Sugar Secrets…& Love Read online

  There was no answer. Maya knocked again then opened the door and stood in the doorway. The bedroom window was wide open and, sitting on the bed underneath, engrossed in a magazine was Sunny. In her hand was a cigarette, from which a long blue trail of smoke curled up and out the window, where it dispersed into the fresh air beyond.

  CHAPTER 17

  A TIME TO FUME

  “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

  Sunny leapt into the air, sending her magazine shooting off the bed and on to the floor, and threw her half-smoked cigarette out of the window. Not daring to quite look her elder sister in the eye, she quickly regained her composure, nonchalantly bent down to pick up the magazine and spat, “Can’t you knock before you come into my room?”

  Maya stormed over to the CD player and flicked the volume down to zero. “I did. You had this on so loud you couldn’t hear me.” She turned to Sunny and waited for her to speak.

  Sunny opened the magazine and stared intently at its pages.

  “Well?” Maya demanded when it was obvious her sister wasn’t going to say anything.

  “What?” The tone was petulant.

  “Don’t mess me around. Sunny, I saw you with that cigarette.” Maya tried to contain the anger that was bubbling up inside her. She wasn’t violent by nature, but knew she could quite cheerfully slap her sister at any moment if she carried on like this.

  Sunny raised her head and gave Maya a thinly disguised look of hatred. “No, you didn’t,” came the indignant reply.

  “For Gods sake, Sunny, I’m not an idiot. Or blind. And I can still smell it, for all your attempts to disguise it by keeping the window wide open, so don’t try and deny it. How long have you been smoking?”

  “Dunno what you’re on about.”

  “That’s what you were up to in the park, wasn’t it?” Maya carried on, everything falling into place now. “You and your pathetic little mates having a quick puff behind a tree. No wonder you all scarpered when you saw me.”

  Still Sunny didn’t reply, instead continuing to flick through page after page of her magazine as though engrossed in its contents.

  “You’re pathetic, do you know that?” raged Maya. “You think you’re being so grown-up, smoking with your little chums, but you are so wrong. You’ve no idea how juvenile you really are.”

  Finally Sunny bit. “Oh, for God’s sake. Maya, get off my case, will you? What’s it to you anyway?”

  “Strange as this may sound,” said Maya tersely, “I don’t really want to watch my sister poisoning herself stupid with nicotine.”

  “I’m not,” came the ungrateful reply. “Anyway, it’s my life. I can do what I like.”

  “Fine. We’ll see what Mum and Dad have to say about that, shall we, when I tell them what you’ve been up to?”

  “Tell them. See if I care.”

  “I will. I’ll ring Dad at the surgery right now. It’ll go down a treat. There he is - good old Dr Joshi - spending half his life dealing with stupid people smoking themselves to death. Imagine how he’ll feel when he hears that his daughter is going down that same dead-end road.”

  “Oh, come on,” Sunny sneered, “a couple of ciggies a week is hardly going to kill me.”

  “Maybe not now, but it will years down the line - when you’re addicted and you need to get your tongue cut out because it’s riddled with cancer. Or you can only breathe through a hole in your throat because you’ve mucked your lungs up. Get real. Sunny…”

  “OK, then Maya - how come your friend Cat smokes?” demanded Sunny, her eyes flashing angrily. “Go and lecture her, not me.”

  “Cat knows exactly how I feel about her smoking - but Cat’s not my sister. You are… Anyway, I’m calling Dad.” Maya finished, turning away from Sunny so that she wouldn’t see the tears of frustration that were in danger of streaming down her face. “If you won’t listen to me, maybe you’ll listen to him…”

  Maya left the room and headed downstairs where she picked up the telephone. She wasn’t sure if she would really go through with telling on her sister - she hadn’t had time to think - but the threat was enough to send Sunny tearing downstairs moments later, where she reached out and desperately slammed her hand down on to the handset.

  “Don’t!” she shrieked, her voice strained with fear. “Please, Maya, he’ll kill me.”

