by Clare Lydon
The Clifftop
Vic wasn’t sure if she’d ever seen such vivid colours in the UK – if she had, she certainly didn’t remember. The sky was crisp, baby blue, the sea a bath of inviting aqua. What’s more, the clifftops and fields surrounding them were such a rich shade of green that Vic might as well have been living in a Famous Five story. With every step the group strode along the coastal path, with each bend, descent and ascent, the route ahead was gradually, beautifully revealed.
Today, instead of turning right on the coastal path at the bottom of the garden, they’d gone left. Vic had already driven a car out to the finish point, 11 miles down the track, with Kat following to drive her back. Ahead of her were Stevie, Tash and Stu, all three of them with their hoodies tied around their waists already, exposing their pale arms to the lunchtime sun.
Stu said something and all three laughed.
Vic smiled – her wife seemed in good spirits this morning.
Laura nudged Vic. “Penny for them. Five pence if they’re really juicy.”
They were walking a good five paces behind the leading group.
“Very dull. I’d save your money.”
“I’ll be the judge of that. You looked deep in thought whatever it was.” Laura brushed her long dark hair off her face and hopped on one foot. She dislodged some gravel from her trainer before falling back into step with Vic.
“Not really – you give me too much credit.” A rueful grin spread across Vic’s features and she readjusted her glasses. “I was just thinking how great nature is. And then how old my thoughts are. Do you think it’s only a matter of time before I start to rush home for Countdown?”
“I already do that – don’t you?” Laura grinned. “But well done on choosing this place – it’s an amazing location.”
“Don’t thank me, thank Stevie. You know what she’s like with stuff like this – ruthlessly efficient.”
“I know.” Laura bumped Vic’s hip with her own. “But I’m being nice and giving you some credit for choosing such a great wife.”
Vic smiled. “Thanks, I think.”
The pair walked on for a few seconds in amicable silence, the only sound the scraping of their shoes on the dry, sandy path, dust flicking up every few seconds and rising up unseen into their airways.
“It’s all a bit more civilised than ten years ago isn’t it?” Laura broke the silence. “I think we only left the house to go to the pub then, didn’t we?”
Up ahead, the other three were singing a hiking song and performing exaggerated skipping as they linked arms and screeched ‘Vol-der-eeeee, vol-der-raaaah, my knapsack on my back!’
Tash turned and waved an arm at them to join in.
Laura and Vic smiled obediently, but ignored the call to action.
Vic remembered the way Stevie looked ten years ago and the moment when her blonde hair suddenly shimmered for her. She remembered wondering why she was feeling jittery and tongue-tied around her old friend and then realised with shuddering clarity what those feelings meant.
Vic recalled being terrified of saying or acting on it, for fear Stevie would just laugh at her. But when Vic had approached Stevie, fuelled with a healthy slug of Dutch courage, Stevie hadn’t rebuffed her. In fact, more than that, Stevie had been more than open to the idea, and within hours they’d been naked in Vic’s king-size bed, laughing at the improbability of the situation – friends of ten years suddenly getting jiggy.
“We’re like Monica and Chandler!” Stevie had espoused in her lilting Scouse accent – and indeed they were.
They’d slept together on the final night of a tumultuous weekend, then sat silently opposite each other through the following morning’s strained breakfast in their hired Welsh holiday cottage, rain drumming on the roof. Slinging glances and trading winks across the toast and marmalade, they had managed to remain under the radar, which is exactly where they wanted to be until they’d worked out whether or not this was something. Vic had been sure this definitely was something, even at such an early stage.
“Seems such a long time ago,” Laura said, breaking into Vic’s thoughts. “I can’t imagine my life without Tash and the kids, like it was back then – I’ve got a family now, it’s who I am. And if you’d asked me to predict that ten years ago, I wouldn’t have been able to. I was only just getting over sleeping with Kat.”
Vic noticed she mumbled the last bit.
