Page 99 of Kicks
He’d cried enough that day. Yet, more tears were welling in his eyes.
“I’ve only done what anyone would.”
“No,” Crystal said. “You’ve been amazing to me. I feel bad leaving you with all this.”
“Hey,” Billy replied. “That’s the other part of my news. By the time I get the shop sorted out, it’ll be September. We’ll know then if you’ve made it onto the team. Not that there’s any doubt.”
“And?”
“Why don’t I move to Manchester too? Then you’ll have a home and someone to talk to.”
Crystal frowned. “That’s too much to ask.”
“You’re not asking. I’m offering. Anyway, I’ve made my mind up. I think it’s time we both had a fresh start.”
“And what about Eddie?”
Billy sighed. That question didn’t have a satisfactory answer.
“It’s over,” Billy replied. “Maybe I’ll find a man in Manchester who won’t lie. That would be nice, wouldn’t it?”
“He was only doing his job. I think you’re making a mistake.”
He cuddled into his sister. She hadn’t experienced true deception yet.
“Maybe. Maybe not. I can hardly ask him to relocate on a whim, can I? No. A clean break is exactly what I need. Someone has to stop you developing a Manchester accent.”
TWENTY-THREE
EDDIE
Friday finally arrived. Eddie’s interview was at two o’clock. He glanced at his watch. It had only gone ten. He had never been so nervous in all his life. Scott and Tyler had spent most of the week taking it in turns to come up with potential interview questions.
Scott had told him it was all anyone could talk about across the whole office and into the warehouse. That hadn’t done much for calming his nerves.
Now, as he sat at a desk, Kat hadn’t taken her eyes off him. He was fully aware her future also rested on this afternoon almost as much as his did. She’d been reminding him every five minutes for weeks.
“Will you stop?”
“What?” Kat asked, mock innocently.
“You’re staring at me again.”
“Pardon me for trying to fill you with my positive vibes.”
“Okay, firstly I don’t want to be filled by your anything,” Eddie fired back. “And secondly, you’re doing the exact opposite. You’re making me panic.”
“Sorry.”
They sat in silence for a second. Eddie had read the email in front of him about fifty times. Nothing was going in. He hatedinterviews for jobs he didn’t even care about. This one had far more attached to it.
His phone rang. It was reception.
“Hi, Charlotte. What can I do for you?”
“You have a visitor.”
Eddie frowned. He purposefully hadn’t made any appointments for that morning. He knew he would be fit for nothing.
