AllFreeNovel
Share Us
‘Well, I’m holding…the TV remote…’ he replies and I breathe a sigh of relief. I wasn’t sure I was ready for that or how I felt about that at all. I can hear him laughing on the other end of the phone.
‘What are you watching?’ I ask him, smiling.
‘Did you think I was watching porn?’ he says chuckling.
‘NOOO! I am purely curious about your viewing habits.’
I hear him adjust himself in his bed. ‘Oh, it’s almost the very opposite. I’ve always liked to put on a nature documentary as I’m about to fall asleep. I find them calming. Not sure why.’
I pause, rooted to the spot on this very quiet street, looking up at the stars overhead, seeing how the cloud has cleared and they shine so very bright. ‘I reckon it’s Attenborough’s voice,’ I murmur.
‘Yeah, probably,’ he says, completely unaware of what he’s told me. He goes quiet for a moment. ‘Great, yep…’
‘Hello?’ I say, confused.
‘You anywhere near Parker Street?’ he asks me. ‘I think I’ve just found you a ride home. I have a million taxi apps on my phone.’
I open up maps on my phone. ‘Like literally round the corner,’ I tell him, a little shocked. ‘You did that for me?’
‘Well, I’m at home in the warm and I thought I’d help you out. You still live in Shepherd’s Bush, yeah? You’ll have to givehim your exact address.’ I stand there smiling to think he was doing that in the background while we were talking, that he was looking out for me on this cold Christmas evening. ‘Let me ping you the licence plate number, you’re looking for Jesus.’
‘Festive. Will I literally be riding home on a donkey?’ I giggle and he laughs in return. ‘Can I pay you back?’ I ask him.
‘In cash?’ he replies tentatively.
‘Have we got inappropriate again?’ I say. ‘I can ping some money over or maybe we can bill it to Frank?’
He laughs again. ‘Or maybe this is part of my Christmas gift to you. I’d rather you get home safely. You did a good thing for Frank today. Well done, Maggie.’ I stand there smiling to hear the compliment. I also realise in that moment how much I like hearing him say my name. ‘Nearly there?’ he asks me.
‘Yep,’ I say, picking up my pace.
‘So tell me more about this wedding.’ I hear him adjust himself in his bed and I picture him curled around a pillow, the duvet hanging over the curve of his shoulder.
‘What do you want to know?’ I ask him.
‘Start with the ceremony?’
‘Oh, there were birds…’ I say, a little too animatedly.
‘Birds?’
I turn into Parker Street and see a car halfway down, his hazard warning lights on. I check the licence plate with what Leo’s given me. I move towards it, smiling. ‘Yep. Real bloody birds.’
PART 3
JASPER
THIRTEEN
22nd December
‘Well, I didn’t know I had to buy a gift for your sister-in-law, Jeffrey!’ says the woman on the phone, sitting next to me. ‘I thought she’d left him…When did she come back?…For fuck’s sake…Well, of course I’m glad they fixed their marriage, but now I’m at the train station and I have to find her a gift…I can’t just get a gift card, she’ll know I forgot her…Fuck it, I’ll run to Marks and get a decent bottle of wine…Jeffrey, I don’t even like the woman. She called one of our children ugly, do you not remember that?’
I look across to see said children sitting to the front and side of her, trying to work out which one it is. I think you all look fine, kids, and I already hate this woman on your behalf. I’d give someone like that coal. I wouldn’t even wrap it, I’d throw it at her head.
‘Then I will buy you a bloody gift card too. Anything else you need? Shall I grab a turkey while I’m here? How about some parsnips? …Really? Stick it up your arse, Jeffrey.’
She hangs up, exhales huffily, scanning her kids’ facesas they all remain glued to devices on this concourse at Waterloo, quite unaffected by the mini row their parents seem to have had on the phone.
