Chapter V
It'd been a month now since Pete had gone to Newcastle. There had still been some initial conflicts of interest between him and Samantha but nothing too major. They eventually decided that maybe some time apart before the wedding was a good thing. It was a chance to see if this was what they really wanted to do. Samantha had not yet admitted that she had had doubts over their getting engaged and, even though she loved Pete, was still unsure of whether he was marrying her because he wanted to, or whether it was just part and parcel of their on-going relationship.
Now Pete was in Newcastle and Samantha hadn't seen him since the night they had argued. She missed him and was a little upset that she couldn't apologise to him in person. Pete had called a few times but only just to relay the day to day stuff. It seemed to go unsaid that neither of them were particularly happy with the arrangements. Any attempts to make it better would be fruitless: Pete still had to be in Newcastle and Samantha still had to stay in London.
In the meantime, Samantha had buried herself into the wedding plans. It gave her something to think about other than the distance between them or the upsets at her mother's. Lauren was still phoning up at the weekends to whinge and moan, and Samantha still hadn't had the incentive to speak to her mother and confront her about her behaviour. Despite that it was hurting her and that she still missed her father very much, her mother's behaviour was really none of her business and she wanted to keep out of the situation, even though Lauren was doing a good job at trying to drag her into it all.
Samantha was now tackling the wedding list that she and Pete had decided to set up. They wanted it ready and waiting before the invitations went out so Samantha was now rushing through it all.
“The invites will be going out Friday afternoon,” Pete had said during his last phone call, “so I need you to finalise the list before then.”
So Samantha found herself staring intently at the computer screen Thursday evening, trying to decide whether they really needed all the different styles of those wine glasses and if anybody was actually going to purchase the dining table and chairs.
“How's it going?” Stuart asked.
“Not good,” Samantha said, not taking her eyes off the screen.
“Do you think this colour is too intense?”
Samantha turned around to see Stuart wielding a paintbrush and waving it towards the wall he'd partly painted with a terracotta colour. All the boxes had gone now and Stuart had immediately started to decorate the flat as soon as she had finished unpacking everything. The carpet had come up and exposed the decent floorboards underneath. Unfortunately, the floorboards were now covered in an array of multicoloured paint spots where Stuart had tried out several shades of orange, red, and all the colours in-between. She flipped her head to one side and said, “I think that's the best one so far. Are you gonna paint the entire room that colour or just that wall?”
“Too intense then?”
“Well, I guess it depends on whether it'll fade slightly when it's dry or goes deeper.”
“Matt said it'd fade. And this wall is facing the window so it'll fade faster than the rest because of the sunlight.”
Samantha got up and walked over to the wall to take a closer look.
“I guess it does make the room look warmer,” she said eventually. “But we'd have to keep the rest of the room light or…”
“It'll be too dark or look orange, I know,” Stuart finished. “But Matt did say that blue accessories would make it more attractive because of the contrast.”
“Dark blue?”
“Yeah, indigo or a brighter blue like French Navy.” He paused. “I'm not sure how bright that is though.”
“Oh it's not too far from navy,” Samantha confirmed. “It's between navy and royal blue on the spectrum. My secondary school uniform was that colour.”
“Nice!”
“Yeah, the colour was. Same about the actual design though! It was fucking awful.”
“What school uniform isn't? Did I tell you I had to wear shorts in the summer at boarding school?”
“You have got to be joking!”
“I wish I was. Several hundred eleven to seventeen year olds wearing shorts for most part of the year. Hideous if they were slightly overweight.”
“I can only imagine!”
“Yeah, well, it's not surprising that that's where I realised I was gay,” Stuart said, beginning to resume his painting. “I actually felt attracted to the hideous display of hairy legs and knobbly knees!”
Samantha laughed and Stuart grinned at her.
“So you wanna start the other wall?” Stuart asked.
“Much as I'd love to,” Samantha said, “I have a wedding list to attend to.”
“I thought you'd done the guest list.”
“We have. This is the gift list.”
“All crockery and glasses, then?”
