As The Sun Goes Down

by Jay Howard

Time Out

  Lynn felt a bid of a fraud when her Mum’s friends cooed over how good it was of her to give up part of her precious summer holiday before A level studies started to go and care for other people.

  This is my chance of freedom, for goodness’ sake! I’m doing it for me.

  For the first time in her sixteen years of life she would be on her own, and was determined to show the world what was what. There’d be no parental restrictions, no nosey neighbours twitching their net curtains, and it wouldn’t cost her a penny. Everything was paid for by the charity: travel, board, the works except for her personal entertainment during her free time. She was sure rotating eight hour shifts to give 24/7 care wouldn’t be too bad, and that it would be quite interesting to experience being awake all night. And London was just a tube ride away. London had to be able to offer better entertainment than anything her village could even dream of. Lynn’s only regret was that her best friend would not agree to go too, but Janice had her heart set on being a farmer’s wife. She would not consider anything that might upset or worry Bill, heir apparent to the 150 acres closest to their homes.

  Roll on Saturday! No farm’s big enough to hold Lynn Reid back.

  -0-

  “Relax, love, I can’t afford plastic surgery to remove all those frown lines,” Brendon gently teased his wife.

  Viv shot him a startled glance, the frantic clicking of her knitting needles ceasing abruptly. “I can’t help but worry about her,” she said. She dropped her knitting in her lap and ran her fingers through her short curly hair. “Why did Lynn have to choose the furthest Home from us? What if she needs us to get there quickly?”

  “And why would she need us? She’s only going for two weeks. Anyway, the Holiday part of the name refers to what the disabled guests are going for, not Lynn. Remember, most of them will be quite elderly, probably overweight and cranky, and Lynn will end up so exhausted by the end of every shift she’ll be glad to just put her feet up with a cup of tea.”

  “Overweight? Oh no! What if they don’t teach her how to lift properly? She could injure her back, be facing a lifetime of problems -”

  “Darling, you know you checked out the charity thoroughly: not one injury, or complaint, or piece of scandal. There’s a string of both guests and volunteer workers eager to go back, all giving glowing references. Qualified permanent staff are now in loco parentis so I, in loco doctoris, prescribe this for us.”

  Brendon smiled at Viv’s wide-eyed childlike expression as he produced from ‘nowhere’ a venerable looking bottle of brandy. “A little something I came across on my way home from work,” he murmured while taking down the Waterford crystal brandy balloons from the display cabinet.

  “But it’s Blue Butterfly!” Viv protested. “How could it be ‘on your way home’ when there’s not an off-licence for miles around that’s good enough to sell that?”

  “Oh, you recognise it then?” Brendon queried with a twinkle in his eye.

  Their shared memory of an enchanted evening on their honeymoon, when Brendon introduced Viv to the sensuous pleasure of a fine brandy, eased the tension of this evening nearly nineteen years later.

  “All fledglings have to test their wings eventually. At least we have made this first flight as short and safe as we can.”

  -0-

 

  What a weekend! What hard work! What fun! What interesting people! Wow! And as for Rob…

  Lynn couldn’t believe her luck when, that first Saturday after all the introductions had been made at the Meet and Greet party in the main lounge, she found herself allocated to Rob’s shift. Rob was a permie and, in Lynn’s opinion, an absolutely gorgeous hunk of manhood. Six feet two inches in his socks, broad shouldered and slim hipped, with soft expressive brown eyes and his lips – Lynn couldn’t drag her eyes off them.

  They’d look too full and sensuous on a bloke if it was anyone else. They’re just begging for a fingertip touch, a kiss…

  Of course all the women, young and old, were in love with him. He lifted Nellie in and out of her wheelchair as though she were a mere slip of a girl rather than the 18 stone paraplegic she actually was. His genuine interest and concern for everyone got the old biddies acting like simpering debutantes with their beaux. Rob flirted outrageously with them but also captivated the men with chats about cars, football, gardening, suggestions for the next chess move. Lynn was sure she knew where his interest really lay though. She’d noticed how he was always aware of where she was, the special shared glance each time their work brought them close.

  Oh well, time to clock in with the parents. Best not to mention Rob again, perhaps.

  She knew her Mum’s imagination was liable to run further on a few words than anyone else in England. She got up to go to her room for a bit more privacy while she made the call. Lynn softly sang the opening lines of a Foreigner track as she made her way through the high-ceilinged, sunny morning room of the Victorian manor house. I want to know what love is, I want you to show me...

