Guess Who's Coming to Christmas Dinner (7 page)

Chapter
Eleven

Sophie woke up as Bella slid into her bed, wrapping her arms tightly around her. Sophie sleepily hugged her and breathed in the puppy dog smell of her daughter’s neck.

“
S’cold, mum...can we have hot chocolate?” Bella whispered into Sophie’s ear, snuggling against her back. Sophie rolled over and studied her sleepy face, smooth skin with a dusting of freckles over the nose and the tousled curls spread out on the pillow. Sophie kissed the tip of her nose, noting that it was indeed cold. “Morning pumpkin, sleep well?”

Bella
nodded vigorously, “Max came in, he did, he did, but then he went out again and then I went to find him and daddy was in the kitchen and Susi was crying and then Max wanted to use his you know and he did a…”

“Susi
was crying?” Sophie said, smoothing Bella’s hair away from her face, marvelling yet again that she had produced such a beautiful child.

“Yes,
but Max did a really smelly poo!” Bella giggled, impervious to Sophie’s question, in that seemingly callous way that small children have. Sophie knew she’d have to get up, leaving her warm bed and her delightful daughter that she wanted to smother with kisses, but if Susi had been crying... and no doubt Archie was going to be miserable and hungover, and then there was this wretched party tonight, that she hadn’t even thought about yet... she reluctantly threw the duvet off and swung her legs out of bed. The icy cold air hit her like a shockwave. She threw her dressing gown on and fumbled her feet into her sheepskin slippers. Damn it was cold. As she drew the curtains, she gasped at the sight outside. It was a frozen picture of white. Icicles hung from the drainpipe, and the outside of her bedroom window was covered in a lacy pattern of ice. It had obviously snowed even more overnight, and now was frozen. The sky was a dark pearl grey, and nothing stirred. No birds, no wind, nothing. It was like Narnia before Aslan came.

“You
stay in my bed Bella, let me get breakfast started and put the heating on before you get up,” Sophie said, hurrying to the kitchen to start the boiler.

The
kitchen was arctic, and Sophie clicked the boiler on waiting for the reassuring click and hum that signalled that the flat would soon be up to some sort of temperature that humans could actually live in. Not to mention hot water. But there was nothing. Not a click or a groan or a hum. Just an awful silence. Sophie flew to the sink and turned the cold water tap on; at least she could boil a kettle and make coffee. With the tap turned to full and the kettle spout inserted in the tap Sophie waited for the gush of water. Again, nothing. Not even a trickle. She was tempted to go and shake Archie awake; this was after all a man’s problem, wasn’t it? Weren’t men genetically programmed to understand things like boilers and pipes? Then she had memories of Archie being helpless before a fuse box under in the cupboard in the hallway when they were once plunged into darkness, and how he had laughed and called an electrician who had charged them a fortune before giving Archie a disdainful sneer. Sophie had on occasion asked her upstairs neighbours for some DIY advice when the occasion arose, but Barbara and Robert had left on a much saved for winter cruise a week ago. Laurie had been her saviour in these sorts of crisis in the past... but that was out of the question now, wasn’t it?

Sophie
belted her dressing gown more tightly around her waist and stared out of the window. The sky was lightening a fraction, but it was still that opalescent grey and nothing was stirring. It was far too cold for it to snow again, and the ice covered everything that Sophie could see. Max entered the kitchen, his tail an upright question mark as he wove through her legs, obviously looking for breakfast.

“Me
too, Max....hang on, let’s see what we can find....” Sophie bent to stroke his head, rubbing behind his ears to hear a soft purr of approval coming from the cat. She had just put her hand on a tin of anchovies, regretting that she’d have to sacrifice them to the cat, when the kitchen door opened to reveal a very dishevelled Susi.

“Christ
almighty Soph, it’s bloody freezing in here!”

Susi
was wearing a pair of the tiniest cotton shorts and a sleeveless vest in baby pink. It matched her eyes, Sophie noticed, remembering that Bella had told her she’d been crying. Sophie didn’t want to ask her if she was OK, and just smiled in her friends direction, knowing full well that Susi would soon tell her what was wrong. Susi clasped her arms around herself and hopped from foot to foot, “OK if I have a quick shower to warm myself up?”

“You’ll
be lucky...no hot water, well, no water at all actually...” Sophie said, still rummaging through the cupboards looking for something more suitable and definitely cheaper to feed Max.

“Oh
no! God....we’ll all bloody die of hypothermia! Can’t you call someone? You know, a plumber or something?”

