Chapter 33
Soumia:
I thought you said you’d be home for tea
Callum:
Stuck down route
17:24
Soumia:
What happened this time?
17:25
Callum:
The APU wouldn’t start and there was no ground power unit to start the engine
17:26
Soumia:
What does that mean?
17:27
Callum:
Basically, the aircraft is fucked
17:28
Soumia:
Is it the same one we were on?
17:28
Callum:
No. I think the whole fleet is held together by silver tape
17:29
Soumia:
When are you home?
17:31
Callum:
Tomorrow. You haven’t asked me the most important question
17:32
Soumia:
***
17:32
Callum:
Who am I stuck with
17:33
Soumia:
Who are you stuck with? Ivy Walsh
17:34
Callum:
No, well yes, but she’s not who I mean. Olly is here. He got called out, the other engineer went sick
17:35
Soumia:
You going to taste his chorizo?
17:36
Callum:
All I know is that I’m going to have a large gin. We boarded the passengers for the return flight and then had to get them all off again when they couldn’t start the engine. We waited for hours before they realised it was fucked, then we went out of hours
17:38
Soumia:
Don’t get too drunk if Ivy’s there
17:39
Callum:
Well I won't be jumping in the pool with my tackle out
17:39
Soumia:
Keep me updated
17:40
Tiny World has managed to get us rooms in a chain hotel at the airport. The hotel bar is packed with oversized green armchairs. Olly throws a packet of crisps on a dark wooden table that separates us. He leans back into his chair and looks like he’s cocooned within it.
I pick up the crisps. ‘Prawn cocktail. I’m surprised they sell them here.’
‘They don’t. They’re mine from home. I don’t go anywhere without a packet of Seabrooks prawn cocktail.
They remind me of being little. My mum always had a packet with her.
I think it was the first crisp she tried when she arrived from Sweden, she liked them so much that she didn’t bother trying anything else. ’
‘And you’re willing to share your crisps with me?’ I take one from the packet.
‘You can have one or two, I don’t share food.’ Olly smiles.
I tap the pint of beer in front of me. ‘Thanks for this by the way but you really didn’t have to break another aircraft to get me out for a drink.’
‘It’s a good ploy though, isn’t it.’
‘I’m not sure you’d have a job for long, an engineer who grounds aircrafts every time he flies.’ I take a swig from my pint then wipe away the foam it leaves behind above my lips with the back of my hand.
‘Technically I fixed the aircraft, just not in time before you all went out of hours. I promise you it’s just a coincidence.
I don’t go throwing spanners into engines to take boys on dates.
’ It’s Olly’s turn to drink now. He looks so childlike in his big chair, unthreatening, a little mischievous. ‘How are you feeling after last night?’
‘Honestly, it took me by surprise. Well, took me by the arse if I’m telling the truth.’ Olly raises his eyebrows, willing me to explain. ‘I thought you’d followed me into the toilets for a quickie, kissing my neck and putting your hands on my arse, but when I turned around it was him.’
‘What a prick. I would have battered him if I’d known.’
‘He would have loved that, made him look like the victim. He’d be straight to the police.’ I take another crisp out of the packet and nibble off one of the ridges.
‘I didn’t know what you wanted me to do, that’s why I went home.’
Olly’s really enjoying the crisps. He licks his fingers after he puts each one in his mouth, then wipes his hands on his jeans and starts the process again.
‘I’ve not seen him for four months; I wasn’t expecting it. He doesn’t have power over me now.’
‘Do you want to talk about it?’
‘It’s a long story. I loved him, simple as that. I forgave him everything, didn’t question anything. I blamed myself for all the bits in between.’
‘What do you mean?’ Olly reaches over the table and holds my hand.
‘He made me believe the unbelievable. I never cheated, not once in six years. I didn’t so much as kiss anyone else.
I got crabs and I confronted him. He was so good at lying that I ended up apologising to him.
He convinced me I must have got them from a hotel towel down route.
It was a million little things like that.
I believed in situations I knew hadn’t happened.
’ I pause to take a sip. ‘I read a pile of self-help books because I thought I was going mad. He’d say things like, “you’re so much nicer now you’ve read those books. ”’
‘I’m so sorry that happened to you.’
‘Hindsight’s a wonderful thing. I know I wasn’t perfect; I’m hard work.’
‘You didn’t deserve that. Don’t ever think you deserved it.’ Olly squeezes my hand. ‘Are you listening?’
‘Yes, and I know. I really do.’
‘I wouldn’t treat you like that, in case you’re wondering.’ Olly leans back in his chair and picks up the packet of crisps, widens the seal, then pours the crumbs into his mouth.
‘How would you treat me then?’
‘It depends. Are we talking in the bedroom, or in general?’
‘I already know how you treat men in the bedroom.’
‘That was a taste, there’s a lot more. Callum, I don’t play games, and I don’t cheat.’ Olly has the ability to sound serious yet tease me at the same time. ‘We’ve only known each other a couple of weeks, but I do like you. I’d like to see where this goes.’
‘Me too. But will you stop trying to kill me by sabotaging my aircraft?’
‘Shut up, you dick.’ Olly jumps up, crouches next to my chair, and gives me a prawn cocktail flavoured snog.
It’s delicious. He pulls my face to his.
This is more than just a kiss, it’s a statement.
He’s telling me I can trust him, and despite everything that’s happened, the way we met, and what Liam did before that, I believe him.
He pulls away. ‘This might be too much too soon, but do you fancy going away this weekend?’
‘Gee, let me think about that for a second. Do I fancy going away with an absolute hunk for the weekend who’s just told me I’ve only had a taste of what’s to come? Absofuckinglutely.’
His phone vibrates on the table. His face lights up as he reads the message.
‘It’s my mum.’
‘Is she OK?’
‘She’s asking me where I am. I was supposed to be going to hers for Jansson’s.’ He types a message back to her.
‘What’s that?’
His phone illuminates again with another message. ‘It’s a type of Swedish casserole. We were brought up on it, along with herrings, and Eurovision.’
‘Eurovision. She’ll love me, I was going to get a Liverpool ’23 tattoo when it was on there. I got tickets.’
‘She’ll be so jealous.’ Olly’s phone buzzes again. ‘She says hello’ He gives out a giggle as he reads another message. ‘She also asked if you’re the boy I’m going to marry.’