‘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 hardto stay focused when Mickey was talking about super sets and EMOM.
‘I’ve revolutionized our HIIT,’ he said with a sage nod.
