HOW TO SAVE A LIFE

By Peter Woodgate 

Janice sat on the park bench and looked around. It was Autumn and the trees were looking decidedly bare, in fact, her whole life seemed bare.

She glanced at her watch, it showed 1245.

“Where is she?” Janice thought nervously, “she was supposed to meet me at half-past, she better not let me down.”

    Her friend Jo arrived, out of breath and apologetic, “sorry” she said as she gave Janice a hug, “now what’s this all about?”

    Janice hesitated before bursting into tears, “come on, spit it out,” Jo gave Janice another hug then sat her down on the bench.

    “It’s Jim,” Janice wiped the tears from her face, “I just don’t seem to be able to get through to him these days, whatever I say or do makes no difference, it’s like everything is normal but it’s not.

    “What do you mean exactly?” Jo asked inquisitively,

“Well for a start,” Janice blurted out, “we haven’t made love for six months, he just doesn’t seem interested, it’s not as if I don’t make an effort, you know, Ann Summers and all that, he’d rather watch football,

There’s no fun in our lives anymore.

    “Oh come on girl,” Jo put her arm around Janice’s shoulder, “you know what men are like, I’m sure it’s just a phase you are both going through. Arrange a nice romantic evening where you can both talk, I’m sure that will do the trick, after all,” Jo added,” Jim’s a good bloke, you don’t want to lose him.”

    Janice looked at Jo and hesitated for a moment before blurting out her fears. “I think he has someone else,” Janice had a lump in her throat and fought back the tears.

    “Don’t be silly,” Jo replied, “Jim’s not like that, I mean, he’s just a bloke and blokes are, well just not sensitive to our needs, it doesn’t mean he is cheating on you.”

    Janice thought for a moment, “perhaps you’re right,” she replied.

“look I must rush or I will be late back from lunch, I will try what you have suggested though, thanks for listening to me. They hugged once more before going their separate ways.

    Janice didn’t get much work done that afternoon, she was too busy thinking about how she could arrange this heart to heart and whether it could save their marriage. At present, she felt totally depressed, was suspicious of everyone and felt almost alone. “Thank goodness for Jo,” she thought.

    Calling in at the local deli on the way home she purchased ingredients for an Italian dish, “nothing like a romantic Italian,” she thought,

“and the foods not bad either,” Janice chuckled to herself, the first time in days she had managed to smile, “keep it up girl,” she whispered, “keep it up.

    Janice had prepared most of the food and had laid the table by the time Jim got home. “Hello Darling,” he called out as he flung his coat over the banisters, this was one hell of an annoying habit that really bugged Janice. “Have you hung your coat up?” Janice replied, knowing that he hadn’t. “I’ll do it in a minute,” Jim retorted, “there’s football on the telly in five minutes, it’s an early kick-off and I want to change into something casual.”

    “Why do I bother? Janice thought as she walked to the bottom of the stairs. “Look,” she shouted up,  “I’ve cooked a nice Italian meal for us and it will be ready in ten minutes, we really do need to have a chat. Jim mumbled something inaudible and after a couple of minutes came down the stairs two at a time. His coat was still draped over the banister and he nearly tripped over it before deciding that maybe he ought to hang it up after all.

    He walked into the kitchen and was greeted by the delicious aroma of savoury pasta and noticed the table had been laid with a cloth and candlestick. “Bit posh,” Jim remarked as he walked over and switched the TV on. “Jim,” Janice raised her voice, “I thought we could have a nice meal and a chat for a change, there are more important things than football you know.”

    “Not to me there isn’t, we could go top of the league tonight.”

Janice gave Jim a glare, “OK,” he held his hands up in submission, “I’ll turn the sound down.” Jim walked back over to the television and turned it down to a minimum.

Janice poured the wine and Jim sat down making sure he had an unobstructed view of the match. “Smells lovely,” he said casually

his attention taken up completely by the match as Rooney fluffed yet another chance. “Sod it,” Jim thumped his fist on the table spilling his wine. Janice was straining the spaghetti and hadn’t noticed so Jim wiped it up quickly using his serviette, “hope it doesn’t stain,” he thought, glad that they were drinking white and not red.

