The Heartbreak Cafe

by Melissa Hill

  The women she was sitting with now were her real friends and Jess worried that if Brian continued his travelling, and she and girls’ lives continued to diverge, there was a very good chance she would be spending a lot more time on her own in the future.

  She would quite literally be left behind.

  Trying to tune out that scary thought, she tried to concentrate on what was being said around the table. Listening to what they were discussing, she tried to think ahead for intelligent questions to ask about children, knowing she didn’t have a very broad knowledge of the subject.

  Finally, Deirdre stopped said, ‘Oh hell, Jess, sorry – you must be bored out of your mind listening to us prattling on.’

  ‘No no, not at all; it’s actually good to know this stuff,’ she insisted and saw Emer’s gaze shifted to Deirdre’s, as if a silent message was being passed between the two women. Chances were they figured she was trying to overcompensate so she tried to rescue the matter. ‘After all, it’s one of those things that I’m going to have to learn sooner rather than later.’

  Emer raised an eyebrow. ‘Really? What do you mean?’

  Jess blushed. ‘Oh well, it’s just that Brian and I were talking … and we decided that maybe it’s time.’ She wasn’t sure where that had come from – maybe she had decided it was time, but Brian didn’t know anything about it, did he?

  And come to think of it, had she actually decided anything?

  Her friends once again exchanged a look; this time a much more appreciative one and Deirdre clapped her hands in delight. ‘Oh wow! Does that mean you’re trying?’

  ‘Um, well yes… we are starting to… consider the possibility of that,’ Jess stuttered. She was sure they’d pick up on her uncertainty, but from the excitement emanating around the table it was almost like she’d stood up in the middle of the restaurant and announced, ‘I have decided to procreate!’

  ‘Oh my goodness, that’s so exciting!’ Emer exclaimed. ‘I’m so happy for you. Now, I presume you’re off the pill, but have you started tracking the days it’s best to conceive on, because that’s really crucial you know, especially in the early days.’

  ‘Ah….’ Jess’s eyes grew wide, but she found she didn’t really need to answer, as the girls continued their outpourings of maternal wisdom.

  ‘Oh and you have to buy What to Expect When You Are Expecting,’ Deirdre assured her. ‘It’s not just for when you are pregnant, but for before you get pregnant too, things to eat or not to eat, when you’re at your most fertile …’

  Jess couldn’t believe it. Suddenly, she was being included, really included and all because she’d mentioned that she and Brian might sometime soon be trying to have a baby? She was in the mummy club, just like that!

  Maybe this was the answer; maybe she wouldn’t lose her friendships with Deirdre and Emer after all. If she had a baby, she would be back on the same ground with these women and everything would be okay.

  Jess felt elated and the rest of the evening was just like old times – the three friends chatting and laughing about all the things they had in common. Well, maybe not exactly like old times she admitted, when they got onto the subject of baby names that she and Brian liked.

  But seeing as she’d told the girls about her momentous decision to have a baby, Jess figured that now might be a good time to talk to Brian.

  Chapter 11

  It was Saturday morning and Ruth was feeling good. She’d slept soundly every night this week and wasn’t sure if it was because up to now she’d been running on empty, her days fuelled by stress, worry and caffeine, or simply because she was back in the semi-protective cocoon of Lakeview.

  Since her return to her childhood home, her parents had been treating her like a queen, and thankfully there was no mention of the craziness of the last week, or the embarrassment of the Late Tonight interview. In fact, it was almost as if her hometown was immune to happenings in the outside world, or at least that’s how it made Ruth feel.

  The homecoming reception and Person of the Year Award had been everything she’d dreamed of, everything she’d hoped for, apart from that temporary meltdown in the utility closet. Still, the party had been a huge success and while most of the people there had probably seen the tabloid coverage, and most definitely had seen her disastrous interview, somehow they were all too decent and too polite to make mention of either.

