Take a Chance on Me (17 page)

I
t was
dark outside but lights burned brightly inside the indoor swimming pool. Charlie emerged from the ladies' changing rooms. It had taken her ages to psyche herself up for this. Gathering courage to put on the wetsuit had been task enough. Coming out to the swimming pool area had taken longer. She had run through her breathing techniques several times before she could face the voluminous pool.

Her instructor, Liam, was already in situ in the water, talking to a couple in their late twenties. Charlie groaned. Looking at them, she was not only scared but she also felt ancient. Liam exuded youth and vitality. Even from this distance she could see he was only in his twenties too. He had dark blonde hair, longer than was the fashion for young men. It suited his tanned face. His wetsuit was hanging undone at his waist, revealing a superb six-pack. Charlie was too busy concentrating on squashing her fear to fully take in his muscular torso, however, she knew he was what Mercedes would call ‘well buff'. He noticed her hovering by the waterside and motioned for her to join them. The pool was deserted apart from the four of them. Tanks and diving equipment were lined up along the side of the pool. She placed her own mask and snorkel on the side of the pool and stood on the top step leading into the shallow end. She closed her eyes, swallowed hard and thought about her safe place. There were no sharks here. It was only a swimming pool. It was filled with chlorine. There were no fish of any description, only people. She checked the water. The lights reflected in it. There was nothing untoward there. She heard the others laughing. Liam was recounting an amusing story about a fellow diver peeing on jellyfish stings. Charlie looked over at him. He smiled back. His teeth were impossibly white. He was in the water and nothing had happened to him. A few more breaths and she climbed down the steps. The water was warm. It felt surprisingly good but Charlie still felt the urge to check in the depths around. But there was nothing, just clear water. She could do this. She waded over to the small group one small step at a time.

‘You made it! Hope that wetsuit wasn't too tricky to get into. Most people struggle at first, especially with the zip at the back. It's something you get used to after a few attempts. I managed to fall over in the changing rooms at a dive shop when I bought my first suit. It wasn't a pretty sight. I was trying to get my left leg in, lost my balance and fell through the curtain into the main shop. Can you imagine it? Legs tangled up in a rubber suit, wearing nothing but a pair of M&S pants?' He laughed. Charlie thought he looked more Calvin Klein than M&S. ‘Anyway, enough stories about rubber suits. Charlie, this is Felicity and Craig. They're both doing the PADI course so they can go diving in Barbados when they go on honeymoon.'

‘How wonderful! Congratulations. Are you getting married soon?'

‘In six weeks,' replied Felicity, hanging onto her fiancé's arm. ‘We thought we'd get our licences here, then we can do our open dives over there in the warm seas, rather than a quarry or in the freezing cold seas here.'

Liam laughed, ‘Hey! You'd be surprised at the stuff you can find in a quarry. We've got perch, tyres, old cars, and shopping trolleys. You'll not see anything quite as exotic as that in Barbados. Guess it'll just be you and me at Dozzi then, Charlie. Dosthill,' he continued seeing her puzzled expression. ‘Dosthill Quarry, the UK's original national dive site and one of the prettiest inland dive sites in the UK with resident sturgeon, carp and a sunken Parcel Force van to explore.'

Felicity giggled. ‘I think I'd rather take my chances in Barbados.'

‘I'll be surprised if you find any time at all to go diving,' Liam joked and laughed.

Craig joined him. ‘I like your thinking, mate,' he said, earning a stern look from Felicity.

When Charlie had taken the online course the other night the prospect of diving hadn't seemed real but walking into the pool, smelling the chlorine, it all suddenly became much more real. She felt a bubble of anxiety rising in her chest again. She turned her attention to Liam to distract her from it.

‘Righty-ho chaps! You've read all about diving, you've taken some tests and passed them and now, you're going to get familiar with some of the equipment. I brought fins along for you, but we won't bother with those yet. First off, we're going to learn how to put on the mask correctly. You need to be able to spit and wipe for this part.'

