When Cupid Missed: A feel-good romantic comedy by S J Crabb

Author:S J Crabb [Crabb, S J]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-02-03T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 20

Jack is still laughing when I pull up outside his apartment block and I say apologetically, “I’m so sorry about my parents. You have every right to think I had a bad childhood, but let me tell you nothing compares to what I’ve just experienced. It can only be described as child abuse. Parents should be issued with a government health warning - approach with caution. All your secrets and worse fears may be realised.”

Jack laughs. “I liked them. At least they like each other. I would spend every evening with your parents rather than mine. I hope I’m as happy as they are after so many years together.”

I stare at him in total disbelief. “You’re a strange guy, Jack.”

“Why?”

“Because of all this. You open a shop selling things no ordinary boy would be interested in. Then you ask a girl to be your partner in crime who you never looked at twice in the past when there are so many more suitable ones surrounding you every day. Then you spend time with the pre-mentioned girl, visiting her parents, who quite honestly should have been certified years ago and yet somehow you appear to be enjoying yourself.”

He stares at me with a strange expression and says softly, “You’ve met my family. It’s not quite the dream you thought it was. As for ignoring you at school, well, I’m guilty of that, I suppose. However, you never spoke to me either.”

I’m taken by surprise, and it makes me think back on those years. It’s true, I never once spoke to him. I suppose I was too busy feigning disinterest in somebody I knew I never stood a chance with. In private, however, my fantasies were off the scale where it concerned him, and I’m sure I wasn’t the only one. Jack Mason was that guy in school. You know, the one every girl wanted and only a few privileged girls got to experience. Yes, his name decorated various notebooks of mine, surrounded by hearts and our initials, and I’m probably not alone there.

I say with interest, “What about you? What was it really like being you at school? Did you feel the pressure of being the popular guy in class or didn’t you realise you were?”

The expression in Jack’s eyes holds my attention for a split second longer than it should have . He gazes at me so intently I forget to breathe as he says lightly, “I never thought about it, I suppose. I was only interested in football and messing around with my mates. Of course, I was interested in the girls who surrounded me. It was easy.”

To my surprise, he reaches out and takes my hand in his and says softly, “But where’s the fun in that, Nelly? Surely the real interest lies in the challenge. The one you can’t have and the one just out of reach. That’s the one who holds your attention and makes you think of when you’re alone. They are the one thing you can’t have, and you spend hours thinking of ways to get the prize.

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