  She laughed softly to herself; that would never have happened at an LA party. There, everyone was quick to cast people as pariahs, whores, or even wackos quicker than anywhere else in the world. She supposed the mere fact that her hometown had welcomed her back without questions and without scrutiny spoke volumes about the character of the people and she was grateful for the fact that they’d managed to overlook her temporary lapse of judgement.

  Nice to have old friends looking out for her too, she thought, smiling as she thought about mad Trish, who hadn’t changed a bit. In truth, Ruth had been so bamboozled by the crowds she hadn’t recognised her at first, but once the girl opened her mouth it was all too clear. She had a vague recollection of Nina Hughes from her teenage years, really just some fleeting memories of her visiting occasionally to see her father, that rather odd man from across town, Patrick, wasn’t it? Nevertheless, Ruth decided that she already liked Nina, notwithstanding her kindness and cool head in helping her through her meltdown in the hotel closet.

  Both Trish and Nina had invited her to meet for coffee this morning at the Hearbreak café. Amazing that the place was still there; it had been around for as long as Ruth could remember. The owner Ella was a nice old soul and unlike some of the other business owners in the town, had never minded Ruth and her friends spending hour after hour there when they were teenagers, often buying nothing but a single glass of Coke between the lot of them.

  It had always been a warm and welcoming place and despite herself, she found she was looking forward to meeting the girls there today and couldn’t remember the last time she’d just hung out with real people, real friends. Sure, she’d been out with fellow actors or her agent at restaurants and clubs, but being honest it was usually in the name of business or networking.

  Ruth paused for a moment and examined her life. Truthfully, in Hollywood she actually had very few genuine friends, and while most of the time people pretended otherwise, pretty much everyone in LA had a façade.

  Including herself.

  She’d spoken to Chloe on the telephone since, and while the story of Troy and Ruth had been a big entertainment story on the day, the gossip columnists, frustrated by the lack of reaction from both her or Troy, had got bored and quickly moved on to hounding someone else. Ruth was in two minds about this; on the one hand she was thrilled Hollywood had ceased calling her the town slag, but on the other, as her manager Erik had pointed out, the publicity (embarrassing or otherwise) was good for profile.

  Still Ruth welcomed the opportunity to escape from fake people and pretension, at least for a while, so today she was going to join Nina and Trish for coffee. Once back in LA, she would have plenty of time to keep up appearances, but right now, she was going to enjoy just being herself.

  She got out of bed and riffled through the clothes her mother had very kindly unpacked and hung up in the wardrobe. OK, so her mum was no Chloe but really she hadn’t let Ruth lift a finger all week. Another good reason to stay around for a while.

  Going into the en suite bathroom, she showered and dried before starting to apply her makeup. Going through her cosmetics bag, she stopped short, catching sight of the pink and white box Chloe had given her ‘just in case’.

  Damn, she thought, as the full extent of last weeks’ actions came flooding back. She’d been so obsessed with the news stories that she’d practically forgotten about …that.

  Ruth pushed the pregnancy test to the back of the bag, underneath the pile of face lotions and hand creams.

  Out of sight, out of mind …

  Later that morning, she stepped over a couple of cats lazing on the s
tep out front and pushed open the door of the Heartbreak Café. She was immediately met with a brief silence, the locals evidently stunned wordless by the excitement of her patronage. For a brief moment, Ruth wondered if the papers had uncovered something else, perhaps another embarrassing slip-up, but soon a chorus of ‘hellos’ and ‘good mornings’ helped her let her guard down a bit. She smiled her best Hollywood smile and waved regally as she looked around for the girls.

  ‘Ruth, over here!’ Trish called from a window table overlooking the lake, at which she and Nina were sitting. Relieved, Ruth turned in their direction and sashayed over.

  ‘Hey there,’ she said cheerfully, taking a seat beside them.

  ‘Great you could make it,’ Nina said. ‘I love your shoes by the way,’ she added, glancing wistfully under the table at Ruth’s purple suede Rupert Sanderson heels, which she wore with a light pink Lanvin shirt-dress.

  ‘Are you on your way somewhere else?’ Trish asked and Ruth immediately felt foolish and overdressed compared to the girls who were just wearing jeans and casual tops.

