An Autumn Crush (25 page)

‘Yeah, no worries,’ said Steve, his outward coolness belying the chaos that was going on in his head. Jesus!

‘Are you coming into the gym?’ said Chianti.

‘I’ve just been,’ said Steve. ‘I’ve done my weights for today.’ He flexed a giant bicep in her direction and Chianti’s eyes rounded again. She appeared
to be seeing Steve for the first time. And her pupils were large and black and liking what they saw. ‘So, I’ll see you Friday.’

‘Bye, Steve,’ smiled Chianti, fluttering her big false eyelashes like bat wings. She swanned into the gym then and Steve clenched his fists in victory when the door closed behind
her. The prospect of Chianti Parkin in his car and on his arm would chase away any thoughts of Juliet. And he would ring Juliet and tell her he was ending their ‘just sex’ relationship
before she had the chance to tell him about her Thursday date with Winstanley-Black. He hoped the satisfaction that gave him would salve the dull heavy pain that was lodged in his chest.

Juliet was looking at the Chinese menu and wondering why her stomach was both growling with hunger and feeling hellish queasy. Even the thought of her usual favourite
‘crispy chilli spicy beef’ wasn’t making her mouth water at all.

‘You’re probably suffering from nerves about Thursday,’ said Coco.

‘I don’t get nerves,’ said Juliet. ‘As you well know.’ She swished her wine around in her glass. She didn’t feel like that either.

‘Why didn’t you bring Gideon with you?’ asked Floz. ‘I’m so looking forward to meeting him. He sounds charming.’

‘He doesn’t exist,’ laughed Juliet. ‘He’s a figment of Coco’s sexually frustrated imagination.’

‘He so does exist,’ was Coco’s haughty comeback. ‘He’s pulling an all-nighter trying to get a computer system mended in an office so it doesn’t disrupt the
day work. He is such a hard-working boy. Another first for me. I usually end up with lazy bleeders.’

‘And you believe he’s working all night?’ teased Juliet.

‘Yes I do, naughty!’ Coco slapped her arm. ‘He knows I’ve been mashed in the past and so he rings me a lot to reassure me. He’s so patient and kind.’

‘I think I’m going to like this Gideon when we eventually see him,’ winked Juliet.

‘See? They’re not all nutters on the net.’ Coco stole a glance at Floz to see if she reacted to that. Floz didn’t react at all. Or did she? The way her eyes stayed glued
to the takeaway menu – her non-acknowledgement – could have been seen very much as a reaction.

The door entryphone sounded and Floz twitched. Guy had arrived and she instantly felt unsettled. Juliet buzzed him up and he must have taken the stairs ten at a time considering how quickly he
arrived. Obviously not racing up them for me though, thought Floz.

He was wearing jeans and a smart pink shirt in which his shoulders looked huge. Floz wished she’d had more warning that he was coming. She felt slobby in her comfy leggings and long grey
T-shirt with the silly red strawberries all over it, but Juliet might have questioned her if she’d changed into something else. Juliet made Hercule Poirot look like Trigger from
Only Fools
and Horses.

‘Hello, darling,’ called Coco and blew him a ‘mwah mwah’.

‘Hi, Coco, Floz.’ Guy waved shyly. Good, thought Floz. He wasn’t going for the hello kiss then. Her eyes were drawn to his mouth as he said something to Juliet. It looked as
soft as it had felt when he inadvertently kissed her on the lips, a hint of coffee and whisky on his breath.
God Almighty – get a grip, Floz
. She really was mixed-up. She blamed that
dream in which Nick and Guy fused into one. Her brain needed to work on separating them – and fast.

‘I think I’m coming down with something,’ Juliet grimaced, wiping her perspiring forehead.

‘Have you been near any schools?’ asked Coco. ‘You might have caught one of those bugs that’s always going around them.’

‘Yeah, I hang around a lot of schools, Coco. It’s a habit I so must break.’

Coco thought for a moment then laughed heartily. ‘Yes, fair point. I can’t see you anywhere near a school.’

‘Talking of schools, you might laugh, but I did a pregnancy test this week,’ said Juliet, making Coco, Guy and Floz do a synchronized sharp intake of breath. She held up her hands to
stem the questions before they came. ‘Don’t worry – it was negative so no one needs to say anything to Steve. But my period is late.’

‘Menopause?’ suggested Coco.

‘Cheeky sod,’ said Juliet. ‘I’m not worried. I must be due to start though because my boobs are really sore.’

