by Mel Sparke
“Yeah, well, I guess I had to,” smiled Anna ruefully. “But let’s change the subject. I don’t suppose there’s any chance you can stay for a while? We’ve got so much to catch up on and I have been a bit of a sad old bag here on my own. It’d be great to have some company.”
Owen smiled warmly at his sister and nodded enthusiastically. “Fortunately for you, we unemployed people get plenty of holidays, so yeah, I can stick around.”
Anna threw her arms around Owen’s neck and squeezed him so tightly he thought he’d explode. “That’s brilliant!” she beamed. “You’ve made my year. I haven’t got much room here but you’re welcome to the sofa. And I’m sure I can scrounge a few days off from Nick if I sort it with him and Ollie. If not, you’ll just have to be my kitchen hand for a while.”
“I think I can cope with that,” said Owen. “From where I was sitting today the view in the café looks pretty stunning, I’d say.”
“Oh, yeah?” Anna grinned. “Who have you seen that you fancy?”
“I’m not sure I should say,” he laughed. “You might warn her off me.”
“It’s more likely to be the other way round with some of the girls we get in the café.” replied Anna. “So, come on, who is it?”
“OK, OK,” he said, hands held up in a sign of defeat. “You’re probably going to tell me that she’s got a boyfriend, or is a raving lesbian, or has a huge personality disorder, or something…”
“Get on with it, will you?”
“All right! Her name’s Sonja.”
CHAPTER 12
MATT COMES UP TRUMPS
“I can’t decide whether to ring him or not. I mean, it’s been nearly two days now since he said he’d phone me and he hasn’t.”
Sonja and Kerry were walking towards the End on a fantastically warm morning. “And while I’d like to speak to him to see if he wants to meet up again,” continued Sonja, “I don’t want to appear too keen. What do you think?”
In a teeny-tiny cropped top and shorts, Sonja looked as if she was on holiday in Majorca; by contrast, Kerry felt quite overdressed in her jeans and deliberately bum-covering long shirt. As Sonja had already explained, her choice of outfit had been carefully contrived that morning.
“It’s my get-Owen-to-notice-me look,” she had said. “I spent most of last night in my wardrobe.”
Miraculously, in contrast to a few days ago, her hormones seemed to be in tune with her again. Indulging fully in her current boy-obsessed mood, she had gone from explaining how she was dressing to please Owen to fretting over whether to call Kyle or not. And Kerry was finding it hard to keep up.
“Sorry. Son,” Kerry frowned, “who are we talking about here? I’ve lost the plot a bit.”
“Come on, Kez, I’m on about Kyle. What do you think I should do?”
Kerry didn’t have a clue. She was finding it hard enough to get over the fact that Sonja was asking her advice on matters of a boy nature, rather than the other way round. Her mind flailing for a suitable answer, she suddenly hit on a valid solution.
“Have you thought that he might be thinking exactly the same as you?” she asked. “He might be desperate to call, but realises how uncool it is to call a girl you like so soon after a first date. ‘Cause that’s how their minds work, isn’t it? So, if he really likes you, which I’m sure he does, he’ll be dead chuffed if you call him.”
Sonja turned to her friend, her eyes glinting with delight. “Of course. I hadn’t thought of it like that. You’re right. I’ll call as soon as we get to the café.”
“Uh, hang on. What about Owen? What if he’s there?”
“That’s an even more perfect solution,” beamed Sonja. “If Owen’s there, I won’t need to call Kyle because I’ll have my attention fully occupied with him. But if he isn’t, why waste any more time worrying about what’s right to do? I’ll just pick up the phone and ring.”
Kerry smiled inwardly. She was amazed how someone as stunning as her best friend could go from being unsure of herself one minute to brimming with confidence the next. As opposed to Kerry, who totally lacked faith in herself at all times. Granted, she had improved a bit since she’d started going out with Ollie, but not a great deal. And it didn’t take much to knock her self-belief back to first base.