Samantha sighed and rubbed her head a little. “I'm trying to put different sorts of things on there to suit different tastes and budgets, but at the end of the day, me and Pete have most of the stuff we need and its just excess. I've managed to put stuff on there that you can't have too many of. You know, stuff like bed sheets, towels, cutlery, glasses…” she trailed off as she started to skim-read the list yet again.
“Who you doing the wedding list with?” Stuart asked.
“John Lewis.”
“Get electrical stuff from there. It's pretty decent and you can get good coverage. I wouldn't really suggest it if it was with someone like Argos. Some of the stuff is a bit dodgy. I mean, I got a good stereo from there but my digital camera has done nothing but play up all the time.”
“I don't need another toaster or kettle.”
“What about a coffee maker?”
“Isn't that what I'm marrying?”
“I'm just trying to help!”
“I know,” Samantha said, turning away from the computer again. “I guess I'm just a little tired and punchy at the mo.”
The toolbar at the bottom of the computer screen started to flash and Samantha clicked on it to reveal her email inbox. There, in bold typeface, was the name of the sender.
“Kevin Chicane?” Samantha said out loud.
“The Kevin Chicane?” Stuart said, coming over to the computer and peering over her shoulder. “As in Kevin Chicane, the ex-boyfriend who cheated on you?”
“The very same,” Samantha said, opening the email. “I haven't heard from him in ages though. It must have been about five years now.”
“What's he want?”
Samantha scanned the message. “Probably just wants to catch up,” she said. “I'll read it out to you if you want.”
“I do want,” Stuart said, going back to his painting.
“Okay,” Samantha said. “Dear Sam, Long time no see. Sorry I haven't been in touch but have been really busy working in Europe. I left my telemarketing job and now work for an electronics company and sell PCs, laptops, and the like. Am in London next week and would like to meet up for a drink sometime if you like. Hopefully see you soon, Kevin.”
“So, you gonna go?”
“What do you think?”
“Well, it depends on you really. I mean, when was the last time you saw him?”
“Uhm, the day I broke it off, I think.”
“Exactly!” Stuart exclaimed, pointing his paintbrush at her in a wave of triumph.
Samantha looked at him in confusion. “So what?”
“He wants redemption, a chance to resolve anything left unsaid between you.”
“I don't think so,” said Samantha. “He was never the type of guy who'd come crawling and apologise. He was rather arrogant and I don't think that'll ever change.”
“Samantha, you walked in on him bonking the biochemist living in his student house…”
“Oh, you think I need reminding?!”
“I'm just saying that he never got to apologise or explain the situation properly.”
“I don't think there's anything to explain, really.”
“You didn't exactly give him a chance, did you?”
Samantha exhaled quickly through her nose, a sign that she was trying to hold her temper under fire. Stuart recognised the signs and decided a different approach.
“Remind me what happened following the, uhm, incident,” he said gently.
“I yelled it was over, walked out, and refused to accept any phone calls from him and blocked his email address,” Samantha replied, mock-pretending to recall everything.
“Yeah,” Stuart replied, “and you camped on my bedroom floor for most part of the week until Amy had cleared all reminders of Kevin from your house.”
Samantha didn't react.
“He hurt you, Sam. I know that. And I'm afraid that if you see him again, you'll fall for him again and get hurt again.”
Samantha looked at the floor, the past now playing before her eyes in flashback. It'd all happened quickly and the shock had left her rather dazed; yet she could remember every detail as if it had happened yesterday.
She had been on the campus, making her way towards the library to take back a textbook. She passed the cluster of houses where Kevin was staying and, on the spur of the moment, decided to drop by. She had her own key as she sometimes stayed there, so she didn't really make much noise coming in. She walked into Kevin's room and saw two naked figures bouncing up and down on the bed, one of them clearly Kevin. In shock she had dropped the textbook she had been holding and the bouncing suddenly halted. The naked couple turned to look at the door in unison and Samantha instantly recognised the girl as Sheila, the attractive biochemist from upstairs, who had clearly fancied Kevin from the word 'go'. For all Samantha knew, it had been going on for a long time undetected. She should have known, really. Kevin had a wandering eye and always playfully looked at other women whenever they went out together. Samantha always brushed it off as 'boys being boys' and never really thought that Kevin would cheat on her. But he did. And it hurt.
