Ghigau 6 part 1

Lenny took an Uber to Lydia’s school. The car’s air conditioning had stopped working and he opened his window in an effort to cool down. The driver dropped him a few yards from the main gate, with five minutes to spare, where he waited for Lydia, trying to avoid the fumes from the line of 4x4’s sitting at the kerbside, their engines idling, unsociably. 

     Lydia was one of the first out. He waved his hands and she spotted him, a broad smile spreading across her face.

    “Where’s Mum, isn’t it her day? She asked as they strolled towards home. 

    “She had a meeting and she was worried it might drag on a bit and we’re incredibly responsible parents, so here I am.” Lenny said.

    “How did you know?” Lydia said.

    “How did I know what? 

    “How did you know about the meeting… and to come and get me?” Lydia sighed with mock frustration.

    “Mum called me of course.” He said, then added, “We often call each other just to talk about you.” 

Lydia looked him to see if he was being serious. He waggled his eyebrows.

    “No you don’t!” She giggled. 

They approached the main road and waited to cross. Lenny held Lydia’s hand tightly.

    “Dad!”

    “What?” 

    “You’re hurting my fingers!”

    Lenny looked down and realised he was hanging on too hard. “Sorry kiddo.” he apologised.

    “Miss Putnam says when a child dies their parents sometimes get scared that their other children might die too.” Lydia was looking at the ground, studying her shoes.

    Lenny immediately felt annoyed with Miss Putnam, but tried not show it. “I wouldn’t say, ‘scared’. I think I’d prefer to say, I love you and so I want to keep you safe. How does that sound?” He said.

    “Yeah,” Lydia agreed, squeezing his hand.

    They walked on in silence. Lydia wearing her  pink headphones, singing Dua Lipa’s latest hit to herself, Lenny deep in thought. When they rounded the corner, and were within a hundred yards of the house, Lydia broke into a run. Lenny knew she would be keen to go over the day’s events with her mother. They talked about everything. Nikki believed strongly in complete openness. Lenny had felt they should keep some things from Lydia, to protect her from the awfulness of the hard truth, but Nikki had been proved right. Being included seemed to make their daughter feel safe.  When he caught up, Lydia was already at the front door where she was hopping from one foot to the other.

    “Daaaaaad you’re so slow, I really need a wee.”

    Lenny slid his key in the door and pushed it open, standing aside to let her run past him. She pelted up the stairs to her bathroom, shedding coat, satchel and hat as she went. “Pick those up afterwards please!” he called out. 

    He let his laptop slide from his shoulder to the floor, peeled his Jacket off and hung it on the coat peg by the hall table. There were envelopes on the floor and he stooped to pick them up. As he bent down he felt a draught of warm air on his face and, looking up, he noticed the back door was open. In these houses, from the front door, you could see past the side of the stairs, all the way to the rear of the building. He frowned; strange… He checked his phone, Nikki’s last message said, ‘should be back by 5 - is it too hot for spagbol?? xx’  It was sent at 3.45pm. He tapped a reply, ‘am home - back door open?’  It was 4.26pm. He walked down the hall and looked out through the open door. The garden was empty, nothing seemed out of place. He closed and opened the door twice, the latch was functioning. He called up to Lydia to ask whether she remembered going out of the back door before she went to school that morning. She didn’t answer and he could hear water running so deduced she couldn’t hear him. 

    He climbed the stairs and, starting at the top, checked the whole house. Lydia had finished in the bathroom and asked him what he was doing. 

    “Just making sure all the windows are closed love, we don’t want mosquitoes everywhere.” he said.

    When he was satisfied the house was secure he went to the back door, closed and locked it, feeling uneasy.  He checked his phone again, his message sat unread.

