Luke's Diary: An Unlucky Man In A Zombie Apocalypse. Entries 957 - 1157

Entry 1100: Tuesday 1st October 2019

Entry 1100
Tuesday 1st October 2019

Naomi and I are currently in my bedroom with Sophie, and we're talking about the weird day we've had with Nikki.

When I woke up this morning, I walked into the kitchen feeling rather confused at the sight before. Nikki had made me breakfast, but it wasn't just a plate of eggs and bacon, it was a tray with a plate of eggs and bacon on it, a vase with a little flower, a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice and a rack of hot toast. It was clear that she'd really made an effort. "Good morning," Nikki said to me, flashing me a smile, "You go sit down. I'll bring the breakfast to you. I'm nearly done." It was like I'd crossed into the twilight zone. This all felt very surreal. "Is all that for me?" I asked pointing at the tray. "That's right," Nikki said in a chipper tone, "Go sit down at the table, and I'll bring it to you.

Feeling rather confused and obviously cautious I sat down at the dining table and a few minutes later Nikki joined me and placed the impressive looking tray in front of me. "There you go," said Nikki, as she took a seat at the other end of the table finishing off a piece of toast. "Aren't you eating?" I asked Nikki. "I'm OK with toast," she said. I looked at the breakfast and then looked back at Nikki with uncertainty on my face. "OK," I bluntly said, "What have you done to this? Sneezed on it? Poisoned it?" "Oh, Luke, don't be silly," giggled Nikki, "This is just me making the effort. If I was going to poison you, I wouldn't get away with it would I? What with Naomi and Sophie on there way round here. Anyway, if you don't want it, I'll have it." Still feeling suspicious I started to eat the breakfast. It was very nice. What followed was a rather pleasant, but slightly odd conversation about the weather, me and Nikki having a child together, and looking forward to the up-and-coming picnic. I say "slightly odd" because Nikki and I have not had such a pleasant conversation in ages.

After cleaning up the breakfast stuff, I helped Nikki gather all the picnic stuff and a shortly after that Naomi and Sophie turned up. I gave them both a kiss and a warm welcome and then Nikki appeared. "Hi Naomi," Nikki said with smile, "Hello Sophie, sweetheart. Don't you look pretty. Well, it's the start of October but it looks quite sunny out there. We've got a nice day for it. Now before we head off to the beach, I just want to get one thing out of the way... I'm sorry. OK?" "Oh, Nikki," said Naomi, "You really don't have to..." "Oh, I want to," said Nikki, putting her hand out, "I have behaved terribly, really terribly, and I want to say sorry. From the bottom of my heart, I am truly sorry for everything I have done and said." Nikki stood in front of us with her hand on her heart and giving us a sorrowful look. "I have been horrible to you all," said Nikki, "And I am truly sorry. I am sorry Luke. I am sorry Naomi, and I am sorry Sophie. I'm ashamed of myself." "Yeah, well let's just forget it," said Naomi. "No, Naomi," said Nikki, taking a step closer to Naomi and taking hold of her hands, "I want you to know how genuinely sorry I am. I have been a terrible person, in fact I am a terrible person. I've been so horrible to you. If I wasn't pregnant, I would have killed myself." "Oh, Nikki..." said Naomi. "No, I mean it," said Nikki, assertively interrupting Naomi, "If I was not with child, I would have tied some bricks to my ankles and walked into the sea. How I have treated you is unforgiveable. In fact, I think I should let you slap me." "Oh, Nikki..." said Naomi, clearly feeling and looking uncomfortable. "I don't think anyone should be hitting anyone in front of a little girl," I said to Nikki, looking down at Sophie. "Oh God," said Nikki, "I can't even apologise properly, can I? God, I'm so stupid and thoughtless aren't I" Stupid Nikki. Stupid Nikki." "Look, let's not do this," said Naomi, "Let's just focus on having a nice day at the beach." Nikki went into the kitchen, and I gave Naomi a strange look, suggesting that Nikki was being a bit full on. She was being full on! and as far as I was concerned this was just another attempt at desperately trying to be a victim, but Naomi handled her really well.

We all grabbed the food and other picnic related stuff, made our way down to the beach and what followed was a rather pleasant few hours where we ate some nice food, had some good conversations and ended up playing with a ball on the beach. It really was quite pleasant. Odd, because Nikki was being nice. Really nice. Too nice – weirdly nice, but it made a nice change not to be arguing. For about an hour or so I think we were all genuinely enjoying each other's company and for a certain amount of time I didn't feel on guard or suspicious. Nikki even played with Sophie and told Naomi what a lovely granddaughter she had. "Your granddaughter is gorgeous," said Nikki, "I love her. I just love her. I love being around kids. You know Naomi, you don't look old enough to be a grandma." "Well, I had Courtney when I was quote young," said Naomi. "You went through such a hard time with all that didn't you?" said Nikki, taking hold of Naomi's hand, "Poor love. I can only imagine how horrible it must have been to have to kill your own daughter." "Yeah, well, let's not talk about it," I said. "Good idea," said Nikki, "I'm sure Naomi doesn't want to be reminded of such a traumatic time. I can only imagine how guilty you felt." "Anyway," I said, quickly changing the subject, "We are still to come up with baby names." "It's interesting," said Nikki, "Because I think Courtney is quite a nice name." Naomi looked uncomfortable. "I think it's lovely name," said Nikki. "Well, we might have a boy," I said. "I've always wanted a girl," said Nikki, "Naomi, you're going to be my baby's step mum. I suppose when you've lost all hope of having your own child being a stepparent is the next best thing." I could see that Naomi was getting angry and I had no idea if Nikki was being a thoughtless cow or a passive aggressive b*tch.

