Firestarter (5 page)

On the plus side, the food and drink were superb and plentiful. Every few minutes Alice was presented with silver platters of tempting items. Miniature Yorkshire puddings filled with a sliver of tender beef and decorated with a delicate swirl of mustard and a single brilliant green pea looked fabulous and tasted even better. They were still warm and the batter as crisp as though her mum had just taken it out the oven. There were delicate little walnut biscuits, rich onion tartlets no bigger than a 50p piece and olives stuffed with cream cheese and decorated with red pepper so they looked like the cutest little penguins. Alice just had to get a picture of those. Guessing photographing their food wasn't something the other guests would do, Alice loitered in a corridor on the way back from the ladies room and waylaid a waitress.

Alice was tempted by the trays of cocktails too, but she'd accepted a glass of champagne when she arrived and thought it better not to mix her drinks. The music came from an actual piano played by an actual pianist and Alice at least looked as though she fitted in.

Tony returned to her side. 'Sorry, I didn't mean to be gone so long. Shall I take you round now and introduce you to a few people?'

'It's OK, I'm fine sat here listening to the music if you need to go schmooze.'

'If you're sure?'

'Definitely.'

'Thank you. I will take you round and show you off soon though, then I'm going to take you home and get you out that dress before it can even think of wrinkling.' He kissed her cheek and headed back into the crowd.

'Can I offer you a drink, madam?' enquired an immaculate waiter.

'Thank you.' Alice accepted another glass of perfectly chilled champagne and another quail's egg wrapped in a delicious savoury coating.

Perhaps Christmas parties weren't so bad after all.

Christmas Day was the usual sort of chaos. Alice's uncles came. She had four. Two were real ones, her dad's bother Mark and her mum's brother Nigel. The other two were always referred to as uncles, but were actually a cousin of some kind and his partner. Confusingly they were called Pete and Peter, which was also the name of Alice's dad. They were Kate and Alice's unofficial godfathers, sending random gifts now and then from around the world and coming for Christmas lunch those years they were in the country. Another guest was Petra, an elderly neighbour who seemed to have no family. She always arrived after the morning church service, said grace as the turkey was carved, and left in time to attend evensong. Along with Tony, Alice's boyfriend, who was another Pete, and Mark's wife Jan, that meant twelve people to feed.

'Alice,' Tony whispered. 'I didn't realise there would be so many people, I haven't brought nearly enough wine.'

'Yes you have, it's just for the toast. There's plenty of other stuff.' She knew there was, she'd seen it chilling in buckets in the garage. Tony didn't seem convinced.

'Other stuff which Dad didn't make, I mean.'

'OK, but I still wish I'd known. I'd have bought more.'

That's why she hadn't told him. The champagne he'd brought had a year printed on the label, not the name of a supermarket. She couldn't even guess what it cost.

Alice's dad made a toast and everyone, Petra included, enjoyed the champagne.

'Just as your father turns vegetables into wine, the Lord did with water,' she said when Kate offered her a glass.

'It's not quite the same I don't think,' Kate said with an admirably straight face.

'Alice, give me a hand a minute will you,' her mum said and headed out to the kitchen.

'Which one do you want?' Alice asked when she caught up. She waggled them in front of her.

Her mum pointed to her right hand. 'That one probably, but it's up to you.' She handed Alice a tiny box, the kind in which you'd expect to find a ring. 'You know what it is, don't you?'

'No... unless...' She opened the box. 'Gran's ring! Where did you find it?'

Their grandmother had promised Alice and Kate their choice of her jewellery when they turned twenty-one. Kate was given the locket she'd wanted and always wore it. Gran had died not long before Alice's twenty-first and the ring she'd loved was missing when they went through her things.

'It was in amongst the cards and letters she kept. I didn't look at them until recently; it was too painful.'

Alice hugged her mum.

