by A B Turner
“Well, he wasn’t very nice, was he?”
Cyrus smiled,
“He was somewhat lacking in charm.”
“What do you think happened to him at that house?” I asked, as I secured the fire door once more,
“My guess would be a regular bath time,” replied Cyrus solemnly, “But enough of him, let’s get back to the trough.”
I chuckled and watched him walk over to a group of guests, his usual calm demeanour now totally restored as he topped their glasses with more champagne. After a cursory glance around the office once more, I locked the door and walked back into the gallery.
As I turned the sharp corner, I walked straight into a tall, casually dressed man, wearing sunglasses, he seemed out of place with all the obvious wealth around him, in his ripped jeans and battered leather jacket.
“I’m so sorry,” I said quickly, he took off the glasses and smiled,
“No problem, I would have run too,” he added nodding his head towards the woman I had just left, I could feel myself blush slightly,
“I wasn’t running,” I explained feebly, “I was just…” my voice trailed off as no possible reason for my haste came to mind. He laughed at my embarrassment,
“You were just checking on me?” he asked cheekily, I smiled back and nodded,
“Exactly.”
“Well you’d better show me around then,” he suggested, taking my arm and guiding me back to the very start of the exhibition. As we wandered round, he gazed intently at each picture which gave me more than enough time to surreptitiously look at him. He had dark eyes which sparkled when he laughed, a slim angular face, framed by spiked dark brown hair. He appeared quite athletic in build but that was hard to confirm as not only was his jacket slightly too big for him, the shirt underneath was the same. When he talked about each piece, there was real depth to his thoughts and I found myself really quite drawn to him, not only for his personality, but I had a nagging feeling, we had met before somewhere and I couldn’t remember where. As we turned to view another picture, out of the corner of my eye, I saw Cyrus trying to get my attention,
“I’ll be right back,” I said to the stranger, before edging my way through the guests to Cyrus,
“Is everything alright?” I asked.
“Oh yes, I just wanted to let you know, nearly every picture has been sold, although,” he paused wickedly, “I doubt whether you care,” nodding his head towards the man. I chose to ignore his obvious interest and asked him if he knew who he was, Cyrus looked again,
“No, but I know a girl who will.”
He scanned the room and as soon as he saw Caroline, he waved and she weaved her way through the guests towards us, within a moment of Cyrus pointing the man out, Caroline gave us his name,
“That’s Nicholas Walker, record producer.”
Cyrus gasped his approval at her swift response,
“Unbelievable, sweetheart, you are a positive mine of information.”
Caroline smiled and before we had a chance to ask anything more, she disappeared back into the crowd. Cyrus turned to me,
“So how do you know him if I don’t?” he asked almost petulantly, I smiled but was still lost in thought, as my brain searched back through my memories, hoping against hope, if he was a one night stand from some time ago, we had, at least, had a good time. As I watched hm, he suddenly turned around and looked straight at me,
“Oh my God !” I exclaimed, so unintentionally loudly, the people nearest to me, glanced at me with brief concern.
“What’s wrong?” asked Cyrus, I spun to face him,
“I know who that is, it’s Nick!”
Cyrus was still obviously mystified,
“You’re going to have to give me more than that, darling.”
I laughed,
“When I was a kid, my best friend Louise and I went to a band night at our school, his band was playing and he looked at me, it was the single greatest moment of my life when I was twelve.”
My excited words tumbled out thick and fast, leaving even Cyrus slightly shell-shocked,
“I cannot believe it,” I continued, “We shared his poster for literally years.”
Cyrus smiled,
“You look so adorable, darling, all flushed, you must go and tell him immediately, after all, he may well have been your first brief flirtation with the heady world of sex.”
I rolled my eyes,
“I told you, I was only twelve.”
Cyrus pulled a face,
“Do you want to know what I was doing when I was twelve?”
I quickly declined and moved back to Nick’s side,
“I saw you looking at me,” he said bluntly, “Have we met before?”
I wanted to be the cool person I had dreamed of being when I was a kid, because I had imagined meeting him a thousand times, I would know what to say and dazzle him with my charm. But now, as a full grown woman, I was reduced to a jabbering mess as I talked disjointedly about the concert, the poster, Louise and the moment when he’d looked at me. He stood and watched, as I barely stopped talking for about five minutes until I reached the point where the need to actually breathe overcame the desire to recount every last detail. As I paused, he inhaled deeply,
“Wow! Who knew our little high school band could have made such an impact, that’s really special, thank you for telling me.”
But I wasn’t finished,
“Louise had a huge crush on JK, is he still in the music business?”
Nick laughed out loud, while shaking his head,
“No ! He’s a dairy farmer, married with six kids and never been happier.”
I couldn’t help but decide Louise may have had a lucky escape, knowing how much she had always hated getting dirty, so not obvious farming material.
“I cannot wait to tell her I met you,” I said sincerely, he smiled and started to walk away, but something stopped him and he turned back,
“Can I buy you dinner some time?”
“That would be great, I’m usually here during the week,” I replied happily.
