by Simone Jaine
“Was there any sign left of the marquee when they had finished?”
“Only flattened grass and a broken daphne bush,” Jem sighed as she leaned against the bench.
“It’ll grow back,” Eben reassured her.
He peered through the oven window.
“What are we having?” he asked.
“Macaroni cheese,” Jem replied. “I’ve learned my lesson.”
“No use trying to educate the palate of the little philistines until they’re a bit older,” Eben agreed as he straightened up.
“It’s a special recipe with pineapple and bacon in it,” Jem said. “I figured those ingredients would be acceptable.”
The oven timer went off again and Eben watched her remove a baking dish from the oven coated with pineapple, grilled cheese and bacon.
“I hope there’s enough for seconds,” Eben said as the scent of bacon wafted past.
“Maybe,” Jem hedged as she started serving the meal onto plates.
“What have you been up to today?” she asked as she carefully tipped the serving spoon so that the grilled bits stayed on top of the macaroni cheese as it slid onto the plate.
“Just catching up with a few people but it took longer than I expected. Sorry I wasn’t here earlier to cover you so you could get some work done.”
“Don’t worry about that. Just after the hire place people turned up to collect the marquee, Mel arrived. She showed me the most adorable photos of her daughters as flower girls at her brother’s wedding and after we finished catching up she took Aidan with her and collected Daisy from kindy. I had a few hours to get things done before collecting Jeremy from school and picking up the other two on the way home.”
“I didn’t know she was back,” Eben commented as he pinched a piece of cheesy macaroni and dropped it into his mouth. “Aah,” he huffed around the piece of macaroni. “It’s hot!”
Jem shoved the half full glass of milk that Aidan had earlier left on the breakfast bar towards him and he gratefully grabbed it and finished it in one mouthful.
“She got back yesterday afternoon and was keen to learn how Jess was doing. I promised to let her know the moment she is transferred to a ward so that she can visit.”
“It was good of her to take the kids off your hands for a while,” Eben commented.
“Yes, especially when I needed to catch up with responses to client enquiries generated by the presentation. I think she felt guilty for not being able to help me out just after the accident. She offered to take them tomorrow too but I said we’d be okay.”
Jem raised an eyebrow to question whether Eben was happy with what she had told Mel.
“We’ll be fine,” he agreed. “I should be around to give you more time to work and at any rate we don’t want the kids to wear out their welcome and have her mainlining gin to compensate.”
Jem just shook her head and smiled.
A couple of hours later once the children were settled in bed for the night she made two cups of hot chocolate and carried them to the office. She enjoyed this new ritual of theirs and realised that she would miss Eben and the never ending busy-ness of the children when she moved back to her apartment after Jason returned from Fiji. Then she felt something squish underfoot and a loud squeak startled her almost enough for her to spill the drinks.
Looking down she saw one of the children’s baby toys under her ugg boot. She let out a sigh of relief until she looked towards the lounge and saw more toys scattered about.
So much for a mess free zone.
They were going to take a while to pick up. At moments like this her minimalist plant filled apartment seemed positively inviting.
Going into the office she saw Eben parked in front of a game of spider solitaire, as usual. She set one mug beside his mouse pad and settled into the chair beside him. After a few sips of hot chocolate she decided it was time to get to work.
Jem logged onto the lap top Eben had set up for her then after a few minutes dropped her hands in frustration.
“What’s the matter?” Eben asked, although he already had a fair idea of the problem.
“I forgot we’ve gone live this evening on the new system at work and I don’t have a password to get in. My old one doesn’t work.”
“Try JemlovesEben without spaces,” Eben suggested as he picked up his mug.
Jem humoured him seeing as she didn’t have any better ideas.
“Well what do you know?” she murmured to herself moments later as her password was accepted.
“How did you know my password?” Jem asked.
“I’ve met Cherie,” Eben replied vaguely then took a sip of his drink.
Not long afterwards Jem pushed her chair back from the desk.
“This isn’t going to work,” she said in frustration.
“What is the problem?” Eben asked absently, as he dragged the ace of spades onto the two of spades and completed a suit.
“Jason showed me bits here and there but I can’t remember it all and I missed that guy who went in today to give the tutorial. I will be able to figure out how to do things but it will take me ages,” Jem said with annoyance.
“Maybe I can help,” Eben offered.
Jem looked at him for a few moments, considering.
“Okay,” she finally said. “I bet you’ve seen Jason do things enough to know how it works.”
Eben didn’t correct her. Instead he slid his chair against hers so that their legs touched.
“Now what are you wanting to do?” he asked.
“Usually after I’ve written a sales strategy I email it to the sales rep involved for their feedback but I remember Jason had a clever way to share it with other people centrally with a bit on the side for comments.”
“You want to give permission to let people read and or edit your document and post comments,” Eben said. “Here’s how it is done.”
Eben showed her the sequence involved to do what she had asked for.
“How do I let them know that it is there for them to see?” Jem asked.
“You already have. When you gave people permission to look at your document it automatically sent an email to those people with a link to read it.”
“That’s pretty clever, thank you,” Jem said, appreciation flashing in her blue eyes.
