‘I can’t believe you’ve never seen Button Moon, it’s a classic,’ I insist. I’m sitting in a hospital waiting room with Megan and Sam, Nick’s sister’s kids. They’re twins, aged nine, and they’re beyond smart for their age. What they are lacking, however, is knowledge of decent kids’ TV.
‘I liked Dora the Explorer when I was little,’ Megan tells me. ‘But I’m too old for that now.’
‘I’ll never be too old for Button Moon,’ I insist. And I still have the VHS to prove it – not that I have anything I can play it on.
‘Is granddad going to be OK?’ Sam asks.
‘The doctors are taking care of him,’ I assure him. ‘You know how your Uncle Nick can fix anything? Well, the doctors here are just as good.’
‘Once I fell off our slide and Uncle Nick glued my head back together, it was so cool, and my mum says I have a scar,’ Sam brags.
‘That’s so awesome, can I see?’ I ask.
Sam offers me his head, but I can’t really spot anything. Still, I get excited.
‘Whoa, that’s so cool,’ I tell him.
‘You’re good with them, aren’t you?’ Deborah observes. I’d no idea she’d crept up on us.
‘Must be having the same mental age,’ I muse.
‘Oh, I assumed it was because you were a primary school teacher,’ she replies.
‘And there’s that.’
‘Anyway, Nick will be here soon, he can take over babysitting duties. You’re welcome to stick around, you’re family now after all. And I don’t know what I would’ve done without you watching these two.’
‘It was nothing,’ I assure her. ‘How’s your husband?’
‘He’s going to be OK,’ she assures me. ‘They’re just running a few tests.’
‘I am so pleased to hear that,’ I tell her sincerely. ‘You get back to him, I’ll watch the kids until Nick gets here.’
Deborah gives me a warm smile before heading back out into the corridor. As she passes the window around the corner, I notice her bump into Nick. She’s telling him everything that’s going on, which means I only have a few minutes to get out of here without him seeing me.
‘OK, kids, your Uncle Nick is here, so I’m going to go. But it was so nice to meet you both.’
‘See you soon,’ Sam tells me.
‘Yes,’ Megan agrees. ‘And I can’t wait until you’re my auntie, you’re cool.’
I give them both a smile and pull them in for a group hug.
‘Take care of each other,’ I tell them.
I quickly dash for the door, hovering there for a second while I make sure the coast is clear.
‘Heather has been amazing,’ I hear Deborah telling Nick. ‘Honestly, I couldn’t have coped without her. You’ve got yourself a good one there.’
I make my exit from the hospital as swiftly as possible. Once outside, I flag down a taxi that’s just dropped someone off.
‘Any chance I can get a lift to the train station ASAP?’ I ask.
‘Sure, hop in,’ the guy agrees. Within minutes, I’m on my way home.
I get out of the taxi and straight onto the train. As I get closer to Leeds, I notice how dark it’s getting.
There’s a couple sitting opposite me on the train, they’ve got to be in their late fifties/early sixties, and yet they’re kissing like teenagers.
‘We’re celebrating our wedding anniversary,’ the man tells me, his sentence interrupted with enough hiccups to confirm that they have celebrated well.
‘Congratulations,’ I reply.
‘Eight years we’ve been married,’ the lady tells me. ‘But we actually first met when we were at uni.’
‘Really?’ I reply, too polite to seem uninterested in their story. Although that is quite a long gap before they actually got together.
‘Our first year, I tried to chat her up – she rejected me,’ the man laughs. ‘And even during our second year, I saved her from a mugger – a proper Mills & Boon moment where I swept in and saved the day – still, she didn’t want to know.’
His wife laughs and squeezes his hand.
‘Your persistence paid off in the end, dear,’ she reminds him.
‘It certainly did,’ he smiles.
‘That’s lovely,’ I tell them, sincerely. ‘What have you done to celebrate?’
