Chapter 23 Freddie
Freddie
Time flies when you’re giving an impromptu concert.
I’ve been playing for nearly an hour. Only once I’ve exhausted my usual repertoire, and the tinny sound of Ethan’s toy keyboard starts to hurt my ears, do I wrap things up to a final smattering of applause.
A few folk approach me after to laud me with praise or, in the case of the table of young women, to ask if I’m single.
Flattered though I am, I joke that unfortunately my heart is promised to Henry Cavill.
They look a little disappointed, though they confess they can’t fault my taste. Or my ambition.
One of them asks to take a selfie and we pose for a quick picture.
“I filmed some of it, if you want me to send you the videos?” she offers, and I give her my Instagram handle.
Gradually, the café empties until it’s just Anna, Ethan, and I left.
“That was very impressive,” says Anna as we start to clear the dirty tables.
“It was Ethan’s idea,” I explain, shooting the kid a wink.
“Nuh-uh!” he says, mischief in his eyes.
Anna gives me a long, hard look. “Seriously though, you can really sing. No offence, but when you told me you were a musician, I didn’t think you’d actually be good!”
I shrug. “Thanks. I’m just relieved you’re not mad!”
“Mad?” Anna looks baffled. “No way! Did you see how packed it was in here? I don’t know if you noticed but people came in off the street to listen. Most of them bought something too!”
I’m starting to doubt if my head will fit out the door with all this ego-stroking. “Well, thanks. Just imagine what I can do with a proper instrument,” I say.
Anna’s brow knits, in deep thought. “I’ll speak to Shaun.”
“Why?” I ask.
“To see if you can play here sometimes, of course! I’ve been saying for weeks this place needs some more atmosphere. Plus, you’ve just proven it’s good for business so I don’t see how he can say no.”
She’s so matter of fact about it, but it feels too good to be true.
“You mean it? Like a singing waiter?”
“Sort of. Obviously, we’d still need you to do your normal job, but there's no reason why it couldn’t work.
An hour, here and there.” Anna deposits the mugs she’s carrying into the dishwasher and picks up the tip jar.
It rattles with coins and I even spot a couple of crumpled notes buried among the copper.
“Plus, you made us a lot of tips. So yeah, I don’t see why not. Only if you want to, of course?”
I feel my face light up like the sun. “Are you kidding me? That sounds rad!”
I’m buzzing! Of all the things to come out of an afternoon’s babysitting, I didn’t think this would be one of them. A job and a regular gig spot under the same roof? Sign me up. Especially if the man of my dreams is watching. Though if Henry doesn’t fancy it, at least I’ll have Shaun.
An hour later, we finish closing down the café and make our way outside onto the pavement.
While Anna locks up, I make Ethan promise he’ll keep practicing the keyboard in time for our next gig.
As they walk off in the other direction, I hear him loudly demanding that Anna pay for him to have music lessons because he’s “in a band now and that’s more important than school. ” Smart kid.
My bus turns onto the esplanade just as I reach the stop.
I flag it down and buy a ticket using the generous tips my singing earned me today.
Only once I’m hunkered down on the back seat do I pull out my phone and notice an unread message from Shaun.
I read it and my heart flutters like a hummingbird. Dinner at his? Yes please.
Quickly, I fire off a reply:
Hey handsome! Wasn’t ghosting you, I promise. It was a fun shift. If the invitation is still open, I’ll happily tell you about it over dinner. Just on the bus home but I can be with you in an hour? x
The message delivers and, within seconds, Shaun starts typing a reply:
Absolutely! Want me to pick you up? X
Then, another:
You’re all I’ve thought about today, by the way. X
I have to read those nine words multiple times to check I’m not daydreaming. Every time I do, the hummingbird in my chest flaps harder.
I shoot back:
Pure thoughts, I hope? Sounds good! I’ll message you when I’m ready. See you soon, handsome. X
Dusk falls over the town as the bus trundles along.
Smiling uncontrollably, I dig my ear buds from my jacket pocket and put on some music.
As I tap my fingers to the beat, Shaun is all I can think about too.
I thought he’d need more time to mull things over, but I guess an afternoon without me was too much for him to bear which, if true, is hot as hell.
Normally I blow guys off the moment they get too attached, but with Shaun I’m right there with him.
I’ve never had two dates in one day before, and definitely not with someone I like as much as him.
Buzzing doesn’t begin to cover it. I can’t wait to kiss him again.
Check me out! A job, a small crowd of adoring fans, and a gorgeous man cooking me dinner.
Looks like everything really is coming up Freddie.
