A Pretty Pill (25 page)

And then she does the unthinkable
, because I’m reduced to a smeared mess on the tarmac and I can’t think!  She turns on the end of the bed, and seductively crawls across it and into the space beside me, and so of course; I drop dead from heart failure right there!  True story!

“Hold me?” she asks
, at least I think she asks, because the appendage that is my arm has enough smarts to first grab a pillow to place between us so I don’t stab her; and then it manages to pull the covers over us, turn off the lamp, and throw itself across her body... before having the extra nous to pull her in to me too.

Fucking kickarse
... brilliant arm!  I’m giving you a raise tomorrow.

Then if she couldn’t kill me quicker
... she reaches in and reefs the pillow out from between us and says.

“I know you’ve got a hard on
, but that pillow was stopping you from holding me properly.” She explains and backs her arse right into my dick!

Holy fucking shit!

She falls asleep fairly quickly, but I’m not able to relax for what feels like hours!

***

Mum manages to shuffle around the house fairly easily in the mornings
, but as the day moves along, she tires, and finds it difficult to get out of her chair.

She shouldn’t be out in the cold, but for some reason, it’s a ritual with her to go out onto the font landing and look at the view on clear days.

Today is a clear day; she’s standing there, breathing in the crisp morning air and looking directly down at the driveway.

I step out.

“Jade’s here?” she asks.

“Yes!”
I reply; thinking about the sight of waking up beside her this morning... simply beautiful!

“She’s in your room?” she asks.  She still hasn’t looked at
me; she’s still looking at the bike.

“Yes!” I answer.

“Finally!” Mum groans.

“No
, not finally.  She only stayed the night... sleeping, nothing else.” I explain.

Why am I explaining this to my Mum?

“Good enough.” She reasons.

“Not for me.” I grumble.

Mum laughs, clear as crystal and full and loud.

“Give her time... she’s faster than me!” she says.

“Thank fuck for that!” I say with a huff.

She actually hits me on the arm... back handed... it’s the nicest thing she’s done in ages.

Jade.

When I wake up, I’m waking to the smell of coffee and toast.  I love coffee, and I love toast.  So it’s a double winner!

I don’t know if I’m supposed to walk out there or not.  I haven’t done this before.  I deci
de that I should just blend in and not remain hiding.  So I throw the covers back and go to the chair and start dressing myself in the clothes that I have left draped there.  The clock says it’s 8:03am.

I step into the hall with bare feet, and pad down the length of it to the end and turn left into the kitchen and dining area.
  Here I find Ben and his mum, talking animatedly over a cup of coffee.  They stop instantly upon noticing me enter the room.

My hair’s all over the place
, and my head is groggy and dumb feeling.

Ben jumps up and gives me his stool.

“Here you go Red, sit down!  Do you want some toast?  Coffee?  Porridge?” he asks.

I sit down and suddenly Sabrina’s skinny arms are around me and pulling me toward her for a side on hug.

“I am so happy to see you.” She enthuses.

“I saw you
a week ago.” I say, chuckling.

“Not like this you didn’t.” She reasons.

“True.  A week ago you wouldn’t have caught me walking out of a bedroom Ben occupied.” I agree.

Ben’s just leaning over the breakfast bench with a pair of grey flannel pyjama bottoms
on and a white long sleeved t-shirt over his chest.  He’s barefoot too.  His face has split into a huge grin.

“Coffee please... strong, white and no sugar.” I
request.

He turns and does my bidding.
  I watch him lift the percolated coffee jug, pour me a mug and then place a dash of milk in it.

“You have the evening shift today?” Ben asks, bringing me
the coffee.

“No
, I called in sick!” I explain.

“Oh?” Sabrina enquires.

“I was feeling pretty miserable after Ben bawled me out the other day, and then last night I lost a patient, so I just thought I needed to take a sick day.” I explain.

“Sweetie
, that’s horrible!” Sabrina soothes.

“Do you want to watch some movies with me Sabrina?” I ask, suddenly feeling a little animated.  This is a woman I’m seated next to.  Maybe she’ll like to watch a girly flick with me.

“Sure honey!  What sort of movie do you have in mind?” she asks.

“What do you like in movies?” I
counter-ask her.

“Oh... romance movies for sure!  Comedy as well.” She explains.

“Okay, what was the last movie you hired, and did you like it?” I ask her.

Ben is watching our exchange with a massive grin.  He’s leant up against the sink with his arms folded across his chest
, and he looks like he could feed the world and cure it of all disease.

“
It’s Complicated
with
Meryl Streep
and
Steve Martin
; and I loved it!” she says.

“Wow
, I can think of a few movies in that vein that have come out since then.  A few of them I’d watch again for sure!” I say.

“Yeah?  Can you think of one off the top of your
head?” She asks.

“Oh yeah! 
Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone, Julianne Moore
and
Steve Carrell
... in
Crazy, Stupid Love!
” I gush.  “It’s funny and has some sexy romance in it too!” I explain.

“Exactly my style of movie!” she laughs.  “Let’s get it out and watch it today while Ben does the yard work!” she reasons.

“Fabulous!” Ben grumbles.

I ignore him, but I smile at Sabrina conspiratorially.

“
Ryan Gosling
is so, so, so sexy in this movie!  Like seriously yum!” I enthuse.

