by Mel Sparke
Catrina Osgood drew breath just long enough to pop a forkful of pasta with pesto sauce into her mouth and take a glug of fizzy mineral water. Then she was off again, continuing to tell Zac about her shopping expedition to the city with her friend Vikki at the weekend.
They had been in Luigi’s for forty-five minutes and so far Cat had spent most of their date regaling her boyfriend with the story of her life over the few days since she’d seen him last Friday. As usual, Zac simply nodded in all the right places and stared adoringly into her eyes.
‘“Course,” she went on, “I said to Vikki, ‘I’ll have to pull it up a bit, because it’s not what I call short!’”
She gave Zac a girlish giggle and appeared not to notice his face flush at the thought. His eyes darted quickly away from her to the lasagne he was picking at. Cat, meanwhile, carried on.
“I tried to get the director to let me wear it for my scene in the revue on Friday but he thought it looked too expensive for someone out of work and with a child, so I let the idea drop. Ooh, that reminds me…” Cat broke off and bent to rummage through her bag. She pulled out a wad of A4-size paper and dumped it on to the table in front of her.
“I’ve brought my script along,” she continued, urgently flicking through to find the page she wanted. “l thought you could run through it with me. We had a rehearsal last night and I slipped up a couple of times. Nothing major; I don’t think the audience would notice, but… well, I’m such a perfectionist, I’d feel I’d let myself down if anything happened like that on the night. Now, let me see, where is it?”
Intently watching her bent head as she thumbed through the manuscript, a little smile tweaked at the corners of Zac’s mouth. He couldn’t get his head around how someone could eat, talk, drink and read from a script at the same time. And look drop-dead gorgeous into the bargain. She was so spontaneous and lively and cute…
“What’s the matter, Zac?” demanded Cat suddenly, looking up and prodding her fork at his dinner. “Aren’t you hungry?”
Zac shook his head. “I don’t often eat this late.”
“But it’s not even nine o’clock,” said Cat incredulously. “Don’t you eat late when you go on a date?”
“I don’t go on many dates,” he explained, “so meals out are few and far between.”
Cat thought about this. She wondered how many girls Zac had been out with. He obviously wasn’t very experienced with girls. He’ was probably too shy. She went on loads of dates - with most of the guys who asked her, in fact. But maybe the very fact that they had got together made this one special; Zac seemed to be admitting that she was special to him. It was a real ego boost.
“You should have said,” she cooed. “I’d have been just as happy going to a café somewhere. Mind you, I was pretty starving and that pasta was great. Aw, you’re so sweet…”
Cat put down her fork and leant over the table to give Zac a little kiss on the lips.
“You’re not hungry but you brought me here for a nice meal, anyway. I can’t believe how lucky I am; you’re so nice to me. Now, you can read the part of Georgie. From the top of the page, OK?”
Zac took the script and began to read for Cat, who instantly got into her part, throwing her arms - and her voice - around so much that she soon had the other people in the restaurant gawping at her antics. Zac found it acutely embarrassing. He spoke his part in little more than a whisper, whereas Cat delighted in the attention and became increasingly animated, at one point even throwing her cutlery on the floor in a show of mock anger.
This brought the waiters scurrying over to make sure everything was all right. Cat produced her most winning smile and said that everything was fine, thank you. And then undaunted, carried on with her act.
By the time they’d got to the end of the scene, Zac had sunk low into his seat, his beetroot face buried in the script, while Cat was on her feet shouting at the imaginary unemployment office benefit clerk about where the heck her month’s worth of missing giro cheques had bleedin’ well got to.
When she finally flopped back into her chair, a rousing round of applause broke out from the tables around her. Cat beamed, stood up once more, took a theatrical bow and sat down again, giggling profusely.
The approval of the rest of the restaurant made Zac lighten up a bit. He allowed himself a chuckle and wondered, not for the first time, at how extrovert Cat was. We’re so different, he thought. Part of me will be amazed if this works out between us.
