers, tulips, because he’d just received a cheque from the temping agency. Now, hopefully, he wouldn’t have to worry about being short of cash, and she wouldn’t have to worry about him struggling.
Jack entered his new place of employment feeling a mixture of anxious enthusiasm and trepidation at stepping into something new and unknown. He’d felt exactly the same on his first day at secondary school. He remembered getting out of his father’s car and giving him a slight wave as he’d driven off. Nothing too obvious in front of his new schoolmates, just a half swing of his arm in the general direction of the car, he didn’t want to look like a mummy’s, or daddy’s, boy.
He recalled how, despite having been shown round previously at an open day, he’d forgotten where to go completely. He knew that all the first years were supposed to go to the hall to be taken to their form rooms, but he’d no idea where the hall was.
The school was very quiet because of the rule stating that, on the first day back after the summer, the rest of the school would come in after lunch to allow the new starters time to wander around and find their way. He was just beginning to panic when he spotted another boy with a shiny new bag, looking terrified. He’d asked if the boy knew where the hall was and the boy said that he was also new and was lost. They’d teamed up and arrived at the hall together, through a side door, greeted by curious glances from two hundred pairs of eleven-year old eyes.
Now, walking through the foyer of this new building, Jack looked all around, trying to take in as much as possible, hoping he’d remember the right way to go from his interview. He smiled politely at the receptionist and stood next to a couple of people waiting for the lift. When it arrived, he got in and stated the floor he wanted when the man nearest the panel asked him.
He found the correct department without any problem and introduced himself to the four people who were also starting their employment that morning. They signed their starter forms, already printed up in advance, and were given a security number so they could access the building without having to buzz the receptionist. Then they were told to meet in the training room in fifteen minutes where they’d be shown company videos and so on.
Jack had spotted a coffee machine on the way to his department so he decided to get a drink before he went to training. He found the machine without any problem and was enjoying his day so far. He was excited and paying attention to everything he was being told and was hoping to make a good impression. Not wanting to be the last of the four to meet the woman who’d be conducting the training, he set off back along the various corridors. He turned a corner and found himself faced with a sign for a separate department to his own so, undaunted, he turned back thinking he must have counted the wrong number of doors on the last hallway.
Two minutes later Jack still hadn’t found the training room and was annoyed with himself. Unlike school, though, he strode confidently into the large, open plan office in front of him and up to the biggest desk. There was a pale, tired looking man sitting behind the desk, deep in conversation with a plain, but still pretty, girl, who appeared to be taking notes.
‘Hi, excuse me,’ he said to the man.
The girl looked across at him and the man spun slightly on his chair to face him.
‘Morning, what can I do for you?’ He must be well stressed to look so bad, Jack thought.
‘Sorry to bother you. I’m new and I’ve managed to get lost. I’m after the training room, if you could point me in the right direction…’ He let his voice trail off as the man nodded and began to speak.
‘Oh right. Em, will you show this chap to training please? I’ll hand out the files this morning.’
The girl smiled at the man in the chair with what Jack took to be affection before handing him the pile of papers she’d been holding and motioning for Jack to follow her.
‘So you’re new then,’ she stated when they were out of the office.
‘Yeah, first day.’ He paused, unsure whether he should say anything else. ‘I’m Jack.’
She smiled at him, finding his freshness and uncertainty amusing and familiar. ‘I’m Emma. I’ve not been here long myself actually. The training room’s a sod to find because it’s actually labelled as a second conference room. I missed it myself when I started. Anyway, it’s just here. Enjoy.’
‘Thanks a lot, brilliant,’ Jack said gratefully and hurried into the room to be greeted by the other new starters and the lady from personnel, staring at him as he apologised and sat down.
* * * * * *
‘Well, he brought a smile to your face.’ Ben mocked when Em returned.
‘Fuck off, I’m just happy.’
‘Yeah, ever since you clapped eyes on the new boy.’
‘Hmm, he was nice looking I suppose. Anyway, I assume there’s no company policy prohibiting the admiration of attractive male colleagues?’
‘Not at all, put on your cowboy hat and ride him into submission for all I care.’
‘Why Mr. Torrance!’ Em exclaimed in an exaggerated Gone with the Wind drawl, ‘I’m sure I don’t know what you mean.’
* * * * * *
Katie’s mobile telephone was perched on her desk right next to her computer keyboard, with the ring volume set to full in case Jack should call to let her know how his big day was going. She’d also been wondering, in spite of her efforts no to, if Dave would ring. Surely he won’t, he’s full of crap. It was just more lies. But try as she might, she found herself thinking about Dave as frequently as she thought of Jack.