  Sunny sank down on to the stairs, her face pale, her hands shaking. “You mustn’t tell him,” she said in a small voice. “Or Mum. They’d throw me out, I know they would.”

  “They wouldn’t do that,” said Maya a little more gently, realising that Sunny was genuinely scared. “But they’ll be a lot more angry about it than I am. So what do you suggest I do?”

  “Do nothing. Maya, please.” Sunny said. “I promise not to smoke again if you don’t tell on me.”

  “Why should I believe you?” asked Maya. “You don’t usually bother to take much notice of anything I say.”

  “You’ll have to trust me. I guess.”

  Maya thought for a moment before replying. “OK, Sunny, it’s a deal. But if I ever catch you smoking or hear from someone else that you’ve been doing it, believe me, I will tell Mum and Dad. You understand?”

  Sunny looked at Maya and nodded reluctantly. “Thanks,” she whispered.

  “I’ve got to go,” Maya said, stepping over her sister and running back upstairs to her room to get her stuff together for photography class. When she came back down again, Sunny was still sitting on the bottom stair, biting the skin at the sides of her fingers, staring into space.

  “I’ll see you later,” Maya said as she opened the door to leave. “Bye, Brigid,” she shouted towards the kitchen. “Catch you later.”

  She slammed the door behind her and hurried up the road, her head pounding and frown marks etched into her forehead. How stupid could Sunny be, she thought as she walked to the education centre. And could she really be trusted? Maya wondered if she should tell their father anyway, then thought better of it. He really would blow his top, and she had promised Sunny she wouldn’t…

  Maya wasn’t sure she could bear the responsiblity of keeping her sister’s secret and she was relieved to see Alex was on his own in class when she got there. Within seconds Maya blurted out what had happened. Alex listened intently, made all the right noises, agreeing totally with her line of action and making her feel heaps better just for having shared her thoughts.

  “At least some good might come of this,” he remarked.

  “Huh? How do you mean?”

  “Well, you’re forever saying that Sunny’s always got the knives out for you, looking for ways to snitch on you to your parents? Well, how is she ever going to have the nerve to try and get you into trouble with them now? I bet she’ll be as nice as pie to you from now on.”

  “D’you know. I hadn’t thought of it like that.” said Maya, a little smile tweaking the corners of her mouth. “You may well be right. I tell you, it’d be a whole load off my mind if that was the case.”

  “See, I may be old, but I’ve still got one or two useful things to say,” Alex grinned.

  “So is the old man coming with me to Ollie’s party on Saturday night?” asked Maya lightheartedly.

  The smile dropped off Alex’s face. “Uh, actually, Maya, I think I’ll give it a miss. You don’t mind, do you?”

  Maya was caught off guard for a moment. “Uh… uh…” she stuttered. “Uh, no, of course not. Have you got something else planned? Only I thought I’d mentioned it to you a while back.”

  “You did and no, I haven’t got anything special planned, other than perhaps a few pints down the local with a couple of mates. The thing is…” Eyebrows knitted together in concentration, Alex stopped, as though he was trying to find the right words to say to her.

  “Go on…” she urged.

  “The thing is, what you said at the revue last week, about me not wanting to be there…”

  “Uh-huh.” Maya felt her heart pounding so hard, she could hardly
hear above the noise of it. I know what you’re going to say, she thought, and I know I don’t want to hear it.

  “Well, don’t get me wrong here, ‘cause your friends are a great crowd of people, but if I’m honest, being the oldest swinger in town at Ollie’s eighteenth isn’t high on my list of things to do before I die. You know what I’m saying?”

  “I’m not sure. What are you saying, Alex?” Maya asked, wanting him to spell it out.

  “Look, Maya, I love your company,” he said, taking hold of her hands in his. “And I think we’re getting along really well together and having a great time. But I would like to spend less time with you as part of a group and more time with you on your own. That’s no great crime, is it?”

  “No. I guess not,” replied Maya a little warily. “I suppose we are from a different generation to you…” she smiled. She was trying to be flippant, to keep the conversation light, to hide the confusion she was feeling.

