In the Village of Pepperstock Green – Chapter (083) – The Good Neighbour

May

 

It was on a bright sunny January day when 59-year-old widowed retiree George Wozniak was awoken from the comfortable solitude of his cottage on the northern outskirts of Pepperstock Green by his attractive new neighbour, 51-year-old Julia Kaiser, who wanted to borrow a screwdriver.

“Of course, you can” he replied, “Come in a minute”
“Thank you” she said
“I’m George by the way”
“Pleased to meet you George” she said and smiled again.
“Would you like a coffee while you’re here?”
“Oh yes please” she replied enthusiastically

After a brief conversation he soon ascertained what task she was doing at home, the dreaded flat pack furniture, and what type of screwdriver she required to do it with, and he could easily find her a small selection from the tool shed for her, but after having coffee with her he said
“Why don’t I come and give you a hand, I’ll only doze off in the chair again, so make use of me”
“No I couldn’t ask you to do that” she protested, but in truth she pleased so didn’t protest to vehemently.
“I insist” he said
George had retired from Teaching and lived alone, his wife had died nine years earlier and his two sons had families of their own so he had a lot of time on his hands, a lot of which ended with him sleeping in his armchair.
So the prospect of getting out of the house and doing something useful appealed to him greatly.
Although he would have had to admit to an ulterior motive in volunteering his services, other than to alleviate his boredom and that was because his new next door neighbour Julia was very pleasing to the eye and although that wasn’t enough in itself to get his motor running, it was a bloody good start, even if he only looked at her as a friend.

George and Julia did become friends, from that first day she asked to borrow a screwdriver and he helped her with assembling flat pack furniture.
He had enjoyed the task and her company so much that he helped her on subsequent days with a variety of other jobs and he felt useful again.
Which was why he came to spend the spring helping Julia to decorate her house.
His previous neighbour was an elderly lady who had lived there since moving in as a bride, and it wasn’t decorated again after the death of her husband which was 20 years before hers.

After her death the family just paid someone to paint over everything so they could get it on the market, so it was decorated in neutral tones, magnolia emulsion and white gloss and one thing George had noticed, apart from her figure was that Julia was not a neutral tones kind of person, she was a vibrant kind of woman, so she wanted to make her mark, stamp her personality on the place.

George was happy to help Julia, it kept him busy and made him feel useful which gave him fresh energy and a renewed purpose and more opportunities to feast his eyes on her and he would have been content if that was all there was.
Although he wasn’t aware of it at the time, Julia enjoyed it too, but for her it was because she was lonely, she missed her boys and felt she wasn’t needed since the youngest one left to join the army.
But she wasn’t the only one because it had occurred to George very early on that he too had been lonely, he just hadn’t realized it until he met her and spent time with her.

While they worked together they got to know each other and eventually he got to find out the reason for the sadness in her eyes.
Julia hadn’t given birth to 3 babies as he first thought she had given birth to 4.
Her youngest child was a girl named Anna who at the age of 8 was struck by a hit and run driver and killed.
“My baby girl was gone” she sobbed “my beautiful baby girl”
George didn’t know what to say, what could he say?
What empty words could he have used to console someone who had lost a child?
No parent should have to bury their children, he felt so inadequate and all he could do was to take her in his arms and let her cry on his shoulder.
He couldn’t take the pain away or stem the flow of tears all he could do was hold her while she sobbed and afterwards listen while she unburdened herself.
In addition to losing her daughter she also lost her husband who decided he could best help his grieving wife by shagging the next door neighbour.
“That’s shit” George said
It was little wonder she was sad and lonely.

As spring moved into summer they completed one room after another and they were both secretly dreading finishing the job.
They had done the garden already and the exterior painting was completed, so what would they do? What would fill their days? What excuse would he have to be with Julia when all the work was done? And what reason would Julia have to ask him for his help?

