Out of Control

Chapter 4

Joe’s overriding feeling as he drove away from the house was relief. Relief that Fiona hadn’t said ‘no’ to his plea for somewhere to stay. Fiona was self-contained, confident, happy in her own skin, and appeared to have no special need for him or anyone else in her life. She’d never demanded anything from him, meaning he was free to carry on with his own life without the complication of wondering when or if to introduce her to his young adult children or wider family. Their weekly dates had been spent in a desert oasis reserved for just the two of them and that had suited them both. But his mates were getting curious about ‘this Fiona’. He suspected they thought he was making her up. And he was frustrated with making excuses for not taking her along to things and appearing like a Billy No-Mates.

As he drove, he hoped it wasn’t too late to add Fiona as his ‘plus one’ to the practice Christmas do that evening. He was looking forward to his colleagues’ reactions when he turned up with ‘this Fiona’, who was more attractive than his ex-wife, even though she was ten years older.

“Carol.” He leaned conspiratorially on the reception desk and spoke to the woman who kept the whole physio practice in check. “I’ll be bringing someone with me tonight — is that OK?”

“Fiona, at last!” Carol exclaimed. “That is fabulous. But why now?”

He didn’t elaborate any further, despite Carol clearly being desperate to know more. Fiona would look stunning this evening and everyone would be impressed. The anticipation thrilled him. How would he introduce her? His partner? Cohabitee? Girlfriend? Or just by her name?

Joe made himself a mug of instant coffee in the grimy cubbyhole that passed for a kitchen in the staffroom. Not as good as the coffee served at Fiona’s but on a par with the stuff his ex-wife Rose had always seemed happy with. Rose accepted the mundane and didn’t strive for anything better in the way that he did. Unfortunately, he still had to tolerate the mundaneness of work. His state pension was seven years away and the divorce meant that leaving the petty stresses of his career behind was not an option. He should have started a practice of his own as a young man instead of making money for someone else. He couldn’t even say he’d devoted himself to the NHS and received all that Covid-clapping back in 2020. He blamed Rose’s love of the ordinary for the failure of his marriage — more of the same had no longer been enough for him. With the kids leaving home they should have been doing something out of the ordinary.

He pulled himself back to the present. Tonight wouldn’t be mundane at all with Fiona shining at his side. He couldn’t wait.

Carol poked her head around the staffroom door. “Your first patient’s here, Joe.”

He gave her a wink and headed to his treatment room.