'I'm all right, love. Anyway, the ring was with all the cards you gave her and your school photos. I'm guessing it was her way of making sure you got it.'

Alice slipped it on. 'Perfect fit! I must have lost weight in my fingers because it only used to go on my thumb.'

'Daft child, we had it resized for you. Don't tell me Kate actually managed to get your ring size without you realising she was up to something?'

'Er, no. Not quite.'

'Well, as you're here, help me carry out the first course, will you?'

The starter was a selection of finger food eaten in the lounge and the party played charades in there between courses to limit the amount of time squashed around the dining table. They were quite squashed in the lounge too, but no one seemed to mind.

The charades teams were the Petes and Peters against the rest of the world.

'If you don't mind, I'll appoint myself an honorary Peter and join your team to even things out,' Petra suggested. She further evened things by being a very good guesser and calling out the answers no matter which team was in play. As Alice's mum was the one keeping score and she spent a lot of the time in the kitchen that didn't matter at all.

Tony was surprisingly good at charades, despite being a little bemused by the complete lack of rules or structure in the version played by the Bakewells. He adapted though, even setting off his musical socks at one point, in an attempt to provide an extra clue.

'I'm impressed those still work,' Kate, who'd given them to him the previous year, said. 'It's almost as though you've not being wearing them on a regular basis, Tony.'

'I've been saving them for best,' he said. Then moving a little closer to her and Alice whispered, 'I think of them as sprout wine.'

The three of them laughed so hard that some kind of explanation seemed in order. They didn't give one. Nor did they explain why they each giggled when one of the others helped themselves to sprouts, or offered the dish to their neighbour. The amusement seemed infectious until every time anyone said, 'Can you pass the sprouts?' a guffaw of laughter resulted. Naturally that meant sprouts were the most popular vegetable and the dish was soon emptied.

'You were right about the sprouts, Janice,' Alice's dad said to her mum. 'I was sure we had plenty. I'll have to grow more next year.'

If he was surprised at his family treating that remark as hilarious he didn't say.

After the meal, Alice's dad and uncle Nigel carried her mum into the lounge. They placed her in a comfy chair and put a glass of wine in her hand, raised her feet onto a stool, forbid her from moving and went to start the clearing up. That, they explained was man's work.

'I'd be happy to help,' Kate's Pete said.

Tony too offered his assistance.

'Thanks,' Alice's dad said. 'We'll add you both to the rota then.'

As plates were washed and the dining room restored to order, gifts were exchanged. This was the traditional routine. As usual most of them were joke gifts, or nice food. Alice's mum always kept a supply of wrapped shortbread and bars of chocolate in case anyone seemed to be receiving fewer gifts than the others. Petra gave everyone a hand embroidered bag type thing. They each thanked her politely and exchanged glances. Alice, along with everyone else she was sure, had no idea what they might be.

'I hope they'll be useful,' Petra said.

Various people said they were sure they would be, then the room fell silent.

'Oh!' Alice heard Tony exclaim. He took his phone from his pocket and dropped it into the decorative bag.

Everyone else quickly followed his example. Petra beamed.

The computer Tony gave Alice was powerful, had extended battery life and came in a really nice carrying case. She had no moment of puzzled surprise wondering what it could be, but neither did she have to fake the certainty that it would be useful.

Tony wasn't in the room when Kate gave her a Hampshire Fire Service calendar.

'Ah so that's where you sneaked off to when I was setting off his siren!' Alice said.

'Yep. Have a look at May.'

Alice flicked through the pages.

There was Hamish, wearing only boots, shorts and helmet. He was holding a kitten it seemed he'd just rescued from a tree.

'Very cute and the cat's nice too.'

She hadn't realised Tony was back in the room or she'd have quickly slipped it into the envelope.

He took it from her, had a quick look and said, 'Hilarious, Kate, but we're not putting it up. You'd better give it to a charity shop, Alice.' He dropped it onto the pile of other gifts at her feet, then returned to the kitchen.

