Never Again

Part Three

Erin had barely slept, tossing and turning, clock watching, so she’d got up at six am and gone for a run. The local parks were dark this early on a spring morning, so she stuck to the roads familiarising herself with the suburb she now lived in. Despite the gloominess of her basement abode, it was a nice area, large Victorian three story houses, interspersed with clumps of newer detached houses with driveways filled with sports cars. Things were looking brighter, if only Barney would make it through his op. 

Sprinting she pushed harder, only glad when she saw the end of her street did she start to slow down, to let the cold air rush into her lungs in huge gasps. When had Barney come to mean so much to her? She knew exactly when. The day she’d bought him, the substitute for the baby that Max refused to consider, he was busier than ever at work, and more and more distant. Since their marriage two years earlier, Max had changed from a fun, happy lover, to a virtual stranger. Despite that, she was still devastated when he left her, walked away for some unknown woman who turned out to be younger, prettier and apparently more experienced than her. 

Erin shook her head, the sweat pouring down her body; she couldn’t go back to that, thinking she wasn’t good enough. She was TOO good for Max, and she should have left him way before he made the decision. It had taken her a while, but she had come to her senses, it was Max’s loss, it was Max’s loss. That was her mantra. 

She unlocked the door to her home and checked her watch, they were operating in an hour, she had to get her mind off it.  So she had a shower, then breakfast. Flicking on morning TV she groaned, the news was full of the early kick off in today’s football and Jack Reilly’s face flashed on the screen, a training ground interview previewing the game.  Just as she thought she was being a bit harsh on him, she saw his smug face and was angry all over again.  Normally she’d sit down and watch the game on TV, but not now, not after all that had happened. 

She’d bought paint to lighten up the black walls of the lounge, and knew she’d need several coats of her pale peachy colour to obliterate it. So after a quick phone call to hear that the operation was about to start, and that he was stable, she started the laborious job. 

It was mid afternoon when the phone rang and the time that had passed took her by surprise. Within twenty minutes she was changed and driving to the hospital. The vet said the operation was a success, and Barney was recovering well. 

He was lying on a bed, feeling extremely sorry for himself, he was very groggy, but his tail wagged when he saw Erin and it made her smile. But the post-op instructions didn’t. He couldn’t really walk around for several days if not two weeks, he’d need to be limited to JUST standing outside to toilet, then there was no stairs, and three hourly medication. She could hardly take her second week at her new job off to care for her baby, so she made the decision that when he was discharged she’d take him to her parents. Her father would raise his eyebrows, but her mother had a soft spot for the animal, and they were both retired and had lots of flat floor space. 

When she called them later her father offered to come up to collect him in his Landrover, and the practicality of even that was hell, but at least she could sit beside Barney in the back seat and comfort him.

  

Monday training after a heavy defeat was never pleasant, and the manager had really put them through their paces. But Jack took it, all the activities of the weekend had taken their toll on him, and he had been below par, as one of the senior players he took the blame, not that the manager accepted that it was down to just one man. So they all trained hard. 

Afterwards he had to go to the stadium to collect some photos to pre-sign for a competition the club was holding. He always got a thrill walking into a football stadium, especially one as grand as this one.  Mia, the wannabe actress and current receptionist smiled at him in a way he was always used to, but more recently he’d com eto despise the ‘I’ll do anything for fame...including you’ look.