Chapter 36
THIRTY-SIX
DECLAN
Two hours later Declan took a deep breath and knocked on Jess’s front door. He hoped she could not sense how nervous he was feeling.
‘Ready? We might just make the next train.’ He glanced at his watch. ‘Oh, and you look lovely,’ he remarked, taking in her appearance. She was wearing jeans and a red top that matched her lipstick.
‘Thanks,’ she said, feeling suddenly self-conscious and tucking a strand of her softly curled hair behind her ear.
As they took the short walk to the train station, the scent of Declan’s cologne drifted towards her in the warm summer breeze.
Jess never dreamt she would live on this wide, tree-lined avenue albeit in a rented apartment.
Places like hers rarely came onto the market at a price she could afford.
‘Your mum’s nice,’ said Declan, making conversation as they walked, and feeling inexplicably nervous. Maybe things would lighten up when they got to the golf venue and had a bit of fun. At least he hoped so.
‘She’s great,’ agreed Jess. ‘I miss her a lot,’ she confided as they walked.
They strolled along wide, tree-lined streets, and Jess admired the splendid mix of Victorian and Georgian houses as they turned corners.
Some of the homes had beautifully manicured front gardens and expensive-looking cars in the driveway.
Jess imagined living in such a house, with stained-glass windows filling the rooms with shafts of rainbow light.
She had browsed such properties on websites, daydreaming about living in one, when she had been looking for a place to rent following her divorce.
‘Imagine living in one of those,’ commented Declan, nodding to a particularly handsome house on Eshe Road North and tapping into her thoughts.
‘I know. Although I like to think the people that live in those houses can’t be completely happy,’ she said and he laughed. ‘Otherwise, there really is no justice in the world.’
Before long, the familiar green painted hut outside the station that offered coffees and snacks during daytime hours came into view, and Declan insisted on purchasing the train tickets.
Boarding the train, they sat opposite each other and chatted easily as the train rumbled along the familiar route towards the city centre.
Declan remembered the days out he had enjoyed on the train with his mum and his sister during the school holidays.
Sometimes they would head into Southport for a day at the funfair and the amusement arcades.
His mum would save a tub full of coppers to feed the machines that would churn out tickets in exchange for a small prize.
Pocket puzzles, or packets of crayons and jelly sweets, were like gold to him and his sister.
He took comfort in the fact that his sibling had at least enjoyed a happy childhood.
Pulling into the station, Declan glanced at his watch. They were in good time for their slot at the indoor golf, and he hoped Jess would agree to heading to a city bar before they caught the train home.
‘Wow this is some place,’ said Jess when they arrived at the venue, glancing around at the colourful, mind-blowing graffiti on the walls.
Street artists from all over the world expressed themselves on the walls of the urban indoor golf course as club music pumped out, giving it all an exciting but chilled vibe.
‘I thought it was something a bit different.’ Declan smiled, feeling happy with his choice of venue.
Jess discovered a talent she did not realise she possessed, as she struck golf balls that negotiated humps and bends, and fell straight into the hole.
‘You’ve done this before,’ said Declan, trailing behind.
‘I haven’t. Well, apart from the pitch and putt at Southport, but even that only once or twice.’ She laughed.
They were behind a group of blokes on a stag do at a further hole, who kindly ushered them ahead. Declan hit one of his balls so fiercely it hit the ceiling, missing the hole by miles and almost hitting him on the head when it descended, having Jess crease up with laughter.
‘They should give you crash helmets at the entrance,’ Declan said, laughing. ‘Or maybe I’m just really bad at this.’
‘No comment,’ said Jess, who continued to play her shots with ease. By the end of the course, passing through landscapes created from old buses, and disused rail tracks, they sat in a café area having some food and Jess clutched her winning score card.
‘That was a lot of fun,’ said Jess as she sipped a beer. ‘And I won, so bonus!’
‘I’m glad the golf was a good choice. Not so glad that you beat me,’ he said good-naturedly.
‘It was perfect,’ said Jess, unable to remember a time just recently when she had laughed so much.
Declan was such engaging company, though, it would not have mattered where they had gone on their date.
She thought of her ex, who was so competitive, he would have sulked at getting such a thrashing and ruined the whole evening.
Talk turned to their respective jobs then, and Jess asked Declan if he enjoyed his work.
‘I do, but I would really like to work for myself one day.’ He told her all about Alice’s offer of the building in Liverpool Road. ‘Working for the council is a safe enough job; I just think I would like to get my teeth into something bigger,’ he confided.
‘That’s brilliant,’ Jess said enthusiastically. ‘Alice really is something, isn’t she? Are you going to take her up on her offer?’
‘I would if I had some clients,’ he told her, desperately wishing that was the case. ‘Although I am doing the books for a new café around my full-time job. It’s something to consider for the future, though.’
There was also the possibility of doing the accounts for a small painting and decorating company in the near future.
‘How about you?’ Declan asked as he sipped his drink. ‘Do you like working in a shop?’
‘It’s an honest way to earn a living and I enjoy chatting to customers who are often lonely, when time allows.
I think it’s one of the reasons it is so easy with Alice,’ she told Declan.
‘Although one day I would like to own a little beauty salon,’ Jess admitted as she sipped her beer.
‘I trained as a beauty therapist when I left school.’
‘You mentioned that,’ said Declan, recalling the day she stood close to him and disguised his black eye. ‘Will you pick it up one day, do you think?’
‘A job in a salon doesn’t really work around school hours, and they are especially busy of a weekend,’ she explained. ‘But maybe, in the future, who knows?’ She shrugged.
It made Jess wonder just how many people give up on their dreams, trading a real passion for something mundane in order to have job security. Having said that, she truly believed that things came to you at the right time in life, and that you must never give up.
‘Talent cannot be suppressed; it will always rise to the surface given the right opportunity,’ her old teacher once told her, and she had never forgotten it.
In fact, her comment had inspired one of her old classmates, who she had run into recently, a bloke with an exceptional gift for painting who married young and had a family.
His interest resurfaced years later, when his kids were a bit older, so he enrolled on an art course and was now selling his paintings.
‘Well, here’s to fulfilling our ambitions,’ said Declan, raising his glass of beer, and Jess tapped hers against it.
‘I’ll drink to that,’ she said, and blushed as he smiled.
An hour later, having strolled in the direction of the train station along the city streets, they were seated in a cool cocktail bar, with jazz music gently playing in the background, sipping espresso martinis.
‘I’ve had a really lovely evening, Declan. Thank you,’ said Jess, her shoulders relaxing more and more.
‘It isn’t over yet.’ He looked into her eyes, and as he moved in closer his heart began to race. He leant over and kissed her on the lips that thrilled him even more than he expected it to, every nerve in his body tingling.
‘I hope that was okay,’ he said, as Jess looked around a little self-consciously.
‘It was fine. Lovely, in fact. I am just not one for public displays of affection.’ She tucked a strand of her softly curled hair behind her ear.
‘Me neither,’ said Declan, taking hold of her hand. ‘But I couldn’t help myself, I’ve been dying to do that all evening. If not longer.’