A Little Bit of Crazy (Little Bits) (21 page)

     “Honey I’m home,” James calls. I give him no time to settle I rush forward, grip his hand and drag him out of our old apartment. He laughs but follows without complaint. “I can’t wait to christen every surface.”

      “Hmmm,” I grin and kiss him on the neck. “Me neither. Now get your ass in gear. Let’s go.”

     The car journey is the longest effing journey I’ve ever been on. It seems to take hours when in reality it is only minutes. I honk James’ horn for him about ten times until he slaps me on the thigh.

     I rub the red area and stick my tongue out at him. Come on, move it you stupid drivers. “GET OFF THE ROAD!” I scream and James laughs. “Can you believe these people? Ridiculous.”

     “I’ve never seen you so agitated,” he snorts as we finally pull up in front of the gorgeous Preston building.

       The doorman calls out a greeting, so does the lobby staff but I only grunt in response. James is struggling to keep up, it would be comical if I wasn’t so focused. We pile into our own private elevator, using a keycard and wait eagerly as it speeds up faster than any elevator I’ve ever been in.

     “I can’t wait to do naughty things in here,” he chuckles before the doors open. I grab his wrist and yank him out after me before stepping up to the door. He pulls the key from his pocket and presses it into the lock. It gives a satisfying click and the door swings open.

      “SURPRISE!” a chorus of voices shout. I scream and fall backwards into James who’s laughing at my reaction. Everyone is here, Marie, Jessica, Chris, Tony, Sylvia, more friends and family and even Jacob.

     The place is beautiful, the couch is a large U shaped grey fabric with touches of black and lime green on the cushions. Photos line the walls. A huge TV takes up the wall opposite the couch. There are black glass bookcases and shelves to the left. To the right is a hall leading to the bedrooms and other rooms, like the gym, study etc. The bathrooms are en-suite there’s also a guest bathroom off the dining room which is very fancy, all creams and gold’s with a huge wooden table. It even has a crystal chandelier.

     Everyone watches as I look around, taking in the amazing apartment. “I love it. I love you guys. Thanks so much for coming,” I grin and the party begins.

     “Remember I was bragging about my house?” Jacob says with a shy smile. “I take that back, this totally tops mine in every fucking way. Can I move in?”

     I laugh and give him a hug before moving on to mingle. Sylvie comes up to me and air kisses both cheeks, “The second bedroom next to yours would make an excellent nursery.”

     “Really,” I gasp with mock interest. “It’s a good thing I’m pregnant then.”

     Her mouth drops open and I burst out laughing. I squeal as she hits me on the arm with her clutch purse and dart away to a group that isn’t so violent. James is chatting with Kyle, Jeremy and Jacob. I laugh as Kyle gets Jacob’s autograph and a picture. James winks at me at exactly the same time Jacob does, I laugh and wave them both off. Neither of them notice what the other did.

     Marie comes up to me, she’s wearing a silver dress with no back to it. It’s hot, as always she looks the flashiest here. “Totally digging your new pad.”

     “Thanks babes,” I smile and wrap my arms around her. “Can you imagine movie nights here? I’ve got my own cinema in my room.”

     I don’t drink, I’m not allowed due to the tablets I’m on. So watching everyone get drunk around me… it sucks ass. I want to drink. Instead I pout like a petulant child and eat a bag of nuts. Sophie thanks me for giving her the opportunity to expand her profile. Because of the work she’s done she’s fully booked for the next six months. She’s ridiculous, I thank her for working with us. She’s an amazing woman.

     I find myself checking my phone often. I’m worried about Amelia and Lucas, I feel guilty for sitting here while my friends drink six hundred dollar wine when he can’t even afford to buy party food from the supermarket.

     “Hey,” Lucas says as the last of the guests leave. “Are you ok? You look a little lost in thought.”

     I squeeze his hand that’s resting on my shoulder and give him a reassuring smile, “I’m ok baby. Just tired. I miss running.”

    “The doctor said you’ll be able to soon,” he grins and leans down to kiss my cheek. “Let’s go to bed.”

     Fortunately we don’t make it to bed, we make it to the hall where we have hot sex up the wall, then again in the living room, then again in the kitchen and finally sleep in our bed feeling satisfied and content. Talk about orgasms. Wow.

     I spend extra time at work today, I want to make sure everything’s done so I can take a couple of days off. There’s a lot more to do than anticipated and unfortunately I may have to travel to France next month.

     I get my period and start my pill, hopefully I’ll be able to start sex again soon. A wave of relief washes over me when I get a text from my future brother in law asking me if I’m free. I immediately say yes and tell him I’ll pick them both up at six.

     I text James.

Maya:
Going to meet up with Marie for a few. I’ll see you when I get home later xx

James:
Ok baby, you want me to come?

     Ah crap, more lies to tell.

Maya:
Not tonight babe, need girl talk

James:
Ok beautiful. See you later
.


     I sigh with relief and dart out of my office as soon as the clock hits five thirty. Traffic is shit but I make it there just in time.

     “Hey,” Lucas smiles, he looks nervous. “Thanks for coming.”

     “It’s no problem,” I grin as he buckles Amelia into the back. She’s blabbering on about something to do with her class mates. I don’t really pay attention. “So, how is everything?”

     “It’s good,” he replies. “You?”

     I nod, “Good. New place is amazing. It has a waterfall in the dining room. It’s so tranquil and amazing. The water takes up an entire wall and lights up.”

     “Wow,” Amelia gasps. “Can I see it?”

     “Amelia,” Lucas admonishes.

     I smile at her in the rearview mirror, “I promise one day in a few weeks I will bring you to see my waterfall.”

     “What if the DNA test proves negative?”

     I glance at Lucas, “I won’t let her down, don’t worry.”