Her eyes continually shifted between the screen of her monitor and the little screen on her mobile. She knew there was no need to keep staring at the phone, or even to have the ringer on so loud since, if anybody did try to reach her, the interference would cause the monitor screen to flicker violently.
She
waited impatiently all day and finally, just after half past four, left the office and jumped in her car. She raced home to prepare something nice for Jack after his first day, frustrated that he hadn’t rung, but well aware that he probably couldn’t just saunter off to the gents when he felt like it to give her a quick call. She’d just entered her flat, still with no idea what she was going to make, since she’d little in other than microwave meals and bags of prepared vegetables, when her mobile began to ring. Typical, I have it next to my hand all day and it rings when it’s in the bottom of my bag. She saw Jack’s name on the screen and she felt the tiniest pang of something she couldn’t quite put her finger on. Not disappointment surely? I don’t care about Dave. I don’t care what he does or who he’s doing it with.
‘How was it?’ She asked excitedly.
‘Great,’ Jack replied casually, as if he’d done nothing more than get his hair cut, ‘I didn’t do much.’
‘Just training and that eh?’
‘Yeah, pretty much. Either way, it’s a doddle for the money I’m getting. Do me very nicely thanks.’
This was better; she thought with a smile, he’s keen on the job.
‘So you like it then?’
‘Oh yeah. Mind you, like I said, I’ve hardly killed myself yet. I spent most of the day watching videos and having leaflets handed to me.’
She laughed, recognising the procedure, ‘Yeah, they do that everywhere. Anyway, are you coming over for tea or what?’
‘Absolutely my love, I’m starving now I’m a working boy.’
‘I’m ever so proud,’ she said sarcastically, ‘God knows what I’m going to make.’
‘Tell you what,’ he said suddenly, ‘Don’t bother making anything and I’ll bring some take-away or something.’
‘Yeah, if you like. I’m gonna jump in the bath in that case. See you when you get here.’
‘Might you still be in the bath?’ He sounded like a hormonal teenager.
‘No,’ she said firmly, ‘I’m hungry as well you know. I might be dirty again later on though,’ she hinted.
They said goodbye and he promised to be there as quickly as he could to tell her more about his new job.
Katie found that she couldn’t stop smiling while she ran a bath, then lowered herself into the steaming water, her head filled with thoughts of Jack. She’d been miserable for so long thanks to men like her bastard former lover. She’d even considered, briefly, adopting an attitude more in tune with Jen, her man-eating best friend. Then, out of the blue, and by pure coincidence, she’d met Jack. Well-mannered, caring, thoughtful, great in bed, wonderful Jack.
Katie was happy with her life for the first time in a long time, and, as even Jen conceded, Jack appeared to be at least as keen as she was on the whole couple arrangement. Despite this positive upturn in her life, however, she couldn’t help but have some reservations about where the relationship was heading. She adored being with Jack and was having a great time, but wasn’t sure if she really trusted him and this annoyed her. What would happen if they had to spend time apart for some reason, or some stunning, long-legged female colleague turned his head? What if her short, slightly overweight body wasn’t enough for him? Would she be able to believe him if questions were asked, or would she automatically assume the worst?
She couldn’t help but remember her reaction when she’d seen him walking down the street with the blonde girl who’d turned out to be his sister. She’d been so prepared to believe that Jack had let her down, her mind made up that he was cheating on her before she’d even spoken to him. None of this was his fault, of course, but if they were to have a future together, Katie realised that she’d have to learn to accept what he told her as the truth or she might eventually drive him away. He’d been great about her insulting his sister and accusing him of all kinds of things, but how long could she expect him to keep ignoring the fact that she was totally insecure and emotionally shattered? She could feel herself falling for him a little more with each passing day, but what if he didn’t feel the same? What if this was all just a game to him? And why, when she demanded so much honesty in return, had she still failed to tell Jack about Dave’s unexpected visit?
Chapter Thirty-one
Having waited as long as possible by the telephone before finally leaving for work, Rhia was sitting in her car puzzling over what to do next. Ben must have read her letter by now, yet he hadn’t been in touch. She’d fondly imagined that he’d come downstairs and, like always, he’d pick up the morning paper on his way to the kitchen to make himself a cup of coffee. He couldn’t have failed to see her letter, and, she reasoned, would’ve recognised the handwriting on the envelope as hers.
