by A B Turner
The second woman still seemed a bit bemused, so the first persisted, describing with frightening accuracy, every possible recognisable feature of the woman, becoming increasingly exasperated by her friend’s inability to grasp the identity. It was only when she mentioned the girl concerned wore a red, military-style coat, the second woman beamed,
“I know who you mean, so Daniel’s with her, is he? Well, bit of an age gap there, don’t you think ”
The first snorted with derision,
“Bit? I should say so, she’s barely out of school uniform, you know what, Dolly, I reckon she’s after his money, but he’s too blind to see it.”
“You know what they say,Jean, no fool like an old fool,” replied her friend, they both nodded in agreement, before the first seemed to notice I was there,
“Anyway, we can’t stand here all day, you alright dear?”
Before I had a chance to answer, the two women left the room, still quietly exchanging their thoughts on the new woman in Daniel’s life, as I finished putting my belongings away in my locker, I found myself trying to work out which girl they had been talking about. As I turned to leave, a young woman burst through the door, nearly knocking me over, she looked up at me apologetically,
“Sorry, running late this morning, you OK?”
I nodded, unable to speak, my eyes transfixed on her bright red coat, she seemed oblivious to my temporary paralysis and began frantically stuffing her belongings into her locker,
“I stayed over at Dan’s last night and forgot to set the alarm,” she continued, slamming the small, metal door shut before looking quizzically back at me,
“You’re not one of those who are talking about me, are you?”
The directness of her question snapped me back into full consciousness,
“No, I tend to mind only my own business and leave other people to mind theirs,” I assured her firmly, on hearing this, she smiled,
“Makes a change for this place, I know what they’re saying, but they’re wrong, me and Dan really like each other.”
“If that’s true, then just ignore them and be happy,” I replied, she beamed, before thanking me quickly and racing out through the door.
I slowly followed, I was genuinely pleased to hear Daniel had someone in his life, but I struggled to ignore the fact, the news made me feel even more alone. I wandered to my desk and slumped down on the chair, suddenly, my boss appeared carrying a huge, untidy pile of papers and dumped them unceremoniously in front of me,
“See if you can make some sense out of that lot ,will you?” he asked, turning away sharply before I had a chance to respond,
“Another day in paradise,” I whispered to myself, before taking the top sheet from the towering pile. The morning passed at a grindingly slow pace, with each minute seeming to last an hour, I tried to focus on my work, but the relentless monotony made it far from easy, at last, it was lunchtime and I almost gleefully jumped from my desk and followed the herd of fellow workers to the canteen. As I waited in the queue, I watched Daniel laughing and joking with each customer, he looked younger and brighter than he had in months, when it was my turn, he literally beamed,
“Hello Carrie, I haven’t seen you for ages, how have you been?”
“I’m good, thanks, and you ?”
“Never better, looking forward to the wedding ?” he continued, while plating up my sandwich, “Heard about Kat's night, although I didn’t see you on youtube.”
“No, I thought I’d spare the public my singing voice,” I joked back, he looked at me as he passed the plate across the counter,
“Shame some of the others didn’t feel the same way !”
We both laughed, before he turned his attention to the next customer, I walked over to my usual corner table and sat down. As I ate, I half-heartedly read a magazine, it was the usual kind of thing, so it didn’t require much thought, however, every so often, I found myself glancing across at Daniel. He looked genuinely happy, when his girlfriend came in, he raced around the counter and planted a huge kiss on her cheek, as expected, this caused a roar of approval from some of the guys sitting around the middle table, but it was clear neither of them noticed. For a split second, I felt a tiny pang of jealousy, after all, that could have been me, but it passed as quickly as it had arrived, I had made my choice and, if I am being honest, it had been the right one for us both, but seeing them so happy made my accepting that fact, a little difficult.
I quickly finished my lunch and left the canteen, silently admonishing myself for allowing even the slightest hint of envy into my thoughts, instantly I felt a hand on my shoulder,
“Hold up, Carrie,” I turned and came face-to-face with Phil, we hadn’t really spoken for weeks, so I was surprised by the urgency of his expression,
“You alright, are you?” he asked, his eyes darting quickly from one side to the other,
“I’m fine, what’s wrong Phil ?” I asked, without answering, he took my arm and led me out into the warehouse, he glanced furtively around, on seeing we were alone, he turned back to me.