Half an hour later as they walked back to the flat Cat shared with her mother, she was still revelling in the reaction her impromptu performance had caused.
“I couldn’t help myself,” she proclaimed, her hand grasping Zac’s tightly as she skipped along the pavement. “Once I’d got into the swing of it, I became the part. It must be like how Jennifer Aniston feels on the set of Friends, when she thinks herself into the role, and suddenly - bam! - she is Rachel. It’s a truly amazing feeling…”
She gave a big sigh and pulled Zac a little closer to her as they walked. “You know,” she went on, “I’ve had a really good time tonight. The best. We’ve had such a laugh, haven’t we? And a really good chat.”
They came to a stop outside the door of the mansion block where Cat lived and she snuggled into his body for a goodnight kiss.
“I feel like we’re a lot closer after tonight, Zac. I can feel I’m really getting to know you. There’s a good vibe between us, isn’t there? I can’t wait to see you again. You’ll be along to see me on Friday night, won’t you?”
“You try and keep me away,” smiled Zac.
“I don’t suppose I’ll be able to speak to you before I go on-stage, I’ll be too involved with getting into my part for that, but there’ll be a bit of a do at the bar afterwards. You will come, won’t you?”
She pulled him to her and gave him a lingering kiss on the lips before turning round, putting her key in the door and tottering inside, pausing at the bottom of the stairs to turn and wave to him.
Zac slowly retraced his steps towards his house, his mind racing and a bemused expression on his face. How can she say she was getting to know me when she spent the entire evening talking about herself? he wondered.
Shrugging, he carried on walking.
CHAPTER 4
RINGING THE CHANGES
Sonja Harvey strode purposefully down Winstead High Street, her immaculately cut, honey-blonde hair glinting in the late afternoon sunshine. Engrossed in her thoughts, she was blissfully unaware of the effect she was having on a group of workmen who had stopped digging a hole in the road and were gawping at her instead.
She was thinking about Ollie’s birthday present. His eighteenth was less than two weeks away and after several shopping expeditions into Winstead and the city, Sonja was still at a loss as to what to buy him. Knowing she was short on time as well as ideas, she had resorted to nipping into town after school in the hope that something would leap out of a shop window at her.
So far nothing had.
It would help, Sonja had decided, if she could keep her mind trained on the idea of presents for Ollie, instead of letting it slip into Owen mode. She’d seen loads of things to buy for her boyfriend, but had to keep giving herself a mental telling off and dragging her thoughts back to Ollie instead.
Sonja crossed the road and headed into the Plaza. A shop selling gadgets had opened at the weekend and, although Ollie wasn’t particularly into whizz bang inventions designed to make life a whole lot easier… well, she was getting desperate and hoped that something in there might appeal.
As she’d expected, the mall wasn’t exactly teaming with shoppers as it was so near closing time. It was a perfect opportunity to wander from shop to shop, browsing, without the distraction of flustered mums, screaming children and mile after mile of buggies to contend with, unlike on a weekend. What Sonja didn’t expect was to see anyone she knew there, least of all the person she was buying a birthday present for.
And yet there was Ollie, acro
ss the way, standing outside Penelope Red, the town’s smart jewellery shop. Sonja smiled to herself, struck by how comical he looked, with his nose literally pressed up against the glass. He was obviously staring at something in the shop window, oblivious to life going on around him.
The purpose of her visit to town temporarily forgotten. Sonja decided to spook Ollie by creeping up and putting her hands over his eyes and whispering “Guess who?” in a scary voice. She skulked towards him, a wicked grin on her face. As she got within arm’s length, she glanced over his shoulder and into the shop window.
Then she saw what Ollie was looking at so intently.
Omigod! Sonja let out a little gasp of amazement. Instantly, Ollie swivelled round to face her, guilt written all over his face.
“Sonja!”
