Take a Chance on Me (29 page)

J
ake collected
Charlie from her house at seven o'clock. She had spent the afternoon being pampered at a beauty salon having the full works – a body massage, a facial and her hair had been expertly coloured and styled.

‘Spectacular,' declared Jake when he caught sight of her. The new scarlet red dress was eye-catching and fitted perfectly over her curves adding a sexual allure to her figure. It suited her complexion and together with her ash-blonde wavy hair that framed her face, made her look much younger than forty. He took her hand and led her into the kitchen, a broad grin on his face.

‘You might want to take a peek at your birthday present before we go out.' He passed a small box to her. ‘Happy birthday, Charlie.' He kissed her tenderly, lingering for a moment after he pulled his lips away. ‘Better open it now or we'll probably not make it to the party,' he said, leaning in for another kiss. This time it was deeper.

Charlie pulled away from the embrace, her face slightly flushed. ‘I'm game. Fancy being late?'

‘More than anything. However, I promised Mercedes that I'd make sure you got there bang on seven-thirty, so open your present and don't worry about the frustrated old guy standing beside you.'

She thanked him, ripped open the gold wrapping paper and lifted the lid on a velvet box. Inside was a pair of diamond drop earrings. She gasped. ‘These are too much. Oh Jake, you shouldn't have.'

‘You deserve more than diamonds but the assistant in the jewellers insisted they were the right gift.'

‘They're utterly fabulous. Oh Jake, I love them. They're so stylish.' She held them up to her ears.

‘And they suit you. You look like a glamorous Hollywood film star.'

She giggled. ‘Today's a bit of an exception. I normally look like a tea lady.' He shook his head in despair and smiled at her with affection. She shook back her hair and slipped the earrings in place, pausing to admire them in the mirror propped up against the wall. ‘Beautiful. I don't know how to thank you.'

‘You don't?' scoffed Jake. ‘I'll remind you how later tonight.'

She hugged him and they kissed again.

‘Right, birthday girl, let's get you to your party.'

S
winfen Hall car
park was full when they arrived. There was, however, one place left vacant in front of the magnificent building. A large hand-written sign marked the space:
Reserved for Ms Charlie Blundell VIP.

Jake opened the passenger door for her and they entered the hotel arm in arm. Mercedes had booked a function room for the event. It was enormous. Tables and chairs for groups of ten were set up around the room. To one side, a buffet had been set out. Helium-filled balloons bearing the number forty rose from tables.
Happy Birthday
confetti was scattered around the centre of each table. There was a long bar, currently swamped by people ordering drinks, and a dance floor. A DJ was playing music at a low volume and disco lights flickered colours across the floor. The room was buzzing. As Charlie entered, the noise abated.

Someone shouted, ‘She's here.' A silence fell over the hall then a voice began ‘Happy birthday to you…' others picked it up and the entire room sang in unison. Cheers rang out.

‘I am completely overwhelmed,' said Charlie.

‘Save the speeches for later,' yelled Mercedes. ‘It's party time!' The DJ began the party in earnest. Dance music filled the room and guests leapt to the dance floor or crowded around Charlie to wish her a happy birthday. She thought there were over one hundred people. All her colleagues from City Hospital Radio had turned up, as had several of the nurses she knew and Tina from the coffee shop. Peggy and Gordon were also there, sat together with others that Charlie recognised as ex-patients from the hospital. She made her way over to them.

‘Bert wanted to come too but we bribed him to stay at home by leaving him some crackers to eat,' Peggy explained.

‘I'll look forward to having him stay again in a few weeks' time. Guess we'll be partying again when you get married.'

‘Of course we shall. It won't be as big an event as this, but it'll be a good enough shindig.'

In one corner stood Susannah with her husband Dave, an amiable man who wore a permanent smile on his face and seemed determined to keep his hand on Susannah's backside. They were in conversation with Marcia who had brought along her boyfriend, Mitch, a beefy rugby player from Cardiff. Jasmine was also visible, dancing with an athletic man who was later introduced as her husband, Robin, an ex-ice skating champion who now judged ice skating competitions all over the world. Art, Patricia and several of her favourite customers who frequented the café had also turned up to celebrate her birthday. Art started on the buffet ahead of the others while Patricia was occupied talking. He waved at Charlie, gave her a thumbs up for the food, piled his plate high with vol-au-vents and went to hide in another room to scoff them.

