Health Care
Chapter Nine
“Oh for Christ’s sake Alexa,” Mum half-snapped at me. “You’re nearly twenty years old. I’m not getting mad at you for it. He’s a very nice lad, and yes, maybe it’s a bit soon but y’know – things are different in this day and age!” I cringe. Why oh why won’t the ground swallow me up whole. Sam will be wondering where his breakfast is.
“How did you kn…” I can’t bring myself to ask.
“Well, for one, you came prancing down here with that stupid grin on your face,” she says, counting a list on her fingers, for God’s sake. “Two, I heard your little room-switching fiasco at four this morning – those heels of yours don’t half make a sound when you drop them on the floor,” she adds darkly. “And thirdly, when I went into your room this morning the bed was empty. In a way, you’re lucky I already knew – otherwise I would’ve gone flying into Sam’s room, making sure the two of you hadn’t been kidnapped!”
I told you that’s what she would’ve done. I say nothing except nod and blush. I preoccupy myself with re-boiling the kettle. Opening the fridge, I find a fresh pack of bacon. If I was in any fit state to drive, I’d pick up breakfast at McDonald’s, not that I needed the extra calories, but I sure felt rough with alcohol and shame.
Sam devours his eggs and bacon in around three huge bites. He knocks his tea back like it’s a shot of vodka.
“I don’t want to overstay my welcome,” he confesses to me. I try to decide whether I should tell him what my mum knows. I choose not to. After all, he seems to get a kick out of thinking she doesn’t know. “Maybe I’ll catch a lunchtime train? I can take you for coffee in the station first. They have a good sandwich shop.”
I narrow my eyes at him.
“How do you know? I picked you up straight away, right?” I say, remembering him being stood by the ticket machine.
“Not exactly,” he says, biting his lip. “I text you twenty minutes after my train had arrived. I just really wanted to try a sandwich.” I laugh, it’s just hard not to. Swatting him around the arm, I agree for lunch. We stay in bed for the majority of the morning, finally getting dressed around twelve. The train station is a forty five minute walk, and Sam insists the fresh air will be beneficial to us.
He bids goodbye to my parents. My mum, despite what she knows, embraces him tightly. Over his shoulder, she winks at me.
“Oof, you smell nice,” she says to him. He laughs nervously and I die inside.
The walk to the station is hard work, as it’s mostly uphill. Sam grips my hand the whole way, and we’re smiled at by old people and dog walkers. We must look like a cute couple. I grin happily at them. I’m half tempted to start introducing Sam as my fiancé.
He treats me to a cheese ploughman’s sandwich and mug of hot chocolate with all the trimmings. In all honesty, the cheese and chocolate don’t entirely go, but Sam insisted the hot chocolate was ‘to die for’. Secretly, its warmth and creaminess just makes me want to crawl into a ball and sleep. As for Sam, he still has a thirty minute train journey on his own.
Once the train pulls into the station, Sam swoops me into a teeth-snapping kiss. I giggle, and he apologises.
“It just kills me that I can’t do that for a while,” he says. I melt. As of next week, he is working every day. He began to tell me the specific details about what being an estate agent entails while we were out last night, but my interest rapidly faded. In short, I wouldn’t be able to see him next week.
“There’s always the week after that?” I suggest.
“You can come and stay with me!” Sam beams. He has his own flat, which he assures me is no bigger than a postage stamp, but luckily I don’t take up much room anyway. According to Sam, if the worst comes to the worst, he can sleep in the bath.
“Sure thing!” I say, providing I can find the right day to fit around uni.
“I’ll cook you dinner,” he promises, holding my hand and kissing my knuckles. My stomach clenches slightly as I taste the cheese and chocolate combination in my mouth again. “I gotta go, baby.” With that, he pulls me in for one last smooch and hops aboard his carriage; his wheelie-suitcase not far behind him. I swoon.
Turning back past the ticket machine, I feel somewhat deflated. Tomorrow I will be back at work, and then I face one painful week doing little else but thinking about how badly I want to see Sam. I rub my hand around my wrist where the tan line from my watch sits. Oh, how I’d kill to go away again. With that, my phone begins to buzz in my hand. It’s Katherine.
“Hello?” I say.
“Hello, where are you?” she talks so fast on the phone.
“Er, I’m at the train station. I’ve just seen Sam off on the train.”
“Oh my God!” she yelps. I’m startled. “I totally forgot you were with him! Are you free now?” she breathes like she’s been sprinting a mile.
“Er yeah, I guess so,” I ponder.
“Good!” she squeals again. “Ocean are doing 50p drinks all night. Seriously, it’s their birthday or something, so we were thinking of going out. I hope you’re up for it. You better be up for it. We’re about to go shopping for outfits, so stay at the station and we’ll get you from there.”
Another night out? It’s as though I never came home. Katherine says goodbye before I have time to argue. Besides, she knows there’s no possibility that I won’t go. I dread the thought of us at work in the morning. Perhaps I’ll take it easy, I think to myself. Meandering back into the station, seeing as there is still another ten minutes until Lucy brings her car around, I saunter back into the sandwich shop. I pick up a jumbo bag of crisps from the shelf and choose my old seat by the window. Checking for any new interactions on my phone, I already see a message from Sam.
