by Tara Ford
“It is,” agreed Hayley. “It’s been quite funny to hear what’s been going on.”
“I can imagine it has.”
“Georgie thinks you hate her as well.” Hayley laughed and pointed to the bar where Georgie was busily serving people with drinks.
“Does she?” Tiff concealed her true feelings, and feigned amusement. “Why?”
“Said you’ve been a bit off with her.” Hayley smiled and sipped her drink. “Don’t worry – she’s cool with it. She said she was hoping to catch up with you and sort it all out.”
“Oh, OK…”
“She’s done so much though. Joe couldn’t have done all of this without her.”
Tiff picked up her glass and gulped at it.
“She did all the food – looks great doesn’t it?”
“Err… yes, it does… I didn’t know she’d helped out so much.”
“Oh yes,” Hayley said, “she’s been a little star – bless her.”
“I’m shocked.”
“Well, if it hadn’t been for her yesterday, Wayne and Joe wouldn’t have got your bedroom finished either.”
Tiff stared, wide-eyed and had to snap her fallen jaw shut. “Really? Why? What did she do?”
“Well, apart from chivvying them along and making them drinks, she also hung your curtains, put the lampshade up and built the two bedside cabinets. She said your bedroom must look gorgeous now it’s finished.” Hayley paused and looked over at the bar. “She’s put in so much effort. She was so excited that you two were getting engaged, so she offered to do the buffet weeks ago.”
Tiff sat perfectly still and speechless. Everything was beginning to add up.
“She can’t wait for the wedding – she’s already said to Joe that she wants an invite.” Hayley giggled. “She wants to do a buffet for that too.”
“I…” Tiff took another large gulp of her drink. “I can’t believe she would do so much. I… well, we hardly know her.”
“She does have an ulterior motive to be honest with you.”
“Oh, does she?”
“Yes, she wants to go into catering – self-employed – she saw Joe as an opportunity to make a start. He was happy to give her the chance.”
“Ah, OK.”
“She needs a break to be honest. She’s never had much going for her.”
“Yes, I can see that now. I’d better… I should thank her later when she’s less busy.”
“Think she’d appreciate that. She’s pretty worried that you hate her and she’s had to hold her tongue a couple of times as she wanted to tell you things so that you’d understand.”
Tiff stared incredulously. “I’ll… I’ll definitely talk to her later. Thanks for letting me know.” She stood up and wiggled her dress down. “I’d better go and talk to some more people. Thank you so much for everything you and Wayne have done. Hopefully, I’ll catch up with you again in a while. The girls from the studio, where I work, are sitting over there. They’re as bad as the rest of you and have kept this very quiet at work. I can’t get over the fact that everyone knew except me.” Tiff grinned and waved her fingers as she walked away from Hayley, her wine spritzer, firmly in her other hand. It was becoming more and more apparent that she had been seeing certain things and certain people in an ultra-negative way.
“OK, guys and gals – gonna take a little break now as the buffet is officially open.” The DJ put down the microphone, pulled the top from his bottle of water, and gulped it down as the main lights went on around the room.
Tiff had listened to her colleague’s tales of how Joe had popped into the studio to deliver some invitations. He had happened to choose a day when Tiff had left work unexpectedly early. The girls in reception had to hide him under the desks until she had gone. Tiff had unknowingly, been the laughing stock of the studio as she hadn’t noticed his car parked two along from her own, when she’d driven away that day.
Tiff heaved a contented sigh. “I don’t know,” she muttered, “I can’t believe this has all gone on behind my back and I didn’t see any of it coming.”
The girls laughed and chattered around her.
“You are in your own world most of the time, Tiffy,” said Pat, shaking her head. “You’ve been at your worst just lately.”
“Yes, I know. I’m going to make a concerted effort to get my act together, be more attentive and pull my head out of the clouds.” And Tiff’s words had far more meaning than anyone else could imagine. She’d spent far too long obsessing over Georgie and the things that woman got up to, that she had to agree with everything her colleagues had said. “Right – shall we get some food?”
