Radio Gaga

by Nell Dixon

Screwing up my courage I took a step nearer so I could wrap my arms around him and lay my head against his chest. His heartbeat thudded in my ear as the tension he’d been holding eased. He embraced me, kissing my hair. I lifted my chin so we could kiss properly once more.

  All at once a strange noise came from outside the window, like metal on metal. Harsh and unnatural, followed by the wail of a car alarm.

  “What the…” Ben rushed to the window to peer outside.

  “What is it?” I hurried over to stand beside him.

  “Thought I saw someone outside. Stay here.”

  Before I could protest, Ben ran out of the room leaving me to strain my eyes staring into the dark outside. It was no use; I couldn’t see a damn thing.

  “Ben!” I left the window and trotted down the hall, shivering in the cool breeze blowing through the open front door of the flat. “Ben!”

  I collected my keys, in case the door slammed shut, and padded across the lobby to the front step of the house. The parking area appeared empty except for our cars, parked in the usual places. Mine, as close to the house as possible, and Ben’s over by the low red brick perimeter wall. The only thing out of place was a large metal dustbin lid which lay on the floor at the rear of Ben’s car.

  I peered out into the dark, unwilling to step outside without shoes. My action triggered the sensor on the security light by the front door making me blink as the area was flooded with light.

  Ben emerged from the shadows by the side of his car.

  “Some bloody maniac has trashed the side of my car.” His face was like thunder as he dragged his mobile from the rear pocket of his trousers and began to thumb a number.

  “What? How?” I was confused.

  He held up his hand to signal me to be quiet for a moment and I realised he must have called the police. I stood, shivering on the doorstep while he reported the damage to his car.

  As he finished his call he walked past me to collect his shirt from the floor in my hall and began to shrug it back on. I scuttled after him and grabbed a fleece jacket from the coat hooks before toeing my feet into my slippers.

  “Show me what’s happened,” I demanded as he rang off and replaced the phone in his pocket.

  He continued to button his shirt as he strode back outside. I followed behind, wrapping my fleece around me and dithering in the cold. As soon as we rounded the boot of his car I could see what he meant. Someone had gouged a huge scratch deep into the body work the full length of the car. Then, to compound matters it looked as if they’d kicked the rear and front doors, denting the panels. I suspected the metallic noise we’d heard may have been the vandals using the bin lid I’d noticed.

  “Who would do something like this? Why would someone do something like this?” I stared in disbelief at the damage. My car appeared to be untouched.

  Ben’s mouth was set in a grim line. “Who knows? Maybe it’s someone who’s objected to one of the stories I’ve turned in for the paper. Or maybe it’s someone who objected to me speaking out for my comrades.”

  “What did the police say? Are they coming?” Personally, on a Friday night I didn’t think there was much chance of getting a police officer round to look at a damaged car. They would probably be too busy breaking up fights or hauling off drunks from the town centre.

  All I knew was that my romantic moment was gone and I wasn’t going to be getting any tonight. Right now if I could have got my hands on whoever trashed Ben’s car it wouldn’t have been pretty.

  “Not sure. Obviously I know a lot of the local police thanks to the newspaper.” He scowled as he surveyed his ruined car.

  “Come inside, I’ll make a pot of tea.”

  We trailed back inside my flat. I left Ben in the kitchen texting Natasha whilst I collected up my belongings from the hall and changed into my PJ’s. By the time I had bundled myself into my dressing gown and returned Ben had made tea.

  He raised an eyebrow at my changed appearance. “I’m sorry, Chloe, this wasn’t how I pictured tonight turning out.”

  “Me either.”

  Even cross, and at this late hour he still managed to look incredibly sexy seated at my kitchen breakfast bar, stubble shading the line of his jaw. It wasn’t fair.

  “Did you get hold of Tash?” I cradled my mug between my hands, now feeling all deflated and tired.

  “I left a message for her. She’s obviously having a good time with your friend, Shelly.” He raked his fingers through his hair and puffed out a sigh.