She’d been in two minds as to whether or not she should ring him to make sure that he’d actually read the letter and not simply thrown it in the bin. Instead, she decided to wait for him to get in touch. She’d asked him to call as soon as he’d read it and was annoyed that he hadn’t. But despite the setback, she was still confident that pouring her feelings out in such a way would move him to action.
Writing a letter to Ben had been the last resort for Rhia. She’d tried ringing him over and over, at all times of the day and night; had left countless messages on his home answering machine and on his mobile, all to no avail. He hadn’t returned any of her calls and, after the first few times, had stopped answering his mobile altogether. Even concealing her number to fool him into answering had only worked once. The moment she spoke he simply cut her off and then switched off his telephone.
Finally, out of sheer frustration, and realising that she was getting nowhere, she decided to try once more and then give up, ready to accept that he wasn’t ready to talk to her. It was then that he’d answered the telephone and being willing to listen to her. She’d been so shocked that, at first, she couldn’t think of anything to say, she’d grown so used to hearing the machine click on and the recording of Ben’s voice announcing that he was either busy or out. They’d managed to talk for a few minutes and then, predictably, and perhaps inevitably, had argued before slamming down their respective receivers almost simultaneously. It was after this that she’d thought of the letter, being able to say exactly how she felt without being interrupted. Now, it seemed, this too had been in vain.
Despite being almost positive that Ben would not ring her on her mobile she couldn’t help but check it throughout the day, making sure that there was a signal and that she hadn’t received any text messages from him either.
He never called her at Daniels and DeVie because he said he preferred to talk to her for more than a few hurried moments and he also liked to have her full attention. At work, she’d be distracted and might suddenly have to cut him off if she became busy, therefore he preferred to wait until they were both at home where they could chat away to each other about anything and everything for as long as they liked.
Their lives had been great, up until Ben decided he wanted kids. She’d dismissed him at first, mistakenly thinking it was just a passing fancy perhaps resulting from drunken discussions with his mates, and that he’d go off the idea. She’d even agreed to the idea to keep him happy, saying that they could try for a baby, but not for a couple of years until they had more money to play with.
It was then that the arguments had started, becoming worse until they couldn’t have a discussion without the topic of children being mentioned. Ben started drinking more and more and she started staying out later and later to avoid the rows and confrontation, to avoid him.
Now, driving back to her sister’s house, she thought how quickly and easily their relationship seemed to have crumbled. They’d deteriorated from a madly in love young couple with a bright future, into two separate beings who could no longer communicate without fighting. It made her sad to think of it, such a terrible waste, so much to lose.
She went into the house and shouted a greeting to her sister.
‘Fran? Any calls for me?’
‘He hasn’t rung,’ Fran replied flatly.
‘Do you expect him to after what you did?’
‘No, I suppose not,’ Rhia answered, bored of the constant digs and judgement.
Her sister watched in silence while Rhia climbed the stairs, a weary, beaten expression on her face.
* * * * * *
‘So do you think you’ll like it then?’ Katie asked after Jack had told her about his first day.
‘Have to wait and see I suppose, but I’m hardly killing myself and it’s got to be better than temping.’
‘Too right. At least you’ve got a foot in the door now. I’ll put that Chinese out shall I?’ She asked, taking the bags from the table and heading for the kitchen. ‘What did you get anyway?’
‘I got a beef chow mein and some egg fried rice for me and I got you your fave.’
‘Which is?’ She turned to see if he’d remembered. She’d told him the information when they’d stayed up nearly all night about a week after they’d first met, drinking their way through several bottles of beer.
‘King prawn special fried rice with a side portion of mushrooms, of course.’
‘You’re so good at this.’ She smiled at his answer and went to put out the food.
‘Can I have a quick shower before I have mine? I feel all grubby.’
‘Yeah, dive in. There’s nothing worse than that sticky feeling you get from sitting in a warm office all day.’
While Jack went to clean himself up, Katie opened the various trays and tipped the steaming contents on to a couple of plates. She took them out into the living room and placed them on the table before dashing back into the kitchen to get knives and forks. She was on only her third mouthful when he re-appeared, wrapped in a towel, hair still dripping slightly and spiky on top where he’d run his fingers through it.
‘That’s better. God, I’m starving.’
He sat next to her and began to eat. She noticed the warm clean smell coming from him, even over the powerful mix of odours from the Chinese food, and smiled. Perhaps her broken heart, caused by Dave’s lies and deceit, was beginning to mend quite nicely. That still didn’t alter the fact that Dave had forced his way back into her consciousness. With Jack beside her, however, the confusion and uncertainty that she’d initially felt after Dave’s re-emergence seemed silly and unimportant.
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