Sophie
gave Susi the benefit of an old fashioned look. “There speaks the salaried rental person. Call the landlord if the light bulb needs changing! Honestly, Susi, do you have any idea how much those people charge – and on Christmas Eve? Forget it.... My guess is that the pipes are frozen and that’s messed up the boiler, so there’s nothing to do till they thaw...well, nothing I can do anyway....”

“But,
but it’s the party tonight!” Susi wailed, sounding younger than Bella in her disappointment.

“Susi!
Look out the window, who the hell is going to struggle through this to get
here
for chrissake?” Sophie said not unkindly to her friend, marvelling that Susi could still be so excited about a party in a suburban living room, even though it did resemble some outer circle of hell at the moment.Susi looked sulky and defiant at the same time, then brightened. “Oh, I know, let’s call Laurie! He’ll know –“

“No.”

“Why?”

“Just
no, Susi.... let’s wake Archie and let him deal with it shall we?” Sophie said, cutting Susi short; the last thing she wanted was Susi ferreting around the reason why she didn’t want Laurie involved.

“Archie?
Are you crazy? Remember that time that we all went to Spain and that water heater went funny in the villa and Archie went to hide behind the sunbeds in the garden ‘cos he thought it might explode? He’s clueless!” Susi laughed, rubbing her hands up and down her arms to warm herself up. Sophie took pity on her and went to fetch a spare dressing gown from her bedroom telling Bella to stay in bed for a bit longer and that she’d bring her in some breakfast in a moment.

“What,
in your bed? I’m not ill!” Bella said indignantly

“I
know darling, but it’s so cold! Honestly - you’re much better off in there than out here...won’t be long!” Sophie called behind her as she headed back to the kitchen throwing a white towelling robe that had seen better days to Susi. Susi scrambled into it, hugging herself whist making a face of distaste at the offending dressing gown. “Come on, let’s wake Archie,” she said, heading off to the living room.

Archie
was on his back, snoring on the sofa, his feet sticking over the end, and the blankets bunched around him. Sophie bet that Susi hadn’t got much sleep if he’d been making that noise all night. The two women stood at the foot of the sofa looking at him, united in their distaste.

“Why
do men do that?” Susi asked absent mindedly, scuffing the rug with her toes.

“What?
Snore?”

“Yeah...
you know, generally make so much noise, even when they’re asleep.”

“Too
much whiskey,” Sophie said sourly, noting the empty glass on the floor beside the sofa.

“Well,
we both had a nightcap,” Susi said defensively, “He was
so
upset, Soph, but–”

“Don’t
expect a whole lot of sympathy from me Susi,” warned Sophie, “I’m the one he left, remember? And just because Bertha has now left him, I don’t see why I should be the one to mop up the mess...”

Susi
looked at her sideways, standing in Sophie old dressing gown, her hands on her hips. “But... don’t you want him back?” Susi whispered, looking incredulously at her.

Sophie
shook her head. Realising for the first time that most definitely did not. Sure, she’d dreamt of them being a happy family again, but not like this, not with Archie pining after Bertha and making do with second best with her and Bella.

“No...
I really don’t.” She said with a smile. She nudged his feet with her knee. “Archie, Archie! Wake up... the boilers out, the pipes are frozen, we’re freezing....oh, and Happy Christmas Eve!” she nudged him again and he groaned. Sophie stared at his semi sleeping face and saw as if for the first time, and wondered at herself that she felt nothing. Nothing at all. The only emotion was irritation that he was even here. Bella would of course love it if they got back together, but she now knew that that wasn’t going to happen.

As
if on cue Bella hopped into the living room, jumping up and down, wrapped in a long knitted cardigan of Sophie’s that trailed on the ground behind her.

“Why’s
it so cold in here mummy? I’m freezing! And so is Max!” Bella trilled in her high excited voice. Archie groaned.

“Turn
the volume down Bells, there’s a good girl,” he mumbled, pulling the blanket over his head.

Sophie
sighed. This was just getting worse, No heating, no hot water, a hungover Archie, frozen ice on the roads and her daughter was cold... she glanced at Susi who was slumped on the other sofa clutching her dressing gown around herself looking rather gloomy. The red foil on the walls shimmered in the icy light from the windows, and the Christmas tree stood sentinel in the corner. It was so cold that none of the needles had even shed from the tree.

Sophie
swung Bella round and said, “Right, let’s get dressed, and then figure out what to do... Archie, for goodness sake get up, and Susi, get dressed too, you’re going to freeze otherwise!”

