MADE IN ESSEX

by Laura Ziepe

  ‘Tea, anyone?’ Nicola said, making her way into the kitchen.

  ‘Oh no, I’m okay thanks,’ Lisa said as she stretched, feeling a bit uncomfortable being alone with Charlie; there was just something about him that made her feel uneasy.

  ‘Yes please,’ Charlie shouted to Nicola. ‘No sugar, I’m sweet enough.’

  Lisa looked at him and he winked, making her cringe. She stood up and went to get a glass of water.

  ‘Charlie is staying tonight by the way, honey,’ Nicola said as Lisa reached for a glass in the cupboard. ‘I hope that’s okay.’

  Lisa nodded. ‘Of course, that’s fine.’

  ‘It won’t be a regular thing, I’ll stay at his most of the time because he lives alone, but he was adamant he wanted to stay here tonight.’

  Lisa frowned. ‘How come?’

  Nicola shrugged. ‘I’m not sure. He said he felt bad leaving you alone here and taking me off all the time. How cute is that? Totes adorable.’

  ‘Mmm,’ Lisa murmured, unsure what to make of that information. ‘Anyway, I’ll give you two some space. I think I’m going to call it a night and go to bed. It’s half ten already,’ Lisa said as she glanced at her watch.

  ‘Okay honey. See you in the morning,’ Nicola replied, kissing her friend on the cheek and making a ‘mwah’ sound.

  Lisa took her glass of water and walked into the lounge. ‘Night Charlie. I’m going to bed now,’ she said politely.

  ‘Already?’ Charlie asked, looking disappointed. ‘It’s still early.’

  Lisa yawned. ‘I’m tired,’ she said lightly, with a friendly smile. ‘Night, see you in the morning.’

  ‘Sweet dreams,’ Charlie replied in a soft voice.

  It didn’t take long for Lisa to fall asleep; soon after her head hit the pillow she drifted off. It was in the middle of the night when Lisa woke up and she glanced at her clock which lit up in the dark; four-fifteen a.m. As she was dozing back to sleep, a very quiet noise, which sounded like her door opening, made her look up. A dark figure loomed in the doorway. Was she dreaming? Lisa couldn’t speak; she felt paralysed with fear, took deep breaths and assured herself it was a dream, closing her eyes. When she woke again, it was morning.

  ‘Morning, honey,’ Nicola said when Lisa met her in the kitchen as she put the kettle on. Nicola was wearing a gorgeous pale pink silky nighty and somehow her long platinum blonde hair extensions looked perfect, full of bounce and waves. Nicola had decided to have a boob job a few years ago and Lisa admired her big but natural-looking bust, wondering whether she should go through with it too. It was weird; some days Lisa wished she had bigger boobs, especially when she was wearing a backless dress or something, but other days she felt extremely content with her B cup chest and felt that a larger chest would make her figure look generally bigger and a bit out of proportion. Who knew, maybe in the distant future when she’d had children she’d treat herself, but she felt too indecisive at present.

  ‘Morning,’ Lisa said, helping herself to some Special K and walking to the fridge for the milk. ‘I had a horrible nightmare last night. I imagined someone was in my room.’

  Nicola raised her eyebrows as she put a spoonful of coffee in two mugs. ‘Really, honey? I hate nightmares. Do you want a coffee?’

  ‘No, it’s fine,’ Lisa replied in between mouthfuls of Special K. ‘I’m going to make tea for myself.’

  Nicola nodded, picking the two mugs up and walking out.

  An hour later, Lisa was standing on the very packed Central line with Charlie and Nicola. Once again, Lisa felt a bit uneasy in Charlie’s presence; every time she looked up, he was staring at her.

  ‘What are you doing tonight?’ Charlie asked Nicola.

  Nicola flicked her long blonde hair over her shoulder, which nearly hit some poor man behind her in the eye, making Lisa giggle. ‘We have some girl’s leaving drinks tonight after work, don’t we honey?’ Nicola said to Lisa.

  Lisa nodded, ‘Yeah. Hopefully it won’t be as messy as the last time,’ she smiled.

  Charlie cleared his throat. ‘Perhaps I should take Lisa’s number,’ he suggested. ‘Last time you had no signal, Nic, and I couldn’t get through to you.’

  Nicola nodded breezily. ‘Okay.’

