Gruesome Tuesday

PART TWELVE

©2004 Tanya J. Allan

This work is fictitious, and any similarities to any persons, alive or dead, are purely coincidental. Mention is made of persons in public life only for the purposes of realism, and for that reason alone! Certain licence is taken in respect of medical procedures, terms and conditions, and the author does not claim to be the fount of all knowledge!
The author accepts the right of the individual to hold his/her (or whatever) own political, religious and social views, and there is no intention to deliberately offend anyone. If you wish to take offence, that is your problem!
This is only a story, and it may contain adult material, which may include sex and intimate descriptive details pertaining to genitalia. If this is likely to offend, then don’t read it!
Unfortunately no politicians were injured or killed in the writing of this story, and no one else was either!
If you enjoyed it, then please Email me and tell me! If you hated it, Email me and lie!
I will always welcome contact!
tanya_jaya@yahoo.co.uk
The legal stuff!

This work is the property of the author, and the author retains full copyright, in relation to printed material, whether on paper or electronically! Any adaptation of the whole or part of the material for broadcast by radio, TV, or for stage plays or film, is the right of the author unless negotiated through legal contract! Permission is granted for it to be copied and read by individuals, and for no other purpose. Any commercial use by anyone other than the author is strictly prohibited, and may only be posted to free sites with the express permission of the author!

AUTHOR’S HEALTH WARNING

Dear Reader,

Life can be a crock sometimes, so if it all right with you, I actually prefer happy endings! So, if you want the hero(ine) to have a really miserable time, READ SOMETHING ELSE!

But if you want to see good prevail, and end up with a soppy smile, then I have achieved what I set out to do!

Please enjoy! Tanya

12. Sophie’s Story.

Matt’s car drove onto the drive, and I was out of the door like a rocket! I was rather nervous, but he smiled at me in such a way that my legs turned to jelly. He opened his arms and I fell into them. We kissed for ages, until Steven started making rude noises out of his bedroom window at us.

Dad had gone to pick up his girlfriend, and so I put Matt to work getting a bar set up and getting the decorations just right! Sally went home, having been tasked with making several puddings for the party. I wasn’t too hot on puddings yet!

I was in the kitchen when Dad’s car pulled onto the drive, and I went out to meet them with Matt.

Anna looked remarkably unchanged by the years, a little older, but a strikingly attractive woman! She glanced my way and I saw her pale, as I knew that I resembled the Sophie from the play. I had long blonde hair, and my make up was the same!

We were formally introduced, and I knew she found my appearance disconcerting. There was an electricity between Dad and her, and I knew instantly that these two were destined to be together!

I took her Sophie inside, and Matt collected their luggage. I watched as Dad and Anna embraced on the drive, and saw that the chemistry was still as strong as ever. If ever two people were made for each other, it was these two!

I think I knew then that they would get married, and I told Matt where to put the cases in Dad’s room and mine.

“You told me they haven’t seen each other for years!”

“They still love each other! You watch, I’ll bet you that Dad proposes and she accepts!”

“When?”

“Right now!”

“What?” said the other Sophie.

“My Dad and your Mum have always loved each other, and I think they will get married!”

“She has been on and on about him!” she admitted.

“What did she say?”

“She said he was the most wonderful kind and gentle boy she ever knew!”

“There you are then! Oh, look! It’s raining, and they are oblivious! She is looking dazed, so he has proposed already. Now they are kissing again, and she has nodded! Well Sophie, it looks like we are to be step-sisters!”

“How can you tell?” she said, looking out of the window.

“I know my father rather better than most people should! I am going to rescue them, they are getting soaked!” I said and went to get them.

They both had glazed expressions and were oblivious to the rain. I simply kissed Anna’s cheek and congratulated her. She looked at me in amazement and allowed me to drag the pair of them out of the rain!

A little later we all sat down to lunch. I had made a lasagne, baked potatoes, with some salad. Dad poured some wine, and was disgustingly cheerful.

Anna just sat and looked dewy-eyed at Dad, and was almost in tears. But these were tears of joy after years of misery and despair. The mood was good, and Matt was a little in awe of Dad.

