‘Pleased to meet you, Eva. That looks good.’ He hunkers down to her level and pretends to try and steal some pizza, making her squeal with laughter.
‘I’ve got cola,’ she announces. ‘Would you like some?’
He smiles. ‘That’s very kind of you, Eva, but I think you should drink it all yourself.’
She nods and takes a gigantic slurp through the straw.
‘Are you getting a take-away?’ I ask him.
He gives me a sheepish look. ‘I’m afraid so. I end up here far too often, but I can never be bothered to cook a proper meal when it’s just me. Sometimes, I just crave a plate of home-cooked shepherd’s pie.’
‘I know what you mean.’
‘Right.’ He tweaks Eva’s nose. ‘I’ll leave you to it. Enjoy.’
He goes off to join the queue and I sit there, smiling goofily at Eva, waiting for my erratic heart beat to calm down. I suppose I must be sex-starved. One sniff of an attractive man and my heart starts racing as if I’m on the Dive Bomber ride at the fair.
‘Why are you smiling, Mummy?’ Eva wants to know, chewing thoughtfully.
‘Because I’m happy.’
‘Can we go now? And can I watch Peppa Pig at home?’
I nod and signal for the bill. And when we walk home, my step is lighter than it’s been in months.
As we go upstairs to the flat, Eva runs on ahead of me, and as I follow her, I’m already anticipating curling up on the sofa with her – under my big winter duvet to save on heating - and watching her favourite TV show before bed.
‘Mummy? Someone’s inside.’ She looks back at me, worried.
I rush to reassure her. She gets spooked about monsters under her bed sometimes. ‘No, love. I locked the door. No-one can get in.’
But climbing the last few stairs, I glance up and freeze with shock.
She’s right. The flat door is open a few inches.
My heart starts hammering frantically. I’m certain I locked it when I left this morning.
We must have had a break-in. Oh God, perhaps the burglar’s still in there!
*****
I grab Eva’s hand before she runs on in, and she gives me a startled look.
‘It’s okay, love,’ I whisper, forcing myself to smile. ‘We’re just going to wait here a while before we go in.’
‘But why, Mummy?’
Her voice echoes around the stairwell. Quickly, I put my finger to my lips and then murmur in her ear, ‘Let’s just pretend we’re not here and give our visitor a big surprise.’
She looks at me and giggles. ‘Like when Peppa Pig has her birthday?’
I nod. ‘Just like that. But we have to be very quiet.’
Slowly, I push open the door a few inches and listen, but there’s only silence.
Perhaps whoever broke in has already gone…
A sudden noise from within dashes my hopes. It sounds like someone is dragging something across the bare floorboards. And now I can hear whistling.
‘Is that you, Molly?’ calls a voice. ‘Why are you lurking on the landing, for God’s sake?’
It’s Jaxon.
Anger rises up. What’s he doing here? Aren’t there laws about landlords not being able to access an occupied property whenever they feel like it? Still holding Eva’s hand, I walk inside, leaving the door open behind me.
He’s in the kitchen up a ladder, changing a lightbulb.
‘Well, hello.’ He grins. ‘Hope you don’t mind me popping in to do a few jobs.’
I force myself to look pleasant. ‘What sort of jobs? I didn’t know anything needed doing.’
‘Well, it’s always good to check now and again. Better to fix something when it first goes wrong than end up with a much bigger repair months down the line.’ He nods at a pack of lightbulbs on the table. ‘I saw the overhead light had gone so I nipped out to get some.’
‘Right. Well, thanks. But you really needn’t have bothered. I can sort out the lightbulbs myself.’ I keep my tone light and friendly, as I hang our coats over a chair and open the fridge. ‘Eva, what flavour yogurt would you like? Strawberry or peach?’
‘Strawberry, please.’
Jaxon gets down from the ladder and wanders over to Eva, who’s sitting at the table. ‘That’s my favourite flavour as well.’ He grins. ‘Can I have a taste?’
Eva looks up at him then glances at me.
‘You can have one if you like,’ I say quickly, removing the yogurt lid for Eva.
He’s standing too close. I can smell his deodorant tinged with a slight scent of onions. And the yogurt lid is being stubborn and coming off in messy strips in my fingers. I shift my position slightly but he still manages to brush up against me.
‘Yogurt? No thanks. I could do with a nice strong cuppa, though. Unless you’re offering something more interesting, of course.’ He winks and I conceal a shudder. ‘I’ll be back in a jiffy when I’ve sorted these.’
He picks up the lightbulbs and goes out of the kitchen whistling.
‘Why is that man here, Mummy?’ asks Eva.
‘He’s just…fixing things for us. He’ll be gone soon.’ I cross to the sink and fill the kettle, quickly popping a teabag in a cup.
‘Mr Taylor is good at mending things. He put the head back on my dolly.’ She licks the yogurt spoon thoughtfully. ‘I like Mr Taylor.’
I smile at her. ‘I like Mr Taylor, too.’
Our next-door neighbour is in his sixties. His wife died last year and his daughter, Karen, is a regular visitor, along with her daughter, Jess, who isn’t much older than Eva. I invited Karen in for a coffee one time when her dad was out. I was embarrassed about the flat so I told her we were still getting settled in and needed to buy some furniture, and the carpet-fitter was coming the next day. I don’t think she was even bothered. We had a good chat, and I know she worries about her dad living alone. She said she felt better knowing he has us for neighbours.
I smile at Eva. ‘It’s nice having Mr Taylor for a next-door neighbour. He said we should call him Sean.’
Eva giggles. ‘Like Sean the Sheep?’
‘Yes, but don’t call him that, you rascal. Just Sean will do.’
‘Okay.’
The kettle boils and I make a mug of tea, being heavy-handed with the milk in the hope that Jaxon will drink it quickly and leave.
‘Not having one yourself?’ he asks when I hand him the mug.
‘No, I’ve got too much to do,’ I say, turning my back on him to get ingredients from the fridge for the spaghetti we’re having tonight. I put minced beef to brown in a pan and start chopping an onion, all tensed up inside, just wishing he would go.
‘Anyone would think you were desperate for me to leave,’ he says, coming over and looking into the mince pan, and again, there’s that brush of his arm against mine.
‘No, no, it’s just when Eva gets back from school, there’s always so much to do. Making tea. Ironing…homework.’
‘They get homework at her age? That’s ridiculous.’
‘I know.’
‘What’s homework, Mummy?’
‘Aha!’ Jaxon nudges me and I can feel his onion breath on my neck. ‘Who’s a naughty girl, then? Telling me porkies just to get rid of me, eh?’