THIRTY-ONE

Lifting DJ onto her lap, Billie squeezed him tightly. Holding him with one arm she snatched her drink off the coffee table and knocked it back. Her hands were shaking uncontrollably. She needed to sort herself out and try to act normal, for the sake of her child, if nothing else. Giving him a reassuring smile, Billie spoke in the calmest voice she could muster.

'How about Mummy get us that nice bowl of ice cream we were gonna have earlier?'

'Not hungry now,' came her son's lifeless reply.

'You look tired, darling. Shall Mummy take you up and read you a story?'

Shaking his head miserably, DJ laid himself across her lap. 'Wanna sleep with Mummy.'

Billie could sense that he was very tired, but extremely unnerved. 'Of course you can, darling.' Minutes later, DJ was snoring softly in her arms.

Gently moving him off her lap she placed him comfortably on the sofa and went to the kitchen. The smashed glass all over the kitchen floor brought Billie back to reality and she sank to her knees and sobbed. Needing a friend more than ever before, she scrolled through her phone and rang Jamie.

'Danny's smashed his way in. Oh, Jamie, I was so scared. He reckons he's coming to pick the baby up on Saturday morning.'

'Is he fuck! Give us ten minutes, Billie. I'm on me way.'

Half an hour later Billie sat with Jamie's arm protectively slung over her shoulder and had tearfully related the whole sorry story. 'What the hell am I gonna do? I can't let him trot off with my baby, I just can't. In fact I don't want him anywhere near him.'

Jamie sighed, deep in thought. 'I'll help you out at the weekend, Bill. My mum's off to Spain on Friday with her friend, so you and little 'un can come and stay with me. But the thing is, in the long run, you're gonna have to sort something out. Just because you and Danny have split up won't be enough to stop him from getting visiting rights. It's a shame you never went to the Old Bill when he beat you up, 'cause then you would have a reason for him not to get access. As it stands, you probably ain't got a leg to stand on. I'm no judge, but that's the way I see it. The only hope you've got is deny him access, let him take you to court and then stand up and tell the judge what he's done to you. He's been inside for drugs, that'll definitely help your case.'

'Yeah, you're right. How can I stop him taking DJ until it goes to court though?'

Jamie squeezed her hand. 'Don't you worry, I'll help you with that. I'll throw a sickie at work till next week and help you get things sorted. First thing tomorrow, we'll find you a good solicitor and then priority number one, we've gotta find you somewhere to live. You can't stay here any more, you've got to make a clean break, girl.'

Billie nodded. She knew Jamie was spot on, but where was she going to live? Lifting DJ off the sofa, she smiled at him.

'I'm just gonna put my little bruiser to bed. I'll be down in a minute and I'll sort us out some drinks and something to eat.' Billie straightened herself out while she was upstairs. She looked terrible, but after combing her hair, applying some lipstick and spraying herself with perfume, she felt more like her old self. With all the earlier goings-on, she'd kind of forgotten about the misunderstanding she'd had with Jamie earlier in the week and decided it was best now to let bygones be bygones and carry on as normal.

Jamie had other ideas though. Seeing Billie walk back into the room looking so vulnerable, his feelings went into overdrive. His voice sounded nervous as he spoke. 'Billie, I've bought you a present and there's something I need to say to you.'

Jamie held out a Tiffany bag. Inside was a box containing an exquisite pair of earrings. Billie gasped. 'Oh Jamie, they're beautiful. I can't take them off you. They must have cost a fortune. Why ever did you buy them for me?'

Taking her hands in his, Jamie looked into her eyes. It was now or never. He had to tell her the truth. 'I bought them for two reasons. One is to say sorry for the other night. I must have been mad. And secondly because I love you, Billie. I always have and I always will. I want us to be together, properly. I'll look after you and DJ and I swear, I'll never let you down.'

Billie looked into his eyes and saw the sincerity leaping out of them. 'What about Lucy?'

Jamie answered as honestly as he could. 'I shouldn't think she'll be that bothered, Bill. It's no big love affair and I've only been seeing her a couple of months. She's a nice girl and all that, but to be honest, we haven't really got a great deal in common. We don't really connect, if you know what I mean.'

Still looking pensive, Billie wriggled her hands free from his. 'You're not just saying and doing all this because you feel sorry for me, are you?'

Tilting her chin, Jamie moved his face inches from hers. 'Billie, I don't feel sorry for you. I love you, and if things work out between us, I would like to spend the rest of my life with you.' The passionate kiss that followed was all the proof that Billie needed.

