Getting a Life (16 page)

'I suppose I could come over.' She felt very uncertain about the whole deal and didn't really want to allow herself to be involved again in any way.

'We'd be really grateful if you could.'

'Okay then. I'm literally only coming to install it, you realise?'

'Of course. I hated asking you but ... I know it's difficult for you to fit it in.'

'I have no lectures on Thursday morning. I could come over to you then,' she told him, looking at her diary. 'If all goes well, I can leave you after that, to do my afternoon class.'

'That would be terrific. Thank you so much. So, how are you?' he asked tentatively.

'Fine thanks. And you?'

'I'm in my usual muddle. I have tried hard to clear Sarah out of my life. She doesn't seem to realise that we were never really engaged but I won't be happy till she's gone back to Africa. I don't know how on earth she thought we could be married and she could carry on working there. I suspect she's slightly potty.'

'Well, let's hope it all works out for you. And you're still busily escorting Barstow women around?'

'I've had the occasional call. I'm not really doing much on that front at present.'

Jolly good. I'll see you on Thursday.'

'Joanne. Please ...'

'If there's nothing else? Good. I'll see you on Thursday,' she repeated, determined he wasn't going to get any closer to her. He gave a shrug and got up to leave.

'I do love you, you know,' he said as he was leaving.

'Goodbye Mike.' He turned to leave and she sighed very heavily as he closed her door. What was to stop them now? She had got everything she wanted ... he had said he loved her and that the wretched Sarah woman was moving back to wherever she came from. Wasn't that enough for her? She'd had a very boring life recently ... well, for the past couple of weeks at least. But surely, love had to mean something so much more? The past weeks had seemed to hang really heavily on her and she knew it was partly her own fault. She had turned down Trisha's invitation to supper on several occasions and steadfastly refused to discuss her affairs with anyone. She would go to Mike's factory on Thursday and do the work his father had asked her to do. What the future brought was up to her, as well as him.

By the time Thursday arrived, she had worked herself into quite a state. She was up early and got herself ready to move straight from the factory to college in time for her afternoon class. Fortunately, the bosses never minded if their lecturers weren't on site all the time. She drove to the factory, not entirely sure what they knew about the situation between her and Mike.

'Hallo my dear,' Mr Thomas greeted her happily. 'Very good of you to come and see to this computer stuff for us.'

'Hallo Mr Thomas. It's not a problem. Or at least I hope it won't be a problem. I'll go through to the office if that's all right? Make a start on the installation.'

'Mike tells me it's going to save money eventually. I just hope he's right. I simply don't understand those computer things at all. Go on through. Mike's in there.'

'Thanks. Nice to see you again,' she said politely.

'Lovely to see you too. We must fix up for you to come over to have meal with us very soon.' She smiled and nodded as she went into the office. How very difficult it all was.

'Morning Mike,' she said. He was sitting at the computer, trying to make something work.

'Good morning. Thanks again for coming over. The software's here. All ready for you to work your magic with it.'

'You can leave me with it,' she told him. In truth, it was always easier if someone left her working on her own.

'Okay. I'll be in the factory if you need anything.' That was good she thought. No protests or persuasion tactics.

She began her work. She worked on through most of the morning, interrupted only by cups of coffee. At twelve-thirty, Mike came in once more. Her heart gave its usual leap at the sound of his voice.

'I'm sorry to interrupt you but I felt you should know it's twelve-thirty. I wasn't sure of your plans for the rest of the day.'

'Heavens, is it really? I'm really sorry but it isn't quite finished yet. I'll have to leave it and come back later on. Is this all right?'

'I'm sure it will be. I won't need to use it for the rest of the day.'

'Okay then. I'll come back once I've finished at college. I should be clear by five so I'll see you after that.'

'Thanks so much. You must send us a bill in for your expertise.'

'Don't worry about it. I'll see you later.'

She drove away, feeling pleased with both her efforts and the fact that Mike hadn't said anything more about
them
. Maybe they could continue to see each other on a casual basis? She doubted that very much.

