The Look of Love (41 page)

Adam looked at
her in surprise. He shook his head. “But you’re still so young!”
was all he could say.

“And getting
older every minute!” she replied quickly. “If I wait for you, I’ll
be in my sixties and you’ll be in a bath-chair! Now, get on with
it! I’ve made my mind up, Adam. This is what I want. I don’t care
about our ages or what other people think, and I’m not going to
change my mind later. Just ask me, will you? I’m not going to say
no! So don’t be such a coward!”

Adam seemed to
come to a decision. He took both her hands in his and drew her
closer. He stared into her eyes. “Chrissy, will you marry me?”

“No!”

“What?”

Chrissy laughed
when she saw his crestfallen expression. “Oh, I’m sorry, Adam!” she
said quickly. “I couldn’t resist it! It’s just my way of getting my
own back for the film! Of course I’ll marry you, Adam! It’s what I
want, and what I’ve never felt more sure about!”

Adam sighed.
“You are very cruel, Chrissy, my darling. I see that I will have to
keep a firm hand on you.” As he spoke, he put his arms around
her.

“You can try!”
she said as Adam drew her into an embrace. They kissed.

When their lips
parted, Chrissy whispered. “I love you.”

Adam smiled as
he hugged her tightly. “I think I loved you from the moment I found
you under my taxi. But I always thought my dream of possessing you
would be as unattainable as all those other dreams.”

“Ah, but the
thing about life and dreams is that you can never be sure of what’s
going to happen next! Isn’t that true?”

Chrissy’s reply
was an obvious invitation for a debate, but Adam refused to be
drawn in.

“We will talk
about life and dreams later,” he said. “For now we have much more
important things for our mouths to attend to.”

Adam moved
closer to resume their kiss.

Chrissy
chuckled. “Mum and dad are going to have a fit!” she muttered, and
then their lips met and they kissed again, standing on the pavement
together on Trafford Road, with the cars and the trucks passing
by.

The bride
looked immaculate. She was beautiful and stunning in white. There
were three bridesmaids fussing around her as the photographer
shouted instructions. The bridesmaids were in peach. They laughed
and giggled with the bride as the groom stood proudly nearby,
shaking hands with his new relatives.

It was mid
afternoon and the sun was bright and warm. But it wasn’t the heat
that was bothering the bride.

Angela was
breathless with love. “Doesn’t Andy look gorgeous?” she said in a
whisper.

Chrissy smiled
as she rearranged Angela’s wedding dress. “Not as gorgeous as you!
Now stand up straight and stop gawking at him!”

“Yeah!”
Victoria added. “You’ll ruin the pictures!”

“No she won’t!”
Louise quickly replied. “Leave her alone! It’ll be nice to have
that look in her eyes on all the photographs. That way everyone
will know she’s in love.”

Angela was all
gooey. “I am in love! Oh, I love him so much, Louise! I can’t
wait!”

“I think we
gathered that!” Louise said. “You both stood at the altar looking
like love-sick kittens.”

Then Chrissy
said, “I thought she was going to snog him at the altar!”

And Victoria
added, “I thought he was going to throw her over the registrar’s
table!”

They both
laughed. Louise gave them a dirty look. “Oh, stop it, you two!”

The
photographer shouted at them to stand up properly. They all smiled
and the camera clicked away.

Next it was
Angela and Andy, and then came Andy and his bestman. And after
that, the bestman got to put his arms around all the bridesmaids.
As they stood together posing, Chrissy looked up at the bestman as
he smiled for the camera. After that it was the turn of all the
relatives and friends to line up with the bride and groom. Everyone
was there, friends from school, friends from University, even
friends of friends. And they all jostled for position as the
photographer waved and shouted at them like a conductor.

As others took
their turn, the bestman watched the photographer at work. Chrissy
left Victoria and Louise and went to stand next to him. She reached
out and took his hand.

“How are you,
Scott?”

