by West, Jade
“I’ll text you later,” she told me. “I’m so excited for you to meet him. Seriously so excited.”
Not nearly so excited as I was.
I watched her leave with my regular smirk on my face, waving as she walked past the windows, and then I headed upstairs to get myself properly freshened up, clearing a load of sex toys back into my satchel before straightening out the bedcovers and checking out my work email.
Typically I had a whole stream of them needing action, and at least a handful of those were from Naomi.
Ah, Naomi. I’d barely given her a thought whatsoever since Maisie had been back in my world.
I clicked on her messages.
Are you going to be back in the morning? Hadleys want an update meeting.
Where are you anyway? Chasing after Miss Perfect down in Much crappy Arlock?
Seriously Ollie, will you just ping me back? I really could do with your expertise around here since you’re so keen to flaunt it. Sean’s not even around. It’s just you and me I want to discuss this stuff.
Her tone was certainly a different one than recent months. Not one I had any real interest in responding to.
I jumped in the shower before I even thought about replying, loving how thoroughly rejuvenated I felt, right the way down to soul level from Maisie’s sweet touch. I towelled myself off easily and picked out some casual jeans and jumper attire, flicking on the TV on my way back through to the bedroom and wondering just how much time I’d be spending in this place before any relocation to London could potentially be on the cards. Hopefully not too long. I’d have her with me in a heartbeat if it could be in any way viable.
Her text came through just after lunch, when I was relaxing in the bar area after a sandwich and coffee. I made my way to her place with a spring in my step, hoping beyond hope that Freddie would be the kind of youngster I’d click with easily.
Maybe he’d like board games or some cool phone apps? Maybe he’d have some science books he’d like me to investigate with him, working out goo and plasma and electric forces?
I’d do whatever it took to get us off to a good start, that was for sure.
I wasn’t used to the frazzle of nerves in my gut as I walked on up to Maisie’s front door. My pulse was racing as she appeared on the other side, her smile at full brilliance as she stepped aside and welcomed me on in.
“Hi,” she said, and as usual I managed a simple hi right back at her, my eyes already scanning the place and soaking it into memory.
The collection of coats hanging on the bannister. The star award chart and the monster paintings on the hallway wall. The kids’ shoes kicked along by the open doorway to the kitchen, where family life looked well and truly at full force in the burst of colours and supplies on the counter tops.
Amazing.
It was absolutely amazing.
Enough of a home to give me a pang to my stomach, already craving more.
“Freddie!” she called, and I felt strangely nauseous as the thump of footsteps sounded upstairs. “Freddie! Come and meet a friend of mine. He’d really like to meet you!”
And there he was – the little guy appearing at the top of the staircase.
He looked considerably more like Robbie Sawyer than I’d imagined in the flesh, the same flop of dark hair across his forehead, and the same high cheekbones on his young face.
“Hey,” he said and headed down.
He was casual in his steps, slow as he joined us, his eyes landing on mine and digging hard.
“Hey, Freddie,” I said. “I’m Ollie. Pleased to meet you. I’ve heard a lot about you, all of it good.”
He tipped his head with a guarded little smile, and again he looked so much like Sawyer it knocked my senses.
His voice was strong. Cocky. Confident. “I heard some stuff about you too. Dad was talking.”
I saw Maisie’s eyes widen like saucers. She stepped on in in a flash.
“Your dad says things about lots of people,” she said. “They may not have been things about Ollie.”
But the boy shook his head and his eyes said it all. His dad had most certainly been talking about me. Of that I had no doubt.
“Nah, it was,” he said. “Nan was whispering but Dad was loud. I heard.”
Hell, I fucking love how honest kids are, it beats being with adults in the workplace tenfold.
Maisie looked absolutely mortified, but I admired the kid for his unfazed chatter.
“I’m not quite sure what your dad would have said about me,” I told him. “But whatever he said, that’s fine. I’m hoping we can still be friends getting off to a brand new start together, you and me. I’d like to be.”
“He said some words I’m not allowed to say,” Freddie said, and his stare was challenging. He held it firm, weighing me up, and I felt it, the examination. I could have sighed in relief as he shrugged. “But he says words like that about a lot of people. I hear him all the time.”
The kid sure had a lot of balls, that was for sure. His whole expression was one of quiet assuredness, his shoulders high as he leaned against that bannister rail and stared on up at me.
Yeah. I liked him.
I liked him a lot.
“I’ve known Oliver a long, long time,” Maisie said. “We met at school like you met so many of your friends. That’s a long time to know each other, isn’t it?”
“Did you go to school with my dad too?” he asked, and I nodded.
“I did indeed go to school with your dad. He used to play great football, and rugby.”
Freddie nodded. “He’s been teaching me to play great football, on the park. Do you play too?”
I shot Maisie a glance with a smile. “No, football’s not my bag unfortunately, I’m not anything like as sports confident as your dad is.” I leaned over to get a little closer to Freddie’s little guy height. “However, if you wanted to learn a bit about science or engineering or electronics, I’m sure I’d be a good guy to know.”