The bus drops me off around the corner from Cherry Street. I set a quick pace, the cold nipping at my heels, though my heart’s too warm to really feel it—the sooner I get home, the sooner I get to see Shaun.
As my house comes into view, I stop dead in my tracks. There’s a police car parked outside.
For a split second, I’m frozen in place, unable to process what I’m seeing. Then, I’m running, sprinting full pelt along the pavement like a whippet out of the block.
As I reach our drive, kicking up gravel as I go, the front door opens and I come face-to-face with Rory and an officer in uniform.
Both of them stare at me, not saying anything.
“What happened?” I blurt out, then to Rory, “Are you okay?”
Rory looks murderous, his face and neck puce. The officer edges out the door and gives an awkward little cough.
“I’ll get out of your hair, Mr. Young. We’ll be in touch if we catch them, but any questions, you have my number.”
“Thank you,” Rory says through gritted teeth.
The officer shoots me a glance I can’t read as she passes by. Rory won’t even look at me. Once she’s in her car and out of earshot, I repeat my question.
“What happened?”
Rory glares at me, a look I know well: like he’s holding himself back from knocking me senseless. The veins in his neck and temples look ready to burst, but there’s something else hiding behind his eyes.
“Get in,” he snarls at last, stepping aside to let me through.
I sidle past him into the house and my jaw drops.
The place is a tip, furniture kicked over and bins strewn over the floor.
Everything valuable is gone. Rory’s PC, his games consoles, his sound system, all missing.
The TV has been ripped right off the wall, leaving a ragged hole in the plasterboard!
There’s no doubt we’ve been burgled. The entire living area has been picked clean.
“No…” The word slides off my tongue like a bitter pill. “No fucking way.”
The front door slams behind me and Rory’s heavy footsteps thud closer.
“Yes fucking way,” he growls.
“They took everything?”
“Yes,” Rory confirms, and the pit forming in my stomach implodes.
My feet take off on their own.
“Where do you think you’re going?” he barks, but I’m already halfway down the hall.
Please be there, please be there…
Flinging open my bedroom door, I breathe an enormous sigh of relief. My guitar is right where I left it, propped up in the corner of the room. Untouched.
Relieved, I wander back through to the living room in a daze. Rory is standing by the breakfast bar, scarlet with rage.
“Sorry. Had to check something.” I try my best not to sound happy. The guitar is the most important thing I own, but sentimental value holds little weight with Rory. “What did the police say?” I ask.
“They think it’s a gang. Third house that’s been hit this week. All tech stolen,” his voice is unnaturally steady, “and they did a shit on my bed.”
It’s a testament to my willpower that I don’t crack a smile. I do a quick inventory of the missing items, totting up values. I lose count somewhere in the low thousands. “Insurance will cover it though, right?”
Rory blinks. “No. It won’t.”
“What?” I exclaim. “Why not?”
“Because they didn’t break in. No sign of forced entry.”
Confused, I squint at him. “How? That means—”
“It means they walked in through the front door.” The calmness in Rory’s voice turns sinister. “Because it was unlocked, Fred. After you left it that way.”
My stomach, already a twisted mess, plummets through the floor.
Oh no. Oh no, no, no.
My thoughts race back to this morning, the opening moments of what was turning out to be one of the best days of my life, now crashing and burning around me. Surely I didn’t forget to lock up! I couldn’t have… I wouldn’t have… I…
All feeling disappears from my legs.
I did. Oh fuck, I actually did.
“Fuck! Rory, I… I don’t know what to say. I can’t believe it!”
“Really?” Rory draws himself up to full height. “Because I can.”
“Huh?”
The dam bursts as, finally, Rory starts yelling. “I believe you could be that fucking irresponsible!”
Every word is like a battering ram against my sternum. I fight to keep a level head.
“It was an accident, Rory. I swear! Just one of those dumb, fucking stupid mistakes—”
“A mistake? No, Freddie. A mistake would be putting detergent in the wrong slot in the washing machine. Forgetting to put the bins out—that’s a mistake.
This is a total fucking disaster. Do you know how much it’s going to cost me to replace all this?
” Not wanting to hazard a guess, I shake my head.
Rory scoffs. “I’ll rephrase: do you know how much it’s going to cost you? ”
“Me?” I sound more mouse than man.
A vicious flash in Rory’s eyes. “Yes, you. I think fifteen grand should cover it.”
The world tilts on its axis.
“Fifteen?”
“The TV alone was seven.”
My face goes slack, like my skin is hot wax melting off my skull.