Prising herself away from him, Billie gently stroked his cheek and smiled. 'OK, Jamie, you win. I would be honoured to be your girlfriend.'

Jamie hugged her, feeling as if he'd won the lottery. He had never experienced such strong emotions before, and the warmth of Billie's small frame pressed tightly against his chest made him feel like the luckiest man alive. Jamie looked down at her with a humorous glint in his eye. 'Right, now you've agreed to be my girl, ain't it about time you cooked me some bloody dinner?'

Billie laughed at his cheekiness and gently punched his arm. 'Don't start all that her indoors bit with me, you cheeky sod.'

Jamie held his hands up, shying away from her. 'I'm only joking. I'd take you out for a meal if the little man weren't asleep, so the next best thing I can offer is a Chinese takeaway.'

Billie flung her arms round his neck. She felt totally at ease with him. 'Chinese sounds just fine, but first I want another one of them kisses that I just had.'

Ten minutes later, the happy couple finally let one another go.

'Come on, missus,' Jamie said, kissing her on the tip of her nose. 'At this rate, we're never gonna eat and we'll both end up anorexics.'

Billie smiled happily. 'Don't bother going out to get it,' she said as she saw him put his coat on. 'I've got a menu here, we can get something delivered.'

Jamie picked up his keys. 'Nah, I've got to go to the cashpoint anyway, so I might as well go and get it. What do you want?'

Billie placed her order, watched him drive off and sat on the sofa to catch her breath. For the first time since her dad had died, she felt loved and protected. Picking up the earrings Jamie had bought her, she took her old ones out and put them in. Smiling to herself, she admired them in the mirror. Billie thought that they were the nicest present she'd ever had. It wasn't the fact he'd got them from Tiffany's. She wished he hadn't spent all that money, as she wouldn't have given a shit if he'd purchased them from Warren James. It was the way he'd given them to her and the thought that had probably gone into choosing them. It had been so romantic, just like something out of one of the movies that she loved so much.

Jamie sat outside the Chinese takeaway and ended his phone call. He'd just finished with Lucy and it had been much worse than he had expected. He thought she'd take it with a pinch of salt; they weren't exactly Romeo and Juliet. You could count the times they'd slept together on one hand, so the tears, screaming abdabs and abuse he'd just had hurled at him came as a bit of a shock. Driving home, he decided not to say anything to Billie Jo. He knew she was soft and didn't want to make her feel guilty.

Ringing the bell, Jamie handed Billie the takeaway.

'I bought us a bottle of champagne to go with it. I thought we should celebrate. Oh, and by the way, I rang Lucy and told her I wanted to call it a day. I didn't tell her about us, I just told her I needed to concentrate on work and stuff.'

Billie pecked him on the lips as she took the champagne off of him. 'I'm glad you've told her, I'd feel bad otherwise. How did she take it?'

'Oh, she weren't bothered,' Jamie lied. Quickly changing the subject, he held out his glass. 'To us and our future.'

Billie Jo sipped her champagne. 'To our happiness.'

A couple of miles away in Hornchurch, Michelle's evening was turning out to be anything but happy. 'Come on, love, out you go,' the big doorman said to her.

'You silly big cunt,' Chelle shouted, before collapsing onto the pavement. Michelle had gone out on her own for the night as all of her friends were busy. Three places she'd been slung out of and she didn't have a clue what she'd done wrong. She was a bit drunk, but so what? That's what pubs and wine bars were for, weren't they?

'Are you all right, love? Do you wanna hand?' asked a teenage lad.

'Yeah. Help me find me car. I can't remember where I parked it,' Chelle slurred.

'You can't drive home, love. You can't even stand up.'

'Oh, fuck off then if you ain't gonna help.'

The boy looked at his two mates. 'Nutter,' he mumbled, shrugging his shoulders.

Laughing, the three lads wandered off eating their chips.

After a struggle, Chelle lifted herself off the pavement. Remembering there was a car park behind the nearby Weatherspoon's, she tried to remember if she'd parked there. Staggering towards it she finally made her destination and leant against the wall. Fishing through her handbag, she found her keys. She could barely see, so decided to wave her alarm at each and every car. There it is, she thought, as she noticed the back lights flashing at her. Sliding into the driver's seat, it took Chelle a minute or two to remember how to start the engine.

'Here we go,' she said, as her car finally flicked into life.

Reversing, she clipped a parked car. Fuck 'em. Shouldn't have parked there, she thought as she changed gear. Hitting the main road, she put her foot down, cranked up the music and headed towards her luxurious home.