“Do you want to have some fun? You know, like we used to?” he asked, his dark eyes searching my face for some enthusiasm for this idea, but he would find none, I pulled my arm away,
“No ! Phil, what’s this about?” I persisted, slightly concerned for him as he looked so anxious, he sighed,
“I just haven’t done anything for weeks now, and it’s doing my head in,” he admitted, “I just thought maybe...”
“Maybe I would be willing to help you out,” I said, finishing his sentence, “What could possibly have made you think that was going to happen?”
He looked down at his feet, unable to hide his embarrassment, he shrugged his shoulders and mumbled something about knowing I was on my own, so he’d thought I’d probably jump at the chance of some action. I wanted to be annoyed, or outraged, but he looked so like a little boy, neither of these strong emotions seemed appropriate.
“Things not good at home, then?” I asked quietly.
“Fucking awful,” he answered quietly, I touched his arm,
“I’m sorry, Phil.”
He looked up at me, the merest hint of a smile crossed his face, before he shrugged again and walked slowly away. As I watched, I found myself almost tempted to call him back, to go with him up those dark, hidden stairs and allow him to do whatever he wanted with me, but before I could speak, Charlotte’s words popped into my head, that phrase about accepting half of something being better than nothing. However bad things felt , however lonely I was, I could not go back that far , not now, so without another backward glance, I walked quickly back to my desk.
Chapter 13
Only two days later, I awoke early, at first, as usual, I struggled to open my eyes when the ever-irritating alarm beeped furiously in my ear, I fumbled to switch it off and was about to sink back under the covers when I realised it was the day of the wedding. Fortunately, I had set the alarm to ring early, so I would have time to really gather my thoughts, before the possible madness began. As I lay there, I wondered how Kat and Matt were feeling, he had gone with his brother to stay at a hotel for the night, as they had not wished to break the tradition of the groom not seeing the bride before the ceremony. So Kat would be home alone, I quickly grabbed my phone and sent her a quick text, just to say a quick ‘hello’ and remind her I would be round soon, as we had planned on getting ready together. I had barely pressed the ‘send’ button’, when her anxious response appeared,
“Don’t be too long, need you x.”
Taking this literally, I quickly leapt out of bed, showered and dressed in less than half an hour, after quickly gathering up everything I would need, I raced out of the door, pausing only to scribble a hasty note to the still-sleeping Damon and Lainie, mentioning I would see them there. When I arrived at Kat's home, she opened the door, almost ashen-faced,
“What’s wrong?” I asked, without speaking, she pulled me through the door and into the house, without giv
ing me time to catch my breath, she hauled me upstairs and into her bedroom. Her urgency started to make me become increasingly concerned, as I stumbled behind her, a thought careered into my head, had she changed her mind ? Once safely in the bedroom, she stopped breathlessly and freed my hand from her grasp,
“Kat? What's going on?” I asked, “Are you alright?”
She glanced up at me, her large eyes seeming even bigger than usual,
“I’m supposed to be getting married today, Carrie,” she began, “But supposing Matt doesn’t turn up?”
I was about to reassure her, when she continued by hurriedly explaining she had dreamt, she was standing at the altar, waiting for him, but then suddenly someone rushed in and told her he had flown out of the country and wasn’t coming. When she finished, she looked anxiously at me for some response to this tale,
“So you’re getting in a state over a dream ?” I asked, wanting to check the facts before having an opinion, when Kat nodded, I smiled and hugged her tightly,
“Oh Kat, Matt loves you, he would never do that to you, and you know it !”
We separated and, possibly for the first time in our shared lives, Kat looked almost shy,
“He does love me, doesn’t he?” she said quietly, “Why would I doubt that?”
“I’m guessing it’s the nerves,” I answered, “Anyway, enough of all this, shouldn’t we be getting ready?”
