“You’re looking nice, Sonya. I wonder if one of those skirts would suit me, I’m not sure about this new bias cut?”
“Oh Mum, you could wear anything with your figure and now we’ve got Evan in nursery, you could start going to the gym’ after you’ve dropped him off in the morning.”
“I was thinking about that, now you’ve mentioned it. They’ve got one at the side of the motor way, haven’t they? What’s it called, the Village or something like that? I might start going a couple of times a week.”
“You should, you’ll have to let me know what it’s like, then I can take out membership. I haven’t really lost my tummy since I had Evan, you know?”
“Of course you have, there’s not a pick on you. I don’t know, you young girls. What will I do with you?”
“Find me a rich handsome man, who’ll whisk me off into the bright blue yonder, Mummy.”
“If I find one of them, I’ll be off with him myself.”
***
“Look, there’s Evan,” said Cheryl, as they all walked into the bar after their dinner.
“Shall we get some seats near him, Paul, then the two little boys can play together?”
“Yes, go on then, there’s a group of seats just at the side of theirs that are empty. Good Evening,” he said to Evan’s family. “Do you mind if we sit in these seats near you and then Evan and our Jack can play together?”
“Yes, do sit down,” said Kate. “It’s nice for Evan to have found a friend. Only children can get quite lonely sometimes.”
When everyone had settled in their seats, with Jack and Evan having a great time chasing each other and Annabelle looking wistfully at the dance floor, but nervous of getting up and joining another two little girls, who looked to be near her age, Greg came back with the drinks and everyone was introduced to one another.
“Can I get you and your wife a drink?”, he asked. “Perhaps the children would like one as well?”
“Tell you what, why don’t we both go to the bar together? We’ll have a snifter, shall we, then bring Cheryl and the kids their drinks?”, suggested Paul. “That all right with you, Cheryl, my love?”
His wife nodded and pulled a rueful face at Kate and Sonya. “He only wants to have a drink at the bar, because he fancies a cigar without me moaning at him.”
“I can sympathize with him,” said Kate. “ I’m an ex-smoker and sometimes when I have a drink, I feel like rushing out and buying a packet. I’ve given it up for a while now, but I’m sure it would be easy to take it up again.”
“Oh, I object to Paul smoking. The smell of cigars makes me feel sick and I hate my clothes and hair smelling as if I’ve sat in a pub’ all night. Still, he’s very good, makes sure I’m not in the vicinity and he never smokes in the house.”
“Oh look,” said Sonya, “ here’s the Animacion team. Well I’m presuming its them, they’ve got “entertainer” written on the back of their fleeces.
Suddenly, very lively music started pumping out of the loud speakers and a cheery faced young man with his brown hair standing up like a porcupine, jumped up on the stage with a microphone in his hand.
“Hi kids, I’m Mikey. Welcome to our Mini disco!,” he cried in a very Scouser accent. “Over there is Susanne and she’s from DENMARK! Give Susanne a cheer!”
The children, who had started to group in front of the stage, started screaming and jumping about, while a girl with white blonde hair in a yellow top and dark blue jogger bottoms took a bow and joined Mikey on the stage.
“And last but not least is, Damion. He’s from GERMANY! Give Damion a cheer!” Again the children jumped up and down and made a terrible noise, as a man in his late twenties, who looked to be more Italian than German, with his long dark hair tied back into a pony tail and his full lips parted in a wide smile that showed a set of white flashing teeth, jumped on stage to be with the others.
“We are the ANIMACION team!”, they shouted and the kids went wild again!
“I don’t know how they put up with screaming children every night,” said Paul to Greg, as they each sipped from their glasses of whisky looking over to the scene, which had subsided slightly, since the team was explaining to the children how to do the actions of Agadoo. “They need medals,” agreed Greg. “I don’t know, children seem to be more boisterous nowadays since my kids were small.”
“I believe it’s something to do with colouring, additives and something called E’s. That’s what Cheryl tells me anyway. She’s always looking at packets in the supermarket and having a look at the ingredients. You know I used to love eating ready meals, but she never buys them nowadays.”