  As she passed, Rob glanced up at Lynn from the game of Jenga he was playing with two of the guests, and smiled that irresistible slow smile of his.

  The weather had really helped boost the atmosphere of fun over the past few days. The trip to Southend with its ice creams on the front, and the wheelchair races they’d had around Croydon shopping centre, had been a really good laugh, but now it was time for her own fun. Her shift had finished at two that afternoon and as she wasn’t due back on until six the following evening Lynn was looking forward to plenty of time in the city and a leisurely lie-in to recover from it. She wandered out into the garden in search of the others on her shift as they’d all agreed to go together. Sounds of laughter directed her steps to the swimming pool, where she found they were obviously nowhere near ready to go.

  “Hi, Lynn,” Cassie called. “Go and get your cossie, it’s gorgeous here.”

  “We all agreed we were going to London this afternoon,” Lynn protested, wincing at how petulant she sounded even to her own ears, but she hated the way the vibrant copper-haired Cassie always seemed to be centre stage without even trying.

  “Oh, we can go to town any old time.” Cassie dismissively waved one well-manicured slim hand. “It’s not often we get such glorious weather though. Better make the most of it.”

  “Well, some of you may be able to go to ‘town’ any time you like but some of us live hundreds of miles away!”

  Lynn stormed off, even more annoyed that there wasn’t even a pause in the laughter and splashing round the pool. I don’t need them to be able to enjoy myself. Watch out London, here I come!

  -0-

  Rob’s appearance at the French windows caused a clandestine rearranging of scantily clad bodies to ensure they showed to best advantage. He’d spent the afternoon catching up with laundry and housework in the flat he shared, as a member of staff, in the Home’s extensive grounds. Now, as the heat of the day started to melt into the soft golden glow of evening he was looking forward to relaxing with Lord of the Rings in the garden. He’d heard there were plans to make a film trilogy and he’d decided he wouldn’t watch them until he’d had a chance to remind himself of a story he hadn’t read since he was a boy.

  “Come on in,” Cassie called. “The water’s perfect.”

  “Only perfect with your fair presence in it, my lady,” Rob bowed to her. He gracefully stripped his T-shirt over his head.

  There was a collective intake of breath from the group, watching as the taut litheness of him flowed into a running header into the pool. Cassie squealed in mock terror, swimming to get away from the hands that reached for and caught her ankles, pulling her down into the sun-shaft brightness of the water. His deceptively lazy crawl soon powered him to the end of the pool and back. Several young pairs of eyes were glued to the flexing muscles that lifted him effortlessly back onto the edging lawn.

  “I thought you were all going to town today,” Rob commented.

  “We couldn’t leave you all lone
some, now could we?” Cassie said, looking up at him from under her eyelashes.

  A quick glance round brought a small frown to Rob’s brow. “Where’s Lynn?”

  “Oh, she huffed off by herself when we wanted to stay here.”

  The sudden hardness in Rob’s eyes made Cassie wonder uneasily what she had done to offend him.

  “Um… excuse me, ladies,” Rob said after a slightly awkward pause. “There’s, um, something I need to check on in the office.”

  None of their protests could dissuade him from grabbing a towel and hurriedly drying himself down as he headed back to the house.

  Oh you sweet, naïve child. Please, God, protect her until I get there, Rob prayed, cursing his fingers as they fumbled on the catch of his crash helmet. He was unusually vicious kick-starting his beloved Triumph and the spurt of gravel left no doubt about just how much of a hurry he was in.

  -0-

  It’s boring in London if you’re on your own and don’t know where to go, Lynn reflected morosely. Even the places of interest she had managed to find all seemed to cost a small fortune. She had stopped mentally calculating how many weeks it would take her to earn the various entry fees from her Saturday checkout job. A heavenly smell of freshly ground coffee beans had tempted her to enter a rather shabby café. She sat there, disconsolately nursing a latte. She tested this new name to herself – cafe latte - she had to get it right when she told Janice about London. She looked around, the corners of her mouth downturned. The only bright thing in the place was the gleaming, steaming, coffee machine, snorting exuberant steam at the cups.

  Her seat in the window showed couples and groups of people pass, all of whom seemed to know how to have a good time. Stubborn pride alone kept her from catching the next tube back to the graceful manor and its peaceful gardens. She felt tired, dirty and deafened from the incessant noise of the city, a very insignificant mote in this throng of humanity, but she was not prepared to face the amused looks from Cassie and crew when she answered the inevitable questions should she return early.

  One group didn’t just pass by. It felt like a mini storm crashing through the door and noisily jostling past her table on their way to the counter. They all looked so happy, so together, so very obviously Londoners at home in their city.

