The traditional seaside resort of Sharpington-by-Sea, with its
Victorian Pier, seafront hotels, crazy golf, The Palladium ballroom, well
maintained gardens, promenade, theatre and illuminations, has all the usual
things to have a great time by the seaside, as well as amusement arcades and of
course the Sharpington Fun Park and 30 something Sarah Whitmarsh lived alone in the Jubilee Court Apartments
overlooking the promenade.
Although she had no man in her life she had some very good friends,
and they did a lot together, but her three closest friends, sisters Rachel and
Kay Wilkinson and Penny Van Der Zelden, had all recently found
themselves partners, and to her immortal shame she was jealous, but she didn’t
tell them that or even let it show, because her girlfriends were very important
to her, and she would never do anything to jeopardize that.
One of their regular
meeting places was Bizzoni's
Ice Cream Parlour located by the entrance of the Pier or in the Pier Pancake
Palace, which was opposite, and it was in the former on the 1st of
August when someone caught her eye.
“It
can’t be” she suddenly exclaimed “it’s just not possible”
“Why
can’t it?” Penny asked
“Why
isn’t it possible?” Kay added
“Never
mind all that” Rachel retorted “what the hell are you all talking about?”
“I’ve
no idea” Penny replied
“Um”
Kay said
“Very
helpful” Rachel said and turned her attention to Sarah “Well?”
“I
just saw Danny Butterfield” she replied vaguely
“But
he went to Australia” Penny pointed out
“That’s
what I thought” Sarah said
“It
can’t have been him” Kay said
“Lookie-likie”
Penny exclaimed
“Do
what?” Kay asked “Have you got brain freeze or something”
“He
must be a lookie-likie, you know a dopple thingy” she explained
“You
mean a doppelgänger” Sarah said
“Yes”
Penny said and smiled
“Well
there’s only one way to find out” Rachel said and stood up
“What
are you doing?” Sarah asked
“We’re
going to find out if it’s Danny or not” she replied
“Oh,
I don’t know about that” Sarah protested
“We’ve
got to, he was the love of your life after all” Rachel insisted
“That
was a very long time ago” Sarah said
“I
know but just the possibility that it was him has made you glow” Rachel said
“and that’s just on the outside, I wouldn’t like to speculate what’s going on the
inside”
“Stop
it” Sarah said and blushed and the other three laughed dirtily
“Oh,
ok then” she conceded “You’re not going to shut up until we do”
“Good
decision” she said, and they headed towards the door, all except Penny who was
still sitting at the table eating her ice cream
“Come
on hoover-head” Kay called
“I
haven’t finished my Sundae” she retorted and shovelled down the last three
spoonful’s before getting up.
“Ok,
which way did he go?” Rachel asked
“That
away” Sarah replied and pointed along the promenade
“What’s
he wearing?” Kay enquired
“A
blue t-shirt and navy shorts” Sarah said
“Seriously?
This is Sharpington at the height of summer everyone is wearing shorts and
t-shirts” Rachel said “we need more than that to go on”
“Well
he’s 6ft 5” with bright red hair if that helps” she retorted
“Yes,
that’s definitely better” Rachel said “right Kay shin up the lamp post and see
if you can spot him”
“Well?”
Sarah asked after a couple of minutes had passed
“No,
nothing yet… hold on though I think that might be our man, yes, yes that’s him”
she announced triumphantly and began her descent.
“Are
you going to share?” Sarah asked impatiently
“Yes,
he’s down by the Crazy Golf” she replied smugly and then Sarah rushed passed
her and they were off.
Daniel
Butterfield was indeed the love of Sarah’s life, the one that got away, the one
she let get away, but equally she was his lost love.
They
began dating at college and were together all through University but after
graduation he was offered a job in Melbourne, it was a great opportunity that
he felt he couldn’t pass up, and he was thrilled at the prospect, and he
thought she would be too, but he was wrong.
Sarah
didn’t want to leave Sharpington, all the people she loved most in the world
were there, and she knew no one in Australia.
