Page 69 of The Wish
‘Understood. See you.’
At home, Alex kneels beside Max. ‘We’re heading out early. Sorry it’s still hot – let’s run under the trees. Steve’s coming over later. He’s helping. You in?’
Max wags his tail, delighted.
Later, Steve arrives with a bag.
‘Sorry about being late. When I told Lydia where I was going, she insisted I bring something for us to eat.’
‘I don’t think I want to know what you’ve been telling her about me,’ Alex says with a knowing smile. He has no doubt his colleagues have all reported home about the loner who is first in each morning and last to leave each night.
‘Do you want to eat first?’ Steve says, eyeing the bag as he follows Alex into the kitchen and placing it on the bench.
‘Oh yeah, sure, why not, I’ll get some plates. Do you know what she’s sent?’
Steve starts opening the bag, pulling out plastic containers. ‘It’s what we were having for dinner tonight. Pasta, salad and I think there will be some garlic bread in there. Any chance you have parmesan?’
‘Ah, don’t think so.’
‘I’ll look in the fridge,’ Steve says, walking towards the refrigerator.
‘Don’t bother, I don’t have parmesan. Does it matter?’
Steve goes back to unpacking the food. ‘Hey, what do you know, my wife thinks of everything.’ He waves a small container. ‘Cheese.’
‘Great, let’s eat then.’
‘Well, can we heat it up? It’s warm but will taste better if we heat it up some.’
Alex looks around his kitchen, opens a cupboard, peers in before closing it. ‘Oh yeah, I know where the pots are, they’re under the sink.’
‘Thanks, if it’s OK, I think I’d better take over the food. Any chance you’ve got a beer in your fridge?’
‘Now that’s something I can get for you.’
Alex hands Steve a bottle of beer before sitting at the kitchen table and watching him heat up the pasta, then scramble around in cupboards to find a bowl to empty the salad into from its plastic container. Inside the oven he finds a tray, turning the oven on he places the garlic bread on the tray and pops it intothe oven to warm. Within minutes they are enjoying a wonderful home-cooked meal, washed down with a second beer. They both surreptitiously slip Max a piece of garlic bread. Steve clears the table, putting the dishes into the dishwasher, packing the empty containers back into the bag. From the remaining container he shows Alex the home-baked brownies and isn’t surprised when one is immediately playfully snatched away. The gentle moaning is testament to his wife’s baking ability. The crumbs are hoovered away by Max.
‘You’re one lucky bugger,’ Alex tells him.
‘Nothing you couldn’t have if you put yourself out there.’
‘Yeah, sure. Come on, we’ve got work to do.’
The last thing Alex wants to do is talk about himself.
Opening the door into his office, Alex flicks the overhead light on. Following him, Steve stops in the doorway.
‘Wow, look at all this kit!’
Steve slowly walks towards the wall of monitors, screens, keyboards which come to life with a flick of a switch.
‘I think the guys at work may have solved my biggest problem but there’s still so much to do.’
Steve is still taking in the sophistication of the equipment in front of him. ‘Why do you work for a jerk like Ian when you could run your own business right here? Hell, you could put a man on the moon with this stuff.’
‘I guess you wouldn’t believe me if I said it’s for the camaraderie of the office and our colleagues.’
‘Nope, not buying that.’
