The big man shrugged. “You were right, I was wrong and I need the work.”
“Ed? What’s going on?”
Jaz stood in the doorway wearing a baggy t-shirt that came to mid-thigh and nothing else.
“Go inside honey, me and Boko have things we need to sort out.”
Ed caught the way Boko was looking at his wife and he did not like it one little bit, no siree. Jaz hesitated for a second, and retreated inside.
Ed regarded him thoughtfully, pushing his glasses up his nose.
“Are you seriously telling me that you believe Linda came onto me and you don’t care?”
“Of course I care. We had a big argument last night and I moved out. Should have done it ages ago. It’s never been me that she wanted.”
His meaning was clear and Ed’s bad gut feeling intensified.
“Look, Boko, I appreciate you turning up today to do the roof and everything, but I don’t think it’s appropriate, given the circumstances.”
“I came to apologise, it’s not your fault Linda’s still in love with you. You’ve moved on, right? Plus I need the work. I figured you and me could both be real men and put that sorry misunderstanding behind us.”
Sorry misunderstanding. Was this guy for real?
But he sure had put him on the spot. How much of a wanker would he be right now if he told him to piss off? The way he was looking at Jaz aside, (and let’s face, he reasoned, what guy didn’t look at her like that?) he had no legitimate reason to tell him to do one.
Ed raised his hands in despair, mentally kicking himself for being so god damned insipid.
But he had to give Boko the benefit of the doubt.
Because I’m just that kind of a guy, he thought sourly.
“Okay then, fine. So let’s talk rates.”
Boko threw him a huge grin, revealing yellow stained teeth.
I’m doing the right thing.
So then why did it feel so wrong?
Jaz watched the two men talking at the foot of the ladder through a tiny gap in the living room curtains.
Oh my God, Ed. Please tell me you’re not giving Lurch the job of fixing the roof…
“Shit,” she said, letting the curtain fall back into place.
He so had, she just knew it.
The front door creaked open, making her jump. The rumble of their voices drifted her way and she gritted her teeth in annoyance when she actually head Ed laugh.
Oh, for pity’s sake Ed…
“Honey? Where are you?” Ed called from the hallway.
“In here,” she called back, scurrying away from the window.
The two men entered the living room.
“Boko has something he wants to say to you.”
Jaz subconsciously crossed her arms over her chest, making her look surly when really she was just desperately uncomfortable under Boko’s gaze.
Shit, I should have got dressed when Ed told me too, how fucking stupid am I?
“I’m sorry ‘bout last night,” Boko mumbled.
“That’s okay,” she replied, knowing there was nothing else she could say.
“Me and Linda split up last night, on account of what she did, and all. And your husband has very kindly given me the job of fixin’ the roof.”
Yeah, real nice of him to consult with me first.
“That’s good. Now if you boys don’t mind, I’d like to go and get dressed now.”
She swept out the room, not missing the opportunity to glare at Ed when she passed him.
Linda had no intention of opening the door, but whoever it was, they weren’t giving up anytime soon. The louder she cranked up the TV, the more insistent the knocking became.
“Fucking hell,” she moaned, glancing over at the bedside clock from her position on the bed where she lay fully clothed.
The time blinked ten a.m.
Maybe it’s Boko, she thought, her heart lurching in hope. Maybe he’s come to say sorry for walking out on me last night…
It’s not like she had any friends, and her mother didn’t speak to her anymore, not since their big fall out the Christmas before last.
Boko was all I had. And now he’s gone too…
So why are you ignoring the door? Let him in and make it up, for fuck’s sake. It’s not like Ed wants you, is it?
With a massive sigh, she walked the short distance to the door and flung it open, talking as she did so.
“Next time you storm off, why don’t you remember your keys…”
The words died on her lips.
“Hello Linda.”
Linda looked the stranger up and down.
“Who the fuck are you?” she asked, as charming as ever.
Linda fancied herself as one of those ‘salt of the earth, take me as I am’ types. The reality was she was just plain rude. Subconsciously she patted down her thinning, currently tangled, dyed blonde hair. She looked like shit; her eyes were red raw from crying and she had a big spot on her puffy nose. The handsome stranger was making her painfully aware of her physical defects and she longed to rush to a mirror and tidy up her sorry face.
“I’m a friend of Ed’s.”
“I’m sorry, what?”
“Edward Sullivan? I do have the right Linda, don’t I? You were his first girlfriend, weren’t you?”
Linda frowned in confusion, all her worries about how the fuck she was going to pay the bills now Boko was gone and the fact she was once again an unloved, single woman, temporarily departed from her brain.
“Yeah, I guess. What’s this about?”
The stranger smiled, revealing even, white teeth. Once again she was struck by how good looking he was. Classically tall, dark and handsome with a square jaw and deep blue eyes.
“Do you believe that you belong with Ed?”
Perhaps normally, Linda might have slammed the door in his face. But right now, in her heartbroken, unstable state of mind, that question was exactly the one she wanted to hear.
“Yes,” she whispered.
“I’m going to help you make it happen. Just meet me at Ed’s house this evening at eight.”
“Wait, I don’t understand, what do you mean, you are going to help me be with him? Why? Who are you?”
But he was already halfway down the pathway of the tiny, ground floor flat.
“Don’t be late, Linda,” he called over his shoulder.
“I won’t,” she said in a daze, but the man was gone.
Jaz emerged from the bathroom at a quarter to eight wearing only a towel, her long hair clinging damply to her back. Her skin felt heated, just a shade on the burnt side of tanned thanks to a restful day spent on the beach, swimming and sunbathing.
She was about to shout down the stairs to Ed if he knew where the aftersun lotion was, when the doorbell chimed.
Her stomach flipped. Thankfully, Boko had been gone by the time she and Ed had arrived back from the beach early evening. It had taken her all morning to forgive Ed for giving Boko the job of fixing the roof in the first place, she really couldn’t face seeing him again today.
And don’t even get me started on Linda. Oh God, what if it’s her? That’s even worse than Boko…
She waited with bated breath at the top of the stairs, praying fervently that it was neither of them.
Jaz was shit out of luck. She placed her hand over her mouth to stifle the groan of despair when she heard the front door open and with it the voice she had come to hate.
“Hello Ed, mind if I come in?”
Bitch! Just fuck off out my house, you complete fucking psycho.