13. Pouty scowls and a frozen smile
13
POUTY SCOWLS AND A FROZEN SMILE
It was Tuesday afternoon and Netta was back home early because it was a foodbank day. The morning had started out cool and she’d gone out in jeans and a T-shirt but by the time she was on her way home, the sun had woken up and she was so warm she’d had to change into shorts and a strappy top as soon as she got in. The shorts were new, and she was still nervous about them, but Liza had assured her she had the legs to carry them off. She stood in front of the mirror chewing on her lip. She supposed they didn’t look too bad.
She did a bit of a prance around and practised a look she’d spend hours perfecting when she was a girl. It was a cross between a pout and a scowl. The result made her laugh out loud. How could she ever have thought that was sexy?
She stopped prancing and took herself in. She wasn’t normally the sort of person who spent too long studying her appearance. She had been when she was younger and more in love with herself, but Colin had put paid to that when he found out about her affair. Netta sometimes wondered if it had been anyone other than Doogie whether he’d have been so relentless in making her pay for it. But from the moment she met Colin, he seemed to know everything about her and Doogie and he’d always had this thing about being her second choice. As soon as they’d finished university, he couldn’t get them far enough away from anything to do with Doogie. That included her best friend, Claire. And Manchester. Actually, maybe he had a point about Manchester, because as soon as Netta went back there, she took up with Doogie again and look what happened then.
Even now the thought of Colin standing over her in that hospital room, her womb emptied of its precious cargo, made her shiver. And afterwards, his conditions. The way he insisted she toned down everything about her brash, vulgar, disgusting self. It marked her. It had been a long time before she could look at herself in the mirror with anything less than loathing.
She did the pouty scowl again. ‘Fuck you, Colin. I’m wearing these shorts whether you like it or not.’
She flipped the finger at an imaginary Colin, gave her tush a little shake and went down to the study to do some work. Pouty scowls and prancing around were all very well but she had invoices to send off.
When the house was originally built, the study had been a dining room, but the previous owners had changed its function long ago and that was how it had remained. Although now, it was more of an office come hideout when things got too noisy. Not that it occurred too often these days. When Will, Kelly and Liza were all here, it could be quite riotous. But Kelly wasn’t here anymore. Will and his girlfriend were about to take their relationship to the next level, and it was quite possible that Liza would be gone too at some point. She’d be on her own again. Except, this time she’d have Frank next door, her friends close by, and the dogs. She’d be all right. Probably.
Betty came in from the hall and growled at Maud who was curled up on the sofa. She was normally very soft and easy going. Although, on all accounts she’d been a bit snappy with Minnie too recently. She growled again.
‘Betty, behave. What’s up with you?’
Betty left Maud and stuck her head on Netta’s lap. Netta scratched the dog’s ears. ‘What’s the matter, darling? Are you feeling a bit out of sorts? Do we need to take you to the vet?’
Naturally, Betty didn’t answer, but a knock at the front door set both dogs barking.
Netta peeked through the window to see who it was, and her jaw dropped. Of all the people she might have expected to see on her doorstep, Doogie Chambers was not one of them. And just when she’d been thinking of him too. Sort of thinking of him anyway, in a roundabout way. They were friends now rather than lovers, but he’d never been to her house before, and he lived a long way off. Although his mum lived on the north side of Birmingham these days, so perhaps he was visiting her.
Doogie saw her and flashed a broad grin. A single butterfly made a long winding trip from her stomach to her chest. He still had that effect on her.
‘You gonna let me in then?’ he said when she opened the door.
She folded her arms but couldn’t stop a smile sneaking out. ‘Not sure. I’m a bit stunned, to be honest. What are you doing here? I didn’t think you even knew my address.’
‘I’ve got Spike in the car.’
His dog? He’d brought his dog with him? ‘I thought he never left Scotland.’
Doogie shrugged. ‘Don’t know how long I’m gonna be away. It didn’t seem fair on Grace.’
‘Uh huh. Go on then, go and get him. I’ll get the coffee on.’
Spike, the long, lean lurcher slinked through each room of the house, closely followed by Betty and Maud. At least Betty wasn’t snapping at him.
‘How come you don’t know how long you’ll be away? Has something happened?’ she said.
‘Nope. I just fancied a bit of time in the city.’
‘And you didn’t think to let me know you were coming?’
He gave her another of those grins she could never resist. ‘Sorry. It was a bit last minute. So much so, I forgot my mum and stepdad are on holiday.’
‘So where are you staying?’
‘Haven’t worked that out yet.’ Yes, he had. He absolutely had.
