Now and Again

by Natasha West

  ‘I won’t need it,’ Juliet told her firmly. ‘But thanks.’

  Riley nodded. ‘Wait, where the hell is my dad in all of this?’

  ‘Strasbourg,’ Juliet reminded her.

  ‘Right. Does he know about the heart attack?’ Riley asked.

  ‘He’s still on the plane. I’ll call him later,’ Amanda said.

  ‘He hasn’t touched down yet?’ Riley asked. Juliet detected a touch of suspicion about the question.

  Amanda didn’t answer right away. ‘I’m not sure.’ She clapped her hands together. ‘Right. I think that’s everything I need. I better order a cab to the station.’

  Amanda dashed out, leaving Juliet with Riley. ‘I don’t need your help,’ Juliet told her.

  Riley held up her hands in surrender. ‘I’m not trying to step on your toes. You’re the pro. I know that.’

  ‘I didn’t mean it like that,’ Juliet said quickly. ‘I just don’t wanna…’ she searched for the right word and found herself using Amanda’s. ‘Impose.’

  Riley smiled. ‘Mia’s my sister. No one’s imposing anything.’

  Amanda called up. ‘Cab’s two minutes away.’

  Juliet and Riley jogged down the stairs to see Amanda holding on to Mia at the door. ‘Mummy! Too tight!’ the little girl said. ‘Mmm? Oh, sorry,’ Amanda said, releasing her tight grip. ‘Be good for Juliet and Riley.’

  Mia had other priorities. ‘Will you bring a present?’

  ‘Of course.’ She took one last desperate look at her daughter, clearly holding back tears, before she stood and grabbed her bag, running out, calling, ‘Bye,’ over her shoulder.

  Mia turned to Juliet and Riley. ‘I’m hungry.’

  ‘Cereal?’ Riley asked.

  Mia nodded. Riley went off to the kitchen to fetch her a bowl.

  Juliet, in the first calm moment she’d had since finding Amanda in a panic, found herself wondering how this was going to go. Looking after Mia with Riley. She wished she could go back in time and show this moment to her eighteen-year-old self. ‘Look at this,’ she’d say. ‘You may be gutted and heartbroken now, but one day, you’ll be living with Riley and looking after a child together.’

  ‘We’ll be married with a child?’ Eighteen-Year-Old-Juliet would gasp.

  ‘No, sorry, you misunderstood. It’s much weirder than that,’ Now-Juliet would have to explain. ‘And much less nice.’

  ‘What’s the situation?’ Eighteen-Year-Old-Juliet would ask. ‘I don’t get it.’

  ‘Yeah, it’s pretty confusing. You know what? Forget I said anything,’ Now-Juliet said to her young self, and she stopped imagining the conversation as she watched Riley give her sister cereal. It was gonna go how it was gonna go. Juliet wasn’t in charge of anything.

  Eighteen

  ‘I just can’t this afternoon,’ Riley said for the third time. She was on the toilet. She’d concluded her business on there a few minutes ago but was stuck talking to India.

  ‘So you keep saying,’ India said. ‘But what family emergency stops you from going to a spin class?’

  ‘Jesus, India, if you must know, Amanda’s dad had a heart attack.’

  There was a pause. ‘I haven’t got the first fucking clue who Amanda is.’

  ‘My dad’s wife,’ Riley said between gritted teeth.

  ‘Oh. And how does that mean you can’t come to the gym, exactly?’ India said doubtfully.

  ‘India…’ Riley inhaled deeply, conjuring some patience. ‘Amanda had to leave to go and see him. My dad’s in France. So my little sister, Mia, needs someone to look after her.’

  ‘Oh. Wait, isn’t there… Isn’t she there?’

  ‘Yes. But I’m on hand in case of… I’m just helping.’

  ‘That doesn’t sound like a situation that needs you. I mean, isn’t she like, CRB checked and everything? She’s not going to sell her on the black market or anything, right?’

