Eventually he caught sight of her sitting by the edge of the forest. She looked beautiful, wistful and lost.
He longed to go and hug her, but held back in case she turned away from him.
‘It’s all right, Harry,’ she said. ‘I know you’re there.’
‘Oh.’ Harry came forward feeling foolish.
‘Look Josie, I’m so sorry. Nothing happened with Diana, honestly. It’s been a strange evening and a pretty odd weekend. Can we just start again?’
‘It’s okay,’ said Josie, ‘I’m sorry too.’
She took his hand and held it.
‘But I feel a bit strange. It’s been such a weird night, and I think I need a bit of space. I’ve clearly been pressurising you about the wedding, and I feel stupid I didn’t know how serious you were about your travel plans. Sorry, Harry, but I need some time to think this all over.’
Whatever Harry had been expecting, it wasn’t this. He opened his mouth and shut it again.
‘What is there to think over?’ he asked weakly.
‘Everything,’ said Josie, holding his hand, but it felt cold to the touch. ‘I’m worried we may have rushed things. Perhaps we should slow it all down, delay the wedding –’
Delay the wedding? Harry felt seriously alarmed now. He’d not been sure about the wedding itself, and should have felt pleased. But a cold clutch of fear held him in its grip. What if delay the wedding, meant cancel the wedding? He’d always felt so lucky to have found Josie, and amazed that someone as gorgeous as her had chosen him. Maybe she was the one getting cold feet? Perhaps she didn’t want him at all, and his worst fears were going to come to pass.
‘Look, all this hypnosis stuff has clearly played around with all our minds,’ he said. ‘This is nothing. We’ll get over it. I’m sure we can work it out. I never meant to hurt you.’
‘You haven’t,’ said Josie. ‘It’s okay, really. I hope you and Di are very happy together. Now if you don’t mind, I have some serious thinking to do. I’ll see you later.’ With that, she got up and walked away.
Harry slumped back with his head in his hands. Now what? Josie sounded like she had been really serious. What if she left him? He loved her now more than anything. He’d been a prize idiot, and it could cost him dear.
Josie walked away from Harry, feeling oddly numb. It was as if a veil had been lifted from her eyes. Once she’d got over the shock of seeing Diana and Harry together, she’d known what she had to do. If Harry was having doubts about their relationship, now was the time to say it. Better now than later, and at least it would stop her worrying that her parents secretly felt she was making a mistake.
She had been so thrilled to see him again at Amy’s wedding, remembering how well they’d got on when they dated at university, and had thrown herself headlong into the relationship. She’d wanted it to work, she’d wanted to get married. She’d got so caught up with the excitement of a wedding, she’d forgotten the important person, Harry. And maybe she’d pushed him away. If he ended up in Di’s arms, she only had herself to blame.
The mist had come up even thicker now, so Josie was a little uncertain of the way. Which path had she come down? The trouble was, in the dark and in this mist, they all looked the same. She struck off to the left, feeling sure that was the direction she’d come in, but in only a few moments, she realised she’d lost her way.
Bushes loomed at her alarmingly and the path she was on grew smaller and smaller until it vanished altogether, and she found herself scrambling through undergrowth to get out into the open.
‘Oh.’ She’d arrived by chance at the open-air theatre. Should she go in, or should she just call it a night? There seemed no point pursuing this hypnotism thing, it had been such a disaster.
She was about to turn back, but then she noticed the gate was open, and a faint voice was declaiming, ‘I know a bank where the wild thyme blows …’
Intrigued, Josie pushed open the gate and walked in.
1998: Bron
She was coming out of the hotel, just as he was entering it. Swathed in furs, her hair covered with a scarf, eyes hidden behind dark glasses, her lips, bright red in a cruel smile. He hadn’t seen her for five years, but he’d have recognised her anywhere. Still the same, beautiful Tati. A bit sadder and wiser now, perhaps, but for all the talk in the tabloids of how Tati had lost ‘it’ – whatever ‘it’ was – she would always remain beautiful to him.
‘Bron,’ she said, ‘what a delight.’