So it was when May slowly gave way to June when all the work was completed, that they discovered that amidst the wallpaper, filler and the paint fumes they had fallen in love.
Which was when George and Julia realised there were other ways for them to pass their time together that didn’t involve her asking if she could borrow a screwdriver, gardening tools or a paintbrush.

In the Village of Pepperstock Green – Chapter (082) – Missed Rendezvous

May

Over the month following that first meeting on the riverbank and the resulting walk, Emily Hemmings and Matt Gray had had many other such meetings, at first by chance but subsequently by design.
But all they did was walk together and talk as they walked along a mile long stretch of the riverbank path.
Emily for one would have liked them to have broadened their horizons after a month of converse but she didn’t want to force the pace so she remained patient.

When Emily left home on a morning in May she was riding Hector along the bridle path of the River Oxley when she saw a familiar face
“Morning Mr Dorrit”
“Morning Emily” he replied
She always called him Mr. Dorrit even though it was 13 years since he retired from teaching.
He retired from teaching at Barnabus the same time she left school when she was 16.
She had no idea where he was headed but she knew one thing for sure and that was, that he was doing something good for someone, he really was a good man.

Emily liked him very much, but he was her second-best favourite man because she liked someone else better, Matt Gray.

 

She was full of nervous anticipation about seeing Matt, much more than she had previously and she didn’t quite know why.
The feeling intensified as she approached the spot where he and Benji normally waited, but there was no sign of either dog or master.
Her feelings of nervous anticipation were instantly replaced by one of disappointment.
Although she was only a tiny little thing, four foot eleven on a good day, when she was sat upon her great Chestnut coloured colt, Hector, she was a giant and the additional height gave her the chance to see beyond the fences and the hedgerows but still she couldn’t see him.
Emily pressed on and hoped Matt would be at his cottage.

Alas when she reached the Waterside Cottages there was again no sign of man nor dog and his cottage was in total darkness.
She and Hector slowly walked on following the stretch of river bank they normally shared, looking over the bushes on her side and then scanning the opposite river bank.
Emily waited for five minute by Carpenters Farm and she left the river and followed the bridle path into the forest, but because he was a no show she set off at the canter.

It was at the other end of that bridle path where she saw the familiar face of her old teacher again.
“Hello again Emily.”

“Hello Mr. Dorrit” she replied
She would have stopped to chat but she was close to tears so she put on a brave face and rode on.

She continued on her normal route and when she heard the clock at St Agatha’s Church chime she realized she had gone too far so she galloped back the way she had come and let out her frustration as she did so and pushed Hector a bit too hard.
When she felt him labouring she pulled up sharply and jumped down and checked him over.
“I’m so sorry boy, I’m so sorry” she said and when she had finished and all was well she patted his neck and burst into tears.

The reason that Matt Gray was not waiting for her that morning was not, as Emily was thinking as she sobbed against the horse’s neck, that he was not interested in her, on the contrary he was very interested.
What had stopped him from meeting her and taken him from his cottage just after dawn was a crisis on the river.
About three miles downstream of Carpenters Farm, a heard of cows had taken advantage of a broken fence and wandered down to the water’s edge and couldn’t get back up the bank to the field.
As Nature Warden his presence was required along with a vet, the police, the fire service, the farmer and several labourers.
It had taken hours of their combined efforts to rescue the beasts and he was exhausted when he had finished.
Nonetheless when the police offered to drop him off at home, he declined the offer as he fancied a walk, so he set off to walk back to his Cottage.
He hadn’t been entirely honest with the Police with his reason for walking home, because what he really wanted to do was intercept Emily on the return leg of her journey so he took a short cut through the forest.
The woods were dense and thick and it was so peaceful and quiet as he hurried on his quest.
It felt strange to him not to have Benji walking along with him through the woods but to take him to that mornings emergency would not have been sensible so he had to leave him at home.

