“What?” I snapped.
He shrugged. “Don’t know what you mean.”
“You’re looking at me with that damn stupid grin on your face – why?” I threw a pair of sliders into my duffel bag and zipped it up.
“What stupid grin?” He asked, looking at me with…a stupid grin.
“You’re a knob head,” I grumbled, picking up my car keys. “Now if you don’t mind, I need to get to the Leisure Centre.”
“Oh yeah, you’re giving Frankie another swimming lesson aren’t you?”
I rolled my eyes and pushed him toward the front door. “I’m giving a lesson tonight, but not to Frankie.”
Eli stopped in the hallway and turned back to me. “Why not?”
“Maisie thinks it best they don’t leave the house or go where her ex will be expecting to find them. Plus Stuart is going round there to look at her car.”
I gave the last piece of information as a mutter, with my head down. Stuart was one of my best mates, so Eli would have guessed that I was the one who’d arranged for him to go and see Maisie.
“Didn’t she know anyone who could fix it?” he asked, knowingly.
“Nope, plus why risk being ripped off when Stu will do her a good job at a reasonable price.”
What my brother didn’t need to know was that I’d asked Stu to do me a favour – a bloody big seventy percent discount favour, and even then I’d asked him to give me the invoice. I had no idea why I felt as though I wanted to pay, but something told me that Maisie didn’t have spare cash to shell out on repairing the bodywork of her car.
“So, Frankie not swimming tonight, was it Maisie’s idea, or a decision you came to together – you know as his parents?”
I threw him a frustrated look and pushed the door open to the stairwell, not wanting to be in the confined space of the lift with him, giving him a view of my face. The fucker always knew how to read me and after the previous night, what I did know about Maisie and Frankie was that they scared the living daylights out of me and I didn’t need Elijah picking up on that and then going home and grassing to bloody Amy about it, because she’d give me shit for weeks.
I’d stayed at Maisie’s for hot chocolate and then Frankie had got me talking about music and of course we had a lot to talk about. He knew his stuff and I couldn’t help but grin like a loon when he popped an earbud in my ear and played me his favourite Northern Soul song – The Elgins’, Heaven Must Have Sent You. I was pretty impressed, the kid had great taste in music, as far as I was concerned. After that Maisie had told him it was bed time and I left. As I’d been leaving, Maisie had told me that she thought it a good idea that Frankie missed his swimming lesson and I told her that I’d send Stu around to look at her car. She tried to argue, but when I put my foot on the door step, stopping her from closing the door, she finally nodded and said ‘okay’ and agreed to swap mobile numbers.
I was there a total of fifty-five minutes, nothing out of the ordinary had happened, we hadn’t said anything about talking soon and neither had I told her I’d be back, yet somehow I think we both knew that I would be and that we would most definitely talk again soon. The fact that I didn’t hate the idea of that, of them, made my fucking stomach ache with anxiety.
“Don’t think this is anything more than it is,” I snapped at my brother as we reached the apartment lobby. “You were the one who got me into all her shit.”
“Because she needed someone,” Elijah protested.
“Yeah and she could have called her dad. Just stay out of things Eli,” I sighed, getting into my car.
“What, like you stayed out of my business when Amy and I needed a kick up the arse?”
“Totally different. You were meant to be together.” Holding the door open, I pointed a finger at him. “I mean it Elijah, keep out of it.”
I then slammed the door and drove out of the car park, hoping the next hour or so went quickly.
* * *
“What are you doing here, Sam,” Maisie sighed, peering at me from around the front door that was only slightly ajar.
“Checking up on you both.” I half-turned and nodded towards the drive that was empty. “Did Stu take your car?”
She nodded and reached up to tighten the messy bun on top of her head and as she did her t-shirt rode up, revealing creamy white skin in the gap between her top and the tracksuit pants that sat low on her hips. Her stomach was slightly rounded, but her hips were narrow, with the tiny hint of bone sticking out and I couldn’t help but remember our night together all those years before. She’d been sweet and crazy all at the same time and definitely knew how to please a man, yet somehow I knew she wasn’t very experienced. She’d been pretty much perfect if I was being honest.
“He was here about half an hour ago. Said I’d get it back in a couple of days. At least it’s the weekend and I don’t have to get to work or school.”
“That’s good.”
“Yes, thanks for sorting it out. I didn’t have a clue who to call and I didn’t want to have to ask my dad.”