Her voice was dripping with sarcasm, and he felt a sharp blow in the pit of his stomach. Why did she always have to be so unkind to him?
‘The pleasure’s all mine,’ he responded, cursing himself for still getting that weak-kneed feeling in her presence. It was that damned perfume. Got him every time.
‘Still toiling away behind the cameras?’ her smile said it all; you’ve lost it, career over, just like me.
‘How’s rehab?’ It was a low blow, but the pain she perpetually caused him, and the memory of the way she’d treated him still rankled.
‘I’ve been clean for three years!’ she snapped. ‘I’ve just been meeting my agent, if you must know. A possible part in Hollywood.’
‘London’s loss is Hollywood’s gain,’ said Bron, with only the slightest trace of irony.
‘Hmm, well it’s not a done deal,’ she said, ‘so not a word, understood?’
‘My lips are sealed,’ Bron bowed politely.
She softened slightly. ‘You always were a gentleman, Bron,’ she said.
There was a pause and then she said quickly, ‘I hear you’re married. I hope you’re luckier than I was.’
And then she was gone in a blur of scarves and perfume, and Bron stood looking after her, not sure if he felt happy or sad.
Part Three
The Course of True Love
‘I know a bank where the wild thyme blows,
Where oxlips and the nodding violet grows.
Quite over-canopied with luscious woodbine,
With sweet musk-roses and with eglantine.’
A Midsummer Night’s Dream: Act II, Scene 1
‘People enjoy what I do. I enjoy what I do, otherwise I wouldn’t do it. Do I owe them anything? No, I don’t think so. It’s their choice after all.’
Freddie Puck: interview with Loaded; 2000
Chapter Nineteen
Diana was hacking her way through the bushes. Leaving the theatre, she’d decided the best thing she could do was to go home and get some sleep. This evening had turned into a total farce, and she just wanted it to be over, so she could forget all about it, before she made an even bigger fool of herself.
But with the mist now fully entrenched on the cliffs, she had become lost within minutes and ended up in some woods, where owls hooted, creatures rustled and there were all sorts of mysterious and intimidating noises. Before long the path petered out, and she found herself scrambling under branches and pushing her way through nettles and brambles, before tumbling into a hedge, from which she was now unceremoniously pulling herself. She was grateful for her fleece, which not only was keeping her warm as the temperature dropped but had stopped her arms from being completely scratched to bits, though she’d stung her hands after grabbing a nettle by mistake, and her hair, which had been in a very fetching up-do, was now straggling round her face. She was filthy dirty and very, very cross. So the last voice she wanted to hear was Ant’s.
‘Di, is that you?’ he said.
Emerging from the mist like a phantom, Ant hove into view.
‘Hang on, I’ll help you out of there.’
Great, now her humiliation was complete.
‘Don’t you dare laugh,’ Diana said, trying to summon what little dignity she had left as Ant pushed brambles and bracken out of his way to reach her.
‘Watch out, there are some stingers there – oh.’
Ouch. Ant’s warning had come too late; Diana simultaneously put her hand in among the nettles, and accidentally dragged her leg throug
h them as she stumbled through the gap.
‘Damn, that hurts.’
Diana wrung her hand, and checked Ant suspiciously for laughter, but he seemed surprisingly solicitous. Perhaps she’d underestimated his capacity for chivalry.
‘Here, let me find you a dock leaf. Hang on.’
Ant half dragged, half yanked Diana the rest of the way out of the bushes and sat her down.
‘Where’s it stinging?’
‘Everywhere,’ said Diana crossly, then, aware that she might be appearing like a prima donna, said, ‘I’m scratched everywhere, but the sting’s on my leg.’
‘Oh, I’m just going to rub this dock leaf on it.’
‘What are you doing?’ said Diana in alarm. The first time Ant had touched her leg, on around their second or third date, she’d got into all sorts of trouble. She could still remember the treacherous feelings of excitement, nerves and delicious anticipation as if it were yesterday. She had no intention of her body betraying her in that way now.
‘It will make it feel better, honestly,’ he said.
And to Diana’s surprise, it did. Whatever was in the leaf soothed the stinging sensation, and soon it had gone altogether.