‘I suppose you’re expecting to stay here?’
‘If that’s not going to rock the boat with your man next door.’
He meant Frank but, of course, there was more than one man next door. Actually, now that she thought about it, having Doogie here could be the one thing that might trigger Colin into action. ‘Yeah, about that. Colin’s moved in with Frank. Temporarily.’
‘The accountant? You’re kidding me, right?’
‘I wish I was.’ Was it her imagination or did he not look that surprised?
‘I don’t get it. If this Arianne doesn’t have any claim to the house, why doesn’t he do something about it?’ said Doogie.
They’d moved into the garden now. Spike was wandering around, marking everything with his scent. Frank’s dog, Fred, was watching through the French windows next door. Frank was out with friends from work, celebrating his last week in teaching. Colin was on another enforced allotment visit. Netta had a feeling neither would be happy when they got back. Well, she knew for a fact Colin would be extremely unhappy. Frank, she wasn’t so sure about. Officially, he and Doogie had never met. But that wasn’t really the case and because of that, she couldn’t work out his feelings towards Doogie. Before that road trip, she’d have said they were largely positive, but then she found out he’d stayed at the farm belonging to Doogie’s partner, Grace. The thing was, Frank had never mentioned being there. Neither had he mentioned that he and Doogie had crossed paths during the stay. Netta had worked it out and had confirmed it with Doogie, although she’d been a bit sneaky with her questions because Doogie had no idea who the man he’d been chatting with was. So Frank was keeping it secret, Doogie was in the dark, and she’d got to the point where she was becoming too embarrassed to mention it to either of them. But it didn’t really matter anymore because very soon, her ex-lover and her current lover were about to meet, and it was going to be very interesting watching their reactions.
Will and Belle appeared in the kitchen, then Liza was there too. There was some discussion and then Will and Belle came outside. Netta guessed the discussion was about her visitor. She stood up as they approached, feeling slightly apprehensive, and introduced everyone.
Will was all smiles. ‘Hi. I thought you looked familiar. I’ve seen you in some of Mum’s old photos.’
‘You’ve just finished at York, yeah?’ said Doogie.
‘Yeah. Just got to look for a job now.’ Will put his arm around Belle. ‘Belle was at Leeds. We’re trying to get jobs in the same town this time so we can live together.’
Doogie nodded. ‘Living apart from the people you love is hard.’
Netta wasn’t quite sure what he meant by that, since it was coming from the man who’d lived apart from the people he loved by choice, but she wasn’t going to go there. ‘Well, you’re both welcome to live here for as long as you want. Speaking of which, Doogie’s staying for a while. And so is Spike.’
‘Is that Spike in Frank’s garden?’ said Belle. ‘He’s beautiful.’
Will laughed. ‘Another dog. The way things are going we’ll have more dogs than people around here.’
His laughter was cut short by Liza who was on her way and already talking: ‘Oh my God, you’re Doogie, aren’t you? I mean, hello. Is Merrie with you?’
‘Er no. She’ll be here in a few days.’ Doogie looked a bit startled. He probably hadn’t had this much young person interaction in years.
‘I’ll go call her. Amazing dog, by the way.’ She was back off into the house, soon to be followed by the other two.
Netta waited for them to disappear inside. ‘You did know my daughter and your daughter are friends, didn’t you?’
‘Yeah, yeah.’
‘Sorry. She can be a bit full on if you’re not used to it.’
He sat back down. ‘No, it’s fine. It’s just a bit of a shock.’
‘How do you mean?’
‘She’s just like you were at that age. Except for the hair colour. You were a lot darker, except when you had your Debbie Harry streaks.’
‘I suppose so. I forget. I don’t think I was so, you know, out there.’
‘Yeah, you were.’
‘Was I?’
He laughed. ‘Yeah, you were very out there.’
Netta thought about the pouty scowls and giggled. Yes, she probably was.
Fred came bouncing through the interconnecting garden gate and stopped in front of Spike. That could only mean someone was home next door. While the two dogs did a bit of macho sniffing of each other’s bits, Netta looked to see who had let him out. It was Frank. He ambled towards them, smiling. Then he spotted Doogie and his smile froze.
She decided the best way to tackle his rigidity was to adopt a casual, I know nothing, approach. ‘Frank, Doogie’s come to stay for a while.’
‘Oh, right. Good. Great. How are yer, Doogie? Good to finally meet you.’ His hand shot out, somewhat robotically, it had to be said.
Doogie scratched his head then shook Frank’s waiting hand. ‘Yeah, you too mate. You, too.’