  “Maybe it was some passing drunk who thought it would be funny to wreck your car.” It didn’t have to be someone gunning for Ben personally.

  “Maybe.” He didn’t look convinced and I wasn’t sure I could blame him. We lived in a fairly harmless neighbourhood. There were lots of student digs and rented places by us but the crime rate was pretty low. In the time I’d been living there the only thing I’d ever had happen was someone pinching a bottle of my milk from the step once.

  A horrid thought hit me. “You don’t think it was my stalker?”

  “He knows your car,” Ben shrugged dismissively. My relief was short-lived when his expression changed. “Unless, you mean this guy who keeps leaving you love letters and flowers saw us together and trashed my car as revenge.”

  My tea rolled in my stomach. “But that means he was either waiting outside here for me to come home or he saw us leave the club.”

  I couldn’t figure out how he could have followed us from the club so quickly without us spotting him. Then again, we hadn’t actually been paying much attention to our surroundings. Typical, I finally get a fan and he turns out to be a bona-fide fruit cake.

  “I don’t know. We’ll have to tell the police about the flowers and things though when they come to look at the car.”

  There was a clatter of feet and some drunken giggling at the entrance to the house. A few seconds later, Tash and Shelly were in the kitchen.

  “What’s happened? We got your text.” Tash looked first at Ben and then at me.

  Ben explained about the car.

  “That’s crazy,” Shelly frowned.

  “Tell us about it.” I tipped the rest of my tea away down the sink. I couldn’t face any more. All I wanted was to clean off my make-up and crawl into bed. Sadly, it appeared that I would be sleeping solo tonight after all.

  Ben told them his theory about my fan and much to my dismay they seemed to think he had a point.

  That would be something else to look forward to tomorrow, besides a trip to the allotment with Fred: an interview with her Majesty’s constabulary.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Shelly stumbled into the lounge the next morning in her pyjamas as I tugged an old pair of ankle boots over my socks.

  “You’re up early?” she yawned, blinking blearily at me.

  “I have to go and meet Fred at the allotments. Thanks to Merv I’m working on a Saturday morning.”

  “Is Ben going with you?” She flopped down onto the sofa.

  “I think so. He was going to check when the police might be round to talk to him about his car.”

  “That was so weird. Do you think it was someone who didn’t like him speaking out about his army experiences? Or do you think he might be right about your stalker?”

  “I don’t know. It could be that they would have damaged my car too and we interrupted them.” I didn’t want to think it was the guy who’d written me a poem and left me flowers.

  “Creepy.” Shelly shuddered.

  “How did you and Tash get on at the club after we’d gone? Did you find Mr Right?”

  She held a hand in front of her mouth as another yawn engulfed her. “No, it was pretty hopeless. Tash met a guy but I got landed with his loser friend who kept telling me how much he missed his ex-girlfriend and what a bitch she’d been to him.” She wrinkled her nose in distaste.

  “So it was a washout then?” I knew that feeling. I don’t think I’d ever been more frustrated in my life than I had been last night w
hen my assignation with Ben had been so rudely interrupted. I allowed myself to drift off into a rather lovely daydream.

  “About as much as your night. I take you and Ben didn’t, um, get together?” Shelly grinned at me, a knowing look in her eyes.

  “Nothing, thanks to the car vandal.” I finished tucking my jeans inside the tops of my boots. I was glad I was bent over my boots so she couldn’t see the scarlet flush creeping up my face.

  “I was all set to spend the night with Tash to give you two some space.” She wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.

  “Well, I think that the incident with the car may have cooled anything we might have had going. He has some hang-ups about my ambitions to become famous. He hated it at the club last night when people kept coming over to me.”

  Shelly picked at the corner of her thumbnail, lifting the edge of her nail polish the way she always did when she was busy thinking. “I noticed he wasn’t exactly the life and soul of the party.”

  I sighed remembering my missed opportunity. Somehow I had a nasty feeling that I might not get another shot with him. My mobile buzzed as if he’d picked up on my thoughts.

  ‘police coming midday. U ready for pics with Fred?’

