Spectre
Part 10
It was late Tuesday morning, and he was on his own at the garage, Cain off on a call out, it used to be his job but they took it in turns now. Cain didn't call the shots anymore, not since he'd bought into the business and become a full partner. It was a hot, sunny August day and he was sipping on an ice cold can of coke, trying to quench the thirst he'd worked up, taking a well earned breather... but while he stood idly his mind was anything but...
It was a good few weeks now since Joel had come to the garage; he'd not seen or heard anything from him since. He tried not to think about him and didn't most of the time but every now and again...like now... he would sneak into his thoughts and his mood would darken for a while. He'd tell himself he should have tried harder to persuade Joel that Chris was bad news, that he should have said something that would ensure he walked away while he still could, then he'd ask himself if there was anything more he could be doing... he always got the same answer, the one Jackson had to be sick and tired of giving him too ... a big fat no!
He and Jackson had been to Bar West the last two Saturday nights he was home, the last one, just the other night, to celebrate the older man's birthday. It wasn't officially until Friday but Jackson wouldn't be here on the day itself, so they'd celebrated it a week early with a group of friends. He had hoped he might see Joel there, but no, there had been no sign of Chris either which he supposed meant they were together someplace else. He'd asked himself then the same two questions he'd just asked himself now, them being... had Joel moved in with Chris? If so, was he regretting it yet?
He was trying to shift his mind off of Joel, onto something, anything that wouldn't make him any more miserable than he already was. Not only would Jackson not be home for his birthday he wouldn't be home for any part of the upcoming weekend. He and his friend were working right through it. That way they'd have the job finished by the end of the following week, knocking a full week off the estimated time. It meant a hefty bonus for Jackson, one he wanted to put towards a holiday, one he'd left him in charge of organising. Easy enough to do, all they wanted was a couple of weeks of sun, sea and sand, they'd have to go abroad for that though, British weather was just too unreliable!
September was usually a quiet month work wise so he knew Cain could manage without him, he'd have to, he and Jackson needed some time away together. He just hoped... there he was again, thinking about Joel! Well he couldn't help Joel if he wasn't here, end of! He forced him mind back to the garage again...
Work had already started to ease off, still there was enough to keep them nicely ticking over, to make a decent enough profit and that's what mattered at the end of the day. He was working on one of the King's Haulage van's at the moment, there was a truce of sorts between him and Carl, had been for a few years now. He still didn't have any time for the tosspot but he managed to keep things civil between the two of them these days. That had to have helped earn them a contract with the small firm. He knew it was mostly down to Jimmy though, that it was him who'd pushed for it. He liked Jimmy, he'd always been alright with him, had forgiven him a lot, he certainly didn't hold a grudge not like Carl did. Thankfully his mum had come to her senses where Carl was concerned, had long since kicked him into touch. She didn't have a boyfriend at the moment, was in between them as she was so fond of telling everyone. He didn't know if he preferred her with or without a man in her life, he worried about her either way. He worried about Paddy too; he was all on his own. He'd long since given up on the two of them getting back together, they were close, obviously loved each other but not in that way, not in the way he'd have liked. He shook his head, dismayed by where his thoughts had strayed to now, thinking about their troubled love lives wasn't going to do anything for his mood, apart from maybe make it worse.
His phone was ringing now, bringing him out of his reverie; wiping the excess oil off his hand he reached into his pocket to retrieve it. His "Hello" was met by silence, he knew someone was on the other end of the line though so repeated the word a little louder, unable to keep the impatience out of his voice. It again got no response so he ended the call, checking the number and finding there wasn't one, that it had been withheld. His first thought was that it was Joel, but if it was why hadn't he said anything? He pondered over the possibility of it being him for a few seconds then decided it couldn't have been, forgetting the call altogether shortly after when a customer arrived to pick up his car.
/
It was Wednesday now, late afternoon, he was planning on finishing early, going home, taking a shower, and then heading over to Paddy's where he was having his tea. The two of them were then going to the Woolpack. Paddy thought he was in need of some cheering up, he was right too, Jackson being away was really getting to him, and the fact he wouldn't be home Friday as expected had put him on a real downer. But no matter how much of a goodnight he had he was still going back to an empty house, an empty bed! He was going to have to stop feeling sorry for himself, stop moping round like some lovesick teen.. his phone was ringing, interrupting his thoughts, he reached for it absently, his mind reluctant to move very far from Jackson.
"Hello." There was a brief pause and then...
"Is he with you?"
There was no mistaking the deep voice, no missing the anger it held. It was Chris!
TBC