Never Again - 8

Chapter 8 - Sleeping Beauty

It was more than ninety minutes later when there was signs of movement from the sofa.

                “Hey Sleeping Beauty!” She smiled as bewildered Jack tried to orientate himself. He failed to hide his embarrassment, and Erin found that quite endearing. “Don’t worry, you didn’t snore!”

Sitting he shook his head, “I can’t believe that.”

Erin got up from her seat and wandered across to him, “you looked exhausted, plus you had a blow to the head earlier. I did think about waking you because of that...”

He sighed, “I have got a raging headache.”

She stood in front of him, his head in her hands and checked his eyes, his cheek, and then his jaw. She was happy he wasn’t too severely concussed, though the bruising seemed to indicate the severity of the blow earlier.

Making for the bathroom she offered him a variety of painkillers. Accepting some and a glass of water he slumped back against the chair. “Sorry Erin, I turn up here, at my lowest ebb eat your food, use your shower then abuse that hospitality by falling asleep. What must you think of me?”

She smiled, “I think you’re normal, someone who’s just had a bad day. Nothing more. How’s your head?”

Gingerly testing the bones around his eye socket, he nodded, “ok I think.”

Nodding she took his hand and led him into back to the sofa, “relax, will you?”

Sitting the opposite end of the sofa to him on her curled up legs; Erin studied Jack, “so bad day at the office. We all get them.”

                “I lost it though, and I shouldn’t have. It’s ridiculous, he had a red card, we had the advantage. Now I’ll be investigated, fined, maybe suspended. I promised myself I wouldn’t do it again.”

Erin sighed, “You can’t undo it Reilly, you just need to manage it. You’re a role model, so apologise, say it was nothing to do with your head injury...be humble. Nothing worse than people blaming an indiscretion on anyone else, front it out. People will appreciate that and it’ll be forgotten. My nephew loves you and your team, much to my father’s disgust, so he is impressionable, people like you influence him. The bad deed isn’t so bad; it’s how you deal with the backlash. Y’know?”

Jack closed his eyes and shook his head, “what a complete fuck up!” When he heard Erin laugh he looked up, “what?”

She shrugged, “you see this stuff happen on TV, or read it in the paper, but I never imagine that it effects you, the players, like this, that you REALLY feel so bad.”

                “I do, can’t say everyone does. But then...” he shook his head and Erin wondered what he was going to say, but he was silent. Instead of speaking, he stood and paced the room. Erin watched him, grimacing at the bruised cheek, the sunken eyes. If people could see him now, they’d really change their opinion of them.

                “What were you going to say?”

He looked at her for a moment, then shook his head, “nothing. Just that I’ve been trying to stop my hot head, you know manage my anger.”

                “You will, if you feel this bad then you’re serious. I can see that and I’m hardly your biggest fan!”

He glanced sideways at her then burst out laughing, “You sure know how to hit a man when he’s down!”

A little later, when the conversation has eased up, she looked at him, “Do you want to watch a movie? I’ve got the latest Bond on mail rental, have you seen it?”

He shook his head, “you got popcorn?”

Making for the kitchen she tossed, “of course!” over her shoulder.

It was late when the movie finished, they were both sat either end of the sofa, the duvet covering their legs. At some point her feet had made it to his lap, and when one of his hands circled the base of the toes on one of them, it felt natural, non threatening and comfortable. By the time the credit started to roll, his thumbs were massaging the arch of her foot, and she was melting into a puddle on the sofa.

                “I enjoyed that!” He offered in that husky tired voice. Erin blushed at the double entendre. Somehow the evening had moved from comfortable companionship to something a little more awkward. And ‘enjoy’ was so feeble a description!

                “You have great hands; maybe you should switch professions with me!”

He grinned, “Then I’d get to see you running around in shorts...mmm, could definitely get used to that thought!”

Shaking her head in mock desperation, she changed the subject, “Do you need any more painkillers?”

Jack moved his jaw, stretching the muscles, “it’s sore but not like it was earlier. I should get going really, I’m sure you’ve got loads to do.”

Erin shook her head, “no way. You’ve got concussion of some type, you can’t go home alone...or is there someone else at your house to keep an eye on you?” She suddenly blushed; did he think she was presuming a lot here?

                “You’re right, I live alone.” There was a rather definite pause, then he looked up at her, “I’d like to stay, and this sofa is very comfortable...I can vouch for that!”