He didn’t recognise the high-pitched squeak that came out of his mouth, much less the sudden light-headedness, like when you get up out of a chair too quickly and feel as if you’re going to faint. Then Ollie realised he’d stopped breathing and had to take in a deep, deeep lungful of air to stop himself falling over. Seeing Sonja was a total shock. He felt as if he’d been caught snogging someone he shouldn’t. Except this seemed much, much worse.
“Uh… H-h-hi.” he added pathetically.
Sonja just stood and stared at him, her eyes wide with astonishment, her mouth gaping.
He saw her swallow hard.
“You… you and Kerry… you’re not…?” She looked over his shoulder again and slowly took in the vast display of engagement rings in the window. Row upon row of gold, platinum and silver rings sat gleaming in their plush padded trays. Huge and not so huge diamonds, emeralds and sapphires sparkled in the artificial light.
“Uh-uh…” Ollie’s voice trailed off. He gulped, realised there was no getting out of the situation, looked at the floor and said weakly, “I guess so. Well, actually, er, what I mean is, she doesn’t know yet. I was, urn, thinking of asking her, you know…”
Sonja’s brain went into overdrive. Ollie and Kerry getting married? Omigod, omigod, omigod!
“No!” For a moment Sonja didn’t realise she had spoken out loud. She hadn’t meant to, even though her initial, instinctive reaction to the idea was a definite ‘don’t do it’.
“Oh, Ol, I’m sorry,” she said, kicking herself for her gaffe. “I didn’t mean to say that. It’s just such a… surprise. You know, seeing you - you know - and realising what you were up to.”
“It’s OK.” Ollie looked shyly at his friend. “To be honest, I don’t really know what I’m up to. Look, d’you fancy a coffee? I could do with a chat. That is, if you’re not in a hurry.”
“Sure. Let’s go over here.” They began walking the few paces to the café at the centre of the Plaza. “Actually, I was in town looking for a birthday present for you. You can do me a favour by telling me what you want.”
“A bit of advice would be the best present you could give me at the moment,” sighed Ollie. He raked his hand through his hair and began massaging the back of his neck, moving his head gingerly from side to side.
“Headache?” sympathised Sonja.
“Brainache, more like.”
They ordered a couple of cappuccinos and sat at a little round table in the middle of the near deserted café.
“So, Ol, what’s the deal?”
Ollie took a cube of brown crystallised sugar from the bowl on the table and plopped it into his coffee cup. Then he began stirring the frothy liquid slowly with his spoon, buying time as he tried to get what he wanted to say into some kind of coherent order.
“Well, it’s like this. My gran’s giving me £500 for my eighteenth birthday. Natasha’s getting the same - it’s some investment thing that’s been accumulating since we were born. And I want to do something really special with it. You know, not fritter it away on spare parts for my Vespa, or blow it on CDs and this and that. I want to use it for something memorable. So I decided that I’d like to spend it on Kerry because, well, she’s the most special thing in my life.”
“Aw, Ol.” Sonja grabbed his hand and gave it a squeeze. “That’s such a lovely thing to say.”
He smiled sheepishly. “It’s true, Son. So anyway, I got to thinking and I kept coming back to this really crazy-sounding idea maybe I should ask Kerry to marry me. So I thought, what the heck, we’re going to end up together anyway, why not get engaged? What do you think?”
Sonja considered Ollie’s words carefully before she answered.
“Ol, I think what you’re talking about is a pretty massive thing. It’s maybe the biggest, most important decision you’ll make in your life. And my initial reaction is: what’s the hurry?”
She looked meaningfully at Ollie, who said nothing.
“I agree, there’s no doubt that you and Kez are the perfect match - so why change things from the way they already are? What would either of you gain from getting engaged that you haven’t already got?”
Ollie gave her a little smile. “Er, a good party?” he joked.
Sonja grinned back. “Yeah, a couple of massive hangovers and then you’d carry on exactly the same as you are now. It’s not as though Kerry needs you to show her you’re committed - you both already know that. So where’s the hurry?”
