My Wife Jodie Read online

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  my wife

  Jodie

  V. A. Rudys

  BLINKENLIGHT

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Copyright © V.A. Rudys 2021

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or used in any manner without written permission of the copyright owner except for the use of quotations in a book review. For more information, address: [email protected].

  First paperback edition published May 2021

  Book design by Ignas Zurumskas

  Cover Photography by Patrick Coleman

  ISBN 978-1-8383911-0-2 (paperback)

  ISBN 978-1-8383911-3-3 (ebook)

  www.mywifejodie.com

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  Author’s note

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  I have been battling dyslexia my entire life. The thought of me writing a book was always met with laughter by my friends and family. I don’t blame them, I laughed too. But the day comes that, even if the path ahead seems much more difficult than to others, you have to stand up and do it anyway. Because it has nothing to do with others. It is your own battle. A battle which I won.

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  To Justina,

  PROLOGUE

  Jodie

  SATURDAY 17 JANUARY 2015

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  A snowflake landed silently on Anneli’s nose, mixing with a tear. She lay where she had fallen, staring down the mountain at the impossible stretch of slope beneath us.

  ‘You have to keep trying - it’s the only way you will get better.’ I brushed the snow from her tiny, child-sized helmet and took her hand to help her up. ‘Uncle Ethan and your dad will catch up with us, but let’s make a head start, shall we?’

  Slowly we moved down the mountain, manoeuvring cautiously around the corners. Anneli balanced herself well and learned quickly from her mistakes, her movement becoming more fluid with each turn. I lifted my eyes to look at the view, the morning sun lighting up the whole valley. It was a perfect day.

  Suddenly, Anneli fell again, sliding down the slope with her gear scattered around her. I turned quickly and intercepted a wayward ski as it made a bid for a free life in the valley. Anneli turned around to face me and burst out laughing as she spat the snow out of her mouth.

  ‘I’m doing it, Aunt Jodie!’

  ‘You are, honey!’ I lifted her small body, placing her upright, reattached a ski and brushed off some of the snow. ‘Let’s try again!’ I said. She nodded with determination.

  Now she seemed to have even more confidence, her hands no longer awkward, and her hips sweeping from side to side in sync with her skis. We were approaching the intersection with the red track, and I shouted to Anneli to watch out for skiers coming fast from above us.

  An excited male voice shouted from behind, and as I turned to look up the mountain I saw Ethan flying by. He was so good at this, no fear at all. I was proud to have married this man.

  Moments later, Anneli cheered for her father who was trying to catch up with Ethan, trying to compete with his best friend. But none of us - even Theo - were close to Ethan’s level.

  After they had passed, Anneli and I continued our slow descent. Fifteen minutes later, with plenty of stops, we finally reached the bottom of the slope. I saw a group of people blocking the path. I directed Anneli to the side of the slope, and I saw Theo standing, alone and still on the edge of the crowd.

  ‘Look, it’s daddy!’ Anneli shouted happily, but something wasn’t quite right with the scene. Theo had taken off his skis, his helmet and his goggles. He was just standing there, staring at nothing I could see, until he noticed us approach.

  We slowed to a stop, and he staggered towards us, fighting through the snow in his clumsy ski boots. I was a couple of meters away from him and I could see his face was red, his eyes full of tears.

  ‘Jodie, it’s Ethan. He... he fell.’ Theo’s entire body was shaking.

  I was staring at the crowd now, and I could just make out Ethan’s legs in their bright ski pants. They were twisted horribly, and completely still.

  ‘People are... they said, he’s...’ Theo didn’t finish his sentence. Then Anneli screamed, and I closed my eyes.

  CHAPTER 1

  Ethan

  SATURDAY 20 AUGUST 2016

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  I held Jodie’s new canvas in front of me, balanced on top of the stepladder with one hand on the wall. The scene was a snowy forest, a dead leopard, and a splatter of blood. I was spreadeagled like spiderman, halfway up the wall of our apartment, hanging the painting right in the centre of the hall.