As the trees began to thin out he knew he was close to the bridle path and when he was a few yards away he became aware of movement through the thinning woodland and as he got to the edge of the wood he saw that the movement was Emily and her colt Hector thundering along the bridle path.
He tried calling after her but she didn’t hear.
At the speed she was galloping he had no chance of catching her so he reduced his speed and walked slowly towards home.

After about half an hour he could see something ahead of him to the side of the path, so he picked up the pace again.
As he got closer he could see there was definitely someone at the side of the path and he could tell by the find strands of corn coloured hair below her riding hat that it was Emily and Hector.
The colt was tied to a fence rail and she appeared to be grooming the beast.
He moved a little closer and was about to say hello when he realised she wasn’t grooming the horse at all.
She was actually sobbing against the horse’s neck which caused Matt to hesitate.
He was not well versed in comforting crying women and were it not for the fact that he had feelings for Emily he would probably, to his shame, have tiptoed away unnoticed.
So as skulking away was not an option he considered his next move as he looked at Emily stood beside the tethered beast, still wearing her riding hat and he was standing on her blind side.
He walked slowly across the bridle path closing the distance between them and as he got closer he could hear the sobs accompanying her trembling shoulders.
Matt was a couple of paces from her when she suddenly became aware of his presence.
“Oh Matt” she said and threw herself into his waiting arms and buried her face in his chest.
Because of the height difference she only just reached his chest, he would have kissed the top of her head had she not been wearing a riding hat, so instead he just said
“What’s the matter Emily?”
At first she just stood stock still against him but when she tried to tell him what was wrong it was completely incomprehensible.
“Ok don’t talk honey just cry it out” he said and ran his hands up and down her back.
After about ten minutes when her breathing slowed and her sobs had subsided he asked again
“What’s the matter?”
“You weren’t there” she said “You weren’t anywhere”
Then she started crying again so he held her close to him again and explained what had taken him away at such short notice and kept him away all morning.
“So it wasn’t me?” she asked quietly
“What do you mean?”
“It wasn’t because you didn’t want to see me” she explained
“Of course not, I want to see you all the time” Matt said
“All the time?” she asked in disbelief
“Yes all the time” he confirmed
Emily pushed herself away from his chest and looked up at him and a smile spread across her tearstained face and then she leapt up and wrapped her arms around his neck and said
“Me too”

She was hugging his neck tightly and didn’t ever want to let go but the next thing she knew he was sitting her on top of the fence.
“No don’t let me go” she begged
“But I have to” Matt said
“But why?”
“So that I can do this” he said and kissed her trembling lips and was met with no further protestations.

Afterwards they walked along with Emily holding the reins in one hand and Matt’s hand in the other, he with tears stains on his shirt and she with mud spattered up her jodhpurs and both of them smiling inanely and from that day onward she never knew disappointment again.

In the Village of Pepperstock Green – Chapter (081) – Holiday Plans

 April

 

Best friends, 32-year-old Kenny Barnhill and 29 years old Chloe Bulman, had moved in together and were saving hard to fund their dream holiday in Greece where they were hoping to find their soulmates.

As a result of their saving up, Kenny and Chloe had become a quite boring pair and put on hold any expectation of finding Mr/Miss Right as their focus was one hundred percent on the holiday.

The run up to Christmas added to the coffers as they picked up extra shifts at Threadgold’s as a result of the age-old tradition of seasonal panic buying.

They also restricted their spending on entertainment by only attending certain festivities, like staff parties and such like, and by cutting back on buying Christmas gifts.

This was a difficult decision as they were both huge Christmas fans and liked to make the most of the season.

The decorations went up promptly on the first of December and that Christmas they had twice the decorations to put up.

What they didn’t stint on though were the festive services from the first Sunday of advent to Christmas morning.

 

After the morning service on Christmas day, they really pushed the boat out, despite having spent a pittance.

They shopped frugally and bought the damaged or reduced items wherever possible and used their staff discounts on the rest and as a result they had a sumptuous feast.