  I sent back a 'yes' and collected my coat and bag. “That was Ben. I’m off to the allotment.”

  “I might be gone when you get back. Mum is making noises about me helping with the grocery shop,” Shelly said.

  “I’ll call you later then. I’ll let you know how things go with the police.”

  She stood and gave me a hug. “If Ben doesn’t invite you out tonight maybe we could go for a drink?”

  “Okay.” There was a knock on my door. “That’ll be Ben.”

  I left Shelly to sort herself out and went to open the door. Ben stood in the hall. A light layer of stubble covered his chin and he looked as if he hadn’t had much sleep.

  “Okay, are you ready to go?” He had his camera case in his hand.

  “We’d better go in my car.” Ben didn’t exactly look delighted to see me. Maybe he’d drunk more than I’d realised last night and regretted our bit of pash. He certainly didn’t look as if he was likely to be inclined to carry on where we’d left off. Mores the pity.

  “Did you contact Fred?” He folded himself into the passenger seat of my car and altered the seat, pushing it right back to try and get more leg room. He muttered and bounced in the seat making me fear for the rusty floor pan of my car. If he bounced too hard we’d be heading for the allotments Fred Flintstone style.

  “Yes, he’s on the site every Saturday.” I knew he was cross about his car but someone had definitely got out of the wrong side of the bed.

  “Humph.”

  I didn’t bother to dignify that with a reply. Instead I turned off the direct route to the allotments and headed for the café.

  “Where are we going? I need to get these pictures done.” Ben glared at me.

  “I’ll be two minutes.” I parked up and left him to stew inside the car while I ran into the café.

  “Here.” I handed him a takeout cup on my return.

  “What’s this?”

  I slipped the car back into gear and set off for the allotments. “It’s coffee for you. I think you missed a shot of caffeine this morning.”

  He leaned back in his seat and glowered at me but he didn’t refuse the coffee.

  There were a few people at the allotments when we pulled up. At least it was a nice dry morning even if it was still quite chilly. I scrambled out of the car and waited while Ben hauled himself and his gear from the front seat. Fred spotted us and stumped along the path between the plots to let us onto the site.

  “Mornin’.” He nodded his head in greeting as we slipped through the gate. He frowned at my boots and shook his head.

  “What? These are the best ones I could find for this.”

  “You’d do better with some steel toe caps,” Fred declared as we arrived at his plot.

  There was something suspiciously like a smirk on Ben’s lips which he hastily camouflaged by sipping the coffee I’d bought him. I was tempted to snatch it back; I could have used a slurp of caffeine myself.

  Fred handed me a fork and a pair of gardening gloves. “We’ll start by preparing the ground. Just watch you don’t spear your toes in them daft shoes.”

  I decided I didn’t like Fred any more as he led the way to a weed-infested, boggy bit of mud at the back of his plot. Ben set up his camera while Fred instructed me in the art of weed clearance and soil aeration.

  Apparently I required lessons in composting too. Fred almost had a heart attack when I inadvertently added some weed, which to me looked like all the other weeds, to his compost bin. Ben snapped shots of me wobbling on the fork like a demented pogo stick master and some of me staggering along with the wheelbarrow full of weeds.

  He also took some video footage of Fred lecturing me with sage garden advice to put on the radio station website. After an hour and a half I was knackered and fed up. Finally Ben decided he’d got enough footage and Fred thought I’d done enough for my first stint.

  “Mebbe I’ll make summat of you yet.”

  I took that as praise from Fred. My boots were well and truly ruined. Mud had seeped between the sole and the upper lining and now my toes were squelching inside my socks. Ben stayed talking to Fred for a moment while I made my way off the site back to my car. I was engrossed in my attempts to scrape the thick red clay from my footwear on the kerb when I realised I had company.

  “It was a good night last night, wasn’t it?” Kevin stood next to my car dressed in his usual hoodie and baggy jeans.

  “Um, yes.” I looked around for Ben but he was nowhere in sight.

  “I like clubbing.” He shuffled from one foot to the other as if about to break out into a dance there and then.

