39 Weeks (17 page)

‘No problem.’ James laughed.

He pushed and I steered, and thankfully everyone stopped bibbing. Then James ran back to his car to move that out of the way as well, then sauntered back to mine.

‘So how will you get home?’ he said leaning in through the window.

‘I’ll get
a cab, and come back tomorrow
for the car.’

‘Forget that, I’ll give you a lift.’

‘Oh no, I couldn’t . . . I mean . . thank you so much for helping, but I couldn’t expect . . .’

‘Hey what are friends for. Come on.’ He said opening the door so I really had no choice.
And what was with the friends comment I’d only met him once for about thirty seconds, but I just smiled and went along with it.

Of course as soon as I got out of my car
he
spotted the maternity tee shirt announcing to the world in general I wasn’t fat I was pregnant, but he didn’t say anything, just smiled and took my arm as if I was geriatric or something, and walked me back to where his own car was parked.
We got in and I told him where I lived.

On the way home he
asked me when the baby was due so
I told him. Then he asked why I was out on my own and running out of petrol in my condition. In my condition! I didn’t have a condition, well I suppose technically I did, but I didn’t like it being referred to like that, it made it sound like I
had some sort of deadly disease
or something. 
 

I explained about my coming out party, and how I’d ducked out of going on somewhere else.

‘And what’s with the getting a cab, where’s hubby
while you’re stranded in the middle of town on a Friday night
?’

‘There’s no hubby.’ I said matter of factly, thinking
to myself
boy
this guy
is
nosey.

‘No hubby eh.’

‘No just me . . and the bump.’

‘So where do you know Matt from?’

Jeez did his interrogation never stop. ‘Um I don’t know him really, he’s been helping to build the new offices at Fishers and . .’

‘And he thought he’d chance his arm.’ He finished for me.

‘Yeah something like that.’

‘Mmm sounds like Matt.’

We pulled up outside my flat and I thanked him again for rescuing me. ‘Tell you what’ he said as I was climbing out. ‘Why don’t I drop by in the morning, give you a lift to town
so you can get your car. I’ll even bring a can of petrol.’

‘Oh . . um no, thanks
for the offer
but I’ll be fine.’

‘Fine? You’ll need to get to a garage, get some petrol and carry it to where your car is parked. Fine? I don’t think so. Don’t argue just be ready about ten. Okay?’

‘No really I . .’

‘OKAY?’

‘Oh alright then, if you put it like that. Thanks.’

‘Okay I’ll see you tomorrow morning.’

I went indoors torn between indignation at being bossed about so forcibly, and gratitude that James had been there to help and was going to help me again
in the morning
.

10
th
September – Week 14 + 6
D
ays

The next morning I woke to the sound of someone hammering on my door interspersed with ringing the bell. I virtually fell out of bed, still half asleep, and staggered to the door. The twonk was standing on the doorstep. As my jaw dropped I wondered briefly if I was still in bed having a really bad dream. But of course it wasn’t the twonk it was James. It was scarily spooky how alike they were, to look at anyway.

‘Hey sleepy head it’s quarter past ten, did you forget I was coming?’ James said laughing
, no doubt
at my mismatched pyjama’s and bed hair.

‘Sorry I was out for the count. You better come in while I throw on some clothes. I’m really sorry I meant to be up and ready, especially as you’ve put yourself out like this and interrupted your Saturday morning for me.’

‘Don’t worry about it, I wasn’t doing anything special anyway. Take your time, it’s fine.’ He said affably as I stood aside to let him in.

I took him through
the living room
to the kitchen, flicked the kettle on, and showed him where the coffee and the cups were. Then leaving him to look after himself I disappeared back to the bedroom to get dressed. After a minute he shouted through to me to see if he should make me a coffee as well, but I shouted back that I’d prefer tea if he didn’t mind. ‘No trouble,’ he said still laughing.

By the time I got back to the kitchen he was sitting at the table drinking his coffee and flicking through yesterdays paper, looking for all the world as if he dropped in on me like this every day. My tea sat steaming on the other side of the table waiting for me. I grabbed it and took a sip, gagging for a hot drink after my rude awakening. It was a bit too hot
though
and I burned my mouth, making me jump and that spilled a slurp of the hot tea down me which burned my left boob making me jump even more.

He watched the whole performance, then shaking his head slightly
and smiling
at what a klutz I was being
,
languorously got up and masterfully took the cup out of my hands and placed it back on the table.
Then seeing that my injuries were superficial turn
ed me back to the door saying ‘y
ou
’d
better go and change’.

I turned a vivid shade of scarlet, I could feel my cheeks actually burning with the embarrassment of it all, and went back to the bedroom to pull off the damp tee shirt which I’d been holding away from my skin and inspected my scalded boob. Course it wasn’t scalded
,
just a bit pink.

After pulling on a clean tee shirt
I went back to the kitchen again and this time he jumped up and placed me carefully in the roomier of the two seats, put my now slightly cooler tea in front of me, and squeezed himself into the squashed other seat opposite with a barely concealed grin on his face.

‘So’ he said laughing. ‘What do you do for an encore?’

‘Sorry. I’m not usually this clumsy.’ I said finally seeing the funny side of it and smiling back at him.