Sophie
packed Bella into as many warm clothes as possible, so that she soon resembled a tiny plum pudding, complete with red woollen tights and a green knitted hat. She was just kitting herself out in as many clothes as possible when her phone rang. She glanced at the screen and saw that it was Laurie.

Chapter
Twelve

Sophie grabbed the phone and pressed it to her ear with an intensity that surprised her. As she answered she felt a terrible awkwardness but was so overjoyed to hear from him that she pushed that to one side.

“Sophie?”
Laurie’s voice was warm and intimate. Oh thank god, he wasn’t sounding distant, though he had absolutely every right to be. She realised, remembering how it had been between them and the last things that she had said to him. What an absolute fool she’d been.

“Laurie!
I’m so sorry, thank you so much for calling. I was hoping that you would, I mean, well, I just mean that…”

“Slow
down... Sophie, I was just calling to say goodbye. I’m leaving earlier than expected and I wanted to say that if you and Bella still want to come out for a holiday that is, you are both welcome. I’ll call you once I’m in LA shall I? Perhaps we can arrange a date or something.”

“What?”
Sophie sat down on the bed. She glanced around the room, motioning Bella to be quiet. Laurie repeated the awfully polite message.

“Oh.
I see. Yes, well, thank you. We’ll certainly try to...umm, thanks, well, goodbye then.”

Sophie
stared at the phone, unwilling to accept what she’d just heard. What a complete and utter fool she’d been. Of course, he wouldn’t want her and Bella any more, not after she’d practically chucked him out of the flat because Archie was coming home. What an absolute bloody mess. She felt a tear trickling down her face and angrily brushed it away. Damn it. She looked up to see Bella sucking her thumb and curling a lock of hair around her fingers.

“Come
on, cuddle time,” said Sophie, holding her arms out to Bella, “and then let’s go and see what’s open in town, shall we?”

Twenty
minutes later, Sophie was firmly closing the front door and skidding down the front path of the tiny garden, with Bella clutching her hand. She waved at a neighbour a few doors down who was shovelling through the ice creating a slip free path on the pavement. The snow had stopped, but the ice was solid now. Cars were littered on the street, left in a haphazard pattern of where they’d been abandoned. The cold felt
enormous
and pressed upon her face as she gingerly trod the way to the top of the road and the high street. The normal hustle and bustle of panic buyers on Christmas Eve was nowhere to be seen, it was more or less a ghost town. As they turned into the high street, Sophie saw with a shock that a double decker red bus had skidded into the pavement and that too had been abandoned. Bella was giggling and pointing, and Sophie saw the surreal picture that it made and squeezed her daughter’s hand.

None
of the normal shops were open and as she passed by and Pastons was closed too. Sophie peered in through the window, hoping that Maria might somehow have managed to get in and put some coffee on. But it was dark and gloomy inside, indeed, most of the shops were. The greengrocer was open, as the couple who ran it lived above the shop, but everyone else hadn’t made it in to work. Sophie knew just how much money they made on Christmas Eve and knew that they would all be open if they could. She glanced up and down the high street, searching for something to be open where she could buy some breakfast for Bella and a cup of coffee for herself. Lynne! Lynne would have coffee and heat and no doubt a healthy nutritious breakfast waiting.

They
set off in the direction of Lynne’s, slipping and sliding and clinging onto railings and lampposts to stop themselves falling over. Sophie felt a bit guilty about leaving Susi to cope with Archie’s hangover and the freezing flat, but after the call from Laurie she just had to get out of the flat.

They
eventually reached Lynne’s neat front door and rang the bell. A very tidy wreath made from plastic holly hung on the door, complete with a plastic robbing, that Bella found enchanting, and made Sophie smile.

Lynne
answered the door in an apron and a cross expression, which immediately changed to a smile of welcome. Nathan came charging down the hallway and flung himself at Sophie’s legs, nearly knocking her over.

“Steady!”
Sophie laughed, stepping into Lynne’s blissfully overheated hallway. “We’re throwing ourselves at your mercy, breakfast please!” Sophie explained about the frozen pipes and no central heating but left out Archie’s hangover and split with Bertha just for now.

Lynne
ushered her into an immaculate kitchen and started to make some porridge in the microwave for Bella, and coffee for Sophie.

Sophie
unwrapped the many layers of clothes she had on and perched on a kitchen stool, marvelling at the cleanliness and neatness of Lynne’s kitchen. Even after a kids’ birthday party it was spotless. Shining and smelling faintly of a lemon cleaner, the kitchen could have been brand new. Sophie cradled the mug of hot coffee and smiled at Lynne.

“Thanks,
you’re a life saver! How did the party go? And the cake?”

