by Mel Sparke
Kyle stood at the front door grinning from ear to ear. He looked her up and, down and with great appreciation in his voice, announced, “You look nice. Who’s the lucky guy?”
Sonja laughed and followed him down the path to the ancient-looking beige Ford Escort parked outside the house. She found she couldn’t take her eyes off his seriously cute bum, the shape of which she could just make out as he walked.
Opening the passenger side door in what Sonja thought to be a very chivalrous gesture, he then climbed in himself and wriggled across to the driver’s seat.
“Got a bit of a dodgy door my side,” he explained. “If I open it, it might fall off all together. Come on, hop in.”
Sonja wasn’t entirely sure she wanted to ‘hop in’ a car that looked as if it might disintegrate once it hit twenty miles an hour.
On the other hand, she didn’t want to appear like a nervous, ageing great auntie, so she grudgingly clambered in and quickly secured herself with the seat belt.
“So, Madam, where would you like me to take you this evening?” said Kyle in his best James the Chauffeur voice.
“To the most expensive bar in the city, please,” she laughed.
“I know that was the plan,” he chuckled, “but I’m not convinced this old heap will get us there and back in one piece, if you know what I mean.”
Sonja gave a hollow laugh. She was beginning to feel increasingly nervous about the evening. Part of her wished she was tucked up in a cosy restaurant with Owen. While the rest of her relished the thrill of not quite knowing where she was going to end up (and whether she would live to tell the tale).
“Oh, right,” she said, trying to remain looking cool. “Well, we could always drive into the next town, see what sort of nightlife they’ve got to offer as competition for Winstead.”
“OK, sure. There’s a wild place I know that I’ve been to a couple of times before with the lads. It can get a bit rough at the end of the evening, but you’ll be OK so long as you stick with me.”
Oh. Qod, Sonja thought-not for the first time-what am I letting myself in for here? “Great,” she managed cheerily, “whatever you fancy.”
“That comes later,” joked Kyle as he started the engine and sped off down the road. Or at least, Sonja hoped he was only joking.
When Kyle pulled into the neon-lit Smokin’ Joe’s situated on an industrial estate in the next town, Sonja knew she was in for a night to remember. When they walked through the door into a cigarette smoke-filled barn of a place with wall to wall pool tables, she contemplated walking right back out again.
And when Kyle seemed to know everyone there-he even had his own cue behind the bar-she was pretty certain this whole thing had been planned. This was confirmed when she heard someone shout to Kyle, ‘“Bout time you showed your face, mate-you’re up next.”
She turned to Kyle, a frosty look on her face. “You were going to bring me here all along, weren’t you? You had no intention of taking me on a proper date.”
“I did, I promise you,” he cried. “It’s just that a spare slot came up in this pool tournament and I really wanted to play. But I didn’t want to disappoint you either. So I figured that seeing as you’re such a laugh and so cool, well, you wouldn’t mind coming here. You’re not angry, are you?”
Sonja knew that she had every right to be very angry but… what the hell, she’d never been anywhere quite like this before. The place was teeming with cute guys. And she knew it would be a great story to tell the others in the days to come.
“No, but this had better be worth my while,” she said, feigning annoyance. She didn’t want Kyle to relax just yet.
Secretly, of course, Sonja was in her element. She knew she looked good tonight and she caused a real stir as they walked to Kyle’s allocated table. Unknown to Kyle, Sonja was a pretty hot pool player, so when he got knocked out in the first round of the tournament, she spent the rest of the evening thrashing him at pool as well. By the end of the night he was insisting that the balls on the table were rigged.
“You should have said you could play,” he joked at one point. “I would have brought you here last time if I’d known.”
“But then I would have missed out on Fat Larry’s,” smirked Sonja. “I’ll say one thing for you. Kyle, you really know how to show a girl a classy time.”
“Last of the big spenders, me,” he grinned, getting the joke straightaway. Then he came over and put his arm around her waist and gave her a little butterfly kiss just below the ear lobe. Sonja melted. By the time they left, she was liking Kyle more and more.
