The House That Alice Built

by Chris Penhall

  There was the sound of a scuffle, and a door slamming.

  ‘I feel sick again,’ said Kathy. ‘I need to get some air. And I want another biscuit. Get me another biscuit. Please.’

  Alice stood up and tried the door again.

  ‘Kathy, Kathy! Has he gone?’

  ‘Yes, for now. Big bully,’ sighed Kathy.

  ‘Can I hear Alice?’ said Stephano.

  ‘I’m stuck in the storeroom,’ Alice said. ‘Help’ she called limply.

  Stephano tried the door, then pushed it hard. Alice almost fell out into the room. ‘I’m so sorry that he got you involved,’ she said.

  ‘God he’s aged,’ said Kathy.

  ‘We’re looking after you,’ said Stephano.

  ‘Don’t let him ruin your birthday,’ said Kathy, putting her arms around her. ‘And don’t forget you’re meeting Luis later.’

  Stephano kissed Alice on the cheek. ‘And thank you,’ he said. ‘Oh, you smell nice.’

  ‘Fifteen minutes trapped in the store cupboard of a beauty salon,’ said Alice. ‘I’ll go now. I think you have a lot to talk about.’

  ‘Thank you for speaking to Stephano,’ said Kathy. ‘I really don’t know what I’d do without you.’

  Luis was sitting in the café by the lighthouse, his head bent over the table, flyers and paperwork piled in front of him, Elvis at his feet. As Alice walked towards him, she began to relax, relief washing over her with every step. Of course everything was fine. She’d allowed herself to be poisoned by other people and Adam’s presence was making her anxious about everything.

  Elvis trotted to her, his tail wagging, and Luis stood, smiling warmly, his arms open, inviting her in. ‘Oh, Alice,’ he said, wrapping them around her. ‘I’m so glad to see you. So sorry I can’t stay long, but you make me calm and happy and I needed to see you.’

  ‘I needed to see you too,’ she whispered. She sat down opposite him and waved to the waiter for a coffee. ‘How are you feeling?’ she asked.

  ‘Better now you’re here. But tired. And stressed. All will be fine in the end, but I need to sell that house quickly.’ He rubbed his temples and showed her some of the paperwork. ‘I printed out some of the e-mails I’ve had from the estate agents – it’s easier for me to compare what they offer. They all suggest I drop the price significantly for a quick sale.’

  ‘Ah,’ said Alice. ‘Is that something you can do?’

  He sighed. ‘I may have to. It’s not good though. My mind is so muddled at the moment I can’t think straight.’

  Alice put her hand on his. ‘You’re very tired, aren’t you?’

  ‘Yes. But tomorrow evening I’m all yours. A night off from all of this for your birthday. Where would you like to go?’

  Alice smiled. ‘Do you know I think I want to sit in the square and relax with you and Kathy and just be. Is that okay?’

  He kissed her hand. ‘If that is what you want, that’s what we’ll do.’ He looked into her eyes. ‘Is everything all right? You seem a bit subdued.’

  Alice hesitated. She didn’t want to tell him – the time she had with Luis felt precious and talking to him about Adam would only contaminate it. He squeezed her hand. She took a breath. Should she speak to him about it? He’d know what to do. ‘Well, there—’

  ‘There you are!’ She was interrupted by Antonio shouting from the road as he got out of a car.

  Luis looked at the sky. ‘Just a moment’s rest from him. Please.’ He looked at Alice. ‘I’m sorry about this.’

  Antonio was followed by a sulky-looking Marcella and another woman.

  Luis put his head in his hands. ‘I don’t need this.’

  Alice squeezed his hand. ‘Should I go?’ Antonio was glaring at her already and she was in no mood for confrontation. She knew that if he pushed her just a little she would react – slow-to-anger Alice had been replaced over the past couple of days by the one who wouldn’t take it any more. And being trapped in a cupboard listening to Adam ranting hadn’t helped.

  ‘No, please. I’ll get rid of him.’

  ‘Who’s this?’ said the woman as they arrived at the table.

  ‘This is Alice, my girlfriend,’ said Luis. ‘Alice, this is Susannah, a very old friend and surprisingly, Marcella’s aunt.’

  ‘Hello,’ said Alice, standing up and holding out her hand. Susannah shook it half-heartedly. Alice remembered Luis talking to her briefly at a gig a few weeks before.

