‘But I’d been considering it,’ said Jon.
‘Like I said, isn’t it something we both should have been considering? Together? Like your going to Dubai?’
‘You’re still going on about that. I proposed to you precisely so you could come with me.’
‘I’m supposed to be your partner, not an employee. That means talking about everything. As a couple.’
‘I thought it would be romantic.’
‘I’m sure it would have been. If it had been right. But it hasn’t been right for a while now, has it?’
‘What?’
Kirsty looked at her feet, still in their Cinderella slippers.
‘Since I’ve been with you in Newbay, Jon, I’ve discovered I’ve got flaws I never imagined prior to your pointing them out. My feet are too big. My arse is too wide. My fingers are stubby. My face is too coarse. I dress too brightly and I laugh too loudly. I like the wrong kind of music. I’ve got the wrong kind of friends. The only question I have is why you would want to marry someone so very imperfect at all?’
‘Because I love you?’
‘You don’t love me, Jon. Not really. You only properly show an interest in me when somebody else does. You asked me to marry you because of Ben.’
Jon snorted but Kirsty knew she’d hit the mark.
‘You guessed that he liked me and you just had to show him who’s boss. Well, I’m glad you’re withdrawing your offer of marriage because I should have said “no” when we were on stage. For heaven’s sake, even your proposal was all about you!’
Jon opened his mouth to protest.
‘I’m not your Cinderella, Jon. And you’re not my Prince Charming. I should never have followed you back to Newbay. I would have left you at the beginning of December if it wasn’t for the stupid show.’
Jon tried again to interrupt her. Kirsty put a finger on his lips.
‘Jon, what we had wasn’t love. It was a showmance.’
Needless to say, Kirsty and Jon did not join the rest of the cast in the bar that night. They left the theatre separately. Jon in his car. Kirsty with her dad, half-sister and stepmum, who, once informed of what was really going on, waited by the vestry door like getaway drivers.
Jon went to his parents’ house. Kirsty imagined his mother was very pleased to see him and probably even more pleased to hear that Kirsty had turned the proposal down. Perhaps he wouldn’t even tell his family that he’d asked.
Kirsty had Stu, Linzi and India drop her off at the flat.
‘Are you sure you want to be on your own?’ Stu asked.
‘More than anything,’ Kirsty told them.
Still, the flat was horribly empty without Jon. The Christmas tree looked as sad as Kirsty felt, with half its needles already in the carpet. Jon would not have been pleased about that. With a heavy heart, Kirsty found a cardboard box and put all the baubles away. Without a care for the clothes she was wearing, she then carried the pathetic little tree outside and left it alongside the wheelie bins for the council’s one-off Christmas tree pick-up.
She made herself scarce for the next few days, staying with Jane to give Jon time to collect his stuff. She did not see him again before he left for Dubai.
Chapter Eighty-Seven
About two weeks after the break-up, Kirsty went for Sunday lunch at her dad’s. This time when India opened the door, she didn’t seem ready to run straight out of it.
‘Excellent. You’re here,’ she said.
Her dad cooked this time. Linzi was sitting at the kitchen table, flicking through the Sunday papers while Stu basted a roast chicken. The atmosphere was very much lighter than it had been before Christmas. India even offered to help her dad with the lunch.
‘Guess what? I’m going to do Drama and Theatre Studies,’ she said, when they were all sitting down at the table.
‘On the condition that she takes it seriously,’ said Stu.
‘Thank you, Kirsty, for helping me to convince him.’
‘You did that,’ said Kirsty. ‘With your excellent last-minute performance in the chorus. Next year, you could be the lead.’
‘You’re the best big sister in the world.’
‘What’s happening with Jon?’ Linzi asked. It was a natural sequitur from talking about the show.
‘He’s in Dubai,’ said Kirsty. ‘I heard it through Elaine. I bumped into her in town and she said she’d got a text message.’
‘Are you going to stay in Newbay?’ asked Stu.
‘For the time being. I’ve got to give three months’ notice on the rent on the flat. After that … Well, I had an audition.’
