by Mel Sparke
“Wow! What a guy! He’s obviously been taking lessons from me!”
Matt curled up on the long banquette at the End and roared with laughter as Sonja relayed the full details of her first date with Kyle.
“I mean, it wasn’t as though I was surprised he tried it on,” she went on, while her friend sniggered into his hands. “After all, some guys feel like the evening’s not complete unless they have a go. What got to me more than anything was the fact that he had his hands all over me in the street, where anyone could see. It’s bad enough having someone grope you on a first date, but even tackier when they try it on in public.”
“I can’t believe he would dare to do that,” mumbled Joe sympathetically, secretly wondering what it would be like to have the nerve to try it on with a girl like that.
“Maybe you gave him the wrong vibes,” Matt said, trying to be helpful. “Maybe he thought he could buy you-a portion of onion rings in exchange for a quick grope.” His voice cracked as he spoke and his face creased up into howls of laughter again. Joe giggled nervously.
“Well, thanks for the sympathy, Matt,” said Sonja. “I’m so pleased I’ve told you. I was hoping I might get a sensible male viewpoint on this one, but obviously I momentarily forgot I was dealing with a moron.”
“Sorry, Son,” laughed Matt. “But the thought of Sonja Harvey being romanced at Fat Larry’s is hilarious. It’s like promising the Queen Mum a slap-up meal and then taking her to Burger King. You just wouldn’t do it.”
“Actually, that bit didn’t bother me, although it made me realise Kyle’s probably about as romantic as a dead trout. It was just the mauling bit that got to me. The rest of the evening was brill.”
“Did he try it on again when he got you home?” Joe asked.
“No,” Sonja shook her head. “We had another snog on my doorstep, but I didn’t invite him in. I didn’t want him to think he could jump on me again. He said he’d call me then left to get the bus home.”
“Hmmm.” Matt scratched his chin with one hand and drummed his fingers on the table with the other. “For what it’s worth, and being totally serious now, I think he was testing you, seeing how far he could push you on a first date. If you’d gone much further he would have thought you were easy. So he would have arranged another date fairly promptly, had his wicked way with you and then lost interest.”
Sonja tutted loudly.
“But the fact that you stopped him was good,” continued Matt. “It will have kept him keen on you, but made him realise you’re no pushover. He’ll respect you more for that. If you’re really lucky, you might even get a relationship out of him.”
“God, it’s really sad if that’s how guys’ minds work,” Sonja sighed. “Or is it just the way your sordid little brain thinks things through?”
Matt guffawed again. “It’s certainly how I’d view the situation, but I can’t speak for the rest of the male population. You’d have to ask someone else, like Joe. No, don’t ask Joe-you wouldn’t have a clue, would you, Joey?”
Joe searched frantically for words to defend himself but could think of nothing. He hated it when one of the others zeroed in on him like this, and the truth was he had no defence. So he merely sat and grunted at Matt.
“You could ask Ollie for his opinion,” Matt continued, “but what he has with Kerry is pretty special, so he might not be a good bet either.”
“What’s that about me and Ollie?”
Matt and Sonja turned round to see Kerry standing in the open doorway of the café, looking suspicious.
“Oh, hi, Kez, take a seat. Son will explain everything.” Matt looked gleefully at Sonja as Kerry slid into the seat opposite her.
“Has she told you about her hot date with Kyle?” Matt continued, relishing the prospect of taking the mick out of Sonja some more.
“Er, no,” Kerry replied, still looking anxious. “Was it OK, Son? Did you try to phone? I wasn’t in last night. OI and I went for something to eat…”
“He didn’t take you to Fat Larry’s, did he?” smirked Matt then yelped as he felt the toe of Sonja’s sandal kick him in the calf.
“I’ve been dying to know what happened,” Kerry continued, ignoring Matt. “Did you have a good time?”
Sonja retold her story, aided and abetted by numerous interruptions and smart-arse comments from Matt, while Kerry listened intently. Joe, who was sitting next to Kerry, fiddled nervously with a sachet of sugar and daydreamed about kissing her.
