by Katie Ginger
Lottie turned to see his kindly face. ‘What are you doing here?’
He pulled his collar up against the wind. ‘When you didn’t show for the rehearsal I thought something must be wrong so I went to your house but there was no answer. Then I thought I’d pop in here. What are you doing sitting on the ground getting a wet bum? And why, my darling girl, have you been crying?’ Gregory helped her up and engulfed her in a hug.
Lottie snivelled. ‘It’s all such a mess.’
‘What is, dear?’
She held him tightly overwhelmed by the comfort. ‘Everything. Everything’s got so muddled and messy, and I’ve no idea who I am anymore, or what I’m supposed to do, and I miss Nan so much and—’
‘Oh, shush, now, sweetheart.’ Gregory patted her back.
‘What am I going to do about Jeremy?’ she asked, moving back and pulling her coat sleeves into her hands.
‘You mean handsome, delectable Jeremy? What about him?’
Lottie snivelled and nodded. ‘He told me he loves me and he wants me to run the theatre.’
‘And how does that make you feel?’
She thought for a moment before erupting again in a huge sob. ‘Heartbroken.’
Gregory chuckled. ‘Well, it’s not supposed to make you feel like that, is it? When a gorgeous man proclaims his love you’re supposed to be pleased.’
‘I know,’ said Lottie, standing back and wiping her eyes. ‘I don’t know why I’m not.’
‘Are you sure you don’t?’
‘It’s because I’d miss Sid, and I like my job. I don’t want to run a theatre and—’
‘I see,’ said Gregory.
‘See what?’ Lottie wiped her face again, her fingers like ice.
Gregory smiled. ‘How long have you and Sid known each other?’
‘Forever,’ replied Lottie. ‘Why?’
‘And how long has he been your best friend?’
Lottie had no idea where this was going. ‘Ages. Since school.’
‘Mm-hmm,’ agreed Gregory. ‘And how long have you been in love with him?’
‘What?’ Lottie paused. It was like Gregory had just hit her on the head.
Gregory laughed and pulled a hip flask from his coat pocket and took a sip. ‘Come on, darling. It’s clear to see that you’re jealous as hell of Selena and not because Sid’s your friend. I’ve seen the way you’ve been looking at him recently, since madam came on the scene. And he’s always been in love with you. It happened to me once, I’d been friends with this guy for ages when …’
Gregory kept talking but Lottie had stopped listening. Sid? Love? Like hero–heroine stuff? She opened her mouth but her words were taken on the wind and she stood motionless.
‘Don’t tell Cecil though, he doesn’t know about—’
‘I love Sid,’ she said, still staring wide eyed at Gregory. The words felt right on her tongue and her heart beat so fast it warmed her soul.
Gregory gave a loud laugh and threw his head back. ‘I know, dear. We all do. Try and close your mouth, love, you’re looking a bit demented.’
Lottie frowned. ‘What do you mean you all know?’
‘Oh, for goodness’ sake, child. Your nan knew. Everyone in the town knows that you and Sid have been in love with each other for years. You just slipped into the “friendship zone”.’ He took another sip from his hip flask and offered it to Lottie who had a swig too.
‘Friendship zone? Have you been reading Cosmopolitan again, Gregory?’
‘If one of you had just been brave enough to actually tell the other how you felt you could have been at it years ago.’
‘Gregory!’ Lottie blushed then wagged her finger as she told him off. ‘That’s it, you’re not reading glossy magazines anymore.’
‘The trouble is that you always took it for granted you’d have each other so didn’t do anything about it. It was only once one of you got the eye from someone else you realised how you truly felt. You were happy taking the coward’s way out and keeping the status quo – a band I rather enjoyed by the way – rather than being brave. It’s entirely your own fault.’
‘I know,’ said Lottie, in a small voice. Gregory was right and now he’d said it all the pieces of Lottie’s heart suddenly fitted together perfectly. She felt whole again. The cold autumn rain hit her skin as she stared at the ground. ‘But what do I do now?’
‘First of all, we go home and get out of this dismal weather, and then you have to pluck up the courage to tell him how you feel.’
