Chapter 59
Ed was waiting in her car outside his flat when Joe arrived. ‘I’ve been sitting there for ages,’ she snapped, displaying, as she got out, those beautifully shaped legs which could have belonged to a model instead of a City high-flyer. ‘Didn’t you get my texts?’
Although in one way he was glad to see her, Joe couldn’t help groaning inside. Ed was one of those people who didn’t mind keeping others waiting, but didn’t care for anyone else being late. If past history was anything to go by, she wouldn’t let up until she’d extracted a full and unabridged apology.
‘Look, I’m really sorry but a kid at school had an accident – it was my fault in a way – so I had to take him to hospital and …’
Ed waved a hand in the air before tucking it into his arm and walking with him towards his door. ‘I don’t want to know. It’s been a long hard day and I am gasping, absolutely gasping for a drink. Please tell me you have some ice.’
She spoke as though this was a social visit, so, not wanting to offend her in case she walked out in a huff (something she was quite capable of doing), as soon as they got in he poured her a large vodka and lime with ice. He then poured himself a cold lager.
‘Sit down,’ she said, waving him to his own sofa, ‘while I tell you what I found. I have to say that it’s looking hopeful. More hopeful than I had thought.’ They spent nearly an hour talking it over, by which time she had got through two more vodkas. ‘You won’t be able to drive now,’ he pointed out.
Ed stretched so that her taut brown stomach was on display between the top of her skirt and the bottom of the lacy camisole under her jacket. ‘I could always stay the night,’ she purred.
‘Sorry.’ Joe was already on the phone. ‘I’ve got plans, I’m afraid. But I’ll get you a taxi and you can pick up the car tomorrow.’
‘Tomorrow?’ Ed looked hopeful. ‘Does that mean you’ll be asking me over for dinner as a thank-you?’
Joe shook his head. ‘Ed, we agreed that all this is strictly business, didn’t we?’
She pouted. ‘Spoilsport.’ Then she staggered across to his fridge. ‘By the way, I think I left one of my gel eye packs in here. Don’t tell me one of your new girlfriends has pilfered it.’ She waggled a finger. ‘You owe me one.’
There was a loud beep outside. ‘Your taxi’s here,’ he said with relief.
‘I’m going, I’m going.’ As she passed him, she caught hold of his jacket lapels, forcing him to look at her. ‘And don’t forget, Joe. Not a word about our so-called business arrangement to anyone. Not until I’m certain. We don’t want anyone to be disappointed, do we?’
Then she departed, leaving Joe to breathe out a deep sigh of relief.
For the first time since he’d lived in London, Joe found himself at odds with everything that weekend. He did all the things he had promised himself. Portobello. Again. The Science Museum. A film in Leicester Square. But it all seemed to have lost its charm. He found himself yearning for the quiet evening walks along the Corrytown canal which he regularly enjoyed. He missed the coffee shops where you could get a seat and where you were bound to bump into a parent or someone from school. And he missed Gemma, dammit, with her sparkly eyes and knock on the door saying she was terribly sorry but she’d run out of chocolate powder again.
All in all, he wasn’t sorry to come back on Sunday night. As he went into his room he could hear raised voices through the wall between him and Gemma. It wasn’t difficult to hear what they were saying.
‘If you hadn’t been late on Friday, we wouldn’t have missed it. Frankly, I call it selfish.’
That was Action Man. Not the cool suave Action Man he had grown to dislike for no particular reason, but an angry cold Action Man who was being decidedly rude to a lady.
‘I couldn’t help it, Barry. It was an emergency. Beryl was glad of my support.’
That was definitely Gemma! An upset Gemma who made him want to march next door and tell this man/boy to cool it.
‘I’m sorry, Barry. But you know how important my work is.’
She was apologising? It ought to be stroppy Action Kid.
‘I just feel that you put everyone first at that place, and that I come second every time. It’s not right, Gemma. Don’t you want to be part of a couple?’
There was the sound of someone crying, and Joe had to clench his fists to stop himself bursting in. How dare that oaf talk to her like that?
The voices softened then, and he could hear low murmurings. Joe didn’t like the sound of that at all. They were making up. And from what he’d heard, Joyce’s son didn’t deserve that. Selfish, he had called Gemma. She was the least selfish person he knew, but he also knew that when someone was constantly criticised by their partner (as Ed had criticised him), their self-esteem plummeted and they believed what the other person said.
The next day, Joe took care to get to the bathroom even earlier than usual. The last thing he wanted was to bump into Gemma’s fiancé. If he did, he couldn’t trust himself not to give him a piece of his mind. He also wanted to get to his classroom early in order to sort out his number-project display, which was going on the wall for the parents to admire after the nativity play.
‘Mr Balls! Mr Balls!’
When Joe first arrived at Corrybank he’d been irritated by everyone’s habit of saying everything twice, whether they were children or adults. Now he was getting used to it.
‘Yes, Di.’ He did a double take at her bright red outfit. ‘I must say, that colour really suits you.’
She glowed at the compliment, which Joe hadn’t intended but which had somehow come out, and was making him feel surprisingly good about himself. ‘Thank you.’ She was waving an envelope in front of him. ‘It’s come! It’s come!’
‘What’s come?’
This was silly, thought Joe as he opened the envelope. They were beginning to sound like a bad pantomime script, although, in his opinion, you couldn’t get much worse than the one that was to be performed on Thursday night. Three wise women, indeed!
‘Have we won? Have we won?’ Di was jumping up and down now as though she was on the small mini trampoline in the hall.
Joe read the letter carefully, in case he had made a mistake.
‘I think,’ he said, handing it to her – it was headed TOP TEN PLAYGROUP/TOP TEN RECEPTION YEAR – ‘you might want to read this one for yourself.’ He smiled weakly. ‘Just to make sure I haven’t read it wrong.’