Joe was hanging out with his rugby friends and their partners, in one corner of the room, as Tiff walked towards the buffet tables. A queue was forming at one end so she joined the back of it, behind Betty and Cyril. “Cyril – how are you? You look so well. I’m so pleased you could come.”
Cyril smiled. “Joe invited us just before the heart attack – I wasn’t going to miss it.”
“I told you we were going out tonight,” interrupted Betty, a sly grin on her face.
“That’s right, yes, you did. I never imagined it was here though.” Tiff placed a hand on Betty’s arm. “You’re very sneaky,” she said in jest. “I’ll have to watch you in future.”
“Poor Joe has been running around frantically, sorting all of this out. Have you seen the engagement cupcakes, up there?” Betty pointed to the end of the tables where a mountain of silver coloured cupcakes stood, each one with a sugar-work diamond ring on the top. The little cakes stood on a giant cake stand, which must have held at least 60 cakes. “I made those.”
“Oh my goodness – they are totally amazing.”
“And the tulip sprays.”
“You put those together too?”
“Oh, yes,” said Betty, beaming proudly.
“They are my favourite flowers…”
“I know they are. You’ve got some on your dining table, haven’t you? Joe wanted some for your table at home as well. He said you’d love them.”
“Yes,” said Tiff, stunned, once again, by the magnitude of Joe’s attention to detail. Yet she hadn’t even mentioned the beautiful tulips at home, let alone thanked him for them, due to her obsession with him having an affair with Georgie. How wrong she’d been. How terribly wrong. This had to be a new start now. She felt incredibly foolish and unworthy. She’d made a big mistake and put Joe through so much misery when the crux of the matter was that she had been the one who was really hiding things. Things that had been going on around them that she had kept to herself and let them twist her mind into all kinds of wicked, malicious and unfoundedly jealous thoughts.
Scanning the bewildering array of tantalizing nibbles, Tiff was astonished by the complexity of the bite-sized food. Georgie had really made some effort to make and present the buffet. From tiny plaited sausage rolls to elaborate canapes and creative open-sandwiches in finger shapes. All of the guests were commenting on the skill and time it must have taken to create such a spread. Tiff picked up some of the miniature pieces of art, one by one, and placed them on her plate. As soon as Georgie was free, she would make a point of thanking her and try to have a harmonious chat with her. She had to do this and tonight was probably the best time, as she had an alcohol induced courage about her.
Aaron had sidled up to Joe and his band of merry men. Tiff could see and hear them all laughing together as she moved along the line with the rest of the hungry people. Joe’s family were sitting in the corner with Tiff’s mum and dad, nibbling away at their food. They all chatted contentedly, as if the two sets of parents had known each other for years. Tiff smiled as she watched her mum natter to Alex, Emma and Jenny. They all looked happy. Dad was even having an in-depth discussion with Grant, which worried Tiff a little. Her dad usually talked about lectures and mathematics, non-stop, which tended to bore most people, but Grant seemed to be responding in a positive manner, so maybe he wasn’t doing a maths-overload
speech. Maybe she needed to stop worrying so much about what others were doing and concentrate more on herself and Joe.
“Are you getting some food?” Tiff had wandered over to the rowdy group of men. “It’s utterly amazing.”
Joe turned and wrapped an arm round her shoulders. “Yes, my darling fiancée, I will be, in a minute.” He pulled her into the circle and squeezed at her shoulder. “Here she is,” said Joe, a little slurry. “My beautiful wife-to-be.”
“Hope you’re going to keep him in check,” said one man, who Tiff recognised but couldn’t, for the life of her, remember his name at all.
“Oh yes, I certainly will,” she replied, mockingly. “He needs to get something to eat now, before he falls over – that’s the first check.”
Joe and the others laughed and the circle naturally broke as they began to wander off to the buffet tables.
“What do you think then?” said Joe, still holding her round the shoulders.
“I’m completely overwhelmed by it all.”
