Page 15 of Best Mistake Ever
‘Hmm. I can see why you might say that.’ I really don’t want to get drawn into a discussion with Dee about how Jonah makes me feel. I’m not entirely sure I could describe it to her anyway.
‘Mind you, I’d be grumpy too if I was most famous for being the Reverse Darcy,’ she says.
I turn to face her, frowning in confusion. ‘The what?’
‘Reverse Darcy,’ she repeats, as if I should know what that is.
‘What’s—?’ I begin to ask, but I’m interrupted by a knock on the door. ‘Come in,’ I call.
Jem walks into the room. He stops abruptly when he sees the two of us, sitting side by side, looking at him expectantly.
‘Whoa!’ he says with alarm in his voice. ‘What happened to your hair?’
I lift my fingers to the shorn ends, remembering all over again how we’ve just butchered it. To my horror, tears well in my eyes, but I quickly blink them back.
‘Sorry, Bea, that was rude of me,’ he says, with an apologetic grimace. ‘It, er, looks nice.’
I have to give him credit for at least trying to sound convincing, even though he’s way off the mark.
‘Just trying something new,’ I lie.
He nods, but doesn’t press me further. ‘Okay. Well, I’m going to head off. There’s nothing I need to tell you from today. It’s been quiet.’
‘Oh, good. Yes. Sorry, I was about to come and check in with you.’
‘No problem,’ he says.
I realise he’s not looked over and acknowledged Dee once since he came in. I hope she’s not got in his way today.
I slide off the bed and stand up, gesturing for him to leave the room with me.
Once we’re in the corridor, I turn to him and say, ‘Thanks again for being so understanding about letting me have time off. Dee really appreciates it too.’
He frowns a little at that, but doesn’t say anything.
‘Her ankle is pretty badly damaged, it seems, so she’s going to struggle to get into work this week.’ I take a breath, then plunge straight in. ‘Could I take the rest of the week off, do you think?’ I wait with bated breath to see what his reaction is going to be to the request. It seems he’s already anticipated I’ll ask for this – again – and folds his arms, before giving me a reluctant-looking nod.
‘I thought you might say that. Dee’s already given me the full run-down on herinjury.’ He says this with a level of sarcasm I’ve never heard from him before. So I guess she has got in his way today then.
‘I’m really sorry about all this, Jem.’
‘Um-hm,’ is all he says.
‘Just this week, then I’ll be back.’
‘Yeah. Sure. Okay. I guess so. Not that you’re giving me much choice.’ He raises his eyebrows pointedly.
‘You’re a good friend, you know that?’
Finally, he smiles at me. ‘Yeah. All right, there’s no need to patronise me.’
I cuff his arm gently in jest. ‘Seriously. Thank you.’
Again, he just nods. ‘Well, anyway. I’m heading off. I’ll see you next week then. Do you want me to check the builders don’tneed anything handling before I leave each evening, or will you be back in time to do that?’
The question makes another snag pop into my head. ‘Actually, Dee’s going to need to stay here for a little while, in my room, till she can climb all the stairs up to her attic flat again safely. It’s probably easier if I stay at her place till she’s mobile again. I’m sure it won’t be for long. So she can do the check-ins and be on hand if they need anything.’
He visibly stiffens, then gives one last curt nod. But as he turns away, I could swear I catch him rolling his eyes heavenward.