“I was just thinking about that – thinking how I was grateful to you for taking the spotlight off me and Stevie last time.” Vic patted Laura on the back. “So thanks again,” she said, laughing.
Laura shook her head and shuddered. “I don’t think about it for years – I mean years, sometimes not even when I see Kat. But then I come on this weekend and it’s like it happened yesterday.” Laura looked down and kicked the gravel. “Just got to get through the next 48 hours and then I can forget about it till another ten years’ time.”
“It’ll be a breeze,” Vic said, wondering again why Laura hadn’t just told Tash. But then, she was hardly one to be dishing out relationship advice.
***
Up ahead, Stu and Stevie were discussing the various merits of running-shoe brands – Stu was a vociferous Nike ambassador while Stevie favoured New Balance. Tash, meanwhile, had only just started running regularly, so tuned out of the conversation when it got too technical. She spun around and saw Laura and Vic deep in conversation, so left them to it.
Tash gulped down the sunshine, loving the way it felt on her skin, how it tasted, the way it smelt. Her skin tingled as her body loosened, spurred on by the fact she was here with no kids and no responsibilities – just her, Laura and good friends. Tash allowed herself a grin – she’d come a long way since the days of her marriage to Simon and the despair that had left her in. She’d managed to turn her life around and that was all thanks to Laura. Her Laura.
She still remembered the first time they’d made love in her bed, three dates in. On their first date, they had gone for coffee. On the second, they’d ventured out for dinner. However, for the third date, Tash had shipped her two young daughters off to their grandparents for the weekend and invited Laura over for dinner, fully understanding what the dessert would be.
Tash had served up lamb shanks and chocolate mousse before inviting Laura into her bed. When Laura’s dark hair slid down her pale, naked body, Tash had shaken like she’d never shaken before. When Laura’s fingers had filled her and circled her clitoris, Tash had thought she might die. She hadn’t, though. Instead, she came harder than she’d ever come in her life before, clinging to Laura. And she hadn’t stopped since.
Suddenly, the world made sense and she’d realised where she’d been going wrong all her life. Sex before had been adequate, sometimes pleasurable, but often lacking any form of climax. But this – this blew her mind. And when she’d returned the favour to Laura, it affected her almost as much – she could feel her juices flowing as Laura’s smooth, sensuous body writhed and exploded beneath her.
That she’d managed to snag herself such a woman filled Tash with pride. Sometimes, it still amazed Tash she could have got it so wrong for the first 35 years of her life. Although, as she did remind herself, it wasn’t all wrong – she did come out of her marriage with two beautiful daughters.
She drank in more of the sea view, watching the waves crash against the rocks below as she peered over the edge. Hearing footsteps, she turned to see Laura next to her, a massive grin on her face.
“What’s a gorgeous woman like you doing on a clifftop like this?” Laura’s smile was wider than the Humber Bridge.
“Waiting for you, clearly,” Tash replied. She leaned in and gave Laura a kiss on the lips, stopping only when Vic cleared her throat next to them.
“Sorry!” Tash took Laura’s hand and they fell into step beside Vic. “Sometimes she’s just too gorgeous not to act there and then.”
Vic held up both palms in front of her. “Far be it fro
m me to stand in the way of love. Carry on, carry on…”
The Lunch
Geri and Kat sat in the main bar with their pints of Peroni, feeling smug to be doing so on a Saturday lunchtime.
“Now I really feel like I’m on holiday.” Geri took a sip of her pint and wiped the condensation from the vase-like glass as she sat it on her Peroni beermat. Order made her happy.
“Me too – drinking on a Saturday lunchtime, how terribly naughty.” Kat took her first sip and grinned from ear to ear.
Geri ran her hand through her hair. “I wonder what the others are up to right now.”
“Not sitting in a pub drinking beer,” Kat said.
“No, they’re probably singing that annoying camping song – vol-der-ree, vol-der-rah?”
“I like that one.”
“Loser.” Geri looked around the bar.
