a little.
“Could we be friends?” he asked.
“Yeah,” she said, “I’d love that.”
“Would you like to come over tonight?”
“I’d love to.”
When she put the phone down she jumped around the place because even if Tom genuinely thought he was looking for a friend he wasn’t, and he might be naive enough to think the night would end with a kiss on the cheek but she wasn’t.
I need to shave. Whoohooooooooo!
Jeanette arrived soaked to the skin. It had been raining on and off since six o’clock and she had left her second umbrella in a month on the bus. Tom opened the door smiling. She shook herself off in the hall before noticing that he was wearing an apron. “What’s going on?” she asked, following him into the kitchen.
“I cooked.” He put on a glove and grabbed a large fork, opened the oven door and turned a roasting leg of lamb.
“I can see that,” she said, sitting at the counter while he opened some wine. She poured it into two glasses and handed him one.
He clinked his glass against hers. “I’m going to find her,” he said.
“Alexandra?”
“No – Amelia Earhart,” he said, and grinned the way he used to grin before he lost his wife.
She wondered who Amelia Earhart was while he attended to the vegetables.
Jeanette drank from her glass until it was empty, then held it out for more. Tom topped it up.
“I’ve met these women,” he said, “and they’re amazing – they’re helping me. I don’t even know them.”
“That’s weird. Why?”
“Jane was Alexandra’s best friend years ago when they were kids and her sister Elle is an artist and she’s going todo an exhibition. She’s painting the faces of missing people. She’s already painted Alexandra and it’s really beautiful. And Leslie’s set up an incredible website and they’ve got Jack Lukeman on board and now this lead in London –”
“Jack Lukeman the singer? What is he? A part-time private eye?” She was being sarcastic but although Tom noticed he didn’t care.
“No, he’s going to sing at the exhibition. Jane says it will increase media interest.”
“Well, it sounds like you’ve got a lot of new friends, so why did you call me?”
“I missed you.” He wasn’t lying. He had become very fond of Jeanette during the four years they had worked together, and if he was really honest with himself, he missed the attention she gave him. He missed feeling like a man, a sexual being, and even though he promised himself that he would never allow what had happened before to happen again it was nice to be around someone who was attracted to him. Tom missed many things about his wife and one of the things he missed most was being wanted.
“I missed you too,” she said, and in her head she was singing, “Here comes the bride, all dressed in white …”
Later, after they’d indulged in passionate sex, the kind of sex that Jeanette had always suspected Tom was capable of, they lay in silence and darkness just breathing. “What are you thinking?” she asked.
“It’s blissfully quiet in here,” he said, pointing to his head.
She smiled at him, leaned over and kissed his cheek. “You’re welcome,” she said.
She went into the bathroom and he could hear the shower running and he reminisced about the last time he’dlain in bed and listened to the shower running and his wife was singing “I Can’t Stand The Rain”, attempting a very bad impression of Tina Turner. Tom closed his eyes, just as he had when he was having sex, and for the second time that night he pretended the woman who had been in his bed and was now in the shower was his wife. For the first time in thirty weeks and one day Tom slept peacefully.
Chapter 6
Little Man
Take the world off your shoulders ,
little man, little man, little man .
Jack L, Universe
February 2008
Elle had been lying in bed for twenty days. Twelve days after New Year’s Eve she had taken a taxi to a hotel in Kildare. When she
“Could we be friends?” he asked.
“Yeah,” she said, “I’d love that.”
“Would you like to come over tonight?”
“I’d love to.”
When she put the phone down she jumped around the place because even if Tom genuinely thought he was looking for a friend he wasn’t, and he might be naive enough to think the night would end with a kiss on the cheek but she wasn’t.
I need to shave. Whoohooooooooo!
Jeanette arrived soaked to the skin. It had been raining on and off since six o’clock and she had left her second umbrella in a month on the bus. Tom opened the door smiling. She shook herself off in the hall before noticing that he was wearing an apron. “What’s going on?” she asked, following him into the kitchen.
“I cooked.” He put on a glove and grabbed a large fork, opened the oven door and turned a roasting leg of lamb.
“I can see that,” she said, sitting at the counter while he opened some wine. She poured it into two glasses and handed him one.
He clinked his glass against hers. “I’m going to find her,” he said.
“Alexandra?”
“No – Amelia Earhart,” he said, and grinned the way he used to grin before he lost his wife.
She wondered who Amelia Earhart was while he attended to the vegetables.
Jeanette drank from her glass until it was empty, then held it out for more. Tom topped it up.
“I’ve met these women,” he said, “and they’re amazing – they’re helping me. I don’t even know them.”
“That’s weird. Why?”
“Jane was Alexandra’s best friend years ago when they were kids and her sister Elle is an artist and she’s going todo an exhibition. She’s painting the faces of missing people. She’s already painted Alexandra and it’s really beautiful. And Leslie’s set up an incredible website and they’ve got Jack Lukeman on board and now this lead in London –”
“Jack Lukeman the singer? What is he? A part-time private eye?” She was being sarcastic but although Tom noticed he didn’t care.
“No, he’s going to sing at the exhibition. Jane says it will increase media interest.”
“Well, it sounds like you’ve got a lot of new friends, so why did you call me?”
“I missed you.” He wasn’t lying. He had become very fond of Jeanette during the four years they had worked together, and if he was really honest with himself, he missed the attention she gave him. He missed feeling like a man, a sexual being, and even though he promised himself that he would never allow what had happened before to happen again it was nice to be around someone who was attracted to him. Tom missed many things about his wife and one of the things he missed most was being wanted.
“I missed you too,” she said, and in her head she was singing, “Here comes the bride, all dressed in white …”
Later, after they’d indulged in passionate sex, the kind of sex that Jeanette had always suspected Tom was capable of, they lay in silence and darkness just breathing. “What are you thinking?” she asked.
“It’s blissfully quiet in here,” he said, pointing to his head.
She smiled at him, leaned over and kissed his cheek. “You’re welcome,” she said.
She went into the bathroom and he could hear the shower running and he reminisced about the last time he’dlain in bed and listened to the shower running and his wife was singing “I Can’t Stand The Rain”, attempting a very bad impression of Tina Turner. Tom closed his eyes, just as he had when he was having sex, and for the second time that night he pretended the woman who had been in his bed and was now in the shower was his wife. For the first time in thirty weeks and one day Tom slept peacefully.
Chapter 6
Little Man
Take the world off your shoulders ,
little man, little man, little man .
Jack L, Universe
February 2008
Elle had been lying in bed for twenty days. Twelve days after New Year’s Eve she had taken a taxi to a hotel in Kildare. When she
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