She beamed, and with the crisis forgotten, we started to unpack the bags I had bought with me, containing everything anyone might need to prepare for their big day. Soon the bedcover was strewn with every kind of make-up and hair product ever manufactured, we stepped back to survey the supplies,
“It takes a helluva lot of stuff to look natural, doesn’t it?” Kat mused thoughtfully, I laughed, at that moment the doorbell rang, leaving Kat, I raced downstairs and found the hairdresser and make-up artist waiting at the open door which clearly I had forgotten to close when I had arrived. I ushered them inside and soon, Kat and I were perched on two stools, while the team worked their magic.
After over an hour, we were deemed perfect and the two ladies sat down on the bed, while we checked out our reflections in the mirror. At first, I could hardly believe what I saw, it was definitely me in the mirror, but a younger version, my hair which was usually tied back for practicality, now tumbled around my shoulders in loose curls. But it was my actual face which caused me to do a double take, every spot and blemish seemed to have been somehow airbrushed out, even the scar on my cheek was less apparent. After several minutes of this self-examination, I glanced across at Kat , who was equally transfixed, seeing me turn to face her, she looked back at me.
“Jesus, Carrie, you look....I don’t know, at least ten years younger, and your hair....” she reached out to touch one loose curl, but the hairdresser leapt between us and insisted, no-one should even think about interfering with her handiwork. Having extracted a promise from us both, she resumed her place on the bed, it was now my turn to look at Kat, she looked incredible, her face seemed perfectly sculpted which was framed by an elegant hair design, reminding me slightly of those pictures of Ancient Greek goddesses I had seen.
“You look beautiful,” I said, when I realised she was fidgeting nervously awaiting my verdict, Kat turned back to the mirror admiringly,
“I do, don’t I?”
I watched her with vague amusement, as she posed first one way than the other, examining every curl and eyelash as she moved, after several moments, the two ladies on the bed stood up and announced it was time for us both to be getting dressed. I left them with Kat in her room, as she told me everything I needed was laid out in the spare bedroom next door, excitedly I left her and started along the hallway. I hadn’t quite reached the room, when the doorbell rang again,
“That’ll be my Dad, let him in, Carrie,” Kat called, despite my eagerness to finish my own preparations, I followed her instruction and skipped down the stairs to open the door. Kat's father looked resplendent in full morning suit, he smiled when he saw me, still wearing my old clothes ,but with full make up and hairstyle. He leant forward to kiss my cheek, but I backed away hurriedly, explaining I would have to face the wrath of the team upstairs, if even a hair was knocked out of place. He nodded sympathetically and followed me into the house, once seated in the living room, I raced back upstairs to get dressed, on the way, I realised I felt almost like a teenager again, as if I was preparing for a first date, filled with both excitement and nerves.
After carefully easing myself into the dress, I ran my hands down the sensuous folds of the material before looking at my reflection in the mirror, the woman looking back seemed to bear no resemblance to me at all. She looked polished, almost elegant, completely dissimilar to what I was used to seeing, which was generally me, wearing my work uniform with a vaguely-depressed expression. I slipped on my shoes and, after one last look, I stepped out into the hallway and slowly made my way down the stairs, gripping the handrail as I went. Kat's father must have heard me coming, as he appeared at the bottom of the stairs, on seeing me, he grinned,
“You look lovely, Carrie, really you do.”
I thanked him, but as I spoke, his eyes drifted upward, he seemed totally transfixed, I quickly, but still carefully, took the last few stairs and looked back up, to see what had made this normally-chatty man become unable to speak. At the top of the stairs, stood Kat , a vision in pure ivory, wearing a dress which reminded me a little of the gown worn by Grace Kelly. The light streaming in through the window, hit the numerous tiny beads which studded the entire dress, causing almost a halo effect, she looked regally down at us, both of us open-mouthed, and a smile of satisfaction crossed her face.
“I’m guessing I look OK, then?” she asked, both of us nodded in unison, still unable to speak, slowly, she began her descent. As I watched, it seemed almost impossible to believe, this princess-like woman, was Kat , the Kat I had shared so many wild nights out with over the years. When she reached the bottom step, she looked at us both again,
“Are either of you going to say anything?”
