CHAPTER FIVE
The following Friday, I was getting ready to go out with Billy to the Swan Hotel bar (in the hope that Jenna, the girls of his dreams, would be there), when the house phone rang.
Puzzled because no one I knew used the landline anymore, I dashed downstairs to answer it, half-expecting it to be a scammer wanting to clean out my bank account.
‘Hi, it’s Maggie. Mags. Is that Blossom?’
‘Er, yes.’ Mags! This must be Ada’s friend who lived down on the south coast. We’d never actually met but I’d heard a lot about her, and Ada was just back from a visit down there.
‘I’ve been trying to get your mum but I think her phone must be dead. She left a bracelet here. I think it was a birthday present from Geoffrey so I just want her to know it’s safe with me.’
‘Right. Well, she’s not here at the moment, but I’ll ask her to call you when she comes in?’
‘Brilliant. Thanks, Blossom! Take care.’
‘You, too.’
Mags sounded lovely. I was surprised to find she had a Scottish accent. I guess I’d assumed she was from the south, living near Brighton.
I was upstairs again when I heard the front door open. Ada was talking as she came in and I realised she had Rori with her, so I threw on my jacket, grabbed my bag and left my room, just in time to hear Ada say, ‘Look, the bottom line is he didn’t want to be with me. Full stop.’
I paused at the top of the stairs as Rori said, ‘Of course he wanted to be with you. Geoffrey thought the world of you. It’s just...’
‘It’s just what?’ Ada snapped.
‘Well, he probably thought you didn’t want him.’
‘But why? Just because I’m not the sort to be all lovey-dovey the whole time? Should I have hung on his every word and flattered him? And told him I loved him every day?’
Rori laughed. ‘Well, yes. Maybe.’
‘Look, after a lifetime of pretending I’m made of steel, I’ve almost convinced myself that I really am. And it’s hard, opening up to people. It’s not who I am.’
‘But maybe you should try? For the sake of your relationships?’
Ada grunted and mumbled something I didn’t catch.
‘Perhaps if you were to phone him . . .?’
‘What? No way! He ended the relationship, remember?’
‘But you miss him. Come on, admit it, Ada. You do.’
I heard Ada’s loud sigh from my perch at the top of the stairs. ‘Okay. Yes. I miss Geoffrey. Happy now?’
I went downstairs and Ada beamed at me. ‘Ah, Blossom! Rori’s going to help me organise your party. Have you got time for a cuppa with us?’
‘Er, no, not really.’ I smiled apologetically at Rori, my heart sinking at the mention of my birthday. ‘I’m going out.’
Rori smiled and held up her mobile. ‘Just got to phone Kurt. Back in a minute.’ And she ducked out.
Ada frowned at me. ‘But we really need to talk about your twenty-fifth. Can’t you stay a few minutes at least?’
I groaned inwardly. Ever since Ada had decided I needed a party to mark this big milestone, I’d started to dread my birthday. The last thing I felt like being at the moment was all happy and sociable, especially with Ada watching to make sure I was having a good time!
‘I’ve booked a room in the Swan Hotel for the big day,’ she added.
‘You’ve booked a room?’ I stared at her in dismay. I’d been hoping the idea would come to nothing, but apparently it was full steam ahead, and it was just a few weeks away!
Ada’s smile slipped. ‘Well, there’s no need to look like that. I booked it ages ago. I thought you’d like a party. A girl doesn’t turn twenty-five every day.’
‘Yes, but it’s not a real milestone, is it? Surely thirty is the age I should celebrate?’
‘Of course it’s a milestone,’ she snapped. Then she checked herself and smiled. ‘You’ll enjoy it, Blossom. I promise you. Now... I thought we could have buffet food. What do you think?’ She whipped a list out of her bag and started checking down it.
‘Look, I can’t talk now. I’m meeting someone.’
‘Ooh, lovely. Do you have a date?’ She beamed at me.
‘No. It’s just my friend, Billy. Oh, and by the way, Mags just called. She’s got your bracelet. Can you call her back?’
‘Oh, so I did leave it there. Thank goodness. I thought I might have lost it.’
I shrugged on my jacket and Ada sighed. ‘Okay, well, let’s talk about it tomorrow, okay?’
‘Okay.’ I picked up my bag. ‘I didn’t realise Mags was Scottish.’
‘Oh, yes. I thought you knew. I first met Maggie and her husband, Ray, when Skye and I were up in Edinburgh.’
‘You mean when Skye was studying at that drama academy place and the two of you were living up there?’
‘Yes. So I’ve known Mags more than twenty years now.’ She shook her head. ‘How time flies.’
‘Where did you meet?’
