Once Bitten

by Oliver, Marina

  As she dressed she glanced out of the window. To her relief Mark's car was nowhere to be seen, but Justin's car was gone, and a strange van was parked in its place. In somewhat of a panic she ran downstairs to find Justin in the kitchen, packing tins of dog food and a box of dog biscuits in a large holdall.

  'What are you doing? Where's your car? Are you taking the dogs to a flat while I'm away?' she demanded.

  He grinned at her and shook his head, pointing to a picnic basket she hadn't noticed, standing on the floor near the cooker.

  'We're coming with you to Manchester. Or rather, you are coming with me. The van belongs to a builder friend, and I will drive you there. We can go and see your printer friends and make sure they can do the printing you want in time. Then we can bring all your stuff back and stash it in a garage I know of. The coffee's on, then will you pack some food for us to have on the way? I'm sure we have better leftovers in the fridge than we can find at service stations. And I fished out two vacuum flasks, we don't need to have their dreadful coffee either.'

  Judy, overwhelmed, sank into a kitchen chair and stared at him. He grinned back at her while he went on packing the dogs' blankets and water bowls.

  'I – you don't have to do this,' she managed. 'I wasn't expecting it. I can easily get a firm to come in and store my stuff up there.'

  'Of course you can, but won't it be more convenient to have it all in London, where you can get hold of it at any time?'

  She had to admit the truth of that, also the relief she felt that she would not have a long drive both ways all by herself.

  'We won't have time to do much today, once we get there,' she said, glancing at the kitchen clock and realising, with horror, that she had slept late and it was almost eleven.

  'Nor will we feel like doing much packing. If you can phone the estate agent just to confirm everything is OK, and your printer friends – '

  'Susie and Tom.'

  'We'll ask them out to dinner tonight to talk about it and make arrangements. I'll book into an hotel if you can take the dogs for the night, and tomorrow we can start the packing. I imagine it will take us a couple of days, and you can come to the hotel as well once your bed is loaded.'

  Judy thought of insisting she had a separate room, but Justin was being so helpful, and she didn't think he was the sort of man who would expect payment in kind from any woman he helped, so she kept quiet. He gave her an odd look which made her blush. He had seen what she was thinking. To hide her blushes she opened the fridge and began to sort out what she could pack for a picnic.

  'That sounds good,' she mumbled into the salad drawer. 'Did you go and get that van at some unearthly hour?'

  'Not exactly. I met Greg, my partner who got hold of it for me, half way and he took my car back for me.'

  *

  On the journey they discussed more plans, and Judy sat with a notebook on her knees making a list of the cards she thought would sell best, with Justin persuading her to add more, saying she needed at least a couple of samples of each of her styles printed in bulk.

  They parked the van outside Judy's flat. She was thankful to see nothing of Mark's car, and when she went to see how Kate Baverstock and her baby were doing, Kate told her nothing had been seen of Mark since the day after she'd left.

  'Has he followed you?'

  'Yes, I'm afraid he did.'

  'He was so anxious, Bill said, but Bill didn't know not to give him your sister's address. You'd told me not to, but in the fuss about the baby coming early I forgot to tell Bill you didn't want Mark to know where you were. I'm ever so sorry. I know he can be persistent, and I hope he hasn't been making a nuisance of himself.'

  Judy shrugged. 'It was OK,' she said. She couldn't worry Kate with too many details of Mark's irrational behaviour, for she knew her friend would blame herself and Bill. 'I'll see you tomorrow, when I'm packing up. Then I'll have to say goodbye. I hope the new neighbours will be pleasant.'

  'Have you any idea where you'll move to?'

  'Not yet, but I'll let you have my new address. It won't be in Manchester, though.'

  'And neither of us will tell Mark,' Kate said, and laughed.

  She had no idea just how angry Mark had been, and Judy hoped she would never find out.

  They met Susie and Tom in a restaurant near the hotel where Justin had booked a room.

  'I booked two rooms while I was about it,' he told Judy, 'so if you like you can sleep there tonight and save going back to your flat.'

