Chapter 5
After a couple of incidents involving Angelia stumbling while out walking Scrappy, Meghan had nagged over and over, insisting that she should contact her doctor to arrange an urgent appointment, and Angelia had eventually capitulated, simply to stop her assistant from badgering her constantly.
An appointment had been made for the following Monday to rule out anything sinister, but Angelia presumed she would be prescribed some vitamins and iron tablets and be sent on her way.
She felt a little like a fraud as when she rested, the symptoms eased drastically.
She wouldn’t have admitted it to Meghan, but after going over the recent strange symptoms she had experienced, Angelia’s mind was full of worry and ‘what ifs’, so in order to distract herself she contacted Ruby, who was home on Skye, to ask her to set up a date with the handsome actor she had mentioned.
Ezra Harwood was a six-foot-five blond English man with vivid blue eyes around five years Angelia’s senior.
He was the epitome of what a superhero looked like: muscular, handsome, wholesome.
He had a reputation for being a nice guy, too; there had been plenty of clips of him visiting children’s hospitals to give out Christmas gifts the previous festive season.
But he wasn’t Angelia’s type traditionally; he was quite the antithesis of the green-eyed, dark-haired orchestra musician she had loved from afar for years.
‘Yay! I can’t believe I get to set you up. You’ll adore Ezra, I think. He’s so sweet. Perfect husband material.’ Ruby’s excitement was evident in her high-pitched voice at the other end of the call.
Angelia laughed rather loudly. ‘Steady on, Rubes. It’s a first date, don’t go buying a hat yet.’
‘Sorry, I know, I’m just a bit giddy. He’s in London this week on set so I’ll give him a call. He might be free tomorrow night.’
Angelia widened her eyes and tried not to retract her admission of availability. ‘Oooohkay, that’s fast.’
‘They’re heading off to New York early next week and I know he won’t want to miss an opportunity to take you out.’
Angelia rubbed her eyes and nodded, even though Ruby couldn’t see her. ‘Okay. Okay, go for it. Anyway, enough of that, what are you up to today? And what’s the weather like?’ It was a sunny mid-April Friday in London, but Angelia knew it could appear to be a totally different season up north.
‘It’s a bit overcast just now but we’re hoping it burns off.
You know what this place is like though.
Four seasons in a day. I’ve got a dance class to teach at eleven and then we’ve got community cinema tonight at the hall.
Me and the girls have been keen to get the Ralph Fiennes version of Wuthering Heights shown on the big screen and thanks to Jules and Morag doing some research we’ve finally got the licence. ’
Ruby spoke of her group of female friends in Glentorrin as if they were family and Angelia couldn’t help wishing she was a part of their ensemble.
She had never met these women but could tell from what she had gleaned from chats with Ruby that she would love them all.
Jules ran the Lifeboat House Museum, and her husband, Reid, was an artist; Caitlin was the village baker, and her husband owned an outdoor clothing shop and campsite; Morag ran the shop with her husband, Kenneth; Millie had her own marketing company and her husband was a mechanic; Stella owned the pub with her partner, Joren; and Bella was an interior designer, and her husband was the local police inspector.
All down-to-earth women living fulfilling, normal lives.
Angelia had almost forgotten what that was like.
‘That’s exciting. I think that has to be my favourite version,’ Angelia replied.
‘Mine too. Well, sorry to cut and run, lovely, but I’d better get going. I need to drop Rosie Posie off with Caitlin. Her daughter, Grace, is babysitting for me seeing as it’s the Easter break. Rosie adores her and Jules’s son, Evin.’
‘Aww, so sweet. Well, I hope the weather picks up. I’ll wait to hear from you about Ezra.’
* * *
On Saturday morning, Angelia awoke to a message from Ruby:
Ruby
Hey, honey. I’m so excited you agreed to go on the date with Ezra. He’s looking forward to meeting you. Table booked for 7.30 at The Ivy in the West End tonight. Let me know how it goes!
Feeling a little unsure, she hadn’t responded at first, instead she had dressed and taken Scrappy for a walk on the heath at 7 a.m., and had been star spotting as she always did.
She had seen a couple of actors and a pretty, petite blonde female pop singer who had smiled sweetly as she jogged by pushing a stroller.
