38 Caring
A/N - Inspiration from COVID-19, who'd have thought?
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‘Unprecedented times’. That was what they were calling it. ‘Unprecedented times’.
Jimmy felt more irritated by the term every time he heard it. A few people got a bit of a sniffle, a little cough, and suddenly the sky was falling in.
He stuck to his regular routine, up at seven, an hour on the exercise bike, then eggs and coffee for breakfast. Then he settled on the couch to do some work. One morning, just as he opened the laptop and began to work through his emails, there was a ring on the bell, followed by a loud knocking. He was not expecting any deliveries, and his first face-to-face appointment was not until eleven. He ignored both ring and knock and focussed on composing a reply to a particularly difficult client.
The ring and knock were repeated, and then a voice came through the letterbox.
“Hello? I know you’re in there! I haven’t seen you come out, today, so I know you’re there. Please don’t ignore me! I have something very important to talk to you about.”
Deciding that there would be no peace until he dealt with whoever was disturbing it, he got up and opened the front door of his flat. A woman of about his own age stood in the hall. He recognised her; she lived in the same block of flats, on one of the floors above his.
“What is it? I’m really very busy.”
“I’m Anthea,” she replied, holding out her elbow towards him.
He stared at it. “What are you doing?”
“We aren’t allowed to shake hands anymore, so we touch elbows. Don’t you watch the news?”
“Not if I can help it.” With another sigh, he touched her elbow with his and offered his name. He had never given it so reluctantly. “Now, what do you want?”
“I’m going round everyone in the flats to see if they need any help with shopping or anything like that, or if they can help out.”
“Help…”
“People who are self-isolating. Because of the virus?” She frowned, clearly exasperated that she was having to explain herself. “You’ve heard of the virus, right?”
“Oh, yeah. ‘Unprecedented times’. Well, I don’t need any help with my shopping; I get everything delivered, so…”
“That’s great! So, can I put you down to get some nappies and baby milk for Sonia?”
“For who?” His surprise at this request prevented him from giving the outright ‘no’ he had intended.
“Sonia. She and baby Alfie live just down the hall from you.”
“Oh… yeah… Kid’s always crying. What have they got to do with me?”
“What have…?! Do you really not care about anything other than yourself?”
Her words stung and he felt himself growing angry. “Look, Angela or whatever you call yourself. I happen to be a highly experienced grief counsellor. Every day, I listen to other people pouring out their hearts about the pains they have experienced. So, yes, I do care about others.”
“That’s… that’s amazing…” Her whole face and voice had softened. “I really admire you for doing that work.”
“Well… er… it’s my job.” Something about her response had thrown him completely off kilter. Most people changed the subject when he told them what he did for a living. Nobody had ever told him he was amazing before.
There was an awkward silence, which Anthea broke. “Look, Sonia and Alfie… They’re stuck in the flat because of Alfie’s asthma…”
“I’m sorry but I have zero experience of buying nappies… or anything else related to babies… so…”
She grinned. “That’s no problem! I’ve written down exactly what you need to get.”
“That wasn’t…”
“And when you’ve got them, you only need to leave the stuff outside the door and ring the bell. Then she’ll know it’s you.”
Realising that there was only one way to get rid of her he held out his hand for the list. “OK, hand it over…”
“Oh, it’s on my ‘phone… If you give me your number, I’ll text it over. And then, you know, if you need anything yourself…”
“I’m fine. Thanks.”
He gave her his number and she sent the list. When he saved her name in his contacts list, he had to stop himself from putting a heart after it.