by Carol Wyer
She huffed in annoyance and decided there was nothing more she could do. Alex would be waiting for her. She picked up her Christmas present from Faith – a pair of earrings, soft blue feathers fashioned into the shape of butterfly wings, and put them on. The effect was instantaneous. Suddenly, she was coordinated and the earrings that dangled from her lobes caressed her cheeks and softened her face. She blew a kiss to Faith who’d be asleep in Barbados now. The text Chloe had received overnight indicated Faith’s night had gone as well as her own. She read it again:
My year is going out with a bang!
Happy New Year, Lovely. Hope it’s pure magic and you sell gazillions of books. Love you. X
A knock at the door sent Ronnie haring off. She crossed her fingers and hoped the day would go okay, although did it really matter? Alex wasn’t going to stay at Sunny Meadow once the development was completed. It hardly seemed worthwhile to get to know him only for him to up sticks and leave. A second rap at the door galvanised her into action. Whatever would be, would be. The fact was, she was going out for the day with a good-looking guy and that in itself was progress. Faith would be ecstatic and William would be horrified by her outfit and amazed any male would want to take her out. That was enough for her to shout, ‘Coming!’ as she bounded down the stairs.
* * *
‘Ashleigh’s missed a treat,’ said Alex as he popped a new potato, dripping in butter and topped with fresh parsley, into his mouth. ‘She loves salmon and this is some of the best I’ve had in ages.’
Chloe didn’t mind that it was just the two of them. In fact, she was relieved and even more pleased to discover there were no other visitors in the pub where they were eating. She pushed her knife and fork to one side. Alex was right about the salmon – succulent and perfectly cooked, it had been delicious. She sipped the crisp white house wine and gazed into the fire burning brightly. She imagined the room hadn’t changed in decades: low beamed ceilings on which hung rows of polished horse brasses, round wooden tables and chairs that bore the scars of time, faded cushions on wooden benches under large windows that looked out over hills and fields, and the enormous fireplace complete with a basket currently stacked with thick logs waiting to be burned. It was stuck in a time warp, and Chloe could imagine local farmers stopping off for a drink after working in the fields or eating a ploughman’s lunch or playing dominoes with friends, such was the feel of the place.
The woody aroma was heady and comforting and she didn’t want to move from her seat. Ronnie, asleep in front of the blazing fire, seemed equally content.
‘Skye,’ said Alex suddenly, wiping his mouth and sitting back with his own glass of wine. ‘Tell me about it.’
‘It was such a long time ago. I left when I was thirteen.’
‘But you remember it.’
Chloe could recall everything clearly: the tiny village school in grey stone, more like a cottage than a place for twenty children to learn about the world; Miss Hebdon, the class teacher, in a plaid skirt, white blouse and cardigan, no matter the weather; the windy days when she and her father would go exploring the cliff tops, hand-in-hand or make their way down to a beach to search for shells; her mother, hair under a scarf, baking cakes for afternoon tea and Georgia, hands in the air, pedalling her bike over the pathways and singing, not afraid of coming off. There were hundreds of memories she could have shared but she stuck to descriptions of the houses and families and scant details about her scientist parents.
‘Sounds spectacular. I’d like to go there one day,’ he said, rolling his fingers around the stem of the glass. ‘It must have been quite a shock to move from somewhere so wild and beautiful to a city.’
‘A huge shock. I was lucky I had Nanny Olive though. I can’t imagine what it would have been like if I hadn’t had her to look after me.’
‘What was your grandmother like?’
‘A trooper. She tried her best even though she was in pain too. She’d lost her son, daughter-in-law and one granddaughter. It wasn’t easy for her.’
He shook his head. ‘I’m sure that’s true. Too much sorrow to bear. We take everything for granted until it’s gone, don’t we?’ His gaze dropped to the back of his hands and Chloe was sure he wanted to say more. His words had hinted that he’d suffered too. She should say something that would allow him to talk about it but as she opened her mouth he suddenly straightened up and said, ‘Now, what about this book of yours. How did you come up with that idea?’
