The Party Girl's Invitation

by Karen Elaine Campbell

  She could hear movement in the room next door, gran was up already then. The walls to the cottage were thick and sturdy, and the building itself was huge, having once been two properties that had been knocked into one, many years ago now, but there wasn’t a lot of privacy, staying with your gran. Considering she was supposed to be an invalid, she’d had a list of complaints as long as your arm, by the time Crystal had made it in through the front door last night. She was late for her meal, what had she been doing at the factory so late, and why was Jazz bringing her home? And that was only for starters. The possibility of the scruffy old bike being stolen in the night, the inconvenience to ‘poor’ Norma and whatever would the neighbours think, being seen out with Jazz, had all been scrutinised. Couldn’t she be a bit more circumspect with her behaviour? Gran’s tightly knit grey perm had quivered with outrage, at the thought of the neighbours.

  As a pillar of the local community, and chairwoman of the bridge club at the ‘Primrose Manor Country Club’, gran took her responsibilities very seriously indeed. There was a lot to be said, for coming back home, but she’d forgotten about the almost microscopic interest everyone took in everyone else’s behaviour. There was very little malice in it, of course, but it would upset her gran, if she caused too much scandal. She would have to behave herself for sure.

  There was a rattle on the door handle, as Norma peered around the frame, jostling in with a large tea tray and the daily newspaper. “Hello, good morning, I thought you were awake. Your gran had a bad night, last night, so we were both up early. I thought you might like some tea and toast, in bed.”She plonked the tray down on the dressing table, and continued “Don’t expect this every morning, mind. We are just all so pleased to see you home, at last.”

  Crystal pushed herself up into a sitting position, as Norma sat down, uninvited, on the foot of the bed. “So what have you been up to young lady?” she asked without preamble, gold rimmed glasses pushed down onto the tip of her nose, and peering out over the frames.

  “Last week, this week, or last night?” Crystal hedged.

  “I know very well what you were up to last night, we all saw you with Jazz, canoodling in his car.”

  Crystal had the grace to blush, a fact that did not go unnoticed by Norma.

  “This is not London you know, dear,” she advised kindly, placing a protective hand over Crystal’s on the bed. “So, what does he kiss like then, all sexy and hot?”

  Crystal laughed, a real juicy bubble of sound, rich and melodious. She bit her lip, “When he kisses me properly, I’ll let you know,” she lied. “That was just a peck really, more for gran’s benefit than mine, I think. He just wanted to set the net curtains twitching, I expect, nothing to write home about anyway.”

  Norma didn’t look convinced. “It looked pretty serious from where I was standing. It made me all hot just watching. Young men kissed a pretty girl’s hand on the first date, when I was courting. I reckon there was a bit of smooching there, between you and him, young lady.”

  “It wasn’t a date, Norma. He just gave me a lift home, because that stupid bike doesn’t have any lights on it, that’s all. I’m sorry I was late for your beautiful dinner. I stayed on at the factory to help the boys out with some figure work, they both had other arrangements, and I didn’t, the sales projections were all wrong and I had to re-do them, that’s why I was late. I was working, nose to the proverbial grindstone, you know me. Honest.”

  “And what was old ‘fancy pants’ doing up there then? Couldn’t he do the numbers himself. Clever man like that, I would have thought he’d be doing that kind of thing on that laptop of his, that he carries around everywhere with him. He even takes it on the train with him, you know.”

  Crystal was momentarily surprised at how much Norma seemed to know about Jazz and his movements, but then she shouldn’t be, really, she supposed. He had taken over the family firm, after all, and they had all had a strong bond with it for many years now. Mark and Jeremy had been kept on, in an advisory capacity, for the near future, at least, but they had to show their worth, and no mistake, or they would be off down the job centre along with everyone else in a few months time. Not sure if any answer was required, or not, she stayed silent.