Her father pulled a white handkerchief from his trouser pocket and dabbed his eyes,
“You look absolutely beautiful, my darling,” he sniffed, his simple heartfelt reaction hit a chord with Kat who looked as if she was about to shed a tear herself, but this was quickly averted by the sudden appearance of the make-up artist,
“Don’t you dare !” she ordered firmly, before looking at me, “That goes for you too.”
Kat smiled and turned to me,
“So Carrie, what do you think?” she asked, despite probably already knowing my answer.
“Your Dad’s right, you look incredible, really incredible.”
“I would hug you, but, I think our minders would kill me !” she answered, nodding towards the increasingly-exasperated team, who were now either side of her, like a pair of guard dogs, ready to pounce on anyone foolish enough to approach their masterpiece.
Kat's father, having regained some composure opened the front door, outside two gleaming limousines, festooned with ribbons, were purring in the street outside. On seeing the door open, a smartly-dressed chauffeur leapt out of each car and stood to attention by the passenger door.
“Looks like it’s time to go,” Kat said quietly, “Carrie, my mum will be in your car, probably having some kind of fit, by now, so try and keep her this side of calm, if you can.”
I nodded, before turning to leave, I quickly thanked the team and walked slowly down the path to the first of the waiting cars. As Kat had predicted, inside her mother, was peering nervously through the open door, attempting to catch a glimpse of her daughter. As I carefully took my place next to her, trying desperately not to crease my dress, she grabbed my arm,
“How does she look? Is he there yet? I bet he isn’t, I told him to leave a bit earlier, but oh no, he wouldn’t have it, now she’s in there waiting....” she gabbled, her grip on my arm becoming tighter with each gasp.
“He’s there,” I interrupted, “And before you ask, she looks beautiful.”
These few words brought her panic to an abrupt end, she slumped back into the vast leather seats and sighed heavily,
“I’m sorry,love, it’s just I’ve been like a cat on hot bricks all morning.”
“Well, now, you know everything’s fine, just relax and enjoy the day,” I suggested calmly, she smiled and patted my hand gratefully. By now, the chauffeur had closed the door next to me and resumed his place in the front, he asked politely if we were ready to leave, when I replied a firm ‘yes’, the car moved away slowly down the road.
Despite my assurances to her mother, as we drew nearer to the church, my own heart seemed to be fluttering like a bird in my chest, it seemed vaguely ridiculous, after all, it wasn’t my wedding day, it was just I knew how long Kat had waited for this moment, and I just hoped, more than anything else, it lived up to every expectation.
Upon our arrival, the chauffeur opened the door next to Kat's mother first, she almost leapt out, like a greyhound, as I waited patiently, I could hear her, chattering excitedly to two other women, who were poised outside, obviously in the hope they would miss none of the action. When I emerged, I couldn’t help but enjoy the the admiring glances from the assembled throng, I scanned the sea of faces and saw Lainie with Damon, when our eyes met, she beamed back at me. Within moments, they were at my side,
“Oh my God, Mum, you look awesome,” she said, eyeing me up and down with unrestrained admiration, I thanked her and told them both, they looked equally ravishing, I saw Damon blush slightly, which made me like him even more.
“How’s Matt doing?” I asked.
“He looks kinda nervous, but really happy,” Damon answered, “Is Kat alright?”
“Wait and see,” I replied, he smiled again, before suggesting to Lainie they took their places inside as people were starting to file into the church. After promising to see them later, he took her arm and led her inside, as he did so, I saw him whisper something to her, she smiled gently and kissed his cheek. As I watched, just for a moment, I wished I could have heard what he had said, but my thoughts were quickly interrupted by the sound of the second limousine pulling up behind me. The car had barely stopped, when a much smaller second car screeched to a halt slightly further down the drive, in seconds, the team leapt out and almost flew to my side. Kat's father stepped out, slowly followed by his daughter, the two women helped her gently rearrange her headdress and smooth out the gown itself, before handing her the bouquet. They both stepped back to admire their handiwork for one last time, they glanced at each other, both clearly satisfied with what they saw in front of them.