She was grateful for the change of direction in the conversation. She could talk about the villagers of Appletree and the book more easily. She didn’t want to forget her family but sometimes it was better to put such sorrow behind.
Chapter Thirteen
Saturday, 13th January
The next two weeks flew by and before she knew it she was once again in the back of Fairfax’s truck, next to Alex, on their way to the singleton meet-up.
‘What’s this event called?’ Alex asked.
‘Hold on tight!’ Eleanor said.
‘It’s not ziplining or circus acrobatics or something crazy like that, is it?’ Alex asked.
Eleanor pretended to zip her lips.
Chloe shifted uncomfortably. Even though she knew the singletons, there was still an element of concern. She hadn’t said anything to Alex about her condition. She’d avoided discussing William, her marriage and the reason she preferred to hide away from people. Not everyone understood what it was like to suffer from the disorder and the last thing she’d wanted to do was put him off. Their outing on New Year’s Day had gone very well: they’d followed lunch with a brisk walk alongside a meandering river where they’d chastised Ronnie for getting into the water and laughed when he’d ignored them and submersed himself with evident glee in pursuit of a moorhen who was much faster than him. There’d been no need to taint it with talks of ex-husband or social anxiety. Unfortunately, they’d not seen each other since.
He’d taken his father’s urgent phone call as they were about to drive home. A tree had collapsed during a storm and broken through an elderly aunt’s farmhouse roof in Norfolk, causing serious damage. Other buildings were also in need of urgent attention and Alex was duly despatched to see to the work. He’d only returned to the development that morning. New Year’s Day now seemed an age ago and for Chloe it had passed by quickly – too quickly – and she’d been left wanting more. How Alex felt was another story.
Chloe hadn’t been lonely. She’d spent considerable time trying to work out how best to plan and set out her garden. It was a challenge. She was good at looking after plants and had always tended their garden at Appletree but setting one up from scratch and knowing what to plant was beyond her capabilities. She was wary of employing a landscape gardening firm, her fear of strangers overriding the necessity to find somebody with whom she could entrust the project. She’d found out as much as she could about the sort of trees and vegetation she should plant, but it was a mammoth task. Meanwhile, Eleanor had dropped around to invite her over for coffee and Sean had rung her a couple of times to check on how she was doing and Faith, finally back home in London, had Skyped her. She’d also managed to write a few more chapters of the new book. There was no denying who she pictured when she described the sensual, masculine ambassador in her novel – the scenes had flowed from her fingertips as she’d imagined exactly what it would be like to be in Alex’s arms and in his bed. The wall that had been her writer’s block was gradually tumbling down brick by brick. Life was beginning to take shape for Chloe. Almost two weeks into the new year and she was making progress in many ways.
The truck trundled down country lanes and over a single arched bridge into the village of Weston. Chloe’s eyes were drawn to the church with its bell tower and the sign near it marked ‘VILLAGE DUCK POND’. They passed characterful houses and proceeded along the road for about a mile, past sloped fields dotted with grazing sheep. They rounded a bend and a magnificent building came into view – Weston Hall – and as the car’s ind
icator began to click repeatedly, Chloe became glued to her seat: it was one thing hanging out with ten people with whom she was acquainted and quite another going into a hotel where many others might be.
‘Here we are,’ said Eleanor. ‘Beautiful or what? It’s a Grade II listed building that was once a grand house. It’s used a lot as a wedding venue but today we’re using one of their function rooms for our event. Ah, there’s Rob, Sean and Danielle.’ She waved at the group. Rob, surrounded by a halo of smoke, shoved a vape pen in his coat pocket and strode purposefully towards the car.
He opened Chloe’s door for her with a shy hello. Her mouth opened and closed. He was going to invite her to the pantomime and she didn’t know how to handle it. She didn’t want to go or indeed give the man any false hope that there could be something between them.
‘Hi,’ she replied eventually. ‘Thanks very much.’
‘You didn’t open my door.’ Eleanor tugged her jacket into place.