Charlie was dragged on to the dance floor by a group of female patients she had befriended at the hospital, including Fatima. She wanted Charlie to show off her belly dancing moves. Charlie refused but Susannah took up the challenge, much to the delight of Fatima's sons.

A couple of hours later, the buffet was demolished, the birthday cake had been cut and distributed but the drinks continued to flow. The atmosphere was most convivial. The dance floor was full to brimming, with some people dancing beside the tables, and Marcia dancing on top of one.

As ‘The Time Warp' finished, Mercedes picked up the microphone. ‘Ladies and gentlemen, thank you all for coming tonight. If you wouldn't mind returning to your chairs for a moment, I'd like to seize this opportunity to say a few words.'

The guests drifted back to their seats and Mercedes continued, ‘As you know, we're here because it's Charlie's birthday. An important milestone of a birthday.' She paused for a second. ‘However, we're also here for another reason, one you may not know. At the beginning of the year, Charlie and I wrote out a few bucket list challenges. Or Carpe Diem challenges, as we called them. Neither of us are getting any younger and it seemed fitting to try and do things that we'd put off. Charlie was, well, not to put too fine a point on it, drunk. Actually, she was completely wasted.' There were laughs from the crowd. ‘Given the state she was in and because I'd also consumed more than my fair share of alcohol, I decided we should swap lists. I still don't know why I came up with that idea.'

‘Because you're a minx!' yelled one of the nurses.

Mercedes nodded. ‘That'll be why.' She continued, ‘So, as a consequence, Charlie got to do all my exciting challenges, sampled bush tucker cuisine, rode a roller coaster while playing a kazoo and went zip-lining and I got to do Charlie's choices, which meant I had to learn to cook and knit!' She yawned in an exaggerated fashion and earned some more laughter. ‘No, to be serious for a moment, they weren't dull challenges. Let me explain. Charlie's choices weren't centred around herself. Mine were. I wanted to have a go at adrenaline-filled experiences and out-of-the-ordinary activities. Charlie's involved doing something for others. She decided she would learn to knit. Not just knit. She wanted to knit a garment that would appear in a charity fashion show. I have to admit, here, that I was the person who decided that the garment would be a onesie,' she smirked. ‘As we know, Charlie's an ace cake-maker and loves cooking. She wanted to be a contestant on the television show
Nosh for Dosh
, but she wasn't after the fame. It says on her list, and I have it here: “Be selected for TV show
Nosh For Dosh
and win the prize, then buy everyone lottery tickets with the prize money. Let's all have a shot at winning.”' Mercedes halted and looked towards Ryan.

‘So, Ryan and I took the prize money to the local shop and bought everyone in this room five lucky dip lottery tickets. They're in envelopes under your chairs. So, if you'd like to feel under your chair now, there should be an envelope stuck to it. Pull it off and you'll find a lottery ticket inside it.' People rummaged about under their seats and removed the envelopes. A couple of people stood up, turned over their chairs and tugged at the envelopes secured by thick pieces of sellotape.

‘Blame Ryan,' shouted Mercedes, laughing. ‘He didn't want any of the envelopes to fall off and spoil the surprise so he taped some up with extra sticky tape. I think it's what they use at crime scenes.' There were guffaws and chuckles. ‘I would just like to add that the local newsagent is extremely grateful for your business and gave me a free chocolate bar to keep me quiet, while he attempted to churn out all these tickets. I think he had a lie-down after he'd finished. Even his machine went slow towards the end!'

‘Don't forget to check your tickets later. They're for tonight's draw. Okay, just to sum up. I think Charlie had some fun experiences by doing my list and thanks to some of them, she managed to raise almost five thousand pounds for City Hospital Radio, which is a heck of an achievement. See, she even managed to turn my list into one that helped other people. She's a wonderful woman. I know you all agree with me. I'd like to thank her for being such a good friend, to us all. I'd also like to thank her on a personal level. Thanks to her list, I can now cook and I enjoy it.'