“Cool, see you soon then.”
He leaned over and lightly kissed my cheek, our eyes met for no more than a second and then he walked away and out through the glass doors. Despite everything that had happened between the school band night and now, in that second, I felt like that twelve year old again but wishing my adult version had not behaved like such a jerk.
For the rest of the evening, we all mingled with the guests who, for whatever reason, perhaps the copious amounts of champagne, had bought every picture in the exhibition. When the last person left, I sighed with relief and kicked off the shoes which had been holding my feet in some kind of vice for the whole evening. Cyrus pulled down his tie, as if his shirt collar had been choking him and slumped down on one of the large cushions.
“I thought they’d never leave,” he said dramatically clutching his forehead, weary as we all were, we laughed. I noticed Caroline stifle a yawn,
“You’ve been amazing tonight, you should get home and get some rest,” I insisted, she was clearly about to protest when Jack spoke to her,
“She’s right, come on, I’ll take you home.”
He slipped off his jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders, she smiled up at him with nothing less than pure awe in her eyes,
“Thank you Jack,” she said softly, then she turned to me, “I saw you talking to Nicholas Walker earlier, I hope he comes back.”
“So do I,” I replied, as the memory of that kiss was still very much in my mind,
“Perhaps he’ll bring his wife next time, do you know her?” she asked looking first at me and then Cyrus, he shrugged his shoulders,
“Should we?” he asked.
Caroline nodded enthusiastically,
“Oh yes, she’s the model, Alysha, you know the one on all the billboards..” she paused and blushed slightly, “She does all the work for that lingerie company.”
“Of course she does,” I sighed,
more to myself than to anyone else.
“Anyway, I’ll see you tomorrow,” Caroline added, slipping her arm through Jack’s before the pair of them left the gallery. When we were alone, I knew Cyrus would not be able to resist making some comment about Nick and it didn’t take long,
“Oh this is awkward,” he said giggling, “There you were, all glowing after he kissed you and now, it turns out, those lips belong to another…and a top lingerie model too.”
I grimaced,
“She had to be that, didn’t she? And what a sleaze he is too? Inviting me for dinner,” I grumbled, slightly angry at myself for being so easily taken in by him, then I remembered Cyrus’ comment, “And I was not glowing.”
He laughed and shook his head,
“Of course you weren’t, my darling, it was a trick of the light which made it appear as if your knees were about to give way.”
I grabbed a discarded brochure and playfully threw it at him,
“The worst thing anyone ever said to you, was you’re funny,” I laughed.
“Oh my darling girl, believe me, that is a long, long way from the worst,” he replied, “Now help me up off this thing and buy me a drink.”
I took his outstretched hand and pulled him up, we switched off the lights, locked the door and stepped out on to the street.
“I’m assuming I’m paying,” I asked innocently as we started walking, he took my hand and threaded my arm through his,
“See? That’s what I like about you, you understand my needs..” he grinned mischievously, “Even the ones you can’t fullfill, talking of which, tell me more about your night with Jack.”
“There’s really nothing to tell other than I did everything with him, you would have done, only the other way around.”
Cyrus roared with laughter,
“Let’s go, darling, there are mojitos waiting.”
When we reached the cocktail place, it was thankfully not quite as busy as I’d feared, it had been a long day and I really didn’t feel like standing in a crowd, trying not to spill a drink while craning to hear every word Cyrus said. While he made his way to the bar, I found us a booth and started to slip off my coat, the walls were mirrored and I grimaced when I saw my own reflection. I looked tired and a bit dishevelled, so I decided, after this first drink, it would be time to go home and get some proper rest. As I reached this conclusion, something caught my eye behind me, in the mirror, for a moment, I was absolutely sure I saw Mum at the other side of the room. I spun round to get a better look, but the woman, if it was her, had apparently melted away somehow and was nowhere to be seen. As I scanned the faces of the other patrons, Cyrus reached our table carrying our drinks, once carefully placing them on the table, he followed my gaze,
“Who are we looking at?” he asked, “Please tell me not the guy with the brown shoes, you know my feelings about them.”
Despite still being distracted, I chuckled,
“I remember, never trust a man with brown shoes as they’ve got something to hide, along with anyone wearing a hat at what they think is a jaunty angle or a jacket with leather elbow pads.”
Cyrus shuddered,
“Makes me feel uncomfortable just to think about it.”
As we sat down, I was aware Cyrus was continuing his lecture in who and what should be allowed in public, but I couldn’t quite shake the feeling I had seen Mum. But as always with Cyrus, when his argument strayed into the world of jokingly ludicrous, I had to give him my full attention. Anyway, I reasoned, it couldn’t have been her, I’d obviously made a mistake, so I consciously pushed any further thought from my mind and addressed Cyrus’s last remark, which seemed to revolve around the allegedly debatable trustworthiness of anyone who said they didn’t drink or approve of sex before marriage.
“But Cyrus, some people want to be sober when they finally meet the one who takes them to that special place,” I laughed, he pulled a face,
“And those people need to be kept in a special place, so the rest of us can party and have different ‘ones’ every night.”
