Stirred with Love

by Steele, Marcie

  They’d enjoyed the usual mass-produced dinner of cheap turkey and cold roast potatoes and then noisily made their way to Shades, the local late haunt at the time. As they’d squeezed into a space by the side of the dance floor, Nick had been dancing with his friends. Kate had emerged from the even more packed ladies loos to find he was the hot on favourite with the girls.

  ‘He’s lovely,’ Deb the part-time receptionist remarked, even though she was wearing beer goggles. ‘And he’s a nice guy too. Used to go out with my sister’s best friend’s cousin. Or was it my cousin’s best friend’s –’

  ‘LOVELY?’ Libby, one of the underwriters, interrupted. ‘He’s more than lovely! He’s the best looking guy I’ve seen in ages.’

  ‘Yeah, and you’ve seen a few lately,’ Lesley the temp, who covered everything from typing to toilet paper supplies, screeched.

  Immediately Kate turned to look, she liked what she saw. After she’d caught Nick’s eye a few times, he sauntered across the crowded dance floor towards them.

  ‘Dance, lady?’ He held out his hand, which was a bit steadier than his feet.

  Kate chanced it.

  She’d been the talk of the office the next morning but Kate had always kept her private life close to her tiny chest. At work, the women desperately tried to worm every last detail from her.

  ‘Did you snog him?’ Lesley the temp wanted to know. She’d long ago abandoned the typing in favour of the bacon run and was enthusiastically tucking into her sandwich.

  ‘I’d have done more than snog him,’ Libby the underwriter informed them all. Kate had no trouble believing her.

  ‘Did he give you his number?’ Deb the part-time receptionist asked.

  ‘No, but he took mine.’

  ‘Oh dear. Now the waiting game starts,’ Libby enlightened her, biting into a cheese and sausage baguette before pointing a greasy finger at her. ‘They say they’ll call, you wait like a deranged cat and they never do.’

  ‘He’ll call,’ Kate told them.

  But he didn’t need to call. An hour later, with the office still smelling like a takeaway shop, Nick walked in with a bouquet of flowers and a smile on his lips that said far more than it should have. Jaws dropped, giggles erupted from each desk with every word he’d uttered, and Kate’s cheeks continued to glow the colour of Santa Claus’s tunic when he offered to buy her lunch because he couldn’t wait to see her again. She finished work at one and stayed at his flat all weekend. Within a month, he’d invited her to stay permanently. Within a year, they’d bought their first house together.

  Kate drew up her knees, wrapped her arms around them and let the tears fall. She wished she had Louise to talk to but she’d gone a bit quiet on her lately. She was still waiting for an answer to the text message she’d sent at the beginning of the week, which was strange but not unusual for Louise. She was always losing her mobile.

  But if Louise was here, she’d put her straight and cheer her up. If Louise was here, she’d tell her to get on with her life and leave the past behind. If Louise was here, she’d tell her to – Kate gulped back tears. How could she still miss Nick, even though she was sure she didn’t want to be with him anymore?

  It had been Alex who’d first reminded her of him. A long time ago, she and Nick had joked and played around together like she’d observed him messing about with Chloe. Then it had been Sam. Finally giving in to Chloe’s constant pleas, Kate had gone to the pub and met up with the builders. It had been quite a laugh actually. Along with Brendan, the foreman, Sam, one of the brickies, had taken the responsibility of looking after her, seeing as Chloe had explained her circumstances loudly to the group. They’d been across a few times since and the email she’d received from Nick earlier had made her feel guilty about it. Surely she shouldn’t have been enjoying the company of other men when she was still married?

  But Kate wasn’t married any longer, was she? She was separated. At this thought, she began to cry again.

  The bedroom door opened moments later.

  ‘I couldn’t help but hear you,’ whispered Chloe. ‘Are you all right?’

  ‘I’m fine,’ Kate managed to say through her sobs. ‘I’m just having a girlie wobble.’

  Chloe pushed open the door and moved quickly across the room. ‘Don’t worry. I’ve already had mine tonight.’

  Kate was momentarily stunned. She hadn’t thought that Chloe might be struggling with her emotions too.

