“My feet are throbbing, and I’ve a backache like a coal man on his first day!” Lolling back in the chair, she let her arms fall over the side.
“There isn’t a sandwich going as well, is there?” she enquired with a grin.
“I’m starving, but it’s my own fault. I should have had one when you offered before.”
“You look like you’ve been through a stampede,” Kitty remarked, at the same time bustling about to produce a hot drink and a chunky ham sandwich.
“I think everybody must have waited until you’d gone to come out of their hidey-holes.” Gratefully accepting the food put before her, Mildred explained, “The shops were full to bursting. Honest to God, I thought I’d never get out alive.”
“I thought we’d already got everything we needed?” Something new about Mildred made her curious, and a little scared.
She pointed to the bags she had deposited on the kitchen table.
“I thought we might need more sandwich fillers,” she lied.
“Oh, and I bought two dozen fairy cakes and a trifle!” She didn’t buy them, they’d been given to her, but she wasn’t ready to tell Kitty. Not yet.
Later she would have to tell her, but first there was the party. She didn’t want to spoil Kitty’s big day.
Unpacking the goods, Kitty remarked, “I could have made a trifle. You know it’s my speciality.” Miss Davis had shown her how to make the most succulent sherry trifle.
“You said we had enough with the gateau and flan, so I didn’t bother.”
“I was wrong.” Mildred had done wrong before where Kitty was concerned. She had disowned her, stolen from her, and now, oh now! She was plagued with guilt at what she was about to do next. “Are you all right?” Kitty sensed the despair that washed over her aunt. For the briefest moment it transferred itself to her.
Gulping down the last dregs of her cup and leaving the sandwich half-eaten, Mildred stood up.
“A good long bath will revive me,” she said.
“But first, we ought to rearrange the furniture in the lounge.”
“I’ve already done that.” It had been a laborious but enjoyable task.
“I’ve also laid the dining table with the white cloth you put out.”
Mildred didn’t seem at all surprised.
“Crockery? Cutlery?”
“All out.” Kitty was proud of the way she had used the time while her aunt was out.
“You’ll find the fire banked up and the drinks set out…bottles to the left, glasses to the right as you instructed. All we need do now is lay the kitchen table with the food, ready for taking in at the given time.”
Now Mildred was surprised, and a little disappointed.
“I’m sorry, Kitty,” she said.
“I should have been here to help. It is your birthday after all.”
Clearing away the cup and plate, Kitty shrugged her shoulders.
“Alt the more reason for me to get stuck in.”
And for the rest of the time they had left before guests started arriving, that was exactly what she did, and Mildred as well.
By seven the food was all set out: triangular sandwiches plump with all manner of fillings; miniature sausage rolls on sticks; individual juicy pork pies; two enormous quiches made by Mildred, one of bacon and cheese, the other a wonderful blend of chicken and vegetables topped with shaped tomatoes. There were numerous wicker platters filled with nib lets crisps, nuts and tiny coloured biscuits. Apart from the trifle, the desserts were also ready sliced:
a mountainous Black Forest gateau, and a huge strawberry flan finished with a pattern of red cherries.
Preparations complete, the two of them fled upstairs;
Mildred to her room, and Kitty first to her bedroom where she collected her toiletries and robe, then to the bathroom, where she stripped off and luxuriated in a hot foamy bath.
Mildred was the first to emerge from upstairs, smart as ever in a blue blouse and dark pleated skirt. In an odd way she looked like a schoolgirl on her first date, flushed and excited, constantly fidgeting, not knowing what to do next, and watching the door as though at any minute she expected a knight in shining armour to come galloping through.
Upstairs, Kitty got ready. Fresh out of the bath, she dried her hair and swept a comb through it. Soon it was bouncy and gleaming.
Desperate to look her best when Harry and his wife arrived, she went through her wardrobe again and again. Finally she chose the dress she’d bought with her first week’s wages. An elegant creation in black and red, she had got it home, decided it was not really her after all, and hung it in the back of her wardrobe, where it had stayed ever since.
