Chapter 32
ELIZA
Eliza was meeting Jez at the smaller car park entrance to Bramhall Park, near the children’s playground.
It was eleven o’clock in the morning. She wasn’t too tired after the Greek meal out the previous evening.
Getting to bed by midnight was early these days!
She’d messaged Ariana this morning to thank them both for a nice time.
Normally Ariana replied promptly, but nothing.
Perhaps she was having a Sunday morning lie-in.
With trees either side, Eliza drove up a long winding road, turned into the parking area and reversed into a space.
She got out of the car, sorted out the parking ticket and locked up.
Revelling in the birdsong, she stood waiting in the sun that dipped behind a passing cloud now and again.
Boo had caught a sparrow yesterday – dropped it at the kitchen door, out the back.
Socks did this now and again, the only times Howard ever displayed affection for him.
What would Jez’s girlfriend be like and how might she help Eliza?
She’d be a music fan no doubt and would have to like dancing, unless opposites attracted and he’d fallen for someone with absolutely no rhythm; someone with a preference for classical music centuries old and evenings spent in doing crosswords – instead of someone having cross words with drunk punters, someone who followed the latest trends of music like spatial audio and… what was it? Dark wave.
Jez had brought Eliza up to date with the latest music technology and genres during a very interesting work break.
She hadn’t even zoned out.
This had always been an indication of how much Eliza liked someone – her attentiveness when they talked about something that didn’t necessarily interest her.
Although with Howard, it was more the case that she’d been too scared to miss a single syllable he said.
A car pulled up – Jez’s. She recognised it from the club, a jeep that wouldn’t have looked out of place in a Wham! beach or Christmas video. The roof was up and she shifted her gaze away as he and his Pepsi got out.
Smile, Eliza.
Why did she have to tell herself to do that?
Because you like him. Because you’re jealous.
But no, no you aren’t! The proof? You popped into your shop first thing and put together a small bouquet as a gift for her, consisting of yellow snapdragons that had just come in, carnations and roses, a real eclectic mix with a bit of green foliage. Yellow represents friendship.
‘Eliza! Great to see you!’
She turned around to see him going back to the jeep from the parking machine.
He went around the other side of the vehicle, no doubt to open the door for Pepsi who must have been sitting in the back for some reason.
How chivalrous. Howard had only done that for Eliza if people were nearby and he would say loudly, ‘Let me help you out, Queenie.’
She shuddered at the waiter calling her his queen last night and stared into the past for a few seconds until someone nudged her elbow.
‘Eliza… let me introduce Pepsi,’ he said, now by her side.
But there was no woman around. Jez looked down lovingly and she followed his gaze.
A West Highland White Terrier stared back up, with a curious little face cocked to one side, ears alert, pink tongue sticking out, tail wagging like a metronome on speed.
‘This is Pepsi?’ asked Eliza, hoping her voice didn’t sound too full of relief.
‘Sure is. About a year ago I found her tied up in a plastic bag on a hard shoulder. I’d stopped to take an urgent call, a guest DJ had cancelled at the last minute. She was covered in bald patches. A bad allergic reaction, it turned out.’
‘Oh, Jez.’ Eliza knelt down and peered into that little face. The dog yapped and sniffed her hand before wagging her tail harder. ‘What is wrong with some people?’
An ugly expression appeared on Jez’s face.
‘It’s a pity pet owners aren’t microchipped.
I wasn’t expecting to own a dog, but we had one when I was little and…
I don’t know… with retirement approaching, albeit in the distance, I thought why not?
Until then I have a dog walker call by to take her out whilst I’m at work.
’ He bent down and ruffled Pepsi’s fur. ‘Not that I stood a chance once I looked into those eyes, in the plastic bag, terrified. I wanted to protect her forever.’
Something inside Eliza heated up, as if a break was being welded back together.
‘What about the name? Did you find the bag by a Pepsi can?’
They both straightened up.
‘Eliza!’ he said and shook his finger. ‘You’ve no idea?’
Even though today Jez was dressed in a run-of-the-mill casual outfit, with no leather or gold earrings, it didn’t take her long to work it out.
