The Meant to Be Collection

by Claire Highton-Stevenson

  “Good morning, Stan.” She smiled, waving her hand at him.

  He grinned back. “Oh good morning, Ms Blake. Your niece is waiting for you, I said they should sit in the cafeteria.”

  Catherine frowned. “My niece?”

  “Oh yes, lovely young girl. She said it had been a while since she had visited her favourite aunt.”

  “Right, I should probably go and find her then.” This was an intriguing moment. Catherine didn’t have a niece, or a nephew; in fact, she didn’t have siblings at all.

  ~FI~

  Potter was already in the staff lounge waiting for Brooke. He had two cups of tea made and was preparing his kit for the day. He was overly fastidious, which Brooke found interesting, bearing in mind her background in the armed forces and the requirement to shine every button and boot.

  In the few hours she had spent with Potter (first name unknown), she had learned that he probably had superhero syndrome. He had failed twice at the police fitness test due to his inability to run very fast or for long periods of time. He then tried for the Fire Brigade and was turned down because he had failed the police fitness test, so apparently there was no way he would get through the brigades testing. So, he had given up and took the next best thing that provided a uniform and some power: security guard.

  “Morning Chambers,” he said brightly, holding out the mug for her.

  “It’s Brooke,” she said, for the fourth time since meeting him.

  “I know, but ‘Chambers and Potter’ sounds so much more…professional,” he replied, adjusting his cap and wiping imaginary dirt from his name plate, which read “S Potter.” She couldn’t help but think of him in an anorak, out in the rain on a weekend, watching trains. “Spotter” echoed loudly in her head and made her grin. “Shall we begin our rounds then?”

  ~FI~

  The cafeteria was filled with people all trying to get their breakfast, staff finishing the night shift and those just starting, as well as customers enjoying a treat. Catherine quickly swept her eyes around for Brooke and was relieved not to find her here. Early morning shoppers dropped in for coffee before doing their weekly shop. Friends bumped into one another and chin-wagged over a pot of tea and cakes. She had no idea what her niece looked like, so she looked for the most out of place person she could find. There were two that fit the bill of young girls, and they both sat together looking at their mobile phones.

  One was Asian, the other white; both had long black hair pulled into tidy ponytails. But only one looked somewhat familiar.

  She strode confidently across the floor until she stood right next to their table and waited. The Indian girl looked up first. A quick nudge of her elbow got her friends attention.

  “Which one of you would be my niece?” she asked, one brow raised as both girls blushed.

  “Uh, that would be me.” A hand nervously raised as Robin Chambers admitted her guilt. “I uh, was hoping I…we could have a word with you.”

  Catherine checked her watch; she was going to be late. For the first time during her employment, she would be late to her office. Not that it mattered; she was in charge. She could pretty much work the hours she wanted to, take time off if she wanted to, but she didn’t. Instead, she liked to be here on time, setting an example.

  She sat down in the seat on the opposite side of the booth, a little intrigued as well as annoyed. “You have one minute,” she said sternly, unwinding her scarf and unbuttoning her coat.

  Both girls looked at one another, a seriousness settling between them. Whatever they had planned was now in play, and the gravity of it had brought with it a nervous stutter. Jas nodded at Robin, who turned back to face Catherine. “You’re just like she said you were.” When Catherine looked confused, she continued. “I mean, she said you were gorgeous, and she was absolutely right. Do you buy your make-up here?” Robin was rambling, and Jas thumped her thigh with her fist. “Sorry, I uh…okay, see the thing is, my sister, she really likes you. Like, she’s head over heels and she, well she’s trying really hard so you can see she is worth taking a chance on, and…”

  “Wait.” Catherine raised a hand; the likeness was obvious now. “You’re Brooke’s sister?”

  Robin grinned, pleased that Catherine at least knew that Brooke existed. “Yes, Robin Chambers, and this is my best friend, Jas, Jasmine Khan.”

  Catherine nodded slowly with a tight smile, but felt her spine stiffen, anxious to move away from this situation.

