In the Village of Pepperstock Green – Chapter (125) – Feast of St Lucy

 

December

 

Popular Children’s Writer, Chania Campbell, had made her home in the village of Pepperstock Green and on St Andrews Day she was hosting a dinner party, and among the guests were Louise Sexton and Jade Edwards, a pair of visiting thespians.

The hostess had first met Louise after they both took part in the World Book Day events at Pipershaven Library, and they became friends, but that evening was the first time Jade and Chania had met.

 

There was a period of reacquaintance with the guest that she knew and formal introductions to those she didn’t but then after a brief chat with her guests Chania had to excuse herself to check on the food, so it was up to the guests to amuse themselves.

In addition to the hostess Chania, were a skinny young woman of a similar age, Fiona Phippen, an illustrator, who was an old school friend, who also assisted in the kitchen, then there was Chania’s brother Aiden, an artist, Derren Mcphail, the new curate of St Agatha’s, Kevin Southey, Church Warden of same, Literary agents, Harry and Tracey Smedley, and Tim Weston who was a Local Historian, so it was an interesting bunch.

 

Louise and Jade got to know each other when they both worked on a very popular TV soap and during their time on the show they became very good friends, and over the years, in addition to the soap they had also worked in the theatre and even in pantomime, which was why they were both in the area, as they were appearing at the Heartstone Theatre, doing panto, playing the ugly sisters in Cinderella, which was intended to be ironic given the way they looked.

At 30 years old, Louise was stunningly attractive, slim with shoulder length brunette hair and hazel eyes but even Jade, who was three years older, put her friend in the shade with her looks.

Jade was slightly taller and a little curvier than Louise with a shock of flame red hair, so it wasn’t their looks that kept them single.

Their problem was that in their profession it was difficult to meet men, well the right kind of men at any rate, and they had over the years grown weary of being hit on by all the usual suspects.

Men who wanted to either be seen with a famous actress on their arm or wanted the glamour lifestyle they imagined went along with being a successful actor or on the baser level just wanted to have sex with a celebrity.

There was another obvious alternative to those types of men, and that was to date someone from their own world, someone on a par with them, but in their experience most actors tended to have huge egos and small personalities.

So, despite their professional success they were no different to any other human being, looking for love or companionship or a family.

What they needed was someone who would like them or love them for who they were rather than thinking of them as a backstage pass to a celebrity life.

But neither of them was actively looking for anyone so it came as a complete surprise to meet a serious candidate at dinner party in a quaint country village.

Although in Louise’s case it was more of a re-acquaintance.

The man in question was Harry Smedley, Chania’s Literary agent, who she first met just after the World Book Day events at Pipershaven Library, when she was starring in a play at the Heartstone Theatre, and there was an instant attraction, but Louise found out he was married to his business partner Tracey, so she backed off, however she had since discovered that they were not a couple.

Harry and Tracey had divorced the year before, but it was a completely amicable split because after eight years of marriage they both realized it wasn’t really working, they loved each other, and still did, but they were not in love.

In fact, they still lived under the same roof, in the same house, after the split, and planned to sell the house, or buy the other one out, if and when their personal circumstances changed.

So domestic life for them wasn’t really very different to when they were married, and it really should have been if they belonged together as a couple, so they knew they had made the right decision, and even after the divorce they were still best friends, and of course they still worked together at the Literary Agency they founded, Smedley and associates.

Even after they stopped living as man and wife, the split was so amicable that they kept up their long-standing routine of travelling to and from work together.

So, it was no wonder that Louise jumped to the wrong conclusion, and she’d left Pipershaven when the theatre Company took the play to Abbottsford, when she discovered the truth of the arrangement.

But now she was back in Pepperstock Green and there he was in touching distance, although his ex was also at the dinner party, so she thought she should be forgiven for getting the wrong end of the stick.

From the first moment she got “eyes on” she kept them on and when the time came for them to take their seats she found that she was seated opposite him and focused all her attention on him and made it patently obvious she only had eyes for him.

 

“So, what brings you here to Pipershaven?” he asked.

“I’m in Panto at the Heartstone” she replied, “Jade and I are the ugly sisters.”