By the time Sonja (and Matt) had finished. Kerry was sitting with her hands over her eyes and her mouth gaping, an expression of amused shock on her face.
“He must have some nerve,” she spluttered, “to steam in there like that on a first date. I’d be really angry if anyone tried to do that with me. I can’t believe it!”
“But the thing is, Kez,” Sonja began to explain, “he’s got so much charm and he does everything with a huge grin on his face, you can’t help but like him. He’s the sort who’ll sail through his life getting exactly what he wants from people just by giving them that winning smile.”
“I know exactly what you mean,” said Kerry, and finally told them about her encounter with Kyle in the chemist’s shop, even admitting how she had been convinced he was going to buy condoms rather than throat sweets.
“Most incredibly of all,” she ended as the others chuckled at her story, “he won Mr Hardy over instantly. If it had been anyone else behind the counter with me, I would have been given the sack on the spot. But Kyle just smiled at him, called him ‘Sir’ and explained what had happened. And it worked. The only one who looked like a berk was me. Kyle must have thought I was a right idiot from the way I acted.”
“I can’t believe your mind was so sordid as to think he was buying condoms in the first place,” Matt tutted. “You’re not as innocent as you make out, Kerry Bellamy.”
Kerry blushed slightly and wished she’d waited till she and Sonja were alone before revealing her own meeting with Kyle.
“Don’t take any notice of him,” Sonja reassured her. “He’s a fine one to talk. So you liked Kyle then? Cute, isn’t he?”
“Mmm,” Kerry nodded vigorously. “Very. I can see why you fancy him.”
“Well, hands off, he’s mine,” Sonja joked. Standing up, she began edging her way out of the banquette and stood at the end of their table.
“Now, I must go to the loo,” she carried on. “Shall I get more Cokes while I’m up?”
The others nodded and Sonja gave her order to Dorothy, who worked part-time at the café. Then she noticed a guy she’d never seen before sitting on his own at a table near the toilets.
Wow, he’s gorgeous! she thought and slowed her pace a little in the hope that he might notice her. However, he seemed intent on staring into his drink and didn’t even look up as she swept open the door to the loos.
When Sonja came back, he was still there, only now he was staring out of the window, completely oblivious to her.
“Hey, have you seen the bloke sitting on his own over there?” she hissed to Kerry when she got back to her seat. “At the table nearest the loo. Budge up a bit so you can get a better look.”
Kerry shuffled along the seat until the lad in question came into view.
“Oh, yes,” she said. “I haven’t seen him in here before. I wonder who he is.”
“Never mind that,” scolded Sonja. “Would you just look at him? He’s seriously tasty.”
“What are you two whispering about?” demanded Matt in an overly loud voice.
“Ssssh! Keep it down,” Sonja hissed. “We’re eyeballing a gorgeous hunk.”
“You mean you’re eyeballing him,” Kerry corrected. “I’m just a casual observer.”
Matt and Joe looked over to where the girls were staring.
“What is it with you at the moment, Sonja?” Matt teased. “You’re rampant.”
“I know, it must be the hormones. But look at him. Have you ever seen anyone so hunky in your life?”
/> “Nah, he’s not my type,” replied Matt. “He’s a bit butch-looking for me.”
“Do you think he’s waiting for someone?” Sonja carried on. “Or is he just killing time before he catches a train or something?”
“Does it really matter?” asked Matt.
“Oh yes, of course. I mean, if he’s on his own then there’s nothing to stop me from going over and chatting him up, is there?”
“Face it, Son,” Matt continued, “the mood you’re in, there’s nothing to stop you from doing that anyway.”
“You know what? That’s the most intelligent thing you’ve said all morning,” beamed Sonja. “I’m going to go right over and talk to him.”
She got up and strode purposefully over to the other side of the café.
CHAPTER 8
CHAT-UP NUMBER TWO
The good thing about the table nearest the toilet was that it was next to Nick, the café owner’s, old jukebox. This gave Sonja the perfect excuse to be within talking distance of Tasty Guy, without having to stand in front of him and strike up a conversation from nowhere.