We carried on playing with Sophie for a bit, and after having a nice evening in watching a film, Nikki managed to convince Naomi to sleep over instead of returning to Cowes. We put Sophie to bed in her seeping bad and after watching a few films with Nikki, Naomi and I started to say our good nights. "We're going to go to bed," I said. "Well, I hope you both have a good night's sleep," said Nikki, "After kicking that ball about I bet you could both do with a lie down. You do look really tired Naomi sweetheart. Really tired, in fact." "I'm sure I'll get a good night's sleep," said Naomi, "Will you be OK if we go to bed now? Can't be nice being left down here all alone?" I wasn't sure what was going on with Nikki and Naomi? Were they being genuinely nice with each other or were they both being passive aggressive? I couldn't tell. "Oh, don't worry about me Naomi, darling," said Nikki, "I like my own company. I suppose you're still getting used to having a man in your life? You've been a single spinster for so long, haven't you? The last man you were with before Luke was TJ and I'm sure that's something you feel ashamed of, but don't worry sweetheart, we all make mistakes. Anyway, the man that you were with before TJ was Seth wasn't it, and he left you. Very sad. I think you've done amazingly well to still be here instead of throwing in the towel." "Well," said Naomi putting her arms around me, "I've got a good man now and I certainly am getting used to being with him, and I'm quite enjoying it. You know, I feel so lucky to have a great guy in my life. I'd hate to be all alone...and single...and pregnant... Like some." Ah, I thought to myself – now I knew they were both being passive aggressive to each other. "Right then!" I loudly said, "We're going to bed. Night, Nikki."

Naomi and I went upstairs to my bedroom and closed the door. "My God," said angry Naomi, "I've never wanted to smack her in the face so much. If she wasn't pregnant, I swear to God I'd wipe that smug smile off her face. Did you hear her? Throwing in the towel!? I'll throw the towel – right round her bl**dy neck before I pull it so tight, she loses consciousness. She just can't do it can she? She just can't be nice. All these fake smiles and pretending to make an effort. That's all it was - a pretence! Two-faced fake b*tch. Did you hear all those passive-aggressive comments she made!? Today wasn't about her making an effort. It was about her having a go at me but doing so in a way that meant I couldn't really have a go back." "Well, you gave as good as good as you got," I said. "Calling me sweetheart, and darling," snapped Naomi, "B*tch. I think I preferred it when she was kicking off. At least then I can treat her like the stroppy child she is." "Yeah, well you dealt with her when she made those passive aggressive comments," I said, "I think you dealt with her really well." "Yes, but the point is that she started the day off by being overly apologetic and making a big drama out of things and then after having a nice time on the beach she started making all these passive aggressive comments and veiled insults," snapped Naomi, "She said she wanted to make an effort, but she obviously doesn't." "OK," I said, "Well, what do you want to do?" "I don't know," said Naomi, "I can't challenge her on it can I because she'll just make out, I'm bullying her and start playing the victim." "Look," I said, "I don't like all this passive aggressive sh*t either, but don't you prefer it to her kicking off all the time." "No," said Naomi, "I don't think I do. If she kicks off – yes, it's bl**dy annoying but I can deal with it better than the sh*t she's pulled today." "Let's see what she's like tomorrow," I said, "If she carries on making passive aggressive comments, I'll speak to her. All we need to do is tell her not to talk about Seth or Courtney. Remember, we did enjoy each other's company for a while, didn't we?" "I suppose we did," said Naomi, "It's weird to say that though... Even weirder to sit there eating sandwiches and watching her play with Sophie, thinking how enjoyable it all was." "Exactly," I said, "I know she's a tw*t but today, separate to the passive aggressive comments, there have been a lot of pleasant interactions, Her and Sophie got on really well. Let's see what happens tomorrow. Maybe we can forget about the passive aggressive sh*t and build on the good stuff that's happened today."

I can see why Naomi is p*ssed off, especially after the comments Nikki made. I'm p*ssed off too but to be honest I'm more relieved that we've had a day without any shouting, screaming, and kicking off and with a lot more smiling and genuine laughter. I'm still suspicious of Nikki and I will remain cautious but if we can build on the good that happened today and eradicate the bad, then there might just be some light at the end of the tunnel.