Chapter 21
Theo placed a coffee, a plate of chips and a scone with jam and butter in front of me.
‘I wasn’t sure what you’d like so thought I’d play it safe.
’ He handed me a knife and fork wrapped in a napkin and sachets of salt and vinegar.
‘Once the traffic gets going again, it shouldn’t be too long ’til we reach the port.
When we’re settled, we can decide on a plan of action. ’
I gestured to my phone as Theo took the seat opposite. ‘Hopefully by then we’ll have something to go on.’ I nodded to the individual servings. ‘Aren’t you eating?’
‘I’m good with this,’ he replied, raising his cup.
Unlike Theo who’d troughed his way through a tub of biscuits, I hadn’t eaten all day and was starving.
As I ripped open the sachets, smothered the chips in salt and vinegar and dug in, I couldn’t help but swoon.
‘Who knew chips could taste so good?’ Shovelling forkful after forkful into my mouth, it wasn’t long before my plate was clear and I’d started on the scone.
I cut it in half and eagerly spread thick layers of butter and jam onto the two pieces.
I suddenly sensed Theo watching me and paused in my actions. ‘What?’ I asked, looking at him direct.
With a knife in my hand, then was not the time to offer an opinion on how much or how fast I was eating.
Or, indeed, make some joke about women needing to watch their figures.
Having kept a close eye on mine most of my adult life, I’d reached the age where no amount of gym exercise or lettuce nibbling made a god damn difference and if I couldn’t be happy with and accepting of myself at fifty, when could I be?
Theo smiled. ‘Nothing. It’s just nice to see you enjoy your food.’
‘Why wouldn’t I?’
‘Exactly. I can’t tell you the number of women who’d rather suffer over a salad bowl.’
Considering my sex, I stared at the man. ‘I think I have a good idea.’
‘Sorry,’ Theo said. ‘I don’t mean to mansplain and don’t get me wrong, you can do great things with fruit and veg.
But tossing them together with a drizzle of vinaigrette isn’t one of them.
Why would anyone put themselves through that?
’ As if realising he’d done it again, he put his hands up in surrender.
‘I know, I know. Societal pressure, et cetera et cetera. I get it.’
The more time I spent with Theo, the more I warmed to him. I indicated the untouched half of my scone. ‘Would you like some?’
Theo smiled. ‘Tempting…’ He raised an eyebrow. ‘But after biscuitgate…’
Drinking my coffee, I almost choked. ‘Good looking and cheeky. I like it.’
His smile turned to a grin. ‘Oh, you do, do you?’
Holding each other’s gaze, we both fell silent. Simultaneously realising we were staring, we snapped ourselves out of it and started to speak, only to realise we were talking over each other.
‘Sorry,’ Theo said. ‘You were saying?’
‘No,’ I replied. ‘Please, you go first.’
‘Honestly, I’m happy to let…’
I raised my eyebrows.
‘Okay,’ Theo said. ‘I wanted to mention misophonia.’
‘Sorry?’ I didn’t have a clue what that meant.
‘That’s what you’re experiencing. It’s when someone can’t tolerate specific sounds. I couldn’t remember its name before. I’ve been wracking my brains.’
I still didn’t understand.
‘Sasha, Jackson’s Mum, she had it. You hate the sound of someone eating; for her it was breathing. If I remember rightly, it’s to do with lower oestrogen levels which makes your hearing hyper-sensitive.’
I stared at Theo, incredulous.
‘It’s surprising what you can learn when you need to. Periods, pregnancy, perimenopause. Sasha didn’t have it easy. The least I could do was understand why.’
After Rory’s speech about menopausal marketing campaigns, Theo’s ability to talk about women’s bodily functions without squirming was refreshing. And dare I say it, attractive. ‘Sasha’s a lucky woman.’
His smile waned. ‘Not really.’ He indicated my phone. ‘How hard is it to do a bit of research?’ He drank a mouthful of coffee. ‘Anyway, your turn. What did you want to talk about?’
‘I just thought, seeing as we’re travelling together, maybe we should get to know each other a bit more?’
‘That makes sense. Where do you want to start?’
I really wanted to ask about Jackson’s difficulties and why the need for a fresh start?
And where was Sasha? Why was she no longer in the picture?
But having been cut short in the car earlier, I opted for a more gradual and sensitive approach.
‘Oh, I don’t know. What made you choose Settledown? Or what you do for work?’
‘Why not Settledown?’ Theo replied. ‘It’s a great place to live. As for my job, I’m a chef.’
I laughed. ‘Hence the baking and your dislike of salads.’
‘It helps me unwind. Any type of cooking does. Be it preparing or eating, food isn’t just about energy, it’s good for the soul.’ He nodded to my empty plate. ‘Even a portion of chips can work magic.’
Admittedly, I certainly felt better for eating them.
‘Although if I’m honest, as of yesterday I’m actually between jobs.’
I cocked my head, recalling how Theo had mentioned that, like me, he’d had one of those days. ‘Why? What happened?’
‘I’m not sure if I got fired or if I quit.’ He chuckled. ‘To be honest, it was all a bit chaotic.’
Just like that, my estimation of Theo fell. Good or bad, he seemed to find everything funny. Even the fact that he’d lost his job was a source of amusement. I frowned, unable to hide my disappointment.
‘Don’t worry. It’s not a problem.’
With a son still at home, a house to maintain and bills to pay, I’d have thought being jobless was major.
From the understanding he’d shown Sasha, Theo evidently had a good side but as I watched him happily drink his coffee, his casual approach to life was off-putting. First, he’d been reluctant to hit the road and chase down his missing son. Now he didn’t care he was unemployed.
He reminded me of Connor, another of my good-for-nothing exes.
Connor spent hours discussing the injustices in the British class system. He’d theorise about world politics and the problems with capitalism. By then in my early twenties, I clearly hadn’t learned from my experience with Jamie because what Connor couldn’t do was keep a job.
Although that was hardly surprising. He had no concept of punctuality and the energy levels of a sloth, neither of which made for a great employee.
At first, he’d seemed intellectual. His views were the perfect antidote to the corporate bullshit I experienced in my career as an estate agent. However, the longer we dated, the more I realised he didn’t actually believe a word of it; he simply liked the sound of his own voice.
Looking at the man before me, I bristled. Theo might be good looking; he might be passionate about food and have supported Sasha when it came to her womanhood. But I should have known from experience there’d be a hiccup somewhere. When it came to me and men there usually was.