  Lisa frowned as she told Charlie her number. Why did she not have a good feeling about this? Luckily Charlie got off the train at Liverpool Street, leaving Lisa and Nicola alone for the rest of their journey.

  ‘So, things still going well with you two?’ Lisa asked her.

  ‘Yeah, really well,’ Nicola smiled.

  ‘That’s good then,’ Lisa said, finding it slightly frustrating that she was going to have to keep seeing Charlie, but happy for her friend at the same time. Lisa didn’t want Nicola to get hurt, but she didn’t trust Charlie as far as she could throw him.

  They got off the train at Oxford Circus and walked to their offices together. They said goodbye as they walked in opposite directions to their desks and Lisa felt her phone vibrate in her bag.

  As she read the text message, she froze to the spot, her heartbeat quickening and blood pulsating round her head. She didn’t know what to do about this, but she was most definitely in a very tricky situation. She glanced down and re-read the words, checking she had read them correctly. A chill went through her and she shivered as she read them again.

  You look so pretty when you sleep. C xx

  *

  The following day, Kelly was lost. She had been searching for Sam’s road for the past ten minutes. She’d only been there once with Jade, and couldn’t for the life of her remember where it was. She drove down a street which looked familiar, though she’d thought that about the last two as well. However, this one definitely looked like it could be right, Kelly thought with satisfaction as she pulled up by a set of modern flats. It was seven p.m. and Kelly hoped he was home from work by now. She buzzed up and Sam answered.

  ‘Hello?’

  ‘Hi Sam. It’s Kelly. Can I come and speak to you please?’

  She could tell he was surprised by his voice. ‘Kelly? Yeah, sure, come up.’

  He opened the door in a pale pink shirt and black trousers, his tie loose around his neck, indicating he’d just got back from work. Suddenly Kelly felt a bit awkward. Her plan to visit Sam had seemed like a good one an hour ago, but now she wasn’t entirely sure. She liked Sam; as well as good looks he had a lovely, warm personality and they had always got on well, but she’d never been on her own with him in his flat before and she knew he must be wondering why on earth she was there.

  ‘Here, take a seat,’ he said walking through the lounge and signalling for her to sit down.

  Kelly sat down and Sam sat opposite. She looked around with admiration. She’d never actually been inside before, just waited outside once when she picked Jade up. His flat was beautiful; it was very stylish yet simple, with stunning wooden floors. Kelly was impressed and told him so. ‘Love your flat, babe. Reem.’

  ‘Thanks,’ he said looking round. His eyes flicked back to her. ‘How’s Jade?’

  He had a hopeful look on his face and Kelly realised he thought she was here because of Jade. She felt sorry for him. ‘She’s good,’ Kelly replied. ‘I’m not actually here about her though,’ she said uncomfortably, tucking her long blonde hair behind her ears and shifting around in her seat. ‘It was Chloe I wanted to ask you about actually.’

  Sam squinted and he frowned. ‘Chloe? What about her?’ he asked, surprised.

  ‘Look, I’m not accusing her of anything, but I just wanted to check it wasn’t her. You know our website was copied by Adele when she stayed … you know … ended up back here that night?’ Kelly watched Sam carefully and saw him wince when she mentioned that dreaded night.

  Sam heaved a sigh. ‘Yeah.’

  ‘Well recently, it’s happened again. Somehow Adele has managed to copy all our designs and we just can’t see how. I just wondered how close Chloe and Adele were? I know she may not have meant any harm, but I thoug
ht maybe Chloe let slip some of the things we were doing?’ There, Kelly had said it; had told him that she thought his sister might be behind it.

  Sam looked thoughtful for a moment before he finally spoke. ‘I don’t think Chloe would blab behind your back, she’s not like that. But, I must say, she does see Adele quite a bit. Adele goes round to my parents’ house sometimes to see Chloe. I wish she would just get lost, I can’t stand the girl. I’ve told Chloe to steer clear. To be honest, I don’t even think Chloe likes her much; that’s the impression I get anyway.’

  Kelly was confused. ‘Why would Chloe be friends with her if she didn’t like her? Why would Adele go round to see her?’

  Sam shrugged, just as baffled. ‘I’m not too sure. Maybe because Adele helped Chloe that night in Sugar Hut when those girls started on her? No idea, but I know she goes round to see her.’