  I lunged again for the hook, and the ladder wobbled. Jodie appeared from nowhere and put her foot on the bottom rung.

  ‘Careful, old man.’ she said, tilting her head slightly. Her blonde hair tumbled over her shoulders and down her back.

  ‘I’m always careful, babes!’ I chuckled as she rolled her eyes. I looked back up at the canvas I was holding up against the wall. ‘I’m not going to lie - this painting is a bit disturbing.’

  ‘It’s just life. Life doesn’t last,’ she said.

  Hanging her painting, I stepped down from the ladder. ‘Well, maybe next time you should paint a BDSM dungeon… or a rapist in the act.’

  She shook her head. ‘You’re disgusting.’

  I let the subject drop. ‘So, twenty more paintings and you might be able to open your gallery?’

  ‘One day,’ she smiled, admiring her latest piece, and then she came closer to me and wrapped her arms around my waist. Her forehead gently touched my clean-shaven face and I kissed her hair, inhaling her sweet perfume.

  ‘Well, this one’s a beauty, babes.’

  She untangled her arms and slapped my bottom - hard.

  ‘How about I make a nice anniversary lunch for us today? Something naughty?’ I grinned at her.

  ‘...lasagne?’ She raised an eyebrow.

  ‘Yes!’ I picked Jodie up by the waist, and we spun together like they do in cheesy romantic comedies, her hair flying behind her.

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  After I had cleaned up, I followed Jodie into the bright and spacious living room that stretched right through our apartment. At one end, we had a miraculously tidy kitchen with marble worktops and, on the other, a dining room with windows looking out over Tower Bridge, Jodie’s new detective thriller lying discarded on a corner sofa. She was such a fast, prolific reader, sometimes finishing five books in a week.

  Jodie reminded me of my mother, who was also a bookworm - but after my father died of an insidious immune disorder, she had no time to read. Money had always been tight, growing up, and I craved independence and a life in London.

  Today, in the dining room of our apartment, in a small frame amongst a jumble of holiday photos, hung a lottery ticket. The faintly printed numbers were still visible today: 9, 12, 13, 15, 21, and 33.

  Jodie had bought it for me on my birthday, as a joke - but on the 12th of July, 2003, those numbers won me the National Lottery’s jackpot of four and a half million pounds.

  I assumed I would never need to work again, but after investing most of my money in Kodak a few years later, I lost almost everything. My degree landed me an entry-level job as a law clerk at a firm in Liverpool Street. F
rom that, I built a career as a high-profile defence lawyer in the city, defending the rich and famous from their misdemeanors.

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  ***

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  My phone rang, the screen blinking impatiently on the dining room table. It read ‘Other Boyfriend.’ I looked at Jodie, who was struggling to hide a smile. She gave me a cheeky wink as I answered.

  ‘Hello, Ethan speaking.’

  ‘Well, that’s a very formal way to pick up your phone.’ I recognised Theo’s voice instantly.

  ‘Hey, sorry! What’s up.’ I turned back to Jodie, who was now giggling silently, eyes fixed on her book. She had this thing where she would rename contacts on my phone to something ridiculous. Once, she’d renamed my mother’s contact to The Psychic. Another time she had changed it to Angelina Jolie. It was pretty funny.

  ‘Free for some quick Saturday shopping?

  ‘I’m free, though I promised Jodie a lasagna for lunch.’ I could hear a loud, electrical buzzing through the phone. ‘Theo?’

  ‘Excellent, I’m just putting the finishing touches on my internet-connected microwave; it is so cool—’

  Theo is the world’s biggest geek, and if I didn’t stop him, he’d go on for 15 minutes about his new toy.

  I interrupted - ‘Theo, how about you tell me everything when we meet? Outside Tesco in half an hour?’ I imagined him rolling his eyes. He knew what I was doing, that I wasn’t interested in his tech.

