‘Don’t blow this,’ Irene snapped, nodding at the workbook in front of him. She then spun on her sensible shoes and clomped away.
Jaxx and I agreed to meet again, same time and place, nipples thoroughly covered up.
12
On Friday afternoon, I had more back-to-back sessions with Yasmin and Trev. Trev arrived five minutes early, nervously shuffling up to where Yasmin was hunched over her book.
‘Afternoon, Ollie. Is it all right if I wait here?’
I took in Trev’s frayed, but immaculately ironed, bright blue shirt and jeans. A flat cap covered his skull tattoo, and it completely changed his look. He’d trimmed his beard, and I caught a whiff of spicy aftershave when he lifted one arm to nervously adjust his cap.
‘No, of course. If that’s all right with you, Yasmin?’ I glanced at her, still engrossed in the book, the end of a pencil pressed against her bottom lip, thick hair tumbling around her soft face.
She nodded, not bothering to glance up. Trev eyed the chair next to her, before deciding to take the one opposite.
Yasmin finished a couple of minutes later, letting out a heavy sigh as she packed up her things. ‘This is hard work, Ollie.’
‘You’re doing great. You’ve made genuinely amazing progress for only three sessions.’
‘It feels amazingly slow when another bill comes through the door. Or somebody smiles at me with terrible teeth and all I can do is tell them to floss more often.’
‘I can imagine. But trust me, we’ll be booking you in for an exam in no time.’
She stood to leave, causing Trev to spring out of his chair, too.
‘Oh, I don’t think you two were properly introduced last week,’ I offered. ‘Yasmin, this is Trev. Trev, Yasmin.’
Yasmin looked at him for the first time, giving a polite nod. ‘Hello.’
‘Hello.’
Trev adjusted his hat again. A droplet of sweat ran down the side of his face. It was far too hot to be wearing a woollen cap and a thick shirt, but I suspected that might not be the reason for the perspiration.
After a lingering silence, where I supposed I should really come up with something to say, but was too intrigued to see what would happen if I kept quiet, Yasmin eventually gave a small cough and lifted her chin to meet Trev’s gaze.
‘You have nice teeth.’
Before he’d had a chance to gather his wits together, she’d floated out the door.
Trev and I were packing up when Chloe returned, Harry, Hudson and Holly proudly placing their returned books on the counter. ‘We read them all!’ Harry announced. ‘That one I read all by myself!’
Irene peered at him over the top of her glasses.
‘Can we take some more out, please?’
‘That is what the library is for.’
‘Yes, I know, but can one of the library ladies read them to us first again so we know what the funny voices are and if we like the story or if it’s boring or not?’
Chloe gave him a nudge.
‘Pleeeeaaaase.’
Irene searched the library until she found me, already hitching my bag on my shoulder. ‘Sorry, I’m in a rush today.’ I offered an apologetic smile, but the only thing I was sorry about was not having time to stay and hear Irene’s funny voices.
‘Please, Mrs Library Lady, you have to!’
‘It is your job, after all,’ Trev added, grinning.
‘Well.’ Irene cleared her throat, her thumb rubbing the dressing on her burnt hand. ‘I have a lot of very important things to do.’
‘What things?’ Hudson asked. ‘There’s no one else even here.’
‘Things like… replacing your books on the shelves.’
Hudson picked up the stack of books that had been checked back in using the automatic machine, and carried them over to the children’s section. ‘We’ll help you, then you’ll have time.’
Chloe leant forwards. ‘ I know you have a ton of things to do, but they’d be so pleased if you could squeeze in just a couple. They’ve been telling everyone about how brilliant the library is, what great books it has and how the women who work here are really nice.’
‘I’m the only woman who works here at the moment,’ Irene replied, stiffening her shoulders.
Chloe beamed. ‘Well, they must definitely have meant you, then, mustn’t they?’
‘Oh! Well. I could probably make time for one.’
The children let out a noisy cheer.
‘On the condition that you behave yourselves.’
I opened the door to go, stepping back as two more families were about to enter.
‘Are we too late for the Library Lady’s stories?’ one girl asked as she rushed past.
‘No, you’re just in time.’
I couldn’t resist dawdling long enough to see Irene Jenkins perched on a cubed seat, her knees up near her elbows as she turned the page of a giant picture book about bugs.
As she read the first page, the words coming out in a nervous croak, two of the younger children gasped.
‘See, I told you they do dead good voices!’ Hudson said, nudging the boy next to him.
Irene glanced up, blinking a few times before resuming the story, now deliberately using a reedy, feeble tone.
But I didn’t hang about for long. For some reason, seeing Irene with the children made me think of Mum, so I shook off the ache of painful memories, set my mind on the future and turned my feet towards my new home.
According to the No-Man Mandate, I had to put the same effort into each item on the Dream List as if I was doing it with my Dream Man. That meant preparing for my romantic night in with a long shower, extensive hair removal and a ‘radiant glow’ face mask. I did a quick clean of the house, changed the bedsheets and slipped into my new outfit, including lingerie I’d ordered online earlier that week. Given that this was the first time I’d ever tried non-supermarket underwear, I’d bought two differently sized sets of the tiny, lacy knickers and matching bra, one black and one dark red.
Deciding the black set was a better match with the charcoal jumpsuit, I curled my hair and applied a heavy layer of dark grey eyeshadow and swiped a glossy layer of Plum Passion across my lips.
Finishing off the look with the silver heels I’d worn as Steph’s bridesmaid, I tottered downstairs to start prepping.
An hour later, I had the lights down low, a moody ballad warbling and a table set for one. Having Nesbit trailing me around the kitchen as I wrapped dates with bacon and pan-fried two pieces of salmon (because Bigley Tesco Express didn’t sell a single fillet and I thought Nesbit may as well benefit) helped me feel a tiny bit less weird, but I still wasn’t sure if going to all this palaver for a night in alone was empowering or just plain pitiful.