The Southern Belles, page 33
part #1 of Brighton Belles Series
Seeing Evelyn approaching, he put his finger over his mouth and glared at Terry. He climbed down the stage steps and met her, Terry close behind him. “How’s it going? Pretty good turn out so far, I’d say.” He looked behind Evelyn and saw around a hundred guests, all stood with their complimentary glasses of champagne, waiting for the lighting of the tree.
“Yeah, I think everyone’s pretty much here,” replied Evelyn, looking behind her at the crowd. “The choir’s going to get themselves sorted in a minute. Do you mind staying up on the stage? The mayor will light the tree in five minutes and then you’ll start the carols off.”
“No problem,” he replied. He could see how nervous Evelyn was by her eyes and the way she kept looking behind her. “Are you OK? You’ve got nothing to worry about, Evey. I’ve rehearsed with the choir three times now.”
“No, I’m fine,” she replied, looking at him instead of behind her. “I always get like this before an event. I guess it’s my version of stage fright.”
He saw that she was carrying what looked like five event brochures, each with the words of the Christmas carols inside. When he looked past her, he saw Georgia walking through the crowd hand in hand with who he took to be Alex Haney, not that he’d met the guy yet. And judging by how thin and weedy he looked, he wasn’t Georgia’s type at all.
“There she is,” said Evelyn. “Where’s Nick?” she asked, not looking for a response. She was busy talking to herself. “He’d better turn up.”
Evelyn then walked off without so much as a goodbye, or good luck. He knew she had a lot on her mind with this event, and even more with Georgia’s announcement that she intended to marry that geeky guy she was stood next to.
“Like I said earlier, Tom,” said Terry quietly, “get in there before it’s too late.”
“Here, you hold on to the contract,” said Alex, handing her the A4 white envelope.
Georgia accepted it and held it by her side. It was heavy. When she’d walked around to Alex’s house earlier, she’d read and signed the contract in no less than ten places. Alex’s solicitor had had it drawn up a couple of days ago and Alex had waited until today to ask for her answer to his proposal, such as it was. From what she’d read, it had seemed above board. “Sure,” she said, “if you could hold the booklet out so I can read the words too.
She smiled when Evelyn met her. She felt sick to her stomach at the thought of being married to Alex, of being Mrs Georgia Haney; it just didn’t sound right. Then there was the fact that Alex did nothing for her sexually. Just the thought of kissing him made her nauseous. “Everything set, Evey? No sign of Flick anywhere?”
“No, thank goodness,” replied Evelyn. “That’s a stress in my life I don’t need.”
When the crowd grew quiet and the mayor of Brighton and Hove appeared in her orange and black ceremonial gown, Georgia stood very still, with the contract in her hand. It was relatively dark on the seafront, made more so by the fact that Shelter Hall had turned off their lights to give the Christmas tree lights more of an impact. Georgia wasn’t really listening to the mayor. Suddenly the twenty-five-foot tree was lit up. Their hard work had paid off; it looked fantastic.
And that was when Tom’s keyboard and the singing started. Georgia hated singing in public, especially to Christmas carols, but she made the effort for Evelyn’s sake, miming the words when she thought she could get away with it. It wasn’t easy with her sister stood right next to her. The first song sung by the choir was ‘O Christmas Tree.’
When she looked to her left, her eye caught Harry’s, who smiled at her. Next to Harry, on his right, was Edward and on his left was Charlotte, both of whom smiled at her in thanks for everything she’d done to help them. Part of her wanted to walk over to them and wish them a Merry Christmas, but she didn’t, she stayed by Alex’s side, slowly dying inside. Before, when she’d been thinking about marrying him, she’d thought of nothing more than the money and living in a great big house again. Now she’d signed the contract, she felt sick.
Evelyn could tell Georgia wasn’t singing. She’d heard her sister sing in the shower enough to know her voice. It didn’t really matter, not with what Georgia was dealing with. She wished her sister would change her mind, but it was just wishful thinking – Georgia did what she said she would, all the time. It was one of her sister’s most redeeming qualities.
