Sometimes

Chapter twenty-two

Mum and Dad left for their weekly meal out on Tuesday evening, so it was left for me to cook tea.  I wasn’t nearly good enough at cooking to get any Michelin stars, but I could cook a mean spaghetti and meatballs, if I did say so myself.  Leanne’s contribution was two strawberry smoothies that she’d bought home from work.  I set the table to the sound of her going on and on about a customer that had been rude to her today.  Apparently the woman had commented on Leanne’s tattoo, calling it tacky, and Leanne had threatened to spit in her drink.  I was surprised she still had her job, though it was a well-known fact that the owner of Retro Shack was a fan of Leanne’s band.  She never seemed to luck out.

    “I would have punched her if she hadn’t had a kid with her.  I mean, what a cow!”

I was pleased that Leanne’s choice of language was slightly less colourful than normal.  Our dad wasn’t here to hear it though, so it wouldn’t have made much difference if she’d had sworn to her heart’s content or not.

    “Maybe she was just having a bad day?” I offered, positioning the plates onto the wooden tablemats that Mum had made us promise to use.  If it were up to us, we’d have eaten in front of the TV, but Mum didn’t trust us not to get the carpet covered in food without her there to watch us with her hawk like eyes.

    “Meh.  I just hope she doesn’t come back in a hurry. I don’t wanna see her stupid face again.”  Leanne dropped into her seat and picked up her knife and fork.  “Nice job on tea, by the way.”

I smiled at her compliment. “Thanks,” I replied.  “I figured you might not have eaten much all day.”

Leanne nodded.  “Usually, yeah, but Sonny dropped in today.”

I couldn’t help looking up from my food at the mention of his name.  “Oh yeah?”

    “Uh, huh. He bought some cookies from Keke’s.  They were so nice.”

I found myself wishing that I’d bought a brownie for afters.  “What did he want?”

    “Nothing really,” she replied.  “Just dropped in for a chat.”

I chewed on my food slowly, slightly disappointed that she hadn’t gone on to say anything more about him.  Even hearing about what Sonny got up to without me there, made me smile.

    “He did mention you though.”

My eyes widened, but I forced myself to sound only slightly interested.  “Yeah?”

    “He asked if you were still coming to the gig on Thursday.”

My heart swelled.  Did that mean he actually wanted me there?  “Oh, cool,” I said, trying to sound nonchalant, when really I wanted Leanne to say more on the subject.  Like whether he’d asked what I was wearing or not.

    “You are still going, right?”

I nodded.  “Course.”

    “Great.”  She smiled just as her phone sounded.  She grabbed it from her pocket and read the message.  Her smile grew.

    “Who’s that?” I asked, nodding to the phone.

    “No-one,” Leanne replied, though the grin on her face said otherwise.

    “It can’t be no-one,” I said.  “Is it your crush?”

Leanne’s eyebrows flew upwards.  “And what crush would that be?”

I shrugged.  “I don’t know.  You won’t tell me who it is.”  I pouted, trying to show her how much it upset me that she wouldn’t let me in on her secret.