‘Yes,’ agreed Lottie, the strong voice she’d grown accustomed to returning. ‘Yes. I have to tell him. And Jeremy. I have to tell Jeremy it’s over.’
The self-doubt that had been wrapping itself around her fell away. She’d convinced herself she’d loved Jeremy but she didn’t really. It had always been Sid, she just hadn’t realised it until now. Gregory watched her, his bright white teeth gleaming at her as he smiled.
‘Come on, Lottie Webster. Time for you to be the brave one.’
Chapter 42
It took a week for Sid to find what he was looking for but when it came it lacked any sort of satisfaction. After waiting for what seemed like hours in the pouring rain, Sid watched Lottie come home, trudge up the steps to her house and reach into her bag for the keys. ‘Lottie?’ he said, coming out from behind a tree.
She turned.
‘Listen, I need to talk to you.’ He tightened his grip on the papers in his hands, shielding them from the rain running off his head.
‘I’ve been looking for you,’ she replied, her voice anxious.
His heart gave a double beat. ‘Have you?’
‘Yes, I was worried. Where’ve you been all week?’
He’d thought she’d be too angry to care where he was so her concern surprised him. But if she wasn’t angry now, she would be soon. This had to be done. ‘I’ve been working on something. Something I need to talk to you about.’
She kept her eyes on him as she climbed the steps and unlocked the door. ‘You’d better come in then.’
Lottie walked into the living room, switched on the light, and dumped her bag down on the sofa. ‘Do you want a cup of tea?’ she asked, avoiding his gaze.
He brushed his hair down and shook the raindrops from his hand, then took off his jacket and dropped it onto the sofa. ‘No, thanks. I need to talk to you about something.’
‘Okay.’ Lottie sighed. ‘Do you want to sit down?’
Lottie moved to the sofa and Sid sat down next to her. His leg pressed against hers and a powerful electric shock ran through him as though someone had wired him up to a battery. Lottie didn’t move away and he breathed slowly trying to bring his racing heart back down.
‘You’re all wet,’ she said, and her arm moved slightly as if she wanted to reach out and touch him. For a moment Sid couldn’t breathe. He didn’t understand what was happening and the possibility that Lottie had forgiven him made what he was about to do all the more painful. ‘Is everything okay?’ she asked eventually.
‘Lottie, I’m sorry to have to do this, but, I’ve discovered something about Jeremy.’
She raised her eyebrows.
‘I’ve been doing some digging into his company and this whole theatre business and—’
‘And let me guess, it’s all a money laundering front for the Italian mafia?’
He couldn’t tell from her tone if she was joking or not. ‘No, Lottie, please, this is serious. I think he’s planning on flipping the theatre.’
Lottie’s eyes were steady and unmoving on his face but her chin quivered. ‘How do you know?’
‘I’ve been looking into his portfolio and I went up to his offices to do some digging.’ She looked surprised but not as devastated as he’d expected.
‘That’s very journalistic of you.’ This time she was definitely teasing which was even scarier. He’d been sure she was going to rip his head off.
‘I found out that he’s done this before,’ Sid continued. ‘He did the
very same thing with a theatre up north.’
Sid unrolled the papers in his hands to reveal proofs of newspaper articles. ‘He took over a theatre in Leeds when it was a dilapidated mess but rather than turn it into houses he made it a profitable business and as soon as it was making some money he sold it off to one of the big theatre companies from London. With some extra zeros on the price tag, of course. He made himself a small fortune.’
Lottie took the papers from his hands and read through the articles. ‘“Stole from the community”. “Took the heart of the town”.’ Lottie’s eyes filled with tears. ‘But is it still a theatre?’
Sid sighed. Was she still going to try and justify Jeremy’s actions, even though she might lose the theatre, the players – everything? ‘It is but the community aren’t allowed to use it anymore.’
She turned the pages over in her hands and looked up. ‘How did you get this?’
‘This wasn’t easy to find. The articles had been pulled by the papers. They were threatened with legal proceedings if they printed anything. I had to call in some favours to get these proofs but a few old journalist friends of mine had heard whispers. I’m guessing because of the negative reaction he’s never made a big deal out of it.’
Lottie shook her head in disbelief.
