Flights of Angels

by Victoria Connelly

  No. Kristen didn’t suppose she knew what she was getting herself into, but she was determined not to let Jimmy change her mind. She’d just have to keep her fingers crossed and hope that fate was on her side.

  ‘Anyway,’ she started again, pulling herself firmly out of her anxieties, ‘what’s the big deal if I want to invite my two best friends round at the same time? It’s a wonder it hasn’t happened before. In fact, I’m quite surprised with myself that it’s taken me so long. They’re the two nicest people in the world - just waiting for me to get them together.’

  ‘Don’t forget that Claudie’s only been-’

  ‘I know,’ Kristen interrupted again. ‘You don’t need to tell me that. But I really do think it will do her good.’

  Jimmy shifted uncomfortably in his seat. ‘Well, you know how I feel about it.’

  ‘Shut up, and leave me to it,’ Kristen said, throwing him another bacon butty.

  On Monday morning, Simon was still smiling. It was as if he’d won the lottery rather than a holiday break. He knew that it wasn’t exactly life changing, but it was the symbolism of the thing. He’d been feeling so miserable, so self-absorbed and put-upon lately; nothing had been going right, and then, within the space of two days, he’d secured the website design for the company in York, and had won the competition. Was his luck finally taking a turn for the better?

  Walking into the office, he wondered whether he should tell anyone. Mandy, for example. Or would she think that, by telling her, he would want her to go with him to Paris? Could be dangerous, he thought. Best not to mention it.

  Strangely enough, Mandy didn’t seem to be in a very talkative mood. She’d nodded and said morning as he’d sat down, but hadn’t broken into her usual non-stop gossip routine. It was rather disturbing. He’d kind of got used to her drone as he worked. Perhaps something was wrong. Perhaps he should do the decent thing and ask if everything was all right.

  He looked across at her as she sat smiling away to herself. There didn’t appear to be anything the matter. In fact, now he was actually paying attention to her, she seemed to be even happier and perkier than normal. Her lips were cherry-red and turned up into the most dazzling smile, and her face was glowing like a Halloween pumpkin.

  She turned round to face him, as if she knew he was looking at her. And that was when he saw the love bite at the base of her throat. He tried not to stare at it, which was rather difficult because it looked like an old teabag glued to her neck.

  Mandy the man-eater had obviously found a guy who knew how to bite back.

  Chapter 23

  Simon’s hair was still wet from his shower as he left for Kristen’s. It was a mild evening, and he decided to walk into town. It gave him a chance to think about the night ahead.

  He’d rang the competition organisers to explain how his circumstances had changed since he’d entered back in the autumn, and a very nice lady had said that there wouldn’t be any problem in exchanging his double room for two singles. He’d been so grateful to her that he’d almost invited her along as his guest.

  Which posed the question, who was he going to take with him? Paris was definitely not a place to take a mate to. It just wouldn’t work, walking down the boulevards with a guy. Unless you really were into “gay Paree”.

  There was only one choice: Kristen. But that posed a whole set of other problems. They were best friends, and it went without saying that a weekend away with her would be great fun, but what would Jimmy have to say about it? Would it be worth invoking the wrath of Jimmy Stanton?

  Kristen was in the kitchen when he arrived. For someone who claimed to be a lousy housewife, she spent an awful amount of time hovering over the oven with a pinny wrapped round her waist.

  ‘Your hair’s wet,’ Kristen observed as Simon peered over the hob to see what was cooking.

  ‘Here.’ He passed her a bottle of wine.

  ‘Thank you. Do you want to do the honours? The glasses are over there.’

  Simon uncorked the bottle and poured the wine out into the glasses on the worktop.

  ‘Four?’ he queried.

  ‘Yes. Didn’t I mention?’ Kristen turned round and smiled coquettishly. ‘Claudie’s here.’

  ‘No. You didn’t mention it.’

  ‘I thought I had. Silly me.’

  ‘Yes,’ he agreed, knowing instantly that Kristen was likely to have her own agenda for the evening.