“
Ryan Gosling
?  You’ve got to be kidding me.  He’s a douche!” Ben guffaws.

“He is not
, he’s my movie star crush!” I explain.

“What’s he got that’s so crush-worthy?” Ben asks.

I snort, I actually snort and I don’t even bother to hide it, because I’m not hiding anymore... right?

“Um... super, super sexy abs... killer body
, sexiest smile and just... he’s beautiful.” I gush.

“Wait till you get my clothes off
, you won’t need to look any further then!” He smiles seductively.

I go to say something
, I mean, I really do.  But the truth is, I have a fair idea what’s under his shirt.  Just because it was darkish last night, doesn’t mean I’m blind.

“Cat got your tongue?” he
teases.

“We’ll see... we’ll see what you have to bring to the table when the time comes.” I joke with him
, nodding and giving him a quirky smile.

His eyebrows simply rise as high as he can get them in response.

I giggle and turn back to Sabrina.

“I don’t
often do girly movies, but that’s a particularly good one.” I say.

“Okay
, you go and grab it and we’ll settle in and watch it.” She offers.

“I’ll help get you ready for the day first if you like.” I offer.

“That’s okay, Ben normally does.” She says.

“Well if you want a lame-arse job done
, I’ll leave him to help you.” I reply.

Sabrina giggles
, “Okay, show me what you can do, and then we’ll compare quality.” She suggests.

“I’ll be kicking your arse from here to China!” I threaten Ben.

“Somehow, I think you will win on this score!” he laughs.

“Come on Sabrina
, let’s start with a shower!” I say.

“Oh honey
, I’m not looking so good these days.” She says.  “Everything goes south you know.” She reasons.

“Sabrina
, in case you didn’t know, I’m a nurse!  And I see more tits, arse, dicks and vagina’s than you can scan in a week of internet searches.  I’ve seen it all and I have the uncanny ability to switch to professional mode when the moment calls for it!” I explain.  “But, I don’t want to make you feel uncomfortable, so whatever you want.” I say.

“No
, I think it would be good for Ben not to have to see me naked getting in and out of the shower for once.” She says.

“I second that!” Ben laughs.

“Okay, let’s go then!” I enthuse.

Ben
.

Holy shit
, when Mum comes back out from her room, she looks totally different, and Jade’s ready to depart.

“What did you do to my Mum?” I ask Jade.

“Made her ready to face the day?  Why, is something wrong?” she asks, looking at my Mum.

“No way
, she looks better than I’ve seen her in ages.” I explain.

“Oh
, I scrubbed her back for her, gave her scalp a massage, did all the things she couldn’t do; didn’t we Sabrina?” she asks Mum.

My Mum’s beaming.  Whatever happened in that
shower made my Mum feel a whole load better.

“Yes
, I actually feel really energised.” She says walking to the recliner, slowly but surely.

“I also put a bit of makeup on her face and we picked out some bright and cheery clothes.” Jade clarifies.

“Well, I think you look great Mum.” I say, going to her and giving her a big kiss on her forehead.

“Well, I’m going to go and see Silas quickly for a cuppa
, then I’ll grab the movie, and I’ll be back before 11 to watch the movie with you Sabrina.” Jade reasons.

“I look forward to it.” Mum says, settling in with her book for a while.

“Can I bring my pyjamas back with me Sabrina?  Only if it’s okay.” Jade clarifies.

I slap my right hand over my
mouth in eager determination to stop myself from saying... ‘
no, you’ll be naked tonight,’
and listen to my Mum giving this woman permission to come over to her house to sleep with her son.

Jade moves in to Mum and gives her a quick peck on the cheek, and then without any expectation, she comes up to me and stands in front of me and
then leans in and kisses me softly on the cheek too.

I just want to grab her, throw her over my shoulder and in true caveman style, force her into my room where I intend to take
full advantage of her body... repeatedly!

Instead I stop breathing at her touch and stare at her eyes as she moves away from my face.

She gives me a knowing smile and leaves for the front door.

After she’s out of sight, Mum looks at me and says, “I would love for you to convince that girl to move in with us
, she’s better for you than I could’ve ever imagined... for both of us actually.” she chuckles, and then sighs.

“I’d love
her to.  But there’s Silas to consider too.” I reason.

“He can live in your old room.” Mum reasons.

“She won’t go for it, it’s too soon.” I say in defeat.

“Fuck too soon... I’m calling it
, and I think it needs to happen!  Time wasters, I can’t bloody well stand them!” she says grumpily.

“Mum... you swore
, and on top of that, you’re the Queen of time wasters!” I reason.

“And look what that did for me!” she huffs.

“Indeed!” I agree.

***

I’m outside finishing the edging when Jade rides up.  I watch her hop off her bike and walk over to me.  I note that her backpack is fuller than normal; in fact it looks close to bursting.  I cut the engine, and I think about beginning on the lawn; looking up, I note that there are some stormy looking clouds beginning to loom overhead, so I need to get on to this now, so I can be done before they begin dumping their load on us.  I return my attention to Jade.

“You moving in here?” I ask
, thinking seriously about what my Mum said this morning.

“Is that an invitation?” she asks
coyly.

“Red
, I’ll have you in here before you can blink if you’ll let me.” I offer.

“Hah
, Poor Silas would be left to fend for himself!” she jokes.