Scott looked at
her. There was still sadness in his eyes, but he smiled
half-heartedly. “I’m alright.”

“I’m sorry
about Max. Do you forgive me?”

His expression
became pained. “There’s nothing to forgive. It wasn’t your
fault.”

“But I
feel–”

Scott squeezed
her hand. “Forget it. Now, I don’t want to talk about it, okay?
Today is Andy and Angela’s day, so let’s not spoil it with bad
memories. Come on, let’s join the crowd.”

Chrissy smiled
and nodded, and together they joined the others for another big
group photo. As the photographer moved everyone around for
different shots, Scott and Chrissy soon became separated. Chrissy
found herself back with Victoria and Louise.

Victoria put
her arm around Chrissy. “He still looks upset, doesn’t he?”

They both
looked down the long line of people at Scott at the other end.

“So would you
be if your brother had hanged himself in Risley,” Chrissy replied
bitterly.

Victoria poked
her in the back. “It wasn’t because of you!”

“Wasn’t it?”
Chrissy snapped. “If I hadn’t interfered he might not have gone to
prison in the first place!”

“You didn’t
interfere! Max confessed!”

Chrissy sighed.
“Why would he do such a thing?”

Louise answered
her. “Because he missed Jo.”

There was a
shout of delight among the guests. The photographer was calling all
the women forward. Angela was going to throw her bouquet and he
wanted to catch the frenzy on film. Louise hurried forward with all
the rest, but Victoria held Chrissy back and whispered in her ear.
They both laughed and then ran after Louise, standing close on each
side of her.

The
photographer shouted out, “Are you all ready?”

There was a
chorus of “Yes!” and a belated, “Get on with it!” and then Angela
threw the bouquet high into the air.

There was a
rush as all the girls jumped for it. Louise felt herself being
grabbed and lifted into the air. She was suddenly higher than
everyone else, and there was the bouquet coming right at her. She
caught it and was lowered to the ground. Everyone cheered and
Louise immediately blushed. She clutched the bouquet to her chest
and went bright tomato red.

Victoria and
Chrissy had quickly retreated, and now they were both laughing.
Louise spotted them and smiled shyly, and then she walked over to
them and held the bouquet out to Victoria.

Victoria slowly
stopped laughing. She stared at the bouquet. Then she pursed her
lips, grinned that mischievous grin of hers at Louise, and took the
bouquet from her.

For a moment,
no one said anything, then Sam and Dayna whistled and clapped, and
then everyone clapped. Louise and Victoria hugged, and Dayna
whistled even more.

Chrissy stood
on her own and clapped with the rest. She was smiling brightly,
almost tearfully, when she felt someone’s arms around her. She
looked round quickly.

“Oh, Adam!” she
exclaimed. “Do you always have to put those damned money markets
first?”

He kissed her
and squeezed her tightly. “Needs must, my dear. The Honduran
lempira waits for no one!”

“But you missed
the photos!”

“No matter, no
one will notice.”

“I will!” She
grabbed his hand. “Let’s have a photo together! Come on!”

She dragged
Adam to the photographer and quickly explained what she wanted. He
soon agreed and called Angela and Andy forward for one last
photograph. Then he called for Victoria and Louise. He grouped them
together like three couples, Victoria and Louise on one side,
Chrissy and Adam on the other, and Angela and Andy in the
middle.

As they all
stood together, Chrissy asked Angela, “You don’t mind do you?”

“Of course
not!” she replied. “Anyway, it’s not every wedding that has a
Marquis and Marchioness among the guests.”

The
photographer shouted, “Smile, everyone!”

Click.

This book was
first written in 1998 before the introduction of the Euro and the
arrival of mobile phones. Many other changes have occurred since
then, both to Manchester and to the characters depicted in the
story. What may be of interest is that Chrissy and Adam, Louise and
Victoria, and Angela and Andy are all still together. Chrissy gave
birth to a son, while Angela has had twins. DS Connors retired and
lives in the Lake District. Scott remains single.