37. Bash
37
BASH
As it turned out, Bash’s streak of good days kept on coming.
It appeared there weren’t many people wanting to play tennis in the middle of winter, two days after Christmas, which meant it was almost too easy to book a court for their trio for once.
The changing room was mostly empty when they wandered in. Bash and Bennet dumped their bags on benches and began shedding themselves of outdoor clothes for their tennis whites. Though while they took layers off , Freddy piled them on.
“You not getting changed, Fred?” Bennet’s voice as he picked cat hair off of his training shirt made Bash look over from pulling on his shorts.
“I might have to just umpire you today, guys,” Freddy replied, adding gloves to his attire.
Fear spiked in Bash’s blood. He hadn’t noticed as they’d walked how rigidly Freddy had held himself. “Is your back alright?”
Freddy wafted the concern away with a glove. “Just a flare up. Nothing to worry about. ”
“You sure?”
“Yeah. I brought my heat packs.” The blonde tapped the pockets of his gym bag he’d brought all of the way here for no reason. Bash made a mental note to carry it for him on the way out. “All good.”
The courts were freezing, but at least they’d managed to snag a couple of hours on an indoor court instead of the rooftop. Still, the giant hall was like stepping inside of a tin can buried in snow. Bash needed to get his body moving, and fast.
Freddy set himself up on a chair at one end of their court’s net, looking like a grandpa with his woolly hat pulled down around his head and a scarf covering every inch of his neck. Surely moving about and staying warm would be better for his back? Loosen up the muscles? But that was Freddy’s choice and Bash wouldn’t interfere.
He’d learned his lesson that he couldn’t tell the man what to do. Ever since university, people misjudged Freddy’s quietness for isolation, when really he was just trying to get through the day. And with all of the stress in his life of suddenly having to raise his twin nephews at their energetic age of seven, when he’d never wanted to be a father at all just yet, Bash didn’t want to add to it. Though it killed him to hold his tongue.
Bennet began their warm up rally. Baseline to baseline, they steadily hit the ball back and forth between them. Having that as something to focus on felt like a good distraction to bring up what Bash was dying to shout to the world, before their practice required any more thought.
“So … I have some news.” The ball bounced in Bennet’s service box and again in Bash’s. His friends’ silence was expectant, so he finally – finally – said, “I got together with Faye.”
“Fucking finally,” Freddy moaned whilst Bennet stumbled over his feet, gawking and recovering before it was him who ended up bruised this time .
Bash glanced a frown over to the grandpa of the trio. “What do you mean?”
“I know I came in a little later to the group, but since day one I’ve known you’ve been pining after her.”
“Don’t hit me with that crap.” Bash laughed, sending the ball along the court. “You’re a bad liar.”
“Even I know how you’ve felt, Bash, and I barely know Faye,” Bennet added in.
That’s because you don’t ever hang out with the girls anymore. Bash bit back his tongue. He wasn’t sure why Bennet had stopped occasionally joining in on things with his friends when Faye, Maisie and Sienna were there too.
“How’d it happen?” Freddy asked.
“I don’t even know where to begin with that.” And there were details Bash wanted to keep to himself, like walking in on Faye naked … or kissing her senseless under the mistletoe. “Christmas with my family was … eventful.”
“Did you tell her you love her?”
He laughed, not nearly as out of breath or warmed up as he should be by now. “You two are a pair of gossips, you know that?”
“Yes.” Bennet put a bit more attack behind his rally and Bash had to lunge for the ball. “So answer the question.”
He resigned himself with a smile. “Yes, I did.”
Calling them a couple, boyfriend and girlfriend, or any kind of label was jumping the gun a tiny bit, since it hadn’t even been a whole day since those confessions at the bottom of Morris’ stairs. But based on everything they’d said, a couple was where they were headed, surely?
Throwing his head back, Freddy rigidly raised his arms and fists up in the air in celebration. Had the man really figured out his pining for that long?
“It turns out that she’s been in love with me for years too. And we’re both idiots.” Which Bash meant in the fondest sense possible .
“Do the girls know?” Freddy asked next.
“I’m not sure.”
Spreading the fact that he and Faye had slept together wasn’t the first thing on Bash’s list of priorities – no, the first was seeing her again.
Faye was naturally closer to Sienna and Maisie than he was, so he’d let her tell them of their news, if she hadn’t already. They all had plans to spend New Year’s Eve together at his house anyway, so if Maisie and Sienna didn’t know by then, then they’d figure it out when Bash reached for Faye at the stroke of midnight.