  ‘That’s not a big concern, no,’ Riley said, rubbing the spot between her eyebrows where a small tension headache was developing nicely. Riley christened it India. ‘I’m just trying to help out. She’s only supposed to be looking after her nine to six, Monday to Friday.’

  ‘So she gets overtime. Come on, it’s one little spin class.’

  ‘Christ, you’re not letting this go, are you?’ She checked her watch. She’d be cutting it fine, but she supposed she could go right now and come right back; she might not be missed. ‘But I’m leaving right after, alright?’

  ‘Great, I’ll—’

  Riley hung up the phone, got off the toilet, washed her hands, and climbed into the stretchiest thing to hand. She ran downstairs. ‘I’m so sorry. I have to nip out, but I won’t be long. Ninety minutes max.’

  Juliet, sat watching Mia colour in a jungle scene with an admirable disregard for the colours of nature, looked at her quizzically. ‘I keep telling you, I’ll be fine. Go.’

  Riley nodded. ‘Right. Back shortly.’

  ‘For heaven’s sake,’ she heard Juliet sigh as she ran out of the door.

  ***

  ‘Pump it! Pump it hard!’ the maniac leading the class screamed at them. Riley was trying to pump it to some extent, but she hated spinning. She was more of a treadmill girl.

  She surreptitiously checked her phone. No messages. That was good, right? Everything was fine. Juliet was right, of course. Why the hell would she ever need Riley’s help with Mia? She was excellent with her. The kid who threw epic tantrums was pretty much gone.

  Juliet wouldn’t take a lot of credit for that, claiming she was just growing up. But she’d seen Juliet’s magic being worked. She’d installed several magic words in the child that would stop her right in her tracks before she could rev it into top gear. Once she was caught off guard, Juliet would redirect her energy with swiftness. She’d taught it all to Amanda, too. So, all in all, Mia was becoming much less of a handful. Anyone who could do all that didn’t need help from someone who’d never even looked after a neighbour’s pet for a weekend. Not so much as a goldfish had passed through Riley’s hands.

  Still, Amanda had asked her to help. And she wanted to. She wanted to know where the fuck her father was, while she was at it. She texted him. Have you heard from Amanda?

  ‘Focus!’ India screamed from beside her, catching her on the phone. ‘You’re throwing my rhythm.’

  ‘Sorry!’ Riley said quickly, putting the phone away and trying to concentrate on the barked instructions from the front. Though all it really amounted to was cycling quicker or slower.

  Her phone beeped from her arse pocket. She waited until India’s eyes were back on the instructor and slipped it out of her pocket.

  Yes. Why? was the terse reply her father had shot back.

  So you’re coming back, I take it? Riley demanded.

  I’m back Tuesday.

  Was there a chance he didn’t know? Had Amanda not told him what was going on?

  You know Amanda’s father had a heart attack, don’t you?

  Seconds later, Riley felt stupid for even questioning it.

  I’m not a doctor, why would I need to be there?

  That’s not what she’d need you for.

  Don’t condescend me. You have no idea of the responsibilities on my shoulders.

  That bastard. Riley put her phone away and started peddling a bit harder. What kind of person would let their spouse deal with this alone? Mike Powell, that was who. Riley started to feel the burn in her quads. But she paid it no heed as she thought about her mother, who’d gone through this too. Riley’s bike was starting to judder a bit, but she didn’t notice. That sociopathic sonofabitch never cared for anything but his job…

  ‘Whoa!’ yelled India as Riley’s bike tipped, her feet still strapped in, Riley clanking right over. She screamed, and she heard the instructor cry out, ‘Yeah! That’s the burn!’

  ‘No, you idiot!’ India yelled. ‘We’ve got an accident.’

  The instructor came running through the bikes, all of them slowi
ng down, everyone turning back to look. The instructor looked down at Riley. ‘Oh no! I was supposed to put a sign on this bike because it…’ He stopped himself mid-sentence. ‘I mean, are you ok?’