And that’s when the spark clearly went off in the little guy’s brain. My absolute lucky star of good fortune.
“Can you build with whizz sticks?” he asked. “I was trying to make a big wheel…”
“Whizz sticks?” I prompted, and it was Maisie who reached into the under stairs cupboard behind her and pulled out a box. I took it from her with interest.
The toys pictured on the packaging were building blocks, sticks that fit together with battery powered attachments to create devices from. Absolutely totally my kind of bag.
“A big wheel, you say?” I asked, and he nodded. “Like the fairground ride?”
“Yeah,” he said. “Like the fairground ride. The big one that spins round and round. I’ll show you.”
He set off through to the living room with a gesture and I followed, my eyes soaking in a whole new homely surrounding as he pulled out some half built invention of his on a tray.
It was a decent start, the sticks fastened together in some kind of wheel with blocks arranged as seats all around it.
“I wanna build this real big,” he said, and held out a fresh load of the building attachments, and already I could see it – a perfect big wheel rising up in my imagination.
“Let’s do this,” I said with a smirk.
I flashed a glance at Maisie as she dropped herself onto the sofa and stared over, daring to risk smiling herself, just a little.
And so it began.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Maisie
My heart almost hurt it was swelling so much. Watching Freddie and Oliver knuckling down to build a big wheel together was way more than my hopes had begun to allow for.
Minute by minute I saw Freddie relaxing and settling into the groove, and I was grateful, truly grateful that overhearing whatever crap Rob had been spewing about Oliver hadn’t caused too much carnage in my little man’s expectations.
Just as well Rob was continually dishing out the insults. At least they didn’t hold as much sway when they reached Fredd
ie’s sweet little ears.
A little way into their building efforts, I headed through to the kitchen and set the kettle going for teas. I could still hear them discussing the intricacies of the wheel’s mechanics, smiling to myself as I grabbed Freddie a glass of milk from the fridge.
Maybe this really truly was going to be the start of a shift in times. Maybe Oliver and I really were two souls meant to be together, regardless of where in the world that turned out to be. London, sure thing.
Ollie looked utterly relaxed as he took his mug of tea from me with a thank you. He was on all fours on the living room rug in jeans, his hair springing up in that perfectly messy way I’d always known and adored.
The view was a stunning one, of both guys together.
Freddie was so absorbed in his project he barely even took a swig of milk from his glass. He was fastening the whizz sticks with a look of utter concentration, holding them up to Ollie for approval.
How I loved the solid smile Ollie gave his approval with. My pride bloomed, both for my boy being such an amazing little chap and for the way Ollie was trying so hard to make inroads.
It was underneath that pride that something else was blooming too. Something I hadn’t felt in quite some time. Years, in fact.
Broody.
I was feeling broody.
Broody for a new little soul to be Freddie’s little brother or sister.
I could barely bring myself to look at Oliver when I twigged that was at the core of it. There’s no way I could even begin to imagine having another baby this soon into our second chance.
I mean it would be crazy, really crazy… no matter how much my womb begged for it. Lucky that I was on the pill, no room for temptation when things got passionate…
“Look, Mum!” Freddie yelled, and his smile was beaming as he spun the big wheel around on its newly built stand.
I clapped my applause, and Ollie smirked right up at me.
“Your little man is quite the engineer. He really is a smarty pants with these whizz sticks.”
I loved how Freddie’s cheeks blushed at the compliment, just a little.
“He’s quite a smarty pants, alright,” I agreed, and edged forward in my seat to watch the finer assembly of the mechanics.
They did a great job, both of them. It didn’t take all that long before the big wheel was turning on its own accord, and Freddie was over the moon, wide-eyed and full of excitement as he watched it spin.
It was only when Ollie got to his feet and checked his phone that I realised how much of the afternoon had whizzed on by. There was a pang of sadness as it hit me, knowing full well that the weekend was coming to a close, the whole brilliant spectacle of it.
“Can I borrow your bathroom, please?” he asked, and I nodded and gestured upstairs.
“Of course, first on your left.”
My eyes followed him all the way up, fixed on the tightness of his ass in those jeans. Jeez, the guy looked incredible in everything. Too incredible to even fathom.
I didn’t notice Freddie at my side in the hallway until he reached out to grab at me. His expression was curious, but happy. Genuinely happy.
“Is your friend staying with us for dinner?” he asked.
I ruffled his hair. “I’m not sure,” I said. “I could invite him, if you want. He may need to get back down to London, but I could ask.”
His shrug was pretty nonchalant. “Yeah, could be cool,” he said. “See if he likes fish and beans too.”
I was in the kitchen firing up the oven when Ollie joined me back downstairs. I made sure Freddie was in earshot though the open doorway. He was still staring at the big wheel doing its cycle when I asked the question.
“Freddie suggested you might like to stay for dinner,” I told Ollie. “How does that sound?”
As always the smirk in response gave me flutters. “I’d very much like to stay for dinner, please. Thank you, Freddie!” he called.