  ‘I’ve a funny feeling you’re going to get on really well together.’

  ‘And I had a funny feeling you were going to say that.’

  ‘What? Don’t you believe me?’

  ‘It’s not that I don’t believe you, it’s that I don’t like the idea of anyone making my mind up for me.’

  ‘Don’t be such an old windbag.’ Kristen play-punched him in the stomach. ‘Come on,’ she said, untying her pinny. ‘I’ll introduce you.’

  Simon grimaced but followed her through to the living room. It was impossible to get angry with Kristen. She had a heart the size of Hull, and truly believed she knew what was best for people. He’d just have to humour her for the length of the evening. Anyway, he’d always wondered what this friend, Claudie, was like.

  ‘Claudie,’ Kristen began as she entered the room, ‘this is Simon. Simon, this is Claudie.’

  Simon stepped out from behind Kristen and immediately felt his mouth spring open. It was Miss Moonshine.

  ‘Hello,’ Simon said, a smile warming his face as he leant over to shake her hand.

  ‘H-Hi,’ she said, eyes widening.

  Kristen looked from one to the other. ‘You know each other?’

  ‘No,’ Simon said.

  ‘Yes,’ Claudie said.

  ‘Not really,’ Simon agreed. ‘But we have kind of met before.’

  ‘In the bookshop,’ Claudie said, her French accent tickling his ear musically.

  ‘Over Judy Garland,’ Simon added, almost laughing.

  ‘Judy Garland?’ Kristen looked puzzled. ‘I didn’t know you were an old film buff like Claudie.’

  ‘Ah!’ Simon began. ‘You see, there’s a lot about me you don’t know.’

  ‘Obviously,’ Kristen said.

  ‘He tried to steal the book I was going to buy,’ Claudie said with a little laugh in her voice.

  ‘Only because I had no idea you wanted it.’

  Kristen looked from one to the other, quite baffled by the situation. ‘So that’s how you two met?’

  ‘Well, we didn’t exactly meet,’ Claudie said, ‘I mean - we didn’t know each other’s names or anything.’

  ‘But we did see each other again, you know,’ Simon added, sitting down opposite her. ‘At the pub. Do you remember? You were hovering at the door.’

  ‘Yes! It was that night we went out,’ Claudie explained to a bemused Kristen. ‘When we didn’t quite make it into the pub.’

  ‘You saw Simon?’ Kristen asked. Claudie nodded. ‘Why didn’t you say something? I could have introduced you.’

  ‘But I didn’t know you knew him then, did I?’ Claudie giggled at her friend’s mistake.

  ‘Oh, yes!’ Kristen said, looking from Claudie to Simon, and back again. ‘This is all very strange, you know.’ Kristen turned to Jimmy, but he merely gave his head a little shake as if reminding her that he wanted nothing to do with it.

  Kristen did most of the talking throughout the meal, leaving Claudie and Simon to eat, nod, and stare at each other. It was unavoidable really. Claudie had often wondered what the mysterious Simon was like. He was the man to whom every other man in Kristen’s life was held up against and measured. Even Jimmy.

  ‘He’s smart,’ Kristen might say, ‘but he isn’t as smart as Simon.’ Or, ‘He’s got a

  good sense of humour, but it isn’t a patch on Simon’s.’ Claudie had got a little fed up

  with it over the years. Why hadn’t she just married this paragon of manhood instead of

  harping on about him all the time? Claudie couldn’t work it out
.

  Looking at him now, it was hard to imagine why he hadn’t been marched up the

  aisle already. He was smart, kind, attentive and attractive. And he had a head of pale

  curls like an angel. Not like one of her little angels, of course, but like one expects an angel to look like: as if they’ve just flown down from a Renaissance ceiling: all fat cheeks and golden hair. Yes, he had the kind of curls you wanted to twist around your fingers in little rings.