  “The thing is, Brooke, she’s a really great person, if you’d just give her a chance, go out with her again and maybe…”

  Catherine raised a hand once more. “Thank you, Robin. I am sure that Brooke is quite capable of…I will speak to Brooke later, and I am sure we can find a solution to this problem. It’s very sweet of you to care so much about your sister and you should definitely keep doing that, but really this is an adult situation, and one only Brooke and myself can navigate.” She checked her watch once more. “I really need to get to my office. I assume you can find your way out and,” she noted the school uniform, “get to school okay?”

  She stood and waited for them to grab their things, then she walked them to the cafeteria exit and watched them walk off, jostling and smiling at one another. Teenage exuberance.

  ~FI~

  Amber stared at the clock. Something was very wrong. 8:34 a.m. and Catherine hadn’t arrived. She looked over at Kim, whose forehead had wrinkled in confusion too.

  “Do you think she is ill?” Amber said, still looking at the clock.

  “Maybe, has she been ill before?”

  Amber shook her head. “Not while I’ve been here.”

  Before Kim could reply, the door flew open and Catherine thundered into the room, slamming the door behind her. “Get Brooke Chambers up here now!” she demanded before storming into her office, almost knocking the door off its hinges as she went.

  Silently, Amber stared at Kim.

  “Now,” came the demand again through the closed door, making both women jump.

  Amber grabbed the phone and called down to Customer Services.

  “Hi, yes, it’s Amber in HR. Can you put a call out for Brooke Chambers to come to the office immediately.” She listened to the person on the other end of the line. “Yes, thank you, right away.”

  Chapter Twenty

  Catherine paced the room, back and forth. Furious was an understatement; she had never been so livid, or embarrassed. Actually, that was a lie. She had felt exactly like this two years ago, and she hated it. It brought back way too many memories and was the very reason she had called a halt to all of this in the first place.

  The light knocking on her door brought her thoughts to a direct halt too. Rather than answering like she normally would, with a polite “come in,” she yanked the handle. Brooke stood on the other side looking all sexy and unconcerned, and that just pissed Catherine off some more.

  “You wanted to see me?” She had that cocky grin on her face that under any other circumstance Catherine might find attractive, but not now that she knew the reason for it was humiliating her.

  Catherine didn’t reply; instead she stood aside and watched as Brooke passed her acting all oblivious. When she was inside, Catherine poked her head out. “You can take a break, both of you,” she said to Amber and then looked towards Kim. She didn’t wait for their reply either before she slammed the door shut.

  Catherine stood by the door, hands on hips. Brooke watched her trying to control her temper with deep breathing, her eyes closed. Something, or someone, had upset her, that was for sure. Brooke frowned, contemplating what this had to do with her and why she had been instructed to come to the office.

  Catherine took one last deep breath; she would not allow this to go on any longer. “I have never in my entire career had to deal with the utter…I can’t even find the words,” she began, pushing a hand through her hair. Glaring at Brooke, she stalked around her desk, anger not just written, but scrawled all over her face. “How dare you?”
she finally accused.

  Brooke shook her head. “I’m sorry, I don’t…” She didn’t get a chance to finish before Catherine’s rant continued.

  “It was one thing bringing me cups of tea and cakes, I can even forgive the flowers, but I will not tolerate sending a child to guilt me into dating you!” she exclaimed angrily.

  Brooke stared at her blankly. What was she talking about? “I’m not sure I…”

  “Enough. This is tantamount to…” She was going to accuse stalking, but didn’t get the chance before she herself was cut off by a now very confused Brooke.

  “What? I don’t understand.” Her own anger began to spike. “What exactly am I being accused of?”

  Catherine scoffed. “Please, don’t try and deny it now. Because of you, I was late. Because of this little charade, I had to sit and listen as my potential love life was mapped out for me by a teenager and her friend.”