She told them all about Les Mis.
‘Wow,’ said India. ‘My big sister in a proper theatre.’
‘I’ve got to get the part first.’
‘They wouldn’t dare give it to anyone else,’ said Stu.
As it happened, Kirsty did not get the part in Les Mis, but the producer who saw her audition instead suggested she put herself forward for a production of The Lion King, which would play in Exeter for six months. That suited Kirsty. And it meant she still wouldn’t have to move out of Newbay. She could commute.
The thing was, Kirsty had come to realise that she loved Newbay far more than she had ever loved Jon. She would never have believed that she could come to be so fond of a run-down seaside town, but there it was. A warm glow in her heart when she thought of the place. She wanted to stay by the sea. Though she would probably have to work a little more on expanding her social life.
Kirsty had been to the NEWTS just a couple of times since the last night of Cinderella. She was relieved that everyone who had worked with her on the production was still friendly. She had worried that their sympathies would lay with poor, humiliated Jon. Instead, the gang seemed glad to see her. Lauren even invited Kirsty to join her on a girls’ night out with her friends from the television station. That resulted in a dozen selfies to remember.
It was great to see Bernie and Vince, in particular. Vince was still attending AA meetings every day and though he had only been off the sauce for a month, he was physically transformed. His face was no longer red and puffy. He’d lost some weight around the middle. And his mood was very different too. He was no longer the cynical old git she had come to know so well. He was gentler and softer. More likely to laugh at himself than at others. And he was endlessly solicitous to Bernie. Kirsty could almost see why Bernie had fallen for Vince in the first place now.
Since the last performance of Cinderella, two big NEWTS’ mysteries had been solved. The phantom graffiti artist who defaced all the posters had been unmasked. It was Glynis. Glynis, of all people! Turned out that the ‘community service’ she kept dashing off to do, really was community service and not, as everyone had assumed, charity work. Unknown to the NEWTS, she had received a community service order as punishment for defacing a picture of the Queen which hung in the council offices where she worked by day. She’d also sprayed a swear word on the side of the police station. Graffiti was a compulsion for Glynis. When they found out, the NEWTS committee invited her to design their posters rather than deface them, in the hope of channelling her compulsion there.
Leading the move for leniency was Trevor Fernlea.
‘You understand the need for forgiveness when you get to my age,’ he said.
‘Which is?’ Glynis was finally bold enough to ask.
‘Eighty-three,’ he told her quite simply. Annette, who had put money on eighty-three in a NEWTS sweepstake, bought everyone a drink with her winnings. Out of Trevor’s earshot, the committee resolved to present him with a ‘long service’ award at the next NEWTS’ ‘Oscar Night’ party.
So the NEWTS swam along. For Kirsty it was odd to be at the theatre with two notable absences. Not just Jon. Kirsty had not seen Ben since that last night of the run. She had not seen him since she turned and fled the stage, dropping his hand at the end of the curtain call as though it were burning hot.
‘We haven’t seen anything of him since that night,’ sa
id Annette.
‘Haven’t even had a text,’ said Lauren.
‘I think he might have taken Thea to join the NATS instead,’ said Bernie.
It seemed obvious why.
No, Kirsty told herself. That was such a self-absorbed conclusion to draw.
At the last performance, Ben had looked horrified when the audience chanted for Cinderella to say ‘yes’ to Buttons instead of her prince. He had only been acting his tender feelings for her. The connection they’d had was as unreal as the fairy godmother’s magic. It only worked under the spotlights. It was just that old showmance thing again.
She thought about texting him, but decided against it. He hadn’t rushed to contact her.
At the end of January, Kirsty got an email from Jon.
‘I wanted you to hear this from me instead of on the grapevine. I’ve met somebody new and I’ve fallen in love.’
So quickly? Kirsty found herself smiling. All the anguish she had felt over whether she might have feelings for Ben when all along Jon can’t really have been sure about their relationship either. She responded at once.
‘Thank you for letting me know.’ Then she added a couple of kisses.
