Page 45 of My Summer of Magic Moments

Jean and Duncan Brown.

Ah, how sweet. Her heart felt a little tug. So there was some romance left in the world after all. She leaned her elbow on the desk, rested her hand on her chin, and gave a small sigh.

‘Coffee time.’ Andrea delivered a large steaming mug of Nescafé, just a dash of milk, no sugar – just as she liked.

‘Thanks, you’re a star.’

‘You okay, hun? You seem a bit quiet since you got back from your weekend.’ Andrea looked at her quizzically. ‘Is everything all right? You are feeling okay?’

Her closest friend hovered beside her desk, waiting for her reply. Since she’d had cancer, there was always this extra layer of concern from her friends, colleagues and family. It was only natural, but so many conversations seemed to have this backdrop of worry. What if ‘it’ came back? Like an elephant in the room, cancer loitered. Waiting to gate-crash her life with heavy, stomping feet and a desire to crush her all over again. But she couldn’t allow herself to dwell on it, couldn’t let it stomp all over her when she’d been told it wasn’t even there any more.

‘I’m fine, honest. Thanks for asking. All good on the health front. Not due for any more checks for another two months.’ She pasted on a bright smile. She really did have so much to be thankful for.

‘Well, that’s good. So you’ll be fancying another night out soon, then? What about a few drinks and some dancing down on the quayside? I could get Gary from the sports team out, and a few of us from the office?’

Not Gary again. It seemed Andrea was still dedicated to hooking them up. It’s true he was pretty fit – obviously practising sport in his downtime as well as writing about it – but he really wasn’t her sort. A little too full of himself for her liking, and she’d heard he’d been a bit of a player in his time.

‘Are you still harping on about Gary? Give me a break, Andz.’

‘Recently spilt with his girlfriend,’ she added.

Another heart-crushed casualty, no doubt. Even more reason to steer clear. ‘I’m off men, anyhow.’

‘Pray tell. Anything I should know about?’

‘No.’ There was no way she was taking the lid off the recent can of worms. ‘Just the whole ex-husband saga. That’s enough for anyone. The house sale is going ahead and I’m packing up, trying to get ready for a new place on my own, so as far as Gary is concerned, thanks, but no thanks. Though I might be up for a couple of drinks one evening and a boogie with the girls.’

‘Fine. I’ll see what I can get fixed up. Check out when the others are free. It’ll do you good to let your hair down a bit.’ Andrea looked at her friend’s crop; the still-recovering head of hair. ‘Ah, shite, I’ve done it again, haven’t I?’

See – there was that elephant again!

‘It’s fine. No worries!’ Claire laughed. Hair was the least of her issues; at least she had some now.

David, the newspaper’s main editor, came out of his office, and strolled down the aisle towards the pair of them, pausing pointedly to say, ‘How’s that article going, Andrea? Deadline for two p.m. I need that copy filed asap.’ There was obviously far too much chatting going on.

As he turned his back, they pulled a told-off-at-school face at each other, and Andrea sidestepped her way back to her desk. Claire looked fondly across at her friend’s computer, which was draped in a fuchsia-pink feather boa. Photos of her and Danny together were Blu-Tacked onto the partition board between hers and the next desk, and an assortment of Malteser and Twirl packets, both empty and full, were strewn alongside the keyboard. Andrea’s main role was compiling the ‘What’s On’ listings, and she did a lot of reviews. She often took Claire with her to see first nights at the Theatre Royal and the Comedy Club, and to various cinemas for new releases. It had its perks.

Head down for her next article. Alongside ‘Magic Moments’, which was a weekly fixture now, Claire was working on a couple of human interest stories for the newspaper’s website. She was hoping to get a piece in the main paper too – an item on a local lad who was undergoing treatment for Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and who’d been doing a lot of fundraising locally. David thought Claire the ideal person to interview him. It was going to be quite an emotional visit – she was scheduled to meet him and his family in two days’ time at the hospital. She’d heard about him on the radio and she wanted to write up the best article she could, to highlight his charity. At times like this, Claire really loved her job. She felt she could make a difference, do some real good, hopefully brighten someone’s day.

‘Something happened, didn’t it?’ Sally eyed her across the kitchen that evening. ‘Come on, spill the beans. It wasn’t that hunk next door, was it?’

It was the first time she’d seen Sal face to face since last weekend. She felt herself flushing up, the telltale heat rising at her neck. Trust Sal to hit the nail on the head.

‘Hah – it did, didn’t it! I knew it. You lucky thing. Was he as delicious as he looks?’ Claire didn’t answer. ‘Okay, so why the long face? And why did you get back a day early? You never did say. And come to think of it, you look like shit.’

‘Well, thanks.’ You could always rely on a sister for an honest opinion. Too bloody honest sometimes. Claire let out a slow sigh and hugged the mug of coffee that Sal passed to her. ‘Oh Sal, why does it always turn into a bloody mess?’

Sal came to sit down across from her at the wooden kitchen table. ‘What happened?’ Her tone had softened.

The boys were out playing football with Mark, so there was no one to interrupt them.

‘Okay. We did get it together.’

Sal couldn’t help an envious quirk of her eyebrow, she noticed.

‘I spent the night. It was great … or seemed to be. And then it all went bloody wrong, as per usual. I should have known better … Why would a guy like that be on his own?’

Sal sat quietly listening, love and concern etched on her pretty features.