Guess Who I Pulled Last Night? (10 page)

The next morning Bets woke fairly early, with the sun streaming
in through the open curtain, a warm light beating down on to her face.

“Good morning gorgeous.”  Stuart whispered in her ear.

 Bets opened her eyes to see him looking down on
her.  She rubbed her eyes, and then snuggled up close to his warm, naked
body. “Hello, what time is it?”

“Seven o’clock, I’m afraid I’m going to have to get going
soon. I need to go home and collect a few things, before I go down to London.”

“Oh, do you have to go today? If you’re not meeting him
until tomorrow you could go later tonight, or early in the morning,” whimpered
Bets, like a spoilt child.

Stuart laughed, and pulled her even closer. "I can't, I
told you that I’ve arranged to meet him for dinner this evening. We are going
to look at all the equipment in the morning. I want to get going by ten at the
latest, and I also need to look in on the gym, to make sure everything is
okay.”

“Meany, you just don’t want to spend the day with me.”

“Believe me sweetheart, there isn’t anything I’d like more,
why don’t you come with me. I can easily change my hotel reservation?” 
Stuart sat up, suddenly excited by his idea.

“I’d love to,” said Bets, also sitting up.  “But I’ve
got a full day of clients tomorrow.  I can’t ask Jane or Cheryl to cover
for me again. No, go and do your big business deal, and then call me when you
get back. What time do you think that will be, by the way?”

Stuart thought about it for a moment. “Oh about
mid-afternoon, I would hope. I’d like to get most of the deal sorted out this
evening, which means that I can shoot off almost as soon as I’ve seen the
gear.”

“Shall we go out then, or will you be too knackered?”

“Play it by ear shall we?  You could always come around
to my house, and we could get a take away.  How does that sound?”

Bets smiled and yawned.  “Okay, ring me as soon as you
get back then.”

“Okay sleepy head,” whispered Stuart, kissing her cheek that
was now disappearing back under the duvet.  “You get some more sleep, and
I’ll call you later.”

Bets turned her face towards him and lifted her head to kiss
his lips. “Bye sweetheart, take care.”

“I will.”

When Bets finally woke up, it was nearly ten-thirty, she
felt totally refreshed and eager for a swim.  As she got herself ready
Bets pottered around the flat aimlessly.  After almost fourteen mornings
of waking up with Stuart, she was already missing him.  It was silly
really, at this time on a weekday she would be at work anyway and not with
him.  Knowing that he was not even in the same town somehow made it worse;
she realised that this was becoming quite serious.  Before going to the
pool Bets decided to give Charlotte a call and tell her all about the previous
day spent with Kerry.

“Hello, why are you ringing me at eleven o’clock on a Sunday
morning, when you are fully aware I don’t normally surface until midday?”

“Good morning Charlotte, how are you today?”

“Okay thank you, and yourself?”

Bets smiled, thinking about how she felt, “Fine, actually
very good.”

“Oh dear, this is getting serious isn’t it?  So how is
the lovely Stuart?”  Charlotte asked her, inquisitive about her friend's
burgeoning love life.

“He’s well. He's gone to London today on some business deal,
and won’t be back until tomorrow.”  Bets lodged her mobile under her chin,
while she played with Alfred at her feet.  “Actually I’ve called to tell
you about Kerry.”  She wanted to tell Charlotte all about Stuart, but at
this moment, Kerry was more important.

“What, what about her?” Charlotte seemed anxious.

“Nothing to worry about, in fact, we may have a
breakthrough.  I spent quite a pleasant day with her yesterday.” 
Bets went on to tell Charlotte all about their chance meeting.  The coffee
at the market and then the couple of hours at the garden centre.

“So, she seemed a little better did she?" The relief
resounded through Charlotte's voice.

“Yes, but don’t get too excited because Kelvin wasn’t really
mentioned, and neither was how she has been feeling and acting lately.  I
didn’t want to rock the boat so it could just be she was in a better mood
because we didn’t talk about the situation.”

“Hmm, maybe, but at least she wasn’t shouting or sulking
with you.  Perhaps I should call her today, you know just to see how the
land lies.”

