Page 21 of Take a Chance on Greece

‘Got it fine. And it’s looking really good, Lyds. That flakiness is completely normal, just an indication that it’s healing up, and there’s still no sign of infection. And before you say anything, I’m pretty used to doing diagnoses over video nowadays, so don’t worry. Keep doing whatever it is you’re doing, and all will be well.’

I pulled the dressing gown back up and nodded in relief. My feelings towards the tattoo were more mixed nowadays. The initial horror had been replaced with a kind of acceptance, and although I’d still much rather have un-inked skin, I was grateful for the catalyst the tattoo had proved to be in waking me up to my relationship situation and getting me to do something about it.

‘Thank goodness for that. It would not have helped my confidence on this date to have discovered that I’d got some kind of infection. OK, and back to the other important issue. What on earth do I wear?’ I sat down at the dressing table and propped the phone up on its surface while I brushed my hair. ‘I want to look good, but not like I’ve tried too hard either. Something cool, casual and sophisticated. Oh heck, I don’t think I even own any clothes which would help me create that effect.’

I put the hairbrush back down with a clatter, the nerves growing stronger.

‘Can I take over now?’ asked Kat. ‘Only if you don’t mind me boasting, this is my particular area of expertise. I’m the queen of first dates.’

‘Yes, but that’s because you have so many that never go beyond that,’ teased Amira.

Kat laughed. ‘That’s because I’m extremely discerning and have no intention of lowering my very high standards. Right, take the phone over to the wardrobe and let me have a virtual rummage.’

‘Um, I’ve not exactly got as far as unpacking my stuff into the wardrobe,’ I confessed, moving my phone around so my friends could see the explosion of clothing across my bedroom floor. ‘They are at least all washed and dried now. But I haven’t had time to put things away properly because I’ve mostly been working.’

‘Lydia Evans, is that the contents of the suitcase you brought on holiday with us?’ asked Kat in disbelief. ‘I didn’t realise you’d left Jim’s house so quickly you’d not even bothered to pack a proper bag.’

I cleared my throat. ‘Oh, I thought you knew that. Is the rest of my stuff still OK, by the way?’

Beyond confirming that she’d collected my belongings from Jim’s, Kat had remained pretty quiet on the subject, and this was the first time I’d tried pressing her for details.

Kat tutted. ‘You owe me big time, hon. My new housemates are not exactly delighted that I’ve taken over the living room with all your oddments, sorry, many years’ worth of carefully collected and collated belongings. Half of it’s with me, the other half is with Dr Amira over there, who’s too nice to tell you that she’s worried that some of the collection is a bit of a health hazard.’

‘And what did Jim have to say when you picked it up?’ I don’t know why I asked the question. It was like deliberately knocking against the tattoo to make it hurt.

‘I thought we weren’t giving Jim the airtime anymore,’ said Amira gently. ‘Perhaps it’s time to look to the future.’

That made me even more worried than not knowing, so I said as much.

Kat’s mood changed from jovial to serious. ‘To be honest with you, hon, he worried both of us. The way he was talking it was like he expected you to come back any second. He got a bit teary when we took the final box out.’

‘Oh,’ I said, unexpectedly feeling quite guilty. I’d never known Jim to cry, and however angry I was at how he’d treated me, I still didn’t feel good about him suffering.

‘No, stop right there, babe. It was not in the way you’re thinking,’ said Amira. ‘If I’m being completely honest, it was disturbing. It felt quite put on, manipulative even, as if he was doing it in order to make us ring you up and try to persuade you to return to him. I think he’s enjoying imagining how he’d make you feel bad if you were to go back. It felt like a control thing. He’s disappointed that his pet has disappeared, but he remains calmly confident that it will reappear and he’ll be able to continue playing mind games with it.’

When Amira put it like that, Jim’s behaviour did sound sinister.

‘He wasn’t that bad,’ I protested automatically, although the words didn’t quite ring true, even to myself.

‘Why are you still defending him?’ said Amira, her voice raised in frustration. ‘I’ve seen men like him before and they’re usually sitting next to their wives in A&E, smiling benevolently as the woman protests that she bumped into a door and that she’s always clumsy like that.’

‘Jim never raised a finger against me,’ I said. That was one accusation I could defend him from.

‘He might not have physically hurt you, but he liked twisting the knife emotionally.’

I found myself nodding. Hadn’t the text from him yesterday been yet another example of his ability to play with my feelings?

‘I wish we could give you a hug, babe. Leaving him was the best thing you’ve ever done.’

I blinked the sudden moisture away from my eyes. However cathartic it felt to be having this conversation, it was not helping me to get in the right frame of mind before my big date. Amira seemed to realise this because she quickly moved the conversation onto a different topic.

‘Anyway, we’ve spent enough time talking about He Who Shall Not Be Named. Your stuff is safe now, and so are you. Tell us about this Awesome Andreas that you’re meeting. Are you excited?’

‘I don’t know if he’ll deserve the Awesome title yet. In fact, it would probably be more accurate to call him Anonymous Andreas at the moment as I don’t really know anything about him.’

I explained about how I’d messaged the complete stranger Andreas to arrange the date.

Kat clutched her sides as she laughed for an uncomfortably long period of time.

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