  Satisfied that she had shared as many confidences as were forthcoming, for the moment at least, Norma stood up again, and smoothed down her ‘best’ pinny. Worn over her heavy tweed skirt and thick woollen tights, it was as much part of her ‘day’ clothes, as her pearls and cashmere jumpers, the latter smelling faintly of mothballs and her favourite ‘lily of the valley’ toilet water.

  “Are you in for lunch, or out?” she wanted to know.“I’m off to the market in a few minutes on the bus. I won’t be back for a couple of hours, you will probably be up and out by then. Do you want me to bring you anything?”

  “Out for lunch. I’m off to order some fancy dress costumes and do a bit of girly shopping. I might go into Bath on the train, I prefer the boutiques there. Dinner at the usual time tonight? I’ll be back, I promise.”

  Norma smiled.“Just see that you are, young lady. We’re having Beef Wellington, none of that fancy ‘foreign’ stuff, and it will spoil if you’re late. Proper family dinner, to welcome you home, your gran says.”She bustled out, taking the water glass from the side table with her as she went.

  The taxi pulled up outside the cottage at ten to six. Shopping done, country clothes purchased, a nail appointment booked and fancy dress costumes taken care of, Crystal was feeling pleased with her day’s work. There was just enough time to take a quick shower and put on one of her new party dresses before drinks in the drawing room.

  Gran was a stickler for tradition, and if the family were coming over, she’d want to do it properly, especially on a Saturday night. She stuck her head round the sitting room door, just to let her gran know that she was back, and then headed for the stairs, dragging her shopping along behind.

  When she descended the stairs, an hour or so later, she could hear the buzz of voices from the drawing room. She’d heard Mark and Ruth arrive about ten minutes ago, Jeremy was on his own, no sign of Verity, and there had been another couple at the door since, but she couldn’t quite place the voices. Older people, familiar voices in that braying country kind of a way, but she wasn’t really sure who gran had invited tonight. She smoothed down the rich velvet fabric which clung neatly to her hips, and pulled the matching shrug a bit more closely around her bare shoulders. There was a bit of a nip in the air tonight and the heating was a bit temperamental, the radiator in her bedroom was cold.

  Pushing open the door, gran sat in the middle of the couch, leg up and resting on a cushion, surrounded by ten or fifteen people, all chatting away, the room was full. Norma flitted in and out with a small tray containing nibbles and Mark was on bar duty. He made drinking movements with his spare hand, and Crystal nodded from the other side of the room.

  A couple of moments later, he arrived by her side, gin and tonic in hand.“Good evening, you’re looking very pretty tonight, been shopping?”

  “Bath. I ordered the costumes as well.”

  “And?”

  “Wait and see. It will spoil the surprise if I tell you now.” As it looked like he might say more, she glanced across the room, “Your wife wants you, and I need to go and talk to gran.” Saved by the bell. She waved hello at Ruth and then walked pointedly over to the sofa, bending down to give her gran a quick peck on the cheek.

  Over the next fifteen minutes or so, she was introduced to the other people in the room. The vicar gave her a very straight look, but didn’t say anything much. She wondered if Maude had been talking. She managed to avoid Maisie and her husband altogether, she had no intention of answering any questions about her private life tonight, thank you, and then bumped slap bang into the headmaster, Jonathan Rivers, and his pretty young wife Chelsea, “Call me Chessie,” she trilled, “Everyone does.”He was fat, fifty and balding now, he still wore hairy olive green suits that smelled of mothballs and his only
conversation revolved around the latest spending cuts and the deterioration in moral standards among the youth of today. How he had managed to court and marry such a flighty creature as Chessie, was a complete mystery. She on the other hand, started every sentence with ‘Jonathan says’, and ended every sentence with ‘I think’, a serious case of hero worship was emerging, it was painful to watch.

  Crystal was very thankful when Norma announced that dinner was served, and asked them all to take their places in the dining room, she’d already checked the seating arrangements, and she was next to Mark on one side and gran on the other. Fairly safe there.

