Heart & Soul
Episode 18
By Allan
Craig
Café Piazza
Carrie and Jessica sat in their usual space; the two large
comfortable armchairs in a secluded corner of the busy coffee shop.
“You’re
serious? She just threw Diane out? I don’t believe it.” Jessica nearly choked
on her coffee.
“I
know, when Megan told me I nearly had a heart attack. Greg doesn’t know what to
think.”
“What
do you mean?”
“Well
on one hand he’s glad we can be alone without Diane popping in all the time,
but on the other hand he feels kinda bad that we’re
still staying there when Jackie threw Diane out.” Carrie explained, clearly
delighted to be rid of Diane.
Greg and Diane sat on one of the hard wooden benches sipping
coffee out of paper cups.
“Where
did you stay last night?” asked Greg.
“Pamela
let me sleep on her couch. But I can’t stay there for long. It’s not fair on
her.”
“Of
course, I’ll pay for a hotel room for you until you can find a place. Something
more permanent.” Greg took his wallet out.
“No. I can’t ask you for that. I phoned an old friend of mine, Danielle Carver.
She lives in
“And?”
“Well, I want to go and stay with her for a while. I have a savings fund that
Jackie could be monitoring. If I go to
“No problem. Just promise you’ll come back.
“Promise.”
Wesley drove through the streets of Oakridge. A bunch of flowers
he had bought for Alex lay on the passenger seat.
Alexandra, Matt and Ashley sat in the living room.
“You
never told me you were engaged, mom.” Ashley played with one of the throw
cushions on her armchair.
“I
was going to today, when we were out. I just couldn’t find the right moment.
But when I got back here, and Matt was waiting, I knew it was the right time to
tell you.” Alex explained.
“Yeah, but would you have told me if Matt hadn't turned up today?”
Alex
looked down and cleared her throat.
“Thought so. I can’t believe you. You come back here after years without so
much as a phone call and then you spring this on us.” Ashley stood up.
“It’s
not her fault.” Matt interrupted.
“Keep
out of this. It’s between me and that woman who calls herself my mother.”
The
front door opened and Wesley walked in.
“What’s
going on here?” he asked.
“Do
you wanna tell him or will I?” Ashley folded her
arms, raising an eyebrow whilst staring at her mother.
“Tell
me what?” a puzzled Wesley looked at his ex-wife before looking at his
daughter.
“This
is Matt,” Alex began, “My fiancée.”
Gillian and Anna got into Nathan’s car.
“Thanks
so much for giving us a ride to the airport.” Gillian slid into the back seat,
talking to Nathan’s reflection in the mirror.
“No
problem. I’m gonna miss you, you know that, don’t you?”
Gillian smiled, nodding.
Anna
closed the door.
“Ready
to go?” Anna fastened her seat-belt.
Nathan
started the engine and driving off.
Carrie
sat leafing through a magazine as Greg walked in.
“Hi sweetie.” Carrie smiled, kissing her husband on the cheek.
“Hey,”
a solemn Greg sat down next to his wife, “Have a good day?”
“What’s
wrong?”
“It’s
my mom. She’s just left town.”
Carrie’s
eyes lit up, “What, how come?” Carrie did her best to hid her extreme happiness
from Greg, but she couldn’t conceal her smirk.
“My aunt Jackie. You know how she’s back?”
“Right…”
“Well, my dad signed everything over to her. The house, the business, the
money, everything. She threw my mom out, and my mom has nothing of her own. I loaned
her the money for a ticket, and she’s off.”
“For good?” Carrie eagerly waited Greg’s answer, hopeful that Diane would be
out of her life for good.
“I don’t
know, Carrie, I don’t know.”
Nathan walked across the parking lot to his car and he got in.
Gillian was gone now, it was too late for him. He put the key in the ignition
and drove off, steering through the vast parking lot and out onto the highway. It
was raining pretty heavily, and night was beginning to fall. A flash of
lightning distracted Nathan for a second and he squinted his eyes to find his
turn-off. When he reached it, he turned on the indicator and drove off the busy
highway. The rumbling thunder could be heard as Nathan drove through the
tree-lined road, edging closer to his neighbourhood. Another
flash of lightning frightened Nathan, and he failed to spot the deer in front
of him, he swerved to miss it and lost control of the car.
Nathan’s
life flashed in front of his eyes as his car crashed into a tree.
“I called my mom today,” Gina walks into the living room,
occasionally illuminated by the flashes of lightning.
“Oh
yeah?” Ben looks over from the TV.
“Yeah.
She’s gonna come for a visit for a little while, help
me sort out the wedding.”
“Wedding? Gina we’ve been engaged for 2 weeks.”
“Yeah I know, but I want the perfect wedding. It’s gonna
take months to plan.” Gina sat down next to Ben, nestling her face into his
chest.
“And
how much is this gonna cost me?”
“Not a penny, my mom’s paying for it all. Husband number 3 left her a fortune
when he died.”
“You never told me I was marrying money.” Ben joked, kissing Gina’s forehead.
“Just
because I’m a rich woman’s daughter, it doesn’t make me rich. Besides, my mom’s
been through 5 husbands. 3 of them died, including my dad, one of them walked
out, and her current husband, well, lets just say that he wont be joining my
mom when she comes.” Gina snuggled in closer, her face rubbing against the
woolen sweater Ben was wearing.
“I
think we should at least get to know each other’s names first.”
“No,
it’s a cocktail,” Megan rolled her eyes, the barman’s attempt at a joke did not
amuse her.
“Coming
right up,” the barman walked off.
“Megan
Sterling. It’s been a while,” a voice came from behind Megan. She turned around, standing in front of her was
Will.
“Will! It’s so good to see you!” Megan got up from her seat and hugged her old
friend, “Still wearing the same after-shave I see?”
“Yeah well, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” Will
sat down, as did Megan, “So, how long are you back for?”
“I don’t
know, a while I suppose. So, what have I missed? Anything exciting happen while
I’ve been away?”
“Not
much.”
“Do you have a girl in your life?”
“Nope,
still pining over you.” Will joked.
“That
was years ago,” Megan took the drink from the bartender and handed him a 10
dollar bill, “We were way too young.”
“Yeah, but we loved each other, didn’t we?” Will leaned in closer.
“We
did, didn’t we?”
Jessica sat fumbling with the straps of her purse as she waited
impatiently for the doctor. The door opened and the well polished female
entered the room holding a paper file in her hand.
"Miss
Monroe, what I have is good, or bad, depending on what your view is," the
doctor said as she sat down behind her desk.
"I
don’t understand," Jessica sat up.
"You’re
not pregnant, it was a false alarm. It was simply a, a hiccup in your menstrual
cycle."
Jessica
sighed with relief.
“Fiancée?” Wesley sat down, his legs turning to jelly.
“Matt
Newman, good to meet you.” Matt extended his arm for a handshake. Wesley responded
by shaking Matt’s hand.
“Wesley
Abbot.”
“Ashley,
why don’t you take Matt out back, show him around?” Alex suggested, hoping she
and Wesley could be alone.
“Sure,”
Ashley walked towards the back door, followed by Matt.
Once
the back door closed, Alex turned to Wesley.
“You
never told me you had a fiancée.”
“You
never asked,” Alex took a sip of her coffee, “It doesn’t change anything.”
“Yeah,
it doesn’t.” Wesley’s thoughts turned to the flowers he had bought Alex. He looked
up, taking a deep breath.
TO BE
CONTINUED…