  ‘Fine … don’t be late,’ he said in mock outrage, hanging up his phone, making me smile. I adjusted the name of the contact back to Theo as Jodie started to speak, still holding her book.

  ‘How is your boyfriend doing?’ I turned to see her cheeky smile.

  ‘He’s fine …’ I replied, smiling and slowly approaching her. ‘How are you doing, you naughty girl?’ I jumped on her lap, growling like a dog and knocking the book out of her hand with my head; she burst out laughing.

  I looked up at Jodie’s beautiful diamond-shaped face, how her perfectly smooth skin glowed in the sunlight. Her cool hands stroked my forehead, pushing my hair back. She liked playing with it. I traced a line from the top of Jodie’s shoulder down her arm, slowly, barely touching her. She smiled, probably thinking I was trying to tickle her. Her hand moved up to my ear. She opened her fingers, cupping my ear, and massaging it. I closed my eyes, the furrows in my forehead slowly relaxing. Then softly, as if plucking a grape with my mouth, I touched Jodie’s lips with mine. For a moment, we shared the same breath. Her nose lightly brushed my skin as it moved up my face. As soon as I could no longer feel it, I opened my eyes, and Jodie’s smile greeted me.

  ‘I like you,’ she said.

  ‘I like you too... babes.’

  Her smile widened. ‘I got you a little something...’

  ‘Jodie! We said no anniversary presents this year!’

  Jodie dropped down onto her knee and opened a shoebox that was tucked under the couch. The box held a new pair of running shoes.

  ‘Wow, they look great, but you know how hard it is to find shoes that fit me. Can I exchange them?’

  ‘Trust me, darling. I know you’ll love them.’ She held one shoe up, triumphantly, like it was a glass slipper. ‘Come on, Cinderella.’

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  ***

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  I grabbed a few cotton shopping bags from under the sink, and ran out the door. If I kept a good pace I probably wouldn’t be late to meet Theo. The shoes were perfect, like they were moulded for my feet. How did she do it?

  The vibrant blue sky and contrasting white clouds looked just like Instagram; it was a perfect summer day. A little cold, but refreshing after a recent heatwave. I walked between beautiful old brick buildings, looming over tiny crooked lanes. The Shard pointed gracefully upwards, interrupting the skyline. Bermondsey had to be the best place to live in London.

  We could have afforded a much more expensive place in Kensington. Jodie had wanted to move there for a long time, but I always preferred the great sense of community in Bermondsey, and how close it was to the centre. And on top of all that there was nothing to attract noisy tourists; no monuments of any sort. In the end, she gave up trying to convince me to move.

  I turned the corner, and there were Theo and Anneli holding hands, waiting for me. Theo had changed a lot since he moved to London. He’s much scruffier now, with patches of grey hair creeping down from his beard and head. He made no effort to cover them. His large framed glasses hid the bags under his eyes, which were getting darker and more pronounced with each passing year. He didn’t care much about his clothes, either; jeans, a t-shirt, and a hoodie, and his dark skin and rough appearance contrasted vividly with Anneli, pale in her red polka-dot dress and a denim jacket. The shade of her slippers perfectly matched her dress. I wouldn’t have been surprised if her outfit all came in one box. Theo lavished Anneli with attention; he loved her more than anything in the world.

  Anneli saw me and dashed forward. She ran so fast that her hands flailed wildly in the air, almost seeming not to be attached to her torso. I knelt and opened my arms, waiting for that hug. She slammed into me full force, almost making me fall back.

  ‘Ethan!’ she screamed in my ear.

  ‘Hello, my darling!’ I gave her a big hug as I tried to stand up, playfully trying to shake her off. She laughed. Theo was standing beside us smiling. I was still shaking my shoulders, Anneli dangling from them. Slowly, we made our way to the shop.

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  Anneli was admiring the basil plants as Theo and I stood near the onions and potatoes, occasionally glancing at her.

  ‘What are you planning for your wedding anniversary?’ Theo asked, comparing two bags of red onions.

