Read It Must Have Been Love Online

Authors: Krissie LaBaye

It Must Have Been Love (2 page)

BOOK: It Must Have Been Love
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“Hi, Christopher, it’s Margaret Wood here, just wondering where you are?” Margaret’s expression had changed. The look of impatience swiftly disappeared and her jaw dropped slightly, she looked startled. Angie wondered what Chris could be saying that would cause such a reaction. “Yes, yes, I see. Right, OK. Yes, I’m with Mrs. Morris now. Yes, yes, I’ll take care of that. Yes, I’ve got that. Right, yes, OK, thanks, bye.” The color had drained from Margaret’s face, and as she slowly replaced the phone onto its base station she stared directly at Angie. This normally confident woman now looked like she had just seen a ghost. Laying her pen on the desk in front of her, Margaret rose from her chair. Angie could tell from the largely one-way conversation that someone else had answered Chris’s phone, but what had they said and why were they using his phone?

 

“Why are you looking at me like that? What’s wrong, what was that all about? Where’s Chris?” asked a now somewhat panicky Angie.

 

“Now don’t panic, Angela, but I’m afraid I’ve got some bad news. There’s been a little bit of an accident, and they’ve taken Christopher to the City Hospital. Now, it’s up to you, but I think maybe you might want to head over there to see what’s going on.” Margaret might be an amazing relationship counselor, but she was a lousy liar. Her face told a totally different story to the words that were coming from her mouth.

 

Angie was generally not the stereotypical female. When given bad news, no matter how serious, she did not burst into floods of tears or scream hysterically. Instead she would digest the news in silence. No point in becoming overly emotional. After all, how would that help the situation? That was her philosophy, or at least it used to be.

 

Although on the outside Angie appeared totally calm, inside she was trembling. Through all their recent fighting and arguing, she had never wished him any harm. Now she was asking herself awkward questions, such as why they had argued the other night. What if Margaret was keeping something from her and Chris was seriously hurt? Angie looked down and began rummaging through the contents of her large bag in search of a handkerchief. This action also served another purpose. It allowed Angie to hide the fact that she was losing the battle to fight off the tears. Finally discovering a handkerchief, she discretely dabbed her face, and confident that she had removed any trace of the dreaded teardrops, she took a deep breath and looked up at the counselor.

 

“Could you possibly call me a taxi, please Margaret? I need to get to the hospital and see how Chris is.” Angie had only just got the words out of her mouth when suddenly she found herself smiling. Usually quite capable of not reacting to something that her clients did or said, on this occasion Margaret Wood was dumfounded as to what could possibly be making Angie smile. Realizing that Margaret was staring at her, and as the teardrops glistened on her face, Angie felt that an explanation was in order.

 

“You must think I’m crazy or something. Sorry. Whenever I asked Chris to call me a taxi, he’d say, ‘OK you’re a taxi’. It was one of his stupid little schoolboy jokes that no one else found funny but me. Oh no, Margaret, listen to me babbling on about him in the past tense, like he’s dead or something. He’s not dead is he? You’re not hiding something, are you?”

 

Angie had watched plenty of made for TV emotional dramas, and she’d wondered how she’d cope with a similar tragedy. When she’d seen or heard about a real life tragedy, she’d felt a lot of sympathy for those involved and wondered how she’d cope with such a catastrophe. But those were fleeting thoughts, which were immediately pushed away. This wasn’t some ‘reach for the hankies’ afternoon movie, and it wasn’t happening to someone else either. Although this drama felt like a nightmare it was for real.

 

Shock affects people in many different ways, and Angie’s bizarre behavior was obviously her reaction to the news about Chris. Thankfully, Margaret had grown used to the infinite number of peculiar human behavior patterns. Although just slightly bewildered by Angie’s momentary off-the-wall behavior, Ms. Wood immediately phoned for the taxi.

