Chapter 15
FIFTEEN
DECLAN
Declan had woken early and was surprised at how fresh he felt.
Then again, he hadn’t really overdone it with the booze last night.
He had enjoyed himself and hoped Jess might have invited him in for a drink, but she had escorted him straight to the door after he had put Maisie to bed.
Not that it mattered; she barely knew him, after all.
He sincerely hoped that would change, though, if he could pluck up the courage to ask her out.
He was changed and ready to go for an early morning run, cutting through the park and heading down to the beach for a run along a section of the coastal path.
He hated gyms. He always felt claustrophobic building up a sweat indoors and much preferred being outside with nature, earphones plugged in erasing all thoughts of his working week.
He had spent enough time indoors to last him a lifetime.
‘Morning, Declan.’ Alice was heading out of her front door.
‘Hi, Alice. How are you this morning?’ Declan asked cheerfully.
‘Wonderful. I so enjoyed having company over; it was lovely having people to cook for. I’ve missed it since George passed.’
‘I’d be very happy to do it again. I’m not volunteering you for cooking, of course. Though I haven’t had a meal like that in ages.’ He smiled.
‘You’re most welcome. Are you off running?’ she asked, and Declan told her about his plan to run along the coastal path near the beach.
‘Well, enjoy yourself. I’m off out for a walk towards the beach later,’ she told him.
‘That’s a long walk. I thought you would be putting your feet up today,’ Declan commented.
‘It’s important to keep active at my age,’ she replied, not answering his implied question about the location. ‘I don’t want these old muscles to seize up.’
Once outside, Declan plugged his earbuds in, and crossed the road towards a small park, favoured by dog walkers, that had several benches dotted around and a war memorial looking out across a main road.
He took a left turn then, onto Mersey Road, passing the old church opposite the Co-op and listening to his music as he jogged.
This slow jog was the warming up part. At the beach, he would grab a bottle of water from the ice-cream van and head off, pushing himself as he ran.
Despite the music in his ears, he found himself thinking about Jess.
Had he imagined it, or had there been a spark of attraction between them?
He could not be sure, but he thought she felt something when their hands reached for the cutlery drawer together.
He had certainly felt something, and although he enjoyed his single life, out with his friends at the weekend going to the pub and the football, perhaps it was time for him to start dating again.
He was only twenty-nine years old, but he was out of practice.
His last relationship was, shockingly, over five years ago.
Before everything in his life had changed.
Declan placed his hands on his knees after his run and breathed deeply. He was happy with his time of six miles in around an hour. He scrunched up the water bottle and placed it in a nearby recycling bin before moving on.
Taking a shortcut home, on a path behind some sand dunes, he was approaching a junction ready to head back towards the apartments.
Unplugging his earphones, he pulled his phone from his pocket and glanced at it.
He had received a couple of texts, one from his mate asking if he fancied a pint later, and one from his mum.
He realised guiltily that he hadn’t been to visit for a couple of weeks, although he did message her regularly.
‘Mum, hi. How are things?’ he asked, deciding to give her a call.
He was sitting on a bench admiring the view of the rolling sea beyond.
‘Hello, Declan.’ His mum sounded happy to hear from him. ‘Oh, you know, not too bad, love. How are you?’
‘I’m fine, Mum. I was calling to see if it was okay to pop over tomorrow actually,’ he told her.
He supposed the call was prompted by a stab of guilt, although he was thinking of visiting his mum sometime soon.
Not that he had a problem with his mum. They were in regular contact, but what with work, and the weekends going so quickly, the time seemed to fly by.
But he ought to try harder. She had become good friends with the bloke next door, and maybe in some way it subconsciously absolved him from calling round as often as he should do, which was shocking really when he thought about it.
‘That would be nice, love. Will you be having Sunday lunch?’ she asked.
‘Are you making a roast?’ He smiled, her lunches conjuring up happy memories of times gone by when the family would sit around the table. Things had changed so much since then.
‘I could do, although Norman next door suggested a carvery at the pub. Come with us if you like?’ she offered.
‘No, you go for it, I’m only joking. A cup of tea will be fine. I’ll bring some of that lemon cake from Satterthwaites Bakehouse that I know you like.’
‘Lovely. I will have to share that, though; the doctor told me to watch my sugar after my last blood test, remember?’