Checking the contents of her purse, Sonja walked casually over to the jukebox, aware that at least two pairs of eyes were on her, if not more (she hoped). She glanced at Tasty Guy as she walked and was disappointed to note that he was staring into the distance rather than at her.
On closer inspection he was even better-looking. He had tanned skin and dark brown hair, the colour of Bourneville chocolate. His nose was small and neat, his mouth big and plump, and his eyes (what she could see of them hidden beneath a long fringe), well, they had to be dark. He looked how Sonja imagined all the swashbuckling heroes were in the romantic novels her mum read. Except that this one was real.
Standing side on to him at the jukebox, Sonja rummaged in her purse, then tutted loudly to herself. She turned to Tasty Guy.
“Excuse me, but you don’t have any change for this, do you?”
Tasty Guy looked as though he’d been shaken out of a particularly engrossing dream as his head shot up and his eyes focused in Sonja’s direction.
“Sorry?”
Sonja gave him her most winning smile. “The jukebox,” she carried on. “You don’t have any tens or fifties for it, do you?” She held up a pound coin in case he still didn’t get what she was talking about.
“Oh, right. Sorry…” He half stood up and stuck his hand in the front pocket of his jeans, pulled out the contents and let them scatter on to the table in front of him: a screwed-up piece of paper, an elastic band, some loose change, an X Files key ring, an ancient-looking Polo mint, a grey, raggedy hanky…
“Blimey, a psychologist would have a field day studying that lot,” commented Sonja lightly.
He chuckled, as much to himself as to her, she thought.
“What was it you were after again?” he asked.
“Uh, change for a pound?” she said hopefully.
“Sorry, can’t do it,” he said as he gathered up the coins and began counting them out. “How much is it per go?”
“Twenty pence.”
“Here you are.” He nudged two twenties across the table towards her. “One play for you and one for me.”
“Great, thanks,” Sonja grinned. “So long as you realise there isn’t much on here after 1975. Nick’s a bit of an old fossil, I’m afraid.”
Tasty Guy suddenly looked much more alert. “Nick?” he asked. “Is he the owner of this place?”
“Yeah,” Sonja said. “He owns the record shop next door too.”
“Do you know him then?”
“Oh, yeah, everyone knows Nick. What do you fancy? On the jukebox I mean?”
“Uh… anything. You choose. Is he here today?”
Sonja didn’t answer; instead she tapped digits into the jukebox to a couple of rock classics she hoped would impress him. She turned back to Tasty Guy.
“No,” she finally answered. “Nick’s probably next door. Are you looking for a job or something?”
He shook his head and motioned her to sit down. “No. I’m hoping to catch up with someone I thought worked here. Her name’s Anna. You don’t know her as well, do you?”
“Of course. But she’s not in until later. Are you a friend of hers?”
Tasty Guy hesitated. “Uh… kind of.”
“Oh,” Sonja said. She had been hoping for a fuller answer. “By the way, I’m Sonja.”
He smiled up at her. “Pleased to meet you, Sonja.”
She had been expecting him to tell her his name too, but he didn’t, so she continued digging for information.
“So how do you know Anna?”
Tasty Guy shifted uneasily in his seat. “Oh, we go back a long way,” he said vaguely. “You don’t know where she lives, do you? I mean, I’d really like to see her and, rather than hanging around, I could go and look her up at home.”
Although Anna lived in the flat above the café, Sonja instinctively felt it would be wrong to pass on this information to someone she’d never laid eyes on before. Particularly as he seemed to be showing such an interest in Anna’s whereabouts. She had to think fast.
“To be honest, I remember her saying she’d be out all morning. But I can try and find out for you if you like.”
“Only if you’re sure it’s no bother…”
Sonja was keen to help such a sweet guy as much as possible. “Not at all. I’ll see what I can do. And if she’s out there’s plenty to do in Winstead if you need to kill a few hours. I could show you around, if you like.”
