Stalker
Part 2
He couldn't believe his eyes, didn't want to believe his eyes and had slowly walked around his van weighing up the damage. One tyre was expensive enough but four! It was going to cost him a small fortune, one he really didn't have at the moment, all his money was tied up in the supplies he needed for his present job. He was going to have to dip into his savings, money he was planning to use to pay for a much needed holiday for him and Aaron. He could claim on his insurance but then he didn't want to lose his no claims bonus. Whatever he did he would ultimately be out of pocket. It was all such a sickener!
He needed his van to work and he needed to work to keep his van on the road. Fortunately the senseless act had happened at the weekend, a weekend he wasn't working; it gave him time to sort the tyres out without losing any grafting time.
Somehow he'd managed to forget just how close at hand help was, and was soon realising it wasn't such a big a blow after all. He could hear Aaron on his mobile, talking to his uncle. After checking the tyre size the younger man asked Cain if he could get his hands on four of what they needed today and at cost. The answer had been yes just as long as they could pick them up themselves later that morning. All he'd have to do then was get the van down the hill, Aaron could fit the new tyres at the garage. Problem solved... but not explained.
They'd gone inside then, sat at the kitchen table where Paddy had pressed a mug of tea into his hands. The older man urging him to call the police, he though didn't think it was worth it, they'd never find out who'd done it or why now. The culprit wasn't likely to be hanging round waiting to own up to what he'd done. It would be a waste of police time not to mention his own.
The three of them had sat there then mulling over who could be responsible. He didn't want to believe it was anyone local, that it might be someone he knew. There were no yobs in the village, no head cases; there was no one around there capable of doing something like that. It had to be someone passing through...but then Emmerdale wasn't a place you just passed through.
It just didn't make sense, he couldn't understand why anyone would want to do it...unless it had something to do with the fact he was gay! He wouldn't be the first gay man to be targeted because of his sexuality. No, no he didn't believe that had anything to do with it, everyone was so accepting of him and Aaron in the village, no one had a problem with them individually or as a couple. He'd kept that thought to himself, it didn't seem to have occurred to either Aaron or Paddy, and Aaron was angry enough about what had happened he didn't want to stir him up some more.
He was just going to have to accept it had happened and forget about it, he certainly wasn't going to let it get to him, he'd been on such a high last night after making up with Aaron and again this morning on waking up to find him in his arms. After three miserable days and nights apart he wasn't going to let anything spoil his day.
By one o'clock the van was sorted, ready for the road and it had cost him much less than he'd first thought it would, still it was an expense he could have well done without and if he ever got his hands on the person responsible he'd make them rue the day they'd picked on him!
The vandalism hadn't gone unnoticed; it seemed to be the topic of conversation where ever they went. The villagers were appalled, things like that didn't happen in Emmerdale. No one had seen or heard anything, not that he'd expected to hear any differently, the van was parked more or less under his and Aaron's bedroom window and they'd not heard a damn thing.
They'd gone to the Woolpack for a lunchtime drink, and as he waited for a run off his feet Bob to serve him his phone had rung. He'd answered it only hear silence on the other end, he'd hung up and checked the number but there hadn't been one, it had been withheld. He'd thought it odd but it was soon forgotten once he'd rejoined Aaron by the table. The row they'd had, the three day separation, had shaken them both badly. They were sticking to each other like glue, hanging on to each other's every word, probably making more effort than was necessary, but at the stage their relationship was at, things like that shouldn't happen. The fact it had had scared the hell out of both of them, and what scared them even more was that it might have gone on indefinitely if Paddy hadn't intervened.
He been sat looking at his phone, willing it to ring, desperate to hear from Aaron. Then he'd got a text, from Paddy, it simple said 'Bar West'. He'd stared at it mystified, then suddenly it had hit him, it was Friday night Aaron was there waiting for him! He'd took the quickest shower ever, had had to wrestle his clothes over still damp skin and then had sprinted to the club.
They'd made up and he couldn't have been any happier or more determined to not let anything come between them ever again.
The lunchtime drink had turned into an afternoon session, Paddy and Marlon joining them and challenging them to a game of darts. The best of three had turned into all out war, Aaron determined not to let the oldies beat them, but they had and they'd rubbed the fact in mercilessly too. During those few hours his phone had rung several times, each time the number was withheld and again there had been no one on the other end. The fact his mood was so good had made it just a minor irritation.
They'd eventually made their way home for tea, needing something to soak up the alcohol they'd consumed, then after Paddy had thoughtfully invited himself over to Marlon's to watch a DVD, he and Aaron had curled up together on the sofa, making up for lost time.
They'd had another early night and he'd checked on his van before going to bed, he didn't usually but after what had happened the night before he'd felt the need. After making sure it was locked he'd made his way inside and upstairs, forgetting his concerns the second he'd got in bed beside Aaron.
They'd had another rude awakening the next morning, Paddy again knocking on their door with more unwanted news. He'd been going to pick up his Sunday paper and on seeing the van had hurried back inside.
His van had been targeted again, not the tyres this time but the paintwork, more specifically the name emblazoned on the van's sides and doors, his name. Someone had zigzagged through the bold black lettering with something sharp.
TBC