Once masks were fitted, adjusted and removed again temporarily, Liam talked them through setting up equipment for a dive. He punctuated each task with an amusing story. Charlie found him pleasantly distracting. He showed them all how to set up their tanks and attach them to the buoyancy diving jackets. The tank was heavy but Liam supported most of its weight as they buckled up Charlie's buoyancy diving jacket. Once on, he was thorough in checking everything was secure. She was acutely aware of his hands firmly pulling the straps. She fitted her mask once more without any worries. However, the second she put the regulator into her mouth to descend into the pool as they'd been instructed to do, she found she couldn't breathe. She gripped the mouthpiece so tightly between her teeth she thought she'd chew through it. Terrified, she tried to swim over to the side of the pool. The tank made her clumsy and slow but Liam accompanied her. She saw concern in his eyes when she finally reached the poolside. She gulped for breath.

‘Look, you don't have to do this,' said Liam as she struggled to catch her breath. Her heart was battering against her ribs. ‘If you want to sit on the side and watch, go ahead. I'll help you remove your jacket. I'm not going to force you to do this.'

‘No, I'm being silly. Give me a minute,' she replied. She shut her eyes and thought about her safe place. She breathed in and made an effort to relax all her muscles. Gradually the anxiety eased.

‘I'm okay. Let's do it.'

Liam squeezed her hand. ‘If you change your mind, let me know. You won't be the first to give up at this stage.'

She swam back over to the spot with Liam and, following his lead, let air out of her jacket to descend the few feet to the bottom of the pool where she sat with the others. Craig gave her the okay sign. She returned it but a film began to play in her mind. She saw two small figures in an inflatable dinghy. Hastily, she turned the film off. She didn't want to watch it now. She needed to concentrate. She forced herself to focus on Liam. He was showing them how to recover a mask in the event it accidentally came off underwater. He did it effortlessly and then pointed at Craig. Craig removed his mask, blinked a few times, then calmly placed it back over his face, pressed his palm against the top of the mask, tilted his head back, blew hard until the water came out and repositioned the mask. He gave the okay sign to Liam. Felicity was next. She too managed to clear her mask and refit it. Charlie was dreading her turn. Liam pointed at her and instructed her to remove the mask. She breathed in and pulled the mask from her face. Almost instantly, she became blind. The water stung her eyes. A familiar sensation of panic rose in her throat. Her mind raced back to the film:
Two children in a dinghy. The sea is calm. Suddenly the dinghy rises and falls sharply. An oar falls into the sea and floats away. The dinghy is rocked again by a force in the water. Something nudges the side. One child screams and falls against the opposite side, gripping the rubber tightly. Water splashes into the face of the other child. The child splutters, then screams.

She forced the image from her mind. She needed to retrieve her mask. She wrestled with it, attempting to locate the front, struggling to slip the strong elastic over her head and finally, forcing it over her eyes and nose. Tilting her head backwards, she pressed the mask against her forehead to release it a little below her nose, and snorted air to dispel the water. The glass cleared slightly. She repeated the procedure. The mask cleared completely. Quickly, she fixed the mask tightly to her face and she breathed again. She was back in a safe place. Liam gave her the okay sign and she returned it.
Safe
, she told herself.
Safe
.

C
harlie stopped
off at her neighbour's house on her way home. Peggy came to the front door, a large towel draped over her right arm and a plastic spray bottle in her left.

‘Shower time,' she explained.

Bert was standing on the lounge door frame. He swooped down and landed on Charlie's shoulder with a loud squawk and tried to kiss her.

‘Mmm mmm,' he said.

‘No, I don't have any grapes, Bert. I've only come to see if you and Peggy would like a cake. I'm baking a batch tonight for the café.

‘Mmm mmm,' he repeated, his head bobbing up and down. Seeing there were no grapes, he flew back to the door frame where he watched them both.

‘That's very thoughtful of you, dear,' said Peggy. ‘Are you making any fruit cakes? I think we'd enjoy one of those. You must let me pay you for it though.'

‘Absolutely not. I won't accept payment at all. Well, you can let me give Bert a shower. That'd be payment enough.'

‘Done,' declared Peggy, passing the towel to Charlie. ‘Drape that over your arm. You'll get jolly wet doing this.'

‘Not a problem. I still have damp hair from my diving lesson.'

‘Oh yes, I forgot to ask. How was it?'

‘It was better than I expected. I managed to get my mask off and back on again whilst underwater. I'm doing the pool lessons with a couple of lovebirds who want to go diving on their honeymoon so I get to team up with Liam, the instructor. He's very nice.'

‘Nice?' asked Peggy, raising her eyebrows.