At the table opposite a young couple had just arrived, him with a pint and her with a white wine. They were looking at the food menu which made Geri’s stomach growl with hunger. She picked up their menu and ran her finger down a list of pub classics. On the stereo, Kylie was singing about having someone stuck in her head.
“So what do you reckon about Vic and Stevie?” Kat glanced across at Geri who’d just decided on the fish and chips even though it listed the calorie count on the menu – a whopping 1,125. She blocked that fact out, then shook her head at Kat’s question.
“Jeez, I dunno – isn’t this what we all dreaded happening when they first got together? But I think they’ll get through it. They have to. They’re my rock. They’re who I measure everybody else’s relationship against.”
“There’s still Ellen and Portia.” Kat took another sip of her beer. “Flying the lezza flag.”
“Yeah but they’re celebrities, they’re bound to split up at some point – isn’t that inevitable in Hollywood? I wasn’t waiting for Vic and Stevie to split up. At all…” Geri frowned as she said this. “But I might be more upset than when my mum and dad split up. They always seemed so right together, whereas my mum and dad…”
“…Apart from the initial weirdness,” Kat countered.
“My mum and dad have always been weird…” Geri said, which received an eye roll from Kat.
Geri took a moment to chuckle at her own joke. “Yes, there was initial weirdness but we all got over that soon enough. Now they just… are.” Geri sat back in her seat. “But then, don’t ask me, I’m not exactly the expert on long-term relationships, am I?”
Kat snorted. “You got over six months once, didn’t you?”
“Ha bloody ha,” Geri said. “If they do split up, there’s clearly no hope. But I still have faith. It’s whether Stevie can forgive Vic for putting her hands in someone else’s pants, isn’t it?”
Kat choked on her beer at Geri’s no-nonsense assessment.
“Anyway, enough of other people – what’s going on with you? And quick while you can be honest with me before Abby gets here.” Geri twisted in her seat and invaded Kat’s space so she had nowhere to hide.
Predictably, Kat went on the defensive. “I could be honest if Abby was here.” Kat gulped more lager.
“Slow down there, cowgirl.” Geri nodded at her pint.
“Oh, don’t you bloody start,” Kat bit back, her mood souring by the second.
Geri was perplexed. “What the fuck is going on with you?” Geri frowned. “You’re drinking, you’re not drinking, you disappear off the face of the planet and now you’re a fucking basket case when I ask you a simple question.” Geri gave Kat a puzzled look. “Please explain…”
And so, Kat decided she would. “I lost my job.” Kat cast her gaze downwards and ran her index finger along the wooden table in front of her.
“When?”
Kat focused on her finger. “Three months ago. Three and a half now, actually.” She stared straight ahead.
Geri exhaled loudly. “Three months? Three months?!” Geri repeated. “But I’ve… we’ve spoken in the last three months. I’ve tried to get you to come out in the last three months and I thought it was because you were busy at work…”
Kat shrugged. “Yeah, well… I was busy. And then I got made redundant and marched out of the building that afternoon with a cardboard box. And that was it.”
“Wow,” Geri said, taking it all in. “I’m sorry.” She knew what Kat’s job meant to her – like hers, it was a defining part of her character, of who she was.
“Did you get a payout?”
Kat nodded. “Yeah, I did okay. I’m not destitute or anything…”
“I didn’t mean that…”
“…I know…”
“…And anyway, you know I’m the last one to come to for a loan.”
“I know.” Kat licked her lips. “Yeah I got money and three months’ gardening leave. Only I don’t have a garden and, well, it seems I’m now depressed. At least, that’s what my therapist said.”
“Therapist?” Geri wasn’t a big fan.
“Yes, therapist – and before you say it, I know what you’re thinking, so please don’t.”
Geri stayed silent, which said enough.
Kat crossed her legs and smoothed down her jeans on her slim thighs.
“Anyway, yes, I’m in therapy, I’m depressed, I’m on antidepressants. And I’m jobless. All in all, I’m a real catch.” Kat smiled ruefully. “And if I drink too much it might interfere with the pills but if I don’t drink, what else am I going to do?” A shrug. “You see my problem?”
