Sugar Secrets…& Love Read online

  “I tell you.” Cat cut in, on her high horse now. “if he was my boyfriend, I’d give it to him straight: love me, love my friends. Or get lost.”

  “Calm down. Cat!” Kerry exclaimed, a little taken aback by her friend’s tactless outburst.

  “It’s true!” said Cat defensively, twirling one of her bunches around her finger. “And I don’t know why you’re worrying, Maya. He’s the one with the problem. If it was me, I’d have it out with him. Anyway, you won’t have long to wait, either way.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “If he comes to the revue on Friday then you’ll know you were wrong. If not… well, I can’t tell you what to do, but if it was me, the guy’d be history. I think he’s got a damn cheek. He should be honoured to be allowed to hang out with guys as hip as us. I mean, come on, he can’t afford to be choosy - not at his age.”

  Maya put her hand over her mouth - then began to laugh.

  “What? What have I said?” demanded Cat.

  “Sorry, Cat.” Maya giggled. “I’m so pleased you’re here. You’ve really cheered me up!”

  She looked across at Kerry who was also having a fit of giggles and then up to the door of the café as it opened. The smile immediately fell from Maya’s face.

  “Oh no,” she hissed. “Here comes my pesky sister. I was hoping to get a few moments’ peace without having her earwigging everything I say.”

  “Don’t you like her coming in here?” Kerry frowned.

  “I don’t, actually. As far as I’m concerned, this is my space and recently Sunny’s been coming in here way too often for my liking.” Maya gave her smirking sister a terse smile as she walked past with her bunch of school friends and sat down at a table on the other side of the café. She saw Sunita whisper something to the others, who all turned to look in Maya’s direction. Sunny then said something else and the whole table fell about laughing, which irked Maya intensely.

  She watched as Anna went over to take the girls’ order.

  “We’re not ready yet!” Sunny exclaimed as Anna stood there, pencil poised over her pad. “We’ve only just walked in. Give us a bit longer, will you?”

  “Sure,” Anna said mildly, turning and catching Maya’s eye. She raised her eyebrows and padded back to the kitchen. As she was about to disappear. Sunny looked up and announced in a loud voice, “We’re ready now, waitress.” Her friends fell about laughing.

  Maya felt a wave of irritation wash over her. She was close to saying something to Sunny, but managed to stop herself. Instead, she watched as Anna made her way back through the tables and took up her position at the girls’ table once more. Sunny acted as spokesperson, ordering fries, 7-Ups and Cokes in a haughty voice.

  As Anna turned to go back into the kitchen, Sunny added in a loud voice, “And make it snappy waitress, we haven’t got all day.” Then she looked triumphantly at her sniggering mates, delighting in being the centre of attention.

  Maya bristled. How dare she speak to anyone like that, she thought, let alone Anna. It was too much to bear. She stood up and stomped over to her younger sister.

  “Who do you think you are, talking to Anna like that?” she demanded.

  “Who do you think you are talking to Anna like that?” Sunny mimicked in a high-pitched voice, once again causing shouts of raucous laughter.

  Sunny gave Maya a defiant look.

  “Watch it, Sunita,” Maya warned, her face tight with anger. “You’re this close to making me lose my temper. Don’t you ever talk to Anna in that tone again, or anyone else for that matter. Understand?”

  “Ooh, I’m scared.” Sunny crossed her arms over her chest and stared scornfully at her sister.

  “Just can it, OK?” Maya hissed, leaning forward over the table so that their faces were really close. “I mean it. You might think it’s clever to mouth off in front of your friends, but you’re wrong. It’s actually very childish. So do yourself a favour and shut up.”

  Maya turned abruptly and strode back to her table. Ignoring Sunny’s “What’s got into her?” remark, she grabbed her stuff from her seat and shot Kerry and Cat an exasperated look.

  “I’ve got to go,” she said. “If I stay any longer, I’ll regret it. I’ll see you guys soon. OK?”

  She walked out of the café and hurried to her photography class, determined not to let her antagonistic sister get to her. I’ve got more important things to worry about than her, she thought.