‘We’ve been out for dinner, maybe had a little too much to drink,’ she giggles. ‘Now we’re just heading back into Leeds, few more drinks and then home. Do you live in Leeds?’
‘I do,’ I tell her.
‘No work for me tomorrow,’ she tells me. ‘I’m a registrar. Births and deaths.’
‘I bet that’s interesting,’ I reply.
‘It is,’ she replies, her face falling slightly. ‘It can be a sad job, hearing everyone’s stories, but a joyous one too. Watching life. People coming into the world, people going out – it’s very humbling.’
I nod thoughtfully.
‘What do you do?’ she asks curiously.
‘I, erm…I work in a coffee shop,’ I lie. No point telling them I got fired this week. Telling them I work in coffee shop is less embarrassing than telling them I’m unemployed now…although that’s the first time I’ve actually been embarrassed to admit what I do. Or did. Not because there’s anything wrong with working in a coffee shop, but because I don’t love it. Because I can’t talk passionately about it like she does about her job. I do it because it’s the absolutely bare minimum I need to do to survive. Not once have I ever hoped for better for myself, up until now.
‘Well, everyone loves coffee,’ her husband replies cheerily.
The conductor makes an announcement over the train speakers: ‘We will shortly be arriving at Leeds Station, your final destination. Please remember to talk all belongings with you and thank you for travelling with us this evening.’
‘Well, it was nice to meet you,’ I tell them both as the train pulls in.
‘You too, dear. Take care,’ the lady tells me.
‘Yes, you take care of yourself,’ the man chimes in, struggling to his feet and heading for the door.
‘Have a great night,’ I call after them.
I step off the train and stroll towards the ticket barrier, the drunk couple still on my mind. They had to be in their mid-fifties at least, say they were eighteen when they met – that means it was nearly thirty years from when they met to when they finally got married. Thirty years! That’s such a long time, so much of their lives that they’ve wasted apart when they could’ve been together and as happy as they are now. I suppose you can’t look at it like that, can you? If I were in a good mood, I suppose the lesson to learn here would be patience. Because I don’t know what happened in the years between them being at uni and finally getting married, but his patience did pay off. They were meant to be together and they are now, even if it took a long time. Maybe that’s just the way things are supposed to go sometimes, que sera sera, whatever will be will be and all that.
One thing that won’t be, without a bit of help and a lot of apologising on my part, is my friendship with Millsy. He was right, I was getting too obsessed with this Nick thing, and showing him that photo really would’ve crushed him. He doesn’t deserve that at all. And Millsy has been my friend my entire life, no man is worth falling out with him over.
I stand outside the theatre for a second, scared to go in. I know that the show is supposed to start within the next two hours, but hopefully there’s time for me to have a conversation with my best friend.
Once inside the theatre, I overhear two members of box office staff talking.
‘So Emma has concussion, she’s still in hospital under observation,’ the girl says.
‘That’s awful,’ the boy adds. ‘But wasn’t she the understudy?’
‘Yeah,’ the girl replies. ‘So basically the show can’t go on.’
We have a saying in theatre, and that’s that the show must go on, so if that means stepping up to the mark, so be it.
‘Excuse me,’ I address them both. ‘I couldn’t help but overhear your problem and I think I can help,’ I tell them.
‘Well, unless you know all the lines to this play, then I don’t think you can,’ the boy laughs.
‘Not only did I play Lady Macbeth in high school, but my best friend is playing Banquo, and I’ve been helping him rehearse every day for the past couple of weeks, so, yeah, I think I can help you.’
‘Oh really?’ the boy laughs is disbelief. ‘You don’t look like a Shakespeare nut.’
‘How now, my lord! Why do you keep alone,’ I start, ‘Of sorriest fancies your companions making…’
As I deliver my lines perfectly, I watch as the boy and girl just stare at me, stunned, then impressed.
‘Let me get a message to the director,’ the boy says excitedly.
‘You do that,’ I call after him.