“I knew you would be babe. Tomorrow, I will explain everything to you. Let’s just enjoy tonight while it lasts. We have the rest of our lives to sort everything else out.”
“I don’t think you need to explain anything to me. I need to say one thing though.”
“What’s that?”
“I never thanked you for the tulips on our table, yesterday.”
“You have now.” Joe lowered his head and kissed her briefly.
Tiff smiled warmly. “Thank you for everything you’ve done.”
“No,” said Joe, softly, “thank you, for saying yes.” He pecked her on the cheek and walked away to the side of the stage.
Tiff turned around to head back to the tables when she noticed Joe up on the stage, alongside the DJ.
“Ladies and gents… Can I have your attention for a minute?”
Tiff froze on the spot, wandering what on earth he was doing up there.
A hush flooded around the room and a sea of expectant faces peered up at the stage.
“I want to say a big thank-you to a few people before we carry on with the evening and I’m sure that I will be speaking on behalf of my beautiful fiancée, too.” He pointed a finger towards Tiff. “First of all, I must congratulate Georgie on a spectacular spread this evening – please give her a round of applause.”
A thunderous applause and an odd cheer, filled the room.
Georgie waved coyly from behind the bar.
“We will most certainly be using her services again, for the wedding, in the near future.”
Near? Thought Tiff as a rush of tingly excitement darted around her body.
“If anyone has any catering requirements coming up, please don’t hesitate to take a business card from the bar. Georgie would be more than happy to give you a quote.” Joe peered over to the bar and smiled at a bashful Georgie.
Tiff also looked over to the bar and was a little surprised to see Georgie looking so coy. It wasn’t her usual type of expression but she did seem to be portraying a far friendlier look. Or was it that Tiff had never really looked at her in any other way than with disdain? Maybe Tiff had never really seen her for who she really was.
“I’d also like to thank Betty, for the incredible cupcakes; Wayne and Hayley, for keeping me sane throughout this whole secret mission; all the volunteers, here in the community centre, and last but not least, thank-you to each and every one of you for the amazing amount of gifts and particularly, for successfully deceiving my future bride.” Joe scanned the audience, smiling widely. “A toast to the future,” he roared and lifted the microphone up in the air.
The guests grabbed the nearest glasses of alcohol and lifted them in the air, as a hubbub of voices echoed around the room. “To the future – To Joe and Tiff.”
The evening had been such fun and everyone had appeared to enjoy themselves immensely – some more than others.
Poor Emma had been overly drunk when Andrew carted her away. The whole family, including Tiff’s mum and dad, were staying in a quaint, countryside hotel, just two minutes away. Once again, Tiff had been astounded by the depth of Joe’s rigorous planning, right down to the finest of details. She’d also learnt that they were all attending a barbecue at her home, tomorrow afternoon. That explained the clean-up, the new barbecue and the patio furniture.
As the guests began to dwindle down to the last few, the DJ packed away his equipment and the volunteers began to clear away the empty glasses and plates from the tables. Georgie was still behind the bar, tidying up and wiping down the tops. Joe was sitting down with Wayne, Hayley and the remaining family, namely Tiff’s parents, Aaron and his girlfriend, Jenny.
Tiff had just seen her work colleagues to the door, after Joe had politely thanked them for coming and commented favourably on the generous number of gifts they had given. So now she had two choices as she wobbled back across the room and looked from one side to the other. Did she go and join Joe and co. or venture over to the bar and speak to Georgie? She had to do it. It would be better to do it tonight. Right now.
“Hello Georgie.”
Georgie looked up from behind the bar and smiled. She placed the cloth she’d been holding, into a bucket behind her and leant over the bar. “Hello.”
“I just want to say a massive thank-you to you. The food was utterly amazing.”
“Thanks,” said Georgie, lowering her gaze to the bar top. “I wanted it to look really good for you – I think it went OK.”