    

    Lenny had the Bolognaise simmering by a few minutes before five. The heat from the stove was intense. Nikki was right, it was too hot for Bolognese. He put the pasta to one side, it would only take a few minutes and there was no sense in starting before she got home. He knew she would want to freshen up before eating. Lydia was upstairs fulfilling her promise to do her homework before dinner. He took the opportunity to pour a glass of decent red wine and sit in the garden for a while. He checked his phone, 5.10 pm. His message was still unread but that didn’t mean much, Nikki usually left her phone in her bag and often took ages to reply, it was an occasional point of conflict between them. Not that conflict was common in their home. Even before Jamie’s accident they had never argued much, preferring to discuss their differences and negotiate a settlement rather than shout each-other down. On the few occasions they’d had a real row it was the make-up sex he remembered. 

    He ruminated on his life as it was. Could he continue with Jake and the business? He felt some trust had gone. How could you rely on someone who made such stupid life choices? Perhaps he should get out while he was still relatively young. After he left university he’d tried a few different jobs and entertained ideas of being a writer. Somewhere in the attic was an unfinished novel. They had some savings, he could probably take a year off without having to earn. Unlike Nikki he didn’t really love his job. It was interesting, even challenging at times but not immersive, not all consuming. It was never enough to block out the sadness completely.

    Dinner was still simmering at 5.50 pm and he hadn’t heard from Nikki. He picked up his phone, opened his favourites and tapped her picture, it rang several times before her voicemail came on, inviting him to leave a message. What was the name of that artist? Exel? Exray? No, Exa—like Alexa, he remembered Nikki saying. He felt restless. He had Hermione’s number in his phone and he brought up her contact details. He looked at it for a while. This was just silly, she was a little bit late, if he started phoning around he’d look like a control freak. Nevertheless it didn’t feel right. Nikki was reliable and on the odd occasion she was late or changed an arrangement, she would invariably let him know. 

    Lydia appeared at his side. “Is Mummy going to be here soon? I’m hungry.” She folded her ams and pouted comically. 

    “She’ll be back soon,” 

    Lydia sensed an opportunity and asked eagerly, “Can I watch telly then?”

    “Homework done?” Lenny checked.

    “Yes, I promise.” Lydia nodded.

    “Ok, but not too loud,” he agreed. 

 

    He checked his phone once he was sure Lydia was out of sight. 5.58 pm, Nikki was definitely late. He remembered the open back door and his unease returned. He could hear the television in the background and stole a look into the kitchen, Lydia was looking at her phone and occasionally glancing up at the television. She had been giver a phone for her tenth birthday, after much begging and negotiating with Nikki. He had stayed out of the argument preferring to remain on good terms with both sides. This had, quite rightly, annoyed Nikki, 

    ‘That’s just copping out,’ she’d said.  

She was probably right, he thought now. 

    He dialled Hermione… 

    “Hi Lenny,” Hermione answered, after a couple of rings, “everything ok?” 

    His caller ID had announced him. “Hello Hermione, look I’m really sorry to bother you, I feel a bit silly calling but Nikki is quite late home and not answering her phone. I just wondered if she was with you, or if she’s called you?”

    “Not since she left to meet a client,” Hermione said. “What time is it?” her voice faded as she turned to look at a  clock somewhere, “Oh, ok six o’clock. I would have expected her to be finished by now but I can tell you the artist she was meeting had a lot of stuff to show, and she liked to talk, so maybe Nikki’s just having trouble getting away?”

    “Maybe,” Lenny sounded doubtful, “she'd normally call me though. If you hear from her will you let me know? I mean I’m sure she’s fine and I’m fussing over nothing but…”

    “Of course I will Lenny, do you want me to try calling her? Or calling the client? In fact why don’t I give you the client’s number,” She suggested. “Her name is Exa, quite a character she is too” 

    Lenny felt he was coming across as overreacting. “No, I guess not, I definitely don’t want to cause a fuss with a client. I’m sure it’s fine, so… anyway, thanks Hermione.”

    “Ok, will you text me when she get’s back? Just for my peace-of-mind?”

    “Of course, yes.” Lenny promised.

    “Bye then” 

    “Bye” Lenny ended the call. Had there been just the hint of a slur in her voice? He wondered.