Lola's House (Lola Series) (3 page)

He thinks for a second. 
‘How about next week?’

‘Yes, next week.’ Oh god, just stop talking, Lola. 
Sirens and alarm bells are going off in my head, clanging and wailing so loud the noise is deafening me - the warnings can’t be any clearer.

‘Have you still got the same number?’
He looks hopeful, poised with his phone in his hand.

‘No, I’ve got a new one
.’  I pull a card out of my bag and immediately think why, why am I doing this to myself, just tell him you made a mistake and you can’t go out with him.

‘Gr
eat, I’ll give you a ring then,’ he smiles, pocketing the card, with his phone.

‘I’ll look forward to it,’ I say, grinning like a total fool and all the time thinking I won’t answer your call. 

He smiles and adds, ‘I’ve really missed you, Lola.’

‘Me too.’
  Why on earth did I say that? I don’t need to reciprocate just because he said it.  Just shut your mouth now, Lola, before you do anymore damage.  Just shut the fuck up.

‘See you soon,’ he says, as he turns and leaves.

My brain has gone into total overload as I watch him walk away and I try to steady my breathing.  I cannot believe I let my mouth run away with me like that.  Should have kept it neutral, and on safe ground. 

‘Was that James?
’ Chrissie asks a few seconds later, as she arrives with Cal in tow, all too late as usual.

‘Yes and I’ve just agreed to meet up with him. 
What the hell am I going to do?  He said he missed me and I said me too.  What was I thinking?’

‘Probably brain scramble, it h
appens when you bump into an ex,’ she says, knowingly.  ‘Don’t worry about it, you can always put him off when he calls if you need to.’

‘God I hope he doesn’t call, I don’t think I can go through with it.  You don’t think he’ll call do you?’ Oh crap, that’s all I need on top of everything else. 

I pick up the glass of wine Chrissie has just put in front of me and drink it in practically one mouthful.  All I needed to do was be polite and look as if I’ve been doing fine since we split up, and then send him on his way.  But no, not me, I couldn’t do anything that simple.  Why couldn’t I just keep my big mouth shut? 

I definitely need
more wine, much more wine.

Chapter Three

So, I am feeling a little shell shocked after seeing James, there is still a lot of unfinished business between us that I really don’t want to get into.  Let’s just say I am holding onto many feelings for him, not all of them good.  What I really need to do is retreat and think through what I have just agreed to.  Cal and Chrissie are going home, so they offer to drop me off on the way and I gratefully accept, I can’t get home quick enough if the truth is known.  As I am walking out of the pub Mike, the landlord stops me.

‘Hey, Lola, don’t you own the
big house on the main road?’ he says.  Mike’s a big bearded guy, a bit like a friendly bear, unless you upset him, then he turns into a grizzly bear.

‘Yes.’  I’m not
sure where this is going but I stop and listen anyway.

‘Do you take in lodgers?’ He h
olds a teetering pile of stacked pint glasses in his arm like a circus act.

‘Oh no
, Mike, I don’t sorry.  I’m still working on the house actually, trying to get it back into shape.  To be honest, it’s taking a lot longer than I ever thought it would.’

‘That’s a shame, my nephew is looking for a place until he finds somewhere permanent, you know,
just for a couple of months and I thought you might have a room spare.  He’s house trained and everything,’ he says, looking hopeful.

‘Sorry, I can’t help but if I hear of anything I’ll let you know.’ I sl
ing my bag strap over my shoulder ready to depart.

‘That would be great, we’d put him up here but we’ve got a couple of staff living in at the moment, if I chuck them out they won’t come into work.’  He balance
s the teetering pint glasses on a table and picks up a beer mat, writing his phone number along the soggy edge. ‘Let me know if you hear of anything.’

‘I will
, Mike, Good Night.’ I make my escape into the night, desperate to sleep off the wine and start a brand new day, putting everything else firmly behind me.

Finally, back at the house, I wave goodbye to Chrissie and Calum as they drive off and I let myself in.  I close the front door and then lean against it, breathing in the familiar scent of the house. I am immediately enveloped by the feelings of comfort I always get when I walk through the door. To be sure, it won’t win any beauty contests at the moment, but it goes a lot deeper than that. 

The house
isn’t quite the mansion Chrissie had mentioned, but it is quite a fair size for one person to cope with.  And that’s why it’s turning out to be such a mammoth task to bring it back to its former glory.  The hallway is cavernous, with a beautiful staircase leading up the right hand side.  The ceilings are high and the windows vast, filling the space with sunshine during the day.  Rooms lead off from both sides of the front door, but I only use the sitting room to the right and the kitchen - the rest of the downstairs room’s just stand empty.