Sid wondered when the tears would fall. He’d brought tissues with him, determined to help ease the pain and be there for her. ‘No one local gets to use the theatre anymore, Lottie. The new company says there isn’t capacity. When it was renovated they added in extra seats. Apparently, you have to have a certain number to get the really big touring shows from London. Do you know if he’s—’
‘He said that after the panto we could reconfigure and get a thousand seats in.’
‘That’s the magic number,’ said Sid.
Lottie was looking between the pages he’d brought and Sid’s face. He was still surprised she wasn’t crying or trying to tear his limbs off.
‘But what about the community?’ she asked eventually.
Sid shook his head. ‘It’s not one or two touring shows like he said, it’s all touring shows with expensive tickets. The locals are priced out of the market. The programme is designed for the rich and well-off. Tickets are so expensive most people can’t afford them – not even for the Christmas panto. The am dram group have gone, they weren’t allowed to perform there anymore. No youth groups – nothing.’
‘I can’t believe it,’ said Lottie.’
‘He’s even had some councillors up to his offices in London. Probably schmoozing them to make sure the sale goes through.’
Lottie gasped then dropped her eyes. ‘So I guess I was never going to be general manager then?’
Sid placed a hand on her shoulder. ‘I don’t think so, Lottie. I’m sorry. This must be hard. I know you were in love with him.’
‘Was I?’ she asked, staring at him and he pulled back at her response. She’d been so sure last week that she was. ‘I suppose I was to begin with. But he’s used me, hasn’t he? And I’m an idiot for believing everything he’s said. I kept burying my doubts, pretending everything was fine. And then before I knew it, it was too late to stop it without looking like a fool.’
Sid leaned in to her. ‘You’re not an idiot, Lottie. Or a fool. He’s a complete—’
She turned and her face was so impossibly close to his. He could feel her breath on his cheek. Her mouth had opened slightly to speak and their lips were almost touching. Remembering Selena, Sid pulled back and Lottie looked away. A loud knock on the front door separated them.
‘It must be Jeremy,’ said Lottie. ‘He was late leaving because of another business meeting.’
‘What do you want to do?’ asked Sid, taking the papers from her and as their fingers touched he felt the same bolt of shock.
She didn’t look scared. She looked determined and Sid realised that Elsie had been right to make Lottie change. He still wasn’t sure about himself though. ‘Will you stay and speak to him with me?’
Sid smiled. ‘Of course I will.’
Lottie stood up and went to the front door. She took a deep breath and opened it.
‘Hello, honey,’ said Jeremy, sweeping her into his arms. ‘Oh, I’ve missed you so much. Oh, hello Sid. Nice to see you.’
Lottie backed away. ‘Jeremy, there’s something I’d like to talk to you about.’
‘Really, what’s that?’ He closed the door, took off his long, exquisitely tailored coat and tossed it over the sofa.
Lottie pulled her shoulders back and stood taller. ‘It’s about the theatre in Leeds you purchased and sold off two years ago.’
Jeremy’s shoulders stiffened but his voice remained calm. ‘What is it you’d like to know, honey?’
‘Please stop calling me “honey”.’ Lottie’s cheeks flamed and there was a fire in her eyes Sid had only ever seen when she was shouting at him. ‘I want to know why you sold it off and if you’re planning on doing the same to our theatre?’
‘Honey, calm down. I’ll do everything in my power to make sure that doesn’t happen. How did you get this information—’
‘Stop calling me “honey”,’ shouted Lottie. ‘It’s patronising. Do you think I’m an idiot, Jeremy? Did you think I was so madly in love with you, I’d let you tear the heart out of this town? This is my home. You knew how much this meant to me. To my nan.’
Jeremy gaped like a trapped animal. For a moment his eyes were wide in shock then a glimmer of the cold businessman passed over him. ‘It was a business matter, Lottie. Each case has to be dealt with individually. Sometimes the market changes, the value of the pound drops, the cost of materials goes up, and you just have to deal with it. With that property it was the right thing to do.’
‘And what about our theatre? What happens if the same situation occurs?’
He shook his head. ‘I don’t think it will.’
‘But what if it does?’
Jeremy shrugged. ‘Then I would have to make the right decision for my business.’
