Book 2
of the Call Me Eddie series is
available to buy now from
amazon
and other good bookshops. ISBN 978-1-4116-9607-5
oOo
With the moss restored, Eddie can concentrate on his big date with the lovely Jo. The only thing standing between them and happiness is... pretty much everything they encounter.
He only managed to ask her out by trying quite hard not to.
When they are alone everything seems almost perfect. But meet anyone - friend, family or stranger - and doubts soon catch up.
Will their friends mess things up for them, or will they manage it all by themselves?
Is the significance of Jo's birthday another warning? Surely Eddie's powers will prevail and deliver another happy ending!
Chapter 1
Jo wasn't going to be late. She'd set off on time, early if anything, and would easily make it to the restaurant before 9pm. Nevertheless, she was walking fast. As fast as she could walk in her new black heels without risking a humiliating tumble. Her elegant black dress fluttered behind her in the chilly December breeze. The chic black jacket, so welcome when she was ambling along, now started to cling unpleasantly to her naked shoulders. She checked her black watch again. It still wasn't working.
Everything had started so well. No mishaps on the make-up front. Her hair had gone right first time, and was now the shiniest and darkest brown it had ever been. She still liked the new dress, new shoes and the new jacket all at the same time. Even her glasses matched, so she didn't feel self-conscious about not having contacts.
Rather than kick around at home, waiting nervously to set off, she'd come out early and done a bit of window-shopping on the way. Anxious not to lose track of time she'd checked her watch, her new watch, every few minutes. She felt quite relaxed. As relaxed as could be expected before a `big date'. Time passed slowly as she peered into windows at things she couldn't afford, and wondered.
In the middle of a particularly outrageous bit of wondering, over a diamond ring, Jo had checked her watch again. Just like the previous time, almost no time seemed to have passed at all. Then it struck her - absolutely no time had passed, according to her watch. Frantically she put the watch to her ear, which was silly because it was battery operated. It made no sound. It had no second hand. Neither of the other hands moved. It had stopped, at about twenty to nine.
So now she was rushing. The Guildhall clock on the High Street showed five to nine, but she didn't trust it. OK, so it had been there since 1683 and had never, ever, been wrong as far as she could remember... but why take a chance. She'd waited years for this date. Nothing was going to steal it from her now.
And then she stopped.
"Big Issue?" asked the man outside Sainsbury's.
As she turned to say "no thank you" to the man, Jo noticed that he was remarkably well dressed for a homeless person. "Maybe that's the point..." she mused, before actually saying "No, thank you."
"Have a good evening miss." he replied, sincerely.
So sincerely in fact that Jo felt guilty for not buying a copy of the magazine. But, before she could get as far as wondering whether it was acceptable to turn up for a first date with a copy of the Big Issue or, more likely, to buy a copy of the magazine and then subtly dispose of it between here and the restaurant, someone else stepped in with some cash and she slipped away.
Now she was walking at a gentle, maybe even genteel, pace. It was only a couple of minutes to the restaurant now - down the High Street and along Chapel Street. Her panic at being late was gone. It had been replaced by a nervous panic that she was about to make a complete arse of the evening ahead.
"Oh my God." she thought, pausing to look at her reflection in a shop window.
"I look flustered... I am flustered."
Jo paused, took a deep breath, and thought of Eddie.
"He's probably just around the corner, waiting for me."
She pictured her man, suave, cool, sophisticated... and wearing slippers for some reason. Then his suit morphed into a dressing gown and he grew a long hermity beard.
"The late Dent Arthur Dent..." she muttered, smiling and setting off again.
Rounding the corner into Chapel Street, Jo immediately noticed two men loitering. Both were presumably trying to look like they weren't waiting for someone who should have been here at least ten minutes ago. The one on the left-hand side of the street was doing a slightly better job than his opposite number: rather than checking his watch every 15 seconds, looking up the street one way, then the other, whilst slowly shifting his weight from one foot to the other, Mr Left was simply motionless, staring blankly into the nearest shop window.
Jo looked carefully at Mr Left. He was smartly dressed, in a dark blue cotton suit. He was taller than Mr Right, meaning... well, nothing. Brown hair and, puzzlingly, brown suede shoes.
"Brown shoes with a blue suit?" thought Jo.
Not that she was a fashion snob or anything, much. Just then Mr Left turned hopefully towards her and the light from the shop, which was actually a bank, shone on his face. He wore glasses just like hers...
The man scowled slightly and looked at his watch. He wasn't Eddie, not her Eddie anyway. Jo felt compelled to look at her watch too, and did, even though she knew it wasn't working.
On the one hand she was pleased that Mr Fashion Faux Pas wasn't her date, but on the other hand she was worried. Worried for two reasons: firstly, because Eddie wasn't in sight and the restaurant almost was; and secondly because she now had to walk down a dark narrow street between two men who she suddenly didn't like the look of very much.
Since she was still walking forwards there seemed to be very few options open to her. She kept going, trying to look like she wasn't scared, but failing. As she moved towards him, Mr Left twigged that Jo looked a little bit nervous. At the same instant, Mr Right decided to give up on his date and set off towards home... in Jo's direction. He made it two paces and then, seeing Jo and the look of horror leaping upon her, he froze.
"Err, sorry. Please." he mumbled, stepping aside and waving her by.