Rob smiled. ‘Ah, but you have Fairfax to open your door.’
‘See, Fairfax. That’s what a gentleman does: opens doors.’
Fairfax shrugged good-naturedly.
Chloe couldn’t get her legs to work and summoned up every ounce of courage to descend from the vehicle and accompany Rob to the entrance. Alex had spotted Jacqueline’s bike growling into the car park and gone over to greet her, leaving Chloe and Rob alone. Rob gave a small cough and displayed his yellow teeth. Like a wolf’s. She knew what was coming next.
‘I wanted to catch you on your own before we went inside,’ said Rob, hand in his pocket. ‘I’ve got a front row ticket for Cinderella at the Garrick Theatre in Lichfield. I’m appearing in it and I’d really like you to come along. We could have dinner afterwards. You do enjoy pantomimes, don’t you?’
The huge man in front of her resembled a hopeful child, with eyes wide and a smile on his face, and as much as she didn’t want to disappoint him, she couldn’t lead him on. It had taken courage to approach her and it wouldn’t be fair to him. Honesty was once again the only policy. ‘I’ve never been to a pantomime,’ she began. He visibly brightened and opened his mouth but she continued speaking in hushed tones, ‘I can’t accept your offer.’
‘I don’t understand. Why not?’
‘I have a problem going out – anywhere. Even to these events. It’s difficult to explain but I get overwhelmed in company and I can’t face crowds or people I don’t know. I’m trying hard to reign it in but it’s an issue I’ve had for many years and going to a theatre might be one step too far for me.’
His heavy brows furrowed instantly. ‘I see. You’re giving me the brush off.’
‘No. Not at all. It’s absolutely true. I have social anxiety disorder. It’s a miracle I’ve managed to come along today. If it weren’t for Eleanor’s insistence and the fact I’ve come to know you all and you’re such nice people, I don’t think I’d go out much at all.’
‘I see.’ He shoved his hands deeper into his pockets. ‘Okay. Well, I hope you get better.’
‘Please don’t tell the others. I don’t want them to know. I hope you find someone else to take the ticket.’
‘I’m sure I will.’ The silence between them had become awkward and with a final nod, he moved off. Chloe inhaled deeply. It hadn’t gone well. Now Rob had taken umbrage and it was her fault. She felt terrible. This was why she didn’t tell people about the disorder. They never fully grasped what it was. She wished she’d come up with some other excuse. There were hundreds she could have made up. Why had she settled on telling him something so personal?
‘What did Rob want? He looked very intense,’ said Alex, ambling over with Jacqueline by his side.
‘Oh, not much. He always looks intense, doesn’t he?’
‘He didn’t invite you to his pantomime, did he?’ Jacqueline asked, running a hand through her short hair, flattened by her helmet. ‘Oh, he did, didn’t he? He asked me and then Danielle at the skating event, and after that, he asked Kaisha at the bowling event. We all said we were all washing our hair that night. What was your excuse?’
‘I don’t much like pantomimes,’ said Chloe, relieved she hadn’t been the only one to reject him.
‘He’ll be running out of potential dates soon, unless he moves onto the guys,’ she added with a tinkling laugh. ‘He’s playing one of the ugly sisters. Maybe we should all go together en masse to cheer him on.’
‘Oh no, we shouldn’t,’ said Alex.
‘Oh yes, we should,’ replied Jacqueline.
They all chuckled. ‘I felt sorry for him,’ said Chloe.
‘I wouldn’t. He has the hide of a rhinoceros. According to Danielle, he’s a serial dater. He went out with one of her friends but was put off when he found out she owned a python. At least that’s what she told him. He kept going on about his cats and she’d had enough of him. This group isn’t about finding a soulmate; it’s about enjoying life with like-minded people.’
Sean meandered over with Danielle. ‘We can’t guess what we’re doing,’ he said.
‘Alex suggested ziplining or circus acrobatics but I don’t think that’d be possible given where we are.’