‘I hope not for your sake . . and the baby’s.’

I sipped at my tea
embarrassment making me look away from him, but I could feel him watching me.

‘We should get going,’ I said turning back to him. ‘I don’t want to hold you up.’

‘It’s fine, take your time, no rush. So just moving in, or getting ready to move out?’ He asked.

‘Um . . oh the boxes,’ I said referring to the three huge boxes lined up in the living room that he’d obviously noticed on the way in. ‘Moving out. I need a bigger place with the baby . . and everything.’ I finished lamely.

‘Where you off to?’

‘Kingsley road
.’

‘Oh yes, I know it. Big houses down there.’

‘Well it’s only a flat, but it’s two bedrooms and quite a bit bigger than this place.’

‘Sounds good. Well if you need any help, you know moving stuff, I could . .’

‘
Thanks
I think I’ve got it covered, but thanks anyway.’

I didn’t have anything covered, I hadn’t even thought about exactly how I was going to get everything to the new place in two weeks. Two weeks! It was beginning to feel like someone had put my life on fast forward. But somehow I couldn’t ask James, I mean he seemed nice enough but not only did he
probably
already
think I was a walking disaster what with the car running out of petrol, then
not being awake when he got here, and then chucking a cup of tea down myself, but he was the twonk’s brother. It was kind of freaky just sitting here with him looking so twonk like, never mind anything else.

‘I’ll leave my number, just in case. You never know.’

He looked around the kitchen taking a pen out of his pocket, and not seeing anything suitable to write on, wrote James and his number underneath on my fireman calendar on the back of the kitchen door. Actually he wrote it across Septembers fireman’s bare backside
, while smirking to himself. I just wished the ground would open up and swallow me . . but it didn’t.

‘So you about ready?’ He said turning back to me.

‘Yes. Thanks for this.’

‘Come on then. I bought a couple of litres of petrol in a can, that should be enough to get you to a petrol station at least.’

‘Thanks.’

We went straight to where I’d had to abandon my car the previ
ous evening, and James pulled in
behind it. He jumped out and retrieved the petrol can from his boot, then started
pouring the contents into my petrol tank
, while I climbed out of his
car
and walked over to watch.

Another car pulled up behind us and someone got out.
It was s
omeone I thought I’d never see again. Rob.

‘Hello Judy.’ He said quietly, melting my insides just at the sound of his voice.

‘Rob.’ I said sounding more contro
lled than I felt.

‘I thought it was you, I was hoping I’d run into you, I’ve been back to Zee Zee’s a couple of times hoping you’d be there but . . .’ He crooned and then faltered as he took in my inflated stomach and the fact that James was
with me and was watching his every move proprietarily.

‘I haven’t been back . . I’ve been . . um.’ I dried up as I registered his look of comprehension at what he thought was the situation.
Well I was pregnant that was true enough, but I wasn’t with James.

But before I had a chance to explain
to him
Rob said ‘w
ell it was nice seeing you again’ and he turned
abruptly
, walked back to his car and drove off.

‘Someone you know?’ James said sardonically.

‘Yes
.’ I said
deflated. ‘Well someone I almost knew . . once.’

‘You alright?’

‘Yes.’ I sighed despondently. ‘I’m alright.’

Oh well I always knew I couldn’t have him, it’s not like it was a big revelation or something, but I’d clung on stupidly to the thought that he might think I was his Cinderella disappearing into the night, the one that got away, and somehow that had kept me going and made it bearable. But now he’
d just think I was a
tart
out on the pull
, already in a relationship and pregnant, and had just been looking for a bit of a fling on the side, and lying my ar
se off to achieve it. Great. B
loody wonderful. I was so downcast I could have cried.

‘
Is he . . h
e’s not the father is he?’ James said.

‘No. He’s not the father he’s just someone I met once.’

‘And you liked him?’

‘Yeah I . . . um don’t you have somewhere you should be?’

‘Sorry I’m being too nosey, I know it’s none of my business. But you look like you need . .’

‘What? Need another bloke to take my mind off the first one? Need you to swoop in and save me from a broken heart? Need rescuing again?’

‘No nothing like that, I was going to say need a friend. You got me all wrong.’

‘Have I?’ The cynical man-hater in me responded.

‘Yes,
. . .
well no not entirely.’

‘Mmm exactly.’

‘Okay how about this, we can be friends, nothing else I promise, while you see if you like me . .
A
nd if you think I could be more than a friend
. .
that’d be fantastic
, and if you don’t
. .
well we’ll still be friends. How does that sound?’

‘Friends. And what do you get out of it? And why are you trying so hard a
nyway, I’m pregnant if you hadn’t noticed?
’

‘I know you’re pregnant. Does that mean you can’t have friends or that I can’t fancy you.’

‘What!’

‘Sorry I can’t help it
. I won’t mention it again so
h
elp me . . u
nless you want me to?
. .
So how about it f
riends for the time being?’

‘I don’t know, I can’t see this working. I don’t think .
.
.’

‘Come on, give it a try. What have you got to lose?’

So now I was James’s friend and he was going to help me move to the new flat in two weeks, and in the mean time we’d see each other
for a friendly chat, or meal, or something.

24
th
September – Week 16 + 6
D
ays