That Friday (7 page)

Charlie was caught by surprise
when Tess suddenly set off away from The Dry Dock, her hand squeezing his
tightly. He could feel the anxiety emanating from her in waves. As she led him
down the street beyond the bar he wondered what it was that had her so
agitated; it wasn't until they came to a
bridge, that
crossed over a dual carriageway, that he understood.

Tess had told him the story about
'The Bridge' as she called it, one of the many unpleasant things that had
happened in her life. Years before, when she had been going through a bad patch
she had stood on the edge of the bridge with every intention of throwing
herself off it. She would have succeeded too but for a
passerby
,
who grabbed her and pulled her back.

That should have been a good
thing, especially since she had ended up dating the man who saved her from
herself. Unfortunately, things had not worked out between them, which would
have been bad enough, but after they broke up she encountered him again one
night. The night was a bad one for her, again, and she had thought that bumping
into Paul was a sign that things were going to get better for her, just as they
had when she first met him.

They hadn't gotten better, they
had become worse. Far from being the nice person she remembered him being, Paul
was angry with her for their breakup and the moment he had her alone he
attacked her. The attack was bad enough, it was made far worse however by the
fact that he had known of the way her stepfather treated her, had even
sympathised with her and comforted her when she had flashbacks.

It had been a long time since Tess
had been back to 'The Bridge', there were too many memories, most of them bad,
but with Charlie at her side she felt as though she could face it again. She
had a score to settle, she knew that was stupid, the bridge was inanimate,
nothing more than concrete and metal, but it was how she felt, and Charlie's
presence gave her the strength to think she could face her demons.

Boldly, she led the way across the
bridge to the spot where Paul had pulled her back, right before she could jump.
Never, not once in all the years that had passed, had she forgotten where it
was on the bridge that that life-changing event had taken place.

She climbed over the large
concrete blocks, which were supposed to keep people back from the railing, and
then moved to the railing itself, taking hold of it and lifting herself up so
her feet were on the lower bar of it.

Uncertain what Tess was going to
do, and concerned, Charlie started forward. He was clambering over the concrete
blocks when she suddenly spat over the railing, her spit arcing out for a
moment before falling to strike the road below. When he saw that, he relaxed a
little, a smile coming to his lips, as he realised she was not intending to do
anything silly, she just wanted to show her contempt for the bridge.

When she was done, he reached out
to help her back over the cement block. He pulled her into his arms the moment
she was on her feet again and held her tight against him, one arm around her
waist, the other in her hair as he kissed her. It was a long and deep kiss, but
also gentle, filled with all the love he felt for her.

"What was that for?" she
asked when he broke the kiss. It wasn't that she minded the kiss, far from it,
it had just been unexpected; up to then his kisses while they were in public,
even if there had been no-one around to see, had been hesitant and shy. That
kiss was far from hesitant and shy; it was confident and loving and took her
breath away.

Charlie gave a little shrug.
"Nothing, I just wanted to," he said, turning his head away, though
he immediately looked back at her. "I wanted to give you a better memory
of this place. I know what it means to you, and what sort of memories you have,
I wanted to change that. In the future, when you think of this place, this
bridge, I want you to think of us together, in the snow, kissing and holding
each other. I want you to think of how happy we are right now."

Embarrassed, and more happy than
she could remember being, Tess smiled. She knew she would never forget that
moment, no matter how much time passed. Even if she never fully forgot the
memory of what she had come to the bridge to do, and what had happened
afterward, she had a good memory of that place to push it aside with. She would
never forget that kiss, ever, or the man in her arms, and especially not the
way he had made her feel right then.

Together, so close they could feel
the other's heart, despite the layers of clothing they were both wearing, they
stood, not wanting to separate.

When the initial warmth of the
love that had flowed from him with his words had faded, and the cold returned
to remind her that it was the middle of winter, Tess stepped back, taking him
by the hand. She turned away from the bridge and, with a spring in her step
once more and feeling like she was a schoolgirl enveloped in the first flush of
love, she led him back the way they had come.

It took them no time at all to
reach The Dry Dock again and Tess led them inside. The moment they were through
the door she looked around; there hadn't much of a change to the outside, the
same was true of the interior. In fact, the only thing she could see that was different
from what she remembered was the existence of two pool tables off to one side
as they walked in.

Charlie was as pleased by the
sight of the pool tables. Many times during their conversations, he and Tess
had spoken of how much they enjoyed pool, a game they were both reasonable at,
and which they could play while continuing a conversation.

Before either of them could think
to suggest a game, a synchronised rumble from their stomachs reminded them it
had been hours since they last ate. More than simply hours in Tess' case; it
had been almost a day since she ate.

"Are you still serving
food?" Tess asked of the barmaid the moment she got to the bar, before
Charlie could open his mouth. Since food had not been an option the last time
she went there she had no idea when they stopped; she figured they were
probably still serving, it was only five p.m. after all but thought it best to
check.

A nod answered the question.
"Yes, menus are on the tables."

"Thanks." She turned
away from the bar then. "Where do you want to sit?" she asked, her
eyes drifting to a table not far from the bar; there was no one at the nearby
tables, meaning they would have privacy, as much as they could expect to get.

Charlie saw where Tess was
looking. "Over there," he said, indicating the table she had picked
out without meaning to. He led her over to it and shrugged out of his jacket,
which he laid over one stool before he settled onto the other stool and Tess
did the same on the other side of the table.