Everything had gone like clockwork. She was so pleased with the turnout, with how punctual everyone had been. The choir had arrived on time, as had Tom’s band, and even the mayor, notorious for being fashionably late, had turned up on time. She felt herself physically relax when the singing had started. Trying to enter into the spirit, Evelyn tried belting out song after song, to Georgia’s look of mock disdain.
When she felt her mobile vibrate in her pocket, Evelyn pulled it out stealthily and saw she had a text from Natalie Harris. The message told her that a talent scout would be somewhere in the audience. A smile spread across her face when she looked up and saw Tom busy playing tune after tune on his keyboard. She’d completely forgotten she’d asked Natalie to find a scout. She glanced around, trying to identify him, or her.
It was quarter past seven when Nick closed the lid on the soup and took his apron off. Bernadette looked at him. He hadn’t needed to explain the situation to her because she’d been there when Evelyn had burst into the day centre, telling him that Georgia had decided to marry Alex bloody Haney, of all people.
Since six o’clock, he’d been listening to the choir sing song after song. They were great. It was just a shame he couldn’t say the same about the guests. He could see some of the carollers from his vantagepoint outside the centre, but he couldn’t see anyone he knew, although Harry, Edward and Charlotte had walked past, on their way to the event, and had said hello, so he knew they were there.
“Are you going over?” asked Bernadette, who’d switched with another volunteer to work tonight. “I’ll hold the fort here. Georgie will be over there now.”
“I think I will,” he replied, hearing a song change. He handed Bernadette the apron and started walking towards the crowd.
“Go get her, Nick,” he heard Bernadette say. “You deserve to be happy.”
Instead of turning and acknowledging her comment, Nick carried on walking towards the carolling guests. The huge Christmas tree lit up their faces. He could see Harry, Edward and Charlotte to the right of the group. He shook Edward’s hand and stood next to him, at the edge of the group. Edward opened the programme so that he could see the words. “Thanks,” he said quietly. Harry looked over at him and winked.
When he looked over to his right, he saw Georgia with Evelyn on one side and Alex Haney on her other. God, she looked good, he thought, wearing a thick black coat and scarf around her neck. Georgia’s hair was down. He loved that hair, the smell of it, the shininess of it. And that was when she looked over at him and smiled.
Nick looked down and saw Georgia had a large envelope in her hand. It had to be the contract Evelyn had told him about. When he looked back up, Evelyn caught his eye. Her face told him everything he needed to know. Evelyn was telling him to come over and face Georgia and Haney.
When they’d sung ‘We Wish You a Merry Christmas’, Evelyn approached the stage and informed everyone that the choir’s performance had finished, to warm applause of appreciation. Then Evelyn welcomed everyone to remain and listen to A Special Kind of Madness.
As the crowd started meandering, some leaving and others going to the bar to get more drinks, and while the band were getting ready to play, Nick saw Georgia and Haney walking towards him.
Georgia smiled as she approached Nick, with Alex obviously forcing her into holding his hand. She hadn’t expected Nick to be at the tree lighting, so she thought now was a good time to catch him, while the band was preparing to play, while they could talk and still hear one another. “Hi!” she started. “How are you?”
“I’m good, thanks,” said Nick, half smiling back at her.
There was a long pause. Georgia looked long and hard into his hazel eyes, wishing things could be different between them. She’d give anything to be with him, instead of Alex. Her smile was one of sorrow.
“We’ve got something for you, Cairns,” said Alex. “Call it an early Christmas present. Come on, Georgie, hand him the envelope. I can’t wait to see his face.”
“What is it?” asked Nick, taking the envelope, tearing the seal off and sliding the document out.
“It’s the lease to your day centre,” she replied, “and the two empty units next door. You can knock them through and turn it into a shelter.” Her sorrowful smile changed into one of pride. “You can have your dream.” But her voice was strained, waiting for the information to sink in.
“You’ve agreed to marry him?” Nick looked at her in astonishment. “In exchange for this lease? You’re willing to sacrifice yourself, just so that I can have my dream?” Nick’s voice was strained, too, and Georgia could tell he had a lump in his throat.