“Well, that was very indulgent” Kenny said as they sat on the sofa after dinner.

“Very” Chloe said and burped.

Both of them laughed and Kenny patted his stomach and said.

“I don’t know why I’m laughing this belly is going to look great with my speedos on the beach.”

“I hadn’t thought of that” Chloe said and patted her own tummy and burped again.

When they exchanged presents, they both had novelty chocolates and one main present each.

Kenny bought Chloe a small Gold crucifix and she bought him a Gold tie pin engraved with his name.

 

On New Year’s Eve, they normally hit the town hard, but this year they stayed home and saw in the New Year quietly with Jools Holland and then they worked the next day for double time.

January was a hard depressing month, the decorations were packed away and the flat looked bare, the weather was bitter cold and snowy, and it was a long 5 weeks until payday.

 

When the pay day finally arrived, they put as much as possible into the holiday fund.

February brought more cold, and more snow but a much quicker payday, more saving, but no Valentine cards save for the joke ones they gave each other.

March brought an end to the snow and cold and showed the first hint of spring.

With April came Easter and another chance for extra money which would be in their fund in time for them booking the holiday.

Unfortunately, when they checked the website, the prices had massively increased and when they did the reconning, it turned out they didn’t have enough savings.

 

There was stunned silent disbelief initially, followed by tears from Chloe and comforting hugs from Kenny.

“It’s not fair” she sobbed.

“We saved so hard.”

“I know” he said sympathetically.

And after her sobbing had subsided, she asked.

“What are we going to do?”  

“Well, I think we have two choices” he responded.

“Which are?” she asked as she wiped the tears off her face. 

“We carry on working and saving and postpone the Greek trip until the end of the season, or next year” he replied.

“Or?”

“Or we have a cheaper holiday.”

After some consideration and some lengthy discourse, they opted for the latter.

 

They then spent the next two days trying to find another destination but the countries they could afford they didn’t fancy.

“How about a staycation?” he asked

“What’s one of those?”

“We stay in this country, and then we don’t have to splash out on passports” he explained.

“Good idea” she agreed.

 

They browsed on his laptop, having already made the decision they wanted a seaside resort and after about half an hour Chloe suddenly said.

“I like the look of that one, where is it?”

Kenny clicked on the link and enlarged the image.

“Its Sharpington”

“I’ve never been to Sharpington” she said.

“Nor have I” he admitted.

“That’s not far away, is it?” Chloe asked.

“No, which means we won’t need to spend a lot on travel.”

In the Village of Pepperstock Green – Chapter (080) – Perfect Friendship

April

 

The morning after Chloe Bulman, cried herself to sleep, Kenny Barnhill was up early and went round to the bakery in Church Road and picked up fresh croissants. 

As he returned to Caxton Court he could see the lights were on in her flat so when he reached the door to flat 2b, he rang the bell.

After a minute or two she opened it looking like she hadn’t slept in a week.

“Come on sleepy head, croissants and coffee” Kenny said.

“Not for me Kenny” she said.

“No to croissant?” he said and putting his hand to his chest as if he was having a heart attack.

“Not today,” she said.

“I won’t take no for an answer, so get your dressing gown on” he ordered her. 

Reluctantly she did as he instructed and followed him into his flat.

“Do we have to do this this morning?” she asked, “I really don’t feel up to it.”

“Yes, we do need to do it now” Kenny said, “and when you’ve heard what I have to say you’ll understand why.”

“Ok give me some coffee” she said resignedly.

After he had poured two mugs of strong black coffee he sat down and began.

“I think I have a solution to your problem.”

“Oh, yes? and what might that be” she asked doubtfully.

“I think you should give up your flat and move in here” he said.

“What?” Chloe asked scarcely believing her ears.

“Give up your flat and move into my spare room” he elaborated.

“But that’s a ridiculous idea” she said.