‘George Michael. Backing singer Pepsi. Of course! I assumed Pepsi was… a friend of yours, a human one, so I brought her flowers,’ said Eliza and held them out, feeling foolish.
‘Pepsi actually stops to smell flowers on our walks. Never seen a dog do that before, but I googled and apparently it’s a thing.
’ He took the bouquet. ‘Thank you so much.’ Then he held it down towards Pepsi.
The dog buried her nose in the blooms. ‘She deserves all the gifts in the world. Before I met her, there was no one special in my life. I love her to bits. Even when she yaps at me for being late with her breakfast.’
‘Sounds like true love,’ said Eliza and stroked Pepsi’s head.
‘It’s the nearest I’ve had to that in a long time.’
Eliza stood up. ‘You’re lucky. I know what it’s like to feel lonely.’
They exchanged a look. No words were necessary, just a small nod of understanding on each part.
‘Come on, let’s get going,’ said Jez, and he put the flowers in the car and locked it. ‘A morning of walking and playing ball with Pepsi will make you forget your worries, that’s what I reckon. Then it’s lunch on me if you’ve got time. I believe there’s a decent café here with tables outside.’
He held out his hand. She raised her eyebrows and shyly went to slip hers into his.
Instead he put the lead into her palm, winked and laughed.
He went around to her other side and crooked an arm.
Eliza slipped hers through it feeling part of something, an unfamiliar sensation, as Pepsi led the way along a narrow path that eventually came to a stream.
Oh she had her floristry business, and was fond of her staff, but the doors closed at five thirty and after that she was on her own.
As they came to a wider stretch of grass, next to a busy road in the distance, Jez let Pepsi off the lead and took a ball out of his pocket.
‘Good throw,’ he said to Eliza as she lobbed it for the umpteenth time into the distance. The Westie’s little feet charged away and she almost skidded to a halt. Then she looked at them both and took the ball to Jez.
‘She’s worked out that we are taking turns!
’ called Eliza. ‘Or rather we were.’ She grinned.
‘I’m going for a sit-down; saving my strength for the Sunday night crowd tonight.
’ A little joke. Sundays were dead in the nightclub world, even though people worked shifts these days and weren’t necessarily at work on a Monday morning.
She headed for a bench that faced the curve of the stream behind them.
Clusters of buttercups surrounded her, in the long grass.
According to some myths, buttercups were used as lanterns by fairies.
For so long, so many years, the frivolity of make-believe had played no part in her stark day-to-day.
But since buying Carrie’s life, since dancing at the club, making friends, since…
meeting Jez… the world of daydreams and magic had slid back in.
It reminded Eliza of how she’d felt in the early years after leaving Howard, gaining confidence in being herself as she built her business, as she built a new life.
As if reading her thoughts, Jez appeared by her side.
Panting, Pepsi collapsed onto the ground.
But Jez didn’t sit down. He reached into his pocket, took out his phone and tapped away.
He slid it back as music from it played – ‘Golden’ from the hit movie KPop Demon Hunters.
His feet moved side to side. He pulled Eliza up.
‘What are you doing?’
‘Nothing like a dance al fresco.’
A group of teens walked past and giggled.
That only made Jez’s smile wider. Howard would never have risked public embarrassment; his ego was too fragile.
He cared too much what other people thought.
She squeezed Jez’s hands and moved, twirled him around even though he was taller, rolled up her sleeves, did a couple of K-pop moves and clapped her hands in time with the beat.
She didn’t know who’d started first but they both began laughing, louder and louder. Pepsi joined in with a couple of barks, and a white-haired man with a walking stick passed by on the path and tutted loudly. Still chuckling, Eliza sat down.
‘I think we’ve earned something to eat,’ she said.
‘Not before I get a photo of that!’ he said and pulled out his phone as a metallic green kingfisher sat on a branch in the middle of the stream. He zoomed in and took the shot. Then he got up, walked a few paces forwards and turned around. ‘How about a photo of you and Pepsi?’
‘I look a bit of a mess!’
‘You look lovely,’ he said softly.
Blushing, she patted the bench and Pepsi jumped up. Eliza put an arm around the dog and she crouched down, the furry front half of her body on Eliza’s knees. Jez took the picture and then sat on the other side of Eliza.