Having received Jon’s email definitely made Kirsty feel lighter. It immediately absolved her of the guilt she had been feeling since she told him they couldn’t be married. Despite the drama of the broken engagement, Jon’s life hadn’t been ruined. He was carrying on very happily indeed. Kirsty also realised that for pretty much the whole of her relationship with Jon she had been holding her breath. Always waiting for the next barbed comment disguised as helpful advice. She didn’t miss him at all. She could breathe freely. Breathe the fresh sea air …
Chapter Eighty-Eight
Early on a Sunday morning at the beginning of February, the beach was deserted. The tourists would not be back for months. Even the locals were staying indoors. Except for the odd crazy swimmer. There was always someone in the sea, convinced that the ice-cold water was doing them the world of good. Kirsty shivered just thinking about it. If she was going swimming, then it had to be so hot that she would sizzle when she got out of the water to dry off.
Instead, Kirsty got her exercise by walking backwards and forwards across Duckpool Bay. She had done five circuits by the time she noticed the little girl.
It was Thea, running after her grandmother’s small Border Terrier who, in turn, was running after a ball. The ball rolled close to Kirsty’s feet. She scooped it up. Judy’s terrier pogoed around Kirsty’s legs, yapping that she should throw the ball again at once.
Kirsty dutifully hurled the ball back towards Thea. To Thea’s astonishment and delight, she managed to pluck the ball out of mid-air, like an England cricket team fielder.
‘Great catch!’ Kirsty shouted.
‘Cinderella!’ Thea shouted back. ‘It’s you!’
Ben was on his way down the steps.
‘Hey,’ he said when he got to them.
‘Hey,’ said Kirsty.
‘How are you?’
‘Oh, you know. And you?’
‘The same.’
‘I can’t believe how nice it is today. It’s almost like spring.’
Kirsty pushed ahead with the small talk when what she really wanted to say was, ‘Where have you been, Ben? Why have you been avoiding me?’
‘Supposed to rain tomorrow,’ Ben said.
‘Buster!’ Thea suddenly shouted. ‘That way’s quicksand.’
It was too late.
Kirsty and Ben ran after the dog. Then Kirsty stumbled backwards and planted her right boot in exactly the wrong spot. Before she knew it, the sand was up to her shin.
‘Help!’ she shouted.
Ben and Thea were quickly to the rescue. Thea stood back while Ben held out both his hands to Kirsty and tugged to get her free. Thea wrapped her arms around his waist to add her own effort. It wasn’t long before Kirsty was back on the safe dry sand. Her wellington boot, alas, was not so lucky.
Kirsty stood on one leg. Thea helped her to stay steady.
‘I’m going to have to hop all the way home!’ she wailed.
‘Was it a very expensive boot?’ Ben asked.
‘Stupidly,’ said Kirsty. ‘For a welly.’
‘Well, it’s gone now,’ said Ben.
The sand had closed over the top of it.
‘But wellies aren’t expensive,’ said Thea.
‘They are if you’ve got feet as big as mine and you don’t want to wear a big pair of men’s boots. What am I going to do?’
‘Did you walk here?’ Ben asked. ‘To the beach?’
‘Yes,’ said Kirsty. ‘The car’s back at the flat.’
‘We can give you a lift,’ said Thea.
‘You’ve got to get to our car first,’ said Ben. ‘I can carry you.’
‘Don’t be ridiculous.’
‘I’ve carried you before,’ he pointed out, reminding Kirsty of a night on another beach.
‘If I can lean on you, then I can probably hop.’
Ben stuck a stick in the sand.
‘I don’t know how long that will stay there but I’m going to ring the council and let them know this bit of the beach needs some warning signs,’ he said.
‘Would I have gone in up to my neck if you hadn’t pulled me out?’ Kirsty asked.
‘Probably,’ said Ben.
Thea’s mouth fell open.
‘No, you’d have been OK. Until the tide came in.’
Thea and Buster went on ahead with two pound coins and instructions to buy Kirsty a coffee from the kiosk to keep her warm while she sat on the sea wall and waited for Ben to return with the car.