  “All right, sweetheart?” One of the lads winked at her in passing.

  Lynn blushed furiously, ashamed to find her close scrutiny had been noticed. She wanted to crawl under the table out of sight. Then her attention was caught by their myriad orders. Are there really that many different styles of coffee? The group clustered on the tables next to hers and it became all too apparent how prim and proper her clothes and hairstyle were in comparison, how very obvious it was that she was no city girl.

  “I’m Chas,” the one who had winked at her called across. “What are you doing sat there all alone? You’re far too beautiful to have been stood up. What’s your name? You don’t mind if I come and sit with you, do you? We’re a bit crowded here.” Fitting deed to word he straddled the chair opposite her. Oh where was the witty reply when she needed one?

  “Leave her be, Chas,” a blonde with amazing eye makeup chided him. “Can’t you see you’re embarrassing her?”

  Lynn groaned mentally.

  “Never mind them,” one of the others consoled her. “Thinks he’s God’s gift, he does, and Babs was never high in the tact department.”

  “I’m Lynn,” she managed to stammer. “This is my first trip to London.” She could have bitten her own tongue off, hearing herself blurting that out.

  “Yeah, we guessed that.” Babs laughed and her friends joined in.

  The noise level rose steadily and Lynn didn’t know which part of the various conversations to listen to or join in with. Ultimately it was just too much for the owner. As other people showed signs of being put off staying, or even entering, he let his feelings be known.

  “Oi, you lot, just keep it down will yer!”

  “Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Chas called back. “We know when we we’re not wanted. Come on – let’s go somewhere they like a bit of life.”

  “Oh,” said Lynn. “Well, it was nice to meet you.”

  “Don’t be daft! You’re coming too.”

  Lynn knew she should say no, but what the hell, they were such good fun. What harm would it do?

  -0-

  Rob dialled the mobile number he’d jotted down from the office file, praying that it would not immediately switch him to message service. It rang, and rang... Please, Lynn, come on, answer it, dammit!

  “Hello?”

  He barely recognised the voice answering his call. Keep it cool now, no need to frighten her. “Lynn? Hi, it’s Rob. Look, I changed my mind and came into town. Do you fancy meeting up for a bite to eat or something?”

  “Rob!” she squealed in his ear. “Where’re you?”

  It didn’t bode well to him that she was slurring so much.

  “Never mind where I am – where are you? I’ve got the bike so I can come and meet you.”

  “Dunno…” She struggled to make her tongue behave properly. “Where are we?” she asked Chas. “My friend brought me out for some fun,” she confided to Rob.

  “The Pelican,” Babs told her when Chas remained silent.

  “It’s a peclian, um,” she paused to concentrate, “Pelican, Rob.”

  “The one on Coldharbour Lane?” He knew that was the ‘in’ pub with the teenagers at the moment and hoped he was guessing right. Hell, the whole of Brixton was popular because of the police experiment there of tolerance to drug users.

  “I dunno – s’pose so.”

  “Just wait there, love, I’ll be with you in about half an hour.”

  When he arrived, Rob’s quick assessment of the situation showed action was needed, and fast. Thank goodness the traffic’s been relatively light.

  “You’re upsetting the lady. I suggest you remove your hands from her before I remove them for you.” Rob spoke quietly but the menace of his cold tones was evident.

  “You and whose army?” Chas demanded, his voice loud in the sudden stillness. “This bitch has let me pay for her drinks all evening and now won’t even give me a fucking kiss let alone a piece of that tight little arse.”

  He didn’t even see the clenched right hand coming as it slammed into his jaw, jerking his head sideways as he crashed over the table.

  “Does anyone else have any comment to make?” Rob asked coolly, drawing a sobbing Lynn to his chest.

  “No mate, no,” were the hurried confirmations as the rest of the group drew back.

  “Come on, Lynn,” Rob soothed her. “We’re going home.”

  -0-

  Gary helped settle Lynn into the spare bed, then went to bed himself. Rob sat beside her, gently smoothing back her hair. He murmured comfort now that the first shuddering storm of weeping had passed. The realisation of the danger she had got herself into had hit hard.

  And, oh boy, will she have a hangover tomorrow!

  He had decided he’d better watch her during the night, just in case she vomited in her sleep or woke to night terrors.

  “I love you, Rob,” Lynn sniffed, the hiccupping sobs dying down as she slid towards sleep. “I’ll always love you.”

  Rob smiled. “Just sleep now, we’ll talk in the morning.”

  -0-