“Is it?” Kenny said.

“Well, isn’t it?” Chloe asked back.

“Look we eat together most nights; we watch TV together most nights” he explained.

“And you only use your flat as a bedroom and dressing room anyway.”

“Yes but” she interrupted.

“And my spare room is almost as big as your whole flat” Kenny added.

“Yes, I know, but” she persisted.

“I’ll continue to pay the rent, and we can split the bills for the utilities” Kenny concluded.

“Well, I…” she began.

“And here’s the clincher, with the money we both save we might finally get that holiday we’ve always talked about” Kenny said.

“Greece?” she asked.

“Greece” he replied.

“Ok” she agreed “now give me a croissant.”

 

Kenny and Chloe had often talked about a foreign holiday, not that they ever thought they’d actually achieve it, it was planned more in a fanciful way.

Neither of them had been abroad or even owned a passport for that matter.

At first, they spoke in general terms but over the years they had narrowed their search and had decided on Greece as the object of their dreams, or more precisely a Greek Island.

The particular Greek island was unspecified as of that moment when Kenny invited Chloe to move in; their only stipulation was that it mustn’t have its own airport.

The reasoning for that was that it would limit the number of binge drinking lager louts.

 

Later that day they were sitting in his flat, looking through old holiday magazines.

“Are you sure?” Chloe asked.

“Sure, about what?” he replied.

“Me moving in” she explained.

“Never more so” Kenny said.

He leant over and kissed her forehead and said.

“So have you seen anything you fancy?”

“Andros” she replied instantly and handed him the magazine, and after reading the article in detail he replied.

“Andros it is then.”

Kenny got up and switched on his laptop and went online, he typed in the address and navigated around until he found the relevant page.

“Here we go,” he said, and Chloe moved closer.

“It will be cheaper if we go before the school summer holidays.”

“June” Chloe said, “that will give us more time to save, and we’ll get our Easter bank holiday pay in May.”

“Ok” he said, “two weeks in June.”

“Two weeks?” she asked, “can we afford two weeks?”

“Oh” she said as he pointed at the figure on the screen “Two weeks then.”

“So that’s our target” he said and bookmarked the page.

“We’re really going, aren’t we?” she said and giggled.

“Indeed” Kenny concurred “We are taking our search for love and romance on the road, so to speak.”

“Hooray” Chloe yelled and danced around.

“Let’s open a bottle to celebrate” Kenny suggested.

“Let’s not” she said, “Lets save the money and open one in Andros.”

“Damn you’re so sensible” he said.

 

On Monday morning Chloe gave notice on her flat and over the following month she completed the move into Kenny’s flat.

This involved helping him clear the spare room and redecorating it, they then had to decide what she would take from the old flat and what would be dumped or sold.

She and Kenny then gave her flat a thorough clean and they were rewarded by the return of her deposit in full which meant she could clear her bills and put the remainder straight into the holiday fund.

As of the 30th of November, she was properly moved in and there was no turning back because the day after a new tenant moved into her old flat. 

In the Village of Pepperstock Green – Chapter (079) – Waterside Meeting

April

 

29-year-old Emily Hemmings was a pretty girl, with fine corn coloured hair and was only a tiny little thing, four foot eleven if she had her hair up and was sat astride a great Chestnut coloured colt called Hector and was riding along the bridle path of the River Oxley.

She rode every day since she had left her old job in the Dulcets and as she wasn’t starting her new one until June 1st she spent her time doing the one thing she loved more than any other so it was no hardship, and she regularly rode up as far as the Old Carpenters Farm where she was going to work just to see how things were progressing.