“I'm engaged now,” Samantha said, still half lost in thought.
“To the man you rebounded on.”
“That's not true!” Samantha protested.
“You met Pete three weeks later at that Friends society meeting.”
“And we were friends until the New Year when we officially started dating. I didn't rebound on him. I couldn't even bring myself to sleep with him until four months in.”
“Afraid he'd cheat on you too?”
“Yup.”
“So meeting Kevin is what?”
“A 'yes' I think,” Samantha said decidedly. “Its been five years, I'm happily in love now, and I doubt he's changed enough for me to even think about taking him back. Besides, he might have his own girlfriend now and is trying to make amends for past wrongs.”
“My point exactly,” Stuart said. “Just be amicable and keep things light, and everything will be fine.”
Samantha nodded and turned back to the computer. She clicked 'Reply' and wrote: Hi. It certainly has been a long time and we do have some things to catch up on. I can meet up with you after work one day next week. How's Wednesday at Walkabout in Covent Garden? I can be there for about 8. Samantha.
She sat back and read through the message. It was light, relatively friendly without being over-the-top, and didn't say anything that could be misinterpreted as being interested in starting up their relationship again. Happy, she took a deep breath and clicked the 'Send' button.
“Done,” she said to herself.
She switched off the computer and picked up her mobile phone.
“Who you phoning?” Stuart asked.
“I'm calling Pete to let him know I've done the gift list,” Samantha replied. She dialled the number and waited for the ringing to start.
“Hi Samantha,” came Pete's voice through the speaker.
“Hey,” Samantha replied, “Just to let you know I've done the gift list and saved it and everything, so you can tell Personnel at John Lewis to send out the invites on schedule.”
“You are wonderful!”
Samantha grinned. “I know!”
“Oh, hey, look, I'm still gonna organise the honeymoon, okay? Don't book up anything.”
“I thought you said you wouldn't have time…”
“Well, it's all via phone anyway and I can't make you do everything alone. Its tradition I do this and I can do this part, so don't worry about it.”
“We don't have to have…”
“Yes we do! So just leave it, okay? I'll book up something and it'll be a nice surprise.”
“Okay,” Samantha said, reluctantly. “But let me know if you can't organise something, okay? I really don't mind.”
“Sure! Look, I gotta run.”
“That's okay,” Samantha assured him. “I only wanted to let you know about the gift list. See ya.”
“Yeah, see ya. Love you.”
“Love you too.”
Samantha ended the call and looked at the phone, trying to picture Pete's face in the display screen. The doorbell interrupted her thoughts.
“I'll get it, Stu,” Samantha said.
“Hey!” Amy said, as Samantha opened the door. “I bought Manor House cake. Hope that's okay?”
“Yeah, that's cool,” Samantha said, ushering Amy in and closing the door behind her.
“Hey Stu,” Amy said. “Nice colour.”
“Not too bright?” Stuart asked, standing back from his handiwork.
“No,” Amy said, “it's really quite warming. Inviting, even.”
“It'll look fantastic when we get the tree up,” Samantha put in.
“You put your tree up Christmas Eve, don't you?” Amy asked, giving Samantha the cake box.
“Yeah, usually,” Samantha answered, “but that was at Mum's. I might put it up earlier than that, just to be different. It was too agonising having to wait till Christmas Eve and then rush to get the house all done in one evening.”
“Right, I'm done!” announced Stuart, dropping his paintbrush onto the cover cloths on the floor. “I'm gonna shower and get changed before we start, okay?” He darted into the bathroom before anyone could say anything.
“Okay, I have to open a window!” Amy cried, and rushed over to the window and threw it open. “God, the smell of paint is overwhelming!”
“Yeah, I know,” Samantha said, wrinkling up her nose as she went into the kitchen. “I guess I got used to it after a while. Stu was gonna get that 'Breathe-Easy' stuff but he didn't like any of the colours in the range.”