‘I’d love to try acrobatics. I did a fire-eating course once,’ said Danielle who seemed to have got over her initial bout of shyness and was now smiling confidently.
Alex let out a low whistle.
‘It’s not hard. You have to be careful though. I set fire to my moustache. At least it saved me from getting it waxed that week.’ She choked back a laugh at Alex’s face.
‘You ready?’ shouted Eleanor from the top steps.
Chloe made her way with the others, keeping her head lowered. Jacqueline had given her an idea. Her character, Laila, could own a python. As she walked towards the building, feet crunching on the gravel, she conjured up a scenario that would have her readers guffawing and squirming in delight. She was so absorbed by her thoughts, she didn’t register they’d all arrived inside the function room, stripped bare of furniture, with a large circular mat in the middle of the floor until Jacqueline drew to a halt and giggled. Tim next to her, laughed raucously, head tipped back at the sight in front of him. Chloe followed his gaze, her eyes alighting upon Fairfax, a massive naked, baby-like Fairfax, wearing only a red thong. Laughter rose like bubbles, popping and echoing around the room. Fairfax was wearing a flesh-coloured padded sumo wrestler suit.
With glances at each other and sniggers, the group calmed down bit by bit. Eleanor once again began proceedings.
‘Delighted today to introduce you to Japanese Sumo wrestling, where each of you will take on the role of a rikishi – that means wrestler in case you were wondering – and attempt to push your opponent out of the doyho, which is Japanese for the ring, which you can see on the floor. You are not allowed to touch the ground with anything other than the soles of your feet. Fairfax will now demonstrate.’
Fairfax waddled into the middle of the circular mat, his seemingly tiny arms dangling from massive padded sleeves and he half bowed in the direction of a blond-haired man in a similar suit with a pink thong. They then rushed at each other, attempting to grab each other by any part of the suit, pushing and grunting as they did so. Fairfax lasted about thirty seconds before he landed on his back just outside the mat and had to be hauled up by his opponent.
Eleanor smiled at the sight. ‘See. Easy, isn’t it? We have padded suits for all of you and we’ve drawn up a knock-out challenge board, resulting in a semi-final and a final. You’ll be fighting for this wonderful trophy.’ She held up a crystal trophy bearing a plaque. ‘Okay, get ready and we’ll begin the tournament.’
The members made their way across to Fairfax and his companion who were now handing out the ridiculous-looking suits. Chloe slipped off her shoes and pulled hers over her head. She laughed at the irony of it. She’d been hoping to lose weight but this made her look like she was at least thirty stones. She strapped on the helmet that came with it. Jacqueline waddled across to her.
> ‘Bloody hell! It’s warm in this thing. How are we supposed to push anyone over? It’ll be like thrusting at a giant marshmallow?’ The atmosphere had turned convivial with everyone joking about how ridiculous they looked. Chloe caught glances from the other others and knew they all felt as ridiculous as she did. There was nothing more levelling than all looking like giant babies in thongs. Her earlier apprehension dissipated to be replaced by a sense of belonging. Sean pulled a face and pretended to pat his huge stomach.
‘Want me to take a photo of you for Suzy?’ Chloe asked, lifting her mobile from her bag on the seat next to her.
‘Would you? She’s going to love seeing her dad in this outfit.’
Chloe snapped a picture and also took one of Alex who was engaged in a belly fight with Tim.
‘I’ll text it across to your phone,’ she told Sean.
‘Thanks. You want one of you?’
‘No thanks. I remember being almost this size without a suit,’ she joked. She put her phone back and turned to see Rob half-walking and half-bouncing in her direction. She gave him a smile. ‘About earlier,’ he started.
She opened her mouth to apologise but he continued in a whisper. ‘I’m sorry about putting you on the spot. I didn’t mean to make you feel bad. I find it hard to mix too. I try hard but I say the wrong thing sometimes. I’ve been diagnosed with slight autism and sometimes it makes me blurt out stuff that scares people off, so I understand what it’s like to feel left out or to be different. I put people off.’