by Mel Sparke
“Ah-hah!” smirked Ollie. “I can tell by your face that I’m right. The million dollar question now is whether you’ve booked accommodation with your flight or whether that side of things is, er… already taken care of…”
“It’s possible I might be staying with a friend,” Nick answered, clearly enjoying the exchange.
“And does this friend have a name?” quizzed Anna.
“Uh, well, I guess she might be called Cyndi.”
“Ooooooh, Cyndi! Still, I suppose it could have been Barbie…”
“Ha ha, very funny. But actually, it’s a different spelling from the doll thing.”
“Mmmm, groovy.”
“Have you quite finished?” Nick said in mock annoyance. “Because I’d like to finish up here and get off home. You might not have a life to get to, but I have.”
“Ooh, shirty,” teased Ollie relentlessly. “You’ll no doubt be spending the evening staring dreamily into space, thinking about the lovely Cyndi over in Nashville…”
“Unlike you who’ll be spending the evening trying to find yourself a new job because you’ve been fired from this one for being too cheeky.”
Nick biffed his nephew playfully in the stomach, lifted the open till tray from its housing and carried it towards the door. “Right, I’m off upstairs to count my pennies. I suppose I’ll see you both tomorrow,” he called over his shoulder as he wandered off outside.
Ollie lay sprawled on the big sofa in the living room above The Swan, cramming mouthful after mouthful of Cheesy Wotsits into his mouth while he flicked through the channels of the widescreen telly in front of him. His parents were out so he had the place to himself for an hour before the pub downstairs opened again at 6.00 pm.
His mind wandered from its channel-hopping frenzy and he suddenly found himself thinking about Kerry, which made him feel warm and comfortable inside.
He wondered if she knew quite how much he adored her. Probably, but he’d tell her again tonight. They were meeting up to go out for a drink together. Perhaps he’d surprise her and book a table for them at Luigi’s, the little Italian restaurant she liked so much.
Yeah, that’s a good idea, he thought. Who cares if it leaves me skint for the next couple of weeks? Hauling himself up, he sauntered over to the telephone to make the booking.
Just as he got to it, it began to ring.
I wonder if that’s her… Ollie thought and picked up the receiver.
“Hi, Ol…”
Ollie’s face broke into an involuntary smile at the sound of the female voice at the other end of the line. It wasn’t Kerry - it was his twin sister, Natasha. She lived in London but had been away modelling in Milan for a few weeks, which meant the Stantons hadn’t had much contact with her recently. Not that she was particularly good at keeping in touch with her family at the best of times. Natasha was so wrapped up in her life away from home, her parents were often heard to complain that she’d forgotten they existed.
So to hear from her now, out of the blue like this, was an unexpected pleasure for Ollie.
“Tash, hi! How’s it going?” he asked warmly.
“Oh, OK…”
Her voice trailed off and Ollie wondered for a moment whether she’d been distracted by something or someone at her end of the line. When she didn’t carry on talking after a few moments he decided to fill the silence himself. “You still there, Tasha?”
“…Uh, yeah, I’m still here…” Her voice trailed off again. That was odd. Normally, she’d be rabbiting away by now, telling Ollie about the great parties she’d been to, how she’d been seen by some swanky designer who wanted to use her in his next show and so on. The small, faltering voice at the end of the line wasn’t like Natasha at all. Ollie could sense that something was wrong.
“I, uh, just thought I’d call you up…” she carried on. “…See how things are at home. I feel like I haven’t spoken to you guys in a long while.”
This is weird, thought Ollie. To have Natasha wondering how things were with her family struck an uneasy chord. Natasha was never interested in how things were at home. She hardly ever thought to ask about anyone else’s life, assuming that hers was far more entertaining and therefore the only interesting topic of conversation.
“We’re all fine, y’know, ticking along nicely in our dull little lives,” he replied, attempting to keep the conversation light. “How’s life with the jet set? Still all champagne parties and gorgeous guys fawning at your feet?”
He heard a deep sigh at the end of the line. “Oh, Ollie, you’ve no idea,” she replied.
“Is something wrong?”