  Cat’s energetic outburst earlier had given Maya an idea. She made up her mind to adopt some of Cat’s directness and tackle Alex about her worries. Even though her stomach was flipping nervously at the thought.

  The classroom was deserted when she arrived at Downfield Adult Education Centre. Great, she thought, dumping her bag on one of the tables, let’s just hope Alex turns up before anyone else. I’d like to get this over and done with before I chicken out.

  She sat on a stool and focused her mind on how the forthcoming conversation might go.

  “Hi, Maya, I didn’t hear you come in.”

  Maya leapt out of her seat at the voice coming from the back of the room.

  “Alex!” she squeaked. “You scared me half to death. I didn’t realise you were here.”

  “I was in the dark room getting some stuff together for tonight. You’re here early. I’m glad.” He came towards her and, bending his lanky frame towards her, planted a kiss lightly on her lips. “I’ve been wanting to do that all day,” he added, straightening up again and smiling.

  Maya felt a cosy warmth float through her body, making the job of bringing her fears out into the open all the more difficult. She forced herself to speak. “Actually, I got here early because I wanted to have a word.”

  Alex raised his eyebrows. “Really? Nothing wrong, is there?”

  “No, not at all. Or at least…” Maya broke off as she heard the classroom door opening. They both turned round to see who it was and saw Billy standing in the doorway with a wary look on his face.

  Maya groaned inwardly, feeling as guilty as if he’d caught them kissing a few moments ago. Of all her friends, Billy’d had the most trouble accepting Maya and Alex’s relationship, partly because he’d had a crush on Maya before she started going out with Alex, but also because she knew he felt a bit weird about her seeing their tutor. Even now, Maya felt uncomfortable When the three of them were together.

  “Er, I’m not interrupting anything, am I?” Billy said uncertainly. “I can disappear for five minutes if you like.”

  “No need.” said Alex breezily. “Come right in.” He moved away from Maya and headed back towards the dark room.

  Maya began removing her stuff from her bag and sighed. The moment to talk had gone.

  CHAPTER 6

  NOT MATT AND ANNA?

  “Aren’t you finished yet? We’re gonna be late.”

  Joe leaned over the stainless-steel café counter and hollered into the kitchen beyond.

  “Yeah, yeah, nearly done,” came the reply. “I’ve just got to reload the dishwasher then I’ll be with you.”

  “Ollie, I told you I’d do that,” Anna tutted as she nipped past Joe, laden down with dirty dishes. “Will you please leave - now - Joe’s been waiting for twenty minutes. You won’t make it onstage before the pub closes at this rate. Go on - you’re driving him to a nervous breakdown!”

  Joe gulped at the thought of keeping the Thursday night crowd at the Railway Tavern waiting; of them stamping their feet and booing and throwing beer when The Loud eventually got on-stage late and a shambles, never to be invited back again…

  He pushed these thoughts from his mind and tried to keep calm.

  “Anyway, you should be grateful, at least I’ve unblocked it now,” he heard Ollie shout to Anna. “You’d have been washing dishes till midnight if I hadn’t got it working again.”

  “No, I wouldn’t, I’d have left it all for you to do in the morning.”

  “Cheers. It’s nice to know who your friends are. Here’s me breaking
my back to help you out tonight because Dot’s on a sickie.” Ollie put’ his hand to his brow and gave Anna a pained look. “And for what?” he continued. “A bunged-up dishwasher and loads of grief. I’ll remember that in future. Anyway, what time is it?”

  “Ten to nine,” shouted Joe, looking at his watch and edgily tapping his fingers on the counter.

  “Damn, we’re gonna be late!” Ollie whipped off his apron and ran to the sink to rinse the grey sludge off his hands.

  “Hallelujah! At last it’s registered,” cried Joe. “We’re on in forty minutes and all we’ve got to do is get to the pub, set up, tune up and go through the running order. It’s gonna be a disaster, I can feel it already.”

  Joe drummed the fingers of one hand on the worktop even faster and began biting the nails of the other. Even though they’d been playing a regular gig at the Railway Tavern for months, he still got nervous before going on-stage; hiccups like this only made him feel worse.