  ‘No but I guess I’m not used to dressing down…’

  ‘You look lovely,’ Nina smiled.

  ‘Doesn’t she just?’ Ella cried, waltzing over to the table with a pot of coffee. ‘Love, I didn’t get a chance to talk to you the other night, but can I just tell you how proud I was of you that you put that stupid toad in his place last week.’

  Ruth reddened. ‘I’m not sure who was putting whom in their place…’ she said, not wanting to be reminded of the TV interview.

  ‘Not at all, he deserved his comeuppance and you gave it to him. No better woman too,’ she said proudly and Ruth looked at her, touched.

  ‘Thanks Ella.’

  ‘So what can I get you? I know those LA types don’t eat a bean and by the look of you you’ve gone down that road too,’ she said with a glance at Ruth’s size zero frame. ‘But I’ll wager you won’t be able to resist my soda bread. You never could when you were younger,’ she added and Ruth wondered how she was going to break it to Ella that she no longer touched carbs.

  ‘Oh I’ve already had breakfast actually, so just a coffee would be fine thanks.’

  ‘Soda bread it is then, and I’ll cut it good and thick too,’ the older woman said, as if Ruth hadn’t spoken.

  ‘So what do you have planned while you’re here?’ Trish inquired when Ella left.

  ‘I’m really not sure. I don’t usually have this much downtime and of course, I don’t really know too many people around her, beside my family and you two.’

  ‘Well, now that all the hubbub about your homecoming is over with, I’d like to organise a time with you for an interview – for the Lakeview News?’

  ‘Of course.’ Ruth quite looked forward to doing an interview that she knew would be hugely flattering and most importantly, would be read by everyone in this town. The local paper had always been a staple in the Seymour household and she was sure nothing had changed.

  ‘And I wonder if you might be interested in helping out with a project I’ve just started working on. I’ve already asked Nina and she’s game.’

  ‘What kind of project?’ Ruth knew better than to commit to something before she knew the facts.

  ‘Well I’m compiling a photographic history of Lakeview, and publishing it for charity,’ Trish said, excitedly, and Ruth smiled graciously, unwilling to betray her hesitation. Sifting through old photographs of her sleepy hometown didn’t particularly sound like her cup of tea, however worthy the cause might be. Still she supposed it would be an interesting way to pass some of her time.

  ‘It would be great if we could incorporate you into the book too, into the present day bits as our most famous local resident.’

  ‘Sure, sounds like fun.’

  ‘We going to check out the library archives tomorrow if you feel like joining us?’ Nina asked.

  ‘Count me in,’ she replied, smiling. ‘So what else do you like to do around here?’

  Trish sat forward. ‘Well, as you know, the place has really improved since you left, we’ve got some great new restaurants and pubs, but really for any great level of excitement or indeed shopping, you have to go to Dublin.’

  ‘I see,’ Ruth was beginning to wonder if spending the summer here would be such a good idea after all.

  ‘Bit different from L.A, I’d imagine?’ Nina laughed. ‘Don’t worry, I know how you feel being away from the big city. I miss the hustle and bustle of Galway as well, although I know that too is a million miles from Hollywood.’

  Ruth shook her head, ‘Yes, I guess I’ll have to get used to that. L.A. is such a different world and I’m always so busy and have so much going on and well … everything seems so quiet and slow.’

  ‘Well, Lakeview has its charms too,’ Trish said, a little defensively.

  ‘Oh of course, I didn’t mean….’ The last thing Ruth wanted to do was alienate her new friends, especially when they’d already been so good to her.

  ‘So tell me about the two of you, are you married, do you have boyfriends? What have you both been up to?’ she asked, hoping to break the ice.

  Both Trish and Nina filled her in on everything they’d been doing for the last few years. Nina spoke briefly about wanting to swap Galway for a quieter life after a recent break-up and Trish gave some details about some guy she’d just started seeing.

  ‘What about you and yummy Troy?’ she asked, clearly looking for the scoop.