'Sorry,' Kate said. 'It was just supposed to be fun.'

'I know that and I'm sure Tony sees the funny side really.' She didn't imagine that last bit sounded any more convincing to Kate than it did to herself.

Chapter 5

Tony didn't mention the calendar again and Alice tried to put the fuss he'd made over it out of her mind. He'd over-reacted, but ever since she'd told him about her slight thing for firemen, he'd been rather sensitive where they were concerned. She didn't want something so trivial to spoil an otherwise lovely day. She was helped with that by Petra suggesting they sing Christmas carols. Alice's dad had a CD of Christmas songs, including a few popular carols which he played as an accompaniment. Alice was amazed that Tony not only joined in, but did so loudly enough to be easily heard despite still being up to his elbows in sudsy water and well enough that the volume was a good thing. It was almost a shame they didn't stay at the Tatisuz party long enough for him to take part in the karaoke, he'd have been a hit.

It was already Boxing Day by the time she and Tony gathered up their gifts and the box of leftovers her mum had packaged for her. Uncles Pete and Peter dropped them off at Alice's flat, saying they hoped to see Tony again.

'I'm sure you will,' Tony said.

Alice was too tired to do more than blow her uncles a kiss, stagger up to her flat, put the food in the fridge and get into bed. Her head was slightly delicate the next morning. She gulped down a glass of milk. That and a good dose of carbs would soon sort her out. As she activated the microwave she remembered what the uncles had said and realised that if they did meet Tony again it was likely to be the following Christmas. She supposed that if she and Tony were still together then, they would be living together.

Just as she was wondering about her mental 'if', Tony, wearing a dressing gown, came into the kitchen. 'What are you making? Cinnamon porridge?'

'Eurgh, no! Why would I be making that?'

'That's the only breakfast item I could think of which would smell spicy and be cooked in the microwave.'

The oven pinged and she took out the steaming bowl. 'Christmas pudding. Want some?'

'I don't know.' He looked in the bowl. 'It really is Christmas pudding! Why are you heating that up?'

'It's disgusting cold.'

He gave one of his trying to be patient sighs. 'What I meant was, why are you heating it up right now?'

'Because now is when I want to eat it.'

'You cannot eat Christmas pudding for breakfast, Alice.'

'Yes I can, watch me.'

'I will not. Give it here.' He tried to take it from her.

'Step away from the pudding, Tony.'

He let go and stepped back a pace.

'You know where the fridge and cupboards are. Help yourself to breakfast. That's if I've got anything you consider acceptable.'

Just to annoy him she added three large spoonfuls of brandy butter to her dish. It made the whole thing far too sickly. She wasn't going to admit that, so forced it down. Tony sat opposite her, munching on an apple. She'd bought them cheap on the market and although they looked nice she knew they were woolly textured and tasteless. He couldn't possibly be enjoying it. When he'd finished he made them both a coffee. She'd have preferred tea, she usually did in the morning, but she kept quiet and drank the coffee. Her headache improved, but not her mood.

She didn't want a relationship where what to have for breakfast was a source of conflict. She didn't want to live somewhere she couldn't hang her own choice of calendar on the wall and she didn't like the way he'd assumed he knew her answer about moving in with him a week before she was due to give it. Kate was right, seeing less of Tony, not more, might be a good idea.

'I'm going for a shower,' she said. As she allowed the soothing water to flow over her, Alice thought about living with Tony. She'd not really done that. She had of course weighed up the advantages and disadvantages, but she'd not really thought about what it would actually be like to live with him and spend all her free time with him. Or rather all his free time as she'd spend a lot of time on her own waiting for him to finish work. The more she thought about it the more sure she became that she didn't want to do it.

She waited until he'd had his own shower and was dressed before saying, 'Tony, I said I'd give you an answer by New Year, but I've already decided I'm not ready to move in with you.'

