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Great Writing - Home > Extended > three accounts of events - part 7
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Extended Work
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| three accounts of events - part 7 | |
| By teddy | ||||||
| 04 February 2007 | ||||||
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comments and advice much appreciated Paul The day Adi went back home with George, Paul went to Joanne. Not to tell her he can’t see her anymore as he had planned, but merely to get some company. The night before he found out about Adi’s accident was the last time he saw her. She rang him up few times in the days that followed, she needed to know where she was standing, which was, of course, only understandable, but he had always managed to somehow excuse himself out and delay the moment of delivering the bad news: he was just too busy to go and see her. He knew he was unfair, Joanne was a nice girl and she deserved better than that, but with Adi in hospital, he could hardly concentrate on anything else. Now Adi had gone back home to George and he needed someone to be with that night, and Joanne seemed to be the most convenient option. Hi Joanne, it’s Paul,’ he rang her up on Saturday afternoon. ‘Are you free tonight? I would like to see you.’ There was a long silence at the other end of the line. ‘I…I’m sorry, I’m going out tonight,’ she finally spoke. ‘Ok. That’s fine,’ he said disappointed, but relieved in the same time. He knew it wasn’t right to mess up her feelings once again. ‘I’ll talk to you later.’ ‘Is this all you’ve got to say, Paul?’ she resentfully asked him. ‘You haven’t called in weeks, I thought I meant something to you and at least deserve an explanation for your very odd behaviour. Now you phone me out of the blue and ask to see me without even trying to apologise.’ Paul knew she was right, but he had enough on his mind already and the last thing he needed was a tantrum thrown by a neglected girlfriend. ‘I’m sorry Joanne, this was probably a mistake. Bye for now,’ he said before putting the phone down. Few minutes later she rang him back. ‘Hi. It’s me. I’m sorry for earlier, I’ll be in the Lotus with some friends later on if you want to join us.’ The Lotus was a wine bar just around the corner from where Joanne lived. It was the sort of place where young middle-class high flyers would gather at weekends to discuss the latest events in London’s trendy life, share some celebrity gossip and show off the latest fashion garments and the weirdest hair cuts. Paul hated the place and the very few times Joanne managed to drag him in it, he got bored to death. It was almost half past eight when he stepped in there that night. The place looked no different from what he remembered. He spotted Joanne at the bar surrounded by her friends. ‘Why can’t I just fall in love with her?’ he admired her beautiful figure from the distance. Her alluring shapes were bursting through the tight velvety dress she was wearing. ‘Then everyone would be happy, including Adi,’ he bitterly thought. Joanne’s mouth expanded into a big contented smile when she saw him approaching and the guilty feeling took over him again. It was very cruel of him to play with her feelings like that, but he couldn’t help it. He kissed her gently on the cheek before greeting the people she was with. They stayed there for a while, but when his patience got stretched to the limits and could not struggle anymore to put up with the tedious subjects the conversation was revolving around, he decided it was time to leave. ‘Let’s go somewhere else,’ he whispered in Joanne’s ear, rubbing a swaying hand on her back. They found an excuse and left the bar and Joanne’s friends to carry on with their yuppie Saturday night entertaining. Half an hour later Paul was lying on his back in Joanne’s bed waiting for her. By the time she emerged from the bathroom, wearing just a light negligee which was revealing the most appealing curves, he was already overfilled, not with passion or joy as one would expect, but with anger and frustration. Images of Adi and George together had been tormenting his brain all evening. ‘Paul, you’re hurting me,’ he heard Joanne weakly crying underneath him few minutes later. He looked up and stared at his hands tightly gripped around her wrists. ‘Oh God,’ he let them go and rolled on his back. ‘I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,’ he run his fingers through his hair before moving them down on his forehead where they started rubbing its skin with anxious moves. ‘Paul, what is wrong?’ Joanne’s hand gently touched his face. ‘Please talk to me.’ ‘I’m sorry, Joanne, I have to go,’ he jumped of the bed in an instant and started dressing up. He didn’t look at her, the last thing he wanted was to see the distressed look he knew he would find on her face. Once outside he jumped in his car and turned on the ignition with a brusque move. The squeaky noise of the wheels taking off harshly scratched the silent surroundings. At the hasty speed the car was rolling on the nearly empty by now roads, it didn’t take him long to get to the intended destination. He parked on one side of the road and looked up at the building opposite. All windows were dark, there was no sign of wakefulness inside. He glanced at the car clock, it was nearly midnight, before getting his phone out of his pocket. He dialled the number and waited. The phone at the other end rang two or three times before going silent. * Adi I’m lying in bed next to George, the regular sound of his breath tells me that he’s asleep. One of his hands is protectively resting on my back and I don’t dare moving because I don’t want to wake him up. It has been a hectic day for all of us, but I’m finally home with my family. If there is one single thing I regret about my time in hospital, that must be the intimate evenings I shared with Paul. This is it, from now on we’ll never be on our own again, there’ll be always someone else around when he’ll come to see Vicky. Well, that’s probably for the best. I’m tired, but feeling restless. I’ve tried to close my eyes, but my mind has refused to go to sleep so far. I’m mulling over the day. I had some final tests done in the morning and then I started packing my things. When George came to pick me up in the afternoon, he stared amazed at the mountain of bags waiting to be taken downstairs and loaded into the car. ‘Blimey Adi, what have you got in there? I hope you haven’t raided the hospital’s food supplies. You better tell me if you did, so we can quickly run off before getting caught,’ he joked. ‘No,’ I laughed blushing - one of the bags contained the gifts from Paul, except the boxes of chocolates which I gave away to the hospital staff that looked after me – ‘it’s mostly the tablets you’ll force me to take for the next five years.’ I landed straight into my mum’s arms when I entered the Highgate flat – we’re going to stay in London for a while, I still have to go to the hospital for checks up and all that, so it’s no point really going back to Carlton – and when she finally let go of me, I went to find Vicky. She was in the living room, playing with her toys on the floor. ‘My little baby,’ I cried when I saw her. I kneeled down next to her and tenderly cuddled her. I couldn’t pick her up because I’m not allowed to make too much physical effort just yet. ‘Mmmmummy,’ she smiled when she saw me, agitating a toy in the air. George watched us for a moment before sitting down next to us. He took Vicky into his arms, then he put an arm around me, and I swear I could see two very tiny glittering droplets bothering his eyes. Tina and Craig joined us few hours later when we all gathered around the dining table, savouring one of my mum’s delicious meals. I couldn’t remember the last time when there were so many smiles exchanged in that dining room. George run me a hot scented bath – I must’ve soaked in there for hours - before going to bed. With all that, now I’m still awake. I wish I didn’t, but I can’t stop thinking about Paul. I know I hurt him. Again. I wonder where he is, what he is up to right now. Does he hate me? I look at the clock resting on the bedside cabinet: it’s nearly midnight. The ringing tone of my mobile startles me. I pick up the phone and look up the number. Just for a second, before blocking the incoming call. ‘Who was it, honey?’ I hear George moving next to me ‘I don’t know, probably a wrong number, I didn’t recognise it. Go back to sleep.’
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