“Well, I think Evan and Jack must have eaten a bucketful of additives today then, by the way they’re running around the place. I’ll have to get Sonya to get up and dance with him, otherwise he may as well be taken up to bed.”
“Yes, you’re right, I’ll come with you,” said Paul reluctantly, stubbing out his cigar in the ashtray.
***
Jenni and Lucy sat at the far end of the bar, away from the noise the children were making. They both perched on a red plastic covered stool.
Lucy had changed into a pair of black wide legged trousers and a fluffy pale blue long sleeved top, her high heeled sandals were ornamented with imitation silver diamantes and she had let her gold highlighted hair fall onto her shoulders. She sipped on a glass of pina colada and complimented Jenni on her dress.
“Where did you buy it from Jenni?” she asked. “I can never get things to fit me properly like that. I always need to have the shoulder straps adjusted because the top is too tight or sagging. I think I must be between sizes when it comes to the bust.”
“I got it from a place in Bolton. It sells lots of nice dresses, mostly occasion wear. My father paid for it. Funnily enough for when my mother got married for the third time. I wore it for the evening do she had at the Moat House. Everyone said I looked good in it, so I thought I would bring it with me on holiday. Dad’s really good to me, he slips me a bit of money when I visit him. Says it’s because he’s not at home to give me pocket money.”
“Lucky you,” said Lucy. “My parents never treat me. Only on Christmas and birthdays do I get something from them. My Granny does though and it was because of her that I managed to get over here. The little love had been saving for me in a Post Office account, since I was a toddler.”
Lucy went on to tell Jenni how she had become a rep’ for Periquito Travel and the girl listened avidly, to what she considered was a very exciting life.
“Why don’t you try it, Jenni?”, asked Lucy after she had finished her tale. “You’re a pretty girl and I’m sure you’d love the work.”
“I don’t know what I’m going to do at the moment,” Jenni replied. “I passed a few G.C.S.E’s in the summer and this year I will be taking my Mocks. I thought maybe I’d try for Uni’ if I got the required A levels, but since I’ve been going out with Simon, I’ve sort of lost the plot a bit.”
“Do you think you’ll get together, live with him, marry him even, in the future?”
“It had crossed my mind. I suppose every girl likes to think they’ll get married one day and have a couple of babies, but with my mother’s track record I’m a bit hesitant, especially with Simon behaving in the way he has.”
Jenni began to confide to her new friend about some of her mother’s checkered history and then of how she had met up with Simon, but then Tina and Anna the children’s rep’s came along to join them and the conversation that the girls were having came to an end. It was agreed that they would bag a few chairs at the far end of the room while Bingo was being played, as the Mini disco had come to an end and the little ones were departing.
***
“I’ll take Evan up to bed,” said Sonya to her parents. “ He’s worn out and sweaty with all that running about. Kiss Granddad and Grandma goodnight, Evan and we’ll see them in the morning.”
“Don’t want to,” the little boy muttered, his bottom li
p quivering at the thought of having to go to bed. “Want to stay with Jack.”
“You’ll see Jack tomorrow at the Kid’s club. Come on little man you’re worn out.”
She scooped him up in her arms, ignoring his screams and his wriggling, pinning him closer to her so that he couldn’t escape. She smiled ruefully at the onlookers as she took him out of the place.
“I suppose we should be thinking of taking Jack to bed,” said Cheryl, “ though he looks as if he might fall asleep in that chair.”
“I don’t want to go to bed yet, Mummy,” said Annabelle pouting at her mother. “I’m not tired even though I’ve been dancing. Didn’t we have a nice time doing “Music Man?”
“Yes, we did Annabelle, we had a lot of fun and we’ll have to learn that new dance tomorrow night, I don’t think I was getting the steps right.”
“You weren’t, Mummy. It was slide to the right, then slide to the left, you got it all wrong.”
Cheryl ignored her and asked Paul what he wanted to do?
