Page 58 of Oar Than Friends

I cleared my throat to stop a groan escaping just as she came back into view and moved over to her bed. ‘I figured if we’re going to get to know each other long distance, that we shouldn’t just rely on texting. If we were at the same uni, I’d have seen you this evening.’

‘Oh yeah?’

‘Yes,’ the conviction in my tone only made her blush harder, and suddenly pink was my new favourite colour, ‘and I’d have kissed you goodnight.’

Her bottom lip caught in her teeth as she looked straight down the camera, and I completely forgot what I was about to say. Hell, this girl could make me forget my own name.

I think she already had.

‘I like the sound of that,’ she smiled, ‘and we’d have talked about our days. So, tell me, how yours was.’

‘Definitely ending better than it started, that’s for sure.’ I grinned, but her face dropped a little.

‘Did something happen this morning?’

I tugged on the back of my neck before tension set in as it always did when I thought of my father. But just like the first night I met Kate, I had an urge to spill more than my usual dismissive responses. Also just like the first night, Kate asked questions because she wanted to get to know me, like normal people did, and not because she was after a juicy nugget of salacious gossip. And I found I wanted to tell her, just like I had then.

‘I had an argument with my dad this morning, and it normally puts me in a bad mood for the entire day.’

‘I’m so sorry. What did you argue about?’

‘Same as usual. He hates that I’m studying classics, thinks I’ve fucked up my future and wants me to grow up. Loosely translated as doing what he does.’

‘He wants you to work in politics, right? Like him?’

I nodded. ‘He does.’

She picked up her water bottle, and I watched her twisting the cap on and off before she spoke. ‘Have you ever tried to talk to him about doing something else?’

‘No. It’s not a conversation that will ever take place. He wouldn’t hear it. Therefore I will stay forever a student.’

‘I get it, it’s a hard conversation to have.’

‘Yeah, just like your lobster rolls.’ I sighed, and from the way her smile had now disappeared, decided to change the subject before we delved any further, which would result in bad moods all around.

‘Anyway, how was your Monday? What did you learn in the world of medicine?’

She chuckled, ‘I was with Leo today. I learned about compartments of a body, the muscles …’

But I wasn’t listening. I’d only focused on one part of that sentence. In a flash, jealousy, green, thick, ugly and raw, seeped into my blood like sewage, almost winding me with its ferocity like nothing I’d ever experienced. Jealousy was for the weak.

I didn’t get jealous, except clearly I did.

‘Kate, who’s Leo?’ I tried to keep my voice as calm as possible.

‘My cadaver.’ She grinned, with absolutely no awarenessof the irrational turmoil I was currently experiencing at the thought of her with another man. ‘We had to name them, and I called him Galileo. Leo for short.’

I blinked, the whirring in my brain stopped while her words sank in and it became clear I was jealous of a dead guy.

‘Well, I thought it was funny. Or cute at least,’ she added, totally misreading my silence.

‘No! It’s great. It’s perfect. Galileo. Father of modern science.’

‘Yeah?’

‘I love it, couldn’t think of a better cadaver name,’ I added with enthusiasm so over the top it earned me a frown. ‘Is it weird being with dead bodies?’

She reached out of sight again and picked up her bottle of water, drinking while she thought. ‘No, I thought it would be, but it’s kind of comforting. I feel like I’m taking care of Leo and helping him fulfil his purpose for the pursuit of science and knowledge.’ Her voice trailed off and she dropped her head. She was silent for a few seconds. ‘It sounds dumb but it makes me feel closer to Jake.’

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