“Typecasting then” he said, “I believe that is the curse that befalls successful soap stars.”

“You will get a slap” she said with a laugh “And anyway it’s a living.”

“Indeed”

“What about you?” she asked are you still getting your 30 percent?”

“Oh yes business is booming, though it helps to have a star like Chania on the books” he said.

 

The remainder of the evening passed in the same easy manner until it was time to leave, and they were suddenly thanking Chania, who was at the front door saying goodbye to her guests in turn, and then they were outside.

Jade was deeply engrossed with Chania’s brother, Aiden, and almost oblivious to the fact that Louise was waiting and then Harry asked.

“Are you staying at the Ocean View Hotel?”

“Yes, we both are” Louise replied.

“Well, I’m already dropping Aiden home in Pipershaven so why I don’t drop you both off” he suggested. 

“Good idea” Aiden said, and Jade nodded vigorously.

 

Louise and Harry chatted as much as they had all evening and then they were suddenly at the hotel almost before they had time to blink and were getting out of the car.

Aiden suggested they go round the corner to a club, but they declined and then she asked desperately

“Do you want to come in for a nightcap?”

“Ok just a quick one” he said, and she was feeling very smug as they went inside

“I’ll meet you in the bar” she said “I just need to spend a penny”

“Ok”

“Oh, I forgot” she said and handed him her key card “Order me a white wine”

“Ok”

She didn’t need to spend a penny, though she did anyway, what she wanted to do was attend to her makeup and freshen her perfume and when she got to the lounge he was sitting at the bar on a barstool waiting for her, the drinks on the counter in front of him.

 

When she was halfway down the glass of wine she said

“Perhaps we can do something over the weekend, dinner, maybe” she suggested

“The Panto doesn’t open until Monday, so I’m completely free”

“Ah” he responded

“Ah?” she repeated “I don’t like the sound of “Ah”, is it an “Ah” I’m back with my wife or “Ah” I’m with someone else or “Ah” I’m gay”

“None of the above” he said

“Phew”

“Do you remember me telling you during dinner that my sister Lizzie had twins?”

“Yes” she replied, “Oh God are they ill?”

“Not them” he replied.

“Lizzie has PPD, Postpartum depression” he replied “and she’s not coping and nor is her husband”

“Oh dear”

“So, the rest of the family are having to muck in and help them through the worst of it” he explained “They live up in Millmoor, so I’m going up for a week, maybe two”

“Oh, I understand” she said, “is your ex going?”

“Good God no” he said and laughed “She doesn’t like children, so she’s going to hold the fort at the agency for me”

She was disappointed that he was going away but relieved the Tracey wasn’t going with him.

“Do you want another?” she asked as she caught the barman’s eye.

“Hmm yes, please” he replied and drained his glass “But then I have to go.”

 

“Do you think you might be back by the 13th?” she asked.

“Possibly, why?”

“There is no performance that evening, so I have the day off, we could have dinner?”

“It depends on who’s paying” he answered, and she laughed.

“That’s just the type of response I expect from an agent” she said, and he shrugged.

“My treat” she replied but seeing him again would be the real treat.

“Ok I’ll do my best.”

 

They parted company in reception where he kissed her cheek and then she watched him leave, and it hurt, it really hurt and that really surprised her, why did it hurt? She knew she liked him, but obviously it was more than that if it hurt.

“Why does it hurt?” she asked herself as she walked towards the stairs and then she stopped.

“My God I love him” she exclaimed.

 

Over the rest of the weekend, with too much time on her hands she could think of little else than the revelation that she was hopelessly in love with him, and the problem with that was that she wasn’t going to see him for an absolute age. 

Fortunately, the pantomime started on Monday so two shows a day kept her occupied, it was just at night when she was alone in bed.

 

Her one big regret while he was away, was that she didn’t have a phone number or an email address for him, but she didn’t.

She could have asked Chania, but she would have felt foolish, she could even have phoned Smedley and Associates and asked Tracey, but what possible reason could she have for needing it?

So, she just had to keep herself busy and wait until the 13th.

 

As there were no performances on the 13th, she had the whole day off, which had to be filled, and her mind kept occupied, she had hoped that Jade would have helped but she had plans to spend the day with Zac.