    Janice served the Bolognese and sat down opposite Jim, he was about to tell her how lovely it looked but realized Janice had obscured his view

Completely. He decided he would move his chair a few degrees to the left but Janice was wise to this and moved her own the same distance to the right. “Look Jim I’m serious about this we need to talk.” Jim decided he would “get it over with”, after all, if he agreed to everything he could get to watch the second half in peace.

“Ok, what is so important that we have to have this talk, right in the middle of an important match too?” Jim had put on his angelic voice,

very submissive, and if Janice hadn’t known him better, sounded almost as if he was interested.

    Janice began explaining her concerns, they were just not close anymore and they didn’t do things together (she didn’t actually mention the sex word but by way of metaphors made it quite obvious). Jim responded by dropping his fork on the floor which enabled him to peek at the screen as he bent down to pick it up.

    Janice sighed in despair and found herself staring past Jim to look out of the window. She was staring but did not see the rain that was now lashing down. A sudden gust of wind sprayed the rain onto the window which broke Janice’s trance, she looked at Jim, he was oblivious to all except the match on the TV. She started to plead with him to listen but Jim was now upset, mainly because United had gone one nil down, and shouted back at Janice.

“Look, I don’t know what all the fuss is about, all I want is to watch a football match in peace, is that too much to ask?”

    Jim got up and stormed out of the room to watch the match in the lounge. Janice felt completely deflated and got up to start clearing the table. As she did so she heard a bleep from Jim’s mobile which he had left by the side of his half-eaten spaghetti Bolognese. She was about to take it into Jim when curiosity got the better of her and she slid the phone open nervously and pressed the view button. It was a message from Jo and Janice gasped as she read the message. It was short but had the impact of a “Gone With The Wind” saga, it read;

Saw Janice today

She is suspicious

I think we should tell her

XXX

Janice stood mortified, staring at the message but was brought back to her senses by an almighty whoop from the lounge (United had obviously equalized) and she became aware of her predicament.

“I must get rid of the message,” she thought, “otherwise Jim will know that I have read it.” She quickly deleted the message replacing the phone back on the table. She finished the clearing up on auto-pilot; her mind fixed on one thing only;

“Where did I go wrong?” The question rolled over and over in her mind and the fact that her one and only friend was involved just compounded the misery. She thought about Jo and felt nauseous, “bloody Judas” Janice mumbled under her breath.

    The match finished and Jim breezed into the kitchen, “oh” he exclaimed, “I was just about to help you with the clearing up but see you have finished, tell you what” Jim was now in high spirits, United had won with a last-minute penalty, “why don’t we go down to the local for a few drinks? You said we needed to do things together, let’s start with that.

Janice was taken aback, this was not something Jim normally suggested, drinking was very much a “boys” thing. Was it possible that he had been listening and really cared? Janice wanted to say “no” she wanted to confront Jim about the text, she wanted to smash something over his head but found herself saying “ok.”

As she changed into something more suitable Janice kept thinking about the text, her best friend, and whether her marriage was over.

    They arrived at the pub to discover it was a quiz night. Janice didn’t care much for quizzes but knew that Jim loved them. She had been hoping for a nice cosy drink and a chance to chat but once again her attempt at a serious talk had been blown out of the water.

    It had been decided that teams should consist of up to six persons and Jim had already collared his workmate together with his partner and he now looked around for another couple when, who should walk in but Jo, Janice’s best friend (well ex best friend) and her boyfriend. Jim immediately pounced on them and dragged them over to their table. “Look who’s here,” he smiled at Janice, “we have a winning team now girl.” Janice found herself recoiling as Jo gave her a hug and just about forced a smile.

“You know Dan don’t you,” Jo gestured towards him as he gave her a smile and held out his hand. Janice knew Dan alright, in fact, most people knew Dan, he was a right boozer and Janice couldn’t understand how Jo had ended up with him. Although none of her business Janice had felt Jo could have done so much better, right now though she felt they deserved each other.

