Chapter 13
LIV
A warm glow spread through me as I walked home after meeting Maya.
I went inside the house where morning light bounced off the white walls, sending geometric shadows dancing across them.
I entered the kitchen and tidied up this morning’s breakfast things with a newfound burst of energy.
The coffee with Maya had done me the world of good.
I hadn’t realised how stressed I was about the counselling and it had been a relief to talk to someone about it.
I couldn’t believe that a woman as glamorous and composed as Maya had opened up to me too.
We had shared things that not even my closest friends knew about me.
‘Guess what, sweetheart?’ I said to Finn later as we walked home together hand in hand after school had finished. ‘We’re going to go to Elliot’s house tomorrow after school. His mum has invited you over to play.’
He frowned. ‘But I don’t like him.’
‘Now, love, come on, that’s not nice,’ I said, taken aback by my son’s response. ‘You’re going to have lots of fun.’ I had expected him to be excited at the chance to play with one of the little boys from school. As an only child, he loved nothing more than playing with other kids.
‘Elliot is mean, Mammy. He doesn’t share the toys at playtime.’
‘I’m sure he’s not that bad,’ I replied, brushing him off.
‘Maybe he is just a little shy. We’ll have fun in their house and if you’re both good, I might even buy you something nice in the sweet shop afterwards, how does that sound?
’ I knew bribery wasn’t my finest parenting move but sweets were strong currency in Finn’s world; a lot could be bought with a promise of getting a treat after.
‘Well, okay then.’ He ran off to switch on the TV.
‘Hi, love,’ I heard Jay call out when he came home from work a few minutes later.
He hoisted a bag of groceries up onto the countertop and they all spilled out over the top in a messy heap.
‘I was thinking of making a green curry for tonight; what do you reckon?’ he said.
Jay was a great cook and loved nothing more than buying the ingredients to create a dish for us to eat that evening.
‘Sounds lovely.’
‘Daddy!’ Finn cried out, hearing his father’s voice entering the room. He ran over and Jay lifted him into his arms and swung him around.
‘How’s my little man? Did you have fun at school today?’
Finn nodded, then Jay made an exaggerated play out of examining Finn’s head. ‘Do you know something? I think it has grown bigger since this morning; you must have been learning lots in school today.’
Finn giggled. I loved the bond between Jay and Finn and how Jay always made everything fun for our son. Jay placed him down again and he ran back to the TV.
He came over and gave me a kiss on the cheek then. ‘So how was your day?’
‘It was good. Guess who I went for coffee with today?’
Jay cocked his head to his shoulder. ‘Your mother?’
‘No.’
‘Linda?’
‘No.’
‘Come on, Liv, help me out here.’
‘Maya Laurence.’
He wrinkled his brow in confusion. ‘Who’s that?’
‘You know, the woman who goes to Julia after us,’ I prompted. ‘Her son is in Finn’s class.’
‘Oh yeah?’ He was taken aback. ‘How come you ended up going for coffee with her?’
‘Well, we both were in the queue to get a takeout coffee at the same time so she suggested we should have it together. At first, I was a bit unsure but I’m so glad I did.’
‘Was it not really awkward, with the fact that you both go to Julia?’
I shook my head. ‘It wasn’t a bit. She’s lovely, actually. I completely misjudged her.’
‘Really?’ His tone was sceptical.
‘What?’ I asked.
‘Well, you both seem like totally different people.’
‘I know but she’s not at all like I thought she’d be. She’s invited me and Finn over to her house after school tomorrow.’
‘But I don’t want to go,’ Finn chimed from the sofa, clearly listening in on the conversation. ‘I already tolded you, Mammy that I don’t like Elliot.’
Jay turned to me with a furrowed brow.
‘Apparently, Elliot doesn’t share his toys,’ I said with an eye-roll, before turning to our son. ‘Now come on, Finn,’ I chided. ‘I told you, you just need to get to know one another better. We’ll have fun.’
‘That’s nice, love. It’ll be good to get to know some of the other mums.’
‘I’m looking forward to it.’ I beamed. I found it hard to make friends as an adult; I used to have a small group of friends when I was working in the hospital but I hadn’t seen them in a long time.
We lost touch after I became a stay-at-home mum.
Since I had become a mother, all my encounters with other women tended to be transactional; when Finn was small, it was the mothers I’d meet at the mother and toddler group, or the mums at the playschool he had attended.
We would make polite conversation; the topic was usually something about the kids like weaning or potty training but it never seemed to move from the school gate into something deeper.
But with Maya, we had had an instant connection which I hadn’t felt with any other female since I was a teenager.
‘They live in Fairmont Heights,’ I added, enjoying telling him this.
Jay raised his brows. ‘Are you sure they’ll let you drive our little banger through the gates?’
I laughed. ‘She’s not like that, I swear. She’s so down to earth.’ I knew I was gushing but I was excited. ‘I can’t wait for you to meet her.’