“You’re welcome,” said Eben then he leaned forward to kiss her neck.
Jem shuddered under the touch of his lips against her skin. As his mouth inched up towards hers, alternately kissing and nipping her skin she turned her head to reciprocate then paused.
“Hold it a moment,” she said.
Eben stopped mid nip on her jawline. His eyes caught hers.
“I’m really behind in my work,” Jem whispered apologetically. “As much as I want to keep going, would it be okay if we waited until I got a bit more done here?”
Eben let go and sat back up in his seat.
“It’s okay, I understand. I can wait,” he said with a put-upon sigh.
Jem gave him a smile and patted his knee. Well aware of the joy of deadlines Eben reluctantly slid his chair back to his own desk so as to cause fewer distractions.
After about what felt like years Eben didn’t think he could play another game of spider solitaire. He looked at the clock. Six minutes had passed since he had last looked at it.
“Can I do anything to help you?” he asked, partly to break the silence.
“Hmm? Oh, not really,” Jem answered absently.
Close to an hour after that Jem finally closed the lid of the lap top and stretched her arms above her head.
Noticing she had finished, Eben quickly tilted up the screen of the lap top he had laid flat to the left of his desktop computer. The screen now displayed a game of free cell which had just been started.
Once he had realised she was engrossed in her work he had decided to work too. Although it wasn’t quite as convenient to view the screen while it was flat on the desk at least he was able to work alongside her without her
knowing.
“What time is it?” Jem asked as she got out of her seat and picked up the empty mugs.
“Bedtime,” Eben answered as he ushered her towards their bedroom, only stopping briefly in the kitchen to dump the mugs in the sink.
“Bedtime’s now my favourite time,” Jem said playfully as she entered the bedroom.
“Mine too,” said Eben huskily as he closed the bedroom door behind them.
The next few days flew past as Jem fitted work around the children’s routines and making visits to see Jess in hospital. During her last visit she had been shocked to find Jess’s bed empty and her cards removed until one of the familiar nurses came over and told her that Jess had been doing so well that they had transferred her to a ward.
After following the nurse’s directions Jem found Jess sharing a room with three older women. As she approached she was initially pleased to see that the bandages on Jess’s head had been reduced but as she got closer she soon realised there was no sign of Jess’s long brunette locks underneath.
The absence of her sister’s biggest vanity made Jem’s eyes involuntarily water. She bit down on the inside of her cheek as she feigned getting something out of her eyes to account for the tear that had dared to fall. Luckily Jess seemed oblivious to Jem’s distress and was pleased to see her so Jem decided not to bring the subject up. If her sister didn’t already know about her hair being removed, she soon would.
After she had carefully hugged Jess in greeting, sat down and updated her on the children’s antics, her sister started griping indignantly about how one of her roommates snored during an afternoon nap. Jem couldn’t help but smile about the fact that her sister must be getting better if she was starting to complain about things.
As she listened, Jem noticed the small stack of get-well-soon cards lying on the bedside unit.
“Shall I set these up for you?” Jem asked, indicating the cards to change the subject after her sister had covered the snoring event thoroughly.
“Sure. I can’t see them from here,” Jess answered then groaned in pain as her awkward attempt to reach them accidentally knocked the pile to the floor.
“Don’t worry, I’ll pick them up,” Jem told her and knelt down to get the ones that had gone under the bed.
Jess pressed the button on her morphine pump and watched the top of her older sister’s light blonde head bob as she stretched to collect the cards.
As Jem stood up she noticed Jess reach up with one hand to stroke up the nape of her neck. It was a gesture Jem had seen a thousand times before and usually ended with Jess twirling a lock of hair around her forefinger as she pulled it down over her shoulder. Not this time. Jess’s fingers touched bandages and pulled away.
She knows.
Jem abruptly tore her gaze from her sister to the cards in her hand to stop the threat of more tears. It’ll grow back, she reminded herself harshly. She determinedly sifted through the cards until she came across one she hadn’t seen before. It was expensive looking and Jem brought it to the top and toyed with the cover, curious to open it and see who it was from.
“That one arrived just before I was transferred. It’s from Coco but was handed in at reception,” Jess said, her voice sounding less tense as the morphine kicked in.
Jem opened the card and immediately recognised the fussy italic script.
“It looks like Mrs Jenkins handwriting.”
Mrs Jenkins was a society friend of Coco’s and an inveterate gossip.
“Thank goodness ICU is family only,” said Jess “although I wonder why it took Coco so long to arrange to have it sent.” She looked at her sister. “You did tell her straight away about my accident, didn’t you?”
“I told her the same day. Perhaps Mrs Jenkins wasn’t able to visit any sooner,” Jem answered, rather than mention that it was probably more likely that Coco had waited until returning from her Mediterranean cruise before doing anything about sending a card.
It took a few moments to read the contents.
Thinking of you Darling. I hope you are better soon. All my love, Coco.
Jess would have only been in Coco’s thoughts until the end of the phone call with Mrs Jenkins, thought Jem cynically.
“At least she made the effort to send a card,” said Jess and grimaced as she tried to ease herself higher in the bed.
