Chapter 27
Jay hated flip-flops and he wasn’t keen on sand either but they were a price he was prepared to pay for a day at the seaside.
He had to agree with the Victorians that there was something restorative about sea air.
It was hard not to keep checking over his shoulder as he waded across the soft sand but Nora and Bruce were fine, they were lying down together.
He nodded to the nice helpful man who had now returned to his family but for some reason they appeared to be packing up early.
It wasn’t far to the café and it was a nice stroll along the promenade in the sunshine.
On the way he spotted an ice cream shop that looked like it needed checking out later.
He ordered a vanilla latte to go and waited near a kiosk window.
Jay took a moment to take in his surroundings.
He rarely visited the seaside but it brought back memories of family holidays.
His mum trying to feed everyone paste sandwiches they didn’t want and then not letting them go swimming afterwards for reasons nobody ever explained.
His dad spending far too long measuring out a cricket pitch on the sand and desperately trying to get the bails to stay on the stumps even though the merest breeze would knock them off.
But despite any squabbles over spades or grumbles about sunhats they were all mollified by an ice cream. Happy days.
He watched a couple walk past him hand in hand and join the coffee queue.
He was dark and rugged, she was blonde and petite.
He wondered why small women seemed to go for big men.
Were they trying to even out the gene pool perhaps?
Did that mean there might be a very tall woman somewhere looking for someone exactly like Jay? The blonde woman was very pretty.
They were touching each other in that easy way that lovers do.
They were talking quietly and almost every sentence was punctuated with a kiss.
He didn’t like to stare but it was hard not to and they were oblivious to anyone or anything else around them.
All-consuming love, that was what Jay was after.
To know someone felt the same as you did, that was the dream.
The man pulled his phone from his pocket and shook his head. ‘I am so sorry. That’s a client who needs me. I’m going to have to dash but I’ll see you tonight, yeah?’
‘You getting a coffee?’ she asked.
‘No time. I need to go right away. And you’re going back to the office anyway.’
‘OK. You owe me,’ she said. The woman looked disappointed but she kissed him and waved as he strode off.
‘One frothy almond milk and a caramel latte for Jay?’ asked the lady at the kiosk window. Jay didn’t like to leave Bruce out and a quick Google had told him small amounts of plant-based milk alternatives were OK for dogs.
‘Sorry. Mine was a vanilla latte,’ said Jay.
‘My mistake, love. Give me a minute.’ She disappeared and the petite young woman came to stand near Jay. An Americano for Amelia arrived and the woman walked off into town.
Jay’s phone beeped with a text. It was probably Nora wondering where he’d got to. It wasn’t. It was a text from an unknown number that read:
Did you get your present? You didn’t say thank you. That’s not nice.
He stared at the message. An icy sensation trickled down his spine. Was this meant to be a joke? It really wasn’t very funny.
‘Vanilla latte for Jay,’ said the kiosk lady.
It took Jay a moment to pull his eyes away from the text message.
He shoved his phone in his back pocket. ‘Thank you.’ Jay took his drink and willed himself not to drink it through the lid because he always burned his tongue that way but he really wanted a shot of something to distract his mind from the message.
Who had sent him the cardboard cut-out and how had they got his phone number?
This was all getting a bit serious. He hoped he’d not been too long as he speed-walked back along the prom.
Nora was sitting up and looking for him when he returned.
‘I am so sorry. First they got my order wrong then I got a—’
‘It’s OK. Tell me later. Mickey is coming to the prom to meet me now anyway.’ Nora jumped to her feet. ‘How do I look?’
‘Gorgeous obviously,’ said Jay. Thinking how mad Mickey was to have cheated on her. He hoped he’d changed his ways. ‘I’ll keep everything crossed for you,’ he added, showing her his crossed fingers and almost dropping his coffee. Nora did the same crossed fingers gesture with both hands.
‘Wish me luck.’ She gave him a peck on the cheek and walked off across the sand. Somehow she didn’t seem to slip and slide about like he did.
Bruce sat up and whimpered as Nora got further and further away.
‘I know, mate,’ said Jay. ‘She’ll be back. Don’t worry. Here, try your no-caff almond latte.’
They watched as Nora reached the promenade and was greeted by a tall, dark man. Jay pushed his glasses up his nose. He was a little way away but that man was very familiar. Then it hit him. It was the loved-up guy who had been with the pretty blonde woman in the café.
Jay gasped but there was no one there to hear him. All he could do was watch them walk away.
*
Nora was excited to catch up with Mickey and to see if the old feelings were still there.
Although the old feelings had been mainly lust, and she did need something a bit more substantial than that.
Meeting up was the first step. It was odd but she felt a bit like she was cheating on Liam, though seeing as she’d not heard from him yet he was obviously not in a rush to set up another meeting so she really didn’t have anything to feel bad about.
And anyway it was only a friendly catch-up with Mickey and a chance for her to assess if dumping him had been the right decision.
At the time she had been shocked, angry and hurt.
Understandably she had not reacted well when she’d found Mickey in bed with someone else.
If she recalled the incident correctly she had screamed and shouted at him and he’d tried to get her to calm down, which had angered her further, making her give him the ultimatum of either get dressed or she was going to stick his bedside lamp up his arse and switch it on.
He had opted for getting dressed, as had the head receiver, who had slunk out quickly.