  Marcella tossed her hair sulkily. ‘I don’t know what you’re doing here, Auntie. It’s my idea.’

  ‘Because you don’t have the business to do it, Marcella,’ snapped Susannah.

  Alice sat down and looked at Luis, realising that for the second time in a couple of hours she was trapped in something she couldn’t run away from.

  ‘Can I ask what you’re all doing here?’ Luis said impatiently.

  ‘I told Marcella and Susannah about your predicament about the houses, and Susannah can help you.’

  Luis stood up. ‘What were you doing telling them about my business? You had no right.’

  ‘I was trying to help,’ said Antonio. ‘You’ve been bad-tempered, tired and over busy. It’s beginning to affect the band.’

  ‘How many times have I told you?’ said Luis irritably. ‘I’m leaving the band. I’m doing this short term.’

  ‘You’ve said that before,’ said Antonio.

  ‘This time I mean it,’ said Luis. ‘I’m sorry Marcella, Susannah, I’m sure you mean well but he shouldn’t have told you.’

  ‘But I can help,’ said Susannah sitting down. ‘I have a property development business. I know you bought the old farmhouse on the hill and I’m interested in buying it.’

  ‘I’m not selling that one,’ said Luis.

  ‘But the land is perfect for a new development.’

  ‘Does that mean you want to knock the farmhouse down?’ asked Alice.

  Susannah ignored her. ‘Luis, it is a perfect opportunity.’

  ‘It’s not for sale,’ he said. ‘Thank you for the offer though.’

  She took a card out of her purse and gave it to him. ‘If you change your mind,’ she said. ‘I could meet you there tomorrow.’

  ‘Tomorrow I’m working and celebrating Alice’s birthday. And as I said it’s not for sale. But thank you for the offer. It’s very kind.’

  Susannah stood up. ‘Okay.’ She smiled. ‘We had better go. Marcella is determined we dress up for the gig tonight. We’ll meet you in the car Antonio.’

  As they walked away, Antonio sat down next to Alice. ‘You should watch her, Luis,’ he said, looking right past her. ‘Marcella says she saw her arguing with a man in public, and she’s seen her drunk or drugged or worse.’

  There it was again, the anger. She could feel it welling up inside her. ‘You should be careful about spreading unfounded rumours, Antonio. I could take you to court.’ She picked up a bottle of water from the table and threw the contents at him then stood up, shocked at what she’d done. And surprised at how much she’d enjoyed it.

  Antonio faced her, angrily. ‘See, she’s unhinged,’ he said. ‘See you later. And tonight, make sure you smile.’

  Alice began to shake again. ‘I’m sorry, Luis. Sorry, it’s just—’

  Luis grabbed hold of her and pulled her to him. ‘It’s okay, I knew something was wrong. And I’ve been wanting to do worse to him than throw water at him. Well done. Now sit down next to me and tell me what’s been going on. I’ve been so wrapped up in my problems I haven’t thought about yours.’

  ‘Adam is here,’ she blurted out. ‘Him and his new girlfriend. He’s trying to intimidate me. But he’s just made me angry. He’s ruining everything. He’s trying to take my house and he’s barged in here. And he went to see Kathy at the salon, and I was trapped in a room and couldn’t tell him what I thought …’ She tailed off, tears trickling down her cheeks.

  Luis picked up a napkin and dabbed her eyes. ‘Oh, Alice. It will be okay. I’m here and I won�
��t let him hurt you. I promise.’

  She looked up at him. ‘And I’ve been hearing things about you – Marcella gossiping with her friends about you and her aunt. And I’ve been worried and …’

  Luis looked at her, surprised. ‘Susannah? I have no interest. She’s married and as spoilt as her niece. They are playing mind-games with each other. Could you see? She’s from the past. Completely the past. And nothing happened then with her either anyway. It’s Antonio trying to control things again. His gambling debts are catching up with him and he needs their support to get more gigs. It’s his mess, not mine.’ He pulled her to him. ‘How could you ever think that?’

  ‘It’s all happened so quickly. I don’t know where I am or what to do, and when Adam turned up with his girlfriend it made me insecure.’

  He kissed her face softly. ‘I only want you,’ he whispered. ‘Only you.’

  The panic in Alice subsided again, the familiar happy loop in her stomach making her smile. ‘I only want you too,’ she whispered back, holding him tight.