 

When the taxi arrived, Angie nervously climbed inside, hoping that the journey wouldn’t take too long. She couldn’t help feeling like this was all a dream, and as the taxi moved slowly through the busy traffic to the sound of revving engines and beeping horns she remembered when she and Chris first met.

 

Chapter Three

 

Chris and Angie had met on what can only be described as a blind date, although it wasn’t either of them that had arranged it. Angie’s best friend at the time was Maria Tumelty. Maria had been invited to the carnival by Kevin Carruthers, a happy-go-lucky guy with sandy hair and freckles. Maria had agreed to go along, on the condition that she could bring along a friend. Kevin said that he’d bring a friend along too, and they could go as a foursome.

 

When Maria told her what she’d done, Angie laughed. “So, who’s the poor fool you’ve talked into going along with you? I mean, who’d be crazy enough to go on a date with someone they’ve never met before?”

 

“You, I hope. Oh please come, Angie. You never know, Kevin’s friend might just be a hunk. Oh come on Angie, it’ll be fun I promise. It’s not like you’ve got to marry him or anything, and I promise if he turns out to be some type of weirdo we’ll leave right away. Come on, please, please, pretty please?”

 

“OK, but I swear, if he’s the least bit strange, I’m leaving there and then,” Angie chuckled, unable to resist Maria’s whining pleas.

 

“Yay! Thanks Angie, you won’t regret it. We’ll have a whale of a time, I promise.”

 

When the day of the carnival arrived, Angie was nervous about meeting the stranger, who so far she only knew as ‘Kevin’s friend’. Determined not to appear too over-dressed, Angie spent a good half hour sifting through her wardrobe. Pulling the second to last hanger from the wardrobe, Angie groaned loudly. “Too bright,” Angie grumbled as she replaced the neon pink top back on the closet rod. The last hanger held her last hope, and if
that
weren’t right, she’d have to start all over again. “Perfect,” Angie declared with confidence. She had found the perfect top. Now all she had to do was find something to go with it.

 

Once Angie had decided that a skirt was out of the question, it was too cold for shorts, and whatever she chose needed to be comfortable, the task became a lot easier. Five minutes after selecting the perfect top, she’d made her decision. Wearing her best-loved jeans and a plain white tee shirt, she felt smart but understated, perfect for a blind date.

A knock at the door accompanied by the constant ringing of the doorbell told Angie that Maria had arrived. After an extra large squirt of her latest musk perfume onto each wrist and either side of her neck, Angie was ready to go. Hurrying down the stairs, she could hear Maria’s over-excited voice. Angie hoped that Maria wouldn’t let slip that she’d be spending the day with a so-far nameless individual. It wasn’t that Angie wanted to hide things from her parents, but there seemed no reason to worry them unnecessarily. After all, they were going to a very busy carnival in a very public place, and Angie wasn’t stupid enough to go anywhere secluded with someone she didn’t fully know.

As Angie entered the living room it was clear that Maria hadn’t ‘let the cat out of the bag’, as both of her parents were still smiling. The best way to keep it that way would be to leave now. So, in order to ensure a rather hasty exit, Angie ushered her still chattering friend through the doorway.

 

It wasn’t long before the girls had completed their journey, and an ever-excitable Maria had talked all of the way. A short walk and they would be at the carnival itself. Maria had arranged it that they would meet Kevin and his friend there. As the two girls got nearer to the carnival entrance, they each strained their eyes to get the first glimpse of Kevin’s friend.

 

“I wish you’d found out his name, Maria. I feel like such a fool meeting someone when I don’t even know their name.”

 

“Sorry Angie, but you know me, dizzy daydream. I totally forgot to ask Kevin his name. Of course, if he’s too tasty, I might just have to steal him away from you, whatever he’s called.”

 

“You’re terrible, Maria. You’ve only been going out with Kevin for five minutes and already you’re planning on dumping him for some unknown guy!”

 

“No of course not, I’m only joking. No, I’ll let you keep him for yourself, so long as you agree I can be bridesmaid at your wedding.”

