14

They were in the bathroom. Nothing dodgy. Alex’s nose was bleeding. Jude’s phone had vibrated in his pocket and it had spooked him and his elbow had connected with Alex’s face.

 

Jude was dabbing Alex’s nose with a piece of toilet roll. He was sitting on the toilet seat, Alex was sitting on the side of the bath. Complaining.

 

“For the last time, it was an accident.”

“You meant to do it.”

“I’ve got to go soon,” He was going to Lara’s. He’d got a message from her and with the state that she was in, Alex’s bloody nose could wait.

 

Work was going to be an issue. It was the quiz night and he was expected to be there. He’d ring Bianca and ask her to cover. She owed him. He’d covered for her while she was off with the hospital porter from next door. In one of the beds on the ward. Wrong.

 

“Do you want me to tell her anything?”

 

Alex looked at the floor. He ran his fingers through his hair then looked back up again.

 

“Tell her…tell her I’ll speak to her soon.”

 

Jude managed to keep a straight face but it was desperately difficult when Alex had a scrunched up bit of toilet roll inside of each of his nostrils.

 

He told Alex that he would and left him in the bathroom, dabbing feverishly at his face. Bryn was still asleep on his cardigan and so he told the cat that he was a little s**t and left the house without it.

 

It was only just getting dark and it was a warm night and so Jude decided to walk to Lara’s. It wasn’t that far. Environmentalist Claire from work would be proud.

 

There was a group of worrying looking teens in the park and so he took a detour round the outside. It added an extra 15 minutes to the walk but last time he encountered a group of rowdy youths, they tried to mug him. They succeeded in taking his wallet but gave his phone back because apparently ‘it was s**t’. He felt like running after them, begging them to take it and recognise it as having some worth. They ran off. Probably to snort coke off a prostitute’s leg or something equally as anti-social.

 

Jude had just turned the corner when he spied a man at the end of the road. This man had a very big dog and a long coat on. This was two of his worst fears: dogs and flashers. He could feel his hands getting clammy and his cheeks reddening. If he walked quicker, he’d encounter the man sooner. But if he walked slower, he’d be a sitting target for the paedo. What to do?

 

While he was biting his lip, wondering what to do, the gap between Jude and the man had closed considerably. The dog was a boxer dog. It had a muzzle on. Was the man putting his hand inside his coat? F**k looking normal this man was a nutter. Jude broke into a run and didn’t stop until he was at the other end of the road.

 

He dared a look round at the madman with the killer dog. The man was holding an umbrella. Was that what he had got out of his coat? Surely he didn’t just run away from a man with an umbrella. Jesus he was cracking up.

 

He laughed out loud at his own paranoia and carried on jogging until he got to Lara’s. Just in case.