The floors in the hall still ha
ve their original tiles, although they are slightly damaged in places, but I hope to rescue them with some tender love and care.  The walls in the hallway have the original wallpaper my Granddad had put up about fifty years ago.  I run my hand over the faded roses and it’s like I’m taken back in a time warp.  In my mind, I can see the child version of myself running up and down the hallway, my feet pounding the tiles and my pigtails flying behind me as I go. 

I
smile and place my bag on the table in the hall, and its then I notice the big hole that has appeared in the wall since this morning.  Bloody Ned, poking holes in the walls.  I take a closer look and peer inside and see about a million years of dust and debris.  The electrics look as if they came out of the Ark, so I pull my head out quickly fearing my hair may catch on fire.

Yet another expe
nse to add to my list.  Where am I going to get the money from for that is beyond me.  I will just have to step everything back I think, doing some quick mental calculations. If I use the money I have put aside for the plastering to do the electrics, and the money I have put aside for the kitchen I can use on the plastering, and the money I was hoping to put aside for the furniture, maybe I can use that on the kitchen.  I feel myself sink.  The light at the end of the tunnel is turning out to be an oncoming train.

I walk into the spare sitting room to my left and snap on the light.  When I first moved in the house after James and I split up, I had
lived and slept in this room, but it has been empty since I moved my bedroom upstairs.  Just a few boxes are sitting on the hardwood floor that I haven’t got round to moving yet.  It’s a beautiful room with big bay windows and the original fireplace with tiles adorning the sides, although I don’t think there has been a fire lit in it for years.

This room le
ads through double doors, onto another slightly smaller room towards the back of the house.  It doesn’t catch the light as much during the day but it is still a lovely room with the ceiling rose and cornicing.  At the back of the room there is a door that leads onto the kitchen and shower room that had been installed in the old utility when Gran had got too frail to make it up the stairs.

I st
and, letting my gaze fall upon the fireplace, remembering the past when this house had pulsed with life and love. It had been filled with people, happy people, living their lives.  Now it was just me rattling around on my own.

I th
ink back to what Mike had asked me at the pub, turning it over in my mind.  Maybe it wouldn’t be a bad idea to have someone else in the house. These two rooms were pretty much self contained, so a lodger wouldn’t get in my way, we’d probably only meet in the kitchen in the morning, and I could put up with that.  And I had to admit, it would be nice to have a man about the house. 

I’d have to get a bed and a few other things to make it look homely but it should be worth the investment.  And, I could really use the extra money a lodger would bring to put towards the renovations.  My brain tick
s over a little more while I let things fall into place.  I will speak to Mike and set up a meeting with his nephew; after all, it couldn’t hurt just to meet the guy. 

I snap off the light
, yawning.  Maybe the light at the end of the tunnel isn’t an oncoming train after all.

I’m standing in the living room of my old flat.  Just standing there staring at him, and to be honest I can’t believe my eyes and ears.  He looks down at his hands and shakes his head and then says ‘I didn’t sign on for any of this, I just wanted to have some fun.’  He turns and walks towards the door and then stops to look back at me.  ‘I’m sorry, Lola.’  I can feel my heart beating faster and hear the blood cursing through my veins, almost deafening me.  I think I’ve stopped breathing and my heart is going to stop too, any second now.  I really love him, I don’t want it to end like this but what can I do? I feel so helpless.  He speaks again.  ‘Maybe you should be the one to move out,’ he laughs ironically, and I can feel my insides burning. ‘You’re the one with the big house after all.’  Then he disappears through the door and I’m left all alone.  I feel the floor shake as the front door slams shut. 

I jolt awake panting.  Oh my
god, I’m dreaming about him again.  I haven’t had the dream for six months.  I’m not sure what it means but I know it’s not a good sign.  I look at the clock.  Nine-fifteen.  I try to steady my breathing, as I pull the duvet back and slide my legs over the edge of the bed.  I can feel my head swimming as I sit upright, and remember the copious amount of wine I drank last night. 

I pad
bare foot over to the window where I can hear voices coming from the driveway below.  Ned and Kev are standing on the drive talking and laughing.  Kev throws a cigarette end in the bushes and I sigh to myself and grab my robe, pushing my feet into my slippers to make my way downstairs.  When I open the front door, Kev has his back to me as his hand disappears up the crack of his arse, scratching furiously.  I wince and cough loudly and they both spin round to face me.

‘Morning
, missus, we were just talking about your electrics.’ He stands, legs apart with his hands shoved in his jeans pockets.