Geri leant over and gave Kat a hug – it wasn’t their usual pattern, but this wasn’t usual news. Geri smelt Kat’s familiar Ralph Lauren perfume as she leant in and held on to her friend for far longer than normal rules allowed. Normal had long since left the building.
“Why didn’t you say anything?” Geri settled back into her place.
Kat gave her a look that said ‘Would you?’
Geri took the point. “It certainly explains why Abby’s been so jumpy with your drinking. I thought you’d told her about last time and she was trying to save you the same embarrassment again.”
“Well, that too,” Kat said. “She’s been brilliant actually – holding me together, getting me off the couch and back into the world.”
“And let me guess – she wasn’t too keen on coming here after your stories.”
“Not really.” Kat shook her head. “But I wanted to come to see everyone. It wouldn’t have been the same otherwise.” She paused, put both elbows on the table and rested her chin on top of her clasped hands. “So there you go, soul bared. Feel free to spread the good news – that way I don’t have to.”
Geri smiled sadly and rubbed Kat’s back. “Well now I know, there’s no escaping me. I’m going to come round to get you off the sofa too. And of course I’ll tell everyone else if you want me to…”
“…If it comes up – don’t make a big deal of it.”
“Sure.” Geri paused. “Only it kind of is a big deal, don’t you think?”
Kat looked over to the door where she saw Abby striding in: saved by the bell. Kat gave Geri a look that told her this conversation was over and slipped on a smile.
Behind Abby, two nut-brown cyclists followed her into the bar, removing their helmets as they walked, their small black shoes click-clacking on the bare wooden floorboards.
“Hey, babe – all done?” Kat got up and gave Abby a kiss on the lips.
“Not really. I need to do some other bits and a buggered phone isn’t helping.” Abby tried but failed to hide her scowl – she clearly wasn’t a woman who forgave in a hurry.
“Sorry,” Geri said, thinking unkind thoughts.
Abby waved her hand. “It’s happened, now it’s time for wine,” she said. “Am I driving back?”
Kat shook her head. “No – I’ll save myself for later, you have a wine with your lunch.” She indicated the menu. “Choose what you want and I’ll get the drinks. Spritzer?”
&
nbsp; “Yeah – but with soda…” Abby said, pulling out a chair.
“I know…” Kat replied.
***
After lunch in The Feathers, Geri, Kat and Abby took a tour of the village, which, if they’d walked at London pace, would probably have been completed in 20 minutes. On this lazy Easter Saturday though, they managed to spin it out for nearly two hours. Abby bought a silver necklace in a jewellery store, Kat made jokes about having no money, and Geri picked up eight Smarties Easter eggs for the group.
The crowd in the village had picked up mid-afternoon and they found they could no longer walk three abreast on the pavement to chat, with a steady stream of Saturday shoppers and buggies cruising the area at a relaxed pace. This tactic suited Abby, however, who left Geri and Kat to catch up while she drifted behind them, an iPhone in each hand answering emails and making calls while she could.
Kat seemed to be used to this sort of behaviour, but Geri made a mental note to never get together with a captain of industry.
***
Once back at the house, Abby disappeared to their room for a power nap, claiming the two glasses of wine had gone straight to her head.
Meanwhile, Geri and Kat unloaded the supplies they’d picked up in the village before retreating to the lounge to soak up the relative calm with a coffee.
Geri settled into one end of the large sofa facing the panoramic view, wiggling her toes and flexing her shoulders as she got comfortable.
Kat took the other end but both women could still kick their legs out without touching the other, such was its size.
“So how you feeling today – is it lifting the depression being here?” Geri asked.
“Well, I’m not thinking about it so much so I guess it is – change of scene and all that. But it’s not real life, not what happens to me on a daily basis, is it?”
Geri looked thoughtful as she sucked her top lip. “You need a massive sofa and a new view, clearly.”
“I think I might need more than that.”