In the café, Kerry could see Matt, Ollie and Joe sitting in the window seat, with Maya and Catrina opposite. Ollie noticed them approaching first and gave Kerry a big smile and a wave which made her feel all funny and warm inside.
Sonja bounded in and scanned the room. “Hi, guys,” she said, not looking at them at all but searching for Owen. But he wasn’t there, so she sat down, disappointed that he hadn’t seen her best assets walking in-her endlessly long, golden-tanned legs.
“Before you ask, we haven’t seen him,” Ollie grinned to Sonja as he got up and planted a kiss on Kerry’s lips.
“What? Who?” Sonja asked, all innocent.
“your latest love-god, that’s who,” added Matt. “Though Anna’s in the kitchen cooking me a fry-up. I’ll go and ask her where he is for you, if you like.” He made as if to do just that.
“Sit down, you prat!” Sonja hissed. “Don’t make it obvious.”
“Pah!” Cat pretended to choke on her coffee. “Like as if what you’re wearing isn’t obvious enough.”
“That’s rich coming from someone who’s sitting there in a spangly gold bikini top!” Sonja rattled back. “You look like you’re ready to audition for some girlie dance group.”
“If you can’t be nice to each other, at least have the decency to spare the rest of us the bickering and shut up,” interrupted Maya. “I might as well be back at home with my sister, listening to this.”
“Sorry, Maya,” said Sonja and bit her lip in an attempt not to laugh at Maya’s outburst. “It was just a bit of gentle sparring. Honest.”
At that moment Anna walked out of the kitchen carrying a full English breakfast which she brought over and put in front of Matt.
“There you go, Matt,” she smiled, then turned to the new arrivals. “Morning, Sonja, Kerry. Can I get you anything?”
“Coffee, please,” Kerry replied.
“Make that two,” added Sonja.
“Make it three. Please,” said a voice from behind. Turning round, Anna saw her brother, looking the worse for wear.
“Hi, guys,” he yawned. “Sorry, Anna, I guess I overslept. Must have been that red wine we drank last night.” He looked at the plate of eggs, bacon, sausages and beans Matt was wolfing down. “Mmmm, that smells delicious. Any chance of a plateful for me?”
“Sure, no problem. Sit down and I’ll bring it over.”
“Thanks.” He watched as she made her way back to the kitchen.
“Sit with us,” offered Matt before Owen could wander off to another table. Sonja will owe me one for this, he thought.
“Are you sure?” Owen replied. “I’m not much company first thing in the morning, especially with a hangover. But if you don’t mind…”
He slid into the banquette next to Matt and opposite Sonja, who hadn’t taken her eyes off him ever since he’d walked in. He must have felt her eyes boring into him because he looked up at her and smiled.
“I meant to thank you for getting Anna for me yesterday.” he said. “It was much appreciated.”
“No problem.” Sonja smiled back. “Glad to be of service. You two had a good night then?”
“Er, yeah, I think so. Although my insides might not agree with me at this present moment.”
“Are you staying long?” Sonja asked.
“Yeah, I think I probably am,” he replied. “I don’t have anything else booked into my life at the moment so I might as well stick around for a few weeks. I’ll see how it goes. I think Anna’s got plans to turn me into her kitchen slave while I’m here, which will be interesting since my cooking’s limited to chips and chilli.”
“Don’t worry, mate,” Ollie broke in. “Mine’s not much better and I work here.”
&nbs
p; Anna returned with a huge plate of fried food and three mugs of steaming coffee. Owen practically grabbed the plate out of her hand and began scoffing greedily, while Anna laughed and stood at the end of the table to watch him demolish it.
By this time Matt had finished his breakfast, which he let everyone know by letting out a loud burp of contentment. This, of course, repelled the girls who cried “Eurrrgh!” in unison and made the boys snigger. But it had the desired effect, which was to get everyone’s attention.
“I thought I might have a bit of a bash at my place tomorrow night,” he announced. “What do you think?”
“So long as you manage to keep your manners in check,” replied Cat. “What’s it in aid of?”