  Brooke’s mouth went dry at the realisation of Operation Thaw. Her cheeks began to burn and her stomach churned all at once. This must be what being inside a tumble dryer felt like. She thought she might actually faint. No, they wouldn’t have? Surely not, she thought to herself. Robin isn’t that stupid, is she? “Catherine, you have to under—”

  “It’s Ms Blake,” she hissed. “It’s Ms Blake and you will cease with this…this campaign right now.” The flat of her hands landed on the desk, fingers splayed as she leant forwards, spelling it out for Brooke, “There is nothing between us and there will be nothing between us. What happened needs to be forgotten, do I make myself clear? Forget it, Brooke.” She cursed herself for the name slip. “From now on there will be no more gifts, no more photos sent to my private number, in fact you will delete that number right now.” She watched as Brooke pulled her phone from her pocket and scrolled through her contacts list. Mortified, she deleted the number and then held it up as proof. “I will not have you, or anyone, humiliate me at work like this again. Am I clear?” Brooke nodded. “You can consider this a verbal warning. Now, get back downstairs and do your job.”

  “But…”

  “I said, forget it,” she hissed.

  Brooke nodded. Tears threatened to escape, but she blinked them back and turned abruptly to leave. She stood at the door, shoulders back, head up. “Ya know, you’re wrong about me.” And then she opened the door and walked out.

  She walked slowly back down the corridor that just minutes earlier she had bounded along, hopeful that Catherine might have changed her mind. It was a long shot, but why else would Catherine want to see her? Now though, she knew better. Now she wanted the floor to open up and swallow her whole. Her heart beat in her chest, thumping out a melancholy tattoo with every step she took.

  Passing the staff lounge, she didn’t hear Amber call out her name. She didn’t hear anything other than Catherine’s words replaying over and over inside her head. There is nothing between us and there will be nothing between us, what happened needs to be forgotten, do I make myself clear? Forget it, Brooke. She felt sick. Her throat constricted and she moved quickly to the toilets. Flinging the door open to the cubicle, she made it just in time before the contents of her stomach emptied into the clean white bowl.

  She retched, over and over, until her throat was sore and her eyes watered, and then she sank to the floor, crying like she hadn’t done in years.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Brooke returned home that night with heavy shoulders and aching heart. Dropping her bag and jacket on the floor by the door, she kicked off her shoes and padded quietly down the hallway. A radio was playing somewhere in the house, the tune upbeat and fun. Brooke scowled at the words of love being spouted by the female voice.

  “Robin?” she called out. Her mood had not gotten any better as the day had progressed. Hours spent with Potter chasing around after people who had nothing more interesting going on than that they were actually shopping had worn her down.

  She couldn’t wait for Monday, when she would get her own radio and be able to patrol without Potter stuck to her side. That was if she made it to Monday and didn’t die of a broken heart and mortification over the weekend. “Robin, get out here right now!” The volume on the radio lowered and her sister’s door opened.

  “Hey Brooke, thank god, I am starving!” She smiled. Passing Brooke, she moved towards the kitchen. “I made a shepherd’s pie.”

  “Great, but I’m not hungry.” Brooke tried to stem her anger. All day she had considered things, trying to fathom why Robin would do something so incredibly idiotic, and all she ever came back to was that she cared and wanted Brooke to be happy. She couldn’t be angry at her for that, and yet, she was. Really angry.

  “Oh, did you eat already? Well, it doesn’t matter, I’ll just let it cool and then it can go into portions for the freezer.” Robin turned when she sensed eyes on her. She could literally feel the glare. “Brooke? What’s wrong?”

  The elder sibling rubbed a hand over her face before pushing her fingers into her hair and grasping at it by the roots. “What’s wrong?” Her voice was even. Quiet even, considering. “Why? Why would you go to my place of work and speak to Catherine like that? Why, Robin? I just can’t comprehend what on Earth possessed the pair of you to do that.”

  The youngster’s face instantly blushed. Brows raised and her mouth hung open in disbelief. “She told you?”