Yes, a lot less hassle than flying to your bedside and actually being useful. Not to mention she has the benefit of getting sympathy from her friends at the same time, Jem thought darkly.
Instead of voicing her thoughts Jem rushed to Jess’s side and rearranged the pillows for support.
“Is that better?”
“Yes thanks,” Jess answered as she settled back.
“Before I forget, I have something for you,” Jem announced then started rummaging through her shoulder bag. “Ah. Here it is.”
Jem handed Jess her cell phone and slipped the recharger into the top drawer of the bedside unit. “I’ve had it on hand for days in case you were transferred to a ward.”
“Great! Now I can order pizza and play games,” Jess joked as she stroked the screen with mock affection. “Do you think I’ll be able to get hold of Jase?”
“Since he’ll be back tonight there’s a good chance he’ll be somewhere there is service at the moment,” Jess said.
“Would you mind if I phoned him?” Jess asked.
“That’s what I brought it in for,” Jem said. “Go ahead. If he picks up I’ll leave you to it.”
“You’re the best sister in the world,” Jess responded as she called up her husband’s name from the phone list.
“Remember that at Christmas,” Jem answered, smiling at her sister’s enthusiasm.
Jess held the phone to her ear and a few moments later Jase answered from Fiji.
Jem waited for a minute to ensure the conversation could be continued, just in case Jase was in a meeting and had to cut the call short or there were any problems. When it was clear that Jess was happy in conversation she smiled and waved goodbye to her sister.
Everything will be okay.
That evening was spent as usual; with Jem working alongside Eben in the office after the children went to bed. Jem almost felt she was fighting a losing battle to stay on top of all the work generated by the presentation in the time she could spare to do it whereas Eben sat calmly beside her and covertly worked between games of free cell.
As much as they were both looking forward to Jason’s return from Fiji, they also dreaded it as it would mean the end of their time together. That reality went unspoken and their nights had been spent in almost desperate love-making, with Jem hoping to store enough memories before Eben moved onto someone else and with Eben wanting Jem to talk of a future together.
Eben tried to prompt Jem’s thoughts in that direction by talking about doing things together after Jess was out of hospital but because he wasn’t specific Jem didn’t dare hope he meant it. After all she was six years older than him and would be leaving the country if she got the promotion. What would she do if she had to make a choice between him and her dream?
On Thursday evening they all waited in the arrivals area of Auckland International Airport for Jason to emerge amongst the other passengers. The children had been busy and to stop them from climbing over seats, chasing each other around and giving each other rides on abandoned trolleys Eben and Jem had subtly separated them.
Aidan now happily sat on Eben’s shoulders while Daisy sat on the railing separating the passengers from those waiting for them. Jem stood behind her, one arm securely around her middle for support. Jeremy stood between Eben and Jem, his potential for mischief curtailed by the restraints on his partners in crime.
“Do you see Daddy?”
Eben prompted Aidan by pointing in the direction of a sports team dressed in matching track suits. Just behind them walked a tall, lanky, fair haired man in a bright multi-coloured t-shirt pushing a trolley.
“Daddy! Daddy!” Aidan shrieked, bouncing
up and down excitedly on Eben’s shoulders.
The fair haired man heard the cry, waved to Aidan and turned his luggage trolley in their direction.
Jeremy and Daisy also got excited once they saw their father and Jem had to hold them back so they didn’t get in the way of other passengers walking up the aisle.
Jason was greeted with hugs and kisses and Eben took over the trolley pushing since Aidan was clinging to his father like he would never let go.
They left the heated airport terminal and headed out into chilly night air promising rain. As they entered the car park Jem noticed that Jason was wearing shorts with his t-shirt.
“Aren’t you freezing?” she asked.
“It wasn’t in Nadi,” Jason replied as he held Aidan closer to him for body heat. “It was twenty-nine degrees there. Although I now wish I hadn’t packed my coat and pants in my suitcase. The heat made me think I’d welcome the cold.”
“Guessed wrong huh?” asked Eben.
“Yup,” said Jason. “I guess to keep warm I’ll have to make myself a kiddie coat.”
Jason transferred Aidan to his back and bent down to pick up Daisy and Jeremy together and they somehow clung onto his sides. He then started walking with an exaggerated stagger under their weight and the children shrieked with delight.
“I hope you didn’t park the car too far away,” Jason puffed after a minute.
“Afraid so, it seemed five flights landed at once just before yours so we had no chance for anything closer. We’re right at the back.”
Despite being given this information, Jason decided to keep carrying the children. He was moving a lot slower and breathing a lot heavier by the time they reached Eben’s car.
“Are you okay?” Jem asked him as Eben unlocked the boot of his car and she unlocked her car beside it.
“I think I need something for energy,” panted Jason as he peeled off his reluctant children and set them on the ground while Eben put the suitcases in the boot.
As soon as Eben moved away Jason hurriedly unzipped the biggest suitcase, tugged out a casual beige jacket and slid his goose bump covered arms into the sleeves. The only way the jacket would match his bright multi-coloured t-shirt was if the person was colour blind. Jem was prevented from the need to make a fashion intervention when Jase zipped it up and the t-shirt disappeared underneath.