  Judy was, she suddenly realised, relieved. She knew there was little chance of running into Mark, for there was no reason for him to have come home at this time, but all the same she had been nervous, and would be more so when Justin left her alone.

  Susie was enthusiastic when they explained about the craft fair, and said she would put aside all but the most urgent jobs to fit in Judy's printing.

  'And we can work overtime,' Tom added. 'Actually, we're not that busy, it's August, lots of people are away, and most businesses have not yet started their Christmas campaigns, wanting new leaflets and posters.'

  'It sounds a brilliant notion,' Susie said. 'You can do more of these fairs, there must be lots coming up to Christmas. Most people still send Christmas cards rather than cards over the Internet, and they'll be so thrilled with yours they will want some just to keep. Would it be possible to enlarge a few and frame them?'

  'Heavens, I have enough to do,' Judy laughed.

  'She's right, though,' Tom joined in. 'Some of them would enlarge as big as your table mats, and framing them wouldn't cost a lot. If fact you could probably buy ready-made frames wholesale, photo frames would be about the right size.'

  'I don't think she ought to give people the idea they could buy a place mat or two and frame them themselves,' Justin commented. 'It would be better to do some quite separate pictures specially for framing.'

  Judy laughed, a trifle breathless. This idea was in danger of running away from her.

  'When do I get to sleep?' she asked. 'Between you I'll be working twenty-four hours a day, if not longer.'

  'Try just a couple, and see how they go,' Justin suggested. 'Now, how does Judy get the pictures to you? By email?'

  They discussed the practical details. Judy promised to send all the pictures she had decided on the following morning, with a list of how many she wanted of each size, and Susie and Tom went off after dinner bubbling with excitement, pleased for Judy and also for the extra business she was putting their way at a slack time. They promised to do a catalogue too, as soon as Justin had compiled it, and send the lot to Judy by courier in good time for the craft fair.

  'Can you stuff the cards into the plastic envelopes?' Susie asked.

  'Sure, I'll do that,' Judy said, but wondering how she would find the time.

  'Though if you get really established, or rather when you do, you'll do all your own printing,' Susie said, 'and we'll lose the business.'

  'I'll still use you for the big print runs, or rush orders,' Judy promised.

  'Happy? Do you think they'll do it?' Justin asked as they walked back to the hotel, and he tucked her arm into his.

  'Of course. We've been friends for years and they've always been reliable. I really am beginning to think it's all happening.'

  'We'll make sure it is. Now go and have a good sleep. Breakfast at seven in the morning.'

  'Seven?' Judy said, her voice rising to a squeak. 'It's like being back at school, getting up that early.'

  'Hasn't anyone ever told you that if you are self-employed you need to work far harder than you do as a lowly employee?' Justin laughed at her. 'I'll see you in the dining room at seven, and if you're not down, I warn you, I'll get a pass key and come and drag you out of bed.'

  'I'll be down, I promise!' Judy said, though a tiny part of her mind wondered what it would be like to be woken up by Justin.

  *

  When they got to the flat on the following morning they discovered that Kate and Bill had collected cardboard bo
xes of all sizes from the neighbours and piled them outside her door.

  'And Bill has a day off,' Kate said, 'so if you want his help he'll be along to do whatever is necessary. If he won't be in the way, that is. He'll take the dogs out, if they'll be nuisances. We're not permitted to keep pets in the flats, much to his disgust, but we can have them here while you are working at the van. When the children are older, and if we can afford to move to a house, we'll have a dog.'

  'That sounds a brilliant idea, but won't the twins bother the dogs? Or the other way round?' Judy asked.

  'Our flat's bigger than yours, I can shut them in the spare room. Now what else can Bill do?'

  'Carrying heavy stuff and boxes down to my van?' Justin suggested. 'Though Judy hasn't a great deal of heavy stuff, her wardrobes are fitted, and you are leaving the kitchen stuff here, apart from the fridge, aren't you?'