  “Hey, steady,” he said, pulling her towards him and squeezing her waist with his hand. “‘I’m not that old - though believe me, I feel it sometimes when I’m hanging out with you guys. All I want is for us to be happy. And if you find my friends boring because all they talk about is education and mortgages, then I’m happy to let them take more of a back seat too. What do you say?”

  “I guess so,” said Maya, thinking how she quite liked hearing Alex’s friends rant on about such things.

  Whereas he obviously doesn’t really appreciate hearing Matt and Ollie rattle on about the latest dance CD. or Kerry and Sonja catching up on what’s been happening in Hollyoaks.

  Maya felt torn in half. She didn’t want to spend less time with her friends; they meant the world to her. But she didn’t want to lose Alex either.

  The bottom line, however, was clear. If they were going to survive this, one of them was going to have to change.

  But which one?

  CHAPTER 18

  HAPPY BIRTHDAY OLLIE!

  “Four pairs of socks, a jumper, uh… shower gel, a smart watch from my parents, a dead cool framed photo of the Vespa from Son. Cufflinks - even though I don’t wear those sort of shirts, urn… CDs, money and, of course, this fantastic top from Kerry which I’m modelling and which I’ll wear until it falls in bits off my back because it reminds me of her and not because she’s listening to this conversation…”

  Ollie gave a hoot of pretend pain as Kerry twisted his ear playfully. He stopped reeling off the list of birthday presents he’d received to the gang who were gathered around him at his party in Enigma, and bent double as though in complete agony.

  “Next year I’m hoping to get enough money to pay to have my ear sewn back on,” he joked, standing up to his full height again and smirking at his chuckling friends. “Who’s for a dance?”

  Ollie and a few others made a beeline for the dance floor, leaving Sonja, Kerry and Maya to watch from the sidelines.

  “Drink, anyone?” Cat hollered as she sashayed past, unlit cigarette in one hand, empty glass in the other. Cat tried hard not to smoke when she was with her friends - they gave her such a hard time about it - but she considered that a night out in a club was different.

  Cat ordered a Coke from the bar then rejoined the girls. She was keen to gossip, tonight being the first proper opportunity to get the gen on Matt and Anna’s secret affair. She’d already been given a sketchy outline during the week, but was desperate to know if there had been any updates since.

  “I have to say I still can’t quite believe it myself.” she announced when they informed her there were no further developments as far as they were aware. “They seem like total opposites. I thought Matt would go for someone much more flashy than Anna. I mean, she’s a lovely girl, but she’s not exactly his usual type. Are you sure you’ve got it right, Kerry?”

  Kerry nodded.

  “I mean, your eyesight isn’t the best in the world either. Were you wearing your contacts or your glasses on at the wedding? I can’t remember.”

  Kerry giggled. “I had my contacts in, Cat, not that it would have made any difference. I know what I saw.”

  Cat frowned. “I just don’t understand why Matt hasn’t said anything to me. I mean, we might be related one day, if my mother and his father get married. You’d think he might have confided in me…”

  ‘“Scuse me, girls, I need to borrow Kerry for a moment.”

  Kerry felt herself being whipped away from her circle of girlfriends by a maniacally grinning Ollie.

  “What?!” she shrieked as he held her by both hands and smilingly whirled her round and round towards the dance floor, away from her gossipy conversation.

  “Nothing really. I fancied dancing with my girlfriend on my birthday, that’s all. And this is one of my favourite tracks.”

  “Is it?” Kerry asked, not recognising the tune at all. “That’s the first I’ve heard of it. Doesn’t sound much like your sort of thing.”

  “Oh. OK then.” Ollie screwed up his face and looked slightly sheepish. “The real reason I wanted to get you away from everybody was ‘cause I wanted to tell you that I’ve got a surprise for you later…”

  “Ooh, really?” Kerry asked, interested. “Can’t I have it now?”

  “No way. I’m waiting for that special moment.”