  Chloe grinned. ‘What? You think I haven’t cried oodles since I’ve been here?’

  All of a sudden, Kate felt better and decided to trust Chloe with a few more details. Slowly, she unfolded her past.

  ‘Didn’t you realise it was that bad?’ Chloe found it hard to believe that anyone could simply up and leave like that. Nick was supposed to love Kate, yet he’d packed up his things when she wasn’t around to see?

  ‘There were signs that the marriage wasn’t working but I didn’t think he’d leave me.’

  ‘Perhaps he didn’t mean to hurt you. And no matter what he did, it was bound to remind you of your dad leaving.’

  ‘Father,’ Kate muttered. Joseph Portman had never been a dad to her.

  ‘What did he look like?’ After seeing the photo of Lily and Bernard, earlier Chloe was intrigued.

  Kate stretched over to the current book she was reading and pulled out a photograph from the back. Nick’s clean-shaven look reminded Chloe of her dad. Kate was standing in front of Nick and he was hugging her tightly. She was laughing, her hand reaching back to touch his cheek. They were both sporting a tan and Nick wore a blue baseball cap. Chloe was sure she could see happiness in his eyes. Things didn’t add up.

  ‘You both look so happy.’

  Kate gnawed on her bottom lip. ‘That was taken a while ago. It was the last couple of years that were so false. I suppose we irritated each other more as time went on, but I still loved him. I’ll never forget him, no matter what happens.’

  ‘No, you probably won’t. It’s a woman’s pre…perog…prerogative – I can never say that word – to feel miserable one minute and ecstatic the next.’

  Kate glanced at Chloe. Her curls tied back with a scrunchie emphasised how pale her skin was without makeup. If it wasn’t for the Playboy bunny logo on her short nightdress, along with the breasts spilling out of it, you’d think she was barely in her teens. How had she got such a mature head on such youthful shoulders?

  Suddenly, Kate realised that she didn’t know much about Chloe’s past. She’d been too wrapped up in her own to find out. That was going to change right now.

  ‘Look,’ Chloe spoiled her moment. ‘I was on my way to get a drink. I don’t know about you but I fancy a midnight feast. How about it?’

  It wasn’t a welcoming sight when they turned on the kitchen light downstairs. After a more than reasonable quote, Terry had started on the alterations. Alex and Tom were due to join him at the end of the week. Half assembled units were piled in every available space, remnants of the old kitchen packed away in boxes stacked high.

  Chloe fought her way over to the fridge while Kate prepared coffee. She picked up a piece of wood before the nail spiking out of it found its way into her foot and placed it on the remains of the worktop.

  ‘They’ll never finish this in time. It’s like a war zone back here.’ Chloe moved a small length of piping and threw it over her shoulder.

  ‘Be quiet,’ Kate whispered loudly as it clattered to the floor.

  ‘Sorry. There’s cheese, coleslaw, hummus, cooked ham. I’m sure there’s some crusty bread left and there’s a packet of crackers.’

  Kate spied a small piece of MDF and gave it to Chloe who carefully piled the food on to it.

  ‘Excellent,’ she said. ‘The makings of a perfect late night snack.’

  ‘You’ve cheered up,’ Chloe remarked later as they ate their food.

  Kate cleared her throat ready for the next bite. ‘I might watch my weight but I’m always happy when I’m eating,’ she stated.
‘So, tell me about you and yours. I hate to admit it but I’ve been a bit wrapped up in myself lately to show concern for anyone else.’

  ‘You don’t say! It’s a good job I have an iPod. At least I can switch off every now and then.’

  Kate pulled a face at her before helping herself to another cracker. ‘Go on, anyway.’

  ‘There’s not much to say really. I live with my dad and my brother. My mum died in a car accident when I was seven. I’ve already told you that.’

  ‘Do you remember much about it?’

  Chloe shrugged her shoulders. ‘Not really. We were on the way home from a wedding when a car raced towards us on the wrong side of the road. Apparently, Mum was alive when the fire and rescue unit freed her from the wreckage but she’d died soon after that.’ She put down her sandwich and sighed. ‘The stupid teenage driver received a six months suspended jail sentence and a fine, can you believe that?’