God help him when he had to tell his family. How long could he put it off? Maman would pull out a scrapbook and begin planning a wedding and baby names before the admission had finished leaving his mouth.
Bennet had been quiet for a minute, which was a record for him.
Bash caught the ball instead of returning it, which made Bennet stumble again though this time to a halt. In the corner of his eye, Freddy didn’t know which of the two of them to look at, clearly wondering why they’d stopped. Bash knew exactly what would be going through his business partner’s mind now that things were different between him and Faye.
Interpreting the concern in his eyes, Bennet took a long breath that ended in a sigh. “It’s almost New Year.”
The deadline for them to reject or accept the offer to work for Woodrow and Sturridge loomed over their heads. Bash read the email from Christmas Eve, and all it proposed was a step up in pay on a contract resembling the returns that PD&F Luxe already earned, only under conditions determined by somebody else. It would be the same job just without their own names on the door.
Even if he didn’t want to see where his relationship with Faye went, Bash didn’t see a point in uprooting his life for something that was more of the same .
No matter the outcome, he had to do this delicately. “I know.”
Bennet tapped his racket strings against his trainer toe. Eyes down, he uttered, “We’re not going to America, are we?”
At the edge of the court Freddy frowned and snapped his eyes Bash’s way.
“I know things are new between me and Faye,” Bash said to Bennet, “but I can’t leave now. She’s moving to Manchester in a couple of weeks to open a new bakery so things are already going to be tough.”
Freddy’s eyes widened another notch and Bash remembered that he didn’t know about Faye’s plans to leave. But it was too late now to take back what he’d said.
Bennet nodded slowly.
“And would you really want to work for Woodrow and Sturridge ? Scratch your name off of the door we worked so hard to get it written on in the first place?”
“No … No, you’re right.” Bennet dragged his hand through his hair. “I guess I got excited that people from New York wanted us . We’d have been doing the same work for the same rates, just four thousand miles away.”
Bash felt like shit. “I’m sorry I burst your bubble, Ben.” And he meant it, aware of the ball of guilt in his stomach for being the reason they were holding back.
There were so many avenues still left for them to explore here, and in the rest of Europe too. Ones which wouldn’t mean moving halfway across the world. Bennet always said that he was interested in designing spaces for not just homes, but events too. He loved the glitz and glamour of high life far more than Bash ever would. So maybe that’s what they could explore next?
Bouncing the tennis ball, Bash set up another rally before his own balls grew any colder. Freddy still glared as if he’d just kicked a puppy, wordlessly saying he wanted to know what the hell they were talking about. He’d explain in a minute .
Bennet returned the bright yellow-green ball over the net, looking at him when he said, “I want to stay working with you and stay your friend more than I want to go off to America. Life isn’t always about moving on up. Sometimes it’s about sitting and being happy where you are for a while. We’re doing great as we are, we don’t need to work for someone else. And as soon as I heard Faye’s voice when she picked up your phone on Christmas Eve, I knew there was no way you were going to go.”
Bash caught the ball again and stopped their play. He really wanted to get warm, but he wanted to say this more. “I’m in love with her, Ben, more than I know how to describe. I want to stay, it’s what’s best for me. So thank you, I appreciate this.”
Bennet shrugged. “Swings and roundabouts, Bash. Something else will come along.”
“Something will.” Bash’s mouth pulled a sharp smile – they needed some levity. “It might be your turn soon to find the love of your life.”
Bennet scoffed. “Definitely not.”
Bash turned his attention to Freddy instead who’d buried his hands up under his armpits, sitting there very much like he waited for someone to bring him his tea.
One blonde brow shot up. “Don’t look at me. I’ve got enough on my plate without throwing a woman into the mix.”
Bash jogged over to him and kindly bonked him on the head with the strings of his racket despite Freddy’s spluttering expletive.
“So make the plate bigger,” he said firmly before jogging backwards to his position on court. “It will help.”
“Fine. I’ll think about it.” Bash knew Freddy wouldn’t. All he could do was keep on encouraging. “Now what the hell is this America stuff?”
“Okay, since I actually need my dick now and for it to not freeze off” – Bash took a new ball from his pocket – “we’re going to play and talk, how about that?” They’d already wasted enough court time by not playing, and he had somewhere he wanted to be this evening.
Bennet laughed at him and readied his stance on his baseline.
Freddy groaned, “Fine. But if you ever again imply that you’re doing something sexual with my friend Faye, I’m walking out of here.”