Angelia had to do a double take because as she got level to the stroller a little head popped up, but instead of a baby there was an ugly scrunchy-faced dog that barked at Scrappy and almost made her jump out of her skin.
She had gone out with the intention of clearing her head and pondering on what the evening might bring.
But above all she needed to think about why she was, in fact, apparently unable to sustain a long-term relationship when her friends could.
What was it about her, she wondered, that made men get so tired of her.
It was turning into a pity party for one and as she walked back to her apartment, baseball cap pulled low over her face and hair tucked up inside it by way of remaining incognito, she realised she had made no progress at all.
An hour later, Angelia was sitting on her sofa in her yoga pants and a T-shirt after an attempted workout at the gym in her building.
She had struggled to lift the weights she normally managed with ease and was once again concerned but told herself she maybe just needed to persevere, build stamina, eat better.
She had given up and made her way back to her apartment and even though it was only just after 9 a.m. she already felt like heading back to bed.
She walked into her dressing room and stood in front of racks of clothes, staring blankly.
It hadn’t been that long since she had been out for dates with Dane but for some reason, she was in a massive fluster about what to wear for the impending date with Ezra.
The Ivy was a much-loved celebrity haunt that she had been to a few times with the band, but those occasions were relaxed and casual, a gathering of friends who she had no need to try and impress.
She had no clue what to wear for this evening.
She decided to video call Fiona for some moral support and perhaps to ask her advice.
Fiona was in a long-term relationship with a high-school maths teacher called Marcus who she had met at a conference, and the pair had seemed to fall instantly in love.
They now shared an apartment on the outskirts of Edinburgh, and a cat called Biffy after Marcus’s favourite band Biffy Clyro.
‘So, are you going to tell me who your date is with or is it top secret? You know I won’t contact TMZ, don’t you?
’ Fiona giggled. ‘I wouldn’t even know how to contact BBC Scotland, for that matter.
I’m just so glad you’re getting out there.
I want you to find someone as wonderful as Marcus,’ she said dreamily. ‘And Dane Bakker definitely wasn’t it.’
Angelia sighed. ‘You and Marcus are the perfect couple. I’m so jealous. I want to find myself a Marcus too.’
‘And this guy might just be the one, you never know. And it will take your mind off worrying about the Josh rumours. I so want you to be swept off your feet. So come on, spill it.’ Fiona had known about Angelia’s crush on the drummer since long before she was signed to the band.
And she was very much aware of the pining that her friend had initially endured.
What she didn’t know, however, was that the man Angelia actually wanted was Ed.
She had never been able to admit this one tiny fact for fear of ruining the dynamic of their wee trio of a friendship.
In addition to this, saying it out loud would mean it was real, and so was the fact that she would never be with him.
Angelia was suddenly nervous at the prospect of divulging the details. She cleared her throat. ‘Erm… Okay, so…’ She cringed and closed her eyes for a moment. ‘I can’t believe I’m saying this but… I’m going on a date with Ezra Harwood.’ She held her breath and waited for her best friend’s response.
Fiona gasped. ‘You’re kidding! The hunky actor? The guy who was in All the Heroes?’ Her words came out in a giddy rush. ‘The guy who’s built like a tank and could pick you up and fling you over his shoulder one handed?’
Angelia opened her eyes and felt the heat of embarrassment rising in her cheeks. ‘The very same.’
‘I can see that you’re blushing! Does that mean you really fancy him? I hope so!’ She clapped her hands together. ‘It’s funny, though, I didn’t really put him as your type. I mean he’s the total opposite of Dane… and he’s nothing like Josh either. How did this all happen?’
Angelia told her friend, ‘Ruby set us up. Apparently, he’s a huge fan of the band and has wanted to meet me for a while now, so she and I have messaged back and forth, and she’s told me bits and bobs about him and in the end, I thought why not?
I’ve heard from Meghan that Dane cheated on me with Lucille Delgado and they’re now an item. He didn’t mess around so why should I?’
‘Damn right, honey. You deserve to be happy. And if that’s with a tall, well-built, sexy actor then so be it.
It’s tough but someone has to do it.’ Fiona winked into the camera.
‘What are you wearing? Where is he taking you?’ She frowned and tilted her head.
‘Are you having to take security along too? How does that even work? Do you have to feed your security guard if they come with you? Do they sit at the table with you?’