Chapter 18
403 Words
18
Jack thought he probably knew every blob and swirl of the artex ceiling in his bedroom. He’d spent many a night lying, eyes open, staring at it. Occasionally, he’d make out patterns. One patch might look like a person’s face in profile if he squinted the right way. Another might make out a fat bloke doing a disco dance.
When he couldn’t sleep, there was very little he could do. Reading didn’t help. If the book was good it’d keep him awake even longer, and if it was rubbish his brain would wander off onto other things and he’d have to go back and read the same page seven or eight times over.
His mobile phone vibrated on the bedside table for the umpteenth time that night. This time, he decided to check it. It wasn’t as if he was going to get much sleep anyway.
There were four emails — three of them junk, and one of them a reply from the manufacturer of his fridge telling him they’d send a technician out to repair it on Tuesday. Nestled in amongst them in the notifications list was a text message from Chrissie.
How about coming over to mine tomorrow? I can cook or we can get something in. Your choice Cx
He thought about this for a minute. All his professional training told him meeting in public was best, but he found it highly unlikely Chrissie was a crazed axe murderer and, in any case, the last thing he wanted was to be spotted out on a date in a local restaurant. No. Not a date. A friendly dinner.
Sounds good. Don’t go to the effort of cooking, though - you handle the hospitality and I’ll handle the takeaway x
That was the middle ground, as far as he was concerned. The last thing he wanted was for her to turn out to be lovely but a terrible cook. He’d only met the woman once, and for all he knew her house could be infested with maggots. At least this way he’d be able to escape early without food poisoning.
He didn’t expect Chrissie to be awake at this hour, so he locked his phone and put it back on the bedside table. Within seconds, though, it buzzed again.
He looked at the screen.
Lovely. 7.30 sound OK? I’ll text you the address in the morning Cx
Sounds great. X
Jack locked his phone, put it back on the bedside table again, then rolled over and closed his eyes.
- Writer