  His phone buzzed suddenly. He sighed. ‘It’s my alarm – I have to get ready for this gig.’

  Alice touched his face, and he grabbed her hand again, kissing it softly.

  ‘And I will see you in the square tomorrow at 7 p.m. for your birthday. Now, come, I’ll give you a lift back to the apartment.’

  Chapter Twenty

  The dots of sunlight on the bedroom floor promised a sunny day and Alice smiled, stretching along the bed and rolling onto her feet, the words Luis had whispered last night wrapping her in a warm, happy glow. ‘I want you. Only you.’ She stretched again and picked up her phone, clicking onto a voicemail from Kathy singing ‘Happy Birthday’ very loudly.

  Walking towards the balcony, she began to sing quietly, ‘Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birthday to me … heeee … Happy Birthday to me.’ Pulling open the voile curtains, she moved back the shutters and opened the glass doors.

  ‘Tah dah,’ she said, arms outstretched, stepping into the morning sun as if she were taking a curtain call. Aphrodite mewed noisily at her feet, so Alice picked her up.

  ‘It’s a beautiful day today,’ she announced, nuzzling into the cat’s soft fur. ‘And it will continue to be so. Nothing … hear that, nothing! … will stop it being a beautiful day. Real life may continue tomorrow. But today, Aphrodite, today is mine!’

  Leaning on the balcony she surveyed the garden below remembering a birthday not so many years before when she got caught in a severe summer thunder storm on her way to the pictures with a couple of friends. ‘I spent my birthday evening smelling distinctly musty watching an action film about a man who thinks he’s a spider because there was nothing else on, Aphrodite. Anyway, this birthday will be the one I remember because I have stepped outside to a cloudless blue sky. And I reek of jasmine, not city rain, because jasmine wafts everywhere around here, not traffic fumes.’

  But somewhere at the back of her mind an unwanted word began to repeat itself. Adam.

  ‘...does not exist today,’ she said out loud. ‘Is that the doorbell?’

  Opening the door, Alice found a green basket full of beautiful flowers. Surprised, she picked them up, eagerly opening the card to see if they were from Luis.

  Happy Birthday lovely Alice. Stand Firm. Fight. And enjoy your day, love Mary and Frank. xxxx

  So kind, she thought, wondering how Mary knew it was her birthday, and only mildly disappointed they weren’t from Luis. Kathy’s probably been e-mailing them with all the news, she thought, carrying the basket into the apartment and enjoying the flowers’ light scent. Her phone rang and she answered it mid-sneeze, balancing the flowers in her other hand.

  ‘Bless you!’ said an irritable-sounding Kathy.

  Alice put the flowers down. ‘Sorry. I was smelling a bunch of flowers and got a bit carried away.’

  ‘Happy Birthday. How are you today?’

  Alice wandered back onto the balcony. ‘In a good mood actually. Thank you for your voicemail. How are you?’

  ‘Didn’t sleep a wink. Could do with staying away from work but I have to go in. I should be refreshed and ready for birthday drinks later though. Shall we say seven in the square?’

  ‘Sounds good. Take care. Try to rest.’

  ‘I’ll nap on the treatment bed in between clients. I’m only half joking you know!’

  ‘I know! See you later.’ As soon Kathy hung up, the phone rang again.

  ‘Happy Birthday.’ Alice’s insides did a loop the loop at the sound of Luis’s voice.

  ‘Thank you!’

  ‘Can’t wait to see you later. I’m so sorry I haven’t been around much recently. But I will make it up to you. I promise. It was so good to see you last night. What are you doing today?’

  ‘I think I may take a trip into Lisbon this morning. Take in the view from Castelo Sao George. Have a coffee. Come home and get all dressed up for this evening.’

  ‘I’ll come and get you.’

  ‘Okay. But I’m meeting Kathy in the square at seven for a drink. Can you get here before that?’

  He sighed wearily. ‘I can’t no. And would you believe it, I’m not playing in the band. Never again. I’ll tell you all about it tonight. But there was another blow-up last night …’ He hesitated. ‘That can wait until I see you. I’ll meet you there at half seven. Is that okay? It’s going to be a beautiful day and a beautiful evening.’

  Alice felt a little twinge of relief. No band to pull him away, no Antonio playing his games. ‘Well I’m glad you’re not in the band any more, but doesn’t it make things difficult for you, you know, financially?’