“Wonder if it still fits?” she mused aloud, holding it to herself in front of the long mirror.
She decided she would wear it, then she wouldn’t, then she would, then she wouldn’t. Twice she returned it to the wardrobe, before getting it out again and laying it over the bed.
“It’s certainly lovely,” she whispered. And it was.
The most expensive garment she had ever bought before or since, the dress was slim-fitting, long to the calf, where it kicked out with a flirty hem of black, and just the teeniest tease of red lace showing beneath. The waist hugged like a second skin. The narrow shoulder-straps showed off her throat and shoulders to perfection, and when at last she put it on, having the devil of a job to do up the zip which went almost the whole length of the dress, Kitty was astonished with the result.
“You look like a film star!” she gasped. The dress made her taller somehow, slimmer, and more sophisticated. She felt good. In fact she felt deliciously good!
“Sexy, that’s what it is,” she giggled, turning round and round before the mirror.
“Sexy but elegant. You did right to blow half your wages on it,” she decided.
But wrong to hide such a fabulous dress away. Still, it wasn’t as though she had been to any parties, and this was certainly a party dress.
“Made for tonight,” she said, and couldn’t wait to see Harry’s eyes when he caught sight of her in it.
Some short time later she walked into the lounge and stood at the door, patiently waiting for Mildred to look away from the window where she had been this last half hour.
“What do you think?” she asked, doing a twirl.
Her aunt’s eyes widened. Her face softened and for a minute Kitty thought she was going to cry.
“Oh, Kitty!” She moved her head slowly from side to side as though in disbelief. When she spoke, her voice was low and tearful.
“It’s beautiful. You’re beautiful.” Her gaze travelled from the top of Kitty’s shining dark hair to the tip of her black patent shoes.
Kitty stood there, not knowing what to do. Mildred’s reaction had surprised her. There was a sadness about it that touched her own heart.
Smiling encouragingly, Mildred opened her arms and Kitty went to her.
For a while the two of them held on to each other, gently rocking back and forth, reliving memories both good and bad; Kitty wishing her mother was here to see her, and Mildred wishing she could lessen the shock which she would soon have to administer.
“When you came to me you were just a girl,” she murmured.
“Now look at you.” Holding her niece at arm’s length, she admired her again.
“Kitty Marsh, you’re a sight for sore eyes!” she laughed with delight. Kitty laughed too, and the bad memories were gone.
The day was being swallowed by twilight when the first guests arrived.
Mildred introduced everyone.
“This is my niece. Kitty,” she told two middle-aged couples with broad smiles, greying hair and stunningly white dentures.
“You’ve heard me talk about her many times.” She looked on proudly while Kitty shook hands with each and every one.
They were good people, friendly and open. She felt comfortable with them, though her attention was momentarily distracted by the long curly ginger hairs up the nose of the
bigger man, and when she shook hands with his wife, a horrifying vision in floating lace and tulle, she was almost welded to her by the sweat on the other woman’s palm.
“You didn’t say how lovely she was!” the woman complained loudly to Mildred, then smiled widely at Kitty until her teeth nearly fell out, after which she clamped her mouth shut and Mildred couldn’t get a word out of her.
As they walked away, her husband could be heard saying in a harsh whisper, “Bloody gnashers! When will you do as I ask and see the dentist?”
Whereupon she answered in the sweetest voice, “Look, dear…isn’t it time you attended to your own problems and trimmed those disgusting hairs in your nose?” Afraid someone might have overhead their sarcastic exchange, she turned round to smile serenely before helping herself to a gin and tonic.
Guests arrived thick and fast after that. There was the young receptionist from Mildred’s firm, a pretty-eyed creature, with horned-rimmed spectacles too large for her tiny face and her dark hair tied back in a bun. Kitty thought she would look so much more attractive with her hair down, and spent half an hour wondering whether she might suggest it to her. She decided against it when Mildred explained how she herself had put the very same suggestion to the young lady in question, to be greeted with a flood of tears.
