‘Speaking of food, what’s in your picnic then?’ Jade coughed loudly, a hacking bark that vibrated straight through Maddie, making her teeth clench. Her initial excitement at the possibility of a friend in her building was starting to wear thin. Jade’s little habits were grating on Maddie’s nerves today – like how she chewed on the inside of her cheek when she wasn’t talking, her mouth twisting and gurning as she bit at herself, or the way she walked in small steps on her toes, bouncing along.
Maddie could feel the weight of the bag on her shoulder and was in two minds as to whether she should just head home, maybe take a longer walk through the park so that she could enjoy the fresh air.
Then Ben ran up to her, pointing and giggling at the swans, saying, ‘Maddie, Maddie, look!’ and her mood lifted instantly. Who cared if Jade was selfish and irritating? Ben had just called her by her name! The truth was if she wanted to spend time with Ben, she would have to be friends with Jade. Did her broodiness outweigh her annoyance?
Without a doubt, yes.
‘Shall we find somewhere to sit, Ben? Then you can feed the ducks with some of the bread I brought along,’ Maddie said, then turned to Jade. ‘I just brought a few snacks in case he got hungry,’ she said apologetically. ‘It’s nothing much. Just crisps, cucumber, you know…’ She saw a park bench around the other side of the pond. ‘There’s a bench over there.’
‘Ben, babe, we’re going to sit over there. Let’s go around that side, yeah?’ Jade started walking towards the bench. ‘I tell you what, Maddie, you’re a natural mother. You can look after Ben anytime.’
Maddie grinned. ‘Thanks. I brought wholemeal bread for him to feed the ducks,’ she said, digging in the bag. ‘You’re not supposed to feed them white bread. It’s bad for them apparently.’
‘Ducks with gluten issues. Who knew? Come on, Benny Boy.’
He trailed after them, his little feet kicking at the fallen leaves. Jade plonked herself down on the bench and sighed. ‘I’m shattered.’
Maddie realised then that maybe she was being hard on Jade. She was a single mother, after all, and it couldn’t be easy.
‘Yeah, you must be,’ Maddie said sympathetically, sitting down next to her. She pulled a bag of chocolate buttons from her bag and offer them to Jade. ‘Here. A little pick me up.’
‘Oooh, yeah. Thanks.’ Jade tore open the packet and dove right in.
‘Does Ben want anything? I have breadsticks, crisps…’
‘Crisps! Lush – what flavour? Don’t worry about Ben. If he’s hungry, he’ll say.’
‘Oh, ok.’
The snacks were for Ben, not Jade, but she was now digging in the bag looking for salt and vinegar crisps. She found a bag and Maddie watched her curiously as she held the packet up to her face and breathed in deeply while opening it, inhaling the salt and vinegar with relish. ‘God, I bloody love salt and vinegar crisps,’ she said. ‘Oh Jesus! Look at that annoying cow over there!’
Maddie’s eyes followed where Jade was pointing towards a middle-aged woman with a bag over her shoulder that said in gold lettering, ‘Oh no! Have I bought prosecco instead of milk again?’ Maddie wondered where she’d bought the bag because she liked it.
‘I hate women like that – who think it’s fun to carry slogan bags. She’s probably got loads of jumpers with stars on them and three pairs of white trainers,’ Jade scoffed.
Maddie didn’t comment, not least because she herself had three pairs of white trainers, with stars on them in various colours, and slogan jumpers galore. Jade had a way of holding a mirror up to Maddie, so that she could see what others saw – and Maddie didn’t necessarily like the reflection staring back. And yet Jade was completely unapologetic about herself. Maybe Maddie should be more like her, then she wouldn’t feel like the world’s biggest doormat sometimes. Lately she was starting to realise that she had spent too much time worrying about what others thought of her and had lost sight of who she was, what she even liked. She had a vague recollection of herself from before she met Greg, but then she’d put on a fancy dress costume of the perfect wife, with the sensible clothes and controlled mannerisms, and eventually found she couldn’t take it off again, like the zip had got stuck and there was no one there to help her out of it.
Jade was chewing loudly next to her with her mouth open, sucking the salt from her fingers. It was mildly repulsive to watch.
Maddie hadn’t realised that she was still staring at the woman across the pond, but the woman had noticed and was now stalking over to where they were sitting. With a sickening lurch, Maddie recognised her as she drew closer.
The woman was livid. ‘You.’ The word dripped from her scowling mouth.
Maddie jumped to her feet. She felt cold all over. ‘Look, I don’t want any trouble…’
‘You are supposed to stay away from me.’
‘I didn’t know you’d… I’m sorry.’
The woman turned to Jade and said in a quivering voice, ‘You need to keep an eye on your son when she’s around,’ then turned on her heel and stormed away towards the park gate.
‘What the hell?’ Jade said, her forehead crumpled in confusion.
‘Just a misunderstanding years ago…’ Maddie slumped back onto the bench, her legs shaking. She exhaled slowly and clasped her hands together tightly.
‘But what did she mean about keeping—’
Ben ran over then and interrupted them, saying, ‘I’m hungry.’
Jade hesitated, then said, ‘Here, Ben, pick something from the bag that lovely Maddie brought. She’s very kind, isn’t she?’
The way she said it made Maddie wonder if she was making a point.
‘There’s chocolate over there too,’ Maddie said to Ben, ignoring the side eye Jade was giving her.
He found the chocolate buttons, grabbed a bag of mini breadsticks