“Oh, it did look really good and it tasted even better.” Tiff pulled a stool over and sat down. “Look, I know I haven’t been that friendly towards you. I want to apologise. It’s just that…” Tiff broke off and averted her eyes.
“No need to apologise for anything. I suppose that from your point of view… well, it must have seemed a bit strange…”
“Strange?”
“Well, more Joe’s behaviour, I suppose. He told me not to text him at home and… well, I forgot on a couple of occasions. I’m sorry it caused some upset.”
Tiff shook her head incredulously. “It’s like all the pieces of the jigsaw are coming together. Somehow, I knew it was you texting him but I… well, I had completely got the wrong end of the stick.”
“I know. Joe did say that…” Georgie turned and grabbed the cloth from the bucket. She wrung it out and began to wipe the top again.
“What did he say?”
“Oh, only that you were a little suspicious of…” She let out a little awkward giggle. “He said you thought we were having an affair.”
Tiff lowered her head, shamefully. “Yes, that’s right.”
“Tiff,” she said, moving further over the bar, “I’m not like that. I would never dream of doing anything like that. I consider Joe to be a friendly neighbour who I was able to help – that’s all.”
“But…” Tiff replied, defensively, “I know what…”
“What?” Georgie leant even closer still. “What do you know? Please, tell me.”
Tiff shook her head. “It’s nothing – really.”
Georgie shot a quizzical stare. “Is it…” She hesitated and looked across the room to where the remaining guests were huddled around the last few tables. “Is it anything to do with… I don’t know how to say it.”
“Please, just go ahead,” said Tiff, curiously. “Whatever we say here, stays between me and you.”
Georgie pulled up from the bar and straightened her back. “I just wondered what you meant when you said you know something.”
“Look, Georgie, when we first moved here, I had no jealousy in me at all. It all began soon after we moved in. The things I saw…”
“Saw?” Georgie’s eyes turned wide and fearful. “What did you see?”
“I can’t believe I’m having this conversation with you. I only wanted to come and thank you… and hopefully be friendly neighbours in the future. It’s just that…”
“It was the day I saw you in the window, wasn’t it? With the binoculars?”
Georgie’s eyes were wider than ever and she met Tiff’s eyes with a terrified gaze.
“What do you mean?” Tiff feigned ignorance.
Georgie buried her face in her hands. “Oh dear.”
“Shall we talk about this another time?”
Nodding her head, Georgie continued to cover her face. She sniffed.
“Are you crying?” Tiff whispered, before turning her head to check that no one was around.
Peeping through her fingers, Georgie looked across the room before taking her hands away from her face. She blinked her watery eyes. “You know, don’t you?”
“Know what?” Tiff looked at her deeply. “I’ve seen…” She broke off. She couldn’t bring herself to say anything. It seemed too unreal now that she was standing face to face with Georgie.
“Can we talk sometime else? I’ve got to get this place cleared up before I go.” Georgie casually brushed a finger under one eye and then the other. “Can we? On Monday? Just you and me? Have you told anyone else?” There was an unnerving desperation in her voice. “We really need to talk.”
Tiff nodded her head. “Yes, we do and no one else knows, I promise you, not even Joe knows anything. I’ve really struggled with this. I can get the day off on Thursday. Is that any good for you?”
“Yes, Thursday is fine,” Georgie replied with a wavering voice. “I’m sorry.”
“What are you sorry for? You don’t need to be sorry to me.”
“No, I am… I never realised…” She froze as she stared across the room. “Joe’s coming –”
Joe casually strolled over with his hands in his pockets.
“See you Thursday,” whispered Tiff, just before he arrived at the bar.
“Babe, we’re going to make a move in a minute,” he said, sidling up to her and slipping an arm round her waist. “You all right Georgie?”
“Yes, fine thank you. Just finishing up here.”
“Do you want a lift back, we’ve got a couple of taxis ordered, there are just so many presents.”
“No, you go on. I’ll get finished here. Charlie’s going to run me home anyway.” Georgie smiled falteringly. “Hope you all have a lovely barbecue tomorrow.”