Read Online Back to Vanilla by Jennifer Maschek - Free Book Online
Authors: Jennifer Maschek
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daughter was
not the only one who struggled to sleep that night. Resisting any
temptation to check her messages, because the whole thing was just
too bloody silly, Megan had made and drunk a mug of tea, switched
her phone into airplane mode, and was lying in her small double bed
thinking when the sound of a key in the front door announced Rich’s
return. It was later than she’d thought.
His job as a nurse in
the nearby hospital currently had him working 10-hour shifts that
got him home shortly after 1am. During these periods, he barely saw
Megan, although he tried to stagger his sleep to be up making
breakfast for the children while she got herself ready, and while
Sam was doing three mornings at playgroup, the other two were spent
with his dad.
Rich, noticing the
light was still on upstairs, went up to the bedroom and stood in
the doorway, smiling as he noted two long red indentations running
down Megan’s cheek, pressed in by her crumpled sheet, and her eyes
blinked up at him like those of a bewildered mole. “Hey, sleepy,
what you doing up at this time?”
“Can’t sleep,” she
said. “First Becky struggled – and I mean really did, unusual for
her, poor baby – now me. Must be something in the air. Full moon,
maybe. How was your day?”
“Same old. No news on
the promotion but, hey, I’m not convinced it’s worth the extra
hassle for the pittance. You fancy tea?”
“Actually, I think
maybe I do. Peppermint maybe… there’s no caffeine in that, right?
Nothing to keep me awake.”
“Nothing. And you? How
was your day, and what is it that’s stopping you sleeping? I
thought there was nothing on Earth that could do that.” And he
ducked to dodge the friendly blow that Megan might have thrown his
way had the day been less advanced.
“Day was fine. I… I
dunno… just thinking, I guess. Life. The universe. People. Me.
Maybe I just take it all more seriously than it needs. Tea and then
sleep.”
“Tea and then sleep,
little bird. Your chicks need you wide-eyed and bushy-tailed
tomorrow. I might not make it upstairs tonight… long day, plus I
don’t want to disturb you if I can avoid it. But tea first; back in
a mo.”
She barely noticed him
leaving, then returning shortly afterwards with her drink. He
tucked her in with a goodnight kiss on the forehead, and went back
down.
Rich was shattered and
the oppressive weight of a heavy shift pressed down on him,
although his conscious thoughts were more or less in the moment,
which was where experience had taught him it felt best to keep
them. The temptation to relive, to over-analyse, the events of any
given work day was always great, but not the path to any semblance
of peace of mind.
This was, as he knew
well, easier said than done, though, and so he slumped down on the
settee, skinned himself up a fat one and felt the sag of his
shoulders and the slump of his mind and body into neutral as the
THC let loose a sigh that ran down his entire body.
3. Lyall
Lyall stared
through the window of his black cab as the streets of Edinburgh at
pub chucking-out time on a Sunday evening whirled past. With
roughly 20 minutes on his journey home to untangle the knot of
feelings inside him, he chose the simple path and immersed himself
in the filial warmth of the mellow evening he had just spent with
his dad. Pushing down the uncomfortable thought that perhaps in
sharing a drink with Alasdair, he had, in some way, given
unofficial blessing to his dipsomania, he enjoyed a rare few
moments in his own head, before paying the driver, adding a hefty
tip, and walking towards his front door.
The relatively modern
four-bedroom detached house in which he and Lorna were bringing up
their three girls was within easy walking distance of an
outstanding primary school and three streets from Lorna’s mother,
Jane. She had relocated from London shortly after Lorna’s first
pregnancy, retiring early from her seemingly glamorous position as
a marketing manager at a fairly
not the only one who struggled to sleep that night. Resisting any
temptation to check her messages, because the whole thing was just
too bloody silly, Megan had made and drunk a mug of tea, switched
her phone into airplane mode, and was lying in her small double bed
thinking when the sound of a key in the front door announced Rich’s
return. It was later than she’d thought.
His job as a nurse in
the nearby hospital currently had him working 10-hour shifts that
got him home shortly after 1am. During these periods, he barely saw
Megan, although he tried to stagger his sleep to be up making
breakfast for the children while she got herself ready, and while
Sam was doing three mornings at playgroup, the other two were spent
with his dad.
Rich, noticing the
light was still on upstairs, went up to the bedroom and stood in
the doorway, smiling as he noted two long red indentations running
down Megan’s cheek, pressed in by her crumpled sheet, and her eyes
blinked up at him like those of a bewildered mole. “Hey, sleepy,
what you doing up at this time?”
“Can’t sleep,” she
said. “First Becky struggled – and I mean really did, unusual for
her, poor baby – now me. Must be something in the air. Full moon,
maybe. How was your day?”
“Same old. No news on
the promotion but, hey, I’m not convinced it’s worth the extra
hassle for the pittance. You fancy tea?”
“Actually, I think
maybe I do. Peppermint maybe… there’s no caffeine in that, right?
Nothing to keep me awake.”
“Nothing. And you? How
was your day, and what is it that’s stopping you sleeping? I
thought there was nothing on Earth that could do that.” And he
ducked to dodge the friendly blow that Megan might have thrown his
way had the day been less advanced.
“Day was fine. I… I
dunno… just thinking, I guess. Life. The universe. People. Me.
Maybe I just take it all more seriously than it needs. Tea and then
sleep.”
“Tea and then sleep,
little bird. Your chicks need you wide-eyed and bushy-tailed
tomorrow. I might not make it upstairs tonight… long day, plus I
don’t want to disturb you if I can avoid it. But tea first; back in
a mo.”
She barely noticed him
leaving, then returning shortly afterwards with her drink. He
tucked her in with a goodnight kiss on the forehead, and went back
down.
Rich was shattered and
the oppressive weight of a heavy shift pressed down on him,
although his conscious thoughts were more or less in the moment,
which was where experience had taught him it felt best to keep
them. The temptation to relive, to over-analyse, the events of any
given work day was always great, but not the path to any semblance
of peace of mind.
This was, as he knew
well, easier said than done, though, and so he slumped down on the
settee, skinned himself up a fat one and felt the sag of his
shoulders and the slump of his mind and body into neutral as the
THC let loose a sigh that ran down his entire body.
3. Lyall
Lyall stared
through the window of his black cab as the streets of Edinburgh at
pub chucking-out time on a Sunday evening whirled past. With
roughly 20 minutes on his journey home to untangle the knot of
feelings inside him, he chose the simple path and immersed himself
in the filial warmth of the mellow evening he had just spent with
his dad. Pushing down the uncomfortable thought that perhaps in
sharing a drink with Alasdair, he had, in some way, given
unofficial blessing to his dipsomania, he enjoyed a rare few
moments in his own head, before paying the driver, adding a hefty
tip, and walking towards his front door.
The relatively modern
four-bedroom detached house in which he and Lorna were bringing up
their three girls was within easy walking distance of an
outstanding primary school and three streets from Lorna’s mother,
Jane. She had relocated from London shortly after Lorna’s first
pregnancy, retiring early from her seemingly glamorous position as
a marketing manager at a fairly
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