Behind The Uniform

Prolouge

Behind The Uniform

Prologue

Come on smile, Jamie! You hardly smile, you deserve to. The words echoed through my mind as I succumbed from sleep. The familiar voice, where had it come from? Had it all been in my head? Had I been dreaming? I struggled to keep reality and dreams apart, I always seemed to be sleeping as if I had nothing better to do either that or it was a sign I was getting old.

I stared into the back garden and the sun shone down, it's rays reflected across the dying grass. My gardener hadn't been in a while and my back hurt when I bent down for too long so it was left in a state of disarray. It kind of reminded me of my thoughts, I never seemed to be able to pull them into order. 

Since the sun was shining, I figured that it wasn't late in the day but it might have been late afternoon.

The chiming of the grandfather of the clock in the hallway gave indication that it had just turned to a new hour. As I got up from my chair, grunting in the process, my legs weren't as springy as they used to be. It was like I was practicing walking on a pair of brittle stilts. Some people grow old with grace, I wasn't one of those people.

I looked at the time. Only three. I had been asleep for four hours, shorter than what I would normally have for a nap.

A gust of wind suddenly blew in from one of the windows and I tutted, trust me to leave my windows open. My attention was then drawn to a blue mercedes spluttering outside. The engine sounded tired as if it had gone through too many repairs and was on it's last legs. I took a deep breath and ducked behind the window so the people in the car wouldn't be able to see me but I could still see them.

A car door opened slowly and swiftly and out stepped a woman. She seemed to be in her thirties with blonde hair that cascaded into curls at her shoulders. The woman took a step towards the other side of the car when the it slammed open and she quickly backed away. The figure that stepped out was a man around the same age as the woman or maybe a few years older. He rubbed his brow and scowled when he saw her.

"Come on, Willa. What the hell are you doing?" He snapped, looking at his wrist and his non existent watch.

"I just want you to come and say hi to your father, just talk to him. Ronan, please." Willa begged reaching out to touch his shoulder. Ronan swatted her hands away and clenched his fists.

"Just get the children and go." He said through gritted teeth and the woman nodded somberly, her hands reaching out but she drew them back.

I slumped onto the floor, wincing as my legs hit the ground. Closing my eyes, I sighed. Of course, of course he wasn't going to come in. Why would today be any different? My own son, he didn't want anything to do with me. It had been like this for about three years, ever since he had asked me about her but I couldn't. I couldn't bring myself to tell him the truth and he had shut me out because I was a coward.

The car soon drove off and it was followed by a knock on my door. I didn't want to answer it but my grandchildren came over every Friday and I always looked forward to it. They made an otherwise dull life bearable.

Getting up to my feet, I opened the door to see Willa trying to quieten three small humans down. I let a ghost of a smile appear on my lips when I noticed the oldest, Lloyd. He had stopped fidgeting and launched into a massive hug, gripping my sides. He was so strong for such a small child.

"Grandad! I really, really missed you!" He said excitedly, bouncing on the balls of his feet. He smirked as he leant back, forest green eyes twinkling at me and I held a sharp intake of breath. They were looking more like her's everyday.