  Judy nodded. 'The cooker came as part of the flat, and so did the washing machine. The only advantage of having to buy new ones is I can get newer models – at a cost! Thanks, Bill, that would be a big help.'

  Justin set to packing books and china. Kate had supplied lots of newspaper too, for wrapping. Judy went to pack her clothes, after she had sent the promised pictures to Susie, and phoned to make sure they had been received without problems.

  'I love the new ones,' Susie enthused.

  They had packed the van by late afternoon, and Justin suggested sending for a takeaway to share with Bill and Kate.

  'I know you're anxious to set off, but we have the rooms for tonight, and we don't want to be looking for somewhere else half way down the M6.'

  Judy agreed. She knew it was sensible. She'd been to see the estate agent and solicitor, leaving Justin and Bill to finish the packing, and they had promised to send someone in to clean through.

  'You'll have your money as soon as we can process it,' the solicitor promised. 'This is your current address?'

  'It's my sister's house, and if I have moved she will forward anything to me as soon as possible.'

  They enjoyed a Chinese takeaway, admired Kate's new baby and the twins, and Justin drove the van back to the hotel, where he arranged for it to be locked safely in a garage overnight.

  'Your possessions need protecting,' he said, when Judy queried this. 'The dogs won't be very pleased to be indoors as well as in the van, but for one night they'll have to put up with it. I've asked the hotel to pack up a picnic lunch, too, so we don't have to stop on the motorway tomorrow.'

  'Not many hotels can offer such a service,' Judy said.

  'It pays to have influence. I built another of their hotels a couple of years ago, and the Manager remembered me.'

  'So what time are you dragging me out of bed in the morning?' Judy asked as they walked to the lift.

  'Breakfast at nine? I imagine you're tired?' Judy nodded. 'Then the main rush hour traffic will have cleared. Though there is far less round Manchester than near London. More space to build decent roads, I suppose.'

  At breakfast Judy made a point of insisting she paid for her room. When Justin raised his eyebrows, and said he had assumed that, she felt foolish.

  The journey back was uneventful. Judy was thankful not to be driving, and spent some of the journey planning how she would set out her stall at the craft fair, what else she would need, such as a cash box and order pads. She would go to an office suppliers the following day and buy these.

  'I'll have to use Fay's address for orders when people send cheques,' she planned. 'Over the Internet they sometimes use PayPal.'

  'Do you have business cards to hand out, if people don't want to take a catalogue?'

  'That's something else I must organise, with Fay's address on it, until I get my own flat. If I can ever afford one with all I'm spending on printing these cards!'

  'You can get a mortgage to top up what your own flat was worth, if you need one, but I predict your business will be off to a flying start and you won't need it.'

  'If only!'

  Judy was silent as they came near to London and Justin threaded his way through the evening traffic.

  'Unfortunately I'm at the far side, near the city, but luckily most of the traffic is going out of London at this time, it's not as bad as it might be,' he said.

  'It's bad enough,' Judy said, shivering. 'I wouldn't like to have to face this every day.'

  Eventually they arrived at a large block of modern flats in a building close to the river. Justin produced a zapper and the door to the underground garage opened. Inside there were designated parking slots, filled for the most part with expensive cars, and at the far end a row of lock-up garages.

  'Here we are. It's late, and we still have to get home, so I suggest we leave the stuff packed up and come back some other time to unpack it. Unless, that it, you find a flat quickly and we can move it all in at once.'

  'I won't be able to buy quickly, but I may decide to move out of Fay's house and rent. But won't your friend want the van?'

  'He's away for six months, working in Brussels. I can keep it as long as we need it.'

  He got out to open the garage doors. Judy saw his car inside, and he drove it out and transferred two excited dogs to it, along with their blankets and his and Judy's overnight cases, plus Judy's card samples, before driving it out and putting the van in its place. He was locking the garage doors when a young man in another sports car drew up in front of the adjoining garage.

  'Hi there, Justin, where the devil have you been? I thought you'd have been back by now.'

