Chapter 12 #2
The little boy nodded.
‘His mum and dad put on a very big party for him last week, with a bouncy castle, which, not to boast or anything, I bounced the highest on.’
It was obviously a teasing joke between them because Luke instantly perked up. ‘You did not! I got the highest, higher than even you.’
Anthony laughed. ‘He’s right. I’d had too much food to want to shake that all up.’
As they passed through the foyer and outside into the daylight once more, she found out that Luke was not related to Anthony, but rather the son of his best friend, and Anthony was giving the friend and his wife a much-needed break because they also had a two-year-old and a newborn at home.
As they walked together after concluding they were heading in a similar direction, Luke slipped one hand into Anthony’s and his other into Chrissie’s.
Chrissie looked across at Anthony. ‘He’s not shy, is he?’
‘Not at all.’
Luke seemed to have his energy back and wouldn’t stop talking. He told her about his brother and his sister, and about the movie and whether you could really play a game like that in real life.
When they reached the Tube station where they would part ways, Anthony once again scooped Luke up, this time in a piggyback. ‘It was great to meet you, Chrissie.’
‘Good to meet you too. And you, Luke.’ She lingered, unsure whether Anthony was going to say anything else. When he didn’t, she gave a little wave and turned to go through the ticket barrier.
‘Chrissie,’ Anthony called before she was out of sight.
When she turned and dodged passengers coming through to hurry towards their train, he called over, ‘There’s a good café in St James’s Park.
’ He waited until she walked up closer to the ticket barrier again.
‘I’m a bit more shy than Luke here, but would you like to meet me tomorrow?
We could walk around the park with a coffee, or tea, or whatever. ’
She didn’t know this man. But she really wanted to. ‘Can we make it two o’clock? My sister goes to work then so I’ll be on my own.’
He beamed. ‘2 p.m. it is then.’
And she turned before he saw her crazy, besotted smile. They’d exchanged barely a few sentences, but her heart was aflutter.
She kept Anthony a secret that night and the next morning. The new man in her life was something to treasure just for herself. The Meg of a few years ago would’ve been excited, curious, to hear her news, but Chrissie wasn’t so sure what this Meg, who seemed on edge, would say.
Chrissie met Anthony at the café the next day.
They ate cake, drank tea, and enjoyed a cool but sunny summer day walking hand in hand around the park.
The connection was there – Chrissie had felt it – and there was never a pause in their conversation.
They talked about all sorts and when he told her he was in the RAF she’d been able to relate to some of what he was saying, given her dad had been in the forces too.
They talked about family life, expectations, relationships, all the things you’d never expect to come up on a first date.
And when he kissed her for the first time, she didn’t want to let him go.
They sneaked behind a tree, kissed some more, until her head was spinning.
And he kissed her again when he walked her back to her sister’s flat so late that Meg was already off work and peering out of the window. She even knocked on the glass.
As soon as Chrissie went through the door to the flat the quizzing started. Who is he? What are you doing? Mum and Dad are going to freak! Where have you been? After the questions Meg had added a terse, ‘I was worried about you.’
The irony was totally lost on her that Chrissie had been worried about Meg since the day she’d arrived in London, and their parents were worried no matter how jolly her postcards and letters had sounded.
‘I left you a note in case I was late,’ Chrissie explained. She’d expected to get home first, throw the note away. All it said was that she was meeting a friend.
‘Who is this friend?’ Meg followed her into the bathroom.
‘Anthony.’ Chrissie left the bathroom. She wanted to pee on her own.
‘Who’s Anthony? You don’t know anyone in London, Chrissie.’
She told Meg all about her trip to the cinema, about Luke and the popcorn, meeting Anthony. ‘I really like him, like really like him, Meg.’
But the Meg who responded wasn’t the sister she remembered, the one who might have been happy for her and ready to gossip. ‘You can’t be serious. You’ve only just met him. And, might I point out, you live miles away.’
‘It could be love at first sight.’
At that her sister laughed. ‘Don’t be so ridiculous, Chrissie.’ She shook her head. ‘I should report back to Mum and Dad, tell them what you’ve been up to.’
Maybe she should do that too. But right now, she was too consumed with thoughts of Anthony to let anything dampen her happiness.
‘You’d do that?’ she asked Meg, knowing that if Meg was the one to relay the information, it might sound a lot more sinister than it actually was.
Meg relented. ‘No, of course I wouldn’t.’
‘And neither will I.’
‘What’s that supposed to mean?’
‘Drugs, Meg.’
‘It’s a bit of weed, don’t get your knickers in a twist.’
This time she made it into the bathroom solo and bolted the door.