Bets nodded on the other end of the line. “Yes, that would
be a good idea.  Anyway, why do you sound so grotty at this hour on a
Sunday?  You're normally up and about by six o’clock?”

Charlotte groaned, “Ha, ha, very funny.”  She was not
known for her sprightliness on a Sunday morning. It was her only real lie in,
and she enjoyed it to the maximum.  “If you must know I went out with Tom
last night, and we ended up back at one of his mate’s houses drinking cheap
vodka and playing Twister.”

Bets laugh tinkled in the air.  “Not naked I hope?”

“God no, have you seen Barry Drewett, Tom’s friend?  He
makes Pavarotti look anorexic.  I don’t know why I let him persuade me
into these things. I was quite happy watching Casualty with my meal for one.”

“Ah, bless you.  You could have come around here you
know, if you were that lonely?”

“I wasn’t.  I think Tom was bored and felt the need to
persecute me, so he took me out.  Anyway, you don’t want me over at the
love nest; I would have cramped your style. A little raspberry sat in between
you and Stuart.”

Bets stifled a laugh, “I think you mean gooseberry.  We
wouldn’t have minded.”

“No, don’t be silly this is the most romantic time, the
first few weeks. It's downhill after that.”

“Oh cheers, you really are a comfort.”

“Seriously though Bets, I’m really pleased for you. He seems
a truly good bloke.”

“Aww thanks.  Anyway, I’d better go; I’m off to the
pool to do a few laps.  I’ll perhaps give you a call tomorrow; see how you
got on with Kerry.”

“Okay, but don’t worry if you are otherwise engaged, I
understand.” Charlotte laughed throatily as Bets tutted on the other end.

“Bye, speak to you soon.”

Once Charlotte had gone from the line, Bets tapped out
Stuart’s mobile number, she couldn’t wait for him to call her.  He
answered breezily.

“Hello, gorgeous.”

Bets giggled, “Hiya, how are you?”

“Fine, just having something to eat at the motorway
services, what are you doing?”

“I’m off to the pool for a swim, but I thought that I’d give
you a quick call.”

“I was just going to ring you actually, once I’d finished by
breakfast of greasy, high cholesterol, heart attack food.”

Betts tutted loudly. “Stuart. You shouldn’t be eating stuff
like that, especially when you are going into a meeting about buying gym
equipment, it really is two opposite ends of the scale.”

“It doesn’t hurt to be bad, occasionally.  So have you
planned to do anything tonight, or are you going to get an early night?” 
Stuart asked, as he continued to chew on his breakfast.

“No nothing planned, I may take the opportunity to get an
early night, you know to preserve my energy for tomorrow.”  Bets laughed
as she played with the cord of her tracksuit bottoms.

“Oh, so are you expecting me to perform after a gruelling
business deal?” Stuart's voice had a hint of mischief.

“Yes I am, and I also expect you to be laden with a rather
large present.  Especially as you missed out on buying me a birthday
gift.”

It was now Stuart’s turn to laugh, “Sorry, but I did get you
a present, who did you think sent those roses?”

Bets gasped, “You, you never said,” she cried.

“I like to be a man of mystery, but seeing as you have been
a good girl I will bring you something back.  What about one of those
plastic figures of Big Ben, would you like one of those?”

“Ooh lovely.  God I can’t believe you sent those
flowers, and kept quiet about it all this time, you sneaky devil.”

“Well you know now, so you can’t accuse me of being
unromantic, can you?”

“I never would,” Bets sighed. “Anyway, finish off your
horrible breakfast and drive carefully; I still think you should have gone by
train.”

“My hotel is in Wembley, so I’ll just get the tube in, but I
will drive carefully, and I’ll call you later, okay?”

“Okay, bye.”

“Bye darling, take care.”

The phone clicked off and Bets smiled, hugging it to her
chest.  This was going to work out, if it killed her.

Charlotte pulled up outside Kerry’s house, and sighed
heavily. She had decided not to telephone, but to come around in person and see
exactly how her friend was.  As she knocked on the door Charlotte heard
raised voices inside, but when Kelvin’s smiling face appeared at the doorway,
she thought that she must have been mistaken.

“Hello,” he said, opening the door wider to let Charlotte
in.  “Come in Charlotte, Kerry’s in the kitchen.”

