Guess Who I Pulled Last Night? (24 page)

It was five-thirty in the morning, and the pasture was
covered with a fine gossamer layer of frost, resembling a delicate spider’s
web.  It was generally quiet, except for the occasional contented moo of a
cow in the shed, and the clanging of the milk churns as the yard started to
come to life.  Kerry was looking through her caravan window, drinking a
cup of tea, watching the day start and taking the opportunity of peace and
quiet to think about things.  This became her morning ritual since arriving
eight days ago.  Behind her Kerry could hear Mr Llewellyn and Owen
starting the day’s work, ready for the Monday morning collection of the milk
that their herd had produced over the last few days.  Kerry was familiar
with the routine now, in about half an hour Mrs Llewellyn would call them in
for breakfast, the smell of which wafted under the caravan door, then when that
was over, they would come and check the cows again before the tanker arrived at
eight o’clock.  When the milk was on its way, Mr. Llewellyn would herd the
cows into the field, leaving Owen to muck out the stalls in time for
lunch.  In the afternoon, Owen didn’t seem to have an awful lot to
do.  Once his odd jobs on the farm had been done he had got into the habit
of visiting Kerry, for a chat.  She was still a little wary of him, there
was something dangerous about him, something in his eyes that warned her to be
careful, but despite her feelings she enjoyed his company.  He was very
pleasant and polite, still calling her Mrs Johnson up until the previous day,
and he always made her laugh with some story about himself or his friends.

As the morning light grew Kerry could hear Esme stirring in
her bed, she hoped that her baby would sleep on a little while longer because
she wanted to write home today.  She wasn’t going to tell them where she
was, but knew that they would all be worried and deserved to know that she, and
Esme were both okay.  Kerry knew that her mum would be frantic, and she
felt guilty about not writing sooner, but she had needed the last few days to
try to get her head together; to let it sink in what happened between her and
Kelvin.  When she was certain that Esme wasn’t waking, Kerry put her cup
into the sink and picked up the writing paper that she had bought the day before.

A little later that same morning, in Chester, Paul was at
his desk, going over some contracts, when the telephone rang.  He glanced
at his watch; eight-thirty still too early for most clients.

“Paul Palmer,” he answered briskly.

“Howyer Paul, it’s me Niall.”  Niall sounded hesitant,
not sure of the reaction that he was going to receive.  He guessed that by
now Charlotte would have told Paul the whole story, about the two of them and
that wonderful kiss.

“Ah, Niall,
good Christmas?” he asked, not giving anything away.

“Okay not too bad, listen...Paul, I need to talk to yer
about Charlotte.”

“I guess you do,” replied Paul, settling back into his
chair.  “She was very upset you know?”

Niall sighed heavily on the other end of the line.  “I
can imagine, and there is no good explanation for it.  I realise that I
should have told her, but, well, I just didn’t.”

“So how exactly do you feel about her then, obviously not
seriously, seeing as you are engaged?”  Paul’s tone was kinder now. He
could sense that Niall was feeling remorseful.

“That’s just it Paul. I do like her, a lot. I mean really
like her.  I’ve never met anyone like her before.”

Paul’s laugh tinkled down the receiver.  “Hmm, you can
say that again, she is unique and I for one don’t want to see her hurt.”

“Neither do I,” cried Niall.  “I didn’t want this to
happen; I didn’t expect it to happen, which is probably why I didn’t tell her
about Ingrid, but for some reason, she was getting under my skin."

“Why are you telling me this Niall, shouldn’t you be talking
to Charlotte about it?” Paul asked.

“Well that’s why I rang you, to check whether you thought I
should.  You know her better than I do, so I thought that you’d know
whether I’m likely to get my head bitten off,” Niall replied.

“I’m sure that she will bite it off and spit it down the
toilet knowing Charlotte.  Look Niall, you’ve really hurt her.  It’s
taken a long time to mend her heart after that friend of yours; I just hope
that you haven’t set her back.”

Niall sighed again, much heavier this time.  “God, so
do I, I really wouldn’t want to do that.  I wish that I didn't have all
that drink; then maybe I would have been in control of my senses.”  Niall
paused slightly, running a hand over his hair. “The trouble is, I don’t think I
would have been able to keep my hands off her, even if I had been sober.”