‘Selfie time!’ he said.
Eliza had never had a selfie taken. He lifted his phone into the air and put his arm around her, gently pulling her closer. She beamed at the screen. He put the phone back in his pocket and turned to face her.
‘You’re beautiful, Eliza Woods,’ he murmured.
Heat rose up her neck. Eliza had forgotten how… this… this all worked. It had been so long – years. Decades. Jez couldn’t mean… He was a younger man… Eliza was proud of her age, but after the sneers and put-downs from Howard, when it came to love she was still a na?ve, vulnerable teenager.
‘I mean it,’ he said, as if able to read her mind. ‘I’d very much like to kiss you.’
He would?
She studied the kind gleam in his eyes, the flop of the hair, and was that fake tan? It all added to a natural charisma. Jez didn’t give a toss what anyone thought.
Taking him by surprise, she leant forwards and pressed her lips against his. Tenderly, his mouth responded. His hand slipped around her waist and his thumb gently massaged her back. An indignant yap from Pepsi interrupted them.
‘I think the other lady in my life is thirsty,’ he said, and smiled.
After lunch he carried Pepsi back to the car.
Apparently, her scratching at his feet was a sign she needed hugging.
Whistling, Eliza walked by his side, glad there were only a few hours until they’d see each other again.
He put Pepsi in the back of the jeep, the door shut, and Jez walked Eliza over to her car.
Despite the people milling around, despite the clock ticking towards their shift at The Niterie, he slipped one arm around her waist and lifted up her chin.
‘I’m going to kiss you again, Eliza Woods. Is that acceptable?’
‘I’m a bit out of practice with this… this romance malarkey,’ she said nervously.
‘And I’m not? The last woman I kissed was my Auntie Tilda, on the cheek, and that was three years ago. I’ve only enjoyed doggy kisses since then.’
‘Oh dear. Well, I suppose we’d better remedy that – as long as Pepsi doesn’t get jealous of the older woman who’s almost exactly halfway through her seventies.’
‘When is your birthday?’ he asked.
‘Oh, not for a while…’ She didn’t want a fuss. Eliza had brushed birthdays under the carpet most of her adult life. Soon into their marriage, Howard never bothered about them – even though he sulked for days if she didn’t buy him gifts and make a cake for his.
‘How long’s a while?’ he said and folded his arms.
‘If you must know, it’s the fifth of July.’
‘Hang on! That’s soon? One week today, right? Then we must throw a party at The Niterie, no arguments – unless you’ve got other plans.’
‘I haven’t but, honestly Jez, no thanks.’ No thanks, even though no one had thrown her a party since she was a child.
But Jez sang with his fingers in his ears.
She tried to glare but couldn’t hold the pretence.
His eyes shone as he leant forwards and soft lips touched Eliza’s.
She never knew such tenderness could cause such heat, deep and overwhelming.
The world went quiet, stopped moving, didn’t exist, as if the two of them were cut off, alone, in a beautiful snow globe full of sunshine instead of ice – until a loud yapping sounded and a white furry face peered through the jeep’s back window, full of indignation.
Jez went back to his car and just before getting into the driver’s seat, rocked his hips again as if ‘Golden’ were still playing.
With panache he ran one hand over his hair, looked up and winked at Eliza, laughing as she covered her eyes, pretending it was too painful to watch, feeling like a young girl.
Eliza was still grinning as she sat on the sofa an hour later, with a cup of tea, before heading off for her shift, Boo purring next to her. She tapped into her phone.
Hello Carrie,
A quick email before work. Jez and I kissed! We. Kissed. I know! I can’t believe it either! His girlfriend turned out to be the cutest dog.
And he’s insisting on throwing me a birthday party at The Niterie next Sunday!
I had to tell someone and you’re the very first person I thought of, Carrie. It may sound silly but I feel I can trust you with the things closest to my heart – and I thank you for that.
I hardly dare imagine that, finally, I can shake off the remnants of my awful, oppressive, scary relationship with my husband. I’m full of hope, like a big sunflower, beaming out joy!
Eliza x