October Prep 2023

Day 14 - Antagonist Background Story

The alarm went off at 5 am, but Paul was already awake, or near enough anyway. He hated early mornings, especially in winter when the day started and ended in darkness. Hauling himself out of the wreck of his bed, and leaving it an untidy pile of sheets and duvet and blankets, he went through his routine. Made himself a coffee, and a flask of same, to take with him. Pissed, dressed, fed Billy the Bull, a three year old bulldog and his only companion.

Then he headed to work, an Amazon warehouse, just off the main road and about ten minutes drive away at this time of the morning when traffic was still light. Or, it would be ten minutes if he didn't get behind some arsewipe who drove at exactly two miles under the speed limit. Paul got his Audi right behind the bastard, where his headlights were bound to be in the useless cunt's mirror. When he got to a straight stretch he pulled back a little, then gunned the car past the irritant, roaring past on the wrong side of the road. Paul didn't give the jerk another thought as he put his foot down and made up for lost time.

At work he sorted out loading his van, he was an old hand now, and had it down slick. By 7 am he was on the road and ready to make deliveries. Though he hated the job, and the warehouse managers and pretty much everyone else who worked for Amazon, Paul was good at his job. He drove the same area all the time and had a photographic memory of every short cut and time saving route he could utilise.

Whilst he drove he generally thought about what he was going to do when his work day eventually ended. It being a weekday, there was no car meet, and no rugby to look forwards to, so he planned to take Maddy out to the club. Maddy who when Paul was at high school had been Matthew, and two years below him, was Paul's girlfriend. Paul was careful not to think too much about the fact that he'd fancied Maddy when she'd still been Matthew, and had only ever admitted it to Maddy herself.

Maddy didn't especially like going to the club, but she did as she was told. No one who knew Paul bothered her there though, even if they did know her past. Paul was notoriously 'touchy' about it, and had once plastered Patrick Talbot's nose all over his face after Pat had made a derogatory comment. A part of Paul was ashamed of loving her, and when he was the worse for drink, a not irregular occurrence, he would sometimes make her 'pay' for the shame he felt. He'd be very conciliatory when he'd sobered up, and Maddy suffered his bouts of ill temper. She'd been surprised when Paul had first asked her out, not believing that anyone who'd known her as a boy would accept her, let alone this six foot two amateur rugby player. Maddy's elf confidence wasn't high, and she was afraid that if ever Paul left her, she'd be unable to find another man.

They had little in common though, and Maddy trailed along with Paul as he did the things he wanted to do. He no longer played rugby, but watched both live and televised events as often as he could, Maddy found them incredibly boring, but after once mentioning it and being told she was his girl and she'd better get used to doing what he wanted, she never commented again. Paul also liked to go to car meets, legal or illegal, where petrol heads showed off their vehicles.

Paul was saving for a new Audi S3, but his current car was modified so the exhaust roared noisily when he accelerated. Maddy would stand near him at the meets, intimidated by the other drivers and vaguely terrified that one of the drivers would lose control as they raced along the car parks and street and crash into them.

Paul himself was largely oblivious to what Maddy thought or wanted. His world view was in some respects old fashioned. His father had brought his two lads up to believe that men were in charge, and women were there to do what they were told. Not that Paul got on terribly well with his Dad. They saw one another often enough, usually at rugby matches or in the club, but predictably his dad thought Maddy was a bloke in a dress and that made Paul a bloody homosexual. Though he'd sometimes mutter to himself, he had enough sensibility of Paul's size and temper not to make too much of a fuss about the situation though. Paul's brother Nick often acted as a mediator, preventing major bloodshed. Nick couldn't care less about what Maddy was or wasn't, it was none of his business so why should he waste time caring.

Finishing his rounds and heading home, Paul decided to order a take-way. He's take Billy a walk, have a shave and then pick Maddy up. He had a feeling there was a live band tonight, and he liked a bit of music whilst he had a drink. Should be a good night. Only a couple more and it would be the weekend. There was an International on the telly, he was looking forwards to that.