“Open that kitchen window too, please hon,” Amy asked. “I don't think one is gonna be enough.”
“Sure,” Samantha complied, opening the window and drawing the blind down. “Draw the curtain across the lounge window, Amy, to stop the insects coming in. The moths love it in here.”
“Done and done.”
“Here,” Samantha said, walking into the lounge with the cake on a stand in one hand, and a bottle of wine in the other, “take these and I'll grab a couple of candles.”
Samantha disappeared into her bedroom and reappeared with a box of tea lights. “These are vanilla scented,” she explained, “so they should do the job after a few minutes.”
Samantha and Amy took out the tea lights and placed them on the mantelshelf, the coffee table, and along the breakfast bar, before grabbing the box of matches and lighting them all.
“Mmm,” Amy hummed, inhaling dramatically. “Smells better already!”
“Did you tell her about Kevin?” yelled Stuart from the bathroom.
“What about Kevin?” Amy said sharply.
“Oh, nothing,” Samantha said, unconvincingly.
Amy put her hands on her hips and said, “You seeing Kevin again?”
“No, no,” Samantha said. “Well, not exactly. I mean, I am gonna see him but…”
“Why?” Amy interrupted.
“He emailed me this evening,” Samantha explained, “and he asked to catch up and I said 'Yes'.”
Amy started pacing the room.
“I can't believe you,” she said. “He completely betrayed your trust left you crushed and humiliated. He cheated on you, probably with other people besides Sheila, and I'm the one who had to clear out your house of any mementos, remember? You moped around for ages and just…”
“It's in the past,” Samantha cut in. “It was a long time ago.”
Amy didn't look convinced.
“I'm happy with Pete now, and to be honest, if I hadn't caught Kevin, I probably wouldn't have met him.”
“So you're all ready to go and thank him for cheating on you?” accused Amy.
“No!” Samantha shot back. “He just wants to catch up and that's all it'll be, okay?”
“It's not just that,” Amy sighed, sitting herself down on the sofa. She grabbed one of the wine glasses on the coffee table and poured a glass.
“I'm worried that you'll see him again and…” she trailed off as she took a sip from the glass.
“I'll what?” Samantha asked, pouring herself a glass too. “Beat him up?”
Amy choked.
“Not that he doesn't deserve it,” she said, “but no, I was thinking that you might fall for him again.”
The doorbell rang and Samantha went to answer it.
“Oh please, not you too,” she said, as she opened the door to see Matt standing there.
“You know he's really handsome and very charming,” Amy called out to her.
“Who's handsome and charming?” demanded Matt, grinning. “Talking about me again, darling?”
“Nah,” Samantha said, kissing Matt on the cheek, “you don't quite fit the bill!”
“Take that back!” Matt said, mock-offended, and stalked past Samantha into the lounge.
“Hey Matt,” Amy waved.
“Where's my bitch?” Matt demanded.
“Cleaning up,” Samantha said, indicating towards the bathroom. She knocked on the bathroom door and called to Stuart, “Come on bitch! Cake is a-waiting!!”
“Oh my god,” Matt said, standing in front of the newly painted wall and swinging his arms around. “This colour is just brilliant. I have the most gorgeous print that will go great on here.”
“We've already decided to have Flaming Juno up,” Stuart said, making an appearance from the bathroom.
“My thoughts exactly!” declared Matt.
“I'm just gonna get dressed,” Stuart said, thumbing towards his bedroom. “Matt, I need you to see this colour chart I picked up.”
Matt duly followed Stuart into his bedroom and the door closed.
“So, you think he's still really good looking, then?” Amy asked Samantha.
“Who?”
“Kevin.”
“Probably,” Samantha said, a smile breaking out on her face.
“I know that look,” Amy said.
“It's in the past, remember?”
“Just remember all the hurt and pain he caused you…”
“It's in the past,” Samantha repeated. “How many times do I have to say this? I love Pete. I'm getting married to Pete. Kevin is an arrogant cheat and just wants to say 'Hi'. Okay?”
