So, she was pretty clear on what she needed to do, but whatabout the application? How was she going to get rid of Glen? She had enjoyedKent’s tale of how he had spiked him with laxatives. It would have been fun tohumiliate him with some similarly diabolical scheme, but time was of theessence. She didn’t have time to hatch some elaborate plot. She needed to getthe job done quickly and effectively.
All she had to do was tell Glen straight that she wasn’tgoing to the ball with him. It was her prerogative after all. And she wouldn’tpull any punches while she was doing it. Glen may have been an arrogant son ofa bitch even back then, but he would be no match for Kay with all her years ofexperience behind her, not to mention the benefit of her hindsight.
She would go and let him know in no uncertain terms what shethought of him. That would be satisfaction enough. As soon as she had donethat, she would be straight round to Kent to give him the good news that he didhave a date for the ball after all.
She needed to get herself ready. She looked through her wardrobe,delighted to find some long-forgotten favourite clothes that she would neverhave squeezed her forty-three-year-old frame into. She also found a Catwomancostume hanging there. Of course, she recalled. The theme of the ball had beensuperheroes.
She picked out a skimpy, pale lemon dress, the perfect itemfor this gorgeous summer’s day. It looked impossibly small but she knew at thisage it would fit her.
She dressed quickly, eager to get on with the matter inhand. Going downstairs in search of breakfast, she discovered that the housewas empty. Her mum and dad were both out at work. She was initiallydisappointed, as she very much wanted to see them both again, but consoledherself with the thought that she was sure to see them in the evening.
She hadn’t come back to this day purely to relive the ball.Part of her multitasking agenda involved seeing her parents again, which wasjust as important as seeing Kent, because by 2018 both of them were dead.
Keen to keep her strength up for the day ahead, she preparedherself a decent breakfast of Weetabix and toast, washed down with coffee andorange juice. As she ate alone in the kitchen where she had eaten almost allher meals for the first nineteen years of her life, she sat and thought abouther parents.
Kay had been an only child, born to them when they were bothover forty. After years of trying and failing to conceive, her mother’spregnancy had come as a complete surprise when it finally happened. By herteenage years they were already in their late-fifties. Both of them drank anawful lot of alcohol, a trait it seemed Kay had inherited as she grew older. Inthe end, the drink had killed them both.
Despite being an only child, she had inherited nothing. Ifshe had, she wouldn’t be in the mess she was in now. Sadly, her parents hadnever owned their own home. When they had married in 1963 they had got acouncil house, as millions of others had in those days. Her dad was a manualworker on the railways and her mother stayed at home. They had never been shortof money and had a comfortable living but they had no assets.
Her father had talked about buying the house during theright-to-buy bonanza of the late-1980s, but by then it was too late. Even atthe knock-down prices the houses were being offered at, they couldn’t get amortgage. Not only was he considered to be too old, he had also been forced toretire early through ill health.
She didn’t blame her parents for any of this. They had lovedher and nurtured her, and that was worth more than any inheritance. But how shewished they were still around in 2018 to give her some sanctuary in thedesperate times she had found herself. The day she had left home to live withAlan, her father had promised that there would always be a place for her aslong as they were alive.
But they were long gone and she was on her own. Maybe it wasfor the best. At least they had been spared seeing her in the mess she hadended up in. Her father would probably be turning in his grave if he could seeher now, and who could blame him? She felt utterly ashamed at the failure herlife had turned out to be. It was one of the things that gnawed away at herevery day, driving her to drink.
At least she would see them later, and this would not be thefinal time either. She would make sure to go back and spend a quality day withthem before all of this was over. As for now, it was time to go round and giveGlen what was coming to him. She had been looking forward to this.
Heading outside, she made her way down the front pathtowards the gate, relishing the feel of the warm sunshine on her skin. Thesigns of summer were everywhere. She could hear the low drone of a lightaircraft somewhere overhead, as well as the sound of the next-door neighbour’slawnmower. The lawn in her front garden looked immaculate. She remembered howproud her father had always been of the garden, particularly the year he hadwon a prize in the Britain in Bloom competition.
The lawn was framed with flower beds containing a colourfulvariety of flowers. Dozens of bees were buzzing around the buddleja flowers,and there were plenty of butterflies around, too. She watched, amused, as twocabbage whites had a brief coupling in mid-air.
Oh to be as carefree as those butterflies, she thought. Theydidn’t have the stress of mortgages and affairs and divorce settlements. Theyjust got on
