My thanks to Sylvain for the beta work.

Face to Face

Part 50

Aaron had left the Smithy feeling quite positive about things, was certain his mam and Paddy's relationship was back on track, that the baby would only bring them closer now.

As promised, he phoned Jackson to let him know the latest developments, he sounded as relieved and as pleased as he was. That done, he made his way back down the hill to the garage. He'd left the place unattended, he hadn't planned on being gone as long as he was, but the events of the morning had taken precedence. His mind certainly hadn't been on the business and on seeing one of King's Haulage vans parked in front of the forecourt, he remembered that it had been booked in for some work. He was expecting to find Jimmy waiting for him, it was him who tended to deal with the garage, even more so since Carl and his mam had split up. Jimmy, ever the peacemaker, was obviously trying to keep Carl away from him, away from Cain too for that matter. Cain wasn't at all happy at the way Carl had treated his sister even if he was pleased the relationship was over. But it wasn't Jimmy he found waiting for him, it was Carl, and by the look on his face, he was none too pleased at having to wait.

"I was told to have it here for midday, that it would be ready by 2. It better had be, I need it."

Just the sight of Carl rankled Aaron, and the fact he'd given him good reason to complain added to his irritation. He desperately wanted to tell Carl what he could do with his van, and he would have done if he'd thought for one minute the older man would have driven away without another word. But Aaron knew him better than that, knew that it would only lead to a confrontation, one that could easily get out of hand. That would only upset his mam, and she'd been through enough today. Paddy wouldn't like it either and Jackson would be equally unimpressed so instead he swallowed both his pride and his aggravation and said, "It'll be ready for 2 as promised."

By rights that should have been the end of the matter, but as he'd lifted his hand to take the keys dangling from Carl's fingers, they were purposefully moved out of his reach.

"What, no backchat? No lip? You're getting more and more like Dr. Doolittle every day."

Aaron recognised the comment for what it was, a sly dig at both him and Paddy. As far as he was concerned, it was proof that Carl was jealous of the fact Chas was back with Paddy. He was determined not to react the way Carl expected him to, with a show of anger. Still, he couldn't ignore the comment, "Thanks for the compliment." Well it was a compliment, Paddy was a good man, and was well respected. You couldn't really say the same about Carl. He saw something flash in the other man's eyes, put it down to annoyance and knew his words had only served to fire Carl up some more.

"Being compared to that bumbling idiot is a compliment? I suppose it would seem like one to a halfwit."

Aaron tensed at Carl's words, his hands balling into fists. The man was spoiling for a fight, was for whatever reason deliberately goading him into throwing the first punch. It took all his willpower not to. He knew he was better than that, he certainly wanted to be. But where he found he could control his fists, he just couldn't stop his tongue from firing some ammunition in Carl's direction. "What's your problem, Carl? You jealous because Paddy's with Chas and you've ended up with a slag?"

"She'll see sense, just like last time. Paddy can't make her happy... in or out of bed, she needs a real man..."

All reasoning deserted him at that point and he lunged at Carl, his fist landing square on his jaw...

/

Jackson had been concerned for Paddy and Chas' relationship, but even more so for Aaron. He was always so deeply affected by what happened to the two of them. At first his boyfriend had tried to distance himself from the couple, from what he feared would be another train wreck. But, in the end, it was Aaron who'd stepped in and helped them avoid such a disaster. Jackson was proud of him, knew it couldn't have been easy for him, but he'd done it, played mediator and helped get them over a major hurdle. Knowing things were ok back in Emmerdale, he could now concentrate on his work, catch up on things.

He was just starting to make some headway, the extension he was working on starting to take shape, when his phone rang. Seeing 'Mum' illuminated he was tempted to just let it ring, one of her 'quick' phone calls could last for hours, and he didn't have minutes let alone hours to spare right now. There was no way he could ignore it though, if he didn't answer it, she'd think there was something wrong and keep on ringing until he did. He was just going to have to tell her he was busy and that they would catch up later…

Half an hour she'd kept him talking! Not that he'd done much talking, she'd barely stopped to draw breath. She was 'in one', 'off on way' and all he could do was listen to her let off some steam. She'd 'had words' with the woman in the flat below his. He'd been there just over a year and he could count the times he'd seen Lucy on one hand, and then only in passing, just long enough to say a friendly hello. His mother had been there a fraction of the time and this was the second run in she'd had with her. He'd told his mum not to turn her music up so high, anyone would think she was deaf. Of course the neighbours were going to take exception to the noise, especially with the sort of music she played.

He'd heaved a sigh of relief on ending the call, groaning in annoyance when just seconds later his phone started to ring again. He was surprised to see Chas' name on the screen, it wasn't often she called him and because her calls were so infrequent he didn't think he could ignore this one.

Chas sounded both angry and upset, and at first he wasn't quite sure what or who she was talking about and he had to ask "Who's been arrested?" He couldn't believe his ears when she said, "Aaron!"

TBC