Page 109 of Waiting for Ru
“Not yet.”
“So you’re going to tell him?” March’s incredulity was clear.
“Yes. You don’t need to skirt around with what you say.” Jasim felt something inside him give way. Maybe it was better that Ru found out what sort of a person he was before things went any further between them. Before Ru got hurt again.
Caleb reached across the table and put his hand on March’s. “It’s not our place.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Jasim mumbled.
He could see the confusion written on Ru’s face.
“Jasim rescued me when I was in a very tight spot,” Caleb said. “He saved my life and helped me start a new one. He did a good thing. Maybe more than one good thing. We’ve often wondered if you helped us get Isla.” Caleb turned to Ru. “We adopted her when she was four. She’s six now and right little madam.” He looked back at Jasim and smiled. “Did you help?”
“I might have.”
Caleb shot March a bright grin. “I knew it.”
“Are you still living in Greenwich?” Jasim tried to change the subject, though in asking that, he’d shown he’d kept tabs on them.
“Yes.” Caleb nodded. “March is still a history lecturer at Greenwich University and I’m still dancing. Teaching as well now, because I don’t want to spend weeks on tour away from Isla and March. What do you do?” He looked at Ru.
“I look after horses,” Ru said.
“Jasim’s ponies?” Caleb asked. “Does he still have Tye’s Dream?”
Ru looked across at Jasim withHelp mewritten all over his face.
“I do,” Jasim said.
“Dream’s his favourite pony,” Ru added. “She’s beautiful, fast and…” He fell silent as if he’d realised there was more to this than he’d thought.
The pizzas arrived and Ru caught Jasim’s eye and gave him a tentative smile. Encouragement? Hope? Jasim didn’t want to let Ru down, but that was what he was going to do. Had already done, long before he met him.
“What film have you guys seen?” Ru asked. “We watched eXract but it got too frightening for me.”
Ru, bless him, was trying to defuse the tension and had no idea what sat between them.
“There was a lot of blood and gore and me shrieking.” Ru chuckled.
“I wanted to see that,” March said. “Someone made me watch a romantic comedy.”
“Which you liked.”
“It was okay.”
Caleb laughed. “You laughed.”
“I wish there’d been something in the film to make me laugh,” Ru said. “Though Jasim laughed when I tipped up the popcorn. I’m not good with sudden surprises. Particularly alien surprises.”
Caleb smiled. “Was it a head-wrenching-off sort of alien?”
“I buried my face in Jasim’s shirt. But yes. Ugh.”
“The romantic comedy was lovely. March will agree eventually.”
“Anything was better than Frozen for the ninety-ninth time.” March rolled his eyes.
“Stop exaggerating. It can’t be more than ninety.”
