Chapter 3-2
554 Words
As it happened, Dez didn’t see Fran again for a couple of days. One of the staff took in Riley when Dez carried him downstairs, and he wished he’d kept the cat longer, until 9 PM, when the evening sitting finished and Fran had gone back to his own flat.
But Dez answered the door on Monday morning—the only day of the week the café was closed—to find Fran waiting there. No cat or cake this time, just a sheepish smile on a face that looked freshly shaved and made Dez very aware of his own bristly chin. Fran appeared mildly alarmed when Dez opened the door, as if he might bolt like a startled cat. But he rallied.
“Hey. I just thought I’d pop over to see how you were. It’s just…I haven’t heard you go out for a couple of days and I was wondering if you were ill or something. I wanted to check if there’s anything I can get for you.”
“I’m fine,” Dez said gruffly, embarrassed. Did he appear so pathetic that Fran felt the need to check up on him like he was an elderly neighbor? But Dez probably looked pathetic, in sweatpants and a T-shirt and hoody, none of them especially clean. “That is, I wasn’t feeling too good for a couple of days. I’m okay now.” It wasn’t a lie, but he hadn’t had a cold or stomach bug. He’d just had a rough couple of days, with barely any sleep.
Fran continued standing there, looking part nervous and part hopeful.
“Want a cup of tea?” Dez asked. And regretted it. The kitchen was a mess.
But Fran nodded eagerly and followed him inside the dim flat. Again, Dez had drawn the curtains to shut out the strong morning sun, even though it seemed to be a beautiful day. Dez tried to keep Fran out of the kitchen, but he was too keen to help. Thankfully he didn’t say anything about the dishes stacked in and around the sink.
“Damn, no sugar,” Dez muttered as he made tea. “No biscuits either. Sorry.”
“That’s okay.” Fran got the milk out of the fridge—what little milk there was. He frowned at the nearly bare shelves. “Someone needs to go shopping. I was heading to the supermarket myself. You want to come?”
“That’s okay.”
“I know you don’t have a car. I can give you a lift.”
“I have a car. I just can’t drive right now.”
“Yeah, I see you coming back from that little supermarket up the road. But those places never have much of a range. Come to the big one with me.” He grinned. “If you’re a good boy, I’ll let you have a go on that airplane ride thing.”
Dez rolled his eyes, but couldn’t say no anymore. Even so mundane a prospect as going to the supermarket took on a certain attraction if it meant going with Fran. “Okay. Can you give me fifteen minutes to get ready?”
“Hell, I’m generous. Take twenty.”
“You want me to give you a knock?”
“Oh, no. I’ll wait for you here.” Fran cracked his knuckles like he was about to play a flourish on the piano. “Don’t worry, I’ll keep myself entertained.”
Dez was both excited and mildly alarmed by this pronouncement. But he eventually understood what Fran had meant by “entertained” when he came out of his bedroom twenty minutes later to see clean dishes on the draining rack. Impressive for such a short time. He supposed Fran was used to cleaning and resetting between sittings in the café and wouldn’t waste a second of time.
“You didn’t have to…” Dez gestured helplessly at the kitchen.
“Someone had to. Come on, we’re going shopping.”
- Writer