  There was a pause. ‘I’ve been missing you Alice,’ he said. Then he rang off.

  Alice’s stomach did a loop the loop again. ‘Marcella was being vile,’ she said to Aphrodite. ‘I was worrying for nothing.’

  Rifling through the wardrobe for a sundress, she knocked over the pile of bracelets she’d packed into a case the night before. As they spilled out onto the floor she giggled, watching them tumble like a multi-coloured lava flow of beads and ribbons. Deciding she liked the sight of the rainbow mountain they created, she left them where they stood, mentally patting herself on the back for creating so many in such a short space of time.

  She got dressed and sat sipping tea on the balcony. The green of the trees, the blue of the pool and the pink of the bougainvillea below shone bright and deep, the smell of freshly cut grass was clean and crisp and even the growl of nearby cars sounded melodic. ‘Happy Birthday to me,’ said Alice again, raising her cup to the sky. ‘Happy Birthday to me.’ Then she took her camera and headed to the station for the half hour journey to Lisbon.

  Alice gazed over the rooftops of Lisbon across the Tagus to the statue of Christo Rei. She wanted to stretch her arms out and sing but decided to take out the camera and make it a working day. Because she knew that as soon as she gave her mind a rest and stared, Adam, Luis, the house and money would all crowd in and spoil the view. The rooftops were already framed in her mind’s eye before she even pulled the camera to focus, the photography taking over, driving her around the castle and down the narrow streets of Alfama to the shade of the Miradouro de Santa Luzia. The Tagus shimmered below as the red roofs jostled for space towards the water.

  ‘Excuse me, madam. May I?’

  Alice looked up, mildly startled. For a moment she had forgotten where she was. The young man smiled at her.

  ‘I’m sorry. Did I surprise you?’

  She smiled. ‘A little bit, yes, to be honest.’ She looked at him, wondering what he meant by ‘may I?’

  He bowed his head. ‘I do apologise. I just wondered if you wanted your photograph taken with the view from Miradouro Santa Luiza in the background. You seem to be taking photographs of everything but you won’t be in any of them!’

  Alice smiled again, a little bit surprised that he’d noticed. ‘Oh, that’s very kind, but ...’

  He held his hands up. ‘This mu
st look terrible,’ he said. ‘I’m just waiting for some friends and I saw you looking so wrapped up in taking pictures I had to find out why.’

  ‘Oh.’ Alice looked into his kind brown eyes and relaxed. ‘I sort of sell some of my photos as prints, so I’m exploring what I can do with all the beautiful things and views in Lisbon.’

  ‘Ahh, an artist … but you can still be in a picture, can’t you?’

  Alice hesitated. He looked nice and normal, but you couldn’t always tell. A waiter from the café walked over to him and said something to him in Portuguese.

  He nodded. ‘My table is ready. I’ve reserved it for my friends, but they won’t be here for half an hour.’ He smiled reassuringly. ‘You can trust me.’

  Alice laughed. ‘It would be lovely to have my photo taken, to be honest.’ She handed him the camera and posed for the photograph.

  ‘If you move over there by the bougainvillea, that can frame it,’ he said.

  She moved obediently and waited for him to take the photo.

  ‘There you are,’ said the man, handing her back the camera.

  ‘Thank you. You didn’t tell me your name?’

  ‘Sebastian,’ he said, bowing.

  ‘I’m Alice. You’ve been very kind.’ She turned to walk away.

  ‘Wait,’ he said. ‘My table is ready and my friends aren’t here. Would you like to join me for a coffee? I’ve never spoken to a real artist before.’

  ‘Well, I’m not …’ said Alice instinctively. But then she looked at his smiling face, and thought, but I am, aren’t I? And it’s my birthday. She nodded. ‘Thank you. That’s very kind.’

  They sat down and ordered coffee.

  ‘Is this your first visit to Lisbon?’

  ‘I’ve been in a couple of times. I’m staying in Cascais.’

  ‘Cascais is perfect.’

  ‘Yes, it is lovely.’

  He sipped his coffee and checked his phone then he turned his attention to Alice again. ‘Have you been here long?’

  ‘About six weeks or so.’

  ‘Six weeks? I apologise. I assumed you were a tourist just passing through.’

  Alice thought for a moment. ‘I sort of am and I’m not I suppose.’