by Sue Welford
When Skip came back, he said. ‘Look, do you mind if we sit downstairs.’
‘Why?’
Drew told him.
Skip shrugged. ‘OK, whatever you want. Mind you we’ve paid for...’
‘I’ll give you the difference,’ Drew said quickly.
Skip had to run to keep up with him as he headed for the doors. ‘It doesn’t matter... is anything wrong?”
The picture was just starting as they found a seat near the back.
‘I said is anything wrong?’ Skip hissed in his ear over the thunderous opening credits of the movie.
Drew sat biting the inside of his thumbnail. ‘I told you,’ he said. ‘I just didn’t want to sit near Hickson that’s all.’
‘Right.’ Skip glanced at him and he had the feeling his buddy knew there was more to it than that.
Skip sat back in his seat and began to stuff popcorn into his mouth. Drew did the same. It was a great movie, but to his annoyance, he couldn’t stop thinking about Cindy and Carl all the way through. There was no doubt about it, he had to get her off his mind before started to go crazy.
Drew was relieved that there was no sign of them when they came out. He had begun to think the less he saw of Cindy the better.
He was dismayed then, when he found her waiting outside the engineering block on Friday after lectures. Dismayed, yet pleased at the same time. She couldn’t care that much about Carl’s jealous streak. She held his books in her hand. He tried to control the surge of pleasure he felt when he saw her standing there. He didn’t succeed. He found his heart was thumping like a drum when she smiled up at him, the colour of her eyes highlighted by the deep blue of her T-shirt.
She waved the books at him. ‘I brought these back.’
‘So I see. Have you memorised them already?’
‘No,’ she said, laughing. ‘I’m just so busy with my course and going to and fro the hospital I think I’d better give up the idea for a while.’
‘You could have kept them,’ he said. ‘I told you there was no hurry for them back.’
‘Oh... well, they’re here now.’
‘Thanks,’ he took them from her. ‘How is your mum by the way?’
‘She’s getting on OK. She’s going to come home soon and just go back to the hospital a couple of times a week to go on the machine.’
‘That’s good then.’
‘Yes.’ Then she said. ‘Why didn’t you tell me Carl was at the hotel the other afternoon when he’d told me he’d got to stay home and help his dad?’
‘Umm,’ he racked his brains for an answer that wouldn’t hurt her. He couldn’t so he decided to tell the truth. ‘Because I didn’t want you to be upset,’ he admitted.
‘Why should you care?’ she said.
He shrugged. ‘I thought we were friends.’
‘Then we should tell each other the truth.’
Drew shrugged his shoulders. ‘OK, Cindy. But look, it’s really none of my business if Carl lies to you.’
‘No, but you could have said. I felt a real fool when I found out. Me tell you he was in one place when you knew very well he was somewhere else.’
Drew couldn’t help asking. ‘How did you find out?’
‘I saw Max, he told me he’d seen you and Carl talking in the car park. Oh, Drew I hate being lied to.’
‘Yes,’ he said, ‘Me too. Cindy, I’m sorry.’
Her face softened. She fiddled with the silver bracelet on her wrist. ‘Oh, it’s not your fault. I’m still sore after our row that’s all.’
‘Lover’s tiff?’ Drew said lightly even though he felt like going to find Hickson and giving him a piece of his mind. Cindy had enough on her plate without this.
She smiled. ‘Oh, we made it up. He said he was sorry. It was just that he hates hospitals and didn’t want to be roped in to visiting my mum.’
‘Yeah?’ Drew said. ‘That’s really unselfish of him.’
Cindy glanced up when she heard his tone of voice. ‘He can’t help it.’
‘No,’ Drew said flatly.
‘Anyway,’ Cindy said. ‘I’d better go. I’ve got to catch the bus. My dad brought me in this morning and Carl’s got cricket practice again.’
‘What about the Mini? It hasn’t conked out again.’
She grinned. ‘No. I forgot to get any petrol, Dad’s bringing me some home in a can.’
‘I’ll give you a lift if you like.’ Drew didn’t know what had happened to his resolution to keep away from her.
