The Love Diary

Monday 19th February

Today at work we were tasked with having a ‘spring’ clean of the office and checking all the paperwork is organised and stored correctly blah blah blah.

It is actually something I really enjoy when I get going and I arrived at the office thankful that the office was quiet. 

Liz and I made tea and an action plan together before we actually started to organise anything. 

We sat together going through all the paper files we store in the office, trying to reduce whats stored, scan bits onto the computer and organise it slightly better.

“Do you think we need this?” I asked Liz, passing her a bunch of papers covered in numbers.

Liz scanned it and then shook her head. “That just looks like the data count for the file. They only need to be stored for a year because we would have to run fresh ones now.” 

I nodded as if I understood and then added the papers to the shredder pile.

We took a break for lunch and decided to walk into town together. We head to the bakery and both get filled baguettes. The weather was pleasant and we sat outside and ate lunch nattering away.

“Oh gosh I forgot to say. I heard George telling Luke he caught you kissing someone else!” She exclaims.

“Arse!” Is all I managed. 

“The best bit though…” she paused looking at me and smiled. “Luke literally went, ‘George, I don't believe you.’” 

I choke on the bite of the baguette I was trying to swallow. I take a sip of water.

“I knew I liked Luke.” I said. Liz nodded in agreement and we got up and headed back to the office. 

I got home and changed out of my work clothes before taking the boys out for their walk. 

We headed out through the woods and quickly the boys disappeared into the trees, chasing each other around.

I was waiting for them to catch up and I paused and was looking for them in the trees. I couldn't see them so I turned to walk a bit further.

And there was a deer looking at me. I stood still and looked back waiting for it to dash away. Its ears flicked. Then it darted to the left. Quickly followed by Duke. 

I froze for a second, unsure what I should do.

Then I called for Duke and Chester to come back. It was quiet for a moment. I waited. Then out of nowhere, both boys came crashing through the leaves on either side of me. Sat. Looked up at me. Tails wagging across the floor.

I looked at Duke closely, just checking he hadn't managed to catch the deer. All good. 

“Good boys. Break.” I shook my head at them as they started running down the track.

We got home and I brushed the boys down in the garden to get the dust out of their fur and gave them both a bone to chew on while I went up and had a quick shower putting my pyjamas on.

I knew mum had arrived because the boys dashed to the door and sat there quietly. Then there was a key in the lock.

“Hey mum”. I called from the kitchen.

“Hey sweetie.” She called back at me. “Hello Duke. Hello Chester. Have you been good boys? Have you?” I could hear her cooing to the dogs and waited for her to come in.

“I'm glad today is over.” She put her bag down on the counter and shrugged off her jacket, dropping it over her bag and then walking around to me for a hug. 

“Well this is for you.” I slid the glass of wine over to her. “And dinner is in, it'll be about 20 minutes”. She thanked me for the drink and we went to collapse onto the sofa. 

I put the TV on and started flicking through Netflix for a movie to watch while we eat. We're reading the descriptions and I flick over to the next film. White Chicks. I looked over to mum.

“Have you ever seen this?” She's peering at the TV, reading the little description as the preview plays behind it.

“I don't think so.” She looks over to me.

“Well that's settled then. You will love this, it's hilarious.” 

“Ok. Perfect.”

“So, how was your last few days?” Mums a senior vet at her practice and she works really long hours and is on call for 3 days, then has 2 days off then it repeats.

“Long.” She took a deep breath and let it out. Then she started telling me about some of her patients and the locum vet they had in for the week.

I made macaroni cheese for dinner with salad and garlic bread. We dished it all up in the kitchen and settled down to have dinner and watch the film in the living room.

“So… when am I going to meet James?” Mum asked as she placed her plate on the counter.

“Oh mum. He's moving away next week… I was going to tell you but I just kept getting busy. He got a promotion and is moving to the Met in London.” I got the dessert out of the fridge that mum had brought round and grabbed 2 bowls.

“Sweetie I'm sorry. Are you ok?” She asked, concerned.

“Yeah. We've been spending as much time together as we can for now and then we'll try to stay friends when he goes but it's over… you would have liked him.” 

“I'm sure I would have.” She walked over to me and wrapped her arms around me again. There is something magical about a hug from your mum.

We finished the film and chatted for a bit before mum headed home. She said goodbye to the dogs and we hugged again as she left the house. I waved her off from the window and walked back into the kitchen to tidy up. 

The quiet seemed oppressive now mum wasn't there and so I put some music on quietly as I tidied up. The boys went outside for their last wee and we headed up to bed.