Natasha took a few seconds to answer. “No, nothing’s wrong, Ol. I’m just tired, I guess.”
“It’s pretty hectic then?”
“Yeah, as always. I’m beginning to really hate these jobs. You get sent thousands of miles from home, for months on end, and end up going from one shoot to the next without a break in between.”
“Sounds like it’s wearing you down,” said Ollie.
“Yeah, it is.”
Something - and he couldn’t work out what - made Ollie think there was more on Natasha’s mind than the fact that she was in a foreign country far away from her friends and family. She’d been on lots of trips abroad and, so far as he knew, she’d never had a problem with the workload before.
“Is it just a general fed-upness or is something else bugging you?” he queried.
Natasha didn’t reply.
“Hel-lo, anyone there?” said Ollie, once again attempting not to get too heavy. “Earth to Tasha,” he carried on, trying to disguise the uneasiness in his voice.
“What?” she exclaimed. “Oh, sorry, Ol… uh, I was thinking about something else for a second. Urn, no, everything else is fine.”
“You sure?”
“Honest. Look, sorry about this, but someone’s at the door. I’ve got to go. Catch up with you later, yeah?”
“Sure, Tash. You take care of…”
Ollie broke off. His sister had already hung up.
CHAPTER 5
IT’S A TWIN THING…
“She was acting dead weird. Like she was only half listening to me, and she had her other ear on another conversation, except that I couldn’t hear a sound in the background.”
Ollie tore off a chunk of garlic bread and munched thoughtfully. Sitting opposite him in Luigi’s, Kerry took a sip of her drink and continued twisting spirals of tagliatelle on to her fork as her boyfriend went over the conversation he’d had earlier with Natasha.
“And then,” Ollie continued, “when she said she had to go because someone had turned up to see her, it wasn’t as though I’d heard a doorbell go, or someone knocking or speaking. You would hear something like that, wouldn’t you?”
“I’m sure you would,” Kerry nodded. “I mean, I hear all sorts of background noises when I’m on the phone to you at the pub. I can always tell which room you’re in - whether it’s the bar, or the lounge upstairs, or the hall at the back. I can even tell what programme you’re watching on the telly if I listen hard.”
“That’s what I thought. But it wasn’t like that. It was so quiet. And she sounded so distant and restrained, totally unlike how she normally is. D’you know what I mean?”
“Yeah. Natasha’s always so full on and chatty; she’s really enthusiastic about everything she’s doing.”
“That’s right. But she wasn’t like that at all. I could tell within seconds of the conversation that something was up.”
“But she didn’t say that there was a problem?”
“Nah, she didn’t say much about anything. I’ve just got this feeling, Kez…”
“D’you think it has anything to do with you two being so close?”
“Huh?” The frown on Ollie’s forehead deepened.
“You know, you can sense something’s up because you’re twins,” Kerry explained. “Like the time you told me about when you were little and Tasha was out with your grandparents for the day�
��”
“…and she fell and knocked herself out and I knew something was wrong. And Gran phoned just as I was telling Mum to check everything was all right.”
“Exactly.”
“Yeah, of course, you’re right.” Ollie dropped his bread on to his half-eaten cannelloni and ran his fingers through his floppy dark-blond hair. “I hadn’t thought of that. It’s been a long time since I had a feeling like that about her, but that’s exactly it. Oh, Kez, she’s really worrying me.”
Studying the lines on his face, Kerry could see that Ollie wasn’t exaggerating. “Poor Ol,” she sympathised. “And you’ve got no idea what it could be that’s bothering her?”
Ollie shook his head slowly. “No, she was just incredibly vague and Tasha’s never like that. The trouble is, it’s not as though she’s near enough for me to go and visit her, to check she’s all right.”
“No, it’s a fair old trek to Milan…”
“And an expensive one. I guess the best thing I can do is ring her back. Maybe tomorrow.”
“Good idea. If only to reassure yourself everything’s OK.”
“Yeah,” Ollie nodded. “I mean, I’m probably inventing a problem that isn’t even there… I just need to make sure.”