  “And how will you know when - or if - that moment comes?”

  “Oh, I’ll know all right, don’t you worry about that.”

  “But you’re not giving me any more clues as to what it is?”

  “Nope.”

  “Ol, that’s really unfair,” laughed Kerry. “You can’t tell me you’ve got a surprise then not let on what it is…”

  “Yes I can.”

  “But why?”

  “Because I know it’ll really bug you and you’ll spend the rest of tonight thinking about it. Which I think will be fun.”

  “Cheers, Ol! Anyway, what are you doing organising something for me?” she asked. “It’s your birthday we’re supposed to be celebrating, as you were reminding me just now.”

  “I know. But maybe I’ve got something else to celebrate too,” said Ollie mysteriously as he grabbed her hand and pulled her closer.

  “You’re being very shifty here, Ollie Stanton. I wish I knew what you were up to.”

  He smiled enigmatically. “All in good time, Kerry, all in good time…”

  Maya found a spot away from the others where she could observe everything that was going on, while not having to join in with the general conversation. She wasn’t in the best of moods tonight and she felt guilty for not having a good time, even more so because she knew her reason for being down was because Alex wasn’t there. And he didn’t want to be.

  She chastised herself for being so pathetic, for letting a guy ruin a party she knew she’d be enjoying if the circumstances were different. Normally, she’d be having a brilliant time, surrounded by all her friends, with great music and a good vibe.

  Maya thrived on being with people she connected with and it bugged her that recently the way she felt about life was pre-determined by the state of her love-life.

  If I wasn’t seeing anyone, she thought. I’d be happy, though keen to be part of a couple. Now here I am, part of a couple, and as miserable as anything. Talk about the grass is greener…

  “Penny for them?”

  The voice beside her made her jump. Maya turned to look into the dark, friendly eyes of the guy standing beside her.

  “Sorry?”

  “you looked like you were a million miles away. I just wondered what you were thinking about.”

  Maya smiled. To herself more than him. “Uh, nothing interesting,” she replied vaguely.

  “Are you here with anyone?” He casually placed his drink on the table and sat down next to her.

  “Oh, God, yes.” Maya replied, “there’s loads of us. A friend of mine’s having his eighteenth here, with his twin sister.”

  He looked interested. “You must mean Natasha Stanton and her brother. Do you kno
w her then?”

  “Uh, yeah. Well, I know Ollie better; he’s a really good friend. And I guess you’re here because of her?”

  “Yeah, we go back a long way.” He picked up his glass and took a long glug of beer. “We’ve done a lot of work together. Actually, it was work that brought me to the area yesterday. That’s why I was able to stick around for tonight.”

  “So, you’re a model, right?” asked Maya innocently.

  He roared with laughter. “Um, no, but thanks for the compliment. I’m a photographer.”

  Maya could hardly contain herself. What a great coincidence! Of all the people in the room here was someone she could quite cheerfully rattle on to about apertures and light-meters and all that other stuff she was quietly obsessed by. And he was gorgeous-looking too.

  Maya suddenly felt as if she’d died and gone to heaven.

  CHAPTER 19

  WILL SHE, WONT SHE?

  Joe paced up and down just inside the entrance to Enigma for the umpteenth time. He peered out into the blackness beyond the glass doors of the club, watching the pavement and the road for any sign of a familiar face.

  There was none.

  He looked anxiously at his watch. 9.30. She wasn’t here yet. No - more than that, he scolded himself - she wasn’t coming.

  He cursed himself for getting hyped up about tonight. For spending hours getting ready instead of the usual fifteen minutes. For having countless imaginary conversations with Meg in his head when she arrived looking stunning, and only having eyes for him. For picturing himself gleefully explaining to his friends about the mysterious girl who was obviously besotted with him and who refused to leave his side all night.

  It’s now not going to happen, he thought. All that hope and those silly fantasies are amounting to nothing. As usual. Get back in the real world, Joe, you’re a loser in love. Always have been, always will be.