‘Morning Ned,’ I reply, shiver
ing in the April morning air.  ‘Have you got a quote for me yet?’

‘Not yet, but I g
ot you a good spark, my brother-in-law, he’s coming over later this morning to have a look see,’ he stares at me and takes in my robe and my dishevelled state.  ‘Are you not working today, missus?’

‘Lola.’  I correct him yet again and he fumbles around uncomfortably.  ‘I’ve got a late start today so I’ve had a bit of a lie in.  Can you get some figures for me as soon as possible please, I really need to get moving on this and I need to keep track of my budget.’  That’s a laugh I think to myself, the budget has died a slow and lingering death, never to be resurrected again. 

‘Right you are, I’ll have something for you this afternoon,’ he says, looking over the overgrown garden and the weeds sprouting through the gravel on the drive.  ‘Do you want me to find you a good gardener too?’

I pull my robe tighter around my body. ‘I was planning to do most of it myself to keep costs down.’

‘Well you has a job and half there, missus...sorry, Lola.’  He looks uncomfortable and shuffles from one foot to the other.

I smile and raise my eyebrows at him. ‘I’ll manage
, Ned, and can you ask Kev to stop chucking his dog-ends in the bushes please.’ 

I turn and walk back towards the front door to get ready for the day and I hear him say, ‘right you are missus.’

I doubt I’ll ever manage to stop him calling me ‘missus’ I think as I go back in the house, but I do find it kind of amusing.  Ned is a good sort, but most importantly, he’s cheap, plus he seems to know everyone.  I just hope all the work will be finished soon so I can chill out in my lovely new home at long last. 

After a
quick shower, I towel dry my hair before pulling a brush through it. I pull on some leggings and quickly check to see how big my bum looks.  Satisfied I will get away with it, I pull on a longish black top and throw my purple leather jacket over the top and slip my feet into matching purple ballet pumps.  I put on a bit of mascara and lipstick and I’m done and out of the door.

I arrive at the shop and unusually there are two parking spaces free with no sign of Sandip’s colossal van.  So I park my little car and go into the shop via the back door.  I can see Muriel at the front of the shop, sorting out some of the rails. 

The shop doesn’t look very big
from the outside, but once you pass through the door, it goes back quite a way, until you get to the changing rooms and the office and stock room, which is where I now stand.

‘Morning
, Muriel,’ I shout, as I dump my bag in the office and make my way to the front of the shop. ‘You’re very busy this morning, what’s going on?’

‘Morning
, Lola, remember we were talking about clearing out some of the things we’ve had on the rails for a while?  Well I thought I would get cracking with it.  You can have a look at what you want to keep and what you want to mark down or give to charity.  I thought we could have a sale rail over on that side.’  She points to the right-hand side of the door where she has cleared a space.

‘G
ood idea, and yes we do need a really good sort out.  Did you notice I was busy out the back yesterday, see how tidy it is now?’

‘I did notice, and it looks great.  We can set up a desk and your other stuff out there if you wanted, make you a proper office?’

‘Oh I like that idea Muriel - I do need somewhere to sort out the invoices.’   I take a quick look round the shop and decide it looks like thirsty work.  ‘Do you fancy a cup of tea?’

‘Do I ever, my throat is full of dust after moving these rails.’

‘Well give me two minutes and I’ll be back with tea and biscuits,’ I say, and make my way to the back of the shop.

‘Chrissie came in first thing -
she helped me move the rails.’  I hear her shout.

‘Blimey, she spends more time in the shop than I do lately,’ I laugh, and g
et busy with the kettle, pulling the cups out of the cupboard above the sink and unwrapping the biscuits before arranging them on a plate. 

As I walk back down the shop with the
tray, Muriel stops what she is doing and gratefully takes her tea from me, giving it a quick blow before she has a slurp at it.  She puts it down and stops momentarily and her eyes flick over my face.  ‘Chrissie mentioned you had seen James last night?’

I look down quickly so as to not engage her questioning stare.  ‘News certainly travels fast around here.’

‘I don’t think she meant to say anything about him, it just sort of slipped out, you know what she’s like.  She didn’t mean any harm by it.’

I sigh to myself. ‘I know she didn’t.  I just don’t know what to make of it.’

Muriel knows all about the James situation, she had helped me through it all, listening to me prattle on endlessly, pouring my heart out and giving me hugs and cups of tea and what seemed like millions of Kleenex tissues when the tears came.  And believe me they came often at the beginning. I don’t know what I would have done without her to hold my hand through it all.