“Okay.”
The girls clinked glasses and each took a hearty sip.
“Now,” said Samantha, “How about a piece of cake?”
Back to Chapter IV
Go to Chapter VI
Now Pete was in Newcastle and Samantha hadn't seen him since the night they had argued. She missed him and was a little upset that she couldn't apologise to him in person. Pete had called a few times but only just to relay the day to day stuff. It seemed to go unsaid that neither of them were particularly happy with the arrangements. Any attempts to make it better would be fruitless: Pete still had to be in Newcastle and Samantha still had to stay in London.
In the meantime, Samantha had buried herself into the wedding plans. It gave her something to think about other than the distance between them or the upsets at her mother's. Lauren was still phoning up at the weekends to whinge and moan, and Samantha still hadn't had the incentive to speak to her mother and confront her about her behaviour. Despite that it was hurting her and that she still missed her father very much, her mother's behaviour was really none of her business and she wanted to keep out of the situation, even though Lauren was doing a good job at trying to drag her into it all.
Samantha was now tackling the wedding list that she and Pete had decided to set up. They wanted it ready and waiting before the invitations went out so Samantha was now rushing through it all.
“The invites will be going out Friday afternoon,” Pete had said during his last phone call, “so I need you to finalise the list before then.”
So Samantha found herself staring intently at the computer screen Thursday evening, trying to decide whether they really needed all the different styles of those wine glasses and if anybody was actually going to purchase the dining table and chairs.
“How's it going?” Stuart asked.
“Not good,” Samantha said, not taking her eyes off the screen.
“Do you think this colour is too intense?”
Samantha turned around to see Stuart wielding a paintbrush and waving it towards the wall he'd partly painted with a terracotta colour. All the boxes had gone now and Stuart had immediately started to decorate the flat as soon as she had finished unpacking everything. The carpet had come up and exposed the decent floorboards underneath. Unfortunately, the floorboards were now covered in an array of multicoloured paint spots where Stuart had tried out several shades of orange, red, and all the colours in-between. She flipped her head to one side and said, “I think that's the best one so far. Are you gonna paint the entire room that colour or just that wall?”
“Too intense then?”
“Well, I guess it depends on whether it'll fade slightly when it's dry or goes deeper.”
“Matt said it'd fade. And this wall is facing the window so it'll fade faster than the rest because of the sunlight.”
Samantha got up and walked over to the wall to take a closer look.
“I guess it does make the room look warmer,” she said eventually. “But we'd have to keep the rest of the room light or…”
“It'll be too dark or look orange, I know,” Stuart finished. “But Matt did say that blue accessories would make it more attractive because of the contrast.”
“Dark blue?”
“Yeah, indigo or a brighter blue like French Navy.” He paused. “I'm not sure how bright that is though.”
“Oh it's not too far from navy,” Samantha confirmed. “It's between navy and royal blue on the spectrum. My secondary school uniform was that colour.”
“Nice!”
“Yeah, the colour was. Same about the actual design though! It was fucking awful.”
“What school uniform isn't? Did I tell you I had to wear shorts in the summer at boarding school?”
“You have got to be joking!”
“I wish I was. Several hundred eleven to seventeen year olds wearing shorts for most part of the year. Hideous if they were slightly overweight.”
“I can only imagine!”
“Yeah, well, it's not surprising that that's where I realised I was gay,” Stuart said, beginning to resume his painting. “I actually felt attracted to the hideous display of hairy legs and knobbly knees!”
Samantha laughed and Stuart grinned at her.
“So you wanna start the other wall?” Stuart asked.
“Much as I'd love to,” Samantha said, “I have a wedding list to attend to.”
“I thought you'd done the guest list.”
“We have. This is the gift list.”
“All crockery and glasses, then?”
Samantha sighed and rubbed her head a little. “I'm trying to put different sorts of things on there to suit different tastes and budgets, but at the end of the day, me and Pete have most of the stuff we need and its just excess. I've managed to put stuff on there that you can't have too many of. You know, stuff like bed sheets, towels, cutlery, glasses…” she trailed off as she started to skim-read the list yet again.