‘I enjoy it more,' shouted Ryan.

‘I've taken up knitting professionally and have started a new business selling knitwear for dogs, called Ruffwear, so if you want a new coat, or onesie, for your woofer then contact me. Sorry, I had to get the plug in,' she added.

‘The challenges also taught me to relax. Knitting is incredibly therapeutic and lowers blood pressure, heart rate and so on. Who'd have thought it? Well, that has had other benefits. Ones I couldn't have imagined possible.' She looked over at Charlie who clamped her hand to her mouth. Mercedes gave an imperceptible nod. ‘So, Charlie, thank you again and happy birthday.'

The crowd applauded. They gave three cheers.

‘Speech, Charlie!' yelled Art.

Charlie stood up, walked to the front and gave Mercedes a hearty hug before taking the microphone from her. ‘I'm not very good at speeches,' she began. ‘So I'll keep this brief and promise I won't tell you any jokes. I am completely overwhelmed by the whole evening. Thank you all for being here and sharing my birthday with me. I am so fortunate to know you all. A huge thank you to Mercedes and Ryan for organising this event. I don't know where I would have been without you guys. As you know, it's been a tough few years for me but thanks to Mercedes and having done those challenges she set me, I've started to live life again. And because of the challenges, I met some incredible people, new friends and the love of my life, Jake Meredith.' She paused to blow him a kiss. ‘Then there's Art and Patricia who have given me more than friendship. I've enjoyed baking for them and I really enjoy working at their café. And I must mention Peggy who's been like a mother to me and of course there's Bert who is my absolute hero. Finally, thanks to all my friends and colleagues at City especially all of those who work on the radio. I love you all. I'm so sorry I couldn't do more to save the hospital radio station.' There was a pause. ‘Anyway, thank you everyone and that's all from me. I hope you enjoy the rest of the evening.'

The room filled with applause and cheers then after a while, the music started up again. The DJ was playing ‘Lady in Red'
.
Jake took her hand and guided her to the dance floor where they glided together lost in their own private world. She nuzzled into his neck as he held her gently. Charlie had never felt happier.

Jake pulled back and looked into her eyes. ‘I love you, Charlie Blundell,' he whispered.

‘I love you too, Jake Meredith,' she replied. She'd known for ages she loved him but this was the first time she had spoken the words.

‘Come on,' he said, taking her again by the hand. He eased them through the dancing crowd and outside. It was warm and the stars shone out from a midnight-blue sky.

‘Whenever I look at the stars, I'm reminded how small and insignificant we all are,' Charlie said.

‘In the great scheme of things, I suppose we are microscopic and unimportant, but it's the here and now that counts. And some people are far more significant in our lives than others. I hope you'll decide to play a major part in my life, Charlie Blundell.'

Mercedes interrupted them. Ryan accompanied her, carrying a bottle of champagne and four glasses.

‘Well?' said Charlie, grasping her friend's hands in hers. ‘Am I right in assuming that you and Ryan are going to be parents?'

Mercedes nodded, eyes shining with excitement. Ryan handed the glasses to Jake and opened the bottle.

‘I thought so. It wasn't just what you said tonight. You've been positively glowing for a fortnight. I had a feeling that might be the reason.'

‘See, good friends work on a telepathic level. I wanted to tell you, but I didn't dare until it was confirmed. You're the first to know. Apart from my beloved inspector, naturally.'

‘Oh Mercedes. I can't tell you how thrilled I am for you.'

‘The consultant was right. I was too worked up. I needed to unwind and stop thinking about getting pregnant. You know me. I want things now and I get frustrated when I can't have them. Your challenges were just what I needed. I forgot about my disability and learned to relax and it just happened,' she said, rubbing her still flat stomach. ‘I'll soon have a proper challenge on my hands and won't yearn to do daft, extraordinary activities to test myself. Having a child and bringing it up will be enough.'

Ryan filled the glasses.

‘To Charlie,' said Mercedes.

‘No, to you both and to the new life. It's going to be the luckiest child in the world to have you two as its parents.' She pushed thoughts of Amy to the back of her mind. This was not the time to mourn. It was the time to celebrate new life.