  Kelly nodded, getting a better understanding of the situation. So Chloe met with Adele regularly? That meant it was Adele on the phone to Chloe all those times, just like she thought. Something just wasn’t right here. It had to be Chloe passing information on to Adele, Kelly decided. Maybe Adele was threatening her? Chloe was nothing but sweet, soft and gentle; an easy target for Adele to manipulate. She was glad she’d come to see Sam now, she felt like she was getting closer to the truth. She stood up to go. ‘Thanks Sam. Sorry to bother you.’

  He jumped up. ‘That’s okay. Hope I helped.’ He walked Kelly to the front door and then added quickly, ‘Kelly. I’m so sorry for that night in Sugar Hut. I’d do anything to change what happened. I really don’t think I did anything with Adele though; I know I’ll never be able to prove my innocence, but I just wanted you to know. I’ve lost Jade and I’m gutted. Tell her I miss her, will you?’

  Kelly felt terrible for him and as she looked into his eyes she could see the pain and heartache he was feeling. No matter how hard she tried, she just couldn’t picture Sam cheating and she believed him. ‘I’ll tell her,’ she replied to placate him, but she didn’t want to bring this meeting up to Jade, as she knew her friend needed to move on. ‘Bye, Sam.’

  ‘Bye, Kelly,’ he said sadly, closing the door behind him.

  As Kelly made her way downstairs she could hear some voices on the ground floor. As she walked down she could hear what they were saying.

  ‘Look, this is the second time my Merc has been keyed parked outside here and I want to watch the CCTV to see who’s doing it. I want to report these scumbags to the police,’ the angry voice asserted.

  ‘I understand you’re upset,’ the other male voice replied, ‘but please calm down. As I told you over the phone we can watch the CCTV footage and hopefully get this matter sorted.’

  Kelly froze to the spot as an idea popped into her head. If the CCTV footage was available to watch, maybe somehow she could watch the night Adele claimed to have slept with Sam and see what time she left his flat? Maybe there would be an answer as to what really happened in the video? Kelly marched along to where the noise was coming from, lifting her chin in the air, her skirt a bit higher and pulling her top down to reveal more cleavage. She cleared her throat, interrupting the two men, who turned and gaped at her.

  ‘Excuse me, but I couldn’t help overhearing the fact that you have CCTV footage filmed outside these flats. Is this right?’

  The security man looked at her curiously, his mouth open as if he was mesmerised. ‘Who the hell are you?’ he asked, scratching his beard.

  ‘Kelly,’ she smiled, batting her long fake lashes.

  The security man frowned looking at Kelly with suspicion. ‘Sorry, but we can’t just let anyone watch the CCTV.’ He pointed towards the other man in front of him. ‘This young man has had his property vandalised. Why do you want to watch it?’

  Kelly tried to think of a reason why she’d want to watch it. To check if her hair was bouncy enough from the back on camera? No, they’d just tell her to look in the mirror or something; she needed to come up with a better plan than that. Maybe she’d try being a damsel in distress and hopefully they’d feel sorry for her. She pouted and put on a distraught expression. ‘If you must know, I think my boyfriend is cheating,’ she exhaled sharply, playing with her hair and trying to put on her most sexy voice. ‘I just have to know. There is only one night I need to see.’

  The security man nodded and Kelly spotted him staring at her chest. His eyes flicked back to her face. ‘Well darling, if he’s cheating, he’s an idiot.’

  ‘Agreed,’ the other man said, his eyes wide open, staring at Kelly’s legs.

  The security man turned to him. ‘I’ll come by soon and we’ll deal with the vandals, okay?’

  The other man nodded, quickly adding before he went back to his flat, ‘If he is cheating, I live at number two.’

  Kelly smiled, and then continued her sob story to the security man. ‘Is there any way I could see the footage? It’s just one night?’ She tried to persuade him by giving him an innocent, doe-eyed look.

  ‘Mmm,’ he murmured, thinking about it as he scratched his beard again. ‘I suppose it won’t hurt. Just the one night though, okay?’

  ‘Thank you so much, babe,’ Kelly said, gently touching his arm. ‘What a lovely man you are.’

  He blushed a little and dismissed the comment. ‘Let me know the date and I’ll get the footage as soon as I can. Write your mobile number down in my phone,’ he told her, handing his mobile over.