She was the only child of a local couple, who were both surgeons who lived in a huge house in the poshest part of the village so she was staying with them until her cottage on the farm was ready.
At the beginning of April it had been such a beautiful morning that she rode considerably further and longer than originally intended so on the way past Carpenter’s Farm Emily decided to walk the horse part of the way to give Hector a little breather.
So she was walking Hector alongside the River Oxley and both she and the horse were spattered in mud.
Emily was chatting away to Hector when there was a bit of a commotion ahead of them and a man suddenly appeared from the bushes causing Emily’s horse to rear up.
“Whoa! Steady boy” she said as she tried to calm him down.
“Alright” Emily said softy patting the horse’s neck “Good boy”
Once she had complete control she led him by the bridle.
“I’m so sorry” the man said
“We didn’t mean to startle you”
“We?” Emily queried
“Yes” he said “I’m not alone”
“Excellent” she thought “I’ve stumbled upon the local nutter”
At which point a Cockapoo emerged from the bushes and she laughed.
“Meet Benji” he said
“Well hello Benji” Emily said
“We really are sorry for startling you” Matt said
“That’s ok, no harm done” she said
Once she realized he wasn’t a nutter she saw him in a much different light, he was a tall skinny man, a few years older than her, with short brown hair and glasses with a lopsided grin on his face.
“I’m Matt by the way”
“Emily”
“Are you going far?” he asked
“No, just a couple of miles” she replied
“Do you mind if we walk part of the way with you? We live at Waterside Cottages”
“Not at all” she replied “As long as you don’t mind being seen with me looking like this”
“I don’t mind if you don’t, I’m the Nature Warden so I’m almost always a mess” he said “Not that I think that you look a mess”
Matt got very flustered and went a delightful shade of scarlet.
“It’s ok Matt, I am a mess” she said and laughed “I always look like this when we hack through the woods, I’m not very glamorous am I?”
“Oh I don’t know” Matt said “you still look lovely even under the mud”
“What makes you think I’m lovely under the muck?” she asked suspiciously wondering if he might still be a nutter, or a stalker.
“Well I’ve seen you a few times before” he explained “Going past the cottage, minus the mud”
“Oh I see” she said “That makes sense”

They started to walk and exchanged small talk as they went Emily told him about her upcoming job at the St Adelaide’s riding School and her love of horses and how her career choice had disappointed her parents.
While he told her about his love of the River and the woodland and all the diverse life that depended on in.
It was his dream job and his cottage was within yards of the River he loved so much.
They also discovered that neither of them had a significant other in their lives but as they were only about half a mile from his cottage it didn’t take long for them to reach it and when they did he said
“Sorry again for scaring you and Hector”
“It’s not a problem really” Emily insisted “we will be more alert in future, and be on the lookout for brown haired ninjas with spaniels”
“Goodbye then” he said as he opened his front gate.
“Maybe our paths will cross again” she said
“I do hope so” Matt said

It was late afternoon when Emily got back home and she was spattered from head to toe in mud but she was also grinning from ear to ear. 

In the Village of Pepperstock Green – Chapter (078) – The Visiting Publisher

April

 

Simon and Jeanette Kenny first met at the Frankfurt Book Fair, which was held in October, and fell head over heels for each other and following a whirlwind romance they were married in Copenhagen a few days before Christmas.

He was a successful writer of children’s books, the Adventures of Geordie the Guardsman, and she was an editor of nonfiction.

Their decision to marry abroad, at short notice, was a purely selfish one, intended to avoid the circus that surrounds weddings, they were both divorcees and had been through the ordeal once already and had no appetite to go through it again, but they were in love and wanted to legitimize that love before God.  

However, the good news of their union was not universally well received, especially not by her sister Clara, with whom she was particularly close, so some work was required to rebuild bridges.

Jeanette thought that her sister would understand, as she was also a divorcee, but she was clearly hurt by being excluded. 

But from Simon and Jeanette’s point of view they had to exclude everyone or no one, so it was a no brainer.

 

Clara’s problem with their wedding wasn’t solely that she felt alienated, but rather that she felt jealous that there was no special someone in her own life, and she often sat alone contemplating her lot, and reviewing her options.

