That's What Friends Are For Read online

  Besides, all of this fantasy thinking of Dan Wilshaw could be harmful to her marriage. She owed it to them both to give the relationship the go it needed. After sixteen years together, all the ups and downs, they had to try to get their marriage back on track.

  Five weeks would give them a good break, get them out the rut.

  Chapter Two

  ‘CHARLEY! Are you getting out of that bed or do I have to come and drag you out of it? It’s half past seven. Get a move on!’

  Charley Pellington pulled her pink duvet over her head and snuggled into her comfort zone. She didn’t care what time it was. She wasn’t going anywhere today, despite it being a school day.

  She listened to her mum going about her usual three minute dash into the bathroom before running downstairs like an Olympic athlete in training for the one hundred metre final. Moments later, the familiar sounds of Good Morning Britain burst forth into the silence, water gushed from the tap and she heard the kettle warming up.

  More silence for a while. Then clatter, clatter, clatter. Charley checked her clock again. Only five minutes to go and she would be able to relax.

  ‘CHARLEY! I won’t tell you again! Sam’s waiting for me. I have to go!’

  ‘Then go!’ Charley shouted, rolling her eyes.

  ‘Not until I see that you’re up!’

  ‘Okay, okay!’ Knowing that Louise wouldn’t leave until she saw her only daughter on her feet, Charley flounced out and across the landing. She hung her head over the balcony, blonde hair hanging down as she continued. ‘I’m up.’

  Louise nodded. She grabbed first her keys and then her handbag, flinging it over her shoulder. ‘Now, have you got what you need for today?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Homework done?’

  Another sigh. ‘Yes, Mum. I’m fifteen, not five. You’re going to be late, aren’t you?’

  ‘Oh, ha bloody ha. Are you calling into the market after school?’

  ‘If I can have some money off you.’

  A horn beeped. Louise reached for her purse quickly, searched about inside it. ‘I’ve only got a fiver.’ She held the note in the air.

  ‘Cool!’ Charley smiled for the first time that morning. ‘I could get some new lippy from Melissa’s stall.’

  ‘I didn’t say you could have it all,’ Louise sniped, knowing full well that she wouldn’t see any of it again once it left her hand. ‘Just make sure you buy me a Crunchie for tonight.’

  Another beep came from outside. ‘I’m coming!’ Louise blew a kiss and smiled at Charley before she left.

  As soon as she heard the front door close behind her, Charley dived back into bed.

  ‘Come on,’ Sam cried through the half-open window of her car door as Louise finally emerged and ran down the path towards her. ‘I’m going to get caught in traffic if you don’t buck yourself up.’

  ‘Sorry, sorry. Charley’s just conned another fiver off me. Honestly, that girl thinks I’m made of money.’

  ‘Money might make the world go round but it isn’t everything,’ she snapped, recalling her conversation yesterday with Reece. Almost immediately, she hoped Louise hadn’t noticed her sharp tone.

  She indicated right, checked over her shoulder to see that the road was clear and pulled away from the kerb. Minutes later, they were stuck in traffic.

  Sam banged her hand on the steering wheel. ‘Why can’t you ever be ready?’ she moaned. ‘We’d have missed all this if you’d come out when I beeped the first time.’

  Louise was busy applying her mascara, pumping the wand brutally into the container. She always added layers of the stuff, anything to accentuate her deep-set eyes. ‘Ah, come on,’ she said. ‘I’m always late on Mondays. Anyway, who’s going to sack us? You’re the boss.’

  ‘You had me fooled on that one.’

  Louise licked her tongue across her bare lips and took out her lippie. ‘So what did you get up to yesterday? Anything interesting?’

  ‘Nope. Just the usual. What about you?’

  Louise felt a blush slowly rising up from her neck. ‘Same old, same old,’ she replied, not wanting to admit what had happened.

  ‘Club on Saturday night, pissed, hangover … Rob Masters?’ Sam raised her eyebrows questioningly.

  ‘Yes, Rob Masters,’ she admitted.

  ‘Oh, Lou!’ Sam moved the car forward a few feet. ‘You have no respect for yourself.’