Did he? Had she told him that?
‘A little of what you fancy should be okay, though, hey. See you tomorrow, Mum.’
He decided he would go and see her straight after Sunday morning football. They chatted for a few more minutes before he stood up to head off.
He had been thinking about his mum’s comments, trying to recall the conversation about her blood sugar, so he hadn’t paid much attention to the two blokes who walked past, both wearing black hoodies.
He was blindsided by the searing pain in his head as the punch landed.
The younger bloke had tried to grab his phone, the latest iPhone model, but he gripped it tightly to his chest. His whole life was in that phone.
He landed a strong punch on one of the pair, who fell backwards onto a patch of grass.
He squared up to the second bloke then, who ran away, quickly followed by his friend.
He realised they were just kids as he watched them running off, and pulled a tissue from his pocket and dabbed at the blood running down his cheek.
The bloke must have been wearing a ring.
The cut below his eyebrow was a few centimetres away from his eye and it could have caused some real damage.
What was wrong with the world today? he thought to himself as he walked on, his heart still beating wildly.
Walking up the path to his flat a while later, he saw Jess and Maisie were just heading out, both dressed in summer dresses.
‘Oh my gosh, what’s happened to you?’ Jess’s hand flew to her mouth.
‘You should see the other bloke,’ joked Declan. ‘I fell over whilst running.’ He smiled brightly at Maisie before whispering to Jess that he had been mugged.
‘I held on to my phone, though.’ He raised it and managed a smile.
Maisie frowned as she studied Declan’s face.
‘That looks sore. Our teacher tells us to get a wet paper towel if we have an accident,’ she told him innocently.
‘That’s what I will do, then. Well, kitchen roll will have to do.’ He smiled. ‘Are you off out somewhere nice, then?’ he asked Jess.
‘Just a bit of shopping in town. Maisie has a friend’s birthday party next weekend, so we are going to buy her a present; I’m also meeting a friend who has a daughter the same age as Maisie. We’re going to the museum,’ she told him.
‘I’m going to see the mummies,’ said Maisie. ‘We are learning about Egyptians at school.’
‘Cool.’ Declan smiled at Maisie, who reminded him of Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz in her gingham dress and plaited hair. ‘Have a nice time.’
‘And you. I hope the rest of it goes well, after your fall.’ Jess raised her eyebrow at him.
‘Cheers. Catch you later.’
Once inside, Declan looked in the mirror and could already see the purple hue emerging below his cheek.
He would have a right shiner in the morning.
He inspected the slit above his eye, that wasn’t long but seemed quite deep.
He considered going to the walk-in centre; perhaps it needed some glue or a stitch or two.
In the end, though, he pinched it together and covered it tightly with a fabric plaster.
The lovely evening at Alice’s dinner party had restored his faith in human nature before those young chancers had made him think again.
He wondered whether he deserved nice things to happen to him, given his past history.
Even though he hadn’t been entirely to blame.
Sitting down with a coffee, his thoughts went into overdrive.
Did one of those blokes look familiar? No, they were far too young; he was just being paranoid.
Surely, he would not have been targeted, not after all this time?
Besides, they would have done him with a knife, rather than just attempted to steal his phone.
They were opportunists, that was all. Maybe next time he would keep his phone firmly in his pocket when he was on that side of the path, where it was almost always quiet. Keep temptation away.
After showering and changing, he decided to stay home for the evening and watch a film, the attack having shaken him up more than he realised.
Pulling a beer from the fridge, he sat on the couch and scrolled through his phone.
Some photos of his sister popped up, and he caught his breath.
He treasured the last photograph of them together, taken at Blackpool Pleasure Beach on a rollercoaster when she was twelve, and he was fourteen.
They had gone on a school trip as a reward for good attendance.
Their mum was not one to indulge them in a day off school when all they had was something as simple as a cold.
Declan gripped the phone tightly as he sank back into the deep, black leather sofa.
He would back up his photos and anything else of importance onto a computer hard drive, in case he ever lost his phone.
Today had made him realise that. He glanced at the picture once more and managed a smile.
At least he and his sister had enjoyed some good times together.
He flicked on the TV, then searched for a movie to watch later. Then he would head out to buy that lemon cake for his mum.