    Throughout the quiz, Janice noticed that Jim and Jo were getting very “familiar.” They whispered to each other and laughed without sharing the jokes. This made Janice feel very uncomfortable and she began to simmer.

Dan either didn’t notice or didn’t care as he poured pint after pint down hi neck.

The quartet, in fact, came up with very few correct answers and, had it not been for the other couple on their team they would almost certainly have finished last. As it happened they fished third from bottom and, disaster averted, Jim thought they should celebrate. “Anyone for another drink,”

Jim was already sozzled, same again Darling vodka and tonic?”

    Janice declined, saying she had a splitting headache and wanted to go home. She could see that Jim was annoyed but he begrudgingly agreed to join her. They said goodbye to the others, Janice taking particular note of the kiss Jim gave Jo, and then left for home.

    It was a short walk, the footpath running through a small wooded area before crossing the canal and joining the road that formed part of their estate. As they crossed the bridge Janice peered down at the cold dark water that flowed underneath and for a moment, an all-encompassing fleeting moment wished for an end to the torment she now endured.

    They arrived home and Jim immediately went to the lounge to pour himself a drink determined, it seemed, to make up for what he had missed out on at the pub. “Would you like one Darling?” Jim called out from the lounge, “OK,” replied Janice, thinking it an ideal opportunity to get the matter out in the open.

    She walked into the lounge and, as Jim handed her the drink, she asked bluntly, “are you having an affair with Jo?”

Jim nearly choked on his whisky and stared at her disbelievingly, “what did you say? Jim replied, giving himself a few extra seconds of thinking time. “I said are you having an affair with Jo?” Janice found herself shaking as she asked the question again. Jim hesitated for a moment longer before replying,

“Have you gone mad, what makes you think that?” Janice noted that Jim didn’t actually deny it before shouting, “I saw a text on your mobile it was from Jo, how do you explain that?”

Jim looked at her enquiringly, “What text,” Janice then explained how she had read the text repeating it word for word then found herself screaming,

“How do you bloody explain that then?”

Jim stared at her blankly before replying in an unemotional tone,

“Look, I don’t know what all this is about, perhaps she sent it by mistake, maybe it was for someone else, why don’t you ask her?”

Jim then switched the TV on before settling down to watch the highlights of the rest of the evening’s matches.

    To Janice, Jim’s reaction was an admittance of guilt and she left the room climbing the stairs with tears in her eyes.

    Janice was dreaming and the vision of Jim and Jo making love made her scream waking her up with sweat pouring down her face. Jim was snoring next to her as she glanced at the clock, the harsh red glare showed 2.30am. Janice slid out of bed and collecting her clothes, crept silently downstairs.

    She propped the envelope upon the mantlepiece before leaving the house closing the front door quietly behind her.

    The ducks had built a sleeping platform in the rushes under the bridge

That spanned the canal and they flapped nervously as a loud splash sent a wave that temporarily flooded it. After a few quacks and rustling of feathers, they settled down again, heads neatly tucked under their wings, oblivious to the release of a tormented soul.

    Jim woke up and reached over to touch Janice, his arm fell on an empty pillow. “Strange,” he thought, as he glanced at the clock. The red glare showed at 6.15am. Jim got out of bed, put on his dressing gown, and made his way downstairs.

    “Your up early,” he called out as he entered the kitchen, then, realizing it was empty, approached the lounge with a puzzled look on his face. He caught sight of the envelope as he entered and walked over to open it immediately. His jaw dropped as he read the message;

“I would have stayed up with you all night had I known

how to save a life. I am sorry but at least

you can get on with yours.”

“She’s gone and left me, stupid cow” Jim thought angrily and I’d gone to all that trouble to keep her special birthday treat a secret, Jo did say we ought to tell her but I thought it would be a great surprise.

Jim was seething as he looked up and saw the police car pull up outside the house.

 

Copyright Peter Woodgate