‘I just got back from seeing him, actually. He’s good, he’s well, though I think he’s working too hard.’
‘Oh, of course he is, of course he is. I remember Trevor…’
This was a good time for me to nod, smile, and wonder what kind of bath bomb I would use tonight. Fairygloss Dreamland or Angel’s Heaven?
‘… he would work himself to the bone, he would. I hope you don’t think I’m being nosy, but I noticed you went into Mr O’Neill’s house yesterday afternoon. How ishedoing?’
Shit.
Shit.
Shit.
‘Oh, so I noticed he was struggling a bit with his shopping as he came in from the driveway, so I just thought I’d see if I could give him a hand,’ I said, trying not to let any nervousness or hesitation in my voice show.
‘Oh, that makes sense. He is a rather… unusual man. I’ve only spoken to him a few times since we’ve moved here in ’78, but I’m so glad he’s taken to you so quickly.’
‘Ah, it’s the social worker in me, I think,’ I said, forcing a polite laugh.
I silently cursed as my eyes clocked Beryl’s front door, which had one of those video doorbells that directly faced not only ours, but O’Neill’s house, too. I felt a flutter in my chest that I struggled to stifle. ‘I can talk to anyone about anything…’ I said, but I noticed that my voice was trailing off. Spotting that camera had complicated things.
‘Right.’ I clapped my hands together and slowly angled my body towards my house. ‘I better be going, lots more unpacking to…’
As I started to gently sidestep towards the house to make my exit, I noticed Beryl wince and groan slightly.
She wanted me to do something. Subtlety was not Beryl’s strong suit.
‘You okay, Beryl?’ I asked, hoping compassion would be the visible emotion and not my internal frustration.
‘Yes, yes, I’m fine. Just a pain in my back, I’m afraid. Tony pulled me off so hard today I think he may have done my back in.’
For context: Tony is her Shih Tzu; get your mind out of the gutter.
And just like that, a perfectly formed plan fell right into place, another way I could cover up my tracks.
‘I can walk him for a few days if you’d like, Beryl. I have work tomorrow, but I don’t mind giving him a walk around the block a bit before and after if it helps you out?’
‘Oh, would you? That would be marvellous. I’m sorry to be such a pain, but I just think I need to rest up and let my back heal.’
‘You do that, Beryl, okay? I’ll come by first thing tomorrow morning and pick him up, all right?’
‘That would be just so fantastic. Oh, thank you so much, Fran.’
‘Not a problem at all. I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?’
I quickly rushed back to the house before Beryl remembered anything else to chat to me about.
When I opened the door, I was instantly greeted by Mep’s demonic shrieks. I did like to wonder what he was trying to say sometimes:Where the hell have you been, cretin? What time do you call this?
I washed up the risotto dish, dried it with the tea towel Gareth’s nana had given us, and popped it away in the cupboard. I sighed as I looked around the house, still cluttered with an array of cardboard boxes. Then I began to unload a few of the ‘memory crates’ that Gareth and I had been adding to over the past seven years. I was painfully sentimental, and every date with Gareth, I had decided to keep a little something to remember it by. A ticket stub from the arcade, the ripped and worn jacket that I’d been wearing when we had our first kiss, even the pack of cigarettes that I’d confiscated from him three months into dating.
I did what I seemed to do with all of our stuff in the moving process: deposited it from one temporary box into a more permanent one and then promptly deposited it somewhere else out of sight.
I drew myself a bath and realised that with everything that had gone on today, I hadn’t checked in with Angus. I typed up a quick text.
Everything all right today?
All good
