‘Ella, the reason I couldn’t get you from school yesterday was that my boss, Oliver, got hit by a cyclist. It knocked him over and he hit his head and broke his leg. He’s in Aunt Kate’s hospital. It was very serious.’
‘Is he okay? What bone in his leg was it? Is he awake?’ Ella’s love ofGrey’s Anatomymeant that (currently) her dream career was to be a doctor.
‘Umm, he will be okay. He’s in an induced coma at the moment. He had a bleed on his brain and they are monitoring him. They may need to remove a section of his skull to—’
‘To relieve pressure, Mum.’
‘Yeah.’ I looked at her, impressed that Meredith Grey was providing such an excellent pre-med-ucation for my child. ‘His brother, Nick, is my friend. Obviously, he’s extremely worried and stressed about Oliver. They’re from England, so they have no other family here. I told Nick that if he needed some company, he could come here and watch the movie with us and sleep on the couch. I hope that’s okay with you? I don’t know for certain if he will come.’
Ella looked up from grating cheese. ‘He shouldn’t be alone, Mum. I would be worried sick if something happened to you or Aunty Kate.’
‘I agree.’
Ella was getting to that great age where you had moments of thinking your kid might just turn into someone you’d like to know.
‘Is Nick your boyfriend, Mum? You can just tell me if you have a boyfriend. I’d tell you if I had one.’
‘Umm, he’s not my boyfriend, Ella. We’re just, umm, uh, you know, friends.’
Ella insisted on a circular platter of pre-made tacos, laid out exactly as she’d seen on a TikTok video. When I finished it, the likeness to the video both surprised me and left me chuffed. I gave myself a pat on the back for being a fucking cool mum and ran out to show her, but her interest had wavered, and she gave me a polite nod.
We popped on the movie, and I quickly drank my nerves in the form of a glass of red with each taco I consumed. The knock on the door made me jump and slop a little red wine onto my fingers, which I indelicately licked off. Despite me preparing Ella for just this eventuality, I was weirdly freaked out. Ella ignored the door, already engrossed in the firstPiratesmovie.
I hopped up and walked down the hall, nervous energy flitting around my stomach. The hallway blocked off the lounge room, and I shook my shoulders.Be cool, Abbey.When I swung open the door and saw him, my coolness completely escaped me. Nick looked pale and haggard, new lines of worry were etched into the side of his eyes and his stubble was bordering on holiday stubble. His eyes were big, sad Nick eyes, which made my stomach do a weird curl and the need to take care of him overwhelmed me for a second. He had on a backpack and a grocery bag sat beside his foot.
I reached for him, pressing him into me. He wrapped his large arm around me and pressed back. I think he smelled my hair.
‘How is he doing?’ I whispered, kissing his cheek.
‘They say he’s getting better, but it’s hard to see.’ Nick pulled back a little and his hand flew to his forehead, tears filling his eyes. ‘He looked the same amount of unconscious to me.’ He pressed his lips into my cheek and then nuzzled his nose into me. ‘Jesus, you smell good,’ he said, inhaling.
‘Like tacos? Come in. I’ll get you a plate. You need to eat.’
He nodded and walked close behind me. In the lounge room, Ella paused the movie as we came in and bounced off the couch.
‘Ella, this is Nick.’ I was trying hard not to be the most awkward person in the room, introducing my lover to my daughter. It wasn’t the least bit surprising that I was not pulling it off. My cheeks were crimson, and I was sweating. I pulled my jumper away from my neck.
‘Hey, Nick. I’m sorry to hear your brother is in hospital. My Aunt Kate is a legend, though, and so are her colleagues,’ Ella said, in a strangely mature way.
I looked at her, marvelling again at how grown-up she seemed lately.
‘Thanks, Ella. It’s nice to meet you. I appreciate you guys letting me hang out tonight.’ Nick looked in his bag. ‘I bought popcorn and chocolate for your movie night. Oh, and I bought your mum some rum.’
‘Rum?’ I said, puzzled.
‘Pirate themed? It’s Caribbean spiced rum.’
‘Yum, well thank you. Now, there is a plate on the coffee table for you. Help yourself to the taco platter. Ella and I have already eaten our fill, so don’t be shy. Beer or wine or, er, rum?’
‘Beer, please.’
Ella restarted the movie while I grabbed Nick a drink. I held the beer up to my forehead for a second in the dark kitchen, collecting myself, before heading back.
He had sat down on the lounge. I put his beer on the table next to him and then sat beside him. Ella was sprawled on our three-seater, so we were on the smaller sofa. I popped a cushion over my lap and let my leg touch his. I was having a hard time concentrating on Captain Jack Sparrow.
‘Nick,’ Ella said, ‘did you know my mum had the hots for Johnny Depp in the nineties?’
I nodded a confirmation of this while taking a sip of my wine.