‘Well, that was quite funny, really. I knew Ray, her husband, first. Lovely man.’ She smiled rather sadly, remembering. ‘He ran the corner shop near where Skye and I were renting a flat, and I was in there quite a lot, picking up milk... that kind of thing. We used to chat and he would keep me up to date with the local gossip. So there was one day when this woman barged ahead of me in the queue, picked up something from the counter and left without even paying. I commented to Ray that she was so rude – and he laughed and said that was his wife! Who was Maggie, of course. Mags. So next time I saw her in the shop, he introduced us, and Mags and I just got along right from the word go.’
‘So then they moved down to the south coast?’
‘Yes. Well... Mags did.’ Ada turned and started putting tins away in the cupboard. ‘She and Ray split up, you see, and Mags has family down there.’
I nodded, thinking about this. Then I glanced at my watch and realised I had to run if I didn’t want to be late for Billy...
*****
‘So come on, Billy. Flirting tactics. What’s your style? I mean, forget about Jenna for a minute. What do you do when you see a girl you like the look of?’
It was the end of the working week and we were on our way to the Swan Hotel bar, Jenna’s regular Friday night haunt with her work colleagues.
Billy looked non-plussed by my question. ‘Er... not sure.’
‘No, I mean, what do you instinctively do when you see someone you find attractive in a bar? Or in a shop? Do you smile at them?’
Billy thought about this – far longer than was actually normal, I couldn’t help thinking.
I sighed impatiently. ‘Look, say she makes eye contact.’
‘Right.’
‘And she doesn’t immediately look away.’
‘Yes?’
‘What do you do?’
‘Honestly?’
‘Yes! I’m trying to help you here.’
Billy shrugged. ‘I look away.’
‘You look away?’
‘Yes.’ He shrugged sheepishly. ‘I just assume she’s looking at me and thinking how the hell could someone get that fat?’
I stared at him in horror. ‘That’s what you think?’
He grinned. ‘Not always. Sometimes I think she might feel sorry for me, so a pity shag might be on the cards.’
‘Billy!’ I laughed and so did he.
‘I’m joking. Sort of. I’m not that pathetic.’
‘You’re not pathetic at all. You’re funny and kind and you’ve got irresistibly twinkly brown eyes. And you’re not fat at all.’
‘Yeah, right. Big bones.’ He grinned, patting his belly.
‘Plus you’ve got a great smile. I wish I had teeth like yours.’
‘All my own as well.’ He displayed them comically for my benefit. ‘Look, I’m not always so down on myself.’
‘Good.’
‘Sometimes, if a girl looks at me, I don’t take it personally at all. I just think she’s probably a scammer and she’s trying to weigh up whether I’m actually as dumb as I look.’
Seeing my expression, he grinned. ‘Look, there’s a lot of scammers about these days and you never know who you can trust.’
‘Billy!’ I sighed with frustration. Then I saw the sly twinkle in his eye.
That was another thing I found frustrating yet charming about Billy. It was impossible to tell sometimes if he was joking. But it was definitely true that he had a great smile...
As we entered the bar, he turned a little red and hissed, ‘Don’t look as if we’re here on a mission, looking for someone.’
‘Even though we are.’ I grinned and linked his arm, wanting to calm him down.
‘And don’t baby me. I’m fine.’ He gave me his amused, long-suffering look and gently retrieved his arm.
The place was fairly full, the Friday night celebrations in full swing, and as we stood at the bar waiting to be served, Billy looked casually around then murmured in my ear, ‘Table in the corner by the window.’
‘Oh, right.’
‘Don’t look over!’
Too late. ‘The girl with the glam blonde curly hair?’ I whispered.
‘No. See the girl with the dark ponytail?’
‘Yes. Ooh, she looks nice, Billy.’ The dark-haired girl was sitting on the edge of her chair, hugging her drink with one hand and fiddling nervously with the end of her ponytail. She was gazing at the focus of the group’s attention – a girl with fiery hair and matching lips who was currently flinging her arms around to illustrate a story she was telling.
Billy shook his head. ‘Not her. That’s Harper. Jenna introduced me to her last week. She’s just joined the company. No, Jenna’s the other one.’
‘The other one?’
‘Stop looking!’
Casually shielding my face, I peered through my fingers, just as the table erupted with laughter at the punchline of the fiery girl’s story. She reached over and patted the new girl’s cheeks, which made everyone roar with laughter again. The girl called Harper tried to join in but her smile looked stiff to me, and I felt for her as she squirmed a little in her seat.
‘Isn’t Jenna magnificent?’ Billy gazed wistfully at her as she tossed back her amazing red hair. ‘She’s the life and soul of every party. Which is why she’d never even look at me.’
‘Rubbish,’ I said firmly, while quickly adjusting my preconceptions. (Jenna had looked on first observation like a proper show-off exhibitionist to me. But it was unfair to judge her like that. I didn’t even know the girl.)
‘Oh, hell, she’s coming over,’ hissed Billy, going even redder in the face.
‘Stay calm. And cool. And smile.’
‘Okay, okay.’
‘Billy? Fancy seeing you again! Do you always come here on a Friday night, then?’