  Claudie blushed at the thought, and found herself staring deep into her

  soup in order to prevent staring, but then told herself that she’d make exactly the same

  observation about a beautiful animal. A dog, say, or a horse. Why shouldn’t she make

  observations about a man? It didn’t have to mean anything, no matter what Dr Lynton

  might say, and men did it all the time, didn’t they?

  Simon was an attractive man, and that was all there was to it. She thought about his

  hair again. It glistened in the low light of the room as if it had been sprayed with

  diamonds.

  She shifted uncomfortably in her seat and tried to pay attention to what Kristen was

  talking about. Her mouth was going ten to the dozen this evening, obviously keen to

  engage them all in conversation.

  Then, at the end of the evening, Kristen uttered the predictable words, ‘Simon?

  You wouldn’t mind walking Claudie home, would you?’ And, even though Claudie had

  protested, saying she didn’t want Simon going out of his way, he did the gentlemanly thing and obliged.

  ‘So,’ he began, as they wended their way through the dark alleys, ‘how’s Judy?’

  ‘Judy?’ For a split second, Claudie wondered whom he was referring to. ‘Oh! She’s fine, thank you.’

  ‘Good.’

  ‘She’s keeping my other two books company.’

  ‘You have three Judy Garland books?’

  Claudie nodded. ‘It was silly of me to buy a third, I know. I just have this fascination that has to be fed. With Jimmy, it’s boats; with me it’s musicals.’ She shrugged her shoulders as if what she’d said was the most natural thing in the world.

  ‘So what is it with you?’

  Simon’s mouth opened but nothing came out. ‘I suppose it’s computers. It’s my job,’ he said after a moment’s thought.

  ‘But outside your job, what then?’

  Again he paused. ‘I don’t know.’

  ‘Really?’

  ‘Yes. Sad, isn’t it? My whole life is centred around my work.’

  ‘That’s not sad,’ Claudie said. ‘Not if you like your work.’

  ‘I do. I just wish there was a bit more of it around.’

  They were silent for a few moments.

  ‘Well, this is it.’

  Simon looked up.

  ‘I’m just at the end there,’ she pointed towards a dimly lit cottage in the middle of a yard. ‘Thank you for walking me home. I hope I’ve not made you late.’

  ‘No. No.’

  Was it Claudie’s imagination or did he seem out of breath? ‘Night then.’

  ‘Night,’ he said and, for a moment, Claudie thought he was about to add something, but he didn’t.

  By the time Simon reached home, he was completely shattered. It was hard work looking at a beautiful face all evening. He’d been annoyed that Kristen had tried to set him up with her friend, but that had evaporated the moment he realised who the friend was. He could hardly believe that his Miss Moonshine was Kristen’s best friend. God, he thought, he must stop referring to her by that name. He’d be sure to come right out with it by accident one day and seriously embarrass himself.

  This was the woman he’d heard so much about over the last few months. The dear friend who had lost her husband so shortly after getting married. How did you survive something like that? No wonder she had such an air of vulnerability about her. She looked lie a snowflake: so perfect and delicate but with the constant threat of melting hovering over her. He hadn’t known what to say to her, especially on the way home. He hoped she didn’t think he was an idiot.

  And then he remembered something. In his excitement at realising that Claudie and Miss Moonshine were one and the same person, he’d completely forgotten to tell Kristen about Paris.

  Chapter 24

  Kristen put the phone down and sat back in her chair, a huge smile filling her face. A weekend in Paris. She was honoured that Simon had asked her to go with him and, without a moment’s hesitation, she’d said yes. It was only after Simon had hung up that she’d remembered Jimmy.

  With the thought of a free holiday, she’d completely forgotten that she was a woman who was cohabiting. Jimmy might not have actually married her as yet but, as far as he was concerned, she was his woman, and weekends away with an ex-boyfriend, even though there’d never been anything between them, just weren’t acceptable. Still, it had been a nice idea for about half a minute.

