The Freefall Trilogy (Complete Collection) (9 page)

The stalls in the ladies were thankfully empty.  Lucy rested on her elbows over the washbasin, running the cold tap.  She cupped her hands beneath it, allowing the icy water to pool in her palms, splashing it over her face. 

She stared at herself in the mirror; her eyes looked tired and bloodshot.  Her cheeks were pink.  Lucy grabbed a handful of paper towels, blotting the rivulets from her face and neck.  She threw them in the rusty bin, holding onto the counter; taking a steadying breath.  She had to get it together.  She couldn't let him see her like this.

'Three Buds please, and a shandy.'

She could see them in her periphery.  The bar was virtually empty; too quiet.  Lucy paused by the juke box. 

She could feel Joshua's eyes searing into her back.  She wanted to lift the mood; Lucy really didn't like heavy.  She clunked their drinks down on the top, prising a pound coin from her jean pocket, slipping it through the slot with a metallic thud. 

She pored over the song list, running her finger down the glass.

Madonna: Sorry.

It was a good tune.  She thought through the lyrics. 
No. 
Despite the title, it seemed a little confrontational.  Confrontation was the last thing on her mind.

The Righteous Brothers: You've Lost That Loving Feeling.

Lucy snorted.  A grin burst across her face.  She remembered the day she did that first tandem jump with Josh, hearing all the instructors singing it in the hangar.  Thinking back, she was sure she heard his voice.  Her finger hovered over the button for a moment, then retreated.  She remembered that scene from
Topgun
. 

Too much...  Way too much.

Froggy and Martin would take the piss out of him forever. 

Lucy wandered across to the booth, fingers of one hand snaring the three Bud bottlenecks, carefully carrying the shandy in the other, shuffling along so it wouldn't spill.  She clunked the bottles down on the wooden table, releasing them diligently so they wouldn't topple over, glancing up at Josh just as the guitar opened up the first song.

Lucy smiled nervously.

'Beer fine,' she nodded, sliding a bottle each across the table to Joshua, Martin and Froggy.  Ronan Keating pitched in with a perfectly-timed
"Sorry".
  Josh stared at her.  Her heart almost melted as he burst into a grin.

'Come here,' he nodded, stretching his arm invitingly across the tatty red velour seat.  Lucy slid her half of
shandy across the table towards him, hitching her leg over Froggy's. 

'Get
y'arse out my face, woman!' he teased.  'Dun'ye know I'm a married man?'  He grabbed her by the thighs, lifting her over.  Lucy giggled, scooching around the snug.  Josh pulled her back into his arms. 

He nuzzled her hair, kissing her temple.  He didn't seem mad; his arms enveloping her. 
Froggy grinned at Lucy and winked.  She blushed and reached for her shandy.  She frowned, reaching further and further forward, watching Josh slide it just beyond her fingertips.  He pushed his bottle of Bud into her hand. 

Lucy cocked her head, peering up at him.

'I'm driving,' Josh explained.

'So am I,' Lucy frowned back.

Josh shook his head, smirking.

'Not tonight.'

'A toast,' declared Martin in his thick Jordie accent.  'Here's to Lucy, and her 97%.'

'To Lucy!'

The bottles and glass chinked against hers quickly. 

Lucy took a swig and smiled down at the table, turning crimson.

'I'm so proud of you,' Joshua whispered to her. 

She shuddered, glancing up briefly.  He smiled back at her, slipping a stray curl behind her ear.

'It's two hours, there and back,' she mumbled, stealing one more swig.

'Not if you stay at mine.'

And there it was, hanging in the air between them.  Lucy blinked back at Josh.  His eyes rolled up to the speaker across the room. 
Baby Can I Hold You Tonight
blared out.  Martin and Froggy smirked, exchanging a knowing glance and looking away, guzzling from their bottles; pretending not to hear. 

Lucy stared at Joshua again. 

"I love you"
Ronan Keating crooned.  She balked, snatching her bottle, eyes scanning the room.  She hadn't thought that far ahead into the lyrics
. 
It was meant to be an apology, not a proposition.  She took a long glug; wiped her mouth on her back of her hand. 
Oh sweet baby Jesus... 
Lucy closed her eyes
.  Wait till the next one comes on... 

Joshua was grinning at her.  Her eyes widened as she felt his hand on her bottom.  Her mouth opened, gasping for words - she didn't mean
that
.

You dare!
snarled her rampant libido. 

She shut her mouth momentarily, then took another long slug.

'All right.  Yes, fine,' she squeaked, nodding at the table.

Josh smiled back at her, squeezing hard.  Lucy closed her eyes, biting her lip.

'Good!  What would you like to eat?'

'I... 
uhm...'  Lucy stifled a burp, blinking down at the menu with unseeing eyes, smiling politely.  'I really don't mind.'

The music was fading.

Oh crap...
 

'The chilli's good,' Josh told her.

She nodded quickly with a sideways glance. 

Lucy hated chilli. 

'OK!  That'd be great!'

Josh squeezed her shoulder.  Martin stepped aside and let Josh out. 
Queen's
Don't Stop Me Now
kicked in.  Josh paused, turning back.  Froggy and Martin nodded along to the beat.  Lucy looked up.  Josh flashed her a heart-stopping grin. 

By the time the third track came on, Martin and Froggy had drained their bottles and left.  Awolnation's
Sail
pulsed through the bar.  Lucy and Josh sat in silence, remembering the day they first met, studying each other in sideways glances; eyes meeting briefly, quickly looking away.  She felt his fingers thrumming her thigh.  She felt his taught muscles, sliding her hand up his jeans, across his back, stroking him through his t-shirt.  She leaned into him, breathing in his woody scent.  Josh wrapped his arm around her.  Neither spoke; neither needed to say anything.  By the time the food came, the atmosphere was electric. 