  ‘You don’t have to remind me. Listen, is Reece home next weekend? Because if he isn’t, do you fancy a night out on the town? I could do with a chaperone, someone to keep me from his clutches.’

  Sam sighed. ‘More like the other way round, if you ask me.’

  Louise laughed. ‘You sound like my mother. Come on, how about it?’

  ‘What about Charley?’

  ‘She’ll probably be staying over at Sophie’s and if she isn’t, Matt will look after her.’

  ‘Have you asked him?’

  ‘There’s no need. He’s always around for Charley.’

  Sam looked at her pointedly. ‘You take him for granted, you know.’

  ‘I do know, yes. But he’s a darling and he adores her.’

  ‘Actually, it’s you that he really adores but I’m not going to labour that point again.’

  ‘That’s because it isn’t true. Matt is just a friend.’

  Louise and Matt’s relationship – if you could call it that – was complicated. They’d dated during their last year at high school but things had fizzled out within a matter of weeks. Afterwards, they’d kept in touch as friends, even when Louise had found herself pregnant with Charley when she was only eighteen. But things had petered off slightly when Louise had met and fallen in love with Brian Thompson.

  There had been no double wedding as they had dreamed about when they were teenagers. Louise’s wedded bliss had lasted five years, followed by a messy divorce. Matt went on to have two long term relationships but, Sam suspected, he’d always have a soft spot for their friend. Even his latest relationship was off more than it was on. Matt was always there for Louise and she didn’t appreciate just how much. He spent most of his free time with her and Charley. Charley got on really well with him and loved it when her mum went out and Matt came round to babysit.

  ‘So what do you think?’ Louise pressed her.

  ‘It’s Monday morning,’ she stressed, ‘and you’re already thinking about Saturday?’

  ‘What else is there to think about – or do around here? Live for the weekend, you know that’s my motto.’

  Both Sam and Louise had lived in Hedworth all their lives. It was a medium-sized city with, according to the last census, a population of around one hundred and sixty-five thousand. It was well-known for a good night out if you were in your early twenties, with Sampson Street being the place to be seen, and had a few bars that catered for the older clientele. But it didn’t offer that much of a difference if visited on a regular basis. Louise wasn’t put off by this, though.

  ‘And I bet you wish you had the odd weekend to yourself every now and then, hmm?’ she added.

  Sam didn’t want to tell Louise that Reece had headed off to Germany just yet because she was still reeling from the revelation. Okay, admittedly she’d been thinking of Dan Wilshaw, but that was more because she knew that fluttering-in-her-tummy feeling when she saw him was what she really wanted back with Reece.

  She sighed, wishing there was a way that she could get things re-ignited with Reece again. She shouldn’t even be thinking of anyone else. Infidelity wasn’t something she wanted in her vocabulary.

  Louise wasn’t giving up on her night out that easily. ‘I suppose Reece could come too, if he’s around. At a push, I could deal with that.’ She twirled up a lipstick and moved it onto her lips.

  Sam nudged the car forward a few lengths and decided to change the subject. ‘I’ll think about it. How is my god-daughter, by the way? Still being hormonal?’

  ‘As ever.’ Louise flicked up the mirror on the windscreen viso
r and turned back to Sam with a pout. ‘I can’t believe how she’s changed over the past couple of years. The minute she turned into a teenager, she’s been nothing but moody and stroppy. I wish I knew what she was getting up to. I’ve been looking for her diary but she must take it with her. I haven’t been able to—’

  ‘You’ve looked for Charley’s diary!’ said Sam, shocked.

  ‘Of course I have. I had one at that age.’

  ‘Yes, but Sandra didn’t read it!’

  ‘My mum would never have found it, the amount of times I had to hide it because of Ryan.’ Ryan was Louise’s older brother by two years. ‘I also know that she’d have killed me if she had read it. I know what I got up to at that age, so I worry about Charl.’

  ‘You did alright.’ Sam wouldn’t let Louise become the martyr, as she was prone to doing.