  He and India righted the bike, and Riley unstrapped herself and got off it. She dusted herself down and checked for injuries. A bruised quad and carpet burn on her ankle was the worst of it. Though India didn’t agree. ‘I heard what you said, and I’ll have your bloody job! You nearly killed her,’ she threatened the trembling instructor.

  ‘India, leave it,’ Riley said. ‘Just get that bike out of here, would you?’ she told the instructor. The man, almost in tears, nodded violently. ‘I will,’ he vowed.

  Riley hobbled off, India attending her the entire way in quite an unnecessary fashion. ‘I’m fine,’ Riley told her. ‘I just need to go home.’

  India sighed. ‘Alright, but keep your weight off of it. Text me if you decide to sue!’

  When Riley got home, Juliet took one look at the way she walked in and said, ‘What’s happened?’

  ‘Nothing,’ Riley said, limping in. ‘Slight spin bike incident. So, how’s Mia doing?’

  ‘Better than you! Sit down.’ She ran off to the kitchen, leaving Mia looking at Riley as she sat down and inspected her ankle. Mia poked the graze. ‘Does that hurt?’

  ‘Yes, Mia,’ Riley winced.

  ‘How about here?’ she asked, poking an inch over to the left.

  ‘Yep, still hurts.’

  ‘So what happened, the whole story?’ Juliet demanded as she came in with a first aid kit.

  Riley explained the accident, though she left out the bit about cycling too fast because she was angry about childhood wounds. ‘Got me out of the class, though,’ she finished with a grin. Juliet tore open a sachet and extracted an antibacterial wipe. ‘You know, I really don’t need all this fuss,’ Riley told her.

  ‘I’m taking precautions. Better two minutes’ work now than an infected leg later.’

  ‘What’s infected?’ Mia asked.

  ‘It’s when your cut goes weird and your leg drops off,’ Riley said.

  Mia’s eyes widened. ‘What?’

  ‘She’s making a joke,’ Juliet said with a warning look to Riley as she dabbed the graze.

  Mia looked down at her arm. She had a small, almost healed cut there. ‘Will my arm fall off?’ she asked.

  Riley tutted at herself. ‘No, I’m sorry. Juliet was right. I was just making a silly joke. My leg and your arm are not going to fall off, OK?’

  Juliet stuck a large plaster on Riley’s leg. She turned to Mia. ‘But just to be sure, let’s do you next.’ Mia held out her arm, and Juliet stuck a plaster on it. Mia looked relieved. ‘Can I colour?’

  ‘Yep,’ Juliet smiled, and Mia went to her living room toy box and grabbed her colouring book and crayons. She sat down on the floor and went right to work.

  ‘Sorry,’ Riley said to Juliet, hoping she wasn’t too pissed off at her for freaking Mia out.

  Juliet shook her head. ‘Easily done. I told her last week that it was raining cats and dogs, and she screamed her head off.’

  Riley guffawed. ‘You’d think she’d like that, a load of cats and dogs coming out of the sky.’

  ‘She’s got a pretty good grip on how gravity works. She thought they would all splat and die. Which they would, so she had me there.’

  Riley went to stand. ‘Nope,’ Juliet said, pushing her gently down. ‘Stay off it. Just in case.’

  ‘You don’t have to take care of me,’ Riley said. ‘No one pays you for that.’

  ‘Guess it’s more of a hobby, then,’ Juliet said with a small, cheeky smile.

  Riley settled herself. She wasn’t going to argue with Juliet. ‘Hey, Mia? Come over here and colour with me.’

  Mia jumped up and brought her supplies to the coffee table, spreading out. She pulled a random picture from her colouring book and handed it to Riley. ‘Thanks, kid,’ Riley said. She casually began to colour in her picture of a giraffe eating a leaf from a tree.

  ‘Hey, is there a picture I can do?’ Juliet asked. Mia barely looked up, just handed a sheet to Juliet, and got back to work.