Floz felt a blush creep across her face. Talking about boobs and periods with Guy in the room felt wrong. Not that he seemed to mind; he was obviously used to it. A Heathcliff who was in touch
with his feminine side? Surely not.

Coco wasn’t comfortable with it though. ‘Oh purr-lease.’ He covered up his ears. ‘Just pick from the menu, will you, and let’s order. Starving as I am, you’re
in danger of putting me off with your filthy period talk.’

‘You ever missed a period, Floz?’ asked Juliet, ignoring him.

Floz gulped. ‘It could be just excitement or stress,’ she said, staring hard at her takeaway menu. ‘Maybe if you stop thinking about it, it will . . . arrive.’

‘Okay,’ conceded Juliet. ‘I’ll try. Everyone got a menu? Good, then let’s order.’

The food arrived twenty minutes later, just as Coco had finished his monologue about Darren, who had now texted quite a few times hoping to be forgiven and allowed another chance. It was a
tragic tale but he told it with such exaggerated gesturing that it made them all laugh. Plus Coco was happy with Gideon now and out of the dark place in which Darren had consigned him for a while.
Guy was happy to sit back and let him take centre-stage. At least then he could enjoy just being in Floz’s gentle presence without opening his mouth and upsetting her. He knew he risked being
thought of as dull for staying silent, but rather that than alienate her any more.

Juliet didn’t want to appear a party-pooper and forced some of the food down when it arrived but it didn’t sit well in her stomach.

‘What’s wrong with you two girls?’ noted Coco. ‘There’s nearly as much food on your plate as when you started. Your cheeks look well hollow, Floz. You’re
losing even more weight, aren’t you? My bloody left eye weighs more than you at the moment, girl. Get some of that fried rice down you. That’s an order.’

‘Honestly, I’m stuffed,’ said Floz, aware that Guy’s attention was on her also.

‘Everything all right with you, lovely?’ Coco prodded, hoping that Floz would give up her secrets with a bit of light coaxing.

‘I’m fine, Coco.’

‘Not working too hard? You look a little tired. Doesn’t she, Guy?’ and he looked at Guy for affirmation.

Guy was scared to comment because his mouth did not behave in Floz’s presence. He nodded instead, which was equally as damning.

‘Oh, do I?’ Floz gulped. She thought she had done a good make-up job on the dark circles under her eyes. Obviously not.

‘You need a good massage. That’s what I always have when I’m stressed,’ said Coco.

‘Guy did a massage course once,’ put in Juliet.

‘A crash course in sports physiotherapy,’ Guy corrected her, worried where this was going.

‘Yes, but you did massage as part of it,’ Juliet corrected his correction. ‘Why don’t you—’

‘I’m fine!’ Floz jumped in. She didn’t want to imagine Guy Miller’s hands around her neck. He was more likely to strangle her than massage her.

‘Have you been sleeping okay?’ Coco pressed on.

Talk about laying it on with a trowel, thought Juliet, giving him a warning glance. He managed to make
her
look subtle.

‘Fine,’ nodded Floz. ‘I’m sleeping fine.’ She felt hot under the glare of everyone’s attention.

‘All night?’ said Coco.

‘For goodness sake,’ snapped Juliet. ‘Have you been recruited by MI5?’

‘I’m just concerned for my friend,’ said Coco. ‘Not man trouble, is it? Juliet said an old flame recently came back into your life.’

Juliet kicked Coco’s leg under the table.

‘We weren’t gossiping about you,’ Coco quickly added. ‘Ju just mentioned it to me, because . . . well, she tells me everything.’

Floz’s cheeks had gone through all the pink paint charts and were now in the neon reds. She stood up so quickly that she felt faint for a second. ‘Anyone fancy a coffee?’ she
said breathlessly.

‘Shall I give you a hand?’ Guy asked.

‘No, thanks,’ Floz said, her tone clipped and self-defensive. ‘I think I can manage to put a kettle on.’

‘Well done, Coco,’ whispered Juliet when Floz was safely out of the way. ‘Talk about using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.’

‘I handled that all wrong, didn’t I?’ sighed Coco, flapping at his face with his hand. ‘Will she hate me?’

‘I don’t think she’s capable,’ said Guy, a little too loudly. Floz heard him and wondered what she was not capable of. Getting a good sleep? Eating a full portion of
rice? Finding someone to love her? She bet it was the last one. She wished she hadn’t mentioned anything about ‘the old flame’ because it was obvious that Juliet had blabbed her
business. They had all clearly been gossiping together, wondering what was happening in her love-life, possibly why she never met up with ‘the old flame’, maybe even discussed if he
existed – as they had joked about Gideon.

