Chapter 20
T he last few days had been rough. Typically, the moment it felt as though things were straightening out and her life was settling, the usual curveball had to come and smack her square in the face. Despite sending grovelling messages to the rest of the gang and their apparent acceptance of her apology, she still felt like the worst person in the world and had turned down Amy’s invitation of lunch at the pub, for fear of what she may ask her. The only elongated contact she’d had was with Alfie, who she’d texted instead to share the news of Lauren’s offer and the ideas for the village hall. It didn’t feel half as exciting telling him via text rather than in person and seeing his subsequent reaction. But with the way she’d snapped at him when he’d walked her home combined with the knowledge that Dana was back for the foreseeable and sleeping at his apartment, it had seemed the most sensible thing to do. Despite the informal nature of it all, they had agreed to hold a village meeting that weekend; it happened to be the 1 st of December then and Millie planned to appeal to everyone’s festive senses in a bid to win them over.
Alfie had whipped up some posters advertising the meeting and placed them around the village: one in Mr Slee’s shop, another in the pub and one on the noticeboard on the wall of the village hall. Millie had also posted on the local Facebook group to bump up interest. They needed a full meeting and plenty of people on board if this was going to work.
Saturday morning arrived and along with it, the day of the meeting. Millie woke with a concoction of nerves and excitement twisting around her stomach. She’d been up almost the entirety of the night before writing out notes for the meeting – she’d thought of so many ideas of where they could take the classes; she just needed the people power to bring it to fruition.
She’d exchanged a couple of texts with Alfie but it was purely focused on the matter at hand. It was like they had taken a few steps forward but were now almost back where they started when she first arrived. For what felt like a fleeting moment, it seemed like something was going to happen - despite Millie having barely any time to process whether it was something she wanted or, indeed, could cope with. Looking back now at the night she stayed at Alfie’s following her chaotic foray into amateur lifeguarding; it seemed like nothing but a fever dream. Like it had almost never happened – maybe that was for the best, she’d thought. Besides, he was with Dana still. Nothing could – or would – happen. They could work together in a professional capacity on these projects and that’s where it would end.
However, once she entered the village hall early that morning, her feelings unwillingly came flooding back. He hadn’t spotted her in the doorway, too focused on unstacking chairs. He had wireless earphones in and seemed in a complete world of his own. He was wearing black jeans and a black jumper, broken up with a plaid shirt style jacket and complimented by bright, white trainers. His dark hair was tousled, and he had to keep flicking it off his face in a motion he was clearly unaware of. It was only after half a minute or so that Millie realised she’d been gawping but thankfully he hadn’t noticed.
As she walked across the scuffed wooden floor, each step echoing loudly around the hall, Alfie paused and turned towards her. He gave a shy smile and gently pulled his earbuds out, shoving them into his pocket.
“What’re you listening to?” she asked, not sure what else to open with.
“ The 1975 ,” he replied. “I seem to have them on repeat at the moment.”
“Great choice,” Millie said, although she had only listened to a few of their songs.
“Stops my brain from ticking over too much, anyway,” he continued before breaking eye contact and continuing to rearrange chairs. “I didn’t go for a horseshoe shape – I didn’t want it to feel too ‘Alcoholics Anonymous’ if you get what I mean,” he explained, gesturing to the rows he’d set the chairs up in.
“Good plan,” she replied, hovering around them, finding her mind wandering to her mum at the mention of alcoholics. She wondered what she would make of her new life down here. Would she be proud? Millie sure hoped so.
“I have a few notes I’ve made on how we could go about the meeting, if you want to see?”
By the time they’d shared ideas, it was five minutes to the meeting time and the nerves set in – no-one was here yet. What if nobody was going to turn up and Millie would have to contact Lauren telling her thank you, but she wasn’t going to be needed after all? How mortifying that would be, after Millie’s initial excitement.
They perched on two chairs at the front, waiting. Five minutes passed and the door opening made them both snap up to look. In came Ethel, Dennis trotting on companionably at her side.
“Ee’s alright to come in too, ain’t he?” she called, gesturing to the enormous pooch.
“Of course!” Alfie replied. “He’s bumping up our numbers, at this rate,” he said, casting a glance around the empty chairs dejectedly.
“They’re coming m’boy. Just seen a load heading down the hill,” she said, taking a seat at the side as Dennis sauntered over to Millie and shoved his giant head into her lap, waiting for a scratch.
True to her word, the door opened and a group of around ten people entered, waving to both Alfie and Millie. Moments later, Mr Slee entered with his wife and a couple of friends, calling a friendly hello to them both and then to the other people who had now congregated around the edges. Alfie and Millie shared a relieved glance at the sight of the hall now filling nicely and a buzz of excitement flashed through her. This could actually work?!
Amy entered next, followed by Ryan, Evan and Daisy. Millie smiled at them all and whilst Daisy smiled back, she could tell there was reluctance. They hadn’t spoken properly since the night Millie had run out on her incredible news and an awkward air lingered. She felt like a truly terrible person – she would rectify it soon. She just wasn’t sure yet what she would say to explain.