“I’ve had a really good time.” she said as they roared along the road back towards Winstead.
“Yeah, me too.” he replied. “And my mates thought you were dead cool. In fact, I don’t want the night to end yet. Shall we stop for a while and talk some more?”
Before Sonja could answer, he had veered left and was heading towards a lay-by at the side of the road.
“Why do you want to stop in a grotty dark lay-by full of litter?” Sonja asked coldly. “What exactly have you got in mind, Kyle? Whatever it is, you can forget it!”
Kyle obediently steered the car back on to the road and began chuckling out loud.
“What’s so funny?” demanded Sonja, arms folded defensively across her chest.
“You,” he laughed. “You don’t miss a trick do you? Honest, I only wanted to stop for a wee.”
“Phthtt!” Sonja spluttered in disbelief. “I’m not falling for that one. You must think I was born yesterday!” Inside, she was laughing her head off. He’s like a naughty schoolboy trying his luck, she thought. One who is all mouth but with nothing of substance to back it up.
While she attempted to stifle her sniggers, Kyle tried to make amends. “I only wanted to talk. I wasn’t going to try it on. I’d be too scared, especially after last time.”
Grinning, he reaching across with his left hand and gently tapped her on the nose.
“Let me make it up to you. Let me take you somewhere really special and romantic, somewhere you’ve never been before. We’ll go off somewhere dead flash. Go on-what do you say?”
“Where are you planning on taking me?” Sonja asked, still trying not to laugh. “Greyhound racing? For pie and mash and mushy peas at the local chippy? Or maybe a slap-up take away pizza at your place?”
“Wherever, Son, wherever you like,” he answered. “You choose. Just give me one more chance. Please.”
“OK,” Sonja relented. “One more chance. But any more tricks like this and you’re out!”
CHAPTER 16
THE TIME OF HER LIFE?
“I wonder how Sonja got on with Kyle the other night?” Maya mused to Kerry over Cokes at the End early on Friday evening. Then she wondered what she’d said as Kerry grabbed her arm and gave her a look of complete panic.
“What?” Maya whispered, both hands over her mouth and a shocked expression on her face. “What did I say?”
“Not so loud,” hissed Kerry. “You don’t want Anna to hear.”
“Why not?” Maya was confused. “What’s it got to do with her?”
“Well, for a start she’ll tell Owen, and he’ll probably get the hump because Son told him she wasn’t going out with anyone, and then she’ll be in big trouble.” Kerry looked at Maya as though she had completely lost the plot for not realising this.
Then it dawned on her that perhaps Maya wasn’t fully aware of the Owen/Sonja/Kyle lust triangle. This was confirmed moments later.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about!”
“No, of course you don’t,” Kerry replied, her eyes like saucers and ready to pass on a good bit of gossip. “You weren’t at Matt’s on Monday, were you?”
“No, thanks to having to babysit my delightful brother and sister. I haven’t seen any of you guys all week. So what happened?”
“Sonja got off with Owen.”
“No! Really?”
“Yes, really. I mean, it was fairly inevitable
. It was obvious they fancied the pants off each other right from the start. It was only a matter of time.”
“So are they an item?”
Kerry nodded. “They’re going out tonight. They’re meeting here then going for a meal. Sonja said she’d try and get here early so we could catch up on what’s been happening.”
Maya still looked thoroughly bewildered by what she was hearing. “So does that mean she and Kyle are finished?”
“No, that’s the thing. They went out on Wednesday night too, that’s why she wants to get here before Owen, so she can fill me in on the gory details.”
Finally, the penny dropped. “So she’s going out with both of them at the same time?” gasped Maya.
“Yeah,” Kerry giggled. “She’s really going for it at the moment. Having the time of her life.”
Maya did not look amused. “So Owen doesn’t know about Kyle, but does Kyle know about Owen?”
Kerry shook her head. “I wouldn’t have thought so.” She broke off and looked out of the window, down the road. “You can ask her yourself now. She’s just coming.”