Because she was not without her admirers, but none of them stirred feelings within her that might cause her to run away to Denmark to wed.

She tried not to dwell too much on her circumstances but sometimes she just couldn’t fight it but on one April afternoon she was stirred from her torpor by the telephone.

“Clara Limmington”

“Hello Clara, Simon Kenny”

“Oh” she responded icily

“My publisher is staying with us at the moment and I’m cooking dinner, so we wondered if you’d make up the four”

“Oh, I see” she said coldly “is Jeanette with you?”

“Yes, she is”

“Put her on” she instructed so he complied

“Hello Clara” Jeanette said

“Can he cook?” she asked abruptly

“Yes, he can” she replied

“Better than he writes I hope” Clara added

“We’ll see you at 8 then?” Jeanette said

       

William Laffin wasn’t just Simon’s publisher he was also his closest friend; they met on their first day at University and hit it off immediately and their friendship had become a very profitable one.

He dressed like a successful man, in hand made suits, but he still managed to look like a comprehensive school Geography teacher.

He and Simon had spent much of the day going over his latest Geordie the Guardsman book and discussing the timetable for publication and the artwork.

The latter was a no brainer as Simon had always used the same artist, Fiona Phippen, who was always bang on the money with her interpretation.

They continued chatting in the kitchen while Simon got on with the dinner, he’d done most of the preparation before William arrived.

“So, what’s this Clara like then?” William asked

“Clara?” Simon corrected him “She’s quite terrifying”

“And you invited her, why?” he asked

“Because Jeanette says she has a heart of gold” Simon replied “And we’re bridge building”

“And does she?” William asked

“Does she what?”

“Have a heart of gold” William clarified

“Well, if she does, she certainly keeps it well hidden” Simon replied and laughed

 

Clara arrived right on time and Jeanette came downstairs to let her in and Simon stood in the kitchen doorway to greet her

“Wow you two look lovely” he said

“Thank you” Clara said slightly taken aback by the compliment

“Can you do the drinks honey?” He said to Jeanette and then added as he returned to the kitchen

“William will be down in a minute he’s just changing”

 

After a satisfying kiss Jeanette returned from the kitchen carrying a tray.

She set down a tray, with glasses and a chilled bottle of wine in a bucket and poured the wine just as Simon and William appeared.

“Hi William” Jeanette said and kissed his cheek “This is my sister Clara”

William was tall and skinny, and Clara thought he looked in need of a good meal as he brushed his sandy hair off his forehead and then she shook his hand.

“Pleased to meet you William”

“Like wise” he replied

As the two sisters settled down in their seats, William whispered

“I thought you said she was an ogre, I think she’s lovely”

“Really?” Simon said

 

During the course of the meal, with an Author, an Editor and a Publisher at the table the subject naturally turned to writing.

“Clara prefers Enid Blyton to modern children’s fiction” Simon said

“Me too” William agreed

“Oh, that’s nice” said Simon “You’re my publisher you at least should be singing my praises”

“Sorry mate” William said

“I still think you’re brilliant darling” Jeanette said

“That doesn’t count because you don’t like my books either”

“Who does exactly?” William said unhelpfully

“Well, you need to find out, and when you do, keep them away from these two” Simon suggested

“Well, if it’s any consolation you cook better than Enid Blyton at least” said Clara

“High praise indeed” Jeanette said

“Well thank you” Simon said “For that you can have desert”

 

As Simon and William were clearing the dishes to the kitchen Clara whispered to Jeanette

“You have a good man there, but don’t you dare tell him I said that, because I have my reputation to protect”

“Your secret is safe with me” Jeanette said, “Now where’s that desert, it’s a boozy chocolate tart?”

“I’ll just take William and can of squirty cream” Clara said

“Clara!!”

“Oh, did I say that out loud?” Clara said and blushed 

 

Coffee and liqueurs followed desert and then more liqueurs, and then more until the hour got late.