By half past ten, the hall was fit to bust, with people having to stand around the edges due to all the seats being taken. Whilst she hadn’t been in the village long, Millie tended to know most people but there were several faces here she didn’t recognise, suggesting that some had even come from further afield to join. She’d never experienced a sense of community like this. It felt a very special thing to be a part of. She glanced over at Alfie, and he gave her a knowing look. She nodded towards the gathered crowd, indicating they should make a start. With one swift move, he leapt down from the stage they had both been sat on and the noise caused a hush to wash over everyone there, as he began:
“I’m so glad you all decided to come today…”
* * *
“That was amazing! ” Millie declared as they reached the top of the stairs leading to Alfie’s apartment. “I can’t believe the amount of people who have volunteered to run classes!”
“I know! And great call on posting in those local news groups on Facebook. Having a media presence there today is really going to highlight what’s going on. Hopefully the council will see and have a rethink about the use of the hall,” Alfie continued, heading straight for the kettle to make some warm drinks. Millie threw herself down onto his sofa and looked out at the beautiful view from the picture window. It was overcast, grey and gloomy but her mood felt anything but. This morning had completely overshadowed the ill-feelings she still had about the previous week at the pub. Plus, despite the initial awkwardness between them this morning, being around Alfie now felt more natural and relaxed than ever. As she continued to take in the view, comfy on his sofa, with the sound of him bustling around in the kitchen behind her she found herself thinking she could really get used to this…
“Where’s Dana?” she found herself asking before she could reconsider, as he approached and placed an enormous mug on the coffee table in front of her. Alfie paused before answering.
“She’s away with work again,” he replied. “Up in Birmingham this time. Some launch event.”
“I see,” Millie nodded, then without deliberation, continued: “What’s the deal with your guys’ relationship anyhow?” Alfie squirmed slightly in his seat, pressing his palms together and fiddling his fingers; either in deep thought or trying to avoid the question.
“We…we have fun,” he stated simply, not meeting her gaze.
“Is that it?” Millie responded, surprised at her brazen tone. He looked up now into her eyes and half-laughed.
“Is that not enough?” he asked.
“It could be. I just…I don’t know…I get the impression you don’t really get along? Not properly.”
“And you get that impression, how?” he said, now taking his mug in his hands, leaning forwards on his thighs. Whilst his tone was full of question, he had an almost amused look on his face.
“Just the way you are around each other. Not so much the way she is around you…she seems to be all over you when you’re out in public together.” Who can blame her she thought. Alfie gave a cheeky smirk, not leaving her gaze.
“Are you jealous , Melissa Jones?” He’d never used her full name before. She wasn’t even aware he knew her full name. She felt her cheeks flush and realised that the audacious attitude she’d been rolling with the last minute or so had disappeared completely. Alfie raised an eyebrow, and she had to break the moment by looking down and reaching for her mug, else she wasn’t sure where it would lead. The air definitely felt charged.
“She’s not here right now and she never seems to have an intention of staying very long. Does that answer your question?” he said, matter-of-factly. Glancing up at him again, both eyebrows were now raised before he placed his mug down with a start and announced “Right! Let’s get planning, shall we?!”
Millie climbed into bed that night completely exhausted. They’d spent the entirety of the afternoon and most of the evening planning out the next couple of weeks at the village hall. With just over three weeks until Christmas, they knew plans had to be made quickly if they were going to maximise this opportunity. After much discussion, drafting and “re-jigging” as Millie had called it, they had a schedule for up until Christmas, with a big New Years’ Eve party planned for that well-celebrated night. They hadn’t wanted to take any business away from the pub so, as it was just metres away from the village hall, they’d struck up a deal whereby all alcohol be provided by the pub and the celebrations be spread across both venues. A live band would play in the pub with a disco in the village hall, to suit all tastes and ages. As it was the 1 st of December, the village was almost fully bedecked with decorations, the official “switch on” taking place the following day. It seemed like it would be the perfect beginning to a fabulously festive few weeks. She’d even contacted Lauren who, despite it being super last minute, had agreed to come and switch on the lights and give a brief speech about the coming weeks’ events.
The most exciting and nerve-wracking thing of all was the class Millie had agreed to run – art for beginners. It was weird to think that little old she would be guiding others through the basics of art, but she’d realised she needed to start realising her ability. The way both Alfie and Lauren had reacted to her paintings had helped to raise her confidence levels. Despite this, there were still some echoing words from Sam in her head. He had always found a way to give a backhanded insult or make her feel art was pointless, nothing more than a meaningless hobby used by broken down creatives to pass the time.
Sam. He hadn’t been in her head too much lately which had been such a blessing. The night of “babygate” at the pub, as she was now calling it, she’d gone to bed replaying several situations over in her mind that she’d rather forget - he had featured in the vast majority. It was only when her brain allowed her to look back that she realised quite what an asshole he’d really been. The way he’d spoken to her, the way he’d gaslighted her, confirmed why he had eventually done what he did and cheated on her. And yet, there was still a part of her that missed him. He was the first and only serious boyfriend she had ever had and the little life they created together had, at the time, been a dream. She’d never imagined having feelings for anyone else but him. Yet here she was, growing increasingly fond of another man who, she was sure, had feelings for her too. There had been no official discussion as such, yet comments from other people, their intensifying exchanges and a general sense of “something is going to happen” led Millie to believe something was going to happen. It was just an idea of “when” and not “if” …