His mind a little easier now, Ollie dug his fork into his food and changed the subject. “Hey, have you heard that Nick’s going away again?” he asked, grinning for the first time that evening.
“No, what’s that all about?”
Ollie relayed the conversation he’d had with Nick earlier in the day, taking care to describe in detail his uncle’s range of facial expressions as Ollie took the mickey out of him.
Kerry listened and giggled as her boyfriend wove such an intricate story of the events of the afternoon that she really felt she had been there, watching it all take place.
“Hey, it must be serious if he’s staying with this Cyndi,” she said gleefully when Ollie had finished telling her what had happened. “Who would have thought that your Uncle Nick would be conducting a long-distance love affair? I thought only people our age were supposed to get up to that sort of thing - with Spanish waiters on package tours to Benidorm.”
“I know,” Ollie chuckled. “Anyway, he got in a bit of a panic about staff shortages and took on a new girl - she starts Monday.”
“Really? How did he find someone so quickly?”
‘I’m not sure.” Ollie stuffed a forkful of pasta into his mouth and chewed thoughtfully for a few moments. “I think he pulled the first person in off the street and offered her the job.”
Kerry giggled again. “So what’s her name?”
Ollie shrugged. “I dunno. I’m not sure he even asked. I guess we’ll find out on Monday…”
CHAPTER 6
NEW GIRL, NEW PROBLEMS?
“Hi, Dot. Ooh, you look nice and tanned. Did you have a good holiday?”
Dorothy walked into the End and beamed at Anna with delight. Then she dropped her Tesco shopping bag and gave a twirl a Bolshoi ballet dancer would be proud of.
“Don’t I look fabulous?” she grinned. “And it’s an all-over tan too,” she added, glancing at a slightly surprised-looking Nick huddled over the double sink, and winking at Anna.
“You had a good time then?” said Anna, giggling at the effect her sixty-something co-worker was having on their boss, whose neck was definitely tinged with red.
“Ooh, yes thanks, Anna,” Dot replied, grabbing her apron from behind the back door. “You know, I say it every year, but you can’t beat these Pontins holidays on the coast. Those Bluecoats deserve a medal, they do; they work so hard making sure everyone has a good time. It was marvellous - we didn’t need to leave the site for the whole week. Everything was laid on for us.”
“Aah, that’s nice,” said Anna warmly. “And you obviously had great weather?”
“You can say that again,” Dot enthused. “Who needs holidays abroad when you can get Mediterranean weather at home? It was smashing, couldn’t have been better.”
“You should have been here. It’s hardly stopped raining all week,” grumbled Nick from where he was now poking around underneath the sink.
“I thought as much,” chuckled Dot. “I said to Betty next door when we got back, ‘doesn’t look like my garden needs watering’ and she told me how bad it’s been. I had to have a little chuckle to myself, I must admit. It’s amazing how a few miles can mean the difference between summer and winter. Everything been OK while I’ve been gone?”
“Sure,” Anna smiled, lifting the components of two fry-ups off the griddle and placing them on hot plates. “Nothing much to report. Nick’s disappearing off to America to meet his lady friend later this week, a new girl starts work here in about ten minutes time… ooh, it’s all much the same as normal really. I’ll tell you about it when I’ve finished this order.” Laughing, she swept out of the kitchen, leaving an open-mouthed Dot staring after her.
Anna’s smiling expression turned to a look of complete surprise as she stepped into the café and almost bowled into a young girl, who was hovering just outside the kitchen door. It was Gabrielle Adjani, Matt’s ex-girlfriend. Anna came to a surpised halt and stared at the half smiling, half apprehensive figure in front of her.
No, Anna checked herself, calling her his ‘ex’ doesn’t do her justice. Matt had been madly in love with Gabrielle. She was the first girlfriend he had cared enough about to treat with respect. She had made him sit up and think. He’d been besotted by her.
At the time they’d gone out with each other, Matt and Anna had just been friends, part of the gang, and Matt hadn’t hidden the depth of feeling he had for Gabrielle from anyone. He showered her with expensive presents and - naively, it turned out - thought they’d be together for a very long time. He was devastated when she ditched him on New Year’s Eve for being too serious about her.