  To Judy's bewilderment Justin flushed, walked swiftly over to the other car and bent down to speak to the driver. She didn't hear what he said, but the reply came to her as the driver laughed.

  'Your tenants moved out early, last week, so why are you still living in the sticks when you could be enjoying your own flat?'

  ***

  Chapter 6

  Judy was quiet for the first part of the journey home, uttering brief replies to Justin's remarks. He cursed the misfortune that had brought his neighbour onto the scene, mentioning his flat and the fact his tenants had left. She was bound to be suspicious, but should he tell her the truth, that he wanted to stay with her and act as a buffer between her and Mark, or make some excuse? Any other reason he had for wanting to stay with her he pushed firmly from his mind. Neither he nor she was ready for a new relationship.

  'Shall we press on or stop for a meal?' he asked when they were half way home.

  'Carry on, I think. The poor dogs will be thankful not to be cooped up any longer,' she replied. 'Can you take them for a quick run while I get us something to eat?'

  'Right. I'll do that.'

  There was a pause, then Judy turned towards him. Glancing sideways he could see the puzzled look in her eyes. Now the truth was coming.

  'Your flat is empty,' she stated. 'Why haven't you gone back there?'

  'I'm having some decorating done,' he said.

  It would be easier to convince her that was the reason than cause her hackles to rise if she thought he was being over-protective, or officious. And it was partly true. He did have a firm going in to do a deep clean after his tenants.

  'That won't take long.'

  He made an instant decision to have at least some walls painted, so that his claim would be true.

  'I hate the smell of paint.'

  'Are you staying here to protect me?'

  'Don't you want me to? Are you fed up with me?'

  Attack, he decided, was best. It would confuse her, and at the moment she felt grateful for his help in clearing out her flat, and storing her belongings.

  'No, of course I'm not ungrateful,' she said, and out of the corner of his eye he could see her blushing. Good, he'd make the most of this opportunity.

  Besides, I'm still on holiday, and it will be much easier for me to stay here for the next week or so, until after the craft fair, if I am to help you with it.'

  'Oh, yes, of course. But don't think I'm still afraid of Mark. Somehow, now I've
cleared out my flat, it seems safer, as though he is further away. Do you understand?'

  She was being brave, but he wasn't convinced she really had lost all her fear.

  'Yes. And now we have the flat business sorted, let's work out what we both need to do until the craft fair. We don't have time to waste.'

  They spent the rest of the journey planning the following few days, and Justin saw with interest that Judy didn't even flinch when they drew into the driveway and she saw Mark's car parked next door. Perhaps she really had overcome her fear and he was wrong, after all.

  'So he's still here,' was all she said, then laughed.

  'What is it?'

  'He's found a richer pigeon for plucking than I am. Sadie already has the sort of house he wants, and if she sold it she could probably get an even bigger house in Manchester. Property isn't so expensive there if you keep away from the Cheshire football stars' belt.'

  'I wonder? Well, it will be amusing to watch developments. I must make sure to have a word with Ken and ask him what the score is. Come on, let's get these dogs inside.'

  'Ken is much more likely to tell you than Magda,' Judy said with a laugh. 'Women are supposed to be the gossips, but Ken takes the prize.'

  *

  Magda came across the following evening to report progress. She had booked a stall, and told Judy it was in a very favoured position, near the entrance, but not so near people would miss it as they came in.

  'And I can have as many dividers for the background as I want. Now, how is the printing going?'

  'It will all be done in good time. I can depend on Susie and Tom.'

  'And I have done a rough of the poster,' Justin said. 'Here it is. What do you think?'

  Judy hadn't seen this before, and she and Magda nodded enthusiastically. Justin had positioned colour pictures of several of the cards around the outside of the sheet, with lettering inside giving brief details of where they could be obtained.

  'No prices?' Magda asked.

  'They can go in the catalogue. They are expensive compared with the cheapo cards one can get in most high streets, we don't want to scare people off before they've had a chance to look at them and love them.'