“I know. Actually. I’ve been kind of thinking the same. And the sensible part of me knows that she’ll be starting her teacher training soon, and that I want to do more with The Loud, so it would be crazy to make this sort of commitment. But - but I guess I wanted to make a big gesture, y’know? Give her something that she’ll remember for the rest of her life.”
“Yeah, but it doesn’t have to be an engagement ring; there are loads of other memorable things you could buy for her.” persisted Sonja.
“Such as?”
Sonja took a sip of her cappuccino and pondered the question. She was having enough trouble thinking of a present for Ollie, let alone being landed with another one for her best friend.
“Right now, nothing springs to mind.” she admitted, “but give me a while and I promise I’ll come up with something.”
“It’s got to be really special. Son.”
“Don’t worry, Ol,” Sonja reassured him. “I promise I’ll help you find Kerry a present she’ll cherish for ever.”
“You won’t say anything to her though, will you? You know, about… anything.”
Sonja reached across and ruffled his hair. “Forgotten it already. Come on, I’ll buy you a doughnut and we’ll get our brains in gear.”
CHAPTER 5
TROUBLE ALL ROUND
“Another Coke, Maya?”
Cat slid out of the red leatherette window seat in the End-of-the-Line café, stood at the head of the table and smoothed out the creases in her baby-blue jersey miniskirt. She watched as her friend stared out of the window and made no attempt to reply. Cat began tapping her glass irritably on to the Formica table top and turned the volume of her voice up a few decibels.
“Hell-lo, earth calling Maya!” she hollered, glancing at Kerry then raising her eyes to the ceiling in exasperation. “Come in. Maya Joshi, are you there?”
“Huh?” Maya jumped and looked round at the two girls who were now sniggering at her. “Sorry, did you say something?”
“Come on, Maya, you’ve been in another time zone since you got here.” mocked Cat. “Are you planning on rejoining this planet? I was asking if you wanted another drink while I’m up?”
“Uh, urn, no thanks, I won’t. I’ve got to go in a few minutes and I’ll only be busting for the loo half-way through class if I have another.” Maya fiddled absent-mindedly with her glass, then found her eyes drifting to the road outside again. The niggling feeling she’d had since her phone conversation with Alex yesterday hadn’t gone away; in fact, it was eating into her - fast.
“You’re not exactly with it this evening, Maya,” said Kerry as Cat sauntered up to the serving counter. Her words dragged Maya back to the real world once more. “Is everything all right? You’re not wo
rried about your photography class, are you?”
Maya put her head in her hands and peered down at the table top. Trust Kerry to pick up on her feelings.
“Actually, yes, I am. Well, not the class itself, more the guy who runs it.”
“Alex?” asked Kerry in surprise. “Oh no, Maya, what’s wrong? I thought everything was cool between you two. What’s happened?”
“Nothing really. It’s just a feeling I have about us that’s been bugging me.”
Cat came back with the drinks and caught the tail end of what was being said. She clattered the glasses noisily on to the table and sat down, sliding up close to Maya and shooting conspiratorial glances around the café.
“Who’s bugging you? What am I missing?” she whispered theatrically.
“It’s Alex,” Maya said. “There’s something not quite right between us, but I’m not sure what it is.” She gave a blow-by-blow account of what had happened the day before, including her recollection of the conversation in the Kamil Tandoori.
“What do you think?” she asked when she’d finished. She looked from Kerry to Cat and back again.
“If you ask me, it’s not that there’s something wrong between you,” Cat trilled, “but something wrong between us. It sounds to me like he doesn’t want to go out with you and your friends, he just wants to keep you to himself.”
“I think Cat might be right,” Kerry added worriedly. “Maybe he doesn’t like hanging around with a bunch of teenagers. Does that make any sense, Maya?”
Maya was uneasy. If what they all thought was true, it proved she was right to be worried about Alex not wanting to spend time with her friends. However, instead of agreeing with them, she chose to be the voice of reason.
“I don’t know. I can see what you’re saying,” she said diplomatically, “but I can’t believe Alex would be so narrow-minded. And anyway, when he does come out with us, he always has a great time - he says so himself.”