Before he met Gabrielle, the gang were convinced Matt was incapable of loving anyone as much as he loved himself. She had changed all that though - she had helped him become a much nicer person. As that thought went through her head, Anna was surprised by the little pang of jealousy that momentarily stabbed at her. It jolted her into action.
“Hello, Gabrielle,” she forced herself to say brightly. “Long time no see. Take a seat, I’ll be with you in a moment.”
Gabrielle sat down at the nearest table and watched as Anna relinquished her tray of food, then came back to her table. She tucked a few unruly strands of hair behind her ear and smiled. “Can I get you something to drink?”
“Oh, thanks, that’d be great,” Gabrielle answered, visibly relaxing, her face a full-on beam now. “I’ll have a coffee, please.”
Anna set about pouring coffee into a cup, while her mind raced on ahead of her again. What’s she doing here? she thought. She hasn’t been around since she and Matt split up… Anna took the coffee back to the table and set it down in front of Gabriel le.
“Thanks. What about you?” Gabrielle asked.
“Uh, no thanks,” Anna said. “I had one before I started work. So what have you been up to?”
“Oh, nothing too thrilling,” said Gabrielle, still smiling. “I’m always broke, so I don’t lead the most exciting life you can imagine.”
Anna nodded. “Yeah, I know what you mean. And I suppose getting part-time work can’t be easy, not when you’ve got your GCSEs to study for too?”
Gabrielle looked at Anna with a blank expression and shuffled in her seat a little. Having run out of things to say, and believing - from Gabrielle’s reaction to that comment - that she had too, Anna was just about to take her notepad out of her pocket to ask if Gabrielle wanted anything to eat, when Nick came out of the kitchen and spotted the pair of them together.
“Ahh!” he exclaimed, striding purposefully over to the table. “You two know each other then?”
“Mmm,” Anna replied. “Gabrielle used to go out with Matt.”
“Oh.” Nick glanced at Anna with a look that said ‘oh heck’ but which
Anna didn’t pick up on. “I thought I recognised you from somewhere,” he carried on to Gabrielle. “Now it’s all fallen into place. Right, well, we’d better get you started then… uh, Gabrielle,” he continued and headed back towards the kitchen. “Come and meet Dot. She works part time too.”
Gabrielle stood up and followed him, while Anna merely stared after them, as it all fell into place.
I don’t believe it! she thought. Matt’s ex must be the new girl.
CHAPTER 7
CATCHING UP
Anna felt her entire body enveloped in a hot flush as she followed Nick into the kitchen and tried to get to grips with the idea of Gabrielle working at the End with her. She had been completely taken aback by this startling revelation.
In an almost dreamlike state, she watched as Dot bustled over, waving her dripping Marigolds in one hand and holding out the other to shake Gabrielle’s hand. “You must be the new recruit,” she beamed. “I’m Dorothy, but everyone calls me Dot. I’ll show you where everything is if you like.”
“Thanks,” Gabrielle smiled. “That’d be great.”
“Well, I’ll leave you three to it,” Nick announced suddenly, backing towards the back door at great speed. “Anna will tell you what to do, Gabrielle. She’s the boss. Any problems, Anna, and I’ll be next door for most of the day. OK?”
Even if Anna had wanted to object, she wouldn’t have been able to. Nick had already scarpered.
“Sorry about back there,” said Anna, passing an apron to Gabrielle and starting to heap salad things from the fridge on to one of the work surfaces. “Nick said he’d hired someone, but he never said it was you.”
“It’s OK.” Gabrielle smiled shyly then added, “How are you? How’s everyone - Sonja and Cat and Ollie?”
“Still the same,” Anna replied. “I’m fine. Son, Joe and Kerry are about to get their A-level results, so they’re a bit nervous at the moment. Ollie’ll be in later…”
“He still works here then?”
“Oh, yeah…”
“And Matt - how’s he?”
Anna felt herself redden slightly. Do I tell her now? she wondered. Say, ‘yeah, he’s fine and, by the way, we’re going out together’? No, she chided herself, that sounds too defensive. Too possessive…
