Jonny looked down at the curvy blonde whose hand slithered over his forearm. She was wearing lipstick that looked the same shade of red as Snow White’s apple – Sadie Grace’s choice of Thursday night film – and just as poisonous.
“They’re helium. No blowing necessary.”Especially nowhere near me.
“Oh what a shame. I was hoping to demonstrate my talents. Do you think Charlie would like a playdate with Seamus this weekend? Charlie is like a big brother to him in the playground. Maybe you could bring him and Harry round on Sunday – or how about Saturday evening? You could all stay over.”
The hand was still there.
Jonny felt everything apart from his dick stiffen. He looked ahead and saw Rayah standing next to Keren and trying not to piss her sides with laughter. Maybe that date was a good idea, with someone who was looking for a decoy as well. Anything to stop this harassment. He wondered if he’d ever behaved like this towards a woman.
Probably not. He’d been with Grace and when he wasn’t he needed to be subtle on the few occasions when he found a woman to scratch the itch with.
“Daddy!”
Sadie Grace screeched loudly, making Poison Red Lips Lady drop her hand and look horrified. Charlie was too old for playdates and Seamus was not Harry’s friend, or kind of Harry’s friend. Harry usually complained about him.
“What’s the matter?” He bent down and scooped her up in his arms. She was a shorty, like her mum had been. But the best things came in small packages, unless they were his boys.
Sadie nuzzled close to his ear, her little nose bumping against his beard. “Rayah sent me. She said you wanted to tell me about a surprise present you had for me.”
Jonny laughed. Fortunately, he did have a surprise present for Sadie, and one for Harry. It was tradition that all the kids got a present on their siblings’ birthday. Helped to keep the peace.
“I do, baby, but it’s at home.”
“What is it?”
He kissed his daughter on the top of her head. “A surprise. Let’s go and find out what Rayah’s been doing.”
He ignored Poison Red Lips Lady, even though she was still talking to him, Sadie’s continued chatter giving him the perfect excuse, although he was more than happy to hear her chatter all day long.
Rayah was standing near the bar where she had organised drinks for parents. As he’d predicted, the dads of Charlie’s friends were using the party as an excuse to come to the clubhouse to watch the rugby game that was being shown on TV. A few were there already, having been involved in the kids’ session that had been on that evening. Charlie wasn’t into rugby, not yet, and maybe not ever. He was a quieter, more sensitive boy and as Jonny had noticed half an hour ago, was desperately shy around girls other than his sister, who did not count.
Rayah was right. He needed to set an example.
The question was, with who. He didn’t need anything complicated or someone falling for him, not when he wasn’t in a position to fall for anyone. Looking after his kids and his career as the station manager was as much as he could manage; he wasn’t sure where he could carve the time from to have any form of relationship besides the friendships he had.
Hiringa portable games arcade was possibly an example of the genius that was Alex Maynard’s brain. A dozen and a half boys were lined up at retro games stations playing Space Invaders and the like, and then there was Alex, Scott and Jake, all surrounding Pacman and shouting loudly, acting like the eleven-year-olds they were surrounded with.
“It’s true then.” A wisp of a woman stood next to him.
Jonny vaguely recognised her from school and figured she was the mother of one of Charlie’s friends.
“What’s that?”
“That men never really grow up.” She was watching the Maynards. Jake was now poking at Alex. In about four point five seconds there would some form of scuffle, of which Alex would have the upper hand.
It was a scene Jonny had seen many times over the last three decades.
“Some do. It depends.”
She gave a slight nod, her attention focused on the small, quiet boy who was hanging around the group of boys Charlie was part of.
“You have a good boy there.” Her words were quiet, thoughtful.
“Charlie?”
She nodded. “Me and Milo moved here in the summer and Milo didn’t know anyone. He struggles to make friends because he’s so shy. The first day he started school he came home talking about Charlie, how he’d been his buddy and helped him all day. I figured he’d been given the job by the teacher, like they do, but then Milo kept talking about him every day when I picked him up. I asked the teacher about Charlie and found out he hadn’t been asked to be a buddy, he’d done it off his own initiative. You should be proud.”
Jonny smothered a smile. He wasn’t surprised. Charlie was a good lad, a kind one, with huge amount of empathy – probably because he understood himself having had a great deal of therapy when he was younger to help with losing Grace. “How’s Milo settled in since?”