“Well, things are calming down now, Cheryl and providing the children settle in their chairs, we can watch the duo when they come on. Did you want a Bingo ticket, the girl’s still selling them over there?”
“Go on then, get one between us and while you’re up get me another drink.”
“I’ll get the drinks,Cheryl,” said Greg standing up quickly. “Here Paul, get Kate a ticket as well while you’re there and I’ll give you the money for it later.”
***
Doreen stood up from the table in the quiet Bar opposite, watching as a few children and their parents came out of the entertainment room.
“Hey up girls, I think the Mini disco’s finished. Let’s take our drinks next door and get our Bingo tickets. Excuse me, young man,” she said sarcastically, as Jenni’s boyfriend lurched into her, as he made his way from the bar to a nearby table.
“You nearly spilt your drink over me then,” she said in her authoritative voice, glaring at him.
“Piss off, Missis,” he said and sat down with a thump, sipping at his beer after it had frothed sloppily onto the front of his shirt.
“Well!”, said Doreen, “ the manners of some young people today.”
The other two women got up and edged to the door with Doreen, but Simon continued with his drink, staring into the space in front of him.
“That’s the pretty young girl’s boyfriend, who came with us on the coach today,” observed Milly.
“They must have had a row for him to be in that condition. Still, it’s none of our business. In my day they would have called the police and had him up for being drunk and disorderly.”
The three of them found seats near the Bingo caller and Milly went to buy the tickets.
***
Fred and Mavis sat with dabbers poised, ready to listen to the numbers being called. They liked a game of Bingo. Sometimes they went to the Mecca Bingo in town, then after, they went around the market and bought their fruit and veg’.
“Wasn’t it nice seeing all those little girls dancing tonight?,” said Mavis. “I wish our grandchildren lived closer. I bet Lilian’s youngest likes dancing, though I suppose she’ll probably be taught how to do an Irish jig. You know we’ve got all these grandchildren and we’re not really involved with their lives like some grandparents are. Did you see that family over there, where the girl took that sweet faced little boy off to bed? Do you know, I thought that the couple were the father and mother and that girl was the toddler’s sister? I only found out when I went to the toilet and I heard the child call the woman, Grandma. Eh, don’t some people look younger nowadays? I suppose it’s because they have the money to spend on beauty treatments and hairdressers. Not in my day though, when every penny had to count.”
***
Jenni sat with Lucy, Tina and Anna listening to the Bingo numbers being called out. Some one had won the line and had been delighted to win the equivalent in pesetas of a tenner. Now people were waiting with bated breath for the last numbers of the Full House to be called out.
She looked at the two children’s rep’s with interest, wondering how they had got their jobs? Tina was a lovely cuddly type of person, buxom she supposed would describe her. She would probably make a lovely mother one day, with her pretty blonde hair. That was if she loosened it from her pony tail, then she would look like Alice in Wonderland. Anna, though, was a lot different in appearance from Tina. Her hair was cut short and spikey. It was coloured red, which gave a harsh look to her angular face. She supposed that Anna must be good with children or she wouldn’t have been given the job.
Someone had got the Full House at Bingo and was gleefully listening as Mikey, acting as caller, was checking the balls with the ticket. The equivalent of thirty pounds sterling was handed over and the very happy man walked away with a grin on his face.
Jenni wished that she had got some money, so that she could have bought a ticket. Thirty pounds would have been a lot of money in her handbag. She wondered again if she should go and see what Simon was up to. Surely, he had come to his senses by now?
She was just about to excuse herself to Lucy, to visit the toilet because the glasses of wine she had been drinking were beginning to cause her discomfort, when Juan and Miguel arrived, after clearing up the restaurant and preparing the tables in readiness for breakfast time. There was another round of introductions which took a few more minutes, before they went off to order a tray of drinks.
“I need to go to the loo,” she confided in Lucy, “ and I think I should go and check on Simon. I would have thought he’d be down by now.”
“Oh, Jenni,” said Lucy, “ don’t go running after him. Show him you mean business and let him come and apologize. The act will be on in a minute. Look, there’s a Ladies over there. If you’re quick you’ll be back for the opening song.”