Her eyes lit up. ‘Would you? I’ve always wanted to go on the back of a motor bike.’
‘What about Carl?’ Drew said dubiously. ‘I don’t want to cause any rows.’
‘Oh,’ her face fell. She screwed up her nose. ‘He can’t really object, can he? You’re only giving me a lift home?’
‘You should know,’ Drew said. ‘He’s your boyfriend.’
She hesitated, then suddenly seemed to make up her mind. ‘I’ll just tell him the truth. It’ll be OK.’
‘Right. It’s up to you.’ Drew took the spare helmet from the bike box and helped her put it on. He swung his leg over the saddle and she climbed on behind him.
He looked over his shoulder. ‘You OK.’
‘Yes, great.’ He could feel her arms, tight around his waist.
‘Keep your feet tucked in,’ he said.
Her chin was resting on his shoulder. ‘OK.’
He gunned the engine, put the bike into gear and roared off down the road. He felt her arms tighten as he accelerated towards the bridge.
He went the long way round. Through town, onto the bypass then along the river towards Manorfield. All the way he was conscious of Cindy behind him... her arms round his waist, her chest pressed against his back. Once, she shouted in his ear. ‘This is great. I love it.’
‘Good,’ he’d shouted back.
Then, about half a mile from home they passed Carl in his sports car, going in the opposite direction. Drew didn’t know whether Cindy had seen him or not. But when eventually they drew up outside her house and she clambered off, she said.
‘We passed, Carl. Did you see?’ She pulled off the helmet and bent her head to fluff out her air. Her face was flushed, her eyes alive with excitement.
Drew sat astride the bike. He took off his helmet. ‘I don’t know if he saw us. And even if he did he may not have realised who it was.’
She smiled suddenly. ‘I don’t care anyway. That was so great it was worth having a row for.’
‘Well, if you have any problems, let me know. I can soon square things with him.’
‘No, it’s OK, I can fight my own battles, thanks.’
He gazed at her. ‘Yes, sure.’
She put the helmet into the box. ‘Do you want to come in for a Coke or something?’
‘Er...’ Her question took him by surprise. ‘I’ve got to go to work.’
‘Now?’
‘Er.. well, not until later. I could come in for a minute if it’s OK?’
‘ Course it’s OK. My parents like me to bring friends home. Anyway, Dad’s with mum at the hospital and Emma’s staying at Carl’s. Aunty Jane likes having her around.’ She grinned. ‘Good job someone does.’ She pulled his arm. ‘Come on, don’t be shy.’
‘I’m not.’
Drew switched off the engine and got off. He propped up the bike and followed her through the gate and down the path to the front door. She turned and smiled at him as she put her key in the lock. She opened the door and went in.
Drew stood on the threshold feeling unaccountably nervous.
‘Come on, Drew,’ she said impatiently. ‘Don’t stand there like a lemon.’
She led him down the hall. He had a vague impression of going past a luxurious looking lounge with pine-clad walls and a huge, ragstone fireplace. One whole wall was filled with books.
The kitchen was huge. Almost as big as the whole ground floor of Drew’s house put together. White units sparkled beneath an array of spotlights and th
e biggest electric cooker Drew had ever seen gleamed under a wide, copper hood.
Drew’s jaw dropped. ‘What’s this,’ he joked. ‘Buckingham Palace?’
Laughing, she made him sit down. She went to the fridge and took out two cans.
‘Coke?’ she said, turning.
‘Great.’ Drew was still looking round in amazement. the only places he’d ever seen like this were in those glossy magazines you see in the dentist’s waiting room. Even then, places like that didn’t look real. More like a stage set put up just for the camera.
On one of the worktops was a thick photograph album. A few odd pictures lay scattered around. Drew picked one up. It was of Cindy and her sister taken on a sailing yacht. Cindy had her hair in long pigtails and looked about ten years old.
‘This you?’ he asked although it was quite obvious that it was.
‘Oh, no,’ she squealed and reached out to snatch it from him. ‘That’s dreadful, you’re not to look at it.’