So,
she said she didn’t want to go, she thought that if he loved her as much as she
loved him he would stay, while he thought that if she loved him as much as he
loved her she would go with him.
But
they both miscalculated neither would give ground, and angry words were
exchanged which served to entrench them further, up to the point that they
stopped talking, and he left Downshire a month later, and she hadn’t seen him
since, until he walked past Bizzoni’s.
The
girls made their way quickly through the crowds of tourists but by the time
they got to the Crazy Golf he was nowhere to be seen
“Right
Kay shin up the lamp post again and see if you can spot him”
“Oh
ok” she sighed and started climbing and thirty seconds later she was back on
terra firma and said
“Jubilee
Park”
Danny
liked Jubilee Park, it held great memories for him and he had thought of it
often when he was away, it was one of his favourite places in the whole world and although he had
been there for years it hadn’t changed a bit from when he used to go fishing up
at the boating lake.
But apart from the fishing, and the boating on the lake, there was a
miniature railway, picnic areas and acres of grass and well-maintained gardens,
and as a young man it was the place he felt most at peace and where he was
often lost in dreams.
He had loved it at Jubilee Park for as long as he could remember, and the
Lake was particularly special because it was where his dad taught him how to
fish on the well-stocked little lake and as he got closer he could see young
boys could still fish it.
Before he left for Australia some tree hugging idiot had decided to
introduce Australian Black Swans to the lake and they didn’t mix with the fishermen,
so the council tried to ban fishing but, in the end, they relocated the swans
after one of them attacked a toddler, so the fishing survived.
The girls soon tracked him down and followed at a safe distance.
Sarah wasn’t entirely convinced that it was in fact Daniel Butterfield
that they were following and secretly feared that they would feel extremely
foolish when they realised they were stalking some random lanky ginger.
But her fears were allayed when he paused by the fountain and scanned his
surroundings and she and the others got a proper look at his face.
“That’s him” Kay said
“Without a doubt” Rachel confirmed
“Oh yes” Penny agreed
“It is him” Sarah said quietly
“Well come on then let’s go and say hello” Rachel said
“That’s
ok I’ve got it from here” Sarah said “You lot wait here”
On that warm sunny August day by Jubilee Lake Daniel made a bee line for
his favourite spot on a little peninsula beneath the shade of a familiar old
oak tree and he was just gazing across the lake and was enjoying the gentle
breeze off the water when a soft voice from behind him said
“Hello”
He turned around to see that the voice belonged to an
attractive looking woman, pretty face, blue eyes, short brown hair, 5ft 5 or 6,
early thirties, nice figure, wearing a t-shirt, knee length shorts, and flip
flops, whom he recognized, though that recognition left him speechless.
“I’m sorry” she said and began to walk away “You
clearly don’t remember me”
“That wouldn’t be very flattering” he said “Especially
after we shared our first kiss beneath this very tree”
“Ah so you do remember me” she said
“How could I forget Sarah Whitmarsh” Danny said
Rachel, Kay
and Penny were watching events from a safe distance, but their view was
obscured after the arrival of an ice cream van.
“Damn it”
Rachels exclaimed
“Get up the
tree Kay and have a look”
“Why do I
have to do all the climbing?” she protested
“Because you
look like a monkey” her sister said unsympathetically, and Penny giggled “So
climb”
Once she had
clambered to a sufficient height her sister called up
“Can you see
anything?”
“Yes, I can
see them now” she replied
“And?”
Rachel snapped
“Oh my” Kay
exclaimed
“Oh my?”
Rachel retorted “What does that mean?”
“Oh, I
wasn’t expecting that” Kay added
“What? What
weren’t you expecting?” Rachel shouted
“Kissing”
Kay replied
“What kind
of kiss?” her sister asked
“What do you
mean what kind of kiss?”
“Well was it
an air kiss, a peck on the cheek, both cheeks or on the lips” Rachel explained
“Oh, I see
what you mean” Kay acknowledged
“Definitely
lips”
“And?”
Rachel snapped
“Well I
think it would be best described as a pash” she replied
“Wicked”
Penny said
“And it’s
still going on” Kay called
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