This scenery is fucking dull. I miss you already.
“How did you kn…” I can’t bring myself to ask.
“Well, for one, you came prancing down here with that stupid grin on your face,” she says, counting a list on her fingers, for God’s sake. “Two, I heard your little room-switching fiasco at four this morning – those heels of yours don’t half make a sound when you drop them on the floor,” she adds darkly. “And thirdly, when I went into your room this morning the bed was empty. In a way, you’re lucky I already knew – otherwise I would’ve gone flying into Sam’s room, making sure the two of you hadn’t been kidnapped!”
I told you that’s what she would’ve done. I say nothing except nod and blush. I preoccupy myself with re-boiling the kettle. Opening the fridge, I find a fresh pack of bacon. If I was in any fit state to drive, I’d pick up breakfast at McDonald’s, not that I needed the extra calories, but I sure felt rough with alcohol and shame.
Sam devours his eggs and bacon in around three huge bites. He knocks his tea back like it’s a shot of vodka.
“I don’t want to overstay my welcome,” he confesses to me. I try to decide whether I should tell him what my mum knows. I choose not to. After all, he seems to get a kick out of thinking she doesn’t know. “Maybe I’ll catch a lunchtime train? I can take you for coffee in the station first. They have a good sandwich shop.”
I narrow my eyes at him.
“How do you know? I picked you up straight away, right?” I say, remembering him being stood by the ticket machine.
“Not exactly,” he says, biting his lip. “I text you twenty minutes after my train had arrived. I just really wanted to try a sandwich.” I laugh, it’s just hard not to. Swatting him around the arm, I agree for lunch. We stay in bed for the majority of the morning, finally getting dressed around twelve. The train station is a forty five minute walk, and Sam insists the fresh air will be beneficial to us.
He bids goodbye to my parents. My mum, despite what she knows, embraces him tightly. Over his shoulder, she winks at me.
“Oof, you smell nice,” she says to him. He laughs nervously and I die inside.
The walk to the station is hard work, as it’s mostly uphill. Sam grips my hand the whole way, and we’re smiled at by old people and dog walkers. We must look like a cute couple. I grin happily at them. I’m half tempted to start introducing Sam as my fiancé.
He treats me to a cheese ploughman’s sandwich and mug of hot chocolate with all the trimmings. In all honesty, the cheese and chocolate don’t entirely go, but Sam insisted the hot chocolate was ‘to die for’. Secretly, its warmth and creaminess just makes me want to crawl into a ball and sleep. As for Sam, he still has a thirty minute train journey on his own.
Once the train pulls into the station, Sam swoops me into a teeth-snapping kiss. I giggle, and he apologises.
“It just kills me that I can’t do that for a while,” he says. I melt. As of next week, he is working every day. He began to tell me the specific details about what being an estate agent entails while we were out last night, but my interest rapidly faded. In short, I wouldn’t be able to see him next week.
“There’s always the week after that?” I suggest.
“You can come and stay with me!” Sam beams. He has his own flat, which he assures me is no bigger than a postage stamp, but luckily I don’t take up much room anyway. According to Sam, if the worst comes to the worst, he can sleep in the bath.
“Sure thing!” I say, providing I can find the right day to fit around uni.
“I’ll cook you dinner,” he promises, holding my hand and kissing my knuckles. My stomach clenches slightly as I taste the cheese and chocolate combination in my mouth again. “I gotta go, baby.” With that, he pulls me in for one last smooch and hops aboard his carriage; his wheelie-suitcase not far behind him. I swoon.
Turning back past the ticket machine, I feel somewhat deflated. Tomorrow I will be back at work, and then I face one painful week doing little else but thinking about how badly I want to see Sam. I rub my hand around my wrist where the tan line from my watch sits. Oh, how I’d kill to go away again. With that, my phone begins to buzz in my hand. It’s Katherine.
“Hello?” I say.
“Hello, where are you?” she talks so fast on the phone.
“Er, I’m at the train station. I’ve just seen Sam off on the train.”
“Oh my God!” she yelps. I’m startled. “I totally forgot you were with him! Are you free now?” she breathes like she’s been sprinting a mile.
“Er yeah, I guess so,” I ponder.
“Good!” she squeals again. “Ocean are doing 50p drinks all night. Seriously, it’s their birthday or something, so we were thinking of going out. I hope you’re up for it. You better be up for it. We’re about to go shopping for outfits, so stay at the station and we’ll get you from there.”
Another night out? It’s as though I never came home. Katherine says goodbye before I have time to argue. Besides, she knows there’s no possibility that I won’t go. I dread the thought of us at work in the morning. Perhaps I’ll take it easy, I think to myself. Meandering back into the station, seeing as there is still another ten minutes until Lucy brings her car around, I saunter back into the sandwich shop. I pick up a jumbo bag of crisps from the shelf and choose my old seat by the window. Checking for any new interactions on my phone, I already see a message from Sam.
This scenery is fucking dull. I miss you already.