 

The two girls laughed childishly as they finally got close enough to get a good look at Kevin’s friend. The two guys were chattering and laughing, but stopped immediately as the girls arrived.

 

Kevin introduced his friend, “Chris, this is Maria, my girlfriend, and her friend, Angie.”

 

Angie was immediately taken by Chris’ deep brown eyes and warm smile, as she mumbled her faint greeting. “Hi, Chris.”

 

“Hi, Angie,” came the equally faint reply.

 

Maria and Kevin gave each other a knowing glance, and then as Maria linked arms with Kevin, she whispered something in his ear. They led the way into the carnival, as Chris and Angie followed closely behind. Unsure of whether or not to follow suit, Chris offered up his arm inviting Angie to link in. Although Angie had only just met Chris she felt totally at ease with him, and figuring she might as well enjoy the day, she linked arms with him. Angie could feel the blood rushing to her face. Concerned that her cheeks might now be the same color as her new earrings, she blew gently upwards to cool herself as discreetly as she could. If Chris had noticed her reddened face, he was at least gallant enough to keep it to himself.

 

Wandering from stall to stall and ride to ride, everyone was enjoying the day. Angie couldn’t help but notice that Chris appeared to on the same wavelength as her in many respects. Not only did he share many of her likes and dislikes, he had even dressed similarly. OK maybe it wasn’t particularly spooky that he had also chosen a white tee shirt and jeans, but it showed a similar taste in fashion.

 

The foursome had a great day at the carnival, and while Chris and Angie would continue to see each other, the relationship between Maria and Kevin would fizzle out very soon after the day of the carnival. Kevin would go on to marry a psychology student, while Maria would later fall deeply in love with a garage mechanic. For a long time afterwards, Chris and Angie would joke about their first date, and they would raise a glass to the two people who helped them find each other. Recently though, they had frequently and bitterly cursed Kevin and Maria for introducing them to each other in the first place.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter Four

 

When Angie entered the large modern hospital entrance, it looked very different from the last time she had been there. The aroma had also changed, and in Angie’s opinion, not for the better. Some people might prefer the new rather malodorous smell to the traditional scent of pine disinfectant that was once mandatory in every medical establishment. However, Angie preferred the good old-fashioned smell that signified that a place was clean and germ free. After all, the old style smell had the added benefit of masking the sometimes-unpleasant bodily odors that are commonplace in hospitals. In all those years that they had visited the fertility department of the hospital, she had watched the old building evolve into a new more sophisticated establishment with one extension after another until it was almost unrecognizable. It was true that most of the changes were for the better, but the decision to ban the ‘clinical’ smell was definitely not the right one, in Angie’s humble opinion.

 

A few inquiries at the shiny acrylic metallic framed reception desk sent Angie in the appropriate direction to hopefully locate Chris. She was pointed in the general direction of the elevator and staircase. Having been told that she needed to go to the fourth floor, Angie deliberated on whether to take the elevator or climb the stairs. Although she detested using elevators, Angie knew that the more sensible and much quicker option was to take the elevator rather than the staircase. Chris always used to hold her hand whenever they used an elevator, but at this moment there was no one to hold her hand. Angie reluctantly joined the waiting people.

 

When the elevator finally arrived, Angie clenched her fists tightly until she could feel her long nails digging into her palms. Squeezing into the crowded elevator only made Angie more nervous. It also gave her a new found empathy towards claustrophobics. Crammed in like sardines, she naively hoped that everyone else in the metal cage would want the fourth floor, and therefore expedite her stomach-churning journey. Angie was soon to be disappointed as various occupants requested floors two and three. Both floors two and three saw multiple people come and go, and although it was all over in only a minute or two, the journey had seemed to last forever. When the red LED display indicated four and the computer generated voice concurred, Angie pushed her way to the front ready for the shiny stainless steel doors to open.

BOOK: It Must Have Been Love
3.61Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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