Smiling she lifted her feet clear of his lap, and he groaned at the loss, “I’ll get you some more painkillers, and some hot chocolate. Ok?

When she came back into the room with the medication and the drinks, he was stood in front of a bookshelf studying the photos sat in frames in front of her own library.

                “Family?” He’d lifted a photo of her with Liam and Amelia on each knee; it was taken at her mother’s birthday the previous year.

                “Yep, they are my world, my brother Peter is six years older than me, and we weren’t close growing up, but his kids are awesome, really brought us back together, you know?”

He nodded, “My two sisters are eleven and fifteen years older than me, I hardly see them, then there’s my younger brother who’s nine years younger than me. He visits occasionally, but I barely know him.”

Erin was instantly sad, whilst she wasn’t overly close to her brother, she did see him, frequently, they talked occasionally on the phone, in fact she spoke to his wife Yvonne very often. To not know them at all, four siblings was tragic. “That’s a huge age gap!” Was all she could muster.

Jack stopped in his perusal of the photos to look at her, “Sinead is forty six, Conor is twenty one. Typical Catholic family with the usual menopausal accident!”

He sounded bitter, resentful. Feeling her scrutiny, he sighed, “it wasn’t the best childhood, I don’t see my family very often.”

It was a definite subject end and he moved onto another photo on the shelf. “Is this your father?”

He pointed to her favourite photo, taken a few days after her graduation, on a yacht in the south of France. Her father tall, bronzed in just a pair of shorts was stood with his arm around her, his eyes hidden behind shades, his hair dark, it was much greyer these days. She’d had no cares back then; her smile was as natural as his, her hair blowing in the breeze, her legs looking long in her shorts, her body a lot slimmer in a strappy top. Young, carefree and happy. It was a long time ago.

Nodding, she reached to take the frame, “yep, that’s Dad!” But Jack held up it closer to his eyes. “You perving on me Reilly?”

Shaking his head he looked up, “as lovely as though legs look in those shorts, no, I’m looking at your Dad, I recognise him...just can’t place him.”

Erin had this a lot, her father had been famous enough in the seventies to be familiar, but his football career had been short lived, so his name was often not forthcoming.

                “Danny Bailey.”

He glared at her, then back to the photo, “Shit! It is! You mean your father is Danny Bailey?”

She nodded, “Swindon, Spurs and Liverpool, the very same!”

                “That’s amazing! I loved him, or rather my Dad did, but I’ve seen his England debut, that goal against France.” His eyes were wide with amazement, “Wow!”

She laughed, “His greatest moment! But he blew out his knee a few games later. He has never really got over it! Never really accepted that his career ended.”

He was shaking his head still stunned, “I’m stunned! And you’re Thomas...that threw me!”

This was the moment she dreaded, how much longer could she be in his company without coming clean about her own past? “That’s my married name.” If she could have predicted his response it would have been damn near perfectly described it, wide eyes, glance to left hand, back to face, back step... “I’m divorced now, have been for a few months.”

Jack was completely wrong footed, he had no comeback to that comment, it was the furthest thing from his mind when he’d entered the house that day. He knew that the longer he spent with her, the more he liked her, but now she had both a legendary father...that was a whole different ball game, and divorced, that was a painful thought, he really couldn’t get his head around it. 

When he finally looked back at Erin, she’d stepped away, both physically and emotionally.

                “Sorry, I wasn’t expecting that.” He tried to reach for her, but she moved further away.

She nodded, “no one ever does. It was my greatest mistake!” She tried to dazzle him with a smile, to make up for her reaction, but Jack could see how much he’d hurt her. Immediately he could tell that she had suffered, he didn’t know the bastard, but he wanted to kill him for hurting her, but then he’d hurt her too, with his distance after talking about her family, that only grew when she said she was married. He’d rejected her in that moment. He was no better than her ex.

                “Erin, sorry, I’m not judging...”

She avoided his arm as he reached for her, “it doesn’t matter, I’m not getting involved ever again, so you don’t have to worry that! I’m used goods!”

He floundered at the self flagellation, the pain in her voice. “You’re hardly that...”

She smiled, “I am, but I’ve learned, and I won’t have a relationship again, so it’s not a problem.”

That statement was worse than any of the other revelations. He was a long way from looking for a relationship himself, but he had the feeling that she meant any form of relationship, other than the friendship they’d found over the last two weeks. And that didn’t sit well with him at all.