“Who you doing the wedding list with?” Stuart asked.
“John Lewis.”
“Get electrical stuff from there. It's pretty decent and you can get good coverage. I wouldn't really suggest it if it was with someone like Argos. Some of the stuff is a bit dodgy. I mean, I got a good stereo from there but my digital camera has done nothing but play up all the time.”
“I don't need another toaster or kettle.”
“What about a coffee maker?”
“Isn't that what I'm marrying?”
“I'm just trying to help!”
“I know,” Samantha said, turning away from the computer again. “I guess I'm just a little tired and punchy at the mo.”
The toolbar at the bottom of the computer screen started to flash and Samantha clicked on it to reveal her email inbox. There, in bold typeface, was the name of the sender.
“Kevin Chicane?” Samantha said out loud.
“The Kevin Chicane?” Stuart said, coming over to the computer and peering over her shoulder. “As in Kevin Chicane, the ex-boyfriend who cheated on you?”
“The very same,” Samantha said, opening the email. “I haven't heard from him in ages though. It must have been about five years now.”
“What's he want?”
Samantha scanned the message. “Probably just wants to catch up,” she said. “I'll read it out to you if you want.”
“I do want,” Stuart said, going back to his painting.
“Okay,” Samantha said. “Dear Sam, Long time no see. Sorry I haven't been in touch but have been really busy working in Europe. I left my telemarketing job and now work for an electronics company and sell PCs, laptops, and the like. Am in London next week and would like to meet up for a drink sometime if you like. Hopefully see you soon, Kevin.”
“So, you gonna go?”
“What do you think?”
“Well, it depends on you really. I mean, when was the last time you saw him?”
“Uhm, the day I broke it off, I think.”
“Exactly!” Stuart exclaimed, pointing his paintbrush at her in a wave of triumph.
Samantha looked at him in confusion. “So what?”
“He wants redemption, a chance to resolve anything left unsaid between you.”
“I don't think so,” said Samantha. “He was never the type of guy who'd come crawling and apologise. He was rather arrogant and I don't think that'll ever change.”
“Samantha, you walked in on him bonking the biochemist living in his student house…”
“Oh, you think I need reminding?!”
“I'm just saying that he never got to apologise or explain the situation properly.”
“I don't think there's anything to explain, really.”
“You didn't exactly give him a chance, did you?”
Samantha exhaled quickly through her nose, a sign that she was trying to hold her temper under fire. Stuart recognised the signs and decided a different approach.
“Remind me what happened following the, uhm, incident,” he said gently.
“I yelled it was over, walked out, and refused to accept any phone calls from him and blocked his email address,” Samantha replied, mock-pretending to recall everything.
“Yeah,” Stuart replied, “and you camped on my bedroom floor for most part of the week until Amy had cleared all reminders of Kevin from your house.”
Samantha didn't react.
“He hurt you, Sam. I know that. And I'm afraid that if you see him again, you'll fall for him again and get hurt again.”
Samantha looked at the floor, the past now playing before her eyes in flashback. It'd all happened quickly and the shock had left her rather dazed; yet she could remember every detail as if it had happened yesterday.
She had been on the campus, making her way towards the library to take back a textbook. She passed the cluster of houses where Kevin was staying and, on the spur of the moment, decided to drop by. She had her own key as she sometimes stayed there, so she didn't really make much noise coming in. She walked into Kevin's room and saw two naked figures bouncing up and down on the bed, one of them clearly Kevin. In shock she had dropped the textbook she had been holding and the bouncing suddenly halted. The naked couple turned to look at the door in unison and Samantha instantly recognised the girl as Sheila, the attractive biochemist from upstairs, who had clearly fancied Kevin from the word 'go'. For all Samantha knew, it had been going on for a long time undetected. She should have known, really. Kevin had a wandering eye and always playfully looked at other women whenever they went out together. Samantha always brushed it off as 'boys being boys' and never really thought that Kevin would cheat on her. But he did. And it hurt.