  Poor Simon. She was going to have to let him down, but she’d rather do that than

  risk Jimmy losing his temper. And risk losing Jimmy, of course. She sighed, and swung round neatly in her chair as she wondered how she’d tell Simon.

  As she turned a perfect half-circle, she caught sight of Claudie. She was smiling to

  herself, and chatting away quite happily as if she had a group of friends round her. Now

  there, Kristen thought, the beginnings of an idea floating into her mind, was a girl who needed a holiday. Paris was, after all, the romance capital of the world. What better place for two people to get acquainted? She could just imagine Simon and Claudie there, strolling by the Seine, and walking arm in arm down the Champs Elysee.

  Kristen slowly nodded to herself, feeling a Cheshire cat grin splitting her face in two as her idea began to take shape.

  Claudie was quite unaware that Kristen was watching her, and plotting her fate. She was

  busy having a nice chat to the flight.

  ‘I’m not sure I’d advise that,’ Jalisa was saying as she spun across the top of the

  printer in a wild dance.

  ‘Why not?’ Claudie was puzzled.

  ‘I think it still might be wise to keep going to Dr Lynton. I mean,’ she stopped in mid-spin, ‘it’s not as though we’re professional.’

  ‘I thought you were?’ Claudie said. ‘I thought angelling was a profession.’

  Jalisa chewed her lip. ‘But Dr Lynton is trained.’

  ‘But so are you.’

  ‘Yes,’ Jalisa said, ‘but-’

  ‘I think what Jalisa is trying to say,’ Bert interrupted, ‘is that it would be wise to

  have a number of different people to help you. You shouldn’t be reliant on just us.’

  Claudie leant forward and looked at him. ‘Really?’ Claudie didn’t sound convinced. ‘What do you think, Mr Woo?’

  Mr Woo walked forward silently in his pillow-soft shoes. ‘You more happy now but Dr Lynton still important.’

  Claudie suddenly felt like a laboratory rat being examined, and she didn’t like it.

  ‘I think I’ve made quite enough progress already.’

  ‘Yes, you have!’ Jalisa encouraged. ‘But you mustn’t turn your back on people

  who want to help you in your own world.’

  Claudie bit her lip. ‘I see,’ she said slowly, reading between the lines at last. ‘Does this mean you’ll be leaving me soon?’

  ‘Of course not,’ Jalisa said. ‘We’re here for as long as you need us.’

  ‘Really?’

  ‘Yes!’ Jalisa smiled.

  Claudie breathed a sigh of relief. If she lost the angels, she felt sure it would be like losing Luke all over again. It was strange. Even though she hadn’t seen Luke, she felt as though she was living in his world a little by having the angels with her, and she couldn’t bear for them to go. Not just yet anyway.

  Mr Woo interrupted, ‘Not good to have one help. Many hel
p always best.’

  ‘You mean I need all the help I can get?’ Claudie looked round the table at her

  angels. She looked at Lily, who had been suspiciously quiet throughout the whole discussion.

  ‘What do you think, Lily?’

  Lily looked up and smiled prettily, delighted to be asked for her opinion. ‘I think they’re right. I don’t think you should stop seeing Dr Lynton. You shouldn’t become too reliant on us.’

  ‘And that’s what you all truly believe?’

  There was a moment’s pause as Claudie analysed each angel in turn. She heard the

  whirr of the coffee machine from the end of the office, the flash of the photocopier, and

  the slam of a distant office door before she answered. ‘Okay. I won’t stop seeing Dr

  Lynton just yet. If you all truly believe I shouldn’t.’

  ‘It’s definitely what we all believe,’ Jalisa nodded heartily.

  ‘You make good decision,’ Mr Woo agreed.

  ‘Absolutely,’ Lily said. ‘Besides you haven’t even found out what his first name is

  yet,’ Lily added, and they all laughed.

  After some serious pen chewing, Kristen came to the realisation that she wasn’t going to

  be able to let Simon down over Paris after all. Not if she was going to persuade Claudie

  to go. No, she mused. If Claudie and Simon were to go to Paris together, then she was