Charlotte entered the kitchen. “You’re not having a late
lunch are you?” she asked, realising that she was desperately looking for a
reason not to stay.

Charlotte's thoughts, that she had been mistaken about
raised voices, were obviously wrong.  Kerry’s face told a different story;
she stood next to the sink with a tea towel in her hands.  Her eyes were
dark and her face was etched with weariness.

“No, we’ve finished about ten minutes ago.  Do you want
a cuppa?”  Kerry asked, as she avoided looking at Charlotte

Charlotte sat down at the table and started leafing through
the newspaper.  “Hmm, please.” Suddenly she felt uncomfortable, almost
like an intruder. 

Charlotte felt as though she wasn’t wanted, and it hurt her.
 Bets had said that Kerry had been better yesterday, so maybe it was just
Charlotte that Kerry was at odds with.  Charlotte looked up as Kelvin
moved past Kerry, to get to the sink.  Kerry shrank away from the hand
that he had placed on her waist; okay so perhaps it was Kelvin as well.

“Is Esme in bed then?”  Charlotte asked about Esme, to
lighten the mood.

“Yes, she’s shattered. We've been to see the ducks this
morning,” explained Kelvin, as he continued to stack the dishwasher.

Charlotte’s eyes brightened.  Things couldn’t be so bad
if they were having family outings.  “Did she enjoy feeding them Kerry?”

“Oh, erm, I don’t know. I didn’t go, just Kelvin and
Esme.”  Kerry turned back to the teapot.

“Yes she did,” answered Kelvin, his withered look at Kerry
and the shrug with his shoulders speaking volumes.

Charlotte felt deflated. Something had to be done before the
situation got out of hand, and this time she would not stand any pussy footing
about.  Charlotte nodded towards the lounge as she caught Kelvin's eye. He
noted the silent command, and picked up a cup of tea that Kerry had just poured
out.

“Right, I’ll leave you to it and go and watch some
T.V.  See you later.”

Charlotte smiled gratefully, “Bye Kelvin, see you later.”

Kerry not acknowledging him at all picked up the other two
cups and moved towards Charlotte.

“There you go, so how was the match yesterday?  Did you
win?”

Charlotte nodded, “Yes, but it was a poor game.”  She
took a deep breath.  “Even so, I don’t want to talk about football; I want
to talk about you.” 

Her stomach knotted and her heart beat rapidly in her
throat.  Charlotte knew that Kerry would either blow or may actually
decide to confess to how she was really feeling, and she dreaded that she would
take the first option.

“Oh for God’s sake Charlotte, not again.”  She had been
right. Kerry was about to blow, but Charlotte was not about to give up.

“Yes, sorry again Kerry.”  She grabbed Kerry’s hands
and held them tightly in her own.  “I am not leaving here until you tell
me exactly what is going on.  Why are you being like this, obviously
things aren’t right between you and Kelvin? Have you got someone else?”

Kerry shook her head violently.  “God, no!”

“Well has he?” 

Kerry shook her head again. “No, well at least I don’t think
he has, but I wouldn’t blame him.”

Charlotte spotted the chink of light, and ran straight for
it.  “Why do you say that?”

“You’ve noticed what a cow, I’ve been to him lately.”

“Why have you been a cow, as you put it?”

Kerry shrugged her shoulders and freeing a hand from
Charlotte’s grasp rubbed her eyes.  “I can’t help it; I want to be
horrible to him all the time.  Even when he’s being lovely and caring, I
think he’s being a creep.  Actually, it’s not only him. It's everyone.
Everyone gets on my nerves, and I really feel like punching people at
times.  The only person I’m nice to is Esme, and if I’m honest there are
times when…” Kerry paused and took a huge breath to help her say the
words.  “When I just don’t want to look at her, even be in the same room
as her.”  Kerry started to cry silently, huge tears rolling down her
cheeks.

Charlotte fought the urge to hold her tightly, aware that
Kerry needed to carry on at her own pace.  She loosened the grip on
Kerry’s other hand, but didn’t let go completely.  Charlotte wanted prove
to Kerry that she still cared.