“It’s sad you don’t believe in love at first sight,” I added, knowing, without doubt, this would force a reaction from him and he did not disappoint, he banged his glass down and looked straight at me,
“I completely believe in love at first sight, young lady, it happens to me every morning when I see my reflection.”
We both laughed and raised our glasses as a toast,
“May you always be so humble,” I said, he smiled and added,
“And may we always reign.”
Our glasses clinked, as we both were well aware, we were really toasting our friendship.
Chapter Six
After several successful days, it was clear Cyrus, Caroline and Jack were more than capable of running the exhibition without me, so after double checking every detail, I set off on the long drive back to Mum’s. As I drove out of the city, I felt surprisingly good, the sun was streaming down, I had the car windows open and I was singing along with the radio. I was looking forward to spending time with Louise, but mostly, just to see Cal, I hadn’t told any of them I was coming, so to see the look on his face would be priceless. I knew there had been another, slightly darker reason for not announcing my visit, I knew Mum would have found excuses and reasons as to why it ‘wasn’t a good time.’ I knew what she meant, despite being apart for most of the year, whenever we were in the same room, it didn’t take long for the old tensions to make themselves known. But I had resolved, it wasn’t going to be the same this time, I made the conscious decision, to not expect anything from her and just make the most of being back. Even as I sang along with the radio, I kept reminding myself, I was no longer a child and it was time to leave all those feelings in the past, I could only hope she would somehow decide to do the same. Almost before I realised, I was driving down the main street of the town, past Cal’s old school, the library and the main shops. I slowed down slightly and looked left and right, it all seemed somehow smaller now. But then again, when you’re young, with an even younger brother in tow and you’re trying to catch a bus, the shortest road can feel like a major highway. As I stopped at the traffic lights, I saw the road sign for Louise’s home, I quickly edged into the other lane and drove down to the house. At first, I was worried I wouldn’t remember, or, perhaps it would have changed from when we were kids, but as soon as I saw the towering tree in the front yard, I knew I had reached the right place. I stopped the car, walked up the wooden steps and knocked at the door, when it swung open, there was her mother. But for the few slight grey hairs, she looked no different at all, it took her less than a moment to recognise me, then she flung her arms around my neck in a huge hug,
“Hello stranger, how wonderful to see you.”
Still locked in her arms, she called behind her,
“Louise, look who’s here.”
Louise appeared next to her mother and virtually wrenched me from the hug, only to smother me with her own,
“Why didn’t you tell me you were coming?” she gasped excitedly, her eyes glowing with pure joy, “Come in and tell me everything you’ve been doing.”
Before I had any chance to argue, the pair of them led me into the house and into the kitchen, which, as always, was filled with the delicious aromas of home baking. Within a few minutes, I was handed a large glass of lemonade and had a plateful of cookies in front of me, Louise’s mother hugged me again before saying she knew we would want to catch up, so she would leave us for now, as long as I promised to see her before I went back to the city. As soon as we heard the front door close, Louise and I just talked about everything and anything, sometimes barely allowing the other one to speak, such was the excitement of just being together again. She was almost at the end of her nursing placement, which would mean she would be fully qualified,
“I am so proud of you,” I said admiringly, “Will you stay here?”
She nodded,
“It makes sense, I know Mum wouldn’t say so, but she n
eeds me around and I have no real reason to leave, especially now…” she paused and was clearly distracted,
“Especially now what?” I asked, leaning slightly forward in my chair toward her, she looked up at me and smiled,
“I’m kind of with someone now,” she explained, “And I think he might be the one.”
I couldn’t hide my surprise, after all, we had often talked on the phone and she hadn’t mentioned this new relationship all,
“Do I know him?”
She grinned,
“Oh yes, it’s Dylan Sandford, remember? We used to think he looked like James Dean.”
I thought back to our school days, every face flashed through my mind until it rested on a thin boy who had always flatly refused to smile for any of the school pictures. He’d had almost an early Elvis style haircut, which gave him, we thought, a kind of dangerous image and, as the memory came back, I recalled he never spoke to either of us throughout our whole time at the school. He would just nod as he passed us in the corridor on his way somewhere, as if he had some need to acknowledge our presence but nothing more.
“I remember him,” I said finally, “Does he still have the hair?”
Louise laughed,
“Oh yes and he still looks dangerous, but underneath it all, he’s just a lovely, sweet guy and I really like him..” she paused, “I really like him a lot.”
I took her hand in mine,
“I am so happy for you, Lou.”
“What about you? Do you have anyone?” she asked, while topping up my glass, “Or are you still waiting for Nick to show up?”
I laughed,
“It’s funny you should say that..” I began, and I told her the whole story about the exhibition, before finishing with my encounter with the singer. Louise sat opposite me, completely enthralled by the story, when I finished, she popped the last of her cookie into her mouth and sat back in her chair,
“What a loser! Being married and asking you out!”
“I know,” I agreed heartily, “And what a lucky escape you had too, you could be married by now with a load of kids and a whole herd of cows in the backyard.”