Lynne
sniffed. “Some of the children were very badly behaved...but Nathan enjoyed it, which was the main thing.... I am sorry Bella couldn’t come.” They both glanced at Bella who was sitting at the counter, blowing daintily on a spoon of hot porridge that had been sprinkled with brown sugar and studded with blueberries.

“As
soon as you’ve finished that, you could maybe go and play with Nathan in the living room, or even watch a DVD?” Sophie said, glancing at Lynne, thinking that she’d better get it over with and tell her friend about Archie, but didn’t want to do it in front of her daughter.

“Yes,
and then you can have some chocolate birthday cake if mummy says that’s OK,” Lynne added, picking up a cloth and automatically wiping the stainless steel draining board, even though there was nothing on it to clean as far as Sophie could see.

Bella
and Nathan disappeared into the living room chattering loudly and shrilly about the new toys that Nathan had received for his birthday. There was some chatter about a new video game that made Sophie’s heart sink as she dreaded her daughter wanting one, they were so expensive, and Sophie didn’t want her daughter getting hooked on one.

“Oh
Lynne, I wish you’d come a clean my kitchen!” Sophie said impulsively, smiling at her friend. To her horror, she saw Lynne’s eyes fill with tears, and she clapped her hand to her mouth. What on earth had she said to make Lynne cry?

“Only
joking! I just meant that your place is always so neat and tidy and mine is so chaotic and messy and–”

“No,
no, it’s just that – well, I might as well tell you, I mean you’ve probably guessed anyway, but the reason that Nathan’s father and I split up was that I have a sort of cleaning compulsion...I’ve been in therapy for a while now, but...” Lynne’s voice tailed off and she twisted the cloth in her hands.

“Oh....
Lynne, I’m sorry, no, I didn’t know....but, well...” Sophie turned her gaze on the kitchen, and thought about all the things that she secretly mocked Lynne for. Oh dear. She supposed that there were worse things to be obsessive about, gambling, drug addiction, drinking...but then she looked again at the misery on Lynne’s face and knew that she daren’t even make a gentle joke about it.

Sophie
stood up and took the cloth out of Lynne’s hands. “Come on, sit down, let
me
make
you
a coffee and then let’s have some left over birthday cake – it is Christmas Eve after all,” Sophie said, smiling, pushing Lynne towards a stool.

“Thanks....
oh, use the clean cups on the shelf....” Lynne’s voice trailed off... “Sorry...”

Sophie
smiled and spooned the coffee in the cups, trying not to spill anything. As they nibbled cake and sipped coffee, Sophie told Lynne all about Archie, and Susi, and then as if she was compelled to, all about Laurie, too. It was a relief to pour her heart out. And if she had thought that Lynne would be judgemental, she was completely wrong footed. Lynne was simply lovely. Letting Sophie talk and talk. Lynne sat there, refilling her coffee cup and putting another thin slice of chocolate cake in front of her, till Sophie had finished the whole sorry story.

“Oh
Sophie... what a shame...when did Laurie say he was going?”

“I....umm,
I don’t know, he just said ‘earlier’...oh Lynne, that could be today! I’ll never see him again...” Sophie said sadly, crumpling a napkin in her hands.

“It
must be hard for you... and he lives directly opposite you, doesn’t he?” Lynne asked

“Yes,
number 55...” Sophie said absent mindedly, pressing crumbs of cake up with the tip of her finger. Both women looked up at the sound of suppressed giggling coming from the living room. Sophie got off her stool and headed that way saying over her shoulder, “It’s been quiet for a bit too long hasn’t it? I knew it was too good to last!”

Lynne’s
normally immaculate beige living room (with accents of indigo) was a scene of epic devastation. Two sets of tiny chocolate hand prints were ran round the walls in an irregular frieze. Bella and Nathan were standing on tip toe trying to reach a higher part of the wall than they had yet to destroy.

“Bella!”
Sophie shouted, really crossly, staring at the room and not daring to look at Lynne who must be more than furious. Bella whipped around with a beaming smile, “Look, mummy! Nathan and me are helping with the decorations....doesn’t it look lovely? It’s chocolate y’know,” Bella added conspiratorially. She stared at Sophie’s face and then said diffidently, “Don’t you like it? We do. We think it’s the best Christmas decorations ever, don’t we Nathan?”

Nathan
stood beside her, chocolate cake and icing on every part of his compact little body. Sophie was amazed that there was that much chocolate left. Then the children and Sophie turned to locate a strange sound. A gurgling ringing sound.

It
was Lynne. Laughing.