“Nothing. As usual. My old man’s away on business again for a few days so I figured I’d make the most of a good opportunity. Nothing too flash, mind. I thought it could be just you lot-you and Owen too, Anna-maybe a few other people, a few beers and crisps and some good music. What do you say?”
Nice one, thought Sonia. Well done, Matt. You’re a real pal.
CHAPTER 13
SONJA ON A ROLL
Sonja took at least three hours to get ready for Matt’s party. More if you counted the fact that, since she wanted to make a special effort for Owen, she’d spent ages earlier in the day deciding what to wear. And, of course, she’d been on the phone to Matt to thank him for doing his bit to help her in her bid to get together with Owen. And she’d called OIlie at the End to check that Anna (and more importantly Owen) were actually going too. Which they were.
The one person she hadn’t phoned was Kyle. Now that she had a new guy in her sights, Sonja wasn’t so bothered about contacting him. Instead, her thoughts were filled with imaginary scenes in which she snogged Owen.
She had been disappointed when he had said he’d only be around for a few weeks; Sonja had hoped he was going to become a permanent fixture. But if that was all the time she had, so be it. At least she knew where she stood, which was more than could be said for the elusive Kyle.
Sonja was putting the finishing touches to her nails when the phone rang. Unwilling to pick it up in case she smudged her Nearly Nude polish, she left it for one of her family to answer. Then she heard her mum shouting that it was for her. Darn! Talk about inconvenient.
Waving her hands around frantically to dry her nails, she went over to the extension on her bedside table and gingerly picked up the receiver.
“Hello?” she said, a note of irritation in her voice.
“Sonja, hi. It’s Kyle.”
“Oh!” She couldn’t contain the surprise in her voice-somehow he was the last person she was expecting to ring right now.
“Uh, how are you?” he asked. There was a note of reticence in his voice. But then perhaps he’d expected a more enthusiastic reception than ‘Oh!’ and then complete silence.
“I’m fine, thanks. How are you?” Sonja began frantically gathering her thoughts together so that they were in Kyle, rather than Owen, mode.
“I’m good. I was just calling to see if you wanted to go out some time. I thought maybe we could go to a bar in the city or something.”
“Yeah, great idea, I’d love to,” enthused Sonja finally.
“How about Thursday?”
“Ooh, I can’t Thursday or Friday,” she lied, not wanting to appear too available. “How about Wednesday?”
“Sure, excellent. Actually Wednesday’s better for me too. Shall I pick you up… at eight o’clock, maybe?”
“Good idea.”
“OK, well I’ll see you then…”
“Yeah. OK. It’ll be fun.”
“Bye then.”
“Bye, Kyle.”
Sonja put the phone down and did a little jig of delight around her room.
As Owen and Anna walked up the lane towards Matt’s on the posh side of town, they could hear the thumping bass of his sound system well before they even saw the house.
“If the noise is anything to go by, it sounds good,” commented Owen.
“Yeah, well, Matt certainly likes to party,” Anna replied. “He’s always having people round, so I hear.”
“You haven’t actually been round yourself before now then?”
“No. To be honest I’ve never been invited. And even if I had, I would have made an excuse not to go. I would have done the same tonight if you hadn’t been here. I’m not sure all this is my scene any more.”
“Rubbish!” her brother scoffed. “You were always out partying when you lived at home…”
“Yeah, talk about too much too young…” she sighed and was silent for a moment. “Anyway. I’m here now.” She touched Owen’s sleeve and put her arm through his. “And I’m up for a good time. And no doubt Sonja will be here too, so you’ll have your hands full all evening. If you’re really lucky.”
“Yeah, I wish.”
They were at the front door now, so Anna reached up and rang the bell and banged the goblin-headed door knocker for good measure. Soon Matt was standing in front of them, summoning them in and leading them off in the direction of his den and the back garden beyond.
“I’m just sorting out some more tracks to play,” he shouted above the noise. “Help yourself to booze. You’ll find everyone in the garden.”