  Kate shook her head. Chloe seemed more mature about things than she had ever been about her parents, even though she hadn’t lost either of them through death. Since Kate had met Nick, her relationship with her mother had become even more estranged. Somehow she felt it was easier not to go and see her, the time between visits becoming longer and when she’d moved to Lincolnshire with Trevor, it had seemed a perfect way out of what had become an awkward situation. She’d only been to visit their new house once in the past three years.

  ‘So you had to be the woman about the house?’ she probed gently.

  ‘Most of the time,’ Chloe scoffed, thinking of Maddy trying to muscle her way in.

  ‘Girlfriends got in the way?’

  ‘One in particular. The one he’s with now, in fact. Maddy’s been on the scene for three years. She’s forty-two.’

  ‘Does she have any children?’

  ‘A son, Callum, but he doesn’t live with us. He’s off at uni.’

  ‘I bet she’s good for your dad, though?’

  Kate felt the temperature in the room go decidedly chilly. An unofficial one minute silence followed so she stirred her coffee noisily while she waited for the atmosphere to change.

  Kate raised her eyebrows, urging her to continue. ‘Chloe?’

  ‘I just –’

  ‘– don’t like her?’

  ‘I…I was just a kid when Mum died,’ Chloe tried to explain, unsure even if she could, ‘and it changed my life so much. It was my dad who took me to dance classes until I got fed up of them. It was my dad who made me look like a shaggy dog instead of a princess when he’d attempted to do my hair. It was my dad who I had to drag to the shops to buy me new clothes. I should have done all that with my mum. Maybe being robbed of that made me too dependent of him. I’ve had him to myself since then, I suppose.’

  ‘So, is she nice?’

  Chloe’s curls flailed about as she nodded her head. Maddy hadn’t let herself go in her forties like so many women seemed to. In a way, she was a perfect role model. She was a successful business woman, not afraid to be independent and lived a full life, not merely an existence. But she could never replace her mum.

  ‘I know that my dad loves her…really loves her,’ she said. ‘And it hurts.’

  Kate could see tears glistening in Chloe’s eyes. She’d always thought there would be a young girl in there somewhere, underneath that grown up exterior.

  ‘Is that why you moved away? To give them time to be together?’

  Chloe was confused. ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘Maybe you’d feel threatened by any woman who tried to muscle in on your dad? It’s understandable. I would have felt the same.’

  ‘I tried really hard to get on with her but I was so jealous. I’d hear them laughing in the conservatory and I’d be so narked that I’d storm in and start moaning about something or other, just to change the mood. Ben was forever having a go at me. It’s caused no end of rows.’ Chloe took a sip from her drink and guiltily averted her eyes for a moment. ‘I’ve been a right bitch, really.’

  ‘Don’t worry,’ Kate tried to appease her. ‘It’ll work itself out. One day you’ll see the funny side of things.’

  ‘I bet Maddy doesn’t find things funny. I love my dad, Kate. I suppose I owe it to him to try and get on with her.’

  ‘What does your dad do for a living?’

  ‘He sells shoes. We have two factories and five outlets with his name above the doors.’

  ‘And you’ve never wanted to work for him?’

  Chloe shook her head. ‘No, neither has my brother. Luckily for us, Dad’s been really understanding about it.’ Her voice became lower for a moment as she imitated her father. ‘I’d be proud to have someone to take over when I’m old and grey, but I won’t push either of you into working for the family.’ But we have benefited from it really. He gave us each a second-hand car on our seventeenth birthdays and an allowance to help us through college. Ben’s training to be a solicitor. I haven’t decided what to do yet.’

  Their conversation changed back to lighter subjects and they talked about the new items that they’d chosen for the coffee shop and how the refurbishment was moving on. Before they knew it, they were back on to the subject of Nick and it was Kate’s turn to talk.

  ‘You must have been happy at one time,’ said Chloe. ‘You did marry him, after all.’

  ‘Yes, I suppose it was good for most of the time.’ Kate switched the kettle on again. Picking up Chloe’s mug, she tried to explain how she felt about the relationship without raking up too many gory details. ‘I loved him so much when we first got together. I suppose that’s why it’s so hard to let go. I’ve been with him for so long.’

