Tactical – Jenny 64

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[Old back story is here: Story so far at 30 Nov 2020 and read more recent Jenny episodes especially this one.]

[Other back story through in-links.]

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The date for the challenge was set for next week and Jenny suspected Peter was getting a bit nervous. She wasn’t certain of his race tactics but his pre-race tactics were beginning to get a little out of hand. She came down on Saturday morning to find her rear tyre flat. She thought nothing of it at first, thinking she might just have picked something up the night before - a slow leak was quite common and easily remedied. Except that she couldn’t find the puncture repair kit in its usual place.

For an hour and a half she assumed she looked before assuming she'd just run out and forgotten. Then she thought maybe Izzy had taken them with her in a fit of eccentric pique. And then she found the kit, suspiciously placed round the back of the downstairs toilet. There were odd places where she’d leave things from time to time, but she thought, this wasn’t one of them.

Having fixed the wheel and trained as usual albeit later in the day, she returned home to find the ingredients for her recovery smoothie entirely and utterly used up. There were two blueberries and half a banana left. The double pack of natural yoghurt appeared to have disappeared. Again, a little searching found them again, frozen solid in the freezer.

Having got through the day she was ready for her second bout of training to find her kit still completely soaking. By now she was pretty certain these things were not oversights on her part. But it was only on Sunday that she decided this really was the case. This time it was not just a flat tyre, it was an entirely disappeared front wheel. She texted Peter angrily asking him where the hell it was and he texted back quite calmly and considerately saying that he was very sorry to hear about this disappearance and it really honestly had nothing to do with him. And had she tried the cupboard under the stairs and he was sure he’d heard Anna rummaging around in there earlier, and maybe she was just being tidy.

Sure enough the wheel was in the cupboard under the stairs, but Jenny could only find it after tracking down the right key for that particular lock, which given it wasn’t a very often used cupboard took some more time.

“By the way,” Peter texted half an hour later, “There are roadworks across the connection road from the estate to the ring road. Advise an alternative route.”

Jenny almost did and then smelt a rat. She went her usual route and sure enough there was nothing wrong at all.

“Thanks for the tip,” she sent back, later.

That evening the two actually met in person. Their conversation was amicable enough, even if they seemed to be hovering around the conversation they actually wanted to have. Helen, still smarting from having to go to school and do actual work everyday was growing tired of this weird kind of banter.

“Good day at work?” asked Peter.

“Exceptional, thanks, yeah,” said Jenny. “Really energising. You? Did you get off the sofa?”

“What’s a sofa?” asked Peter.

“And I’ve been able to do some work on the bike,” said Jenny. “Taking the front wheel off has meant I’ve been able to get into the bearings and get some good grease in there. It’s sailing so smoothly I barely need to touch the pedals.”

“Was Anna at work today as well?” asked Peter.

“Oh yeah,” said Jenny. “Supporting me once hundred per cent of the way all the time.”

“Really? When I talked to her she was sounding a bit tired of all this cycling stuff. Said she was going to try and slow you down or distract you a bit. Think she’s feeling neglected.”

“Ha!” Said Jenny, “I can assure you she’s not.”

“Well,” said Peter, “That’s great but just be careful when you have a kiss and cuddle at work, hey? Could lead you into trouble if you’re not careful."

Helen sighed audibly. She didn’t need to say anything more. Peter snapped the toast as it shot out of the toaster and plastered an enormous amount of jam over it. Only now he was on what he considered a health kick so he smothered it with peanut butter too. He scoffed this down without much ceremony. 

“Energy unit,” he said. “Food of the gods. Especially the cycling gods.”

“Oh, did Anna tell you? Jude called,” said Jenny. “She wants to cook for you tonight.”

"Excellent," said Peter. "I’ll go there now, then. On the bike."

And he left.

“That was nice of Jude,” said Helen, breathing in the diffused atmosphere.

“Yes,” said Jenny, “It would have been, wouldn’t it? If she weren’t working now.”

And she smiled a satisfied smiled.