  Brooke raised her eyebrows. “Of course she told me, what did you think she was going to do? Call me up and say ‘hey Brooke, I’ve been thinking about it and I miss you, let’s give it a go?’”

  Robin smirked hopefully. “Yeah.”

  Brooke shook her head. “No.”

  “No?” Now Robin was getting it. She looked worried.

  “No, Robin, she didn’t. It doesn’t work like that when you’re a grown-up.” She ran her hands through her hair again. “Oh, she called me though. I had to go to her office and be reprimanded for basically stalking her.”

  Now Robin looked angry. “What? Why? You haven’t stalked her.”

  This time Brooke rubbed both palms up and down her face, groaning loudly. “Robin, you can’t do that, you can’t make somebody like someone else, and you definitely cannot go to my work place and interfere like that.”

  “I’m sorry, Brooke. We thought we were helping. Dad always said that he wished someone would talk some sense into Mum and I just…” She burst into tears.

  Brooke sighed before she moved quickly towards her sister, gathering her up into her strong embrace and shushing her. “It’s okay. Let it out. It’ll be alright, I promise.” Their mother was the most selfish woman they knew. There was no excuse for it. She chose her own life over those she had brought into the world. She had a new boyfriend every year and a different place to live, parties to attend and money only to spend on herself. In the last ten years she had had more Botox than a celebrity. “I know you were just trying to help, and mum’s an…well she’s an idiot, we both know that.”

  “I didn’t mean to ruin things for you,” Robin sobbed against her chest, sniffing between words.

  “I know you didn’t, but…it’s different when you’re older. Anyway, maybe you did me a favour. Catherine isn’t interested, she made that very clear, and I need to respect that.”

  Robin squeezed her tighter. “She doesn’t know what she’s missing.”

  Brooke smiled at the unwavering loyalty and kissed the top of her sister’s head. “I know what, let’s have a sofa night. You pick the movie and I’ll go get some popcorn.”

  ~FI~

  For once, Brooke wasn’t disappointed in the film choice. Robin had gone for an all-out action spy thriller, and they were both engrossed. They sat on either end of the couch, a blanket stretched out between them as their feet met in the middle.

  “I was thinking,” Brooke said, dipping her hand into the popcorn bowl, “it’s December next week. We should get some Christmas decorations and put them up.”

  Robin sat up and grinned. “Can we get a real tree?”

/>   Brooke looked around the room and considered all the options for where they could put one. “I guess if it’s a small one.”

  “It’s gonna be weird without Dad this year.”

  “I know, but ya know what, I think that just means we should celebrate it even more. We can set a place at the table for him.”

  Robin smiled before sitting back. “I’d like that, maybe we can put his picture there so it’s like he is with us.”

  “Sounds like a plan to me.” Brooke grinned. “And tomorrow we can go into Pollards and pick up some stuff.”

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  After a fitful night’s sleep, Brooke gave in and got up. Her subconscious had trapped her into a world where Catherine Blake had turned into her mother, something she really didn’t want to think about. She rationalised that it was simply because neither of them wanted her in their lives, which made her sad, but at the same time she felt a prick of resentment too. It hurt.

  She shuffled out into the kitchen in a pair of green boy shorts and a vest, shivering at the drop in temperature overnight. Flicking the kettle onto boil, she flopped down into a chair and sat in the dark. Elbows on the table, she let her head rest in her palms until she heard the faint click of the kettle as it reached its maximum potential. Dropping the teabag inside of the cup, she poured the boiling water over it, concentrating hard to make sure she didn’t overfill it. Rhythmically, she stirred the spoon around the cup until she had a vortex of whirling water threatening to pull her into it and swallow her up, which was kind of preferable to what she was going through right now.

  It was still dark outside, and the flat felt colder than ever. She turned the thermostat up a couple of degrees and took her tea into the living room, where she could wrap herself in the blanket from the sofa. It would look lovely in here once they had some decorations up. The radio stations had already started playing Christmas songs and usually that would be enough to get Brooke into the spirit of it all, but this year was different.