Page 14 of The Little Board Game Café

Kate leaned over and whispered in her ear, ‘Shall I stay, Em? Or will you be okay? I think I might have a chance to pull the guy in the red Lycra.’

‘Go. I’ll be fine.’

‘And you might have pulled yourself.’ She nodded in the direction of Emily’s ankle where the GP was still prodding at her.

Clipboard Woman shouted, ‘Right, everyone. Let’s go.’ The runners began to fall in line behind her as the GP helped Emily to her feet and put his arm around her waist. She put her arm around his shoulder and began to hobble towards the garden wall of one of the houses as the runners disappeared round the corner. It was weird being in such close proximity to a man who wasn’t Peter. You’re engaged, Em, she told herself. Do not let yourself get excited by the warmth of his body pressed against yours or the feeling of his fingers on your skin – her t-shirt seemed to have ridden up and his hand was on her bare flesh, above the top of her leggings. But it was difficult to ignore the scent of him: still fresh, even though they’d been running. With a hint of woody aftershave.

‘You wait there,’ he said, lowering her gently onto the wall. ‘I’ll fetch my car. I won’t be long. It isn’t far.’

*

He had settled her onto Peter’s sofa before she realised that she didn’t even know his name.

‘I’m Emily. Em for short.’

‘Ludek.’

‘Unusual name.’

‘My parents are Polish. Shall I make some tea?’

‘Because it’s good for shock?’

‘No, because I’m thirsty. I came straight from work. Would that be okay?’

‘Yeah, sure. The kitchen’s through the hall on the right.’

She sat back against the cushions and listened to him filling the kettle then rummaging through cupboards looking for teabags and mugs, opening every single door in search of the fridge.

Her ankle was throbbing now. Perhaps he’d take another look at it before he left.

Then she heard a key in the lock. The door opening. Peter putting his briefcase down on the oak flooring. There was silence for a minute – he’d be swapping his shoes for slippers – before his head appeared round the door.

‘Hello, darling,’ he said, sitting down beside her. ‘Why are you wearing leggings?’

And then Ludek appeared in the doorway carrying two mugs of tea saying, ‘Blimey, your kitchen’s tidy.’

Peter looked at the stranger and then at Emily and said, ‘Oh? Who’s this?’

‘He’s a doctor. I’ve sprained my ankle.’

Peter was looking at Ludek’s outfit now. Emily had to admit that she found it hard not to look at it herself, given how it clung to every perfectly toned inch of him.

‘I didn’t know doctors did home visits these days,’ Peter said.

She was praying that Ludek wouldn’t come out with something cheesy like, ‘Only for very special patients.’ Although that would have been kind of nice. In a way. But he didn’t. He said, ‘I’m with the running club so I was there when Emily fell.’

‘The running club?’ said Peter.

‘Kate,’ she said.

This seemed to satisfy Peter’s curiosity; he looked relieved. ‘I might have known this was Kate’s doing. Well, thank you, doctor. Very good of you to bring her home. Shall I show you out?’

And before Emily could object, before Ludek could take even one sip of his tea, Peter had whipped the mugs out of his hands, placed them on the coffee table and was ushering him back into the hall.

Emily tried to get up, but winced as pain shot through her ankle. ‘Thanks for the lift home,’ she called as the front door closed.

Chapter Six