  ‘Thanks, hun,’ Kelly beamed, believing she was a step closer to finding out the truth. If it turned out Adele did stay all evening then she would just forget about it and not tell Jade; she didn’t need to be hurt any more. Maybe it would show Sam and Adele walking back that night together holding hands or something? Maybe, Kelly thought, though for some reason she very much doubted it.

  *

  ‘Oh my God, Donna! That’s the one. You look almost as slim as me in that dress!’ Adele gasped as Donna exited the cubicle, with the sales assistant holding the train waddling behind her. They were in Vera Wang; the best bridal store in history in Adele’s opinion.

  ‘Do you like it?’ Donna asked, standing on the platform and gazing in the mirror as she twirled and turned.

  ‘It’s totes amazing. I’m actually well jell of you right now,’ Adele admitted, swigging another mouthful of champagne and finishing the glass. She tapped the glass and looked at the assistant. ‘Any chance of another?’

  ‘Just one moment,’ the sales assistant replied sweetly as she walked off with the empty glass.

  ‘It’s gorgeous, but it’s only the fifth one I’ve tried on though,’ Donna said as she looked down, admiring the lace. ‘My mum isn’t here either.’

  Adele tutted. ‘Babe, mums are never any help. They’re all old and frumpy and probably want you in something dull and boring. You just have to be a Vera bride and you just have to get that dress. It’s the one.’

  ‘It is nice,’ Donna agreed, turning to Adele with a grin. Her mobile started ringing in the cubicle. ‘Can you just grab my phone, Adele? I can’t even walk in this dress!’

  Adele huffed, annoyed she had to get up, and walked to the changing room to quickly get it. ‘It’s Aaron,’ she told Donna as she handed her the phone.

  ‘Hi Aaron,’ Donna said, unable to contain her smile.

  Adele sat back down and looked at her phone, seeing a blank screen. No messages, no calls, no boyfriend. This would have been her dream, picking out her wedding dress in Vera Wang and having no limit on the budget. Donna seriously didn’t realise how lucky she was! Adele was going to make sure they picked the best bridesmaids’ dresses ever. The only good thing about Donna getting married was the fact the wedding was going to be swarming with footballers and she was definitely going to get with one, even if it killed her. She was dying to be a WAG, why did Donna get to be one when she didn’t even care about that sort of thing? Life was just so cruel sometimes. Adele looked at her business phone quickly and saw several emails sitting there waiting to be read. How boring, she thoug
ht, as she read a couple; both were people complaining about the quality of the bikinis. She rolled her eyes in annoyance; this website was nothing but stressful. She was no way giving these people refunds and there was nothing they could do about it. Donna interrupted her thoughts.

  ‘Oh my God! Guess what, Adele?’ Her hand was covering her mouth as she spoke.

  ‘What?’ Adele asked.

  ‘Aaron said there has been a cancellation at Orsett Hall, the venue where we want to get married, and he’s booked it for two weeks’ time! I’m going to be his wife in two weeks!’ Donna looked shocked but thrilled.

  ‘Donna, don’t be so ridiculous,’ Adele replied curtly. ‘You cannot organise a wedding in two weeks! That’s not giving anyone enough notice!’

  ‘Two weeks?’ the sales assistant echoed as she handed Adele her champagne. She shook her head. ‘Oh dear. Our dresses have to be ordered at least eight months in advance. There is no way we’d have one in time. In fact, I think you’ll struggle in most places to find a dress that quickly.’

  Donna’s happy face faded and she lowered her voice. ‘Oh well, I’ll just have to kiss this dress goodbye then.’

  ‘Just tell him you can’t organise it in two weeks for God’s sake!’ Adele exploded, making the sales assistant jump.

  ‘He wants to marry me soon, before football season starts again. I’ll just have to get another dress. Maybe I can get someone to make it?’

  Adele put her perfectly lacquered nail to her forehead, taking deep breaths. ‘You’re going to …’ she could barely say the word, ‘make your wedding dress?’

  ‘Not me, someone else,’ Donna responded, not understanding why that would be so bad.

  Another sales assistant walked past and stopped in her tracks, oohing and ahhing over Donna’s dress. ‘That dress looks stunning on you. Just divine. It’s such a shame as a customer of mine recently bought the same one and has now changed her mind about the whole wedding and was wondering whether she could get a refund or not.’ The lady gave a little laugh. ‘Of course we told her she couldn’t, it had been adjusted to fit her. The poor thing is lumbered with a dress for nothing.’