There had then followed a string of excuses from Mickey and pledges that it was a one-off and he would never be unfaithful again.
But Nora knew she couldn’t trust him. Which was why what Jay had said in the car had made her wonder why she was effectively giving him a second chance now.
Perhaps Mickey had changed or maybe he hadn’t but that was what today was about.
It was a chance to see if Mickey was the next viable option on the list of exes.
And if he wasn’t, then she could just move along.
But she didn’t feel she could skip over him without at least checking.
The worst case would be that she wasted an hour over a coffee – she could live with that.
‘Hey, Nora. Great to see you.’ He gave her a warm hug in greeting. ‘Shall we grab a coffee? The café at the leisure centre is pretty good and I get a staff discount.’
‘Sounds good.’
It wasn’t far to the leisure centre and Mickey filled the time by updating Nora on what he’d been up to since he’d last seen her and the many holidays he’d been on, which was accompanied by a variety of photographs of him topless on lots of different beaches.
As they entered the leisure centre he winked at the receptionist, who blushed and pressed a button so that Nora could follow him through the turnstile.
Should she read anything into that? Her spider sense was on red alert.
Take a deep breath, she told herself. She needed to relax and not jump to conclusions.
Mickey showed her through to the café, bought her a coffee and took it to a table in the corner.
‘What brings you to Skegness?’ he asked.
She could hardly say ‘you’, could she? But she decided to go with something close to the truth. ‘I’ve been reviewing my life and I thought—’
‘Ah, mid-life crisis, is it? I had a bit of one of those too. I bought a Porsche. I can show you later if you like.’
‘OK. I’m only twenty-nine so hopefully not a mid-life crisis as such …’
‘I get you. But you’ve been remembering the fun we had. Am I right?’ There was that wink again. She didn’t remember him doing that when they had dated. Had she forgotten or had he developed an annoying habit?
‘We did have fun,’ she confirmed, and an image of his topless body popped unhelpfully into her mind. ‘However, it takes more than fun to make a relationship.’
Mickey’s expression changed. ‘Shit, did I get you pregnant?’
‘No.’
‘OK great. Phew.’ He made a show of wiping his brow. His smile disappeared. ‘There’s nothing else is there …’ His eyes travelled downwards. ‘You know … not a rash or anything?’
‘Nope.’
Why did they always have the same thought process?
She decided to drink her coffee and then make a decision.
It wasn’t that she owed Mickey anything but she had been longing for a coffee ever since Jay had mentioned getting one.
A picture of Jay sliding along the sand in his flip-flops appeared in her mind and made her smile.
Whatever happened now she would have a good day with Jay and Bruce.
‘So update me, Mickey. How have things been with you?’ she asked.
For the next fifteen or so minutes she sipped her coffee and listened. Mickey’s favourite subject had always been Mickey. Although she wasn’t paying full attention. She hopefully was nodding in the right places but it was hard to stay focused when Mickey was talking about super sets and EMOM.
‘I’ve revolutionized our HIIT,’ he said with a sage nod.
‘My mum’s thinking about HRT,’ said Nora, tuning back in and wondering why Mickey was smirking at her.
‘HIIT stands for High Intensity Interval Training.’
‘Oh right. That’s not the same thing.’
‘Look, did you want to get out of here?’ he asked, downing the last of his coffee.
She did but not with him, though Nora was too polite to say that, so instead she nodded. They made it to reception where Mickey asked the receptionist to lie about where he was and she giggled.
‘You’ve still got a thing for receptionists then,’ said Nora as they walked outside.
Mickey laughed. ‘Yeah. It was all a bit awkward with Janette,’ he said. ‘She got a bit …’ He twirled his finger at the side of his head.
‘That’s quite unprofessional,’ she said.
‘You’re right. I said basically the same thing to management but because she made a fuss, I got my marching orders.’
‘I meant it was unprofessional of you to say that about a colleague,’ said Nora.
Mickey’s face went through a number of expressions, a little like the barrels on a fruit machine, until it settled on grinning disbelief.
‘Did you still want to come back to my place?’ He checked his watch.
‘I’ve got like thirty minutes.’ He pulled out some car keys and an ugly white car behind him flashed its indicators, which were oddly in time with Mickey’s eyebrows doing suggestive jumps.
‘What?’ asked Nora, most likely mirroring the look of disbelief but for different reasons.
‘You know. Back to mine. Quick …’ Instead of finishing the sentence Mickey whistled.
‘Oh good heavens. Are you suggesting we have sex?’
Mickey looked nervously about as he grinned like a teenage boy. ‘Yeah. What else did you come here for?’
‘You know, I’m not sure why I came but it definitely wasn’t for a hook-up with a dishonest, immoral and unscrupulous chancer like you. So thanks for the offer but you can stick it up your arse along with your bedside lamp!’ She turned and marched off.
‘Is that a definite no then?’ he called.
Nora stopped, turned around and strode back, making Mickey look wary. ‘I’m afraid it is, Mickey. And here’s some advice for you. When you can be anything in life, don’t be an arsehole!’
He looked genuinely confused as she walked away with her head held high. Maybe sometimes things were as easy as toe fungus. Mickey was a player and she wasn’t going to put herself through that ever again. If she’d learned anything about herself through this process, it was that she had standards.