Sonja breezed into the café in white knee-length boots, a pink miniskirt and duck-egg blue knitted top and matching cardigan.
“You look fabulous,” Kerry said appreciatively.
“Thanks,” Sonja replied, sitting down and taking a sip of Kerry’s Coke. “You haven’t seen Owen yet?” she said, glancing furtively around the bustling café.
“No sign of him.”
“Good.” Sonja leaned towards Kerry and Maya and took them on a graphic journey of her date with Kyle.
Kerry sat with her hand stuffed in her mouth to stifle her laughter for most of the time, while even the disapproving Maya couldn’t help letting out the odd giggle at Kyle’s antics.
“The guy is unreal,” Kerry spluttered when Sonja had finished. “He’s so cheeky. He sounds like he needs a good slap.”
“He gets a verbal slap every time I see him,” Sonja countered. “But the thing is, I can’t help liking him. He just cracks me up. And when I do shout at him to keep his hands to himself, he does. And then he’s so meek and mild and full of remorse, I end up liking him all the more.”
“So does Kyle know about Owen?” asked Maya pointedly.
“Christ, no,” Sonja replied. “And Owen doesn’t know about Kyle either, so please don’t drop me in it, Maya.”
“Sonja, I can’t believe what you’re doing,” Maya said. “You’ve only been seeing these guys for a week-if that-and already you’re lying to both of them. Imagine how you would feel if someone was doing it to you. You’d be livid, wouldn’t you?”
The smile fell from Sonja’s face. She shifted uncomfortably in her seat and picked at an imaginary bobble of fluff on her cardie.
“Well, I… uh…” she began.
She hadn’t expected such a pointed question from her friend.
Indeed, what Maya was saying hadn’t even crossed Sonja’s mind. Not once.
“Yes. you’re right, I guess I probably would be,” she said finally. “ But I didn’t mean any of this to happen. I never expected to meet two guys that I liked in the space of a week, not in a million years. It just happened.”
“So is that what you’ll say when one of them finds out about the other? Would you accept that as a reason if the boot was on the other foot?”
Sonja didn’t answer.
“Look, I’m not trying to have a go,” Maya relented. “I’m just putting the other side of the story. And suggesting you should think about what you’re doing. Ask yourself if you’d like the same thing done to you.”
“To be fair to Sonja,” Kerry came to her friend’s rescue, “Owen’s only going to be around for a few weeks, if that. He knows they’re not likely to see each other again once he goes back home. I bet it wouldn’t bother him too much if he found out.”
“Well, why doesn’t she tell him then?” insisted Maya.
“Quick everyone, change the subject,” Kerry said hurriedly as she looked up and saw Owen heading their way. “He’s coming. So Sonja,” she added, frantically thinking of a change of subject.
“don’t forget our night out tomorrow. Where d’you fancy going?”
Sonja was clearly mulling over Maya’s words of warning. She only managed to say, “Uh, I dunno. You choose,” before Owen was upon them.
“Hi. guys,” he said cheerfully. “How’s it going?”
Kerry smiled and managed a cheery ‘hello’, while Maya looked guilt-ridden and as though she’d rather be somewhere else. Sonja stood up and slid out of the banquette.
“Wow, you look amazing, Sonja,” enthused Owen as she stood up to her full height in front of him.
Sonja gave him a humble smile, said a vague ‘bye’ to the others, and walked out of the café.
“You seem a bit subdued, Son. Is everything OK?”
Sonja smoothed the red and white check napkin that was lying across her lap and began fiddling uneasily with her bread knife. She had hardly said a word since she and Owen had left the End.
She had been worrying and fretting over what Maya had said to the point that it had become a huge issue in her head. Instead of concentrating on having a good time at Luigi’s with Owen, she was wondering whether she should come clean about Kyle.