‘Pleasant. Professional. He's not my type. He's too young anyway.'

‘Don't discount younger men, my dear. There was a programme on television about ladies in their late seventies and eighties, who are with men of thirty or forty. You're never too old, it seems.'

Charlie pulled a face. ‘Whatever do they have in common? I can hardly manage to think of things to say to Sean at work, and he's only twenty years younger than me.'

‘They said they were in love, but I don't know. Fancy having sex with someone who is younger than your own son, when all you really want is to watch a bit of telly, drink a cocoa and have an early night!'

Charlie spluttered at Peggy's comment.

‘Come on, Bert. Go see Charlie. Charlie, spray some water into the air so he knows it's time.'

Charlie squirted a mist of water into the air. Bert paced along the door frame.

‘Shower time. Show Charlie how clever you are.'

Bert descended onto Charlie's arm and allowed her to puff water at his feathers. He held his wings up so she could get to all the feathers.

‘Upside down, Bert,' said Peggy. Bert hung upside down on Charlie's arm so she could spray under his wings. He then flew back to the door frame, shook his head and sneezed.

‘Bless you!' said Peggy. ‘Again, Bert.'

Bert flew to his bowl on his perch, grabbed some seeds then returned to Charlie's arm, moving about for her to spray him. Once more, he hung upside down and then flew off to the door frame. He cocked his head to one side.

‘Say,
thank you, Charlie,
' said Peggy as she took the towel and bottle from Charlie.

Bert cocked his head from side to side.

‘Thank you,' he repeated.

‘Good boy. Now you look handsome for Sunny.'

‘Sunny?'

‘His newest fan. She's a young cockatiel, only three years old. She's the most wonderful yellow colour. She lives in a large house in Norfolk with a male cockatiel called Sky who's almost seventeen. He's very entertaining. He can sing “If You're Happy and You Know it”,
among other songs
.
Sunny doesn't sing, just seems to screech at every opportunity. Most female cockatiels are like that. They hiss too. Her owner, Marigold, hoped Sunny and Sky would get along together, but it hasn't happened. Sky doesn't seem to like Sunny. The owner thinks it's because he's jealous. Sky's even taken to furiously pecking his perch when Sunny is near. Apart from that, he ignores her. Poor Sunny is feeling lonely.

‘Last week, Marigold was on Facebook watching the video of Bert with his comb and Sunny began making “wheep” noises, as female cockatiels do. She came and sat beside the computer and stared at Bert. When Marigold replayed the video, Sunny made the same noises, so we suspect she might be in love with Bert.

‘We're going to use Skype tonight and see if the birds hit it off. It's like a blind date. What do you think, Bert? Do you think you'll like Sunny? Say
Hello Sunny.'

Bert, fluffed his feathers. ‘Hello, hello. Shut up fool!' he said in a deep voice.

‘Now Bert. This isn't the time for B.A. Baracus. He's been watching
The A Team
with me all week. I bought a box set on DVD. He normally prefers comedies though, don't you Bert? We've got all of the
Fawlty Towers
episodes and he's partial to a little
'Allo 'Allo
. He loves Officer Crabtree. Bert, what does Officer Crabtree say?'

‘Good moaning,' said Bert on cue. He then trilled loudly like a telephone, cackled like a madman and launched into a variety of other noises.

‘Thanks for letting me give him a shower. Hope Sunny is impressed with his efforts. I'll bring the cake around in the morning.'

‘Good moaning,' called Bert and cackled again.

‘See you tomorrow then,' replied Peggy. ‘Gosh! Wait. I almost forgot. This was outside your house, in front of the door. I saw it when I was weeding. I brought it in because it looked like it might rain and I didn't want it to get wet.'

Peggy passed over a small cardboard box. It had been hand-delivered.

Back inside her own house Charlie retrieved her scissors from the kitchen drawer and slid them down the tape holding the box together. Inside, she discovered something plastic with a label attached to it. She read it.
Inflatable Perfect Man. Measures approximately fifty centimetres by nineteen centimetres by eleven centimetres when inflated
. She unfolded the plastic. It was indeed an inflatable man in a white shirt, black trousers, carrying a bunch of roses and a red heart.

She shook her head in disbelief. What a strange present. It was no doubt a joke gift from Mercedes. She would get to the bottom of it the next day when she saw her friend. Right now, she needed to bake some cakes.