Simon and Jeanette began clearing the table and looking back from the kitchen door Simon said 

“I think William is smitten”

“It’s mutual” Jeanette replied and smiled

It wasn’t their intention to match-make they just wanted to make up a pleasant foursome, the fact they were attracted to each other was an unexpected bonus.

“We must breathe lightly on the embers then” Simon said enigmatically

“What does that mean Mr. Author?” Jeanette slurred

“We have to play cupid” he replied

“Or just give her can of squirty cream” she said and he looked puzzled

In the Village of Pepperstock Green – Chapter (077) – Best Friends

April

 

Chloe Bulman was 29 years old and worked in the nursery section at Threadgold’s Garden Centre in Pipershaven, and although she was quite a shy girl, she was very popular with staff and customers alike.

Chloe was a very slim and attractive girl with beautiful long dark brown hair, a dark complexion, and gorgeous brown eyes.

She was the only child of two only children and both of her parents were gone now and as a result she was now all on her own and lived alone in a small one-bedroom flat in Caxton Court on the outskirts of Pepperstock Green about a mile from the Expressway.

Which begged the question why was a lovely slim girl with a personality that was equally lovely, living alone in a dingy one-bedroom flat?

 

Her next-door neighbour in flat 2a of Caxton Court was 32-year-old Kenny Barnhill; though he had the luxury of a large two-bedroom flat in which to live alone in, courtesy of a failed relationship some eight years earlier.

Unlike Chloe he did have living family, two brothers in fact, unfortunately they were both living in Australia, so he hadn’t seen either of them for over 8 years.

Kenny also worked at Threadgold’s where he was the warehouse manager.

 

Chloe and Kenny were best friends and did everything together, if either of them had an invitation anywhere, the other was always their plus one.

It would be true to say that they loved each other, but their relationship was strictly platonic, and their friendship had been forever, and they were close to the point of symbiosis.

Coworkers at the store used to think their relationship was almost comic, but Kenny and Chloe got each other, and their thoughts and desires were quite esoteric.

 

However, they were hopeless romantics and their all-consuming purpose in life, their primary objective, was finding life partners, soulmates, in particularly a serious romantic relationship, but their frantic search for love remained fruitless.

Though not for the want of trying, they tried online dating, blind dates, clubs, pubs and speed dating, all to no avail and as a result they had both kissed more than their fair share of frogs along the way and neither of them knew why they

hadn’t struck gold.

Chloe couldn’t understand why a good-looking man like Kenny was unattached and he couldn’t fathom why a gorgeous woman like her was still single, but the search went on for them both.

 

As they were walking home from the bus stop after work one particularly cold Friday night in October, Chloe was unusually quiet as Kenny prattled on about the arrival of another delivery of Christmas stock into the warehouse.

“I might have to cancel Christmas this year” she said out of the blue.

“Why?” Kenny asked.

“My rents gone up” she said, “and I’ve just got my Gas and Electric bills.”

“Well look on the bright side” he said “You might have found Mr. Right by Christmas”

“I’m afraid I’ll have to put looking for him on hold” Chloe said as they arrived at the flats “And I’ll have to break into my savings just to get through the winter.”

Kenny didn’t know what to say and they walked upstairs in silence and when they got to their floor he said.

“Right, you go and get changed and I’ll get the supper on.”

“I think I’m just going to have a bath and get an early night” she replied flatly.

“Are you sure?” Kenny asked, “We can have a glass of wine and talk it through.”

“Yes, I’m sure babe” She insisted “I’ll be fine after a good night’s sleep.”

“Ok Hon” Kenny said and kissed her cheek “I’ll see you in the morning.”

Chloe closed the door and once inside she decided to skip the bath and went straight to bed and cried herself to sleep, and while Chloe sobbed into her pillow Kenny decided to forgo supper and opened a bottle of red wine instead and by the time he drank the last drop, he thought he had a solution to her problem.