Eddie groaned at the staccato barks from the other side of her bedroom door, blinking the sleep from her eyes. Was it morning already? She’d got back last night from another unsuccessful date, dejected, and instead of going to bed had decided to finish off the bottle of wine in the fridge while stalking her ex on instagram. All-in-all, a terrible evening which she blamed for the hangover she would no doubt be taking with her to work.
Blearily, she squeezed into her 3-day old leggings - she only used them for dog walking anyway, who would care that they weren’t fresh - and 8-year old University Hoodie.
“I’m coming, I’m coming!” She called to the golden retriever downstairs, whose tail wagged as it pressed its face against the stair gate. As soon as Daisy - the fluffy hurricane at the bottom of the stairs - spotted her, she sprinted to the shoes, picked up a battered trainer and sprinted back along the hallway to the front door next to the stairs.
“Thank you baby girl!” Eddie grabbed the heel of the trainer, but Daisy had other ideas and pulled back, hard.
“No, drop it.” She said as she pulled harder, trying and failing to sound authoritative. Daisy arched her back down, stretching out on her front paws and growled, tail batting back and forth. She was loving this game. Just as she loved it every morning and evening before their walks. Eddie, not so much.
“Drop, Daisy Drop.” The shoe didn’t move an inch. If anything Eddie lost ground on it as Daisy got more excited.
“Fine, no walk!” Eddie threw her hands up in the air and marched off, pretending to feign interest whilst searching for the other shoe in the haphazard pile under the coats. Daisy followed close behind and smacked the trainer into her thigh as Eddie bent over.
Eddie usually didn’t mind playing around with Daisy in the mornings, but today her head pounded and she really didn’t feel like chasing the dog round the house for another ten minutes. Resigned, she reached into the pocket of her hoodie. “You win, do you want a treat?”
The now sodden trainer hit the floor in an instant. Eddie slipped it on along with the other one as the fluffy menace chewed on her hard-earned prize and they strode out the door.
Halfway around the block, her phone rang. It was her best friend, Pippa, and she answered it quickly.
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“Morning.”
“Hey, I thought you might still be in bed.” Pippa was breathing hard, and the sound of a car passing cut through the speaker.
“Are you cycling?”
“To work, yes, I have to get that report on environmental impact of the HS2 in by the end of today.”
“I thought you had until Friday?”
“Yup, so did I, but the boss wants time to review it.” A car horn sounded and Pippa swore, then after a beat she carried on like nothing had happened, “ So, how did it go last night?”
“Ugh, awful. He was on his phone the whole time. At one point, I swear he was on tinder when I came back from the bathroom.” Eddie kicked a stone along the pavement, watching Daisy sniff the closest lamp post.
“Christ, men are the worst.”
“Yep. Apart from Eric, he can stay.”
“Eric doesn’t count, he’s one of us.”
Eric was their best friend, the trio had been inseparable since their first day of secondary school when they had bonded over their shared crush of Gerard Way during Music Class.
“You’ll find someone Eddie, I know you will. You’re gorgeous, and funny, and kind, there’s someone out here for you.”
“I don’t know, all my friends are getting married and popping out babies. I went to Tara’s hen do last weekend and all they talked about was mortgage rates and birthing plans. I can’t even get to a second date.” She groaned, reliving the awkwardness of it all over again.
It wasn’t that long ago and she had been just like them, looking up engagement rings on instagram and wondering how best to double-barrel her’s and Josh’s surnames. He had other ideas, panicked at the thought of spending forever with the same person he had spent the last 7 years with, dumped her, and moved on with a tall blonde hairdresser from the town over.
But whatever, Eddie wasn’t bitter. She was welcome to him. Welcome to clean up after him, and organise his appointments for him, and put up with his parents showing up without any warning only to complain about how the house isn’t clean. Eddie felt an echo of injustice wash over her and clenched her fists, waiting for it to pass. She’d let him walk all over her. She wandered on down the pathway with Daisy, focusing on the big dog padding beside her.
Daisy was the dog they had gotten together after the first lockdown, although Josh hadn’t walked her once and wouldn’t feed her unless prompted. Eddie wondered if Daisy missed him, or if she felt they were both better off without him in their lives. Pippa continued with the pep talk in her ear, finishing off with “Just be like me, swear off men for ever and focus on your career!”
“That’s a great plan Pip, except I haven’t got a career. I’ve got a minimum wage job in the local cafe working for the world’s biggest bellend.”
Pippa snorted. “You don’t want to know the image that has just appeared in my mind.”
They laughed, and Eddie ruffled Daisy’s ears as they walked.
“Thanks, see you for poker later?”
“Course, love ya!”
The phone cut out and Eddie returned to her walk, feeling lighter at the prospect of reliving her terrible date over cards with her two best friends.