  ‘Yeah, sure,’ Louise scoffed. ‘Single mum at eighteen. That’s a fine example to set. I don’t want her getting caught like I did.’

  Sam fiddled with the radio while she waited for the traffic lights to change. Two more sets of lights and they’d be there.

  ‘Oh, I know she added a lot to my life,’ Louise continued, ‘but you know what I mean. If I hadn’t had her when I was so young—’

  ‘Oh, stop moaning. Charley’s a good kid. She won’t make the same mistakes as you.’

  Louise’s head turned ninety degrees sharply. ‘Well, thanks for the vote of confidence,’ she snapped.

  ‘Well, thanks for confiding in me,’ Sam snapped back.

  ‘Oh, don’t start that again.’

  Louise and Sam had been friends since their first day at nursery school. By the time Louise had hung her coat up on the peg with the white star sticker next to Sam’s green pear, they’d already formed a friendship that would take them through the next thirty years. But there was one secret between them. When Louise became pregnant not long after her eighteenth birthday, Sam supported her through antenatal classes, labour pains, Charley’s terrible twos and beyond. But Louise never told anyone who Charley’s father was. Over the years, Sam got used to not knowing but still she didn’t like it.

  ‘Anyway,’ Louise added. ‘I feel like I’m seventy-four not thirty-four. I’m just so bored. A good lashing in the pub will do me the world of good.’

  ‘You do that every week!’ Sam lowered her voice. ‘Look, I don’t mean to be all preachy, but I worry about you.’

  ‘I know, and I love you for it, but really, I’m okay.’ Louise nodded her head vehememtly. ‘So, how about it?’

  Arriving at the market, Sam drove into the car park, thankful there were a few spaces left for the traders. She switched off the engine and pulled up the handbrake.

  ‘I don’t know if I’m up to it,’ she replied. Glancing in the mirror before she got out, Sam noticed how pale she looked. It was only her short, red hair flicked under at the ends and framing her face that gave her some much needed colour. She wore neutral-coloured makeup, the heavy lids above blue eyes denoting her lack of sleep. She hoped she wouldn’t wear her heart on her sleeve, worrying about Reece’s sudden need to leave her for longer than a week.

  ‘What’s the matter?’ Louise’s seatbelt flew back as she unbuckled it. ‘You’re not coming down with anything, are you? You do look a little peaky.’

  ‘Actually,’ Sam fibbed, seeing this as a way out of a long and lengthy marriage guidance session if she did spill the beans. ‘I do feel faint, if you must know.’

  ‘Don’t worry. You’ll be fine by Friday.’ Louise opened her door and then turned back to her friend. ‘Even more so once you’ve got a few vodkas down your neck and finished them off with a kebab supper. Shall I book the taxi for eight?’

  Sam sighed as she locked the car door. Sometimes she wished that Louise would grow up and think about someone else for a change. Charley was far more well-behaved for her fifteen years.

  But then again, perhaps it was time to worry about herself more. The fact that she was starting to preach to her best friend about her going out too much made her own life seem boring in comparison.

  * * *

  As soon as the door shut behind her mum, Charley dived back into bed. She reached for her phone to text her friend, Sophie, but there was already a message waiting from her.

  ‘What were you up to on Sat night? You never told me what you did when I saw you yest.’

  Charley sighed. That was all she needed, rumours going around the school that she was frigid. On Saturday evening, Matt had called round to look after her because her mum was going to be out late. Charley didn’t need a babysitter as such but Matt was a family friend and her mum preferred someone to be around if she was going to get home later than midnight. Besides, Charley adored Matt. He was part of the furniture at their house. Often he’d take time out to chat with her about school and TV programs. She could ask him advice about most things too.

  Charley had told him she and Sophie were going to the shops and she’d be home by ten. Well, she wasn’t lying about the shops. But she didn’t tell him they were meeting up with some of the lads from school. She’d hooked up with Aaron Smithson. Nothing had happened though, apart from a snogging session. But Aaron had been really annoyed when she’d stopped his wandering hands, and then he’d gone off in a strop. It was one thing to try it on, but to persistently continue when she’d said no, and sulk when he didn’t get his own way? She’d decided yesterday she would finish things when she saw him next. There was no way she was putting out to someone who didn’t care about her.