I cleared away the plates, and went into the kitchen. Anna followed me in.

“How did you know?” she asked.

I smiled.

“I know my Dad! He has been alone for four years, and I saw how much he loves you! He is not prepared to lose you again! Not twice! Besides, it is what I would have done!” I said, and put the dishes into the dishwasher.

“This is uncanny!” she said.

I stood up and looked at her.

“What is?”

“We have never met, and yet I could swear that I know you!”

I smiled.

“Anna, my Dad loves you so much, I feel that I know you too. My Dad and I are very close, we have had to be, after Mum dying. We have no secrets, we can’t afford them, and I have had to grow up rather faster than I should have. The boy you met all those years ago was almost exactly my age. It stands to reason that he and I share some family similarities!”

“You know that I never stopped loving him?”

“I know.”

“And that we just lost contact and made lives for ourselves?”

I nodded.

“I loved Edward, as I am sure he loved your mother. But I don’t think we ever forgot each other, nor did we stop loving each other!”

“You don’t have to explain! I know!” I said.

“You are so like the Sophie I saw all those years ago, it is really uncanny!”

I smiled.

“There is a tray of mince pies in the oven, could you take them in for me?” I asked, closing the subject.

At the end of the meal, Dad banged his glass with a knife, and a hush settled.

“I’d just like to say a big thank you to my daughter for doing such good grub, and for her personal slave, Matt for being so useful! It has been a while since this house has heard so much laughter, and it does me good to hear it again. I’d like to make an announcement, which may surprise some of you.

“About an hour and a half ago I proposed to Anna, who, despite having not seen me for twenty-five years, and much to my delight and surprise, she has agreed to be my wife! So, I’d like to propose a toast to the future Mrs Mills!”

I grinned at Matt, as we raised our glasses, and the other Sophie’s jaw hit the table. Anna looked so serene and gazed at Dad in undisguised adoration. It was like a fairy story. I just beamed at Dad, and he raised his glass in my direction.

Matt and I took Buster for a walk after lunch, and Sophie came too! She was rather unsettled, as her mother’s accepting Dad’s proposal surprised the hell out of her.

She was a nice girl, who, although only three years younger than me, was considerably less mature! Matt held my hand, and my memories of ‘our’ times together were so fresh, as made no difference! He kept squeezing my hand, and I would return the squeeze, which kept the poor soul content!

Buster adored Sophie, who threw sticks for him.

“Your Dad is a fast worker!” Matt said.

“Not really! I think he realised that as soon as he saw Anna, he knew he still loved her, and she returned the love in equal measure! I think it is logical and a super end to several years of unhappiness for two people!”

“You are so weird!” he said.

“Why?”

“You are the only sixteen year old who acts that she is thirty!”

“I’m not sixteen until February!” I reminded him, and he grinned.

“I know!” he said, and I elbowed him in the tummy.

“Don’t you even think about it! It may be legal, but I am not doing it just because I can!” I said.

He had the grace to blush and look a little guilty, and I relented a little.

“I will do it when I want to with the man who becomes my husband!” I said.

“Marry me, Sophie!”

“Bugger off, not yet!” I said, laughing.

“Does that mean later?”

“It means I will not accept any proposal yet, so don’t bother asking again, for a long time!”

He tried to tickle me, and we ended up kissing. Sophie was rather shocked, so we stopped and continued our walk. It was so strange, for it was as if I had been here all the time! I could remember every conversation ‘we’ had had, and I felt all the emotions that ‘I’ had experienced, and it was exactly as if it had been me all along!

“Sophie?”

“Yes Sophie?” I said.

“What is your school like?”

“Its okay. Better than most, I suppose! Why, will you be going there too?”

“I don’t know. I have to change if we move down here, and I don’t really want to go to a boarding school!”

“You’d like my school, it’s pretty good!”

“It will be strange having an elder sister! I have been alone for so long!”

“You will have a younger brother as well, and Steven can be an annoying little sod at times!”

“It is going to be confusing with us both called Sophie!”