  Trying not to forget that her old friend was in fact a reporter, Ruth wasn’t sure how much she should divulge. ‘Oh, he and I aren’t really a couple or anything. It was really just a one time thing.’

  ‘A delicious one time thing, I’ll bet!’

  Ruth laughed, the first time she’d done that in days. ‘It wasn’t ….bad,’ she said coyly. ‘Although, I really wish the whole world didn’t have to know about it.’

  ‘Did he really make you scream the place down?’ Trish said, eyes bulging, and Nina nudged her.

  ‘Sorry Ruth,’ she said, smiling kindly at her. ‘Personally, I really don’t understand the big deal. I mean, you’re both single, so who cares? It’s not as if you’re married or anything,’ she added with a shrug. ‘So how come it’s front page news?’

  Ruth resisted the urge to remind Nina that she and Troy were wildly famous, incredibly attractive celebrities, which made everyone care. But she supposed they wouldn’t understand.

  ‘So no one special in your life, then?’ Trish persisted.

  ‘No, honestly I’ve been so busy the past few years, there hasn’t been a lot of time to date.’

  ‘Never found anyone to replace Charlie then?’

  Ruth’s face burned. ‘What?’

  ‘Ah, I’m only joking,’ Trish went on, ‘I know we’re talking ancient history there, but to be honest, I only remembered it because he just walked in.’

  Ruth felt her heart drop into her stomach. Charlie … here?

  Trying her utmost to be discreet, she slowly turned around to face the door of the café. Her mouth fell open slightly; Trish hadn’t been lying, Charlie Mellon was indeed standing there like a ghost from her past. And although it had been five long years, still she would have recognised him anywhere. He had the same tousled blond hair and ruddy complexion, the same broad shoulders and huge hands. He was speaking to someone by the entrance, shaking hands and nodding. Ruth watched him for a moment, remembering the last time she saw him.

  She’d wondered if he might be at the welcome home party the other night, and had wondered what she might say or do if he was. But just as quickly she’d reminded herself that Charlie Mellon had probably left this town long ago. She’d never quite been able to bring herself to ask her mother about him, and as Breda had never mentioned anything she’d just assumed….

  Suddenly, it was as if Charlie felt her eyes on him, because he stopped what he was saying and turned to look in her direction.

  Ruth met his level gaze and felt her pulse race; she
had no idea what her next move should be.

  ‘Charlie, how’s it going?’ Trish said, waving.

  But he made no move towards their table, nor did he wave in acknowledgement at the greeting.

  Trish was unperturbed. ‘Typical, rushing around the place as usual. He took over his dad’s place a few years ago,’ she informed Ruth. ‘Transformed it into a huge place.’

  She must have been talking about his father’s car dealership, Ruth mused. He’d always talked about taking it to the next level. Clearly he’d done exactly that.

  In the meantime, Charlie had finished talking to his companion so deciding to bite the bullet, she got up out of her seat. ‘I suppose I’d better say hello,’ she murmured to the other two.

  Turning towards the door, she placed one foot in front of the other, suddenly very aware of just how great the distance was between the two of them. In reality it was probably only twenty-five feet, but it felt like several miles. She was also acutely aware of the eyes that followed her; after all it was public knowledge what had happened between them all those years ago.

  Charlie however, did not make a move towards her and as Ruth neared, she tried to summon up a smile. Still, knowing him, he would see right through it, know just how nervous she was at this moment. As it was, she could see he was appraising her, taking in her appearance.

  ‘Hello Charlie,’ she said, standing in front of him.

  He didn’t answer immediately, instead he just studied her intently, and Ruth’s face was beginning to flush with embarrassment when finally he opened his mouth, ‘Well, if it isn’t Hollywood Ruth….’ Although it sounded like a joke, there was an edge to his tone.

  Ruth tried laughing it off but her insides felt like jelly. ‘Oh Charlie, of course it’s just Ruth,’ she joked, plastering on the smile that always wowed the cameras at premieres, and completely disguised her churning insides. ‘Great to see you, it’s been a long time, hasn’t it?’