Always Something There to Remind Me (16 page)

‘Hey there,’ he whispered. ‘It’s supposed to be a treat, but if you really don’t want to, there’s no pressure.’ He was so kind and gentle … so like … someone else, that before I knew it we were kissing. I could hardly believe it. I was standing on a rooftop in the city centre being kissed by Josh Greenwood! We broke apart from the embrace and I stood looking up at him. Those eyes, those gorgeous eyes, were so full of reassurance.

He asked me again, ‘Will you fly with me, Luvsik Lydia? I’ll take care of you.’

I took the hand he offered me and allowed him to help me climb aboard.

Chapter 28: Up, Up and Away

I really don’t know how to describe the next twenty minutes. I have only the vaguest recollection of Josh strapping me into a seat behind the pilot and installing himself next to me. The noise as the engine started was horrendous and I gripped the arms of the seat for all I was worth. I could feel the vibration of the rotor blades above and then the jerky motion as we were lifted from the rooftop and rose into the sky.

Josh covered my hand with his and leaned towards me.

‘You’re OK, love. I do this all the time. Try to relax.’

‘But I’m so scared…’ I tried looking out of the window, but that really didn’t help and I turned back to Josh. ‘I’m sorry; I’m such an idiot.’

‘You need to relax,’ he said softly. ‘Close your eyes and take a few deep breaths.’ He stroked my forehead and I felt a smile forming as I started to calm down.

‘Where are we going?’ I asked at last. I couldn’t believe I hadn’t thought about it before. I opened my eyes and turned towards Josh. He was smiling and he slid his hand behind my neck and kissed me. I didn’t want to respond, but the fifteen-year-old inside me couldn’t help herself and was swept away in the moment of a dream coming true. I wrapped my arms around his neck and revelled in the sensation of his lips against mine.

This is a real date – not just a phoney interview for a made-up website. Wait ‘til Trudi hears about this!

The kiss ended and Josh patted my thigh.

‘Feeling better, Luvsik Lydia?’

‘Yes, thanks.’ I managed at last to look out of the window. We were flying over the outer limits of the city, and I could see open countryside ahead. I’d lost all sense of direction, but somehow it didn’t seem to matter for now.

‘We’ll be landing in five minutes, Mr Greenwood.’ The pilot’s voice came through a small speaker overhead.

‘Cheers, Kev. You can take the rest of the day off then. I’ll get Paul to drive the lady home later.’ He turned to me. ‘You might find two flights in one day too much to handle.’

‘I think I would. I’m amazed I made it through this one.’

We landed in the courtyard of a large country house and Josh got out of the helicopter and helped me out.

‘Welcome to my humble abode,’ he said. ‘We’re having dessert in the kitchen. I don’t like to stand on ceremony. By the way, it goes without saying that anything you see here is not for publication. This is my home and it’s not in the public domain, OK?’

‘Yes, of course. I don’t even know where we are.’ I laughed.

‘Good.’ Josh was laughing, but I could tell that he took his privacy very seriously. ‘Maybe we should blindfold you on the way back?’

It was a huge, farmhouse-style kitchen with a log fire burning in a rustic stone hearth. An oak table with six dining chairs stood at one end, with three places laid. The opposite end of the room was almost an anachronism as it was fitted out with every conceivable modern convenience in stainless steel with granite worktops.

An elderly lady was sitting in a rocking chair at the fireside and she rose to greet us as we came in.

‘You’re early, Joshua,’ she said as Josh bent to kiss her cheek. ‘I wasn’t expecting you for another half-hour at least.’

‘We came back in the chopper; the traffic in town was horrendous. Mum, this is Lydia, she’s a journalist. You mustn’t tell her any embarrassing secrets or they’ll be all over the Internet tomorrow.’

The old lady smiled indulgently and turned to me. ‘Pleased to meet you, Lydia. You must excuse my son, he’s quite mad. I don’t suppose he even told you where he was taking you. No? I thought not.’ She took my coat as she carried on talking. ‘I didn’t even get a phone call. Just a text message.’ She pulled a Blackberry out of her pocket and looked at the screen, then handed it to me to read the message.

‘Coming home and bringing a guest. Apple Crumble? Love you, Josh xx’

I had to laugh. I’d never expected my rock god to be living with his mother.

‘I hope you’re not in a hurry; the crumble won’t be ready for half an hour,’ Mrs Greenwood continued. ‘There’s fresh coffee in your den, unless you’d rather have it in here?’