“Did you have a nickname at school?” I asked.

She coloured a little,

“Yes, but I didn’t like it!”

“I don’t, so we will have to think of something else!”

“How about if we call you ‘Emmie’, for Sophie Mills, and you ‘Ellie’, for Sophie Lumley?” suggested Matt.

“Hmmm.”

I said, not entirely convinced.

“Well, combine the two, ‘Sophie Emme’ and ‘Sophie Elle’, that would do it!” said Matt, who I could tell was not certain what the fuss was about!

We arrived back to find that one of Steven’s friends had arrived, and they were busy turning the attic into a boys’ dormitory. I went to the kitchen and was busy writing a list for the planned shopping trip. Dad recruited Matt to help with various chores, and Anna came into the kitchen.

“Sophie seems to have taken a shine to you!” she said.

“Really?”

“She is normally rather wary of older girls, I think she is rather self conscious, and because of Edward’s death, she lacks some confidence!”

“I understand! Mum’s death hit me very hard! But I think dad was hit worse! I was only eleven! He needed someone to look after him, and I just got the job!”

She sat on the stool, and looked at me.

“You look so much older than sixteen!”

“I’m not sixteen until February!” I said.

“Even more so then! I still can’t get over how much like your father you are!”

“Thanks a bunch!” I said, trying to put on a deep voice, and she laughed.

“Not him now, but when he was in a play at school! His portrayal of a girl was so utterly convincing, that I was amazed! Then I saw you today, it almost made my heart stop! As you were that girl! Yet there was never anything effeminate about him, he was able to act so brilliantly! I should know, I’d never fall for anyone effeminate!”

I smiled.

“It is funny!” she continued, “as soon as I saw your father, it was as if I was back when we last met, and he looked at me in the same way. Never has anyone made me feel like this! Not even Edward, and I loved him dearly!”

I smiled, there was not much I could say.

Matt popped his head round the door.

“Your Dad wants to know whether you want to go shopping today or tomorrow!” he asked.

“Now would be better than Saturday!” I said.

“Okay, do you want me to take you?”

“If you want to!” I said, and he just grinned.

“Is there room for Sophie?”

“Of course!” he said.

Anna had Dad to herself for a while, and the three of us set of for Tescos. Matt pushed the trolley and we mingled with the millions of other people who all were doing the same as us. I met up with Caroline in the frozen food section, and she had lost her mother somewhere in the store.

“How many are coming to your party?” she asked.

“I’m not sure, I think about fifty!”

“Fifty three, at last count!” said Matt.

“How many our age?”

“Not counting Steve and his friends, about fourteen!”

“Cool! It was great to hear about your Dad! You must be thrilled, is he okay?”

“He’s fine. Oh, this is Sophie, her Mum is an old girl friend of Dad’s, and they got engaged this morning!” I said, introducing Sophie to my friend.

“Hi Sophie, hey another Sophie!” she said, and realised what else I had said. “Wow! Really? That was sudden!”

“It was when you consider they haven’t seen one another for twenty-five years, and he proposed to her within the first hour!”

“And she accepted? Shit, that’s amazing!”

Matt started making those noises than males make after prolonged exposure to supermarkets, and we moved off, and Caroline went in search of her mother.

“She’s nice!” said Sophie.

“Yeah, unfortunately most of my friends are in the lower sixth, so my last year is going to be miserable!”

“You look older than she was!”

“Such is the stress of looking after Dad!” I said, and she laughed.

We finished our shop, and had two trolleys in the end. Dad had given me sufficient cash to pay, and we loaded it into the back of Matt’s Corsa.

We drove home and Sophie seemed a lot more cheerful. I tried to imagine how stressful it would be to be uprooted and transported 500 miles just for a party with complete strangers, and end up watching your mother getting engaged to a man you’ve never met within seconds of arriving!

Anna and Dad were in his study, and I heard her laughter fill the house as soon as we walked in.

“She hasn’t laughed like that for ages!” Sophie said.