We both swung round to find Jenna smiling knowingly at us.
‘Ah. Gosh. Jenna? Didn’t realise you were here,’ gasped Billy. He glanced at me, then he obviously remembered my advice and arranged his face into a rather strained smile. ‘Er... good to see you.’
Jenna grinned and leaned in, laying her hand on his shoulder. ‘Come on, then, funny man. Make me laugh.’
Faced with such close proximity to his crush, poor Billy – still smiling valiantly – looked like he might be about to slide off his bar stool and faint right there on the floor at her feet.
Jenna turned and beamed at me. ‘This guy’s such a hoot, isn’t he? We got talking here last week and I told him I was annoyed because some idiot said he’d never seen such big hair as mine and was I providing shelter for injured wildlife. And you know what Billy said to me?’
‘No. What?’ I asked, with an affectionate smile at Billy.
‘He said, “Have you ever noticed that all the instruments searching for intelligent life are actually pointing away from earth? Some folks are just stupid. Your hair’s lovely.”’
‘Well, he’s absolutely right.’ I patted Billy’s arm, filling in the conversational gap left by Jenna having rendered him completely dumbstruck. ‘Your hair’s great. How on earth do you keep it in such good condition?’
‘With difficulty, I can tell you. It’s so thick, it takes me nearly two hours to do it when I’m going out.’ She lifted the back of my hair with a critical frown and let it drop. ‘You don’t have that problem, do you? A quick blast of the dryer and you’re probably done.’
I forced a smile. The cheeky cow!
‘So anyway, are you two an item?’ she asked.
Billy and I looked at each other, startled. Then we both started hooting with laughter.
‘Crikey, no!’ I spluttered.
‘As if!’
‘Good one, though.’
‘I know. You’re as hilarious as I am, Jenna.’
Avoiding Billy’s eye, I turned to Jenna. She was looking from me to him with a rather bewildered expression. ‘So, that’s a “no”, then?’ she said. ‘You’re not together?’
‘No, no,’ I said. ‘No, no, no.’
‘No,’ confirmed Billy, with a confusing nod of his head.
‘Well, that’s very interesting.’ Jenna looked speculatively at Billy. ‘Because it’s high time I found myself a nice man. Instead of stupid morons who just fancy a quick assault with a friendly weapon before vanishing off the face of the earth, never to be seen again.’
‘Here, here,’ I murmured with feeling, thinking of my own past history with men.
It’s different now, though. With Trevor . . .
Jenna smiled winsomely at Billy. ‘I drink prosecco in pubs because the wine’s usually crap.’
A bar tender came over to us at that moment and Billy bought our drinks. A beer for him and a gin and tonic for me. I tried to subtly nudge him but he failed to get the message. He was probably feeling far too self-conscious with Jenna standing right next to him to have picked up on her none-too-subtle hint.
Someone else served her and we went our separate ways. But as soon as we were sitting down at a table on the other side of the bar, I looked at Billy with pointedly crossed eyes.
‘What?’ he asked.
‘Why didn’t you ask her out?’
He stared at me as if I was mad. ‘Why would I do that?’
‘But she wanted you to.’
‘No, of course she didn’t.’
‘Billy, for someone so intelligent, you can be amazingly thick at times. She wanted you to ask her out.’
‘She did?’ He looked hopeful for a second. Then he shook his head. ‘Stop winding me up. You’re always winding me up.’
‘Yes,’ I said, calmly and quietly. ‘I am always winding you up. Because it’s funny and we have good banter. But on this occasion, I’m most definitely not. The girl wanted you to buy her a drink and chat some more.’ I drew in a big breath and blew it out in frustration. ‘She was dropping hints bigger than a prize-winning marrow, for goodness’ sake.’
He took a long slug of his beer. ‘Too late now.’
‘No, it’s not.’
‘Look, just drink your gin and stop being annoying. Honestly, Blossom, you’re like a dog with a bone when you get the bit between your teeth about something.’
‘Mixed metaphors. Dogs and horses. Interesting.’ I grinned at him.
‘What do you mean?’
‘Well, you’re normally so stuffy and pompous when it comes to grammar and spelling.’ I shrugged. ‘I’d say those mixed metaphors show your head’s all over the place after that encounter with Jenna.’
‘Rubbish.’
‘You’re saying you’re not always correcting the spelling on signs?’
‘No, of course not. Someone has to point out when the comma’s in the wrong place. Otherwise the world will descend into anarchy.’ He grinned. ‘Never ever underestimate the power of a comma. It could save your life.’
‘That’s going a bit far, isn’t it?’
He shrugged. ‘Let’s eat, Blossom. Now try it without the comma. See, unless we’re talking full-on cannibalism here, it doesn’t work.’
I laughed and gave up. Clearly, this wasn’t the night Billy and Jenna were going to get together. But speaking of eating, I was getting hungry, and Carlo’s – our new favourite place for pasta – was definitely calling us...