  By the end of the evening, she’d had the opportunity to catch up properly with Jeremy, and he’d even volunteered to help her out with her new business venture. He’d insisted that she needed to meet up with the new lady in his life, Verity, and he’d also introduce her to an old mate from college days, Brad, who she vaguely remembered. He was into computers and ran a successful online technology business, he’d be able to help setting up a website and such like, when she was ready to move ahead with her plans.

  The idea had occurred to her as she had watched Jazz peering out irritably at the countryside from the carriage window, actually. Her skills were in event organising and promotion, and now that she’d messed up on the contract with Saskia and been sacked from ‘The Business’, she needed a new source of income, fast. She couldn’t stay here with her family forever, and one look at the fuzzy picture of her leaving her LA flat in the American papers had been enough to convince her that laying low in the wilds of Wiltshire was a good idea, for the time being at least. This part of her life was completely unpublicised, even Saskia didn’t know where she was from, so they wouldn’t find her until she was ready to be found, if ever.

  She needed to check out tourism opportunities in the area, find a quirky name for her new company and secure some funding primarily. Someone must know a few cash strapped students willing to help with a bit of market research, all she needed was some reliable data and a good sound business plan to get this thing off the ground. The family coffers were dry, and had been for some time so she’d have to approach the bank, they’d want cold hard facts, not just bright ideas.

  It was a mammoth task, but the alternatives were grim. She was far too old for casual farm work these days, fruit picking and haymaking had been great ways to earn some cash in her college days, but they were not long time career options. The labour market was very different here compared with the capital, and she had no intention of ending up in some dead-end solicitor’s office or a dusty old library somewhere, where her brain would end up as dried out and wrinkled as the books.

  The clock on the mantel was edging towards midnight as Crystal stood beside her gran’s chair with a final glass of brandy nestled in the palm of her hand, and watched the amber liquid swirl around in the base of the glass. Her mouth set, stubbornly. “I don’t understand why you need me to do it, gran. The boys have been on the board for years, but I’ve never attended before, I’ve never needed to. It’s not like there will be any money for the shareholders anyway, more like debts, if Jeremy is correct.”

  Gran winced, as she moved in her chair leaning sideways to get a better angle to look up at her granddaughter. “I’m not getting any younger.” She tapped her leg. “This is just the first indication that I’m getting on in years now. It’s all a bit much for me, these days. One day I shall be handing over my share of the company to you three anyway, it’s about time you all became involved in the politics of the firm. Someone needs to stand up to Jazz.” She looked sideways at Crystal, speculatively. “You’re more ruthless than your brothers, women are, I’ve found.”

  Crystal raised a brow. “Why on earth would you expect me to be ruthless, and why do you want me involved. The company has been running perfectly well these past two years, since mum and dad died, without any involvement from me, you know I left my stake with the boys when I went to America.”

  Gran pursed her lips. “Yes, and look what they’ve done with it. Handed it over, on a plate, to that man. He’s ripped out all of the antique panelling and sold it. Sold it, Crystal.”

  “It was worm eaten and foul smelling anyhow. And it made a profit, it’s gone to some stately home or other, where they are trying to recreate the original library which was lost to fire, so the headmaster was telling me at dinner tonight.”

  “How does Jonathan know all that then?”She looked sideways, as Crystal shrugged. “What do you make of that wife of his?”

  “Chessie? Is there an original thought in her whole head? She seems rather young. It was more than a little odd, sitting down to dinner and trying to hold a meaningful conversation, with a man who caught me smoking behind the bike sheds at fifteen, and knows that I cheated in my GCSE art exam, for starters. I kept trying to call him ‘Sir’, old habits die hard.”She laughed, “At least I didn’t use his nickname, though I was sorely tempted. The more I tried to think of something else, the worse it got. Images of the zoo animals kept flickering through my mind at the most inopportune moments.”

  “Jonathan? He doesn’t inspire me to think of zoo animals, he’s not exactly lion or tiger material, is he? Come on then, out with it, now you have started it, you can’t stop there. Spill the beans.”