They both picked up a menu and
opened it. For the first time in months, Tess was hungry, properly hungry. She
had experienced moments of hunger over the previous weeks and months but for
the most part, the stress of her marriage breaking down, arranging a divorce,
packing up her soon-to-be ex's belongings and doing it all without upsetting
her daughter had robbed her of her appetite and brought on a relapse of the
anorexia that had plagued her periodically throughout her life. While that had
been great for her waistline, since she had shed all of the weight she'd wanted
to be rid of, she knew it hadn't been good that she was so stressed.

When his eye fell on the jacket
potato listed on the menu, Charlie knew what he was going to have. It was
simple food but he loved it; a few beans and some cheese on the side and he was
more than happy. ""What would you like?" he asked. He was
tempted to look at the desserts that were on offer but resolutely put the menu
down and slid it away.

"Jacket
spud."
Tess' answer made him
laugh. "What's so funny?" she asked.

It was a couple of moments before
Charlie was able to respond. "That's what I'm having," he said when
he finished laughing. "The moment I saw it on the menu I knew that's what
I was going to have; it's been ages since I had a jacket spud."

At that Tess laughed, just as he
had. "I should have guessed, it's the
most simple
thing on the menu. I know how much you like simple food. No, you stay
here," she said as he made to slide off his stool to go and order for
them. "I said tonight is my treat." Before he could argue she was on
her feet and at the bar. "What would you like to drink?" she called
over her shoulder as she gave the barmaid their food order and ordered her
drink.

"Vodka and coke,
please," he called over. Though he knew it didn't matter, in the grand
scheme of things, he had wanted to be a gentleman and order for them as well as
pay for their food. He made sure not to show any of his disappointment, which
fortunately was mild, when she returned to the table with the amusing wooden spoon
table number in a beer bottle and their drinks.

While they waited for their food,
sipping at their drinks, Tess talked of when she was young and a frequent
visitor to the bar. She had been underage at the time, but an 'over eighteen?
Yes of course, sir' was all she had needed to get served. Those had been her
wild years, when she had experimented with both the boys and the girls. Her
experiments had never gone too far, for the most part they had been restricted
to kissing and a bit of groping, but it was during that time she had discovered
she liked both sexes and that love wasn't defined by gender.

Charlie laughed at the stories,
which were so unlike his own teen years. When he was a teen he had been a
boring stay-at-home kind of guy; during that time he hadn’t even drunk, he had
been teetotal. It was only later in life, when he was almost as old as Tess was
then, that he'd taken up drinking, a vice brought on by a combination of
situations involving a former lover of his. One such situation had brought to
the forefront of his thoughts the long suppressed memories of what his father
had done. The other had been the discovery that during their time together Sam
had become pregnant with, and then lost, a child that was almost certainly his.

During pauses in Tess' stories he
told a few of his own, which only served to remind him of just how boring he
had been as a teen and made him hope that she wouldn't decide he was still
boring and leave him for someone more exciting and interesting.

They were so engrossed in the
exchange of stories, more on Tess' part than Charlie's, that the arrival of
their dinner surprised them. Neither was sure if the food had been prepared
quickly or if they had been talking for ages, not that it mattered much to
them.

The stories continued over dinner,
with Tess secretly pleased that for once she wasn't the 'quiet' one at the
table. Her stories made her life seem more exciting than it had been. She'd had
to be home before midnight, even after she finished school, which meant she'd
had to catch the last bus, getting home hours before her curfew on some
occasions because the buses left her with no other choice. Because of that she
had never truly been able to party the way her friends had, and she had not
been properly drunk.

Soon enough, the food was
finished, as were their drinks, and they sat together in silence, finally, for
a short while to let their food go down. The silence, the longest that had
fallen between them since the train station, was both comfortable and
comforting, with neither of them feeling the need to fill it unnecessarily.

"Do you fancy another
drink?" Charlie asked finally. He was thirsty, and wanted another drink,
perhaps more, to help him relax and fully enjoy the evening, but didn't want to
seem too eager with his drinking. He knew Tess knew all about his drinking, and
how bad it had been in the past, and didn't want her to think he was back to
his old, bad, habits.

The nervousness Tess had been
keeping hidden as best she could was wearing on her a little and she was only
too happy to have another. In earnest she nodded. "Yes please, vodka and
coke again, if that's alright."

"Of course," Charlie
said with a smile, amused that she thought it might not be. "Shall we play
some pool when I've got the drinks?"

"Sure, I'll take our stuff
over to the tables and start setting up." Tess grabbed up her jacket and
handbag as she spoke, wanting to get to the vacant pool table before anyone
else stole it.

It didn't take long for him to get
their drinks and make it to the pool table, where he found Tess idly hitting
the cue ball up and down the table. "I thought you were going to set
up?" he said as he handed her
her
drink.

"I was," she smiled,
"but then I decided I'd leave it to you," she told him. "I've
never been much good at setting the balls up; I never remember the right way to
put them in the frame."

"Me neither," Charlie
admitted. "I've been shown loads of times but I'm never quite sure I've
done it right." That said, he set the rack on the table and began loading
the red and yellow balls into it. Once they were all in the rack, with the back
ball next to it, he began re-arranging them, trying hard to remember how he had
been taught to set them up. Finally, he stepped back from the table; he thought
he had the balls arranged properly but after a moment he decided it didn't
really matter, they only wanted to have some fun.