'Oh? What do you get up to that you don't want me knowing about?'

'Nothing. It's just that I like a bit of space sometimes.'

'What's that supposed to mean?'

'Just what I said. I want to have mad things for breakfast without explaining myself, or buy a pretty cushion I like even if it doesn't match the curtains. I don't want to have to tell someone whenever I leave the flat and give an account of where I've been and who I've spoken to when I get back. And I don't want to put up with you getting moody whenever I don't immediately agree to whatever you want.' She knew she'd left it a bit late to say a lot of this, but once she'd started it wasn't as difficult as she'd imagined. 'Oh, that cleaner stuff you use in the kitchen? Absolutely hate the smell of that and it gets in all the food. I never want to smell it again and I don't want to sit around waiting for you to come home from work, either. Here, Kate can pop in on her way home for a chat...'

'I've never said your sister can't visit you. She'd be welcome anytime.'

'No she wouldn't. You'd tolerate her, just as you tolerate me going to the pub with my old school friends.' Alice only met up with Melanie and the others once a month or so and other than work or seeing her family it was the only thing she did without him. Even so, somehow he always managed to want her to go out with him that night, or to otherwise find it inconvenient.

'You sulk from when I arrange it to when I come back, pretty much as you're doing now, pretty much as you do whenever you don't get your own way.'

He didn't deny any of it, didn't even offer to switch to squirting the kitchen with a different brand of disgusting chemicals. Instead he said he was going to go home and catch up on some work, which she felt rather proved at least one of her points.

Tony hardly contacted her for days. Alice wasn't too bothered about that, after what she'd said he'd probably still be sulking and no fun to be around. She was however starting to suffer cabin fever. Obviously she'd expected to spend most of the Christmas break with him, so hadn't made arrangements to meet up with any of her friends. Chances are they'd already made plans and anyway, if Tony did turn up or call her to arrange a date and she was out he'd just sulk all the more.

They'd previously arranged to spend New Year's Eve with his family but he'd not mentioned it since before Christmas, when they'd confirmed the arrangements. Was he assuming she'd still go along with his plans, or decided that either she wouldn't or that he didn't want her to? No doubt the answer was clear to him, or he'd have been in touch. She could just call and ask of course, but she'd be expected to apologise first for telling the truth and why should she do that?

Normally Alice got on quite well with his parents but if she and Tony weren't on the best of terms the evening was bound to be awkward. On the other hand she'd left it a bit late to cancel and they would already have made a little card with her name on it, to show where she was to sit, and have carefully worked out exactly how much food to serve. Although not really sure she wanted to go, it was probably best to go along with what was expected of her – whatever that was.

Knowing it was cowardly she sent Tony a text asking, 'What's happening about tomorrow night?'

After several minutes staring at her phone she rang Kate. 'I need to get out the flat.'

Luckily her sister just assumed Tony was working. 'I've booked an aerobics class. Starts in about an hour. Want to see if I can get you in?'

'Go on then.' She'd not got on the scales for weeks, being sure she wouldn't like what they said. She didn't need them to tell her anyway. Tony, when she saw him next, would no doubt ensure she was fully informed about the tightness of her clothes.

As she walked towards the sports' centre Alice noticed a group of boys joking noisily amongst themselves. When she got nearer she saw the smaller one in the middle wasn't finding it at all funny. He looked as though he might have Down's syndrome, but with the others surrounding him and his eyes scrunched up with tears it was hard to tell.

The insults one of the bigger lads were using suggested her guess was right. Then he started pushing the smaller boy.

'Leave me alone. I done nothing to you,' he said and raised his arms as though to protect himself from expected blows.

'Leave him alone,' Alice yelled.

'What's it to you, fatty?' the ringleader sneered.

'He's smaller than you and it's four on to one. You're nothing but a bunch of cowards.'

'Want to make something of it, do you?'

His friends had already stepped back and now moved further away still.