  Crystal gave her gran a measured look, it wouldn’t do any harm, she supposed. “‘Penguin’. As in that old advert, ‘p…p…p…pick up a penguin’? Do you remember that one? It was a long time ago now, but it was quite catchy and it was around for ages. Have you ever noticed his nose? It is a bit beaky, don’t you think? He’s got that funny upright stance and the slightly wobbly lopsided walk as well.”She coughed.“I’m sure you can see where it came from.”

  Gran’s eyebrows reached her hairline and she struggled not to laugh. “Penguin? You are naughty, young lady, repeating such disrespectful rubbish.” Her top lip twitched. “Really? That’s what his students call him, behind his back? When he gets on his high horse at the next board meeting I shall remember that, I’ll be thinking it every time I see him now.”

  She steepled her fingers, diamond rings glinting in the firelight. “He does walk a little like a penguin though doesn’t he, now I think about it. Kind of a short legged waddle, really.”It was a moment of confidences. “So, what do you think Chessie calls him then?” she asked, with a sparkle in her eyes.

  “Sir? She was a couple of years below me in school, so she’s quite a bit younger than I am. Most odd. I thought there were laws against that sort of thing. How long have they been married then? It must be an attraction of opposites, I suppose.”

  “Apparently they met again only a year or so ago, it was a fast wedding. Don’t suppose there’s any time to waste, what with him getting on a bit, not if they want children anyhow. Norma’s sister does their cleaning for them. She reckons his new wife calls him ‘papa bear’ she’s overheard it on more than one occasion.”

  “Really? That reminds me of the jungle book. Jeremy said that he’s still trying to get the boys at the rugby club to think about something else. Ever since I hired those costumes for the party the year before last, they’ve been calling him ‘King Louis’, you know, the monkey king in the film?”She shrugged her shoulders, “I think Jez likes the attention, to be honest.”She thought for a moment. “Jonathan and Chessie make a very odd couple, don’t you think? He doesn’t look like the kind of man to go in for pet names, does he? You can never tell with the bookish types.”

  “Opposites attract, or so they say,” gran replied.

  Crystal cringed. “They are that, I suppose. Now, about this panelling, dad bought it at auction, it came from the old manor house originally. They pulled it out of there when they turned it into flats, so it hadn’t been in our factory that long anyhow. Mum never liked it, said it reminded her of a Dickensian poor house. It was very dark and sombre. I thought what they’ve done with the new reception area was very twenty-first century, when I was up there yesterday. Jazz needs to make his mark, you kn
ow.”She frowned.“The money they received from the sale of that old stuff will be enough to pay the wages for the next three months. It will be sorely needed, too. I was helping the boys with the sales forecasting last night. We are thirty percent down on the margins we used to work to in dad’s day, at least. It’s a whole new world out there you know. We need to do something to improve our image. Our designs may be timeless and traditional, but that doesn’t always cut it in the modern business world, as you well know.”

  Gran played her trump card, with a flourish. “Well, I’m incapacitated for the short term anyhow, and as you have already fitted right back into the goings on at the factory and you’re already a board member, you’re the ideal person to go along in my place. It’s an Extraordinary General Meeting, very important, and I need someone I can trust to put forward my arguments for me. It’s too important to miss, and I really can’t do it in my current condition. Now, I’m very tired and finding this all a bit hard work, darling. Please say you’ll do this small thing for me. I slept very badly last night you know, maybe if I know this is all taken care of, then I’ll sleep better tonight.”

  Crystal knew very well that she was being quite blatantly blackmailed, but gran did look a bit pale around the lips and her eyes were a watery kind of grey, rather than their usual sharp piercing blue, she really was getting older these days. She’d always been a bit of a battleaxe and very few people ever crossed her in business, but looking at her now, with her leg propped up awkwardly on the chair and her best velvet suit rumpled up from sitting so long, she looked a shadow of her former self, smaller and more vulnerable.