So, she did the best she could, including having her hair and nails done and a bit of pampering to make the best of herself.

But that didn’t consume nearly enough of the day.

She spent the rest of the day Christmas shopping and then admired the festive decorations once the darkness had fully descended.

As she walked back to the Hotel she was feeling the chill, so she went straight to the lounge and up to the bar.

 

She was sitting at the bar, perched on a barstool drinking brandy, and feeling its warmth spread through her, still wearing jeans and a sweater, when Harry arrived.

“Hi” he said as he leant in and kissed her cheek and breathed in the fragrance of apples on her hair, the aroma of coconut on her skin and an overall presence of expensive perfume.

“Oh bugger” she screamed inside her head, she had planned to wear a brand-new white silk dress decorated with tiny pink roses, over some recently purchased very classy lingerie, and be made up to perfection, and instead she was wearing jeans and a sweater.

“You look lovely” he said as he sat down on the vacant stool.

“And you smell good enough to eat.”

“I am supposed to look gorgeous” she said sadly.

“You do look gorgeous” he said, “And you smell delicious, not like me, I look like I haven’t slept for two weeks, hang on, I haven’t slept for two weeks, and I smell of baby sick.”

She leant close into him and breathed in his aftershave and its effect on her was almost sensual, so much so that she almost buried her face in his neck before she sat up again.

“Not a hint of baby sick” she declared. 

“Honestly?” he asked.

“Honestly” she replied as she caught the barman’s eye “Another please, and whatever my…. guest wants?”

“I’ll have the same” he said.

“I don’t know about you but I’m starving, shall eat now?”

“Hmm good idea” she replied and when the drinks appeared they made their way to the restaurant.

 

When they were seated at the table she asked

“How’s your sister?”

“She’s getting better, slowly” he replied.

“And the twins?”

“They are fantastic, smelly, but fantastic.”

He said and as they ate he explained in detail.

After that the conversation was more general, but as much as the conversation flowed, so did the wine and Louise, who had always been a lightweight, drank too much, and when she drinks too much she is too honest.

“I’ve really missed you” she said, and he was both surprised and pleased by the revelation and he wondered if he had heard her correctly or if it was just the wines effect on his processing ability, in the end he decided he hadn’t misheard and responded.

“I missed you too.”

“Really?”

“Really” he confirmed.

“Oh, good because I was really worried that I loved you and you didn’t love me back” she said and giggled, but then she realized he was just looking at her and not speaking and she began to back track.

“What I meant to say is… um… err… I… erm… oh I’m sorry” she said “I used the “L” word didn’t I.”

“Yes, you did” he confirmed “and it’s ok because I think I love you too, but”

“But….”

“Oh shit, why is there, a but, I don’t like the “but”, one little bit.”

 “But….” He continued “I have to go back to Millmoor tomorrow, and I’ll probably won’t be back until Christmas.”

She looked crestfallen, so he took hold of her hand.

“I have to be there for my sister’s family right now, but I want there to be an “us”, but I can’t give you that right now” he said as he held her hand “But that doesn’t mean I don’t want to, do you understand?”

“Yes, I think so.”

“Can you wait?”

“Yes” she said, “on one condition.”

“Name it”

“That you give me your mobile number, so I can talk to you or text you or something” she said.

“I’ve already put it in your phone.”

“You have?”

“Yes” he replied, “Now I think it’s time to get you to bed.”

“Oh goody, I like the sound of that.”

“Calm down hot stuff” he said, “I need to get you to bed so you have a good night’s sleep and then we can spend an enjoyable few hours together tomorrow morning, before I have to leave for Millmoor and you have to be at the theatre.”

 

Louise tottered along the corridor beside him but when they paused to allow an elderly lady to go through the fire doors ahead of them, she looked up at him through soulful eyes and he kissed her, a kiss she had longed for since the moment she first met him.

After the long-awaited kiss, they walked hand in hand to the door of her room where they kissed again before he unlocked the door and pushed it open, but Louise paused in the doorway.

“I’m sorry” she said.

“For what?”

“For being so needy.”

“You’re not needy, so don’t apologize for being you” he said and kissed her once more.