“I'm engaged now,” Samantha said, still half lost in thought.
“To the man you rebounded on.”
“That's not true!” Samantha protested.
“You met Pete three weeks later at that Friends society meeting.”
“And we were friends until the New Year when we officially started dating. I didn't rebound on him. I couldn't even bring myself to sleep with him until four months in.”
“Afraid he'd cheat on you too?”
“Yup.”
“So meeting Kevin is what?”
“A 'yes' I think,” Samantha said decidedly. “Its been five years, I'm happily in love now, and I doubt he's changed enough for me to even think about taking him back. Besides, he might have his own girlfriend now and is trying to make amends for past wrongs.”
“My point exactly,” Stuart said. “Just be amicable and keep things light, and everything will be fine.”
Samantha nodded and turned back to the computer. She clicked 'Reply' and wrote: Hi. It certainly has been a long time and we do have some things to catch up on. I can meet up with you after work one day next week. How's Wednesday at Walkabout in Covent Garden? I can be there for about 8. Samantha.
She sat back and read through the message. It was light, relatively friendly without being over-the-top, and didn't say anything that could be misinterpreted as being interested in starting up their relationship again. Happy, she took a deep breath and clicked the 'Send' button.
“Done,” she said to herself.
She switched off the computer and picked up her mobile phone.
“Who you phoning?” Stuart asked.
“I'm calling Pete to let him know I've done the gift list,” Samantha replied. She dialled the number and waited for the ringing to start.
“Hi Samantha,” came Pete's voice through the speaker.
“Hey,” Samantha replied, “Just to let you know I've done the gift list and saved it and everything, so you can tell Personnel at John Lewis to send out the invites on schedule.”
“You are wonderful!”
Samantha grinned. “I know!”
“Oh, hey, look, I'm still gonna organise the honeymoon, okay? Don't book up anything.”
“I thought you said you wouldn't have time…”
“Well, it's all via phone anyway and I can't make you do everything alone. Its tradition I do this and I can do this part, so don't worry about it.”
“We don't have to have…”
“Yes we do! So just leave it, okay? I'll book up something and it'll be a nice surprise.”
“Okay,” Samantha said, reluctantly. “But let me know if you can't organise something, okay? I really don't mind.”
“Sure! Look, I gotta run.”
“That's okay,” Samantha assured him. “I only wanted to let you know about the gift list. See ya.”
“Yeah, see ya. Love you.”
“Love you too.”
Samantha ended the call and looked at the phone, trying to picture Pete's face in the display screen. The doorbell interrupted her thoughts.
“I'll get it, Stu,” Samantha said.
“Hey!” Amy said, as Samantha opened the door. “I bought Manor House cake. Hope that's okay?”
“Yeah, that's cool,” Samantha said, ushering Amy in and closing the door behind her.
“Hey Stu,” Amy said. “Nice colour.”
“Not too bright?” Stuart asked, standing back from his handiwork.
“No,” Amy said, “it's really quite warming. Inviting, even.”
“It'll look fantastic when we get the tree up,” Samantha put in.
“You put your tree up Christmas Eve, don't you?” Amy asked, giving Samantha the cake box.
“Yeah, usually,” Samantha answered, “but that was at Mum's. I might put it up earlier than that, just to be different. It was too agonising having to wait till Christmas Eve and then rush to get the house all done in one evening.”
“Right, I'm done!” announced Stuart, dropping his paintbrush onto the cover cloths on the floor. “I'm gonna shower and get changed before we start, okay?” He darted into the bathroom before anyone could say anything.
“Okay, I have to open a window!” Amy cried, and rushed over to the window and threw it open. “God, the smell of paint is overwhelming!”
“Yeah, I know,” Samantha said, wrinkling up her nose as she went into the kitchen. “I guess I got used to it after a while. Stu was gonna get that 'Breathe-Easy' stuff but he didn't like any of the colours in the range.”
“Open that kitchen window too, please hon,” Amy asked. “I don't think one is gonna be enough.”