'It wouldn't be fair, not with my training.' The yob didn't need to know Alice wasn't so much as a fluffy pink belt in feng shui.

Whether he'd fallen for her bluff or just realised he was on his own, she didn't know, but with a rather feeble, 'You're mental you are,' he jogged off after his friends.

'Are you OK?' she asked the boy.

'I didn't do anything wrong. Mum said keep away from them but they wouldn't let me.'

'It's not your fault, it's theirs.'

By then another boy had joined them. 'Hi, Martin. Sorry I'm late.'

'Hello, Rap.'

Leaving Martin with his friend, Alice went in to meet her sister. 'Sorry, am I late?'

'No, you're fine. Is something up?'

Alice told Kate about the incident she'd just witnessed. 'I really hate bullies.'

'Yes, me too. Best thing probably is to just keep out their way. Usually though they're insecure or cowards deep down and pack it in if you challenge them.'

As Martin had just told her, keeping out of the way wasn't always possible. She did her best to avoid trouble though, didn't she?

The workout was exhausting but fun. They box stepped, grape-vined and hamstring curled to a selection of mad Christmas songs and every time a move involved their hands going anywhere near their heads they had to splay their fingers like reindeer antlers. Alice reckoned she burned off an extra mince pie just from laughing.

After her shower Alice couldn't find her phone.

'You definitely brought it, did you?' Kate asked.

'I'm pretty sure.'

'Let's see if anyone handed it in then.'

No one had, but the receptionist took Alice's details and Kate's number in case it turned up later.

When she got in, Alice found it. That was a relief, as was the text from Tony saying he'd assumed she wouldn't be coming to his parents' with him and had told them not to expect her. Alice didn't reply, just rang Kate to say she'd found the phone and asked if she could join her for New Year's Eve.

'Of course you can. Dad said he'd leave us some wine.'

'Us? Oh of course, you'll want to be with Pete. Don't worry it was just a thought.'

'Oh no! You don't get out of it that easily, my girl. You come and drink your share. Besides, you probably won't be playing gooseberry. Mum forgot they were going out and invited Petra, and Pete and Peter are coming in for a drink on their way to something or other involving bells.'

'OK, if you're sure. I'll stay and kip on the sofa.' Alice's old room was now her dad's brewery and although it still contained a bed she didn't want to spend a night listening to bottles bubbling away and wondering if they'd explode.

'OK. Will it just be you?'

'Yes.'

'OK. Want to talk about it?'

'Not right now.'

'Alice, you are OK?'

'Yes. Or at least... yes, actually I am.'

'OK then,' Kate said.

'You know, sometimes I wish our phones would get hacked. Our riveting conversations deserve a wider audience.'

'Not risking it! I'm hanging up now.' She did, but she left Alice smiling.

When Alice arrived home on New Year's Day, Tony was there along with lots of small bunches of mixed carnations. She guessed they were the only flowers he could get hold of. She guessed too that he'd felt as odd at midnight with no one to kiss as she had.

'Alice, I'm sorry. Forgive me?'

'That depends. What do you want me to forgive you for?'

'For trying to push you into moving in with me when I knew you weren't really ready. You've not long moved out from your parents' home and want to get used to that before you make another change.'

That was sort of right, but only part of the problem. 'Anything else?'

'And for smothering you. I never meant to, but I see now I did and how frustrating it must be.'

Alice wondered who he'd been talking to. Clearly it was someone very sensible.

'I know how keen you are on fire prevention,' he continued. 'Guess I got carried away and did a fire blanket impression.'

That made Alice laugh and the fact he seemed to understand what he'd done to upset her and to be sorry about it gave her hope the problem was solved. In fact things were great for a few days. What he hadn't said and she hadn't realised was that being aware of his desire to control her didn't mean he was capable of stopping that behaviour. His jealousy and possessiveness flared up again when she showed him the dress she'd bought for the school reunion.