Accidents Happen

15. Midnight snack

I raided the fridge. Feeling guilty that I'd taken the last of the ham to make a sandwich, but I made a mental note to replace it tomorrow. It was only when I turned around to construct it on the island in the middle of the kitchen, I noticed Dan sat at the table

'Fuck!' I cursed, almost jumping out my skin but dropping the plate instead. It smashed across the stone floor, dangerously close to my bare toes. 'Shit!' I cursed. Dan rushed over to help pick up the pieces.

'Sorry!' He laughed.

'Jesus, what are you doing up?' I asked, an accusationary tone to my voice to cover the embarrassment.

'Jetlag. You?'

'Midnight snack.' I shrugged as we cleared the mess, my sandwich covered in shards of porcelain.

'Sorry. I didn't mean to make you jump.'

'It's ok. I just wasn't expecting you to be sat there.' I managed to laugh.

'There's some pizza left if you want that?'

'Yeah sure.' I accepted. Because I was hungry as hell. He threw away the shards and ham and got the pizza out, placing it on the table between us. We ate quietly for a few minutes, but it wasn't awkward. To say this was a pretty unique situation we'd found ourselves in, I was surprised by how un-awkward it had been. It was fairly embarrassing, knowing that we'd only hooked up that night because we were drunk and not using a condom. That kind of behaviour earnt a reputation I wasn't keen on.

But one thing had gone through my mind as we sat there.

'I can't understand now we never met before?' I mused. 'Like, you and Ralph are best friends, you'd think our paths would've crossed at some point before now?'

'We have met before.' He said.

'What?' I said through a moutful of pizza.

'At Bens birthday last year.'

'I don't remember?' I truely didn't. I'd been bugging Ben to introduce me to his friends for the best part of two years. Ben had even toured with Dan's band, but I'd been working at the theatre at the time and unable to join him on the road.

'You were actually pretty rude to me.' He laughed. I covered my mouth in horror. I did remember. I'd been drinking all day, and I remembered a guy turning up late with no beer. It wasn't until Dan mentioned it that I realised it was him.

'I am so sorry.' I laughed, a mixture of embarrassment and humor.

'Yeah, you pointed me out to everyone and asked 'who the fuck is this guy who thinks he can show up without bringing Ben beer?'' He did an amazingly bad American accent. Which only added to my bout of giggles.

'Sorry!' We laughed for a few moments. Then it was his turn to ask questions.

'Why did you move here?'

I figured I might as well tell him my story.

'I'm from this little town called Bruce. There's like 2000 people. All we have is a sawmill and it's the kinda place where everyone knows each other's business cos there's nothing better to do. Everyone went to church on a Sunday and lived under this delusion that God had some big plan for us all. I just had to get out. When I was younger I was kept inside a lot, cos of my heart and over protective parents, but I remember watching these classic films, you know the black and white ones? And that's what I wanted to do. I wanted to be an actress, especially on Broadway. And I knew I would never do anything with my life if I stayed there. So, I worked in the hardware store my dad owns and I saved every penny I could. Then two years ago I packed up and came here.'

It was the reason I hadn't spoken to my family since the day I left. As far as they were concerned, I was a missing person.

'That's pretty scary.'

'It was. I landed here, I'd never been out of town, never mind out of the country. I had about £1000 to find a place to live, to find a job. Like, I knew I couldn't just walk up to a theatre and land a part straightaway, so I started working as an usher, where I met Ben, and got fired for being late. Then I was a cleaner at some office. Got fired for being late. Then bars, coffee shops, you know, shitty little jobs. But nothing really panned out. I don't know what I'd do without Ben.'

'You and Ben are pretty close?' Dan asked.

'I guess. He's my only friend really.'

'He's a great guy.'

'He is.'

'Have you and him ever...' He didn't finish his sentence but I knew what he meant. Had Ben and I ever had sex.

'What? Gosh, no.' I blushed.

'Sorry, I shouldn't have asked.' He turned a similar shade of red to me.

'Its fine. He's just a friend.' He didn't need to know about the time where we got completely drunk and woke up the next morning, naked in bed. Wow. I did have a bad habit of making mistakes.

We continued to talk for hours. I found out so much about him, how he'd gone to university to become a journalist, where he'd met Ralph, and how he'd discovered he could sing and write songs. Then it had all blown up and suddenly he was this famous guy. I didn't see him like that at all. Sure, I'd heard his songs on the radio and seen performances at festivals on TV, but to me he was just this regular guy.

Talk turned to the baby. A subject we hadn't exactly spoken about in depth yet.

'When are you due?'

'I erm, no idea?'

'Hold on.' He took out his phone. 'It was October 12th? That we met?'

'Yeah something like that.' I was glad he could remember!

'Ok, so...add nine months.' He typed something in. 'June. Middle of June.'

'Thats so far away!' Obviously I knew pregnancy was nine months, but June felt so far away. And equally rather soon.

'What do you think it could be? Boy or girl?'

'I don't know. I hadn't really thought that much about it yet.'

'I'd like a girl. But a boy would be cool too. What family did you think you'd have?'

'To be honest Dan, I never thought about it. They told me it would never happen.'

'Then whatever it is, it'll be extra special.'

I had to admire him. He had an amazing life with the world at his feet. But all his hopes and dreams had been pinned on me and my ability to have this baby. And even though it was scary and dangerous, and a massive shock, this baby was going to have an amazing Dad.