Page 56 of Elijah
Elijah
aged 28
The guys and I had finished our job with Johnny Kavanagh and been back for a week, although I wasn’t sure Bob would ever be the same. He’d fallen completely in love with Johnny’s beautiful wife, Shannon, despite her being heavily pregnant. The stupid idiot had gone completely dumbstruck from the minute he set eyes on her, and it had got progressively worse in the two weeks we’d worked there. On the final night, they’d invited us all to dinner at the house with them and their boys and poor old Bob was so hetup, he couldn’t eat his meal but just stared at her all night. Only yesterday, I’d caught him staring down at a picture of her in a women’s magazine and I could have sworn he was crying.
I had to admit, I wasn’t exactly feeling the joy about being back home either. We’d started working on the gardens for an ageing popstar and his airhead wife and he was quickly becoming the biggest prick I’d ever had the misfortune to meet. He was demanding, changed his mind constantly, and was a tight as a duck’s arse when it came to materials. I was constantly battling with him about buying cheap paving slabs or cut-price plants and was close to quitting.
I was also struggling with the fact that now I was back, Mia was desperately trying to pin me down to a date for her to move in. It wasn’t that I didn’t want her to, I just wasn’t sure I wanted it yet, but I didn’t have the heart or the balls to tell her it’d all been a mistake when she’d heard me talking to Sam about it. I was being a fucking coward about it because I knew she’d ask me why, and I wasn’t sure telling her that I couldn’t get my ex-wife out of my head would be a positive step for our relationship.
To be honest, it was taking every effort not to get into my truck and go and see Amy on her current job, which I heard was at another hotel, just outside of Manchester. I’d swallowed up that information from Marty, who’d bumped into Claudia when he and his wife were out having dinner one night. Don’t know why, but he had a shit eating grin when he’d told me the next day.
As I contemplated the whole Mia situation, I could hear her moving around in my kitchen. She’d offered to make lunch while I worked on some invoices in my home office. The fact that I’d done sweet FA in the hour I’d been in there, pretty much proved my mind was most definitely elsewhere. My head was pounding and my lungs were feeling tight, as though the air was slowly disappearing from the room. I needed to get out and get some fresh air.
I pushed against the desk with such ferocity that my chair slammed into the wall behind me. Not bothering to check whether I’d cracked the plaster of the pale grey wall, I moved out of the office to the landing.
“Mia,” I called, standing on the top stair. “Mia.”
“Yeah,” she answered, appearing from the kitchen.
“Do I have time for a run?” I asked, scrubbing a hand over my head.
She glanced at her watch. “If you want to,” she replied, a catch of disappointment in her voice. “I’ve made sandwiches and a salad, so it can wait.”
My only response was to turn toward my bedroom to get changed.
* * *
My feet pounded along the canal tow path as Rag ‘n’ Bone Man’s moody, soulful voice belted out the chorus of Human in my ear. With an understanding of every word he sang, I pushed my legs harder, quickening my pace until I was almost sprinting. It was punishing, but I needed the burn in my lungs to push away all the thoughts whirling around in my head.
With the cool air whistling around me, I felt freer than I had in weeks.
I wasn’t having to lie to my girlfriend that I was happy with her moving in.
I wasn’t having to lie to my brother that I was okay.
I wasn’t having to lie to myself that I didn’t love Amy any more.
There was only the tarmac beneath my feet and the music in my ears. It felt good and I knew I’d made the right decision to get out of the house.
Finally, as I approached the canal café, I let out a long breath and as the music slowed to Dermot Kennedy’s Heartless, I gradually reduced my own speed until I was walking with my hands on my hips. I was breathing heavily, but I felt good for having blown away my memories and thoughts for a short time.
Walking inside, I held a hand up to the young girl behind the counter, pulling out a five pound note from the pocket of my shorts.
“Bottle of water, please,” I said between panting breaths.
She smiled and turned to the fridge, before placing a bottle on the counter and then taking my money.
“Thanks.”
“No problem.” She smiled as she handed me my change and then turned to someone who had come in behind me.
As I turned to leave, I almost dropped the bottle.
“Shit, Amy. I didn’t see you there.”
Amy blinked rapidly as she looked at me and then glanced at the girl behind the counter. “A large Americano, please,” she said, her head half-turned to me. “Hi Eli.”
“Hi. How are you doing? How was Scotland?”
