Regan nodded her glum face. ‘I really like him. It’s so sad.’
‘If it’s true,’ said Cleo, waving away Regan’s protest before it came. ‘Where are you?’ Cleo leaned in closer to the screen.
‘Coffee shop disabled toilet.’
‘That’s a relief – I thought you were going to say you’d moved already and it was your new place.’
Cleo was a bit too close to the mark with her guesswork and it made Regan jolt herself upright. ‘Shitting hell!’ yelped Regan, dropping the phone and scoring a direct hit in the toilet bowl.
Regan trudged out of the toilet with her phone wrapped in so much toilet roll it looked like she’d mummified it.
‘You okay?’ asked a harassed-looking Penny.
Regan shook her head. ‘Not really.’
Penny glanced at the queue and then at the clock. ‘I’m rushed off my feet. Kasia has strained her Achilles. But when I’ve cleared this lot we can have a natter if you want?’
Regan nodded miserably. ‘I can give you a hand if you like?’ She’d been coming there every day for the last three years so she knew her way around the coffee menu. She’d not worked a coffee machine since her days at the restaurant where she’d met Cleo all those years ago, but coffee was coffee and not much had changed.
Penny looked like she was going to kiss her. ‘Actually, that’d be great. Thanks.’
Regan grabbed an apron, more so she looked the part than to protect her clothes, and got to work. Penny shouted the orders and Regan soon found her way around the small area. She frothed and sprinkled until Penny declared the shop was closed. ‘What can I get you?’ asked Regan, with a mug in her hand.
‘Coconut flat white, please,’ said Penny, flopping into the nearest chair.
Regan quickly made their drinks and ferried them over. ‘Here you go.’ She’d made herself a large latte. She figured she’d earned it and she wasn’t sure what was for dinner tonight.
‘You’re a star,’ said Penny, appraising Regan. ‘Not seen you for a few days. Holiday?’
‘Nope. I quit my job.’ Regan hoped she didn’t ask any further questions.
‘I don’t suppose you want one here?’ She said it through a laugh as if expecting Regan to dismiss it.
Regan jolted upright. ‘Yeah. I’d love to work here.’
‘Really?’ Penny was frowning hard.
‘Unless you were joking … then this is kinda awkward.’ She hoped she wasn’t joking.
‘No. The job’s real all right. But weren’t you something in pharmaceuticals?’
Regan puffed out a sigh. ‘It’s a long story …’ When she’d got to the end, Penny was looking suitably stunned.
‘My God. That’s awful.’
Regan shrugged one shoulder and lifted her large coffee to her lips. She paused. ‘Do I get the job?’
‘Definitely. As long as you don’t mind that it’s only until Kasia is back on her feet. Doctor says at least four weeks for a strained Achilles.’
‘Excellent,’ said Regan, and then realised that for Kasia it wasn’t. ‘Sorry. I’m just pleased to get a job.’
Penny waved her faux pas away. ‘It explains why you looked so glum earlier.’
‘Ah … that’s a whole other long story with a very much sadder ending.’ Penny hugged her mug, enthralled.
It was actually nice to be able to talk to someone. Being alone in the studio had made her realise how much she needed other people. She understood now why old people went to the supermarket just to get human contact.
Regan relayed Charlie’s situation and was pleased with how she kept it together at the end without triggering the waterworks. Repeating it to someone else made it seem even more real.
They sat in silence for a while. Penny appeared shell-shocked.
Eventually she spoke. ‘There’s a big guy comes in here. He’s a firefighter. Talks nonstop and I rarely tune in. But a while ago he told me about a colleague who’d been diagnosed with a brain tumour. I remember it because I thought how unfair it was for them to get something like that when they risk so much for other people. Must have been Charlie he was talking about.’
Penny had described Beanstalk. So it’s true, thought Regan, although she hadn’t doubted Charlie for a second. A dark cloud was settling above her and she feared it would be a very long time before it moved on. Oddly, she would have been happier if Charlie had been peddling her a line – because even though it would have made him a lowlife at least he wouldn’t be facing a death sentence.
Regan felt like she was being twisted inside. Part of her was thrilled to have a job, but the rest of her was tormented by Charlie’s news. She had been beyond frugal since she’d left Jarvis, thanks mainly to the terror of realising the few quid she had in her bank account was all she had in the world. She wanted to celebrate her new job with a couple of beers, but she questioned if she should. Somehow it didn’t feel right to be celebrating after hearing Charlie’s revelation.
Regan had no plans for the rest of her day off. There was nothing and nobody waiting for her back at the studio, so she set off on a mammoth walking tour of Brighton. She strode past the pier and the distant joyful cries of children on the rides, along the seafront, dodging slow walkers and dog leads. The sea air whipped her hair into her eyes, so she left the sea front and walked through the splendour of Regency Square. She loved the white-fronted townhouses that flanked the once private gardens; she liked to imagine what it must have been like to live there when they were first built. Today, though, she couldn’t think about anything except Charlie. She put her head down and marched on.
She trundled through The Lanes. The quirky little shops and narrow alleyways were like something out of a fairy tale. It was somewhere that usually cheered her up, but today Regan wanted to scream at the happy people walking past her. She’d never really noticed the smiles, the laughter and the carefree tones in voices before, but she noticed now. There were miserable faces too. People who had likely spent their whole lives being miserable. Why wasn’t it one of them with a tumour and not Charlie? She felt awful for thinking it but she couldn’t help it. What was happening to Charlie seemed so unfair. She really liked him. Who was she kidding? Her feelings were already further up the scale than ‘like’. If she was honest, some of her sadness was at what she was potentially losing. She’d seen something special in Charlie from the start and their relationship had built so quickly. What if he was The One?
She plodded on, her mind elsewhere, until she reached the market. The smell and sounds of the place always took her mind off things, but today would be a big test. Stallholders were laughing and joking with each other as they packed up for the day. She walked past the bins and today’s unwanted fruit and veg – onions, cabbages and nectarines were the unpopular choices this time. She kicked at a cabbage to release her frustration but missed and almost fell on her backside. She was angry at everything and everyone, but mainly at the unfairness of life and the indifference with which tragedy struck.
Regan stopped near the cash machine and kicked at the wall. The pain shot up her toe and she hopped away swearing under her breath. A loud woof caught her off guard. Elvis bounded over and hastily sat in front of her looking up expectantly. Despite everything, it made her smile.