“Sure,” Samantha complied, opening the window and drawing the blind down. “Draw the curtain across the lounge window, Amy, to stop the insects coming in. The moths love it in here.”
“Done and done.”
“Here,” Samantha said, walking into the lounge with the cake on a stand in one hand, and a bottle of wine in the other, “take these and I'll grab a couple of candles.”
Samantha disappeared into her bedroom and reappeared with a box of tea lights. “These are vanilla scented,” she explained, “so they should do the job after a few minutes.”
Samantha and Amy took out the tea lights and placed them on the mantelshelf, the coffee table, and along the breakfast bar, before grabbing the box of matches and lighting them all.
“Mmm,” Amy hummed, inhaling dramatically. “Smells better already!”
“Did you tell her about Kevin?” yelled Stuart from the bathroom.
“What about Kevin?” Amy said sharply.
“Oh, nothing,” Samantha said, unconvincingly.
Amy put her hands on her hips and said, “You seeing Kevin again?”
“No, no,” Samantha said. “Well, not exactly. I mean, I am gonna see him but…”
“Why?” Amy interrupted.
“He emailed me this evening,” Samantha explained, “and he asked to catch up and I said 'Yes'.”
Amy started pacing the room.
“I can't believe you,” she said. “He completely betrayed your trust left you crushed and humiliated. He cheated on you, probably with other people besides Sheila, and I'm the one who had to clear out your house of any mementos, remember? You moped around for ages and just…”
“It's in the past,” Samantha cut in. “It was a long time ago.”
Amy didn't look convinced.
“I'm happy with Pete now, and to be honest, if I hadn't caught Kevin, I probably wouldn't have met him.”
“So you're all ready to go and thank him for cheating on you?” accused Amy.
“No!” Samantha shot back. “He just wants to catch up and that's all it'll be, okay?”
“It's not just that,” Amy sighed, sitting herself down on the sofa. She grabbed one of the wine glasses on the coffee table and poured a glass.
“I'm worried that you'll see him again and…” she trailed off as she took a sip from the glass.
“I'll what?” Samantha asked, pouring herself a glass too. “Beat him up?”
Amy choked.
“Not that he doesn't deserve it,” she said, “but no, I was thinking that you might fall for him again.”
The doorbell rang and Samantha went to answer it.
“Oh please, not you too,” she said, as she opened the door to see Matt standing there.
“You know he's really handsome and very charming,” Amy called out to her.
“Who's handsome and charming?” demanded Matt, grinning. “Talking about me again, darling?”
“Nah,” Samantha said, kissing Matt on the cheek, “you don't quite fit the bill!”
“Take that back!” Matt said, mock-offended, and stalked past Samantha into the lounge.
“Hey Matt,” Amy waved.
“Where's my bitch?” Matt demanded.
“Cleaning up,” Samantha said, indicating towards the bathroom. She knocked on the bathroom door and called to Stuart, “Come on bitch! Cake is a-waiting!!”
“Oh my god,” Matt said, standing in front of the newly painted wall and swinging his arms around. “This colour is just brilliant. I have the most gorgeous print that will go great on here.”
“We've already decided to have Flaming Juno up,” Stuart said, making an appearance from the bathroom.
“My thoughts exactly!” declared Matt.
“I'm just gonna get dressed,” Stuart said, thumbing towards his bedroom. “Matt, I need you to see this colour chart I picked up.”
Matt duly followed Stuart into his bedroom and the door closed.
“So, you think he's still really good looking, then?” Amy asked Samantha.
“Who?”
“Kevin.”
“Probably,” Samantha said, a smile breaking out on her face.
“I know that look,” Amy said.
“It's in the past, remember?”
“Just remember all the hurt and pain he caused you…”
“It's in the past,” Samantha repeated. “How many times do I have to say this? I love Pete. I'm getting married to Pete. Kevin is an arrogant cheat and just wants to say 'Hi'. Okay?”
“Okay.”
The girls clinked glasses and each took a hearty sip.
“Now,” said Samantha, “How about a piece of cake?”
Back to Chapter IV
Go to Chapter VI
© 2004 Clare Benton
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