“Everyone gets what they want,” added Alex. “You get your precious lease, Georgie gets to move out of that horrible bedsit into a lovely home, I get the woman of my dreams. Everyone’s a winner. All you need to do is sign where those tabs are.”
Georgia waited while Nick tried his best to read the small print in the poor lighting.
“Georgie, you know this arrangement only lasts as long as you two are together, don’t you?” asked Nick, showing her the small print. “If you split up, the lease automatically returns to Haney and Hough Limited.”
Turning her attention to Alex, she felt the rage inside her grow. She swiped her hand away from his and turned to him. “You didn’t tell me about this.”
“You read over it,” replied Alex nonchalantly. “It’s not my fault you didn’t read it properly. And besides, I’m not stupid, Georgie. I’m not going to give away the best part of a million quid’s worth of property without getting something in return, am I? If there’s one thing I’m not, it’s stupid. We might only be together for a couple of years, then what? You don’t get to dump me and keep the lease too.”
It dawned on her that Alex was right. She must’ve been stupid to think he could be trusted not to put some clause in the contract protecting his assets. When she looked at Alex, he was obviously waiting for a reply. “I’m not going to dump you.”
“So, there’s nothing to worry about, is there?”
Not for the first time that day, Georgia felt like bursting into tears. She didn’t want to marry Alex; she wanted to be with Nick. “I guess not,” she whispered.
“Here, Cairns, take my pen,” said Alex, producing a silver Mont Blanc pen. “Sign where the tabs are, and the lease is all yours.”
“I’m going to have to take this home and give it a thorough read first,” said Nick, handing the pen back to Alex.
“Suit yourself,” replied Alex, taking Georgia’s hand again.
She stared at Nick, until Alex tugged at her arm, forcing her to follow him. She didn’t look away as Alex dragged her off.
Nick grabbed the contract, turned it horizontally in his hands and tore it in half, the noise making Haney stop in his tracks. “That’s what I think of your contract, Haney. No deal, you got that?”
“That’s just a copy, Cairns,” replied Haney, turning to him. “You are signing that contract. It’s your dream come true. Don’t be so stupid. I’ll print off another copy and bring it by tomorrow morning.”
Ignoring Haney, Nick looked at Georgia. “I’m not letting you ruin your life for me, Georgie. I won’t be the reason you’re miserable. I love you too much for that.” He could hear his voice breaking up, the tears welling up. “I’d rather lose everything than see you marry him.”
Georgia broke free of Haney’s grip and stepped up to him. “I’m doing this for you, Nick. This is your dream, everything you’ve worked so hard for. I can give this to you, if you’ll just let me.” He could see her holding back the tears. “You can finally open the shelter you’ve always dreamed of.”
“But it wouldn’t be my dream if it’s at your expense,” he replied, putting his palms on her cheeks. “I love you, Georgie. I’ll think of a way to open a new day centre, or a new shelter. I know I’ve been an idiot, not treated you the way I should, so please forgive me. But please don’t marry him. I can’t offer you the wealth he has, but I promise you I’ll spend the rest of my life making you happier than he ever could.”
He saw the tears rolling down her cheeks. “Do you mean that? You love me?”
“More than anything,” he replied. “Give me the chance to prove it to you.” He leaned forwards and kissed her tenderly on her lips. He heard a cheer from the crowd in front of him, but he kept his eyes closed, feeling Georgia’s warm lips on his.
“Don’t be so stupid, Cairns,” said Haney. “You can’t throw away this opportunity. Think of the street rats you’ll be letting down. And by the way, that’s my fiancé you’re groping!”
When he opened his eyes, he saw Harry’s eyes flash in anger. He watched as Harry got Haney’s attention. Haney turned to Harry and Harry punched him on his nose. “Who’re you calling street rats?” he heard Harry ask in his gobbled way. There was another loud cheer from the crowd, who had gathered around them. With Georgia’s arm around his waist, Nick smiled at Harry, Edward and Charlotte.