“It’s a wig, you see,” Mildred explained in a whisper.
“Apparently she had a scalp condition when she was fourteen and lost all her own hair.” Kitty was filled with compassion.
Most of the guests were Mildred’s work mates In addition there was the cheeky milkman who’d invited himself after Kitty explained what the extra milk was for. There was Mrs. Lewis from the corner shop, and the young couple who had recently bought a cruiser from Jack Harper and made friends with Kitty in the process a motley crew who appeared to gel together very well.
“They’re a nice bunch,” Mildred said, and Kitty agreed.
Mingling with the guests, changing the records on the turntable, making certain every glass was topped up and every plate overflowing with food, she had hardly a moment to breathe. Now and again she would glance at the door.
“Where is he?” she muttered, putting a smoochy record on so the couples could dance.
“Why isn’t he here?” Through every minute, every song, every time someone called her name and gave her a party kiss, she was thinking of Harry. She tried not to think of his wife. Soon enough she would see Mrs. Harry Jenkins in the flesh.
Until then she only had thoughts of him.
“Are you expecting someone else?” Kitty discovered she was not the only one watching the door. Mildred had hovered nearby, fluttering about, her eyes glued in that direction every time Kitty looked up.
When Kitty came up behind her to ask who she was looking for, Mildred nearly dropped the tray she was carrying.
“You gave me a start!” she cried, the tray trembling in her hands as she tried to steady herself.
Swamped with guilt, she clutched Kitty’s arm and gave her the best answer she could under the circumstances.
“I’m expecting Mr. Sibley.”
Her seemingly innocent smile gave nothing away.
“He’s a very nice gentleman from work. I told you I’d invited him, didn’t I?”
Kitty’s face broke into a cheeky little grin.
“Shame on you!” she teased.
“You never said a word, and well you know it.”
“I meant to. I thought I had.”
“You’re blushing again.”
“Give over, Kitty!” As she swung her gaze to the open door, Mildred gave a little gasp.
“Eddie!” The tall, distinguished-looking gentleman came further into the room. At once his eyes met Mildred’s and the two of them rushed to greet each other; Mildred obviously relieved that she didn’t have to lie any more to Kitty.
“I’d like you to meet my niece,” she told him, drawing him across the room to where Kitty stood waiting.
“Ah!” When he glanced down on Mildred with warm caring eyes, she blushed to the roots of her hair.
“So this is your niece?” He turned his smile on Kitty, and she felt he was a likeable genuine type, and obviously smitten with Mildred. Kitty wondered whether he was married.
Certainly he would be a good catch, she thought. Aged about forty, tall and distinguished, he had a ready smile and a firm handshake.
“Pleased to meet you, Kitty,” he said, and she couldn’t help but notice how proud Mildred seemed whenever she glanced at him. It was food for thought. Was this her aunt’s little secret? Had she found herself a man? Kitty wondered.
As they walked away it was obvious to Kitty that these two were more than just work colleagues or even good friends. There was a certain intimacy between them, a quiet mellowing of spirits, that told quite a different story. Another thought struck Kitty. Eddie Sibley must have been given a key to this house. How else had he been able to let himself in?
Suddenly everything seemed to fit into place…Mildred’s recent furtive behaviour; the glow in her cheeks, and a shyness which Kitty had not noticed before. And what about the times when Mildred had stayed late at work…coming home at all hours with stars in her eyes, mooning about like a lovesick girl? Yes. It all began to make sense now.
Kitty did not begrudge her any of it. In spite of her own deep loneliness, she was glad for Mildred.
In between her hostess duties, Kitty couldn’t help watch the two of them, so lost in each other, so right together. Even so, somewhere in her deeper self, she felt a rush of anxiety. There was no reason for it, no explanation that she could see. It was just a cold feeling, a sense of insecurity that quickly passed when she saw them laughing together. Her heart filled with pleasure at the sight of it. She had not seen Mildred so happy in ages.