  “Were you there with friends?” Where was Ben?

  “No, I like going on my own. I thought if you wanted to go again then maybe…”

  “Sorry, we’ll have to hurry if we’re going to be back in time to meet the police.” Ben appeared at my side. I could have kissed him with relief.

  “Sorry, Kevin, I have to go. Some idiot damaged Ben’s car last night and we have to talk to the police.” I jumped into the driver’s seat. That had been a narrow escape. It had sounded very much like Kevin had been about to ask me to go on a date.

  Ben eased Kevin out of the way to join me inside the car. For a split second I thought I saw Kevin’s face contort with absolute rage, but it vanished so swiftly I wasn’t certain. I didn’t wait for Ben to fasten his seat belt before pulling away with a cheerful wave to Kevin as we left. The incident left me feeling freaked out and I wondered if Kevin could be my mysterious bringer of flowers or the vandal.

  “Wasn’t that the weird bloke who was hounding you at the club last night?” Ben struggled into his seat belt as I gunned the car around the corner.

  “Kevin? Yes. I think you just saved me from having to turn him down for a date.”

  “Humph, you don’t think he could be connected with the damage to my car?” Ben tried to turn his head in a vain attempt to get a last glimpse at my unwanted admirer.

  “I doubt it. He was still at the club when we left, I think.” At least, I thought he was.

  Ben didn’t look convinced. “Do you think he’s the one behind the poetry and the flowers? He seems to keep turning up everywhere you go.”

  Unease prickled at the base of my neck. “I don’t know. He could be.” I drew the car to a halt in my usual parking spot at the front of the house.

  Ben dug in his pocket and checked the screen on his phone. “The police should be here in half an hour.”

  “Enough time for me to change my shoes, then.” My feet felt disgusting.

  Ben grinned. “Sounds as if Fred was right about the boots.”

  “Very funny.” I squelched my way to the front door. “Do you want me to come up to your flat when I’ve changed my shoes?” I assumed he wanted me t
o talk to the police as well.

  “I’ll leave the door on the latch. Tash has gone out.”

  I waited for some clue to whether we might pick up where we’d left off last night. A hug or a kiss, maybe.

  “See you in a minute.” He turned and clumped away upstairs.

  I decided to take that as a 'no'.

  Shelly had left the flat all neat and tidy. I binned my boots then peeled off my socks and threw those away too. It didn’t seem worth clogging up my washing machine with mud for the sake of a pair of ninety-nine pence socks from Primark.

  Once I’d washed my feet and changed into clean clothes I headed upstairs to Ben’s flat. I had to admit both my ego and my heart were somewhat bruised by his apparent cooling towards me. I mean, less than twelve hours ago he’d been quick enough to get my knickers off, and now, nothing. My cheeks burned as I recalled collecting my discarded underwear from my hallway.

  A young, attractive policewoman was already ensconced in Ben’s lounge when I arrived.

  “Tess, this is my neighbour, Chloe. I was downstairs at Chloe’s flat when we heard the noise outside.” Ben made the introduction as I took a seat on his sofa trying not to be jealous that he and Tess appeared to be on first name terms already.

  Tess ran through the notes she’d made already, asking Ben a few more supplementary questions and asking me to confirm some of the points he had raised. I told her everything I’d heard.

  “And is there anyone who you think may have done this? Any one with a grudge against you? A neighbourly dispute?” Tess frowned at her notebook.

  Ben leaned back in his seat and looked expectantly at me.

  “Um, Ben thought it might have been this bloke who’s been leaving me flowers and poems.” I scowled at Ben.

  Tess perked up. “Go on. Do you have any of the things he’s left? Or do you know who he is?”

  I pulled the card with the verse from my pocket and passed it over to Tess. “Well, he’s no Wordsworth, is he?”

  “There’s a kid called Kevin that keeps turning up wherever Chloe goes. He was at the nightclub when we were there.”

  I frowned at Ben. Kevin might be a bit weird but I couldn’t picture him trashing Ben’s car.