  ‘I just don’t see why you split up.’ Chloe’s face sported a puzzled expression. She’d never been in love, not like Kate and Nick. She’d thought she’d loved Joe Broadman when she was in high school, but she’d soon tired of him after the novelty of her first long term relationship wore off.

  ‘It’s complicated.’ Kate didn’t expect Chloe to understand. ‘I don’t know why but we started to argue all the time, over nothing really. On the odd occasion I went out with friends, he’d accuse me of flirting with other men. If I was going anywhere with Louise, my friend from work, he’d goad me, try to start an argument to make me feel guilty. I think I made him feel insecure – maybe because I was growing away from him.’ She spooned coffee into the mugs, added sugar for Chloe and turned back. ‘Sometimes it wasn’t worth the hassle and I’d stay in to keep him quiet. But then I’d become resentful and we’d end up arguing anyway. I felt like I was trapped.’

  ‘Maybe you and Sam should get it together then?’

  Kate frowned. ‘Where did that come from?’

  Chloe flicked a knowing look. ‘It’s obvious he fancies the pants off you. I can’t understand what’s taking you so long.’

  Kate felt herself blushing. ‘God, I’m not ready for that yet. Besides, he’s far too young for me.’

  ‘But it’s obvious that you fancy him, too.’

  ‘No, it’s not!’ Kate baulked. ‘It isn’t, is it?’

  ‘There’s no shame in it, Kate.’

  ‘Maybe not, but –’ Chloe stared at her. ‘Stop it. You’re making me blush.’

  ‘Why don’t you ask him out?’

  ‘Because.’

  ‘Because?’

  Kate grinned, finally finding the funny side. ‘I’m not ready to go out with anyone yet. I need to be on my own right now.’

  ‘But you could have some fun.’

  ‘Look, it’s hard to explain why so leave me be.’

  Chloe wasn’t put off by her resistance. ‘What you need is a good seeing to by another man. If you stay on the shelf much longer, your fanny faloo will be sealed over if you’re not careful.’

  ‘My fanny fa…what?’

  Slow footsteps alerted them to someone coming down the stairs.

  ‘Oh no, it’s the ghost of coffee coming to drown us in his brew,’ Chloe whispered. Kate giggled.

  ‘So, this is
what you get up to once my back is turned.’ Lily tutted good-humouredly.

  ‘Did we wake you?’ Kate pulled out the empty chair beside her and Lily sat down.

  ‘No,’ said Lily. ‘I was already having trouble sleeping. What have you been chatting about?’

  Kate and Chloe shared a smile.

  ‘Oh, you know,’ said Chloe. ‘This and that.’

  ‘Yeah,’ Kate winked conspiratorially at her. ‘Something and nothing.’

  ‘I’ve decided to let you know the name of the coffee shop,’ Lily announced at their next meeting. They’d had so many over the last few days that, for purposes of comfort, they’d changed tactics and were now congregated in the living room. Lily sat in her favourite armchair by the window. Kate and Chloe shared the settee.

  ‘Thank god for that,’ said Chloe. ‘I’m getting fed up of people asking me when ‘the caff’ is going to open.’

  Lily unfolded a piece of paper and held it up for them both to see.

  ‘Mi Tierra?’ Chloe frowned. ‘I’ve never heard of that. What does it mean?’

  Kate, too, racked her brain but failed to come up with any understanding of the words.

  ‘It’s pronounced me ti-air-a and it means my homeland,’ Lily explained. ‘Seeing as home is where the heart is, or so the saying goes, I thought it would be rather appropriate. And rather quirky and modern. What do you two think?’

  Kate sat in thought then raised her eyebrows. ‘It’s different,’ she said.

  ‘I like it,’ nodded Chloe. ‘Sounds quite cool, really.’

  Lily folded the paper in half again. ‘Good. That’s settled then. The coffee shop name is Mi Tierra.’

  As Lily moved onto the next thing on her list, Kate repeated the words to herself.

  Mi Tierra?

  There was something not quite right about it, but she couldn’t put her finger on it.