“You know, Kate?,” Paul said, as he sat next door to her whilst they waited for the entertainment to begin. “When we saw you on the coach, we didn’t realize that you and Greg were Evan’s grand- parents. We thought that Evan was a late baby, if you don’t mind me saying so. Women seem to have children right into their fifties nowadays.” Cheryl smiled to herself as she heard his words. What a smoothie her husband was, he was probably trying to set Kate up with a visit to his car showroom.
“Just because I won the Bingo line, you don’t have to start chatting me up,” laughed Kate, tickled pink with the compliment just the same. “Ten pounds won’t get you very far.”
“What the hell’s going on over there?”, said Greg, suddenly jumping up and looking over to the back of the room.
“Where?”, asked everyone at his table in unison, leaping to their feet, nearly knocking their drinks over in their panic.
“Over there! I think somebody should be doing something. Call Security someone!”
He dashed off, brushing past people and knocking into chairs as he went. Mikey was about to introduce the “ Candelaria”, when suddenly he found his audience had nearly all disappeared. A crowd had begun to gather, to stare at the waiter named Miguel, who had served them in the restaurant that evening. He had a dazed look on his face, as he lay sprawled half across a table, while a young woman was on her knees trying to comfort him. Two other females were clinging onto a young girl, despite the fact an angry looking man had a handful of her lovely hair and was shouting abuse in her face.
Chapter Four.
“Stand back, …STAND back!,” shouted Greg authoritatively, as a few people edged nearer to a hysterical Jenni, who was sobbing uncontrollably.
“Leave her,… let go young man!” he said sharply to Simon, as a burly built security guard came dashing down the room and started dragging at Jenni’s boyfriend from behind. His hold on her lessened, as the security guard’s grip on him became painful and she pulled away to collapse into a chair behind her. Lucy and Tina knelt down in front of the terrified girl, calmly patting her knees and uttering words of sympathy, as Simon was being levered out of the room in th
e security guard’s arm lock.
Greg followed, in case the man needed any assistance, but it seemed that outside the door Simon had suddenly become aware of what he had done and was beginning to weep unashamedly. The security guard, who didn’t speak any English, tightened his grip and frog marched him along. To Greg’s dismay, by the time he had got to Reception, a nervous night porter had ‘phoned for the Police, so there was nothing to be done but wait for them.
“I don’t think that was necessary,” said Greg to Lucy, who had thought that seeing she was responsible for the welfare of her clients, came dashing along a few minutes later, to see if there was anything she had to do.
“I think it is standard procedure laid down by the hotel owner,” she replied, looking curiously at Simon, wondering how he could attack such a lovely girl as Jenni?
The young man was now sitting on one of the foyer sofa’s with his head in his hands, while the security guard was standing over him, doing his job.
“But surely the police will only take him to their cells, if a complaint is made by the young woman or the waiter?”, said Greg. “It looked like spot of jealousy to me.”
The sound of a police siren came to their ears, which made Simon look around him wildly. “Have they sent for the Police?”, he asked Lucy, looking at her with fear in his eyes.
“Yes, it’s standard procedure,” she replied coldly, not having much sympathy for him. She had left Jenni in the care of Tina and Anna and instructed them to take her into the quiet bar away from prying eyes. Miguel had got to his feet by the time she had left him, so she thought he’d probably be boasting of the incident in the morning, as he had been mistakenly accused by Simon of trying it on with Jen’.
For that was what it was, mused Lucy. Miguel had only put his arm around Jenni’s shoulder in a gesture of friendliness, he was like that with everyone. It was the Spanish way. He had felt sorry for Jenni being virtually dumped by her boyfriend in a foreign country, a quick tale told by Lucy, as he was being introduced to her.
As two Spanish policemen came into the foyer, Simon struggled up from the sofa, causing the security guard to grab him quickly and put him back into an arm lock, whilst over at Reception the night porter had begun to explain what was going on.
Clouds Below the Mountains Page 6