I’d never have believed making a standard Sunday supper could be as big a deal as it felt that evening. My whole body was thrumming, butterflies flapping wild as Freddie and Oliver chatted away at the dining table, working out fresh whizz sticks ideas for next time.
Next time.
Shit, there really was going to be a next time.
I served up dinner with my heart thumping, barely able to eat up my fish as I watched the two guys I loved with my whole soul tucking into theirs. It was something else. Something magical. Something I’d never have believed could be happening in a million years just a few short weeks ago.
And then it was done.
Oliver helped me clear up the plates, and I couldn’t ignore the fact that I had a son to get ready for a new week. A bath to run and some homework to check and a bedtime story to read before lights out.
It seemed Ollie knew it too.
“I’d better be making a move,” he said. “Monday morning calling fast for everyone.”
I nodded, hating how I couldn’t throw my arms around his neck and hold him tight, not with Freddie still seeing us fresh on friendship ground.
“It was amazing to see you,” I told him. “We’ve both had a great afternoon, haven’t we, Fred?”
My boy gave a nod. “Next time we’ll do the spaceship, right?”
Ollie’s smirk was beaming. “Definitely. Next time the spaceship will be our first port of call.”
“Cool,” my little guy said, and dropped down from the table. “See you later.”
I couldn’t hold back the twinkle in my eye as Fred headed back on through to the big wheel, and Oliver stepped up close. Really close. As close as he dared.
His words were a whisper, right in my ear.
“Your son is a superstar,” he said. “Just like his mother. I can’t wait to get to know him. I know already that I’m going to love both of you enough to fill the universe.”
My heart burst.
It burst just like that. Completely.
“Ping me when you’re back in London safe,” I said. “I’ve had the most incredible weekend.”
His nod was amazing. “I love you Maisie Moore,” he whispered. “There will be a world of incredible weekends to come, believe me.”
I did believe him.
I believed him so much that my soul was singing as I waved him goodbye from our garden.
I believed him so much I couldn’t hold back the grin from my face, so bright it made my cheeks ache, along with the rest of me.
The rest of me was aching as I dipped down and ran the bath for my awesome little son, but it didn’t matter. I was floating on the brilliance of it all as he chatted along right the way through his wash, coming up with idea after idea as to the whizz sticks projects Ollie could help him with.
I checked his homework to find he’d done brilliantly, and read his favourite chapters of his favourite monster story with a voice bouncing with enthusiasm, and then I drifted to sleep beside him, his steady breath just glorious against my shoulder as he settled on down.
Hell knows, I was exhausted enough to sleep straight through.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Oliver
Meeting that boy was enough to cement the already cemented. I wanted this new life. Both of them in London, living the dream with me.
The drive back to the city had my brain running wild, planning so much, so fucking much about them starting over with me. My days of hotel living were coming to an end, the pull of family homes in the city centre enough that my fingers were itching to get right online and look at property sites.
The pull of trying to fuck off Naomi and Sean for good and get the full ownership of my business back was also running high. It wasn’t just the pride of wanting my business empire fully back under my control at stake either. It was more.
The desire was strong, and had come from the most unlikely provocation.
It wasn’t dishing out my existing test engineering system to a whole new load of companies that was inspiring me. No. I’d been doing that for
years, working with that for years. It was the spark of imagination, of creativity as my brain fired up with ideas to construct a damned fairground attraction from kids’ building blocks that had spurred me on.
I’d never have seen it coming. Not for a second. But there it was – the need to dive back into my own imagination and get it flowing all over again. Inventions. I wanted inventions. My brain ticking over with ideas on top of ideas, always pushing myself for more.
I’d pretty much forgotten what that felt like.
I sent off a text to Maisie when I was holed back up in my regular hotel room, but there was no reply. I had little doubt that she was flaked out for the evening, exhausted from a night of adventure at the Three Feathers with my stash of toys stretching her wide.
If it hadn’t been for my Freddie-provoked imagination running free, I’d have been exhausted myself, but I wasn’t. My brain was on too high alert, revisiting some of the earlier invention ideas I’d been contemplating through the younger days of my business life.
I soon had my notebook out, jotting diagrams down, wondering just how powerful a construction an assembly belt test system would be for working alongside my current system. I’d wanted to explore it, but that felt like a lifetime ago, buried underneath a world of business necessities as we’d brought client after client onboard.
I picked up my phone when it pinged at gone one a.m., hoping that it was Maisie having woken from her slumber, but it wasn’t. It was my cheating bitch of an ex-wife’s name staring back at me.
I mean it, Ollie. Can we talk please? I need to talk to you.
But I didn’t need to talk to her. Not for a second. Not any longer.
I’ll be back in Hadley’s tomorrow morning, I sent back, and that was all.
As it turns out, I was unusually tired of being at Hadley and Mason’s when I rocked up there early on Monday. I said my usual polite hellos to my business associates and shook the usual handshakes, but I felt uncharacteristically uninspired to be there onsite, not really feeling I gave two shits for the system upgrade I’d been handling for weeks.