Chapter Thirteen

Joanne's class that afternoon was not her best. She was concerned about the work she had done so far at the factory. Besides all of this, she was feeling hungry. It was never a good move to miss lunch but she had done and she was now irritable. Whatever happened after her class, she needed something keep her going.

As soon as she was finished, slightly earlier than usual, she dashed across to the canteen. She picked up a sandwich pack and a drink and went to her car. She was so hungry, she ate it sitting in the car park. She drove over to the factory and went into the office to settle back to her task. Mike was working on one of the machines and waved as she went past. Mr Thomas greeted her and wished her well. He hesitated but left her to it. She worked solidly for an hour before Mike came in.

'Sorry to interrupt,' he apologised, 'but Dad's organised a meal for us at his place. Is this all right with you or is it too embarrassing?'

'I have to run through a test sequence and then I'll see.'

'He phoned Mum to get it all set up. I hope you won't find it too much to handle.'

'They think we're still together, I take it?'

'I'm not sure but it's his way of rewarding you for all your work today. I'll leave you to it.'

She ran the sequence through and everything seemed fine. Could she, would she go with him to his parents house? It would seem rude not to. Besides, she was still very hungry.

'I'm through here.'

'I'll need to phone home. Will you come or not?' She thought for a moment.

'Okay but it mustn't be a late one.' She drove him, as he left his bike at the factory. They would collect it on their way home again. 'How are things with Mel and his girl friend?' she asked as they drove the short journey.

'Dire in the extreme,' he replied. 'He still wants me to move out so they can have their own love nest there. I doubt they'll afford the rent for too long but I'm staying there for a while longer, till things are sorted with ... Never mind.' He was about to say 'Us' she realised.

'I'm sorry to hear that.'

They drove to his parents' home and enjoyed a delicious meal. Joanne felt so hungry she really made the most of it.

'I hope you don't think me too rude, but I really need to leave you now. I have an early start tomorrow and I haven't been home since I left first thing this morning.'

'No of course not. We quite understand. It's been lovely to see you again.'

'And you too. Thanks again for a lovely meal.'

'Our pleasure dear. Come again soon, won't you? We're so much happier seeing you than the other one. She's quite crazy. Sorry, I shouldn't say things like that, should I?' His mother seemed contrite.

'Don't worry about it. Bye now.'

'Goodbye, dear. Bye Mike.'

They drove back to the factory almost in silence. She really didn't know what to say. As they reached the factory, he broke the silence.

'Thank you so much for coming with me tonight.'

'I enjoyed it. Thanks for organising it all.'

'Not at all. What with all the arguments about the new software and well, the business in general, it never seems really worth while going over there.'

'How long is this going on?'

'I really don't know.'

'Well, I hope you get it sorted before too long. I'll say bye now. If there are any problems, give me a call.'

'Thanks again. Bye.'

She drove away, her emotions once more jangling together. They hadn't mentioned Sarah or her dramatic appearance out of the blue. Had he managed to get rid of her finally or was she still hovering in the background somewhere? She fell into bed when she arrived home and fell asleep very quickly.

During her lecture the following morning, she received a text from Mike.

'
Having dreadful problems with system. Can you call me when you're free?'

As soon as her class was over, she called him.

'What's the matter?' she asked.

'I'm not sure. Each time I try to type in instructions, it all goes a bit haywire. I'm really sorry to bother you again, but can you come over later?'

'Okay. I'll come this afternoon when I finish. It was all working last night. I can't think what it is. I'll see you later.'

Damn it, she thought. She seemed unable to get away from them. This would be her last visit she promised herself. They'd have to manage on their own after this. She finished her work and tidied her desk and drove out to the factory once more. It was fortunate that it wasn't too far away. She went inside and went straight to the office.

'So, where are you with it all?'

'I've given up on it. Shall I leave you to it?'