‘We’ll go to the den. We have to finish this interview.’

Josh led me upstairs to the den. It was a large room that seemed to double as a sitting room and a studio. I sat on an enormous leather sofa and Josh perched beside me.

I took out my script and switched the recorder on to resume the interview. Josh sat back and let me go through the rest of my questions. His answers were relaxed and often amusing. At last I stopped recording.

‘Thank you so much,’ I said. ‘I’ll write this up and email it to Angela for your approval before we post it on the website.’

He smiled. ‘That’s cool. I’m sure it’ll be fine. Just don’t mention the house and especially don’t mention my mother. She’s the best-kept secret I have and I want it to stay that way.’

‘I have to ask … if you feel like that, why did you bring me here and let me meet her?’ I was genuinely perplexed.

‘Well, you’re not exactly the paparazzi,’ he said, laughing. ‘In fact, you’re not really a journo at all, are you?’

I couldn’t lie; it was clear he’d seen straight through me and I wasn’t going to be able to wriggle out of it. My face felt hot and I hung my head in embarrassment.

‘I’m sorry …’ I began.

‘No harm done. I’ve kind of enjoyed it, but why go to all this trouble? It was a pretty elaborate pretence.’ He was smiling and I had nothing left to lose, so I blurted out the tale of my list and my attempts to fulfil my dreams.

‘But nothing’s worked out right for me, so I guess it’s time to call it day,’ I concluded. He was quiet for a moment, and then he laughed.

‘I’d say you’ve done pretty well, so far. Two out of three isn’t bad. You had your first flight today and I guess you could call this a date.’ He glanced at his watch. ‘I reckon dessert should be ready by now.’ He stood up and led me back down to the kitchen where his mum’s apple crumble was waiting for us.

* * * * *

Back at home I started to write up the interview for
Luvsik Memories
. There were messages on my mobile and on the landline from Des, but I still wasn’t ready to talk to him. I wondered if I ever would be. I gave up after a while and wandered into the kitchen in search of comfort food. I found a bar of chocolate that I’d forgotten about and crammed a huge chunk into my mouth, holding it there until it started to melt and stick to my teeth.

‘You’re disgusting,’ I said to myself, but found I didn’t care. There was no one to see me and the gloopy mess tasted so good. Answering the phone with a mouthful of melted chocolate is quite a feat and, on reflection, I’m not sure why I thought I could do it; but when it rang I didn’t stop to think and picked it up, mumbling my number incoherently into the receiver.

‘Lydia? You sound strange. Did I interrupt your dinner?’

Josh! Oh, my God! How much worse could it be?
I swallowed hard to clear the blockage.

‘Um … I’ve just finished,’ I lied, trying to sound casual and failing miserably.

‘Oh, good. Are you free on Saturday evening by any chance? I know it’s a long shot, with it being Valentine’s Day.’

‘Er … yes … I’m free.’
Is this really happening?
‘What did you have in mind?’

‘If I told you to wait and see, would you take a risk?’ He was laughing.

I gulped, ‘Well, I guess so.’
What have I got to lose?

‘That’s cool. I’ll send the car for you at four-thirty; Paul should remember the route from this afternoon. OK?’

‘Yes … well … just one thing. Is there a dress code where we’re going?’

‘Oh, yeah. Um … wear a dress.’ I could almost hear him grinning. ‘See ya Saturday, Luvsik Lydia
.
’

This will be a date! This will be a real date! So why do I wish it was with someone else?

Chapter 29: Valentine’s Day

‘A helicopter? Seriously?’ Trudi was gobsmacked. ‘One minute you’re terrified to consider the idea of a nice, quiet plane ride and the next you’re swanning off all over the countryside in a helicopter, snogging a rock star. Way to go, Lyd!’

‘Ah, but you haven’t heard the best bit yet; he’s taking me out on Saturday.’

‘But, that’s Valentine’s Day. I gather you haven’t spoken to Des yet?’

‘No. I suppose I’ll ring him eventually.’

‘I think you should. After all, he did set you up with Josh.’

‘Yes, I’ll ring him on Sunday and tell him all about my date. Satisfied? When did you get to be his greatest supporter, anyway?’

‘I just think he deserves a hearing, that’s all. You’re making all kinds of assumptions and you’re not giving him a chance to explain.’