  She texted Sophie back.

  ‘Didn’t do anything. Come round. Tell you then. Coast clear.’

  Ten minutes later, the two of them were in the kitchen. Charley made coffee for them both. Even though she was still in her dressing gown and pyjamas, her hair had been straightened and she had added a bit of make-up, lippie, eye shadow and mascara. If she had been ready for school, she would have looked like a mirror image of her friend, with their slight frames and long legs that were perfect for the short skirts that were rolled up at the waist. When they were out together, they looked more like twins than friends.

  With a sigh, she flopped down at the tiny kitchen table, shoved into a corner that was barely big enough for it. Although Mum tried her best to keep on top of everything, and the house was always spotless, the kitchen in the terraced house was in need of a good lick of paint, the years-old lino flooring in bad need of replacement. Money was tight with just Louise working but she made it as homely as possible. And there was always food on the table, so Charley couldn’t complain.

  Sophie was dressed in school uniform, a striped tie hung down in front of a v-necked maroon jumper, short navy skirt and thick black tights worn with Doctor Martens. She shrugged off her coat and turned towards her friend. ‘So tell me, Charley the tease. Did you or didn’t you?’

  Charley looked on in disinterest. ‘Did I or didn’t I what?’

  ‘You haven’t got a clue, have you?’ Sophie gasped, covering her mouth with a hand. ‘I thought you’d have had at least one text message from someone other than me.’

  ‘Sophie,’ Charley sighed in exasperation, ‘what is it I’m supposed to have done this time?’

  Sophie didn’t hold anything back. ‘Aaron’s telling everyone he shagged you on Saturday night, that you also gave him a blowjob and that you swallowed.’

  Charley nearly fell off her chair. ‘He said what! When? But … how do you know all this? I only saw you last night and—’

  ‘Never mind that.’ Sophie pulled out a chair. ‘Why didn’t you tell me? I was –’

  ‘I didn’t tell you because nothing happened!’

  Sophie looked up to see Charley’s distraught expression.

  ‘I know!’ she said quickly. ‘It was a joke. Sorry.’

  ‘I would have told you,’ said Charley. ‘Especially if I had done that, you know I would. I mean come on, you think I’d put my mouth around Aaron’s … yuck. I would never. Not yet, anyway.’

 
Sophie and Charley had set themselves a moral code of sexual conduct. As soon as they reached their teens, they’d made a pact not to sleep with anyone until they were absolutely sure that it was right for them. They didn’t want to be called slags, slappers, or whatever else the boys at school would come up with before dumping them to move on to the next conquest. And both of them had been scared when one of their school friends, Chloe Whitaker, became pregnant at fourteen. As for the thought of anything oral? Charley was saving that for when she was more grown up. Besides, she didn’t want to end up like her mum, pregnant with her at eighteen. It was her worst fear.

  ‘Aaron Smithson is an idiot.’ Sophie reached for the biscuit tin, opened it and sighed when she saw it was empty. ‘Anyway, don’t worry. It’ll all blow over soon.’

  Both girls burst into laughter at Sophie’s unfortunate choice of words.

  Charley folded her arms. ‘I was thinking of skipping school anyway. Fancy it?’

  Sophie nodded. ‘You can tell me about Alex too. I want to know all of the gossip.’

  Charley beamed then. Alex was a boy she’d met online about a month ago. They’d started chatting quite often and last week they’d exchanged WhatsApp messages. Charley looked forward to every one of them.

  ‘Okay.’ She nodded in agreement. ‘But let’s hit the shops first, see what’s going down.’

  Sophie giggled. ‘Well, it sure as hell wasn’t you!’

  Chapter Three

  Hedworth Shopping Centre was a tiny place in comparison to some, more the size of a large department store in a major city. Over its two floors, there were a few high street stores to tempt the serious city shoppers, as well as a few of the local suppliers. A high street to its right and a few smaller streets behind it made up the bulk of the shops.