Owen pulled eight cans of lager from the carrier he was holding and put them on a table. He took one for himself and handed another to Anna, then they went into the garden which was lit with outdoor candles and a strobe light coming from the house.
Seeing Ollie, Kerry and Sonja sitting under a tree together, they went over.
“You made it then,” Ollie shouted cheerfully when he saw them.
“Yeah,” Anna replied. “The café was empty by eight thirty so we’d cleaned up and were ready to close on the stroke of nine. How’s the party going?”
“Loudly. Sit down.”
Noticing that Owen had already plonked himself next to Sonja and was laughing at something she’d said, Anna sat opposite Ollie and Kerry and took a gulp of lager. It was warm and bitter and deeply unpleasant-not the sort of drink she’d normally touch-but she thought it would ease her nerves a little so she forced it down.
“It’s good to see you outside work for a change,” enthused Ollie. “You must sometimes wonder if there’s any life beyond Nick’s kitchen.”
Anna smiled. “I don’t mind it actually, I like keeping busy. And it’s a nice place to work.”
“Yeah. Uncle Nick’s all right, isn’t he?” Ollie said.
“Everyone is. You’ve all been really nice to me since I moved in,” Anna beamed, taking another sip of lager. “I’m really happy here, I’m beginning to feel like I’ve lived here all my life, not just a few months.”
“The café sometimes has that effect on you,” laughed Ollie. “It’s a bit like living in a time warp: if you’re not careful, you get completely sucked in and start dreaming about burgers and chips.”
“I already do!” laughed Anna.
“Which is why you need to get out and about more. I’m glad you decided to come here tonight; you’ll have to come out with us again.”
“Thanks,” Anna grinned, “I will. Actually, I expect Owen will be dragging me out once or twice while he’s here.”
“He seems ever so nice,” said Kerry, looking over to where Owen was engrossed in conversation with Sonja.
“He is, he’s brilliant. We’re really close.”
“You’re lucky,” Kerry said. “I’m close to my brother, but he’s only a kid. You can’t share too many secrets with a six-year-old.”
Anna smile wryly. “I don’t know that we share secrets, but he’s always acted as a buffer between me and Mum.”
[“Oh,” Kerry said. “Don’t you get on with your mum?”
“Not really. We rub each other up the wrong way. When Owen lived at home, he was always the mediator. Otherwise, we would probably have killed each other.”
“So what happened when he left home?”
“
We nearly killed each other!” Anna laughed. “In the end, I left.”
It was the most candid she’d been with anyone since she’d arrived in Winstead, and she found it a lot easier opening up than she’d expected. Talking to Owen the other night must have helped, she thought.
Over the next couple of hours she found herself telling Kerry and OIlie more about herself than she’d ever imagined.
By the end of the night, Anna had really begun to let her hair down. She’d chatted to everyone, given it loads on the makeshift dancefloor/patio, and she’d even had a light-hearted smooch with Matt. She’d also drunk two cans of lager and was feeling very light-headed by the end of it.
She had hardly spoken to Owen all evening, which was a surprise to her since she’d assumed she would feel the need to cling to him for support to help her get through the party which she’d been slightly dreading.
Although she felt she knew the gang on a superficial level, they were all such great friends she wasn’t sure about butting in on their clique like this-however much they seemed to want her company.
As it was, she hadn’t needed Owen at all, which was a good thing since he and Sonja seemed to have commandeered each other’s attention for the entire evening.
When, much later on, she realised that most people had gone home and only she and Matt were left, Anna decided it really was time to go. But as she looked for Owen, it dawned on her that she hadn’t seen him for a good hour or so. Or Sonja. Surely he wouldn’t have left without her?
Anna searched the garden, then went inside the house and began hunting through the downstairs rooms. Where the heck was he?
And then she saw them. Standing in a dark recess in the dining room, Owen and Sonja were wrapped around each other, snogging furiously.
CHAPTER 14
THE MISSING PIECES
Sonja’s life suddenly felt like a giddy whirl of activity. From having no interest in guys for months, suddenly here she was with two on the go at once.