He grinned and held it out of her reach. ‘I already have.’ He stared at it, high above his head. ‘Quite a looker,’ he teased. ‘Even then.’ He still felt surprised at himself. Surprised how easy it was to talk to Cindy, to laugh with her. It just seemed like the most natural thing in the world.
She jumped up and snatched the photograph from his fingers, almost knocking him off the stool. He grabbed her arm and they wrestled, laughing. Her face was so close he could see the sparkles in her eyes and smell her perfume, light and flowery, the one he knew she always wore.
Suddenly she noticed him staring at her. Their gaze locked for a brief moment then she pulled away, her face becoming serious. She pressed her lips together. ‘Give it to me, Drew.’ The air between them seemed suddenly fraught with tension.
He handed it to her. ‘Sorry,’ he said.
She looked at it then tucked it inside the album. ‘Don’t keep saying sorry.’
‘Sorry,’ he said.
Their eyes met again and they burst out laughing. The tense moment had passed as quickly as it had come.
She opened the album. ‘We’ve been making up a load of photos for Mum to look at in hospital,’ she said.
On the first page there were several snaps of Cindy and her sister on a huge yacht on a wide, azure sea. Cindy was wearing a bikini and had her hair tied up in a pony tail. She was bronzed to a golden tan.
Drew looked over her shoulder. ‘How old were you then?’ he asked.
She raised her eyes to the ceiling. ‘Twelve, I think,’ she said. ‘It was taken just outside Sydney.’ She turned the page. ‘Oh.. this one’s taken when we went to Florida...’ she laughed. ‘Look, there’s Emma with Mickey Mouse...’ she looked at Drew. ‘You ever been to Disneyland?’
Drew laughed. ‘Me..? You’ve got to be joking. The last holiday we had was on the Isle of Wight and that was years ago.’
‘Well, I’ve never even been to the Isle of Wight,’ Cindy said and they both laughed.
They thumbed through the rest of the album. ‘We lived in Sydney for four years,’ she said. ‘I didn’t want to come back but Dad’s project out there had finished.’
There seemed to be pictures of Cindy and her family taken in all the exotic places of the world. A lot of earlier ones included Carl and his family. In each one Carl seemed like a miniature version of the boy he was now. Beefy, blonde and in most instances, scowling.
Drew commented on the number of places they’d visited. ‘It looks as if you’ve been everywhere,’ he said.
‘It’s not really like that.’ Cindy explained. ‘It’s just that Dad’s always been so busy that holidays are really the only times we’ve been together as a family. That’s why we made this up especially for mum...’ Her voice faltered and she put her head in her hands.
Drew touched her arm in sympathy. She took a deep breath then looked up at him, her eyes bright. ‘Sorry,’.
‘Don’t keep saying sorry,’ he said with a grin.
She smiled and showed him another page. On this one, Carl looked about ten years old. He was in a garden, wielding a cricket bat with an evil look on his face. Drew thought he looked just the kind of kid who would enjoy pulling the wings off butterflies but he didn’t say it.
Cindy gazed at the picture. ‘I used to hate Carl when I was little,’ she said. ‘He used to bully me like crazy. And Emma.’
‘I bet,’ Drew said.
‘I couldn’t believe he’d changed so much and grown into such a gorgeous hunk,’ she said. She looked at Drew. ‘Our parents are really pleased we’re having a relationship.’ She smiled, a secret kind of smile that send a pang of envy through Drew’s heart. ‘I think they always hoped we’d.. you know, get together.’
‘Yeah?’ Drew didn’t know what else to say.
‘I know he’s not the easiest of people to get on with,’ she added. ‘But when you really get to know him...’
Suddenly, Drew didn’t want to hear any more. He just wanted to get away. Being so close to her had shaken him up more than he’d admit. He closed his eyes for a moment trying to regain his balance. She’d die if she knew what kind of thoughts were going through his head. He took another swig of Coke and stood up.
‘I’ve got to go,’ he said abruptly.
She looked surprised. ‘Aren’t you going to finish your Coke?’
He took another swig and put the can down on the worktop. ‘Thanks. I’ll see you, Cindy.’
‘Drew, wait.’ She ran down the hall after him. By the door she grabbed his arm. ‘Did I say something to upset you?’
