It Had To Be You

FOUR

He had been so much more to Jess than a boyfriend, he had been everything. When did Alex her protector become more than that? It hadn’t been a rush or an overnight thing. After rescuing her he became her best friend. They both had lives that they were desperate to escape, and their meetings were their avenue to that. Together they could dream of futures that didn’t involve bigots or prejudices, or families that dragged them down.

They’d spent the next six months after his rescue sneaking out to meet him; he was having a rough time at home. The oldest of the five siblings he took the family stresses on his eighteen year old shoulders. He tied down three jobs to help support his mother, in a shop, a bar and a delivery service. Most days he worked from before seven am, and had only a few scattered hours off before eleven in the night. Each day when Jess wasn’t working too, they’d meet straight after school. Alex would walk with her down to the river bank. They’d sit and watch the water flow, talking about their dreams, their expectations and the handicap that their families were.

            “One day I’ll be the one looking down Jess, I’ll be the boss, top of the tree, and you’ll be with me, and we’ll take on the World!”

He got so frustrated at the way people judged him and his family.  He lay down on the grass, tugging her down onto him. His kisses were gentle, turning her body into a blaze of anticipation and pleasure, her mind a mush of the same, and she came to live for those moments, those innocent snatches of time together. And it was innocent; he never pressured her, never pushed for more than that.

And then, one day, several months after their first kiss, he arrived for their rendez-vous distressed and angry. His mother had been evicted, they were moving to another town. Scared that she may never see him again, they’d stripped naked amongst the long grass and he’d taken her virginity, it had been special in a clumsy yet intimate way, and their relationship moved up a notch, as did her reliance on him. They were almost inseparable though it was harder to keep things a secret with the physical distance between them, and when they were apart Jess spent all her time waiting for a sneaky moment alone with him, her dreams filled with everything they did together, counting down to the times when they were together again. All the while her family never guessed, somehow no one knew. And when a year later she found out she was pregnant, she had no one to confide in but her lover.

After yet another sleepless night Jess felt awful, she had barely slept four hours in the last few days, and it wasn’t good for her. She had a hectic final day of finishing the terraced gardens at an elderly residential home, she was nothing if not a perfectionist, but she also needed to prep for the work on the contract for Michael Webster; in yesterday’s melee she’d barely processed his phone call confirming she had been awarded the job. Once she’d finished laying gravel and edging the stone pathways, cosmetically finishing the aesthetically pleasing, low maintenance gardens, the official photographs were due to be taken, as well as an opening ceremony by the town mayor.

Jess was glad to finally leave after the hectic day, and she headed home to work on the planning for the roof top gardens. It was a challenge, the rooftop height of the project meant she was restricted by materials and the equipment she could use. She needed to coordinate her labourers, deliveries, stream line everything to fit into her budget estimations, if she went over her projected costs, she ate into her profit margin, and she’d already given as low a quote as she could, undercutting what was really healthy in order to secure a contract that could be the stepping stone to so much more. By five pm she felt pretty much ahead of herself so she started on dinner, looking forward to a bath and an early night.

The curry was simmering on the stove, and she was just climbing out of the bath, refreshed and relaxed when the doorbell rang. Mrs Edwards her elderly neighbour nearly always called at this time, usually with the pretence of asking her for a cup of sugar or a few teabags, but invariably only wanting to exchange gossip. Jess’ basement flat had direct access via steps down from the front of the house, unlike the other flats in the building above who shared a communal entrance, and Mrs Edwards always worried that Jess missed out on the comings and goings. So she visited regularly.