‘Who’s that?’ said Benny.
‘I don’t know. I’m not expecting anyone.’
He took a step back. ‘God, I hope it’s not Ingrid.’
‘Why? Did you tell her you were coming over?’
‘No. But she wanted to know if I was seeing someone, and she definitely wasn’t happy about me letting you come into our garden. It won’t be her, though.’ Belatedly, he remembered. ‘She’s in Vienna.’
DDDRRRINGGGGG.
Chapter 35
Rosa said, ‘OK, no one knows you’re here. I’ll answer the door and get rid of them.’
‘Where can I go? What if they want to come inside?’
She thought fast. ‘Upstairs. Wait in Red’s room. And don’t worry, I’m not letting anyone into the house. They’ll be gone in two minutes.’
Someone began hammering on the front door. A vaguely familiar voice shouted, ‘Hello? Are you there? Can you answer the door please? Hellooo!’
Alarmed, Benny hastened up the stairs. Rosa went to see who was making all the racket. At least the voice didn’t belong to Ingrid.
Once he was safely ensconced in Red’s bedroom, she opened the front door and got the shock of her life.
‘Yes, she’s in! Phew, I was starting to panic for a minute! Rosa Gallagher? You’re Rosa, yeah? Hello, and please don’t swear, you’re live on Every Morning!’
The unexpected visitor on the doorstep was blonde and curvy, and crazily vivacious. She was also clutching a microphone and flanked by two men wielding television cameras. Rosa had watched Every Morning often enough to recognise her from the daily show, during which she was regularly sent out to surprise members of the public in their own homes.
Even as she struggled to take in what was happening, the woman, whose name was Carol and who was wearing epic quantities of perfume, was squeezing past her whilst shouting, ‘Can we come in, Rosa? Is this your living room? Ooh, look at that mural on the wall, isn’t that fantastic? Now, face this way so the viewers can see you. We’re here because we’ve got a big surprise for you!’
Her home had been invaded and both cameras were focused on her. Carol’s voice was so loud that even from upstairs Benny must be able to hear everything. Baffled, Rosa said, ‘I think there’s been a mistake. I haven’t entered any competitions so I can’t have won anything.’
‘Oh bless ya, my darling! You might not have entered anything but you’ve still won! You were nominated for our Lovely Person award and you’re today’s winner! So what d’you have to say to that, my darling?’
Rosa blinked. ‘Um . . . I’m not lovely, though.’
Carol let out an ear-splitting shriek of laughter. ‘Oh my, you’re hilarious! Never mind, here’s a little reminder . . . Chuck it over here, Bob!’
Another assistant appeared from behind one of the cameramen and tossed something through the air, to be dropped and hastily scooped up by Carol. ‘Whoops, butterfingers! What’s this, Rosa?’
The situation was becoming more surreal by the minute. ‘It’s . . . um, a doll.’
‘And you made this beautiful doll, didn’t you? Because a lady called Pamela wrote to you, desperate for a doll that looked like her precious granddaughter!’
Rosa found herself zoning out as Carol went on to explain to the viewers at home what had happened. She held up a photograph of Pamela and little Maisie, keeping her other arm draped around Rosa’s shoulders. While she was talking, Rosa heard the front door being pushed further open. The next moment, Red appeared in the increasingly crowded living room. He looked at Rosa and mouthed, ‘What’s going on?’
‘Hello, hello, come on in, the more the merrier!’ Racing across to shake him by the hand, Carol bellowed, ‘You must be Rosa’s husband! I’m Carol from Every Morning! And we’re here to give your wife a Lovely Person award!’
The cameras zoomed in on Red, who said, ‘I’m not her husband.’
Cue another screech of laughter from Carol. ‘Well in that case, can I have your phone number? I must say, babe, I bet you were quite the looker back in the day . . . in fact you’re not so bad now! What’s your name?’
Watching TV in Derby whilst she vacuumed her living room carpet, a woman called Christine, who’d never quite got him out of her system, did a double-take and exclaimed, ‘It’s Red!’
In Marbella Old Town, almost dropping her glass of fresh orange juice, Didi’s mother Maura laughed out loud. ‘This is hysterical, look at his face! Oh, but he’s so thin . . .’
In a flat close to Gloucester docks, a prison officer called Maeve turned to her sister and said, ‘Bloody hell, that’s Red Mason, remember him? Had a fling with Paula the week after getting out on bail! God, he looks ill.’
And lying in bed in his caravan overlooking Perranporth beach in north Cornwall, Big Gav almost dropped his can of Stella on his hairy bare chest at the sight of his old mate Red. Fucking hell, though, the poor sod was looking rough; skinny, drawn and like death warmed up. Not that it was stopping that bloody screaming creature on the telly from batting her eyelashes at him. Then again, what was new? Red had been a magnet for women his whole life, so why would they stop now?
All over the country – and in some cases outside it – people recognised Red Mason for a variety of reasons. He was one of those people who, once known, wasn’t easily forgotten.
Back in the living room of Frog Cottage, Red was extricating himself from Carol’s enthusiastic grasp. Politely he said, ‘Sorry, I came home because I need to get some rest.’ Excusing himself, he left the room and made his way carefully up the narrow staircase.
Upstairs in Red’s bedroom, Benny had been watching the shenanigans going on downstairs on the small TV perched on top of the chest of drawers. Hearing Red’s approaching footsteps, he briefly considered rolling off the bed and sliding out of sight beneath it.
But no, he wouldn’t do that. The current situation might be pretty bizarre, but the first hurdle had been cleared.
The bedroom door opened and Red appeared. Having taken in Benny’s presence, he calmly closed the door behind him. ‘Well, this is unexpected. Have you come here to seduce me?’
Benny gave a snort of quiet laughter. Feeling suddenly brave, he said, ‘I came here to seduce Rosa. But we kind of got interrupted.’ He gestured to the television, where the show was heading into an ad break. ‘When they rang the doorbell, we didn’t know who it was.’
Red’s eyes widened. ‘How much did they interrupt?’
‘We were dancing in the kitchen. I was about to kiss her.’
‘Oh well, at least they didn’t interrupt you mid-shag. Still, good on you.’ He gestured for Benny to budge up so he could join him on the bed. ‘She’s a fabulous lady. How she hasn’t already been snapped up is beyond me.’
‘It’s taken her a while to get over losing Joe.’
‘But now she’s ready to give things another go. You’re a lucky guy.’
In a burst of honesty, Benny said, ‘I was worried you might be the one to snap her up.’
‘Me?’ Red laughed, coughed and clutched his chest until he was able to speak again. ‘In the state I’m in? I’ve got as much chance of seeing Christmas as your average turkey. I’m on my way out, whether I like it or not. If I hadn’t been,’ he added drily, ‘maybe you’d have had some competition. But as things stand . . . well, I’m out of the running. What’s going on downstairs anyway?’