He looked at her face, full of concern that she had done something wrong. ‘No,’ he said. ‘It’s not you, it’s me.’
‘What?’ she frowned. ‘What’s the matter.’ She stamped her foot angrily. ‘Tell me, Drew. I thought we were friends.’
He raised his hand and touched her lightly under the chin. The urge to take her in his arms and kiss her was almost overcoming him. She was still gazing at him, a slight frown creasing her eyebrows. Then, as if she could read his mind, she gave a small gasp, a small intake of breath.
‘Drew... I...’
He heard her gasp again as he lowered his head towards her. He could see himself reflected in the moisture of her eyes. For one brief moment he thought she was going to let him kiss her. Then she seemed to come to. She put her hand firmly against his chest. ‘No, Drew.’
He groaned and let his fingers drop. ‘Cindy, I’m really sorry.’
Then he turned away from her. For one minute he could have sworn she had wanted him to kiss her. He never would have tried to otherwise. He opened the door and stepped out. When he tried to close it behind him he found she was holding the handle, standing there, watching him.
She was about to say something when the phone rang. She swore under her breath. ‘Drew... wait, please.’ She ran to answer it.
‘Oh, hi, Carl... No, I got a lift home.’
Drew was still on the doorstep. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath trying to calm his thudding heartbeat. He’d blown it now. He’d really blown it. He could have kicked himself. He had obviously misunderstood her. He should have known better. And if she told Carl what had happened he knew the guy would make his life hell. He wasn’t scared of him... no way. But if he lost his job it would be the last straw.
Cindy was still talking on the phone. ‘On the back of his bike,’ she was saying. ‘For goodness’ sake, Carl, it doesn’t mean anything. Yes, of course I love you....’ Drew didn’t wait to hear any more. He closed the door and strode down to path. He climbed on the bike, gunned the engine and roared away. He screeched to a halt at the junction then accelerated away down the road.
He didn’t go straight home. He turned off at the roundabout and headed for the motorway. He hardly knew what he was doing or where he was going. All he knew was that he had to get the anger and jealousy out of his system. Anger at himself for messing things up with Cindy. Jealous, if he admitted it, of the way he had heard her tell Carl she loved him. Speedi
ng down the fast lane at seventy might just help.
The first vehicle he overtook was a pale yellow Rolls Royce. As he roared past he looked in his mirror. He recognised the figure of John Hickson at the wheel smoking a big fat cigar. The cigar wasn’t the only thing that was big about Carl’s dad. He had a big stomach and a big, aggressive voice to match. He was always around the hotel throwing his weight about. He was entitled to, Drew supposed. Seeing as he owned the place and about five other hotels as well. But somehow Drew couldn’t imagine someone like Cindy having parents that were friends with a man like that. Not that it mattered. Nothing about Cindy mattered. Nothing about her was any concern of his.
He left the motorway at the next junction and took the road along the river. At the bridge, he parked the bike, climbed the stile and headed along the footpath. He turned off, pushing through the willows until he came to his favourite place. He took off his helmet and sat down on the bank. He picked a blade of grass, stuck it between his front teeth and stared moodily into the distance.
The late afternoon sun was warm on his back. He took off his jacket and lay down, his face up to the sky. He could feel the warm rays caressing his chest through the thin cotton of his shirt. Then, restlessly, he sat up again. He stared out over the water, his mind a whirl of conflicting emotions. A moorhen swam past with three chicks in her wake. Golden buttercups and a few vagrant bluebells grew on the bank. Sitting there was like being in another world a million miles from the noise and bustle of the town traffic.
He was still angry at himself. What a prize fool. Cindy must have seen how he was feeling. She must have seen the longing in his eyes. He had been kidding himself when he thought she felt the same. He remembered saying he would show her this place, now she’d never trust him enough to come with him. And if she told Carl.... he didn’t really want to think about it. One thing he was sure of, though, he had fallen in love... really in love for the first time in his life. But one thing was for sure, that love had to be a secret... for now... probably for ever.
5
A week later Max rang to ask Drew if he could look after the gym.