  ‘I want to have a picnic in Southwark Park this afternoon. Then I have a reservation for a classy dinner at Clos Maggiore in Covent Garden, and after that, I guess I’ll take Jodie for a romantic walk down the river.’

  ‘Good effort, mate. She’ll be thrilled.’ He looked down at his feet, probably remembering how he used to spend his anniversary with Laura. ‘Jodie is an amazing woman.’

  ‘What are you planning for our anniversary?’ I narrowed my eyes half smiling.

  ‘They’re releasing Resident Evil 7 in a couple of months.’

  ‘Nerd.’ I nudged him with my fist and Theo moved down the aisle. Anneli followed us with a small, half-dead basil plant.

  ‘I’m taking Anneli to Brighton tomorrow. We can swim if we feel brave enough.’ He looked at her. ‘Will we be brave enough to swim?’ She aggressively jerked her head, making him laugh.

  ‘She’s so funny,’ I said. ‘And very smart for a 6-year-old!’

  ‘Six and a half!’ Anneli corrected me. ‘Daddy, can we take this plant home with us? It’s sad.’

  ‘Sweetheart, we already have two basil plants at home; leave this for the other people, ok?’ Anneli lowered her head.

  ‘I wonder if I’ll look back at my life one day and regret not trying harder to have children,’ I said, turning to Theo. He was brandishing an amusingly-shaped potato. ‘I’m so happy for you, you lucky fuck.’

  Theo dropped the potato in his basket and moved to a box of aubergines. ‘Lucky?’ he frowned. ‘Depends on who you’re comparing me with.’ He picked up the biggest aubergine from the crate and looked at me.

  I shrugged. ‘People like you?’

  Theo narrowed his eyes. ‘You’re the definition of luck, mate.’

  ‘Come on.’ I nudged him again with my fist.

  ‘Ethan, please.’ He looked mildly irritated now.

  ‘I’m not lucky! Privileged - yes. But not lucky.’

  He exhaled deeply before speaking. ‘You met the love of your life when you were 16. You’re the one Jodie helped with the rent all through university - you didn’t need to work 30 hours a week in Wetherspoons serving beer to people who don’t kn
ow when to stop.’ I raised my finger to interrupt, but he continued. ‘You won the lottery and then you used that money to travel the world!’ He laughed, but now there was a bitter edge to it. He dropped his voice to a low, angry hiss. ‘You’ve never had to deal with racist remarks. People eyeing me like I stole Anneli from a white family. You’ve never been really ill; you’ve never spent a night in hospital. You think you’re unlucky just because Jodie can’t have kids?’

  I crossed my arms, angry now, as Theo continued to speak. ‘You go skiing every winter, and yet you haven’t broken a single bone. Not even one injury!’ He sighed dramatically.

  ‘I’m a good skier! What do you even want me to say?’

  ‘Even professionals have more accidents than you, Ethan.’ He waved his hand ambiguously and moved down the aisle. I followed. ‘You’ve never been robbed, mugged, attacked, or scammed. You’ve never had a car accident or missed your flight. You’ve never lost your job. In fact, you were promoted faster than most of the other lawyers you work with—’

  ‘Ok, but you can’t say that me winning my cases is luck; it means I’m a good lawyer, a better lawyer than—’

  ‘None of your family has died.’

  ‘My father has.’ I said it so quickly, as if I was proud of it, trying to win the argument, not thinking. My father died when I was eight. Laura died less than six years ago shortly after she gave birth to Anneli, and I instantly regretted my words. Theo recoiled in mock shock, pressing his hand to his heart, then grabbed a tub of hummus, tossing it angrily into his shopping basket and turning away.

  I shouldn’t have said anything. It hasn’t even been six years since Laura’s death, and it was still raw for Theo. He might never be okay with it. She was Theo’s true love, as Jodie was mine. He first introduced Laura to Jodie and me back in university. He asked us both out for dinner and brought Laura along. I told him back then that she was totally out of his league. He agreed.