     He grins at me like I’m the most amazing thing in the world. It’s touching. I hope he never finds out what a mess I actually am.

     We drive to the Playhouse which is a restaurant with a huge kids play area. I park near the entrance and climb out. Amelia is off before we reach the desk. I’m not sure what I’m supposed to do so I shove a bunch of notes into Lucas’ hands and cringe as I step around screaming kids to find a table. The only free table is by the window, I prefer window seats even if the view is of a car park.

     “You gave me three hundred dollars, it only costs five for her to play and dinner is probably only about thirty,” he says with a frown and holds the cash out as he sits opposite me.

     I pick up a menu and wink at him, “Sorry. My mistake. Leave it as a tip or put it in your pocket, it isn’t going back in mine.”

     “We don’t take charity,” I notice his fists clench on the table.

     I yawn and stretch pretending not to hear him before a great idea pops into my head. “Ok, let’s arm wrestle for it, then you’ve won it fair and square.”

     He rolls his eyes, great, another addition to the eye rolling club. “Thank you.”

     “For what?” I say and flip open the menu. “Hmmm, any recommendations?”

     “I was just going to get a burger. Amelia always has fish sticks and chips, it’s her favorite.”

     The waiter comes over and we place our orders.

     Amelia shouts for her dad to watch her every three seconds, it has me in hysterics.

     “So, tell me about yourself Maya,” he says and takes a sip of his coke.

     I clear my throat, “Well, my name is Maya Johnson. It’s now Maya Freeman. James was adopted when he was eleven I think. I only found out a couple of months ago so I don’t know much about it.”

     “Wow, it really was tough to find me huh?”

     I shake my head, and explain, “I found you over a month ago but my appendix exploded during a charity lunch.”

     “Ouch, what happened?”

     I always get excited telling the story, “Well they took me straight into surgery but because it exploded my insides were pretty much totaled by a bad infection. They thought they got it all but they didn’t, I woke up for a minute and then I died for a whole two minutes. Right in front of James and his mother.”

     He shudders and his green eyes dim with anguish, he reaches over and grips my hand. “I’m sorry that happened to you. Are you ok now?”

     I squeeze his hand back and nod, “Honestly I’m fine. Takes a lot to keep me down. Still a bit iffy, my stomach hurts at times and I can’t jog or have sex for a couple of months but I’m good.”

     “How can you think about sex when you’re in such a state?” he laughs out loud and our food is placed in front of us. He shouts for Amelia, she comes over and sits before eating like a mad person.

     “It was apparently the first thing I asked the doctor. James says I’m worse than an eighteen year old boy and I’m going to unman him,” I giggle and he laughs even harder. “He’s a great guy you know. Too good for me. He wants us to start a family now.”

     “You don’t want that?”

     “God no, not yet. I can barely look after myself. If I didn’t have a housekeeper my house would be a state. I love my freedom too much. Plus I’ve never even held a baby so having my own would be like jumping into the deep end not knowing how to swim and adding a couple of hungry great white sharks to mix things up.”

     “I was scared when my eldest was born. Terrified in fact. She was planned but when the last weeks rolled by Christ I was a mess. Panicking constantly, over every tiny thing. If my wife even coughed I’d be up with the bags ready to take her to the hospital.”

     “How was you when she was born?”

     He gives me a sad smile, “It’s the hardest most rewarding job in the world. We were sorted, we had a nice house, nice cars. We weren’t loaded but we rarely worried about bills. We had a proper nursery and we managed.”

     “I’m sorry for your loss, all of it.”

     “Thank you. It’s been hard. But I had to keep it together for Amelia. She didn’t really understand you know?” I nod in response. “It just happened so fast. It was the other drivers fault.” A misted look comes over his face. I can practically feel his pain. “We were driving from the grocery store when a car ran a stop light. Group of drunk teens. They crashed straight into the passenger side. Killed my daughter on impact, my wife struggled for a few
days but died before I woke up. Amelia was fine, she escaped with a broken collarbone. I was in a coma for a week but I was ok apart from the head injury. The teens got twelve months in juvy and a driving ban. I lost my kid I lost my wife, I lost my job, I lost my house and my car. They got a fucking driving ban and twelve months.”

     I don’t realize I’m crying until a silent tear slides down my cheek. I quickly wipe it away. Amelia has long since gone after scoffing down her food so I don’t feel too bad for crying. It’s not often I cry and when I do it’s always over something important.

     So I relish my tears, I don’t feel ashamed because I’m not weak. I feel stronger and warmer in the heart knowing that I’m not totally selfish.

     “All this talk of death,” he says and clears his throat. “I’m sorry, I’m completely ruining our evening.”

     I laugh a little and release his hand I didn’t realize I was holding again. “No. you haven’t. Thank you for sharing that with me.”

     “DADDY!” Amelia shouts and our attention is diverted to the little girl at the top of a tower. We both wave up at her and she barrels down the large black slide.

     “She’s gorgeous, I actually like her and I don’t usually like kids.”

     “You really do speak your mind,” he chuckles and throws a balled up napkin at me.

     I’m shocked how easy and familiar we are. As if we’ve known each other for years rather than days. I’m completely in love with Amelia. On the way home she asked me if I wanted to sleep over, says I can share with her daddy. Top and tail.

     Lucas thought this was hilarious but gave her the whole boys and girls don’t share a bed unless they’re married. Which led her to tell us we should get married. She’s so clever for a four year old and I’ve officially adopted the name auntie. Even if he’s not James’ brother, I’m definitely going to continue seeing them both.

     When I get home James has that look in his eye again like he knows I’m lying. I feel like shit, I really do. But I don’t want to disappoint him. I’ll introduce them no matter the results but right now I want to do this right. I want to be able to introduce him as his brother.