Fourteen

Jimmy arrived ten minutes early to pick Niamh up for their date. She wore a green, long sleeve top, beige, ankle-length skirt and a red, woollen cap. Jimmy felt severely underdressed in his usual garb. He had put in the effort of making sure everything was stain-free and he did put on one of his father’s brown, tweed jackets.

“Wow, you look.” Jimmy paused, stunned. He suddenly struggled to speak. “You look amazing.” Jimmy vomited the words with such ferocity, it sounded like a single sound.

“Thanks. You scrub up nicely yourself.” Niamh cracked a tiny smile and looked away.

“Aw, don’t you two look lovely tonight. Don’t come back too early, you hear? But don’t make it too late either, just so I know you’re safe.” Mrs. Smyth beamed at the two of them.

“Ma, don’t embarrass me.”

“Don’t worry Mrs. Smyth, I’ll look after her and bring her back at a reasonable hour. You can count on me.”

“Good. Don’t be surprised if I’m still awake waiting for you to come back dearie.”

“Ma.” Niamh hugged her mother and the two left her standing in the hallway.

Jimmy and Niamh sat in silence for what seemed like an eternity. Jimmy racked his brain in a constant panic to think of something, and he couldn’t get a read on Niamh.

“So where are we going tonight?” Niamh finally asked. Her voice was soft, comforting.

“I was gonna take us to Fishtrap for some food. It’s a quaint little pub. You ever been?”

“No. I don’t think so.”

“They do an amazing beef stew, and their salmon chowder is the best in town.”

“I bet their stew isn’t as good as ma’s.” Niamh chuckled awkwardly.

“Maybe you can give them your ma’s recipe?” Jimmy felt proud of his remark as he watched Niamh smile at him. “They also have darts, you ever play?”

“No.”

“Oh, it’s easy. I’ll teach you. Hopefully we have a good time and stay out for a while, then I’ll bring you back home.”

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

“Sounds lovely.”

“I hope so,” laughed Jimmy.

They reached The Fishtrap with minimal small talk, but this time Jimmy felt better about himself. He felt more relaxed around Niamh now they’d broken the ice.

They’d made their way into the pub and sat down quickly. Niamh was happy with Jimmy’s suggestions for food, and she asked for a glass of brandy.

Their conversations drifted between topics of growing up, how their farms were performing, favourite movies, favourite music and their deceased fathers leaving them farms to worry about.

They eventually moved onto darts, and they were both impressed with how quickly Niamh picked it up.

“Hey, you’re Jimmy right, owner of Norman?” Jimmy turned to see a middle-aged man leaning on a walking stick. He didn’t look happy.

“Yeah I am.”

Pain exploded lightning fast from Jimmy’s nose and he blacked out a moment and hit the floor.

“You cost me a lot of money last night. And you’ve ruined Pecker’s career.”

“Alright, get him outta here!” called the owner.

Niamh helped Jimmy from the floor and sat him back down.

“Fuck, that hurts.”

“Let me get a look at that. I’m almost a nurse.”

“How bad is it?”

“I need to set it.”

“That sounds painful.” Jimmy winced even though Niamh hadn’t done anything yet.

“Do you have a belt you can bite into?”

“Yeah. Why?”

“Screaming into that may help.” Niamh gently placed the tips of her fingers on Jimmy’s nose.

Jimmy bit into his belt and held onto his chair as tightly as he could.

“Get ready. On the count of four.” Before Jimmy could retaliate, Niamh set Jimmy’s nose with a stomach-curdling crunch. Jimmy screamed into his belt. “And its done. We need to get some ice on that.”

“Ouch.” A single tear rolled down Jimmy’s cheek.

“Let’s go hey?” Niamh held onto Jimmy’s forearm, and they walked back to his car.

“What was that guy on about?” Niamh asked after a few minutes of silence.

“I. Hmm.” Jimmy was unsure on how he should approach the question. What would she think if he told her everything? He decided he would be honest and told her everything.

“Huh. Well, that certainly sounds interesting.”

“I’m sorry.”

“What for? You haven’t done anything to me to apologize for.”

“What are your thoughts on all of it? Do you think differently of me? Are we gonna have another date?”

“I’m not a big fan of gambling. My father did a lot of stupid things because of it. Animal cruelty isn’t the best either. I’m gonna be honest, I don’t know.”

“Fair enough. Well, thank you for tonight though. I had a great time.”

“Thank you, Jimmy, so did I.”

Jimmy got out of his car and opened the door for Niamh. He walked with her to the front door and said goodbye.

“I think I’d still like another date.”

“Oh, ok then. Yeah, great. How’s next fortnight sound?”

“That sounds good to me. By the way, the chowder was great.” Niamh smiled and walked inside.

Jimmy launched himself into the driver’s seat and drove back home with a warm smile on his face the whole way home.

“Don’t think you can get away with sneaking through the house and not tell me about tonight.” Jimmy’s mother flicked a light on. The smile on her face changed to a frown when she saw his nose. “What’s wrong with your face? You didn’t get in a fight while on the date, did you?”

“No. No, I fell over. Niamh helped set it back into place though.”

“Oh good. Now, tell me all about your date."