“I can’t help the way I’m feeling Charlotte. I've tried to
be nicer, but I don’t really care enough to do anything about it.”  Kerry
wiped her nose against her hand, sniffing loudly.  “I can see and hear
what I’m doing but there is something stopping me from changing. I can almost
feel my teeth snap tightly closed when I decide I’m going to say something
nice, then horrible thoughts come into my head, and they spring open again, all
the nasty words tumbling out.”

“How long have you felt like this, you’ve said that you have
been bored and fed up for a few months, but have you felt like this longer than
that?”  Charlotte reached inside her jacket pocket and passed a crumpled
tissue to Kerry.

Kerry shrugged as she blew her nose.  “I don’t know,
when Dad died, I felt like my heart was going to break, but afterwards, I found
out that I was having Esme, and things seemed to get better.  I was
totally occupied with having a baby, and when she was born, I was so besotted
with her; I didn’t really have time to think about how I was feeling.  As
the months have gone on this black mood has engulfed me, swallowed me up and
suffocated me.”

Charlotte sighed heavily as she let Kerry shed a few more
tears, she realised now that Kerry’s depression was probably a culmination of
things.  First, her dad dying and then she had had to cope with a brand-new
baby, although it seemed that Esme being born hadn’t really been an
issue.  The time Kerry had needed to spend with her baby had just masked
the growing problem, it was only now, when Esme was a little more independent,
that Kerry had got time to think about things and to realise how she was
feeling.

“Kerry,” Charlotte whispered, as Kerry took a breath in
between sobs.  “Don’t you think that you should go and see someone, a
professional, about how you are feeling?”

Suddenly, it was as though someone had flicked a switch;
Kerry turned into an old cow again.  “Oh for God’s sake Charlotte, will
you stop with this business that I need to see someone. I will be okay if
people just let me get over it in my own time and in my way.”  The tears
stopped.   If Charlotte hadn’t witnessed how Kerry had been over the
last few minutes, she would have sworn it had all been an act, so quick was her
mood change.

Charlotte wanted to shake her and tell her to stop being so
stupid, but she didn’t; she appeased Kerry.  “Okay, maybe you’re right,
perhaps you need to do this your way, but at least tell Kelvin how you are
feeling, or if you don’t want to, let me.”

Kerry shrugged her shoulders, “If you want to tell him, then
you tell him, but it won’t change anything.  I still need to deal with
this my own way.  So he’d better not try his amateur counselling skills on
me.”

Charlotte stood up and stroked Kerry’s bent head. 
“I’ll tell him,” she simply replied, and then left the room.

In the lounge, she could sense immediately that Kelvin
already knew what she was going to say.   The T.V. was turned down
low, and she could hear Kerry’s quiet sobs from the kitchen.

“You heard all that?” she asked.

Kelvin nodded, “Yep, at least she’s admitted that there is a
problem.  That’s the first step.”

“I think that’s how we have to look at it Kelvin.  We
have to hope that she realises that she needs professional help.”

“So until then, we weather the storm.” 

Charlotte nodded solemnly.  “I’m afraid so.”

All day, Bets fought the urge to call Stuart again.  He
was on a business trip, and she shouldn’t keep disturbing him, anyway she
didn’t want to appear too clingy.  Yes, she had promised Kerry that she
wouldn’t be playing any games this time, but being a limpet like girlfriend was
not really her.  However, by ten o’ cock that evening when Stuart still
hadn’t called, as he had promised, Bets decided to swallow her pride and call
him.  She punched out his mobile number and waited for his familiar welcome,
but all she got was the voicemail asking her to leave a message.

“Hi Stuart, it’s me, just thought I’d give you a call. 
Call me when you can, it doesn’t matter how late, bye.”

Bets glanced at her watch. She knew it had been a dinner
meeting, but he had promised to call her, perhaps he would when he got back to
his hotel.  Weary and bored, Bets decided to go to bed, and get that early
night she had told Stuart she would have.  She decided to take a shower,
although she really felt like a long hot soak.  She had done her own
bikini line today, and there was no way she wanted to look like a plucked
chicken, when Stuart got home tomorrow.

