‘My goodness, here is a sight for sore eyes!’ she said limping over to give him a hug. He grasped her warmly and then she pulled away to look at his face.
‘It has been a long time,’ she said looking up into his eyes. ‘And you’re even more handsome than I remember… What’s this? You’ve got fat like Natalie?’
I was about to protest that she was calling us both overweight, when I saw Gran examining the side of his face. Faintly, Jamie had the same FAT bruise as me.
‘Tuppence hit you with her award too?’ I said.
‘Yeah. We’re on a break,’ he said.
‘I’ve never understood what on a break means,’ said Gran.
‘It means Tuppence wants to weigh up her options… Now she has a reality show, she doesn’t want to waste her time doing theatre,’ said Jamie.
‘So why are you here?’ I asked. Gran shot me a look. ‘Sorry, I’m just being cautious,’ I added. ‘Things have got pretty nasty.’
Jamie nodded.
‘This isn’t about work or the theatres… It’s my Nan, she’s got worse. In fact, Mum rang to say she might not last the night,’ he said. He stopped for a moment and had to wipe his face with the back of his hand. ‘I have to get home to Devon, but there’s engineering works on the trains… I haven’t got a driving licence. I’m here to ask you, please, if you would consider getting me home…’ he broke down crying. Gran reached out and grabbed his hand. She looked at me.
‘Of course, I can take you,’ I said. ‘I’ve got a car… I’ll have to come back though…’
‘Just a lift,’ he said. ‘I’d owe you big time. Thank you. And I’ll pay for the petrol and…’
‘It’s fine,’ I said.
The skies opened as I pulled out of the underground car park onto Beak Street. Even with the windscreen wipers on full blast the window was an endless swirl of water. Jamie was quiet at first, then his phone rang. It was his mother.
I had seen Mrs Dawson once since our wedding that never was. It had been during a visit home, only a few months later, and she had been on the high street in Sowerton. I had seen her across the road coming towards me, and had ducked down the alleyway that led between two shops to a pay and display car park. At the last minute she had seen me, but I was in the process of darting away.
‘Mum, Natalie is giving me a lift… Yes, Natalie Love.’ Jamie covered the phone. ‘She says to say thank you, and it will be lovely to see you again.’
‘It’s no worry… but I have to be back in London… I’ll just drop you off,’ I said.
I squirmed a little. Jamie chatted some more, and asked what was going on. The pauses got longer, and he said very little.
‘Uh huh… Right… Ok.’ Then he put the phone down. ‘She says we need to hurry,’ he said in a small voice.
We were now on the South Circular and the rain had eased a little. I took a left, signposting the entrance to the motorway. The windows steamed up and I put the fans on full blast to clear it. When we pulled onto the motorway I stayed in the fast lane and put my foot down.
We had hardly made any progress when the cars in front slowed, the red of their brake lights blurring in the water on the windscreen.
‘I’ll try and move us through this as quick as I can, but it’s Friday,’ I said peering at the three lanes of traffic to see which might be moving faster. I indicated and crossed to the middle lane. Then the traffic came to a standstill in all three lanes. We sat there for a few minutes, the sky darkening and the rain hammering down on the car roof. I turned the heater off and opened the window a crack. The air was chilly and smelt of ozone. My heart was pounding at the thought he might not get home in time.
‘I’ve thought about you a lot over the years,’ said Jamie suddenly.
‘I’ve thought about you too,’ I said, after a pause.
‘Have you? Getting over you was tough… I went to Spain.’
‘Mum told me, you’d gone to be a holiday rep?’ I asked.
‘Yeah, that lasted for about three days… Then I came home.’
‘I had these visions of you sowing your wild oats in the Costa Brava.’
‘No. I came home and spent the summer in Sowerton on anti-depressants,’ he said.
I was shocked by his candour, and I felt guilty. I’d had the most incredible summer in London with Sharon and Gran.
‘How did you end up in Canada?’ I asked.
‘My cousin, he ran a small chain of bookshops. It got to the point where I needed a change of scenery. There was nothing happening in Devon. So, I managed to get a work permit and I went and worked for him for a couple of years.’