  “Sorry, mate,” Ollie said as he rushed out and joined his friend. “Angel of mercy and all that. Not that she’s grateful! he added loudly.

  “Well, I was hoping to persuade Nick to cough up for a new one,” Anna grinned, returning from the kitchen and nodding her head in the direction of the dishwasher. “It’s so leaky and useless I’d hoped it’d packed up for good. Still, so long as you don’t mind him calling you in next time we have a problem…”

  She looked innocently at Ollie, whose face now registered dismay at the consequences of his good deed. “Go on,” she laughed, “you’d better run. I’ll catch you up later.”

  “Just give it a good kicking before you leave, will you?” Ollie yelled as he and Joe left the café. “If it’s still working tomorrow I’ll take a couple of screws out. That should do the trick.”

  “The others’ll think something’s happened.” Joe fretted as they hurried down the road towards the pub.

  “They’ll be fine,” Ollie reassured him.

  “Matt’ll be mad if we don’t have time to sound-check. Mind you,” he added, relaxing a little, “not that I think The Loud is top of his priorities at the moment.”

  “What do you mean?” frowned Ollie.

  “Well, I reckon he’s been hit by the lurve-bug. Don’t you?” Joe gave his friend a meaningful look.

  Ollie stopped walking and stared at Joe. “Really? Who? I haven’t spotted any strange girls hanging around.”

  Joe felt a bit uncomfortable blurting out his observations which, after all, might be wrong. “Oh… I dunno,” he backtracked. “It’s just a funny feeling I’ve got that Matt’s got the hots for someone…”

  “What do you mean?” repeated Ollie.

  “I’m not sure. I just think there might be something going on between him and, er… someone.”

  “Really?” Ollie was intrigued. “But you’ve no idea who…?”

  Joe stared at the pavement. “Actually, don’t quote me on this but I think it might be Anna. But I’ve got nothing to prove it…”

  “Ooh, interesting! I’ll have to keep an ear to the ground for any illicit phone conversations from the café. Funny, though,” Ollie reasoned, “if you are right - talk about the people least likely to…”

  Joe chuckled. “I know. Mind you, Matt’s changed a lot. Who’d have thought he’d stop messing girls around and be faithful, like he was with Gabrielle? I guess we’ve all moved on in the last year or so.”

  Joe carried on walking again. “It’s crazy really, you’ve got Sonja in love with a bloke who lives hundreds of miles away and who happens to be Anna’s brother…”

  “Maya, who’s going out with her tutor…”

  “Cat’s dating a… a…” Joe broke off and thought carefully how he should describe Cat’s unlikely boyfriend.

  “A really unusual guy,” Ollie finished for him.

  “Right. And then there’s you and Kerry. Dating. In love. Practically married…”

  “No, we’re not!” yelped Ollie and blushed as he felt a wave of guilt wash over him. Joe was only half joking but his words hit Ollie like an army tank. He thought back a couple of days to when he was thinking of asking Kerry to marry him. It embarrassed him to think about it now, not because it was such an awful idea - it wasn’t - but because Sonja was right when she’d asked him what the hurry was. Sure, things were changing but there was no need to go overboard. He slapped his friend on the back then grabbed him playfully around the neck.

  “But you’re right,” he said, “nothing ever stays the same. Whatever happens, we’ll still be mates though, won’t we?”

  “Course we will.”

  They hurried on in silence.

  CHAPTER 7

  HIGHS AND LOWS

  “Two large buckets of popcorn and hotdogs all round please.”

  Matt gave the flame-haired woman with the nose-ring a winning smile and waited for her response. She looked from him to the crisp-laden trestle-table she was sitting behind and back again.

  “Salt and vinegar, cheese and onion or plain,” she droned.

  Matt scratched his chin and looked at his open-mouthed mates. “You mean popcorn’s off? Oh, what the heck,” he said. “I’ll push the boat out and take three bags of each.”

  She gathered up a mound of crisp packets and pushed them towards him. “£3.60,” she said without looking up.

  “Thank you so much,” Matt gushed, “and may I wish you a very profitable evening. Arrrrrgh!”