“Oh dear,” sighed Paul, “You do have it bad.”

“I guess so,” he answered.  “Do you think that she
feels the same way?”

“Ask her, not me.”  Now Paul ran a hand through his
curls.  “God, I feel as guilty about this as you do.  I thought that
there was something between you two; that’s why I set up the lunch.  I
wanted you to get over the petty squabbling, and get on with liking each
other.  I knew something would happen, and now between us...well we've really
upset her.”

“Paul, I’m truly sorry that you feel that way. You
shouldn’t, but I really need to know whether to contact her or not.” 
Niall crossed his finger hoping that Paul would give him the right answer.

Paul nodded, solemnly.  “Yes, I think that you should.”

Niall heaved another sigh, this time of relief. 
“Thanks Paul, I’m coming over now.”

“Hang on, you can’t just land yourself on her. I think that
she needs to be prepared.”

“Oh right,” replied Niall, dejectedly.  “What do you
suggest then?”

Paul laughed softly.  “You are asking me for advice on
how to handle a woman.  You do know that I happen to live with a man,
don’t you?”

“I know,” cried Niall.  “But this isn’t any woman. This
is Charlotte.”

“Okay, I take your point.  Right, I suggest that you
ask her to meet you, tomorrow maybe, take her to lunch.  Meeting her in a
public place may just stop her from biting your bollocks off.”

Niall laughed, but it was a sad laugh.  “Yer right, do
you think that it would be okay for me to come over today and drop a note off
for her?”

“Gosh you are eager,” said Paul.  “I just hope that you
are serious too, I don’t want her hurt again Niall.”

“Paul I won’t hurt her. I promise.  I can’t explain why
I feel the way I do. I hardly know her and let’s face it; we haven’t exactly
got on like a house on fire.  However, I am serious about her, and about
how I feel.”  His tone was sincere putting Paul at ease.

“Okay, but all I can say is good luck, you’re going to need
it.”

Charlotte was turning into the car park of Palmer’s,
relieved to see that the familiar silver car wasn’t parked there; but why
should he be there? The deal was done and signed so why would Niall be
here?  She turned off the engine and took a deep breath; this was the
first day back after the Christmas holidays, and she knew that they would all
be desperate for the gossip about her lunch with Niall.  She had managed
to steer clear of the subject at the party, but the sight of her crying into
her drink and looking morose had given them enough to talk about.  Today
would be a different matter as Gwen would be out to get her.  She would
badger Charlotte all day until finally she would submit and tell her every
little detail. Charlotte knew that she would have to have her wits about her,
and not tell her anything, because without doubt if she had to recount the
whole sorry story, she may just cry.

“Morning,” she announced breezily as she walked through the
office.  The other three were not so joyous and mumbled their own
greetings.  “Oh dear post-Christmas blues is it?”  Charlotte suddenly
noticed the mistletoe above her head, immediately thinking of Niall her head
dropped despondently.

“Did you have a good Christmas Charlotte?”  Gwen had
momentarily stopped dealing her tarot cards, and lifted her head to speak to
Charlotte.

Charlotte noticed the twinkle in Gwen’s eyes and was
prepared; nothing about Niall would pass her lips.  “Lovely thank you,
What about you, Gwen did you?” She smiled at Gwen.

“Yes, Derek bought me an electric food processor.  I
had asked for an exercise bike, but it’ll give me the same result.” 
Realising that at this moment in time, Charlotte was not giving any
information, Gwen turned back to her card; she would try again later.

Charlotte slightly perplexed at how a kitchen utensil could
possibly be a good replacement for an exercise bike, nodded slowly, open
mouthed.  Then she remembered this was Gwen she was talking to, so why be
surprised.  “What about you two?” she asked, looking at Bobby and Laura.

“Huh, huh, fine thanks,” coughed Bobby.  “Judith got me
some new boots, what do you think?”  Bobby stuck his leg out from under
the desk.  The boots were identical to those he wore before Christmas;
nevertheless, Charlotte nodded her approval.

“What did you get Laura?” she asked.

“Drunk, mostly, oh and Rob and I started going out together
on New Year’s Eve,” she said, blushing slightly as she gave her news.