‘That’s amazing,’ she said. ‘How did you know how to do that?’
Ant shrugged his shoulders.
‘Dunno, I just do. Seriously, did you never rub dock leaves on your leg as a kid? I thought everyone did.’
‘City girl through and through, me. I don’t think I ever saw a nettle till I left home,’ Diana said. She looked at Ant suspiciously. ‘What’s with you? You’re not normally this helpful.’
‘Blame it on Freddie. He apparently threw in a little, you’re going to be responsible for everyone thing into my hypnosis experience. It’s a right pain in the arse. I’ve sent him to find Harry and Josie and get them talking again. Then I’m going get him to make me irresponsible again.’
‘I think I prefer the responsible version,’ said Diana.
‘I don’t,’ said Ant with feeling.
‘That’s because the real you is an arse,’ said Diana. ‘Take it from one who knows, you’re much better like this.’
‘We’ll have to disagree on that,’ said Ant. ‘I do not want to be responsible for everyone. Especially not you.’
‘There’s no need for you to,’ Diana bristled. The real, obnoxious Ant was in there after all.
‘Di, you can’t have Harry. I saw the way you looked at him,’ said Ant, more gently then he expected. ‘It’ll ruin everything.’
‘I don’t know what I feel about Harry,’ said Di, ‘I’d never thought of him like that till tonight. This hypnotism has muddled everything up.’
‘Maybe Freddie can fix it so we go back to normal,’ said Ant.
‘So now what?’
‘I said I’d wait here for Freddie and Bron,’ said Ant.
‘I suppose I could stay with you,’ said Diana, though not entirely relishing the prospect. ‘I doubt Harry and Josie want to see me, and I’ve nothing else to do.’
Harry wandered through the mist, also lost in more ways than one. He wished he’d kept his mouth shut, and not mentioned anything about his travel plans. Then he might be lost, but at least Josie would be at his side. Why had he opened his big mouth?
Because it’s true, a voice said in his head, and he realised with sudden clarity it was. He loved Josie, truly, with all his heart, and would do anything for her, but he also wanted to travel, see the world, have a proper attempt at being a travel journalist, instead of marking time at the Hornsey Echo. If he hadn’t met Josie again, he’d have probably been off by now. But he had, and fallen head over heels with her. In the first flush of new romance and the excitement of getting married, his plans had fallen by the wayside. No wonder she hadn’t taken them seriously. He’d forgotten to take them seriously himself. If he found her, Harry thought, and explained it properly, maybe she’d understand. This was just a blip in their relationship, the first no doubt of many. He needed to find Josie as quickly as possible and put things right.
He’d been walking aimlessly for about an hour before he realised he must have gone round in a circle. The bush and rock he’d seen half an hour ago loomed up once more.
‘Can this sodding evening get any worse?’ he said, sitting down in exasperation. If ever he needed a fag it was now.
‘Harry? Is that you?’ A voice came out of the gloom, and Auberon Fanshawe lurched towards him. ‘I keep getting lost in all this fog.’
‘Me too,’ said Harry. ‘What are you doing?’
‘The idea was that I’d find you and bring you back to Freddie for a little – erm – hypnotic readjustment, so we can start again.’
‘So it is Freddie’s fault,’ said Harry. ‘I should have known this hypnosis thing was a bad idea.’
‘Steady on,’ said Auberon. ‘You were supposed to wake up next to Josie. But you didn’t.’
‘No, because when I got back, she was chatting to Diana and oh –’
‘Diana fell in love with the first person she saw – you. So if I can get you back to Josie and Freddie and he puts you all under again, Josie can forget what she saw, and then Freddie can make Diana forget she’s in love with you.’
‘That easy?’
‘That easy.’
‘Okay, what are we waiting for?’
‘Right, good,’ said Auberon. ‘Off we go, then.’
‘Er, which way?’ said Harry.
‘This way,’ said Auberon firmly. ‘I know I haven’t been down here before.’
Harry followed Auberon down a path that had cleared a little as the mist escaped. He was damned if he was going to get lost again. Not now there was a chance to put things right.