‘If the NEWTS ever do Treasure Island,’ said Ben. ‘You should audition for Long John Silver. You’re pretty good at this hopping lark.’
‘Very funny,’ said Kirsty.
Kirsty wrapped her arm around Ben’s neck. As she did so, she caught a whiff of the aftershave she had come to like so much when they were on stage together. And then Ben put his arm around her waist.
‘Just for extra support.’
‘You’re still in the same flat,’ Ben observed when they got to Kirsty’s home.
‘Yeah,’ said Kirsty. ‘I just extended the lease. I’m working in Exeter.’
‘I didn’t realise you were still in Newbay. Maybe I’ll see you around.’
‘At the NEWTS?’
‘I think my Buttons was a one-off,’ Ben told her. ‘I’m not really cut out for the stage. I’m sure Jon would agree.’
‘I don’t know what he would say. We’re not together any more.’
Kirsty thought for just a second that a look of pleasant surprise passed over Ben’s face but if it did, it disappeared quickly.
‘I’m sorry,’ was all he said. ‘I didn’t know. I haven’t seen anyone from the NEWTS since the night—’
‘I said no.’
Another smile flickered on Ben’s lips.
Kirsty wondered if she should invite them in – Ben, Thea and Buster – but before she could do so, Ben told her that they had to be getting back. Judy was expecting them. And that was that. Kirsty waved them off.
Chapter Eighty-Nine
Back at the house, Thea was eager to tell Judy all about the quicksand adventure. The way she told it, Kirsty had been right up to her neck in the treacherous mud before Ben pulled her out. It was a miracle she hadn’t lost more than a welly. But Judy wasn’t really interested in the old rubber boot. She said to her son, ‘So, she’s still in Newbay. And Jon Manley is in Dubai. Without her?’
‘Yes, Mum,’ said Ben.
‘How come you’ve just found out?’
Ben was too embarrassed to tell his mother that after he rushed from the theatre after the last night, he’d blocked every single NEWTS number in his phone so that nobody could tell him what was happening if they wanted to. The last thing he wanted was to be invited to Jon and Kirsty’s engagement party.
‘And you’ve still got two tickets to
the theatre in February and nobody to take along with you.’
‘I’ll think of somebody.’
‘Seems to me that the person you should be asking is obvious.’
Ben shrugged the huge hint off.
‘It doesn’t have to be romantic,’ his mother pointed out. ‘You can go to the theatre as friends. Though I always thought she liked you just as much as you liked her.’
Ben pretended not to hear. He all but said ‘la la la …’
The rest of the day passed quietly. Thea was absorbed in drawing. Judy was reading a cookery book. Ben was trying to get some work done. But at four in the afternoon, Ben suddenly asked, ‘Mum, would you mind keeping an eye on Thea for a couple of hours. There’s something I’ve got to do before it gets too dark.’
‘Of course,’ said Judy. ‘But what—’
‘I’ll tell you when I’ve done it,’ said Ben.
Judy grinned and gave him the thumbs-up. No one knew Ben Teesdale like his mum did.
Chapter Ninety
Back at home and feeling much warmer, having changed out of her soggy jeans, Kirsty called Jane to catch up on her news. Jane was full of excitement about her wedding plans, which were beginning to come together already. A date had been set for June. Kirsty had agreed to be matron of honour, though on the strict understanding that she would get to choose her own outfit.
‘No lilac. No empire-line.’
Jane asked how Kirsty was getting on. Kirsty had yet to tell her about the email she’d received from Jon, telling her he had already moved on and was in a relationship with someone new. She told her now.
‘Well,’ said Jane. ‘Good luck to her. But what else is going on? Have you see Buttons?’
‘You mean Ben?’
‘That’s the one. Have you seen him?’
‘I saw him today actually. On the beach.’
‘The scene of the crime.’ Jane referred back to the curry night and the ‘near kiss’.
‘Not that beach.’
Kirsty recounted the embarrassing encounter, which had ended in her missing a boot.
‘He came to your rescue!’
‘But he didn’t ask to see me again.’
A Fairy Tale for Christmas Page 31