'Probably the best thing.' He left her and went into the workshop. She sat down to look at the problems and worked for a short while. She heard the doors open and close and then raised voices. She looked round but couldn't see what was going on.

'Mike, Baby,' she heard. 'Why are you being so nasty to me?'

'I'm not. Look, we're over. Not that there was anything there to start with. It was all in your imagination.'

'Come on now. That just isn't true. We're engaged. You know we are. Okay, so I don't have a ring but that's just timing. We can go and buy one tomorrow. Then we need to set about planning our wedding.'

'Oh for goodness sakes. I don't love you. In fact, truth to tell I don't even like you. Now please, leave me alone and go and sort out your own problems.'

'Oh Mikey, baby. Please don't be like this. I really don't know why you are being so horrid to me.' There seemed to be a pause in the conversation. Then she spoke again, sounding much more normal. 'Is your father around? I really need to talk to him.'

'I'm afraid he's had to go out. What do you want with him? If you think he's going to change my mind about you, you're quite wrong.'

'No. I need to see him on ... well a business matter.'

'I'm not sure what business you have with him but you'd better tell me what it is. I can pass on your message to him.' Everything seemed silent for a while. Joanne heard nothing for a few moments and looked out to the workshop. The pair were standing very close together near to one of the machines. She felt sick. Why was she hearing Mike protesting so blatantly that he didn't want her but yet, he seemed to be in some sort of clinch with the wretched girl? She looked away and pretended to work some more.

'Look,' she overheard Sarah speaking once more. 'I really need to organise some more funding. This was partly why I came over. I hoped to persuade your father to send me back with a load more dosh. This place must be doing really well so I'm sure you can spare a few thousand.'

'You'll be lucky,' he scoffed. 'If we had a few thousand pounds to spare, you certainly wouldn't get them.'

'But it's such a good cause. So worthwhile. If you could see the poor little faces of the people over there.'

'I'm sure you're absolutely correct about needing money. It's just that we're having dreadful problems ourselves at present. We are nearly going out of business. This is why Dad's gone out this afternoon. He's hoping to negotiate a new loan from the bank. If he isn't successful this time, we're all out of work. We've just invested in some new software and if J...' He stopped suddenly, realising that Joanne was in the office, probably listening to all of this. 'I'm sorry. You do have to go now.' He hustled her out of the room and out of the building. What was going on, Joanne didn't know. Nor did she want to. She had heard enough and seen enough too. She wanted to get away from all of this as soon as possible. Away from Mike and his family. She would go and see her parents on Sunday, whether or not they wanted to see her. Mike came back into the factory and into the office to speak to her.

'I'm so sorry you had to hear all of that,' he began.

'Not to worry. I'm sorry you're in such difficult times with the business. Don't worry about paying me for my work. Sounds as if you need to preserve every penny.'

'It isn't quite as desperate as it sounded. I made it sound worse to get Sarah off my back. What a pain she is, really.'

'You didn't look as if she's a pain,' she remarked. Mike looked at her sharply.

'What do you mean by that?'

'Nothing. Forget I said anything.'

'But what did you mean?'

'Nothing. You seemed to be in some sort of clinch with her.'

'She's like a spider. Clinging to me whenever she can. I can't bear her now. I don't know what I saw in her at all.' Joanne listened to his words but remained unconvinced. She turned back to the computer.

'Anyway, it's okay now. Try to do it yourself.'

He did and everything worked perfectly.

'Thank you so much,' he told her. ' You're a complete genius. Please, let me take you out for a meal or something to say thank you.'

'There's no need. Your thanks are enough. I hope things all work out for you.'

He reached for her and took her into his arms and kissed her. She relaxed against him, loving he feeling once more. He smelled so nice, she thought. She was busy kissing him back when the door opened and his father came in.

'Don't mind me,' he said brightly. She drew back from the man she knew she loved and pushed him away.

'I'm just going,' she managed to say. 'It's all working now.'

'I can see that,' he laughed. 'You get off now Mike. I'm sure there are things you can do, rather than hang around here.'