It was almost nine when the doorbell rang. Kitty was in the throes of changing a record, convinced that Harry was not coming after all, wishing the party was over and hoping everyone would soon go home so she could think straight.
Mildred let them in just as the music struck up a haunting Roy Orbison song that tugged at the heartstrings. Curious but not daring to hope, Kitty turned round and looked straight into Harry’s dark smiling eyes.
For a moment the song enveloped them, then he smiled and stepped forward, his arms extended in greeting.
“Hello, Kitty.” His voice was soft and low, invading her heart and making it soar.
Ever since Mildred had told her Harry was coming to the party. Kitty had carefully rehearsed what she would say to him. Every word was imprinted on her brain.
“Hello Harry,” she would say in a cool voice.
“It’s lovely to see you again.”
She would keep her distance, not let him touch her for too long, or look at her too deeply with those wonderful dark eyes.
“I understand you didn’t go to university?” she would comment with some surprise.
“What did you do? How have you come to own a haulage firm? What made you move to the north? Did you know Miss Davis has a sister in Blackburn? I don’t suppose you’ve seen her?”
It was all going to be very friendly, very aloof, but welcoming. She would congratulate him on becoming his own boss. She would then ask about his parents, and smile sweetly at the woman he had chosen in preference to herself. She would say all the right things, be the perfect hostess, and not for one minute would she let him see the pain she carried behind her warm smile.
Now, though, her smile was too telling, too soft, giving too much away. The right words would not come. She was tongue-tied. As his arms closed about her, she shuddered with pleasure, afraid he might feel her heart beating against his own.
“It’s good to see you. Harry,” she murmured, longing to kiss him, aching to hold him just one minute longer.
For one delirious moment she closed her eyes. When she opened them again it was to look straight into the face of a young woman whose hard blue eyes stared at her with some hostility and a little amusement.
/> “This is Susan,” Harry said, drawing her forward.
“I suppose your aunt mentioned I was married?”
“Yes, she did.” Kitty stretched out her hand in greeting, inviting the other woman to make friends.
“I’m so pleased you could come,” she said. But she wasn’t pleased. She was jealous.
“Harry dragged me here,” replied Susan, chin high, looking down her pretty nose. Gazing round the room, she shrugged her shoulders.
“If I’d known it was to be an ordinary party, I doubt if I’d have come at all.”
Kitty was certain she heard Harry groan, but keeping her gaze fixed on the other woman, enquired in a sweet voice, “What kind of party did you expect?”
“I had an idea it might be more glamorous.”
“I’m sorry if you’ve travelled a long way only to be disappointed.”
“No matter. We’re here now.” Susan smiled at Harry, who chose not to smile back.
“So! You two were at school together?”
Harry’s gaze fell on Kitty’s face.
“More than that,” he answered quietly, and it was just as well he didn’t see his wife’s expression.
Hiding her despair at seeing them together, Kitty’s eyes went to the wedding ring on Susan’s slim white finger. A rush of envy surged through her. She thrust it away, forcing herself to answer brightly, “All that was a long time ago.”
“Harry hasn’t forgotten,” came the sarcastic reply.
Kitty wisely ignored the implication, asking, “I hope he’s given you a good account of me?”
Susan’s eyes flashed angrily.
“As a matter of fact I was beginning to wonder if there was something I hadn’t been told,” she said icily.
“You see, he never even mentioned you, until just recently. I don’t suppose he would have mentioned you then, if we hadn’t been invited to your party.”
“Harry always was a deep one,” Kitty replied.
“I owe him a great deal.” She owed him her sanity. She owed him a return for the loyalty he had shown her when there was no one else. Above all else she owed it to him not to give his wife any reason to suspect there was ever anything more than friendship between them.
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