He gave her a mouth-watering smile. “That’d be great. I’d really like that.”
Her heart in her mouth, Sonja turned around and headed out of the café. As she passed Matt, Joe and Kerry (who had been straining their ears in a vain attempt to hear the conversation above the music) she gave them the thumbs up. As far as the confident Sonja was concerned, this guy was hers for the taking.
She made her way round to the back of the café where a green wooden door led to a tiny yard and the steps to Anna’s flat. Although Sonja had become reasonably friendly with Anna since she’d moved in, she had never actually been round to the flat before. She certainly hadn’t been invited inside, and as far as she was aware, no one else had either.
She wondered what Tasty Guy’s relationship was with the friendly but reserved Anna. Funny, he’d never told her his name, though she’d told him hers.
Perhaps he was an old boyfriend. In all the time that Anna had been in Winstead, she had never really mentioned her past-the life she had before she came here. There was no mention of family, friends, school, nothing really.
Sonja wasn’t sure if she was being deliberately vague when anyone had tried to draw information out of her, or whether it was because she was shy and reticent, which was how she often came across. Maybe Tasty Guy would shed some light on what had up to now been a very grey area.
Sonja climbed the metal stairs to Anna’s flat and pressed the doorbell long and hard.
In the tiny sitting room, Anna nearly jumped out of her skin.
CHAPTER 9
ANNA’S MYSTERY MAN
Since moving to Winstead, Anna Michaels was happier than she had been for ages. She felt really settled.
For the most part she loved the fact that no one knew who she was, where she came from, or what her background was. She liked it that all her secrets remained just that. She could reinvent herself if she wanted to, be anyone she liked, from any walk of life.
As it was, she hadn’t told any lies about herself, but then she hadn’t told many truths either.
Half the reason she preferred to keep in the background was to avoid getting embroiled in other people’s lives. But, more importantly, it was also to prevent them getting involved in hers. She was happy to remain on the sidelines, listening but not getting in too deep. Observing rather than being observed.
For the moment it suited her. One day she might begin to let people in again, but she knew she wasn’t ready yet. Until that time, she
was prepared to keep up the barriers and remain impenetrable.
The sound of the doorbell rang like an alarm in Anna’s head. She immediately put down the self-help book she had been engrossed in and stood up.
Hardly anyone ever called. She could count the number of times on-what, three fingers?-in the four months that she had been here.
The few people she was on friendly terms with-including Nick, café and flat owner-seemed to know not to intrude on her private world upstairs. If they needed to discuss anything with her, they tended to do it while she was at work.
Anna never received post, only the odd piece of junk mail; why would she? No one from her old life knew where she lived.
She had a phone which worked but she never used, and which never rang.
With a huge amount of trepidation, she opened the front door.
Anna felt a wave of relief rush through her body as she recognised Sonja Harvey standing outside.
“Sonja, hi. What’s up?” she greeted the girl with a smile.
“Sorry to bother you on your morning off, but there’s someone in the café-a guy-who says he knows you. He wants to see you…”
Anna stopped listening and a feeling of fear gripped her once more. A visitor.
Who could it be? Surely not David. Please don’t let him have found her.
In a split second a jumble of thoughts flashed through her mind. She toyed with the idea of making some excuses, stuffing a few belongings into a bag and doing a runner.
But she liked it here; she didn’t want to have to leave. And she didn’t want to spend the rest of her life running away…
Sonja’s voice broke through her thoughts.
“Anna? Anna-are you OK?
Anna didn’t answer. Her mind raced. She could tell Sonja to say she wasn’t feeling well… but if it was David, he would only come back now that he knew where she was. Much as she dreaded it, Anna knew her only real option was to face up to her past.
Unable to bring herself to look Sonja in the face, she stared bleakly at the brightly patterned lino on the floor and mumbled, “Oh. Did he say what he wants?”
“Er… no. He seemed friendly though…” Sonja’s voice trailed off. She was concerned by the fear and hostility on Anna’s face.