Jo didn't have to force the smile. The man sounded quite gallant and somewhat hurt at the same time. She wondered how long he'd been waiting there and why he'd given up. But, since she'd waited several years for Eddie to notice her and ask her out, it was unlikely that she would understand his apparent impatience.
As it happened both Mr Left and Mr Right had been waiting for over an hour. More bizarrely, in a way they were waiting for each other! Not that they knew it, of course. Both were members of the same over-priced dating club: a shambolic enterprise which somehow survived a litany of disasters solely on the strength of the owner's charming personality and occasional hard work. In this particular cock-up, David and James had been set up on blind dates with the very compatible Susan and Deborah. Both dates were today at 8pm, one in Guildford and one in Woking... I'm sure you can guess where the girls are now? What you wouldn't guess is that Susan and Debs recognised each other as long-lost school friends, gave up on their dates after 10 minutes, had dinner together and a good laugh, went on to a night-club, pulled two great blokes and... well, I don't know the rest; that's their business isn't it!
Oblivious to the minor tragedy she was passing, Jo slipped by and turned her attention to the restaurant which was now just a few dozen yards ahead. She couldn't yet see it because the road curved gently round to the right and like her it was on the right hand side, set back slightly.
In the last few yards she was starting to wonder what to say at the restaurant if, as looked likely now, she was the first to arrive. There was no way she was going to hang around outside in the dark... but she didn't want to be seated first either.
As she reached the entrance she glanced at the poorly lit menu mounted by the door. Of course, she was really trying to look into the restaurant to see if Eddie was inside. All she could see though was a waiter, the head waiter actually, looking out directly at her.
"Bollocks." thought Jo.
The waiter frowned, as if he'd heard her. She might have panicked. She normally would have. It was the sort of thing that she did. But this time, she didn't.
"Hello." came a soft voice to her left.
"Eddie!"
"Hi. You look great."
"Thanks." said Jo, smiling and blushing a little.
Eddie smiled, wondering if he ought to kiss her. There was a pause. A few days ago Eddie would have been squirming inside at this, torturing himself. Instead, now, he leaned forward and kissed her softly on the lips. Both of them closed their eyes briefly.
When Eddie opened his eyes, Jo's were still closed. For an instant he held himself there, almost touching her, but not quite. Then he straightened up and, seemingly in response, she opened her eyes again. Both of them stood for a moment, regarding each other.
They'd only seen each other a few hours ago, at work. But this was different. This was a first date. A first proper date, anyway. Jo had made a special effort just for Eddie. Eddie had made an effort for Jo which, since he hardly ever made an effort at all, even for himself, must count up there with pretty significant efforts.
In that short time there was no room for words. Emotions bubbled and swirled. Both of them smiled. Jo let the moment linger, Eddie did too. At the back of his mind something stirred.
"Every time I look at her..."
Suddenly both of them became aware of a short dark-haired Frenchman grinning at them through the restaurant door, and the moment was lost.
"Shall we go in?" asked Eddie rhetorically, looking at her and reaching for the door.
Unfortunately, the head waiter had already started to open it. Eddie groped for a handle which wasn't there and looked round to face the now mostly open door.
"Welcome monsieur, madame." announced the waiter in a pretty convincing French accent, bowing his head slightly.
"Yes." replied Eddie, slightly flustered and answering a question that hadn't been asked yet.
Placing his right hand gently on Jo's back, Eddie guided her over the threshold by his side. The waiter closed the door behind them and then managed to squeeze himself between them and a fully seated table of four by the window, without bumping anyone.
Before Eddie could say something along the lines of "we booked a table for two at 9pm", the waiter enquired "Monsieur Shore?"
"Yes." replied Eddie, again.
"This way please..."
"Shaw?" thought Jo, puzzled, as she followed Eddie through the crowded restaurant.
It soon became clear how the waiter had known which party they were. All the tables but one were full. The sound of a dozen lively conversations filled the room, which was very cosy, red, and bedecked with numerous racks of wines and spirits. It was a little on the dark side for Eddie's liking at first, but he soon changed his mind as he started to appreciate the atmosphere. Instead he turned to wondering if the ancient bottles of cognac on display actually contained anything he could ever afford to try.
"Madame?" invited the waiter, pulling out a chair for Jo.
"Thank you." she replied, gliding round the table and sitting.
Eddie pulled out the other chair himself and sat down. He'd hit his head once at school when Paul Smithson had whipped his seat away just as he was sitting down... and had never trusted anyone with a chair since.
"Would you like a drink, while you see the menu?" asked the waiter, notionally to them both but looking directly at Eddie.
"Bugger." thought Eddie. "I hate it when they do that. Yes, I'd really like a beer. But can I say that? Is beer too unsophisticated?"
Eddie looked at Jo and raised both eyebrows questioningly.
"Shall we just have some wine later?" she offered.
"Yes, I think so." declared Eddie, relieved.
The waiter picked up two menus from the table and, opening them, handed the first to Jo and the second to Eddie. Then he disappeared for an instant to the small bar which ran from the entrance down part of the left-hand side of the restaurant, returning with a second `menu' which he handed unopened to Eddie.
"The wine list monsieur."
For an instant Eddie worried that the man was going to stand over him while he selected something, but he simply nodded and left them to it.
"Phew." thought Eddie, opening the wine list.
"Did he call you Mr Shaw?" asked Jo suddenly.
Eddie looked up and smiled.
"Yes." he said. "I'll explain."
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oOo
Eddie Shore !