“But weren’t you together at the Christmas party?” Charlotte
asked, vaguely remembering something happening in the lift.

“Oh that was just a Christmas thing, but we’re actually
going out now.”

Charlotte opened her mouth to speak but just nodded instead.

An hour and a half later, Charlotte was on the telephone to
the photocopier engineer, when Laura came up to her desk and placed an envelope
on it, she smiled up at her in thanks.  Once Charlotte had finished
bawling out the company for their second-rate photocopier, she opened up the
envelope and read the piece of paper inside.

Charlotte,

I’m really sorry that I haven’t
been in touch sooner, but what with Christmas and everything, I haven’t had the
opportunity.  I would like to apologise for the day that we went out to
lunch and explain everything, so do you think that we could meet up for lunch
tomorrow (Tuesday).  I’d like to say in our usual spot, but perhaps that
would be a bad joke, so how about under the clock in the city at 12:30. 
If you don’t turn up, I understand, but I would like to be able to explain.

Take care,

Niall

Charlotte’s heart began to pump faster as she read the note,
she fingered the letters on the page as if it was actually touching Niall; she
read it again and then picked up the phone and dialled Bets number.

“Hi Bets it’s me.” She lowered her voice as Gwen
surreptitiously stopped working.  “I’ve just had a note from Niall.”

“Oh my God, what does it say,” screamed Bets, almost
bursting Charlotte’s eardrum.

Charlotte read it back quietly.  “It’s not good is it?”
she said with trepidation.

“What do you mean it’s not good?  The man of your
dreams is asking you to meet him for lunch; what more do you want?”  Bets
asked, with a heavy sigh.

“Bets, he’s going to tell me that he was drunk and didn’t
know what he was doing, I know he is.  It just doesn’t sound like the
words from a man who can’t keep his hands off me,” cried Charlotte.

“Charlotte please try to be positive. He must care about you
to want to explain. He could have just let you think that he was a shit head.”

“I know, anyway while I’m on have you heard anything about
Kerry?  I haven’t spoken to Kelvin today, have you?”

“Yes,” replied Bets.  “I rang this morning, but there’s
nothing.  Apparently, he was out until one o’clock this morning driving
around looking for her.”

“I don’t know why he’s bothering. I honestly don’t think
that she’s still around here, someone would have seen her.” Charlotte sounded
wistful, worried for her friend and what sort of a state she may be in.

“It makes him feel useful, and we just need to support
whatever he does.  Anyway, I’d better go as my next client has
arrived.  He’s rather gorgeous and is having a BSC, so aren’t I the lucky
one?”  Bets giggled on the other end of the line.

“What’s a BSC?” Charlotte asked, quizzically.

“Ask Laura, she’ll tell you.  I’ll speak to you later,
perhaps we can go and see Kelvin tonight, what do you think?”

Charlotte nodded, biting her bottom lip.  “Hmm, that
would be good, and we could have another think about where Kerry may be. 
Speak to you later, bye.”  Charlotte replaced the receiver and sat back in
her chair.  What an awful year this was turning out to be already. 
Kerry had to come home soon, or at least contact them, not knowing how she was
or where she was, was driving them all crazy; yes, they would have to think
really hard about where she may be.  However, in the meantime Charlotte
had her lunch date to worry about.

It was mid- afternoon and Kerry had just boiled the kettle
when she heard the familiar rap upon the door; it was Owen.

“Hello Kerry, how are you today?  Esme asleep is she?”

Kerry nodded as she poured water into two cups.  “Yes,
about ten minutes ago, we’ve been down to the beach this morning, so she’s
shattered, but I’m fine thanks, how about you?”

“Not bad you know, better now that I’m here with you.” 
He smiled at Kerry, touching her hand as she passed him his cup.  She
snatched it away quickly and passed him the packet of biscuits.

“So, are you ready to tell me about your husband then?” He
was nothing if not direct.

Kerry thought about it and realised that she wanted to tell
him, but maybe not everything.  She spent the next half hour explaining to
him about the problems that she, and Kelvin had been having over the last few
months, about her going out and the constant shouting and crying, not to
mention the spending vast amounts of money.  She stood up to make another
cup of tea.