Once inside, Declan looked in the mirror and could already see the purple hue emerging below his cheek. He would have a right shiner in the morning. He inspected the slit above his eye, that wasn’t long but seemed quite deep. He considered going to the walk-in centre; perhaps it needed some glue or a stitch or two. In the end, though, he pinched it together and covered it tightly with a fabric plaster. The lovely evening at Alice’s dinner party had restored his faith in human nature before those young chancers had made him think again. He wondered whether hedeserved nice things to happen to him, given his past history. Even though he hadn’t been entirely to blame.
Sitting down with a coffee, his thoughts went into overdrive. Did one of those blokes look familiar? No, they were far too young; he was just being paranoid. Surely, he would not have been targeted, not after all this time? Besides, they would have done him with a knife, rather than just attempted to steal his phone. They were opportunists, that was all. Maybe next time he would keep his phone firmly in his pocket when he was on that side of the path, where it was almost always quiet. Keep temptation away.
After showering and changing, he decided to stay home for the evening and watch a film, the attack having shaken him up more than he realised.
Pulling a beer from the fridge, he sat on the couch and scrolled through his phone. Some photos of his sister popped up, and he caught his breath. He treasured the last photograph of them together, taken at Blackpool Pleasure Beach on a rollercoaster when she was twelve, and he was fourteen. They had gone on a school trip as a reward for good attendance. Their mum was not one to indulge them in a day off school when all they had was something as simple as a cold.
Declan gripped the phone tightly as he sank back into the deep, black leather sofa. He would back up his photos and anything else of importance onto a computer hard drive, in case he ever lost his phone. Today had made him realise that. He glanced at the picture once more and managed a smile. At least he and his sister had enjoyed some good times together.
He flicked on the TV, then searched for a movie to watch later. Then he would head out to buy that lemon cake for his mum.
SIXTEEN
JESS
Jess had a lovely day in town, meeting up with her friend, a mum she had met on the school playground two years ago and befriended. Buoyed by the dinner invitation, she realised that she really ought to arrange things with her friends a little more and concentrate on her social life too, rather than just dropping her daughter off at yet another party.
Her friend’s daughter was the same age as Maisie, and sometimes they would go to each other’s house after school for tea. Today, they were sitting on benches in a small park close to the art gallery, eating a picnic lunch after a play in the kids’ craft room in the gallery, and a trip to the museum.
‘That’s scary.’ Maisie had frowned, as she stared into a glass case at a mummy, and Jess had to agree. The princess swathed in faded brown bandages had an almost tortured look on her face. They visited the planetarium upstairs after that and spent a while looking through telescopes at the solar system, before visiting the aquarium downstairs. You could spend the whole day at the museum, and it was free, if you were unable to make a small donation. A rush of memories came flooding back every time she brought Maisie here, as her own mum had done the same with her when she was a child.
After the museum visit, Jess’s friend led her to a discount shop down a side street that Jess did not know existed.
‘You can pretty much get anything for kids here, and at great prices,’ said Jess’s friend as she pushed open the door of the shop, that was Tardis-like, filled with row after row of discounted toys.
‘Oh my goodness.’ Jess stood open-mouthed as she glanced around. ‘How come I don’t know about this place?’
‘I stumbled on it too. I have never really seen it advertised, but maybe they don’t need to. It’s been a godsend with all the parties Lily gets invited to. She has a better social life than me,’ laughed her friend.
Her friend’s comment had really resonated with Jess as Maisie had already been to half a dozen parties this year. She was surprised at just how much she had enjoyed the dinner party the other evening, despite her initial reservations. Perhaps it was time to get out there a little more and experience new things. As long as it fitted in with her daughter, of course.
After selecting a toy pony set, complete with brushes and mirrors for grooming, she said goodbye to her friend and headed towards Central station for the train home.
On the journey home, Jess found herself wondering if Declan was okay. That gash above his eye looked pretty nasty, and must have shaken him up a bit, but he never let on. Maybe she would knock and see if he was alright. Then again, what was she thinking? It was Saturday; he would probably be getting ready for a night out with his friends. Not everyone spent their Saturday evenings with popcorn watchingMinionson Netflix.
As they walked towards the apartment, Jess and Maisie bumped into a red-faced Mark coming out of a local shop, carrying a case of Diet Coke.
‘Hi, Mark. Are you okay?’ asked Jess cheerfully, before Maisie launched into details of their day out, and mimicking the haunted look on the face of the princess.
‘Yes. Just a bit exhausted.’ He grinned. ‘I’ve spent the day tidying the garden. I’m ashamed to say it had become a bit of a jungle.’
‘Well, you have certainly had the weather for it. You have caught a bit of a tan,’ Jess commented, although Mark thought the redness in his face was more down to his lack of fitness these days. Then again, he had spent hours pulling up weeds, digging and strimming borders before mowing the lawn. They fell into step as they approached the flats.
‘Actually, would you like to come and see what I’ve done?’ he asked.
Jess knew that his ground-floor flat garden was a bit on the wild side. She could see it from Maisie’s bedroom window.
‘Sure.’ She followed him into his flat, through his tidy lounge and into the outside space.
‘Oh wow, you have been busy,’ she said, viewing the freshly mown lawn. The once redundant pots were filled with pretty flowers and shrubs and a water feature with stone fairies tipping water from buckets trickled peacefully.
Jess would love a garden like this for Maisie to run around in.
‘You’ve seen the garden before?’ asked Mark.
‘I can see it from Maisie’s bedroom window.’ She smiled.
‘Oh right, yes, of course. Sorry about that, I bet it’s been a bit of an eyesore.’ He pulled a face.