She knew Maya had a point; Sonja wouldn’t tolerate being lied to by a guy, however new the relationship. But how many people start going out together knowing that they’re only going to last a couple of weeks? Not many. That was why her situation was unusual, and that was why she had so far bottled out of confessing to Owen this evening. Now, halfway through their starters in the cutely romantic restaurant she had wanted to come to with Kyle, she still couldn’t bring herself to say anything.
“Everything’s great.” Sonja answered, suddenly realising she must seem like a complete misery. “Really. And this restaurant is lovely. I’ve been wanting to come here for ages-I just haven’t been in the right company.”
She smiled to herself. Owen and Kyle might easily have come from opposite ends of the universe-they were so different. She doubted whether Kyle had a speck of romance in his entire body, whereas Owen found it the most natural thing in the world to bring a date somewhere as intimate as this. And she couldn’t ever imagine Kyle noticing if she was ‘subdued’-he’d be too busy trying it on with her.
“You know. I can’t believe you haven’t got loads of guys after you,” said Owen. “You’d have them queuing down the road if you lived in Manchester…”
This was it-the perfect opportunity for Sonja to admit that she was seeing someone else. But before she could open her mouth to speak, Owen was talking again.
“It’s a shame you don’t live there, or me here, because I’d be first in the queue to snap you up. Instead, I’m stuck with a holiday romance that I wish would never come to an end.”
He leaned across the table and took hold of her hand.
It was such a lovely moment and he was obviously waiting for her to say something. She couldn’t mention Kyle now. He’d already made it obvious that what they were experiencing together had a very limited shelf-life. What was the point in spoiling it?
“I know,” she said. “I feel the same way. But at least we can have a good time together while you’re here, and who’s to say you might not visit Anna again sometime? Or I might even take a trip up to where you live one day.”
“If I believed that there wasn’t some guy you’re going to fall for waiting around the corner, I would cling on to a thought like that,” said Owen. “As it is, I bet you’ll have forgotten about me in a couple of weeks.”
“I could say the same about you.”
“No. I won’t forget you in a hurry, Son. You’re a very special person who will one day make some incredibly lucky guy very happy.”
Sonja thought that was the nicest thing anyone had ever said to her.
CHAPTER 17
DOUBLE TROUBLE FOR SONJA
“You don’t mind me going out wit
h Sonja, do you? I mean, after all that stuff about me neglecting her, I thought we ought to do something together, just the two of us.”
Kerry sat on a bar stool at The Swan, Ollie’s parents’ pub, and fretted over the fact that she had agreed to spend Saturday night clubbing with Sonja rather than with Ollie (who, if she was being honest, she would rather be with).
“Stop worrying.” Ollie said and gave her an affectionate squeeze on the hand. “Go out and enjoy yourselves; do whatever it is you girls get up to on your nights out. And anyway, we’re seeing each other now, even if it’s only while you wait for Sonja to turn up.”
Normally, Sonja and Kerry would have got ready to go out together, but Kerry had opted to go for a quiet drink with Ollie first.
Kerry took a sip from her glass and sighed. “It’s amazing to think how much has happened since she and I had that conversation about me spending so much time with you and not enough with her. Who would have thought that Sonja would have two guys on the boil so soon after?”
“I know.”
“Are you seeing Joe tonight?” Kerry asked.
“He said he’d call in. We’ve been talking about getting the band going again and he seems really enthusiastic. We’ve got loads to sort out, I only hope something comes of it this time.”
Ollie looked over Kerry’s shoulder and saw Sonja rush in. She came whizzing over at breakneck speed.
“Sorry I’m late, Kez,” she hollered. “I completely lost track of time. Dad’s outside in the car-he gave me a lift here and he’ll take us round to Enigma if we go now. Hi, Ol. Bye, Ol.” And with that she turned and disappeared back out of the pub.
Kerry slid off her stool, gave Ollie a quick goodnight kiss and ran after her friend.
“So how did it go with Owen last night?” Kerry demanded once Sonja’s father had dropped them off.
“Nice, really nice.” Sonja swooned. “I can’t believe he’s not going to be around for long. It’s so unfair!”