Lottie glanced at Sid then back to Jeremy. ‘Your business? So you would sell it on?’
‘If I had to, yes.’ For the first time he was raising his voice and it had a cold hard edge, then it dropped when he saw Lottie’s face. ‘But I’m going to do everything I can to make sure that doesn’t happen.’
Sid stepped forwards. ‘Have you got a buyer lined up already?’
Jeremy looked down his nose. ‘I have not.’
‘I think you’re lying there, mate,’ said Sid. With Lottie’s eyes on him he felt for the first time like Jeremy’s equal. ‘When I went to your offices I discovered you’ve been having some meetings with the larger theatre companies. My source said it was about a new property you were bringing into the portfolio, and you’d had lots of shiny presentation documents made up. They wouldn’t give me one, told me it was more than their job was worth, but it was in a little seaside town in the back of beyond that was becoming a real commuter spot. Sound familiar?’
Jeremy made no reply, just took a long stride towards Sid. Sid wasn’t normally one for fisticuffs but he would to defend Lottie and squared his shoulders.
‘It’s true, isn’t it?’ said Lottie.
Jeremy’s head dropped and he moved towards her. ‘I’ve made some enquiries, Lottie. That’s all. Just in case the situation changes. Nothing is concrete. I have to be prepared for all eventualities.’
Her whole demeanour changed and now, and mixed with her anger was a touch of indignation. ‘How could you?’
‘I’m a businessman, Lottie, first and foremost. I need to have all the bases covered.’
‘First and foremost?’ she echoed, derisively. ‘And what about Sid’s source? They seemed sure it was all go.’
‘Well, they’re lying.’ He looked at Sid. ‘Who was it? Rebecca, the silly tart on reception?’
‘I’m not saying,’ replied Sid, lifting his chin in defiance. ‘But they were quite sure your plans were to sell as soon as, and they were q
uoting you – “as soon as commercially viable”.’
‘Isn’t this all a bit beyond your scope, Sid?’ said Jeremy rounding on him. ‘You should stick to small local matters. Isn’t there a lost toy somewhere you can report on? Lottie, come on. Who are you going to believe? Me or this wannabe reporter who’s clearly jealous of how your life’s moving on and his isn’t?’
Sid was just about to step forward and thump him when Lottie turned to him, then back to Jeremy. The rest of his life hung on this moment, on Lottie’s reaction. His heart beat faster than it ever had before and he felt slightly dizzy.
Jeremy stared at her with a confident gaze and a smug smile.
‘I think you should leave, Jeremy,’ said Lottie, moving to Sid’s side.
‘Lottie?’ he replied. His wide eyes illustrating his shock.
Lottie marched to the front door and opened it, pointing to the cold dark night outside. ‘Get out. Or I’ll find something from the kitchen to use as a torture device. I think I’ve got a melon baller somewhere.’
Jeremy gave a derisive snort, grabbed his coat and edged around Sid. ‘You’ll be hearing from my solicitors. This is slander.’
‘It’s not if it’s true,’ shouted Sid as Lottie closed the door and leaned against it, breathing heavily.
Sid scratched his head and exhaled a long deep breath. ‘That was pretty cool, Lots. I thought you might need me to step in but that was amazing. You don’t really have a melon baller, do you?’
‘I don’t think so.’ Lottie smiled and instantly her mouth dropped open and fear gripped her face. ‘Oh, Sid. What the hell do we do now? I’ve made such a huge mistake. The solicitors have already started the paperwork.’
Sid rushed towards her and put a hand on her shoulder. ‘We do whatever we can to stop the sale.’ He reached into his pocket for his mobile phone to see seven missed calls from Selena and his mind flew back to the way Lottie had looked at him this evening, and to the bolt of lightning that had hit him. Could Lottie have felt it as well? Inspired by her bravery he realised now that he’d made a huge mistake too.
Chapter 43
Sid waited impatiently for Selena to finish work and come and see him. He walked in circles around his living room, periodically glancing out of the window. He’d never felt so nervous, or to be honest, scared over what he was about to do. Every nerve in his body was prickling and every sensation heightened waiting for what was to come. It was the fight or flight response but he wasn’t really prepared for either.