“Too right! As soon as our shoes get filled up, I’m racing Lou to see what’s in them!” I’d lined each of our footwear up out in the back garden, waiting to be filled with gifts by Sinterklaas.
“You crack me up, buddy. Where’s Deanie?”
“He’s gone out on a case this morning. Hopefully, he won’t be too long, I need him to distract Lou while I work on my plan to move the presents without her seeing.” I needed to get the bag of gifts into the kitchen as well as fill her shoes away from her prying eyes. The kitchen would be the place for the big reveal—Sinterklaas having left the goodies there while we hadn’t been looking. I wanted her to believe in all the childhood magic for as long as possible.
While a woman is dead, all you care about is presents? Stupid inner voice of guilt. Always came up to kick me in the backside. There was being selfish in the context of love for your nearest and dearest, and then there was that whole thing when you were forced to check your own privilege. We were alive, free to breathe the air, and talk and be immersed in the land of the living. Mrs. Visser was not. She was dead, and her husband would be so fucking broken.
Telling myself off could be so exhausting.
Greg was laughing. “Bet Lou’s going crazy with excitement.”
I was back in the chat, mind done with wandering. “I hope you’re sitting down for this revelation.”
“What?”
“Lou’s still asleep.”
“No way.”
“I shit you not, mate. I was expecting an excitable wake-up call, and she’s snoring her head off. Probably wants to sleep away the day to get to the evening. That is so not happening.”
He chuckled. “Well, I’m disappointed. Thought it was a bit too quiet over there.”
“Me too. Well, at least I can chill with a cuppa and talk to me old mucker. Is Bliss awake?”
“She’s as sparko as Lou. Peace all round.”
I laughed at that.
“What case is Dean on?”
I told him.
“That’s fucked up. Jesus!”
“I know.”
“Is he all right, Jakey? That’s gotta burn the eyes seeing something like that.”
“I hope so. He seemed okay last night but was up quite late.”
“At least he’s been doing better.”
“Yeah.” I left out his meltdown after the incident with the broken vamps. “Anyway, how’s things in Greece?”
“Hot.”
“I can see that. Bloody freezing over here.”
“At least the weather’s normal at the moment.”
“Yeah. There is that.”
“Had an incident with a guy who lives in our building. He sucked down some pod,” he said. “Didn’t change into anything, but he went on a smashing spree through the building ‘cos he was off his tits.”
I sipped my tea. “What happened?”
“He went proper mental. I’m talking windows busted, people injured. I took him down hard in the end. Fractured his skull, broke his jaw.” A punch from Greg could take your head clean off if he wanted it to go rolling. “Had no choice. He went from zero to a hundred in a second.”
“Blimey. Well, what were you gonna do? Let him carry on?”
“Hell, no. One of our neighbors complained, but she needs to get a life and stop twitching the curtains. I told her if she’d encountered him, then she’d be in the hospital now like some of the others who weren’t so lucky to avoid him.”
“Some people just love to moan about everything. Professional complainers.”
“Yeah, she moaned about a pod on her balcony last week. Really kicked up a fuss. It was there two hours. But her neighbor had one on her bed, in her shower, and a massive one filling her kitchen. Course, she never moaned at all, just got on with it, unlike that sour-faced cow.”
I paused before the rim of my mug touched my lips. “Big fan, eh?”
“Yep. Completely in love with her.”
Man, I missed him so much. “Nay messaged me this morning.” My other bestie, and witch, Naomi, was off exploring the world. Both her and Greg were with their partners, also helping those in need but on a more expansive scale.
“Oh, cool. She good?”
“Yeah. On the ship to New Zealand, said she’ll call us both when the crossing is finished. Rather her than me.”
“Same. Screw that.”
“Way too long a trip.”
“Missing you so hard, Jakey.”
“Move here.” I offered him my widest grin.
“And freeze my nuts off? Nah.”
“How bloody rude.”
He snorted. “We’ll definitely come over in the next few months. I need to squeeze your face.”
“You ain’t squeezing nothing.”
“Try and stop me.”
Our lives may be going in opposite directions, but our friendship was super-strong. Whenever we all spoke online, or on the phone, whatever, it was like no time had ever passed between us. And it’d been two years since I’d seen either of them in the flesh. But that was the nature of life, right? Especially after what we’d all been through.
“You heard from Mr. Douglas?” I asked.
“Nope. Still in seclusion somewhere. Probably in the Scottish Highlands.”
“I hope he’s okay.” Our mutual friend only surfaced now and again to confirm he was alive and well. We were still waiting for the latest update.
We chatted some more until it was time to say goodbye.
“By the way,” he said, “those PJs are awesome.”
“I know, right? Gotta look the festive part.”
“Amen, brother from another mother. Right, we’d better log off before we start doing that ‘You hang up’ stuff.”
“You log off first.”
“No, you.”
“You.”
“You.”
He leaned right up to the screen. “Kiss me goodbye, Jakey.”
I lightly kissed the screen, then waited while he returned the gesture.
“Speak to you in a few days,” I said.
“Have a great day. Love ya face.”
“Love yours too.”
Our session was over, and my shoulders sagged. It never failed to hurt whenever we signed off. The world could feel so small yet so large at the same time. Right now, it was like he and Nay were a whole universe away from me.
Lou was still in bed by the time nine o’clock rolled up. I was giving her ten more minutes,
