Just for the Rush. Jane Lark
‘Of course she was going to be after it. Why would she not try to get her claws into the treasure trove of J’s Advertising?’
‘Sorry.’
He laughed sharply. ‘No. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that. I shouldn’t be telling you. Don’t worry, your job’s safe. And I’ll shut up. You didn’t ask me to rant at you and I said I wasn’t going to talk about it.’
‘It’s okay, I understand.’
‘No, I doubt you do.’
He probably didn’t know Rick and I had split. Jack didn’t sit around and talk much; he was always too busy.
I looked forward again and moved along with the queue, my hands slipping into the pockets of my parka once more.
Jack’s hands suddenly gripped either side of my waist and he shook me a little, sending my tummy into a backflip. ‘Hey. Sorry again. That was mean. I heard you split from Rick. But if you’re thinking it’s the same thing – it’s not.’
No probably not. I hadn’t cheated.
‘So, who got the house in your split?’
I looked back again and laughed, but it was a shallow sound. ‘Him.’
‘Where are you living, then?’
‘In a tiny flat; an attic room. I like it. Rick is in the place we used to rent together still. I think he’s hoping I’ll go back.’
‘There see, very different. Sharon wouldn’t want me back.’
‘And you…?’
‘Want her back? Are you kidding me, that money-grabbing, self-centred bitch. I’m celebrating being rid of her.’ His pitch didn’t say celebration, it was bitter – and maybe a little twisted.
‘Can I help you?’ The barista called along the counter, picking up the orders along the queue.
‘Hi, Susie.’ Jack smiled at her. ‘Here you go; there’s the list.’
The barista smiled at him. ‘Be with you in a minute, Jack.’
‘You’re on first-name terms with the Nero’s staff,’ I whispered as she turned away.
He smiled at me. ‘Why, aren’t you?’
My smile quirked. ‘Do you flirt with her?’
‘I talk to her. What’s wrong with that?’ His hands slid into the pockets of his coat, as if he was the most innocent guy in the world. He was so on Santa’s naughty list too.
But what was wrong with it? Flirting. Nothing. Flirting was fun and I hadn’t been able to do it for years because I’d tied myself down to Rick. ‘Nothing… But… I give up with you.’
‘That’s the sort of thing my mum would say, and I didn’t even know you’d started with me, Ivy.’
We moved three people along. ‘It’s no wonder Sharon is pissed off with you.’
His eyes widened, the pale blue challenging me as his lips formed a firm line, like he was going to blow off into a storm of rude words. His Adam’s apple shifted as he swallowed them, then he said, ‘What do you guys think?’
Awkwardness wrapped me up with a nice bow. But he should know what everyone thought. ‘That you cheated.’
‘That I cheated,’ he said it in a disparaging way and his eyebrows lifted, saying, are you kidding me.
I’d guess he hadn’t cheated.
‘Well, if that is what you all want to believe…’
‘Sharon told Emma.’
‘That was good of her, and good of Em to repeat it.’
Shit, I was digging a deeper hole. ‘You didn’t cheat?’ I took a step out of it.
‘Oh, no, she’s absolutely right. I cheated. Loads.’ He’d leaned forward when he said the last word, and it shivered down my spine. Being up close to Jack was more than a metaphoric slap around the face, it was like I’d eaten a mouthful of the hottest curry; he made me sweat, as my temperature soared.
I turned away and faced the counter as we reached the till. He’d given the list to Susie and so I started reeling off the drinks we had on order. He pulled out his wallet. I stepped out of his way so he could hold his card over the machine.
‘Sorry, that was declined. Do you want to try putting your card in the reader?’
He slotted it in, then typed in his PIN.
‘Sorry, it’s still declined.’
‘Oh, fuck,’ he said under his breath. ‘Try this one. It ought to work. It’s just mine.’ He put another card in. The payment went through.
We moved out the way to wait for our coffees as the Christmas music aptly changed to The Pogues, ‘Fairytale of New York’.
‘Has she cleaned out your account?’
‘She cleaned out our joint account a month ago. Fortunately I didn’t have much money in there. Now she’s maxed out the credit card. I only left her access to one. She was meant to use it wisely. So if she hasn’t bought her Christmas dinner already she’s going to be hungry. That is probably what she was calling about. I had the limit lowered and didn’t tell her. It’s a full-on war I’m in, Ivy.’
‘Sorry.’
‘Again, not your fault, just me moaning.’
I hadn’t heard Jack moan until today. He was always upbeat. Where had he been this morning? To see his lawyer? He’d been managing his split with Sharon since the summer, but he hadn’t been like this before. ‘Well, I am sorry. I don’t like seeing you down.’
His smile tilted, then his hand gripped the back of my neck and his fingers squeezed. ‘Thanks, and, for what it’s worth, I think Rick is an idiot.’
He didn’t know how Rick and I had split then. ‘You know I dumped him?’
‘So Em said. What I meant was, Rick is just an idiot.’
I laughed. I didn’t know what to say to that. His long fingers slipped away from my neck, but I could still feel them there.
As we waited watching Susie make all ten drinks and load them into a box, the music changed to ‘Happy Xmas (War is over)’.
‘If I hear one more Christmas song…’ Jack whispered under his breath.
I laughed. But I knew what he meant. I was not in the spirit of the season this year. Rick hadn’t only taken custody of the house; he’d got custody of my parents and my friends. Everyone was on the side of team-Rick. But he was so nice, any woman would be stupid to say no to him, and so everyone had seen the complete and utter bitch in me.
I probably was the stupid one.
I glanced sideways at Jack. He was about four inches taller than me and I was five-eight, so he was tall. I caught his gaze as it shone through his dark eyelashes. ‘For what it’s worth,’ I whispered, ‘I think Sharon is a bitch.’
A bark of laughter left his throat.
‘Here you go!’ Our box of coffees was handed over, I moved to pick it up, but he leaned over and took it before I could. Really he could have done this on his own. Except maybe he needed someone to hold the doors. I pushed it open for him as we walked out.
The street was so crowded with shoppers it was like playing dodgems. I opened the disabled access door into the office block so he didn’t have to navigate the rotating doors with the box.
‘Back to the madhouse,’ he said as we stepped into the lift.
I looked at my watch.