“Nice one, Harry,” said Georgia. “I couldn’t have done it better myself.”
“You’re all going to pay for this,” said Haney, holding his nose as blood trickled over his fingers and onto the pavement. “No one treats me like this. And you, tramp man, I’ll be pressing charges against you.”
Nick didn’t have to lift a finger. As soon as Edward, fists clenched, made a move towards Haney, he ran off, cursing them all. The crowd cheered Haney’s departure.
“What a weaselly little man,” said Edward.
Nick looked into Georgia’s happy eyes, and kissed her again. He couldn’t believe it had worked. When Evelyn had told him to come by, that Georgia would forgive him, he hadn’t believed her. And now they were back together again.
“I love you so much,” said Georgia, looking up at him with love-filled eyes. “I’m sorry for kissing that guy in front of you. I was so angry and drunk that night.”
“Forget it,” he replied. “It’s all in the past. We’ve got the future to think about now, to look forward to. We’ve both done things we regret, so let’s just leave them in the past, yeah?”
“Sounds good to me,” she replied.
She looked up at him, and he looked down at her addictive smile. “Shall we go home?”
“Yeah,” replied Georgia. “But don’t we need to go back via the day centre?”
Nick had completely forgotten he’d left Bernadette with the mobile kitchen. He walked with Georgia through the crowd, feeling the pats on his back. He said thank you to them, while holding onto Georgia tight. This was the best moment of his life.
*
Evelyn was so pleased for Georgia. She’d watched the drama unfold from the stage. Watching the homeless man punch Alex Haney had been worth the wait, and she and Tom had laughed out loud – but not loud enough to be noticed by Alex. Watching Georgia kiss Nick had warmed her heart. She knew they would be together for years. She had a very good feeling about Nick.
It was quarter to nine. The band had been on for nearly an hour, and performed twelve songs already, and she still hadn’t sussed out who the talent scout was. Three of those songs had been originals, so she hoped the scout had heard those.
“Evelyn Belle?” came a voice from behind her.
When she turned around, a man in a thick brown coat and grandad cap was stood in front of her. “Hi! Are you the scout?”
“Yeah, my boss said that Natalie Harris requested us to watch the band,” replied the man.
“And what do you think?” She wanted to know their chances.
“They’re great,” he replied, but none-too-convincingly.
“You don’t sound like they’re great,” she added, confused.
“Oh no, they are. It’s just that they’re not quite what we’re looking for,” he said apologetically. “Ska and reggae aren’t really our thing. But that’s not to say they won’t be successful with another label. They’ve certainly got the talent to get signed.”
Evelyn was disappointed. She’d hoped that Tom’s band might finally get the success they deserve. They were a great band. The scout wasn’t wrong there. Up on the stage, Terry announced that they were taking a fifteen-minute break.
“Thanks for your honesty,” she said.
“I’m just going to say hello to the band,” said the scout.
Tom saw the bloke in a grandad cap talking to Terry and the bass player. When he walked down the stage steps to join them, he heard the cap man apologising to Terry for not signing them with his production label; but he also said that they had a real talent, it was just that they weren’t what the label was looking for.
“I’m sorry,” he interjected, “who asked you to come and watch us?”
“Natalie Harris, the fashion designer,” replied the cap, who shook every member of the band’s hands, including his.
“Thanks,” he said, his brain whirring away.
Terry turned to him. “Why would Natalie Harris ask a production label to watch us? I don’t get it. Do any of us even know her?”
“I do,” he replied, “or rather Evey does.”
“Evey? Doesn’t she know we’re not looking to get signed to a label?”
“I guess not,” he replied.
Terry shuffled up beside him and leaned in. “Do you still think you’re in the friend zone, mate? She’s gone out of her way to get a talent scout out here.”
When he looked over at Evelyn, who was busy talking to someone he’d never met, she glanced over at him and smiled. He smiled back. He knew he wasn’t in the friends zone. And he knew he had to do something about that.
*
“Pippa, everyone’s here,” said Jerry. “They’re all downstairs, waiting for you.”