She pasted on a bright, brave smile and took the coffees through to find that the atmosphere at the table was thicker than Grainne’s gravy. Coco was worried he’d upset Floz, Guy just
hoped the ground would rise up and swallow him, knowing that another chance to shine in Floz’s eyes had been totally bollocksed up, and Juliet just wanted to get to bed.

Juliet was awoken by a wave of nausea in the early hours of the morning. As she went to the bathroom, she noticed once again a sliver of light coming from the gap under the
door of Floz’s room. She tiptoed over and pressed her ear to the door. Floz was definitely awake and typing on her laptop.

‘Floz, are you up?’ she called and tapped lightly on the door.

‘I’m just doing a bit of work,’ called Floz, with a sniffle in her voice that she tried to cover up by then coughing.

‘Want a coffee?’

‘No, I’m fine, thanks. I was just turning my PC off because I’m tired now. Goodnight, Ju.’

Juliet’s hand fell on the handle. She knew if she opened the door she would find that Floz had been crying. But it would have been mean to put her on the spot like that, especially as she
obviously wanted to be left alone. And Juliet was feeling too delicate and tired to storm in like the SAS and blow apart whatever was going on.

‘Night then, Floz. Sleep well.’

Behind the door Floz turned off her printer. She had been cutting and pasting all her emails to and from Nick, changing the fonts to a nice script, so she could run them off onto ivory hammered
paper, fold them and preserve them like proper letters rather than emails. They belonged in a keepsake box wrapped in ribbon, not on a memory stick.

She was dog-tired but knew she wouldn’t sleep without assistance. She took a half-bottle of brandy out of her desk drawer and drank a throatful directly from the neck.

Juliet did feel better in the morning, though that quickly subsided when the text from Steve arrived.

Guess what? Going out with Chianti on Friday. Sorry can’t see you at the moment, working in the evenings
.

A sudden fury reared and coursed wildly through Juliet. She opened up a reply note and stabbed in her own text.

No worries, v busy too so couldn’t see you anyway. I’m out to dinner with Piers WB on Thursday at Four Trees. Worked out well then. Good luck on your date
. She didn’t
put kisses on the end either.

She couldn’t believe there were hot tears in her eyes when she hit send. She felt stupidly all mixed-up and emotional.

‘Steve can’t see me this week,’ Juliet said, as matter-of-factly as she could to Coco when they were dress-hunting in Next. ‘He says he’s working
and
he’s going out with Chianti on Friday.’

‘Well, that’s a coincidence, isn’t it?’ oohed Coco, holding both a sober black dress and a bright red dress up against Juliet. ‘You both pulling your dream partners
in the same week.’

‘I can’t see what he sees in Chianti Parkin,’ said Juliet, snatching the red dress from Coco and heading off to the changing rooms. ‘She’s a vacuous, plastic
Barbie.’

‘Not jealous, are you?’ smirked Coco.

‘About Chianti?’

‘About Steve pulling Chianti, I meant.’

‘Do me a favour,’ laughed Juliet, disappearing into the cubicle with the brave, scarlet frock. ‘Steve Feast is a knob. Haven’t I always said so?’

Guy barged into his office and closed the door on the kitchen before he killed either Igor or Stanislav. They were both hungover and fit for nothing. And if that wasn’t
enough, they had obviously been fighting someone else or each other from the evidence of the bruises and cuts on their faces. Just what he needed for front-of-house men when there was a corporate
lunch of twenty-five people to serve.

He slumped at his desk and rested his head in his hands. What the frig had he taken on here? A run-down restaurant with idiot staff. He wasn’t sure he had the energy to make this dump into
anything special. Another dream to add to those other two which were out of his reach: Hallow’s Cottage and Floz.

There was a timid knock at the door.

‘Come in,’ he barked, hoping it wasn’t anyone with a black eye, because they just might go away with another one.

‘Hi,’ said a cheery voice. Gina pushed open the door with her trim bottom because she had a mug in one hand and a handful of letters in the other.

‘I thought you might need this,’ she said with a big blue-eyed smile, putting a steaming strong coffee down in front of him.

‘Thanks, Gina,’ replied Guy. At least he could rely on someone in here.

‘I’ve rung the agency and they’re sending a couple of waitresses. Igor can work in the back with us. I’ll have to send Stanislav home. He’s just vomited on the back
step.’