  He looked down to see Sonja’s boot grinding his trainer determinedly into the ground.

  “Son!” he yelped, his face contorted with pain.

  “Ooh, sorry, Matt,” she purred menacingly. “Is that your foot I’m standing on?”

  “I was just trying to inject a bit of life into her evening,” Matt wailed as Sonja ushered him away. “I mean, it’s not exactly buzzing in here, is it? They haven’t even got a proper bar. Reminds me of a car boot sale - only with less atmosphere.”

  He looked around the sparsely decorated reception room of the town’s community centre. There was just the one other trestle-table, heaving with giant-sized bottles of lager, beer, wine and soft drinks. It was manned by a couple of forty-something guys who looked as enthralled with their lot as the crisp woman.

  A selection of chairs was strategically placed around a few grey, round, Formica tables. Only the bold, brightly-coloured posters advertising tonight’s revue, slapped at jaunty angles along the walls, gave any clue as to what people were doing here.

  “You sure we’re in the right place and not the local prison?” continued Matt, determined not to have his ebullient mood squashed by Sonja. “Only I’m sure I’ve seen this place featured in The Bill. I wonder if Cat’s got her own cell, I mean dressing room.”

  “It’s not exactly London’s West End, is it?” Ollie mused, munching on a fistful of cheese and onion crisps. “Still, I guess the venue doesn’t matter so long as the show’s up to scratch. And we are the first people here. I’m sure it’ll get loads more atmosphere once the place has filled up. Anyway, with Cat involved, I reckon we’re all in for a blast.”

  Matt turned and let his eyes settle on Anna. She looked more amazing every time he saw her. He thought back to earlier in the day. They had arranged to meet at the railway station - it was her day off and had loved his suggestion that they go to the coast together.

  The day had been perfect. It was great to get away from Winstead. The anonymity of the coast seemed to loosen them both up. They had openly held hands as they walked down the promenade, they’d even kissed - in public, with loads of people around.

  On the way home, he remembered, Anna had turned to him and said. “Wouldn’t it be great to get away like this for a whole weekend?”

  “What, you mean like together?” Matt had asked incredulously.

  Anna had checked herself for a moment as though she’d even shocked herself. Then she’d beamed an even bigger smile at him. “Yeah. Why not? I’d love it. What do you say?”

  “Count me in,�
�� Matt had replied, delighted that she’d even contemplate the idea of spending time away with him.

  “I’ll work something out.” she’d carried on. “Sound Nick out about getting a weekend off. Then we’ll talk some more.”

  It had been the icing on the cake as far as Matt was concerned - the perfect end to a wonderful day.

  The fact that she was back to being evasive tonight didn’t worry him. He had her seal of approval; she wanted to spend more time with him. Life was great. Anna was great.

  Thinking no one was watching, Matt caught Anna’s eye and wiggled his eyebrows at her. Colouring slightly, she smiled shyly, looked away and began talking to Sonja. But the fleeting frisson between them had been spotted; Joe and Ollie exchanged knowing glances.

  “What are you two up to?” Kerry whispered in Ollie’s ear, picking up on the silent signal between her two friends.

  “Tell you later,” Ollie hissed back.

  “Oh, come on, Ol,” pressed Kerry, “tell me now.”

  “Can’t. Honest, it’s nothing important.”

  “So what exactly is this revue thing in aid of?” Matt asked as Kerry, Ollie and Joe queued to buy drinks. “I mean. I know Cat’s been going on about it, but I haven’t got the gist of it all yet.”

  Kerry pushed her glasses a bit further up the bridge of her nose, took the Diet Coke Ollie was offering and led them over to a table.

  “I probably don’t know much more than you, Matt, but I think it’s a charity thing Cat’s college has organised in conjunction with the Community Festival. It’s a sort of showcase for the students to do different sketches, cabaret, comedy stuff, that sort of thing. Cat and Vikki are in a short play that sounds quite right on.”

  “A bit different to Cinderella in the Christmas panto then?” Matt said, referring to Cat’s hugely entertaining performance a few months back. “No ‘he’s behind you’ and stuff from us tonight?”