  A few minutes later, Riley realised she wasn’t thinking about the stress of work, nor how angry she was at her dad. She was simply making a giraffe yellow and brown. So this was why adult colouring was a thing? It really did soothe your cares away. She hadn’t felt this chill in a good long while.

  ‘Look, I made my unicorn blue,’ Juliet said, holding up her picture. Mia appraised it. ‘You missed the horn.’ She went back to her pony. Juliet shrugged at Riley. ‘Everyone’s a critic.’

  And Riley wondered if it was only the colouring making her feel good.

  Nineteen

  Juliet stretched her arms and yawned as she came out of Mia’s room. The girl was down for the night, and Juliet was knackered. Her days weren’t usually this long. She could sort of see now why Amanda had asked Riley to pitch in.

  She went downstairs to see Riley tapping on her phone. ‘I’m getting pizza. What’s your topping?’

  Juliet took a small pause before saying, ‘I like Hawaiian.’

  Riley raised a cynical eyebrow. ‘I’m not saying I won’t order it for you, but I want you to know, I don’t think that’s an acceptable answer to that question.’ She tapped it in.

  Juliet chuckled. ‘Don’t even start on the pineapple. I’ve heard it all. I’m not wavering.’

  ‘It’s fruit,’ Riley shrugged. ‘That’s the beginning and end of my argument.’

  Juliet was well prepared for that one. ‘What do you think a tomato is?’

  Riley tutted. ‘Yeah, but… It’s… a different fruit.’

  Juliet laughed. ‘Sure is.’

  Riley snorted. ‘Fine. But everyone knows that no one has the pineapple, because it’s just not right.’

  ‘So why is it always on the menu? Shouldn’t it have died off by now if no one eats it?’

  ‘You have an answer for everything.’

  ‘People who eat pineapple on their pizza get used to defending the choice,’ Juliet explained. ‘But we consider it worth the fight.’

  Riley tapped a couple more times on her phone and said, ‘There. Your freak pizza is on its way.’

  ‘What are you having?’

  ‘Pepperoni, like a normal person,’ Riley told her dryly.

  Juliet tutted. ‘Exactly. It’s a safe choice. You’ll never know the pleasure of the pineapple. You don’t have the guts.’

  Riley smiled. ‘I’m OK with that.’

  Twenty minutes later, the pizzas arrived, and they sat down to eat in the living room, off their laps. Riley put the TV on. ‘You have a preference?’

  ‘Anything good on Netflix?’

  ‘If you’ve got three hours to scroll.’

  ‘We could just put the news on?’

  ‘I can’t eat to the news,’ Riley told her, grimacing. ‘I’d lose my appetite.’

  ‘Fair enough. Let’s just switch it off. We could just, I don’t know, talk or something.’

  ‘What a bizarre notion.’

  Riley turned the TV off as Juliet took her first bite, enjoying the zing of her pineapple, despite the earlier ribbing. ‘Thanks for ordering, by the way. It was nice of you. I wasn’t expecting…’

  ‘What?’ Riley asked, holding a slice aloft, the cheese dripping, half eating it, half pouring it into her mouth. Juliet thought the lack of grace she was displaying was endearing.

  ‘Well, you and me, we haven’t eaten together since the first night I got here,’ Juliet reminded her.

  ‘I don’t come down to dinner because I’m avoiding my dad. Not you.’

  ‘Yeah, same, I guess,’ Juliet said without thinking.

  Riley burst out laughing. ‘Oh, so she admits it, at last. You hate my dad. I knew it.’

  ‘I don’t hate him. He’s just… not my cup of tea,’ Juliet said, trying to dial it back. She hadn’t meant to get so easy with Riley, who was technically
the boss’s daughter. If it got back to him what she’d said, it wouldn’t be great.

  ‘Juliet, relax. I’m not about to dob you in, am I? He’s a bastard. Always has been,’ Riley assured her.

  ‘That’s not for me to say,’ Juliet said.

  Riley rolled her eyes. ‘Fine. But at least try to remember that I hate him.’