After a quick shower, Bets dried herself and slipped into
some fleecy cotton pyjamas. She loved how cosy they were, but didn’t get to
wear them much these days.  They weren’t exactly what one donned for a
passionate night in with your new boyfriend.  She then decided to check
her phone, just in case she had missed it ringing while under the shower, she
picked it up but nothing to indicate any messages had been left. 

Just before going to bed Bets decided that she would ring
Charlotte, and see how she had got on speaking to Kerry today, but there was no
reply.  She then dialled Kerry’s telephone number, but no reply there
either; perhaps her mobile was faulty.  Stuart hadn’t called, and she
couldn’t get the two people that she would have banked on being in at
ten-thirty on a Sunday evening.  So Bets dialled Cheryl, one of her
assistants, and asked her to call her back.

“I take it your equipment is working perfectly then Miss
Dobbs?” Cheryl asked, as she mimicked a nasally operator on the other end.

“Apparently so, thank you for all your help,” replied Bets,
keeping up the joke.

“My pleasure madam, and see you tomorrow,” with that Cheryl
was gone.

Bets flounced around the flat, willing the telephone to
ring, imagining all sorts of scenarios.  Stuart was at this moment being
treated to a private lap dance by a six foot blonde with a tight golden body
and wearing only a silver sequined thong.  Maybe he’d got talking to a
beautiful model, who had made him realise that he still wanted to enjoy the
single life, and so he had dumped Bets, without telling her.   Bets
realised what she was thinking and was shocked to the core; she actually felt
insecure about a man. This thought didn’t help, but only made her feel more
irritable. At almost one a.m., the early night forgotten, she decided that
Stuart obviously wasn’t going to ring, so she went to bed to try to think of a
punishment for him, for making her feel all stupid and girly.

She slept fitfully, dreaming about a service station cleaner
dancing for her in a plastic apron and nothing else, only to be woken at 6:30
by a loud banging on the front door. 

Alfred, who had been treated to a night at the end of the
bed, growled at first but subsequently went back to sleep. Bets grumpily threw
off the duvet, chanting a curse on whoever was knocking, as she slipped on her
dressing gown.  Suddenly, she realised that it may be Stuart, driven home
through the night to be with her, which was why he hadn’t rung; which meant he
could be forgiven.

“Oh, hello what are you doing here, it’s not Kerry or the
baby is it?” Bets asked, as she stood back to let Kelvin in. 

Shocked that he was here, Bets followed him into the lounge
and watched as he sank on the sofa. 

“Kelvin, what is it?  You’re scaring me, just tell
me.”  She flopped down next to him and took his hands in hers.

“I don’t know what to say Bets, I wish I didn’t have to tell
you this.”  Kelvin’s eyes were full of tears as he dropped his head into
his hands.

“WHAT tell me what?”  Bets almost screamed at him. She
could see that he was distressed, but she needed to know why.

“I’m so sorry, I…” His voice trailed off as the tears slid
down his face, and then wiping them with the back of one hand, he took hold of
Bets’ cold hand with his other.  “It’s Stuart, Bets there has been an
accident.”

“What do you mean, what sort of an accident?"” 
Bets was frantic now. It had never occurred to her that Kelvin would be here
about Stuart.  “Is he okay?”  She grabbed her hand away from
Kelvin's.

Kelvin reached across and took her hand back from her lap,
ensconcing it in both of his, really tightly.  “Bets sweetheart, I’m so
sorry, he’s...he's," a deep sob shuddered out of his mouth.  “He’s
dead.”

Before she could do anything, Kelvin wrapped both of his
arms around Bets; a protective barrier so nothing more could harm her. 
Bets didn’t react at all she sat stiffly, her trapped arms rigid by her
side.  After a couple of minutes, Kelvin very slowly pulled himself away,
wiping a silent tear from Bet’s cheek.

“Are you sure?” she asked robotically, looking beyond
him.  “Could it be a mistake?”

Kelvin shook his head solemnly.  “I’m sorry Bets; it's
true.”

Feeling as though she were moving in slow motion, Bets stood
up and walked into the kitchen.  Automatically, she began to run water
into the sink to clean last night’s plate, squeezing in so much washing up
liquid that the bubbles seeped over the sides like melted ice cream.  Kelvin
came and stood beside her, watching for a few seconds before turning off the
tap and then leading her back to the sofa.