Page 28 of Big Nick Energy
He forces an awkward smile. ‘If you want. You can also tick the box so we don’t bombard you with emails about trees and stuff.’
I summon up a smile hoping it might lighten the mood, but nothing. ‘I am very sorry I got caught up in your machine. I hope I haven’t broken it. Thank you for looking after me.’
He looks at me and shrugs his shoulders. ‘I’m glad you’re not broken, Lucy’s friend.’
‘My name is Kay,’ I say, giving him back his clipboard and pointing to my name.
‘As in Peter?’
‘Yes, except I’m a woman.’
‘And not a comedian.’ I think he’s implying I’m not funny. I’m not sure if that’s a bit rude. It’s true that today I was not at my peak, I was injured and traumatised. ‘Well, thank you again, Lucy’s boss.’
‘I also have a name…’ he says. ‘I’m Nick.’
‘You’re joking, right?’ I say immediately.
He looks supremely confused. ‘You have a problem with my name?’
‘No,’ I say, backtracking and hoping I’ve not said that too quickly or offensively.
‘Nick North. Nice to meet you, Kay.’
THIRTEEN
‘So basically, I’ve entered the season of Nicks,’ I say to Lucy as she leans her elbows on the restaurant table grinning at me.
‘It’s just one of those names, isn’t it? Like Tom or Sam. You don’t register when there’s more than one,’ Lucy says, unbothered that I’m being plagued by men of the same name during this festive season. There must be a festive message in all of this.
‘Miss Kay, long time no see,’ Jin, the waiter, says in welcoming tones.
‘You say that, Jin, but I was in here last week,’ I joke, and he laughs, the Santa hat on his head slipping down over his brows. ‘This is my friend, Lucy.’
He looks at me confused. ‘Miss Kay, did you fall in a bush?’
I obviously didn’t shake my hair out hard enough or should have taken up Nick’s offer of a horse brush, plus I am a little sore, battered and torn. A brief visit to the bathroom beforehand showed that I also have a large purple bruise appearing on my thigh the size of a steak.
‘Kind of but I have lived to tell the tale.’ My use of idioms is throwing him.
‘Then I am happy you are alive. You ready to order?’ he asks.
‘A Tsingtao for the lady, jasmine tea for me, some dumplings and two of the stewed beef noodles, extra chilli oil on mine.’
‘Perfect.’ He nods and takes his leave. I do love this place. It’s round the corner from my flat, open all sorts of hours to account for the hospital staff in the vicinity, and is authentically Chinese. From the very basic décor, the chopsticks piled in a container in the middle of the table, the white paper tablecloths – the sole nod to Christmas being a lot of tinsel – and a Santa figurine at the bar next to one of those nodding gold cat statues. Given tonight’s events, I’ve also realised I haven’t really eaten much except canapés, a ginger biscuit and two stolen crispy M&Ms, so sustenance was needed and this felt the perfect place to get that.
‘You let me order for you there,’ I say to Lucy as she sits back in her chair next to this fully misted window, colourful fairy lights wrapped around the restaurant sign.
She sticks her tongue out at me. ‘It’s different when there’s real genuine love there. So Nick, my boss Nick? That could work,’ she says nodding, sparked by the idea.
‘Or not. Give a girl a second to recover from the last Nick. He is incredibly good-looking though, no?’ I ask, curious why she hasn’t noticed this before.
‘Maybe. He’s kind of grumpy though. He has occasionally called me flighty which I take great offence to,’ she says.
‘I think I get the grumpy. He didn’t really get my jokes,’ I say.
‘Figures. And you’re one of the funniest people I know. He can be super surly. Serious. I couldn’t imagine sleeping with him. He’d be completely humourless. One queef and he’d not laugh. And you need to laugh when that happens. His beard is also maybe too straight.’
‘That’s a thing?’ I ask.