Josie came into the theatre to see Mike Slowbotham standing dramatically declaiming his lines.
‘Miss Okeby,’ he rushed forwards expectantly.
‘Erm, sorry, no,’ said Josie. Oh, God, please don’t let Mike come on to her. That would be too much to bear after the trials of this evening.
‘Oh, it’s you. Darling little Josie, how are you?’ he said exuberantly. Nicola had spent many years on the committee of the local theatre, and Josie had been darling little Josie nearly all her life, much to her disgust.
‘I have the most exciting news to impart,’ Mike said portentously. ‘We will soon be graced with the presence of that angel of the small screen, that beauty, that wondrous being, the divine Tatiana Okeby, treading the very ground we walk on. And then I hope she will consent to be mine.’
‘Right,’ said Josie. ‘And she knows this, does she?’
It sounded most unlikely, and she wondered if Freddie Puck could be somehow involved.
‘Without a doubt,’ said Mike. ‘Tatiana and I are soulmates, two halves of a whole. You saw her last night, in the pub, how she stood up for me. I’ve finally met someone who can match me in every way. Tatiana is perfect.’
‘Well, good luck with that,’ said Josie. ‘I think she’s just intending for you to give her a part in your production.’
‘Production? Of course she’s going to have a leading role, as befits the leading lady in my life.’
‘Oh, God, you really mean it, don’t you?’ Josie laughed out loud, forgetting her own troubles for a moment. Mike had always had delusions about his ability to attract women, but this took the biscuit. ‘Sorry to disappoint you, but I think you might be punching a tad above your weight, there.’
The door creaked open behind them and Tatiana swept in.
‘Where do you want me, darling,’ she said. ‘I can’t wait to begin.’
Mike looked as if all his Christmases had come at once.
‘Right, erm, okay,’ he began, voice squeaking (perhaps he wasn’t as confident as he appeared), ‘I thought we could start with …’
Josie wondered what she should do. She still hadn’t sorted out the mess in her head about Harry and the wedding yet, and wasn’t quite ready to find him. She sat down instead. This could be fun, she
thought. May as well stay and watch.
Ant felt very strange, sitting here with Di. Something about the intimacy of putting the dock leaf on her leg had sparked something. Regret? Maybe … Why had he let her go all those years ago? Till their split, he’d thought her the best thing that had ever happened to him. Yes, he knew the reasons she’d given him later, but why had he never told her how he’d felt about it? Because she never gave you a chance. The thought came unbidden, and he realised it was true. Suddenly he wanted her to hear him out, as she hadn’t all those years ago.
‘So go on, now we’re alone, answer the question I asked you last night,’ he said.
‘What question was that?’ said Diana, looking uncomfortable.
‘Why you hate me so much,’ he said. ‘You do realise you never actually told me.’
Diana rolled her eyes.
‘You’re bringing that up now?’
‘Why not?’ he said. ‘It’s the first time we’ve had a chance to properly talk all weekend. You never gave me the chance before.’
‘Maybe I don’t want to talk,’ said Diana.
‘And maybe I do,’ said Ant.
‘Why? What good will it do? It’s a long time ago. We were in love. You were a bastard. End of story.’
‘Because it was good, wasn’t it?’ he said softly. ‘I’m not making that up. At one point I thought …’
A memory sprang unbidden into his head, of having brunch with Di and looking across the table at her and realising how very lucky he was. It hadn’t just been good; it had been amazing.
‘Well, you thought wrong,’ said Diana, savagely ripping out his memory. ‘Look, what is this? Do you want to make amends for what you did? You had your chance. It’s too late.’
‘That’s the thing, though,’ said Ant. ‘I’ve never known what it was that I did wrong. As far as I knew everything was fine, and then you ditched me in front of everyone. It was humiliating.’
‘Humiliating? Humiliating?’ Diana practically screamed. ‘I’ll give you humiliating. Ant, I lost our baby all alone in a foreign hospital and you weren’t there. It wasn’t just humiliating, it damn near broke my heart.’
Midsummer Magic Page 17
