It was pouring cold buckets in the small town of Mayfield. Claire was coming home from working the night shift at Eddie's, the small, family owned pub. She loved working there, but she felt she needed to spread her wings. Unfortunately, she didn't drive her car to work that afternoon, so now she was walking in the rain. When she turned into her street the first crack of lightning lit up the sky. Luckily, she managed to duck into her house in time and avoided the storm.
Meanwhile in the infamous Lux nightclub in London, was Blake. He was celebrating his 28th birthday. Just as he was about to play tonsil tennis, with yet another girl, his phone rang. He gave out an irritated groan and checked the caller ID to see who interrupted his chance of getting lucky. When he noticed that his best friend Tim was calling; quickly excused himself and went to the men's bathroom so that he and Tim could talk properly.
Tim was Blake's very best friend. They first met at a wedding, and since then they have been inseparable. Blake bailed Tim out of many bad dates, and Tim made Blake his best man at his wedding. Also, he hooked him up with one of the bridesmaids. Tim was hardly one to call late at night just to say hello, so naturally Blake started to worry. Tim had been low on luck lately. He got very ill just a week ago and had to be put into a hospital. When he asked his wife to see if he could see her and his daughter, she refused. Saying that, she didn't want Lily to see her hero strapped up in tubes. He was just recovering when doctors had found a lump. He was now in hospital again.
"Hi, Blake. It's Sandra. Tim is in hospital and he has to stay here for 2 more weeks." Sandra informed him.
Blake let out a sigh of relief.
"So nothing too bad has happened?" Blake asked, still worried and curious as to why Sandra even called him.
"Is that Blake? Pass him over." Tim said to his wife. He wanted to make light of this situation because he knows how worried Blake can get over the littlest of things.
Sandra passed the phone over to Tim and left the room to give them some space. Even though she hated to see Tim so fragile, she had to do this for her little princess.
"Hi, man. Sorry to call you so late, but there's nothing to worry about." Tim explained to Blake.
Blake on the other end of the phone grew even more curious, he really wanted to know why they called him. Especially this time of night.
"Okay, but why did you call?" He asked.
"Remember on my wedding you wanted to hook up with that bridesmaid? But Sandra said she was out of bounds because sh-"
"Yeah, I know," Blake said dismissively. Then it clicked, Tim was calling into cash in a favour.
"You probably know where I'm going with this. So I'll get straight to the point. I need you to take care of Lily and the house, I'm transferring to another hospital to get an MRI and Sandra didn't want me to go alone." Tim gushed out.
Blake pondered whether to do it or not. He doesn't mind taking care of the house, but babysitting Lily? That's a bit too much to ask, isn't it?
"I don't mind taking care of the house. But Lily? What about Lux? I could go bankrupt." Blake exaggerated, "I dunno, man."
"Come on, we can't take Lily because she has school and it would be unfair for her to watch me get help everyday for two weeks. Plus your business partner can take care of your club, you only go there to pick up girls anyways." The reasons for helping soon weighed heavier than the reasons not to.
"I'm a sick man in need of your help." Tim chuckled.
"All you have to do is cook two meals a day, take her to school and entertain her on the weekend. Please?" He asked Blake. He really wanted Blake to take care of Lily, mainly because Lily adored him, but also because he didn't like the way Sandra's cousin disciplines children.
"Fine, I'll do it. But you owe me one." Blake said half-heartedly. Tim chuckled again.
"Before you hang up, what's your place like now?" Tim kept on moving because of his job and Blake never stayed over long enough to get used to the scenery.
"It's nothing you're used to, City Boy," Blake chuckled at the nickname, "Mayfield is a delight."
"Mayfield? I'll be there tomorrow evening."
"Good, right now Lily is staying at her grandparents. She'll be at the house Sunday afternoon. Give you time to settle down. Oh, and if you need any help, ask next door. She's a sweet lady."
"Is she hot?" Blake teased. Even though they were miles away Tim could sense the smirk in Blake's voice and Blake could sense the eye roll that answered his question.
"Just be nice, see you when you get here." Tim said and hanged up. Just as he ended the call, Sandra walked in with 2 cups of hot coffee.
"Did he agree to do it?" She asked. She loved Blake like he was her little brother.
"Yeah, he's going to be there tomorrow morning." He then gave her a peck on her lips and sipped his coffee.
Hurriedly, Blake went to his hotel room and packed his bags, getting ready for the trip that was ahead. Mayfield wasn't that far away, so he decided to get there early. Also, because he didn't fancy spending the night in his car, especially when there was a nice, warm house calling for him.
Claire was just getting out of the shower when she had a eureka moment. She's always wanted to have a movie marathon before, but never found the time to. Since it just past 11:30pm and the next day she had the day off, she thought 'Why not?' So she got into her pyjamas and went downstairs to put the kettle on and got a plateful of custard creams. Nothing like a nice cuppa with some biscuits in the midst of a storm.
She sat down and pressed play to watch the first film to her Disney Marathon. Just as she reached for a custard cream she heard the faint noise of the doorbell ring. She quickly shoved the biscuit into her mouth and went to answer the door worried that there might be a serial killer that was about to kill her, but instead there was something much worse.
There in front of her was one of the most handsome man she had ever seen. Tall dark-haired, boyish good looks, nice physique. Before she could continue checking this handsome stranger out, he cleared his throat. "Are you going to stand there all night, or are you actually going to help me?"
Instantly, he went from a ten to a two.
YOU ARE READING
Notre Petit Lieu
Kurzgeschichten'Notre Petit Lieu' means Our Little Place, dedicated to the idea of having an intimate time with a cup of coffee or a small snack. A small place could lead to finding new people and interests, a café may seem quiet, but it's the small things that le...