‘I’ll deal with it in my own time.’

‘It’s your decision, of course. I’m sure you’ll have a great time with Josh, but be careful.’

‘I’m not a child, Trudi. I know what I’m doing.’ She was starting to annoy me a little, probably because I knew she had a point.

‘I just don’t want you to get hurt …’

‘It’s too late to worry about that now,’ I said. ‘I had enough hurt on Saturday to last a lifetime.’

‘I’m sorry, I’m sure you did, darling. Have a lovely time and keep me posted.’

We ended the conversation and I spent the next few hours going through my wardrobe, yet again, to choose an outfit for the big night. This was by no means easy. Everything I tried on made me look too fat or too old. Eventually, I decided to go with the ‘little black dress’ I’d worn for my first karaoke. Now all I had to do was wait.

I finished writing the article for
Luvsik Memories
and emailed it to Angela during my lunch break on Friday. She approved it and sent some publicity photos to accompany publication on the website. I flicked through the attachments: Josh arriving at the restaurant, Josh shaking hands with me, Josh smiling at me across the table. I hadn’t even realised that one had been taken. The photographer had been so discreet I’d forgotten he was there.

That evening, as I logged on to upload the article and the pictures, I had another email with two more JPEGs attached.

Hi again, Lydia,

Josh has asked me to send you these, but NOT FOR PUBLICATION.

Looks like you two had a great time.…

Angela

I opened the attachments and gasped as I saw the contents. The first shot was of me climbing into the helicopter. It had been taken from inside the chopper and was a little out of focus, but it showed me smiling nervously at Josh whose arm was around my waist.

The second picture really took my breath away. There must have been cameras everywhere, because this one showed our mid-flight kiss. I blushed as I looked at it and wondered what Des would make of it. Not that he’d ever see it, of course. On impulse I printed the pictures and took them into the kitchen. While the kettle was boiling, I stuck them on the fridge beside my list, and took a pen to tick items one and three as ‘achieved’. I should have been dancing on air, but I wasn’t.

I remembered the day I’d found the list and felt such a failure. Des had helped me through all that. He’d made me believe I could achieve anything I wanted to, and without his help and encouragement I knew I would never have come this far. But more than that, he’d made me believe in myself. I’d forgotten I was a middle-aged frump and I’d started to think I was worthy of someone’s attention, maybe even his love. Self-delusion is the worst of failings. I should have known better.

I returned to my desk and uploaded the interview and the official photos. There were a few site members online who commented straight away. I was the hero of the hour and the envy of all my readers. I answered a few questions and then Des’s avatar lit up, indicating that he was now online. A few minutes later his comment appeared beneath the interview.

‘Well done, Lyd.’

I couldn’t ignore it as I’d answered all the others.

‘Thanks’
I typed and logged off, grateful that the Internet made it so easy to avoid such awkward moments.

The phone rang; I ignored it and listened as he left a message.

‘Lyd, I don’t know what to do now. You won’t take my calls or answer my texts. We need to talk face-to-face. Please, pick up the phone and tell me when I can see you…’ He waited; I didn’t pick up the phone. He hung up and I went to bed.

I killed time on Saturday morning by cleaning the house from top to bottom. I’m no domestic goddess, but I needed the distraction as I was unable to sit still for longer than five minutes. By lunchtime, everything was perfect and I still had four hours to fill. I checked the kitchen cupboards and the fridge, made a shopping list and headed for the supermarket.

I was reaching for a packet of cornflakes when I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned.

‘It is Lydia, isn’t it? Are you better now?’ Alice’s smile was friendly and I tried to match it with my own. ‘Such a pity you had to rush off last week. I was looking forward to getting to know you better.’

Why?
I thought. ‘I’m fine now,’ I mumbled. ‘Migraine.’

‘I think Des must have been afflicted with the same thing. He was like a bear with a sore head after you’d gone and he left a short time later. Honestly! Imagine abandoning me on my first night back in town! Still, Trudi got Emilio to walk me back to my hotel. She’s quite a character, isn’t she?’

Hotel? She stayed at a hotel?
I swallowed hard and tried to sound casual.

‘Oh, you’re not staying at Des’s, then?’ I asked.

‘Good Lord, no. He doesn’t have a spare room and that sofa bed in the living room would kill my back. Besides, I’m here “on expenses” from the TV company, so I may as well make the most of it.’