It was the best chilli Lucy had ever tasted.  She would have finished his too, given half a chance.  She drained her second beer, sliding the bottle across the table, pushing her empty plate away.  Joshua held her.  She snuggled into him, feeling warm and woozy and tired.  He glanced down, smoothing her hair back from her face.

'You ready?'

Her blue eyes rolled up to his.  She bit her lip.

'Uh-huh.'

'Are you warm enough?' Josh asked her as they crunched across the gravel car park.

'Yes, fine,' Lucy nodded, arms folded across herself.  Josh slung his arm around her shoulders.  She looked up at the stars and shuddered.  There was a nip to the air, but it wasn't the cold that was getting to Lucy.  She was starting to feel very nervous.

His full beam guided them slowly down the narrow country roads.  She had no idea where they were going.  She'd met Josh a month ago, but she'd never been to his home.  It could have been a house, a flat or a hedgerow.  All she knew was that he lived alone.

He nodded along absent-mindedly to the beat of the stereo as he drove, tapping his fingers on the wheel.  The occasional glance in her direction sent her stare back out of the window.  It was so dark.  The stars were out in their billions, far from the light-polluted bay.

The car slowed as they reached a small hamlet on the brow of a hill, swinging into a driveway on the right.  It ground to a halt.  He cranked the handbrake, switching off the ignition and lights.  She caught his smile through the darkness.

'OK, honey.  We're home.'

She felt a bit shaky as he held the door of the ancient Land Rover open, helping her climb down, closing it behind her with a thump.  He took her hand, guiding her up the path.  Lucy stared up at the cottage.

A waxing moon shone down on them, illuminating their surroundings in white and blue.  She heard an owl hoot.  It was a little chocolate box house.  She could see the wonky thatched roof; smell the dewy grass, the heady scent of summer roses and honeysuckle as they reached the pagoda porch.  She heard a chink.  Josh let go of her hand, sliding the key into the lock.

'Do you want another beer?' Josh asked her, pushing open the ancient wooden door, flicking on the hall light, kicking off his shoes on the doormat.  Lucy nodded, politely following suit, prizing her Adidas trainers from her feet with her toes and kicking them off without bothering to undo them.  Josh pushed the door shut behind her. 

Her gaze meandered around the hallway: the antique furniture, oak floorboards, gently ticking grandfather clock.  Never in a million years had she been expecting this.

'My nan left it to me,' Josh explained quietly.

'The clock?'

He grinned.

'Yes, the clock,' he nodded.  'And the house.' 

Josh grabbed her hand.

'Come on,' he shuddered.  'I'll get the fire going.  It's bloody freezing in here.'

She perched on the edge of the sofa, fiddling with the label of her beer bottle, watching him as he crouched over the hearth.  There was a framed photograph on the mantelpiece; Lucy squinted at it.

Is that her?

She couldn't make it out.

Lucy was beginning to wish Froggy hadn't told her about the girlfriend.  It wasn't his fault - she did need to know.  No wonder Josh was funny about her driving.  She thought back to his text that first day they met, warning her to be careful on the roads, cringing as she remembered how she'd almost teased him (like jumping out of a plane was perfectly safe). 

She sat on his sofa, drinking his beer, playing with her hair.

Maybe they lived here together?

Her fingers caught in the knots.  She pushed it behind her ears, scanning the room. 

She spotted a huge vase in the corner, filled with pampas grass.  Lucy took another long glug.

She must have been here at least.

She skimmed the DVD collection on the far wall.  It was too far away to see the titles.  She glanced at Josh, then down at the rug he was kneeling on.  It looked oriental; a bit chintzy.

Did she choose that?

Lucy frowned, biting her lip, eyes skimming the sofa, settling on the plump new cushions.  Men don't do cushions - everyone knows that.
 
Her eyes flickered.  Her stomach lurched. 

Maybe he had sex with her here. 

Some girl, who was probably very nice, no doubt very pretty, died before she should have, in a tragic accident.  Here was Lucy, casually swigging beer on a dead girl's sofa, in her chocolate box house, waiting for her boyfriend to make a move. 

Froggy
didn't say how long ago it happened; it didn't really matter.  If she hadn't died, he'd be sitting with her.  They'd probably be married by now.  They'd probably have kids.  Lucy didn't belong. 

'Are you all right?' Josh called back.

'Uh-huh.'

'Are you sure?  You've been awfully quiet tonight.'

'I'm fine.'

Josh sank back on his haunches.  The fire started to crackle.  Lucy could already feel the heat of it on her face.

He hauled himself up and wandered over the sofa.  She went on playing with the label of her bottle, feeling the sofa sink as Josh sat down beside her.  She didn't look up, engrossed in the task of attempting to peel the label off in one clean piece.  Josh watched her for a minute, then reached out and grasped her hand.  Lucy finally looked up at him. 

'I can sleep down here tonight,' he told her.  'I don't want you to feel like I'm pressuring you or anything, I just thought it would be easier if you stayed here.'

She nodded back at him, mouth slightly ajar.  She couldn't speak.  It felt like he'd just punched her.

'Do you want me to put the TV on?' Josh asked.

Lucy glugged her beer, trying to get it together.  She crinkled her nose and shook her head.

'Music then?'

It was very quiet.  She could still hear the clock ticking out in the hall.  Right on cue, the owl started hooting.  It was
too
quiet.  Lucy smiled and nodded. 

Joshua watched her for a moment, squeezing her hand, then wandered over to the hi-fi system.

'I like him,' Lucy nodded as David Gray's voice floated out from the speakers. 

He must have the CD on random.  That track was right near the end.