I enlisted her help to make supper, and Matt went back to setting up the bar. I decided to make a curry with all the leftovers from Christmas, and we worked well together. She reminded me of her mother, and I smiled at the strange memories I had!

“Its really horrid losing a parent, isn’t it?” I said.

“Yes, I said goodbye to Daddy after breakfast, and never saw him again!”

“My mother was ill with cancer for several months, and I watched her literally disappear and crumple day by day! It was foul, in a way I’d rather she had died instantly! She tried various treatments, and they seemed to work for a while, and then she would be as bad as before, if not worse! But I suppose it is such a sudden shock!”

“At least I knew that Daddy didn’t suffer. I just miss him so much!” she said, and I could see tears weren’t far away.

“I’m sorry, I just haven’t really been able to talk about it with anyone who knows how it feels!” I said.

“All the girls is school told me they felt sorry, but they hadn’t a clue!”

“I know, it is like having part of your body removed! And Dad was so cut up, we would just cry together! Steven was only six, and he didn’t really understand, and I suppose I was a sort of mother figure for him! It made me grow up very quickly! I was just glad that Dad was able to work from home!”

“What does he do?”

“He was a journalist with a local newspaper, and now he is freelance, and writes articles for magazines and writes novels!”

“Mummy is a teacher, but she isn’t happy where she is at the moment! She wants to change jobs at the same time as I change schools, and she hates living with the memories at home! I think it would be different if it was our own home, but it is owned by the school!”

“Wouldn’t you get preferential fees if you went there?”

“Probably, but I don’t think I would like it. It is my home as well, it would be too much!”

We had done everything, and I put the water on for the rice. I took the naan bread out of the freezer, and found the poppadums. Matt came in and wrapped his arms around me from behind, and kissed the nape of my neck. It sent shivers of pleasure up my spine. I turned round and we kissed properly for a few moments.

“Mmm, that smells good! How long?” he asked.

“About twelve minutes, so go and tell everyone to get ready, I should think Dad will want some wine opened, so ask him which one! If you want a beer, I put some in the fridge!”

He kissed me again.

“You are so wonderful, please marry me!”

“Fuck off!” I said laughing, and he pretended to be hurt as he slunk away.

“He’s nice!” Sophie said.

“He’s gorgeous, but never tell him I said so!” I said, and she laughed. I cooked the poppadums and warmed the bread in the oven.

“Doesn’t your Dad mind your boyfriend being here?”

“Dad is brilliant, and he trusts Matt implicitly, as do I! But I’m the one he should watch, because it wouldn’t take much for me to let Matt have his wicked way!”

“You wouldn’t?” she said, shocked.

I smiled.

“No, actually I wouldn’t! At least not yet!” I said, rather wistfully.

Dad and Anna came in, and they both looked so happy, I couldn’t help but grin at them. They smiled back, and Dad winked at me.

The boys descended from the attic with a good deal of noise and eventually settled at the table.

Sophie and I dished up the curry and a couple of bottles of wine were opened. The atmosphere was light and cheerful, and Matt played footsie with me for most of the meal. Anna sat about as close to Dad as she physically could, and Matt poured Sophie a glass of wine without her mother noticing.

It was one of those meals that just went on and on. I had prepared some fresh fruit, melon, peaches and pears, and just dumped it into a bowl and let everyone help themselves. Another bottle of wine was opened, and most of us, except the two young boys, got a little pickled. The boys returned to the land of the Xbox in the attic, and eventually I went and loaded up the dishwasher.

Anna was offered the spare room, and declined, as she had found her man and wasn’t going to let him go! Sophie was happy to share with me, and Matt put up the Zed-bed in Dad’s study. I got ready for bed, and went to the bathroom. Dad had a bathroom en-suite to his bedroom, and the main spare room had another bathroom, and I had one that I had to share with anyone else who was staying, and with Steven of course.

By the time I got back, Sophie was already tucked up in her bed.

She was giggling, and had not drunk wine before!

“Goodnight Sophie Elle!” I said.

“Goodnight! Sophie Emme!”

I turned the light out on a good day!

To be continued in Chapter 13

since 04/26/04