Total pages in book: 150
Estimated words: 143633 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 718(@200wpm)___ 575(@250wpm)___ 479(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 143633 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 718(@200wpm)___ 575(@250wpm)___ 479(@300wpm)
“Do you think he likes me?” she asked, and I didn’t have the heart to disappoint her.
“I think so, maybe. He didn’t say no, after all.”
She sat down on the sofa and breathed out a sigh of relief.
“That’s good. I’ll still head out with Trisha for a drink, though. I can tell her all about it.”
Poor Mum. Seriously. Life with Scottie had screwed with her mind. She was so oblivious to reality. Clinging on to so much blind hope.
I was glad I’d grown up enough to manage the two of us.
I just hoped Julian really would turn up for a meal with her sometime. I’d kind of like him as her boyfriend, and maybe, just maybe that could happen one day. My thoughts were interrupted, because Mum started laughing on the phone to Trisha, and her words gave me a chill in my heart.
“Shall I head up to him later after a couple of drinks? I wonder what he’d say if I turned up at his door with a bottle of wine in my hand.”
I could only imagine Trisha would be there at the bottom of the stairs, cheering Mum on as she climbed. There was nothing I could say, nothing I could do, nothing that would make any difference once Mum had a couple of vodkas in her. I just hoped she wouldn’t blow it.
I wanted the best for her, I wanted to give her the best possible chance, even drunk after a night out with Trisha at the pub. So, there was only one thing for it, I had to set the stage.
I had to warn him, prepare him for her knock at the door.
Chapter Four
Julian
I really didn’t want to drop by their apartment, but I hadn’t had a choice. I could have sworn I’d seen Scottie lurking outside the block this morning and I imagined he’d be trying to worm his way back in. Thankfully he wasn’t back in their living room. Maybe Beverly would keep him far away from her in future. Sometimes miracles can happen, so they say.
She and Rosie had seemed well enough, all things considered. I felt a surprising amount of relief for two women I’d met only yesterday. Especially for sweet Rosie. I couldn’t bear the idea of her getting hurt.
I lit up a cigarette at my window. I was still smoking as I heard Beverly’s laughter, loud enough that I could hear it two floors up. She was with the resident from apartment number four. A woman named Trisha, I believe. She’d been turning her nose up at me at every opportunity since I’d moved in, and she appeared to be that kind of angry, self-righteous character. Not a good mix. But maybe it was only me she regarded with such hostility.
Beverly sounded happy, still laughing as she took Trisha’s arm and they set off up the street together. It was a stark contrast to last night when she’d looked like she was on the edge of hell. She wasn’t bad looking. She shared the same fine, mousy brown hair as her daughter and her eyes were the same lovely almost pastel tone of blue, minus the cute glasses. And she was curvy as opposed to Rosie’s skinny frame, but her appearance didn’t change a thing for me. I was already feeling the apprehension of her invitation.
I didn’t want to have dinner with Beverly, and I most certainly didn’t want to have dinner with her daughter. It would be a blazing fire, too easily stoked. Christ, I was getting a hard-on just thinking about it. About her. Rosie, pushing her glasses up her nose, asking me if my Sunday roast meat was ok. Perfect, I’d reply, hiding my own bloody hard meat beneath the table. Fuck it. I needed a distraction.
I browsed through my stack of mindless ready meals in the fridge. What was it to be – pasta or pasta or pasta?
A rapping at the front door made me start. It also made my flesh tingle. I couldn’t imagine anyone else standing there other than sweet little Rosie. I didn’t exactly have a queue of visitors that came calling.
I hovered, battling with the idea of pretending I wasn’t at home, until the rapping got louder. A nasty shiver of a question rattled my senses.
What if I had seen Scottie lurking?
What if he’d hung around until Beverly left and pounced on Rosie?
What if she needed me?
More rapping on the door and I found myself smoothing down my hair and straightening my tie with my heart pounding all over again.
I opened the door to the sweetest ray of sunshine.
“Rosie, what a surprise.”
She was dressed for her shift at the pizza house, with her tight white t-shirt, and the green cap on her head. She looked so beautiful. An angelic little temptress. She just didn’t know it.