One? Read online

  One?

  Jennifer L Cahill

  We are living in extraordinary times, and roles and relationships are changing as fast as technology will allow. I wrote this for each and every one of you who have loved, lost, sought, fought for or are still looking for the one, in one of the most innovative periods in living history.

  JLC

  xo

  Contents

  Title Page

  Dedication

  Chapter 1 Circa ’79

  Chapter 2 72a Abbeville Road

  Chapter 3 The First Day of the Rest of Our Lives…

  Chapter 4 The Big Move

  Chapter 5 The Battle of the Bedrooms

  Chapter 6 Spaghetti Junction

  Chapter 7 Inaugural Weekend

  Chapter 8 Monday, Monday

  Chapter 9 Bus Stop

  Chapter 10 Quest for the Fourth Quarter

  Chapter 11 Home?

  Chapter 12 Crossroads

  Chapter 13 Scottish Castles

  Chapter 14 The Morning After

  Chapter 15 New York, New York

  Chapter 16 New Beginnings

  Chapter 17 Vive la Résistance

  Chapter 18 Surrender

  Chapter 19 Post Alyx Apocalypse

  Chapter 20 Glitter

  Chapter 21 Flower Power

  Chapter 22 Another Sunny Monday

  Chapter 23 Time Flies

  Chapter 24 On the Road

  Chapter 25 The Matriarch

  Chapter 26 Proposal

  Chapter 27 Meet the Parents

  Chapter 28 Permanent

  Chapter 29 T- Two Months

  Chapter 30 Dawn

  Chapter 31 One?

  Chapter 32 The Lord and the Ring

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  Copyright

  Chapter 1

  Circa ’79

  With a sigh, Miss Miller adjusted her horn-rimmed spectacles to survey her classroom of five-year-olds. The heat was really getting to her, mixed up with the sporadic hot flashes, it was becoming unbearable. A small bead of perspiration made its way slowly down the middle of her back. Her polyester, pointed collar shirt was growing clammy from the heat. Miss Miller stood up and gazed down at the children who were fidgeting and terribly restless. Her hands were clammy, and suddenly, without warning, she dropped her wooden blackboard duster onto the desk. The loud thud broke the silence, and a little cloud of chalk dust puffed up from where it had landed. The sunshine was streaming in through the windows, and the children watched… mesmerised, as the chalk dust particles danced on the sunbeam. They were convinced that the fairies were busy at work in their classroom that sunny June afternoon. This was quite enough to unsettle the class of five-year-olds especially so near to going home time. The children started giggling and wriggling around in their seats. Miss Miller gave them a stern look and settled herself behind her desk on the oak rostrum. She decided that it was Alyx’s turn to share his homework with the class. ‘Alyx,’ she said, as she peered over her glasses.

  Alyx didn’t flinch; he was far, far away… gazing at the fairies on the sunbeam…

  ‘Alyx! Alyx! Wake up! Come along now, we are waiting…’ Miss Miller snapped. Alyx nearly jumped out of his little skin! He began to stammer.

  ‘What? Em, ok,’ Alyx stuttered as he struggled to his feet from behind his tiny little desk. ‘… when I grow up, I wish I were, no, I wish I would be a Beatle!’ Alyx breathed a small sigh of relief, he was happy that he had remembered the words in English.

  Miss Miller went puce, as the whole class started laughing. Alyx stood there defiantly. Alyx hated talking in front of the whole class; he was used to speaking French in school….not English! He would only be in this school for a few weeks while his mother was on location for a film in London, he didn’t understand these English people at all! He was constantly in trouble!

  Miss Miller was livid! All she needed was the most minor disruption to set the class of five-year-olds off, today of all days. It was easily 30C outside and there was no escaping the heat. Miss Miller struggled to regain composure.

  ‘Don’t be silly Alyx, you can’t be a beetle, you are a little boy… why would you want to be an insect?!’ Miss Miller snapped.

  ‘No, Miss, not an insect… I want to be like one of the Beatles!’ Alyx went bright red, and started staring down at his feet, while he shuffled from one tiny little foot to the other.

  ‘The rock group?! Alyx really! Everyone else in the class has prepared their homework, sit down and come and speak to me at the end of class!’ Miss Miller was still puce as she said this, she took a deep breath to regain composure. She had no time for these ungrounded “celebrity” fantasies…

  Meanwhile the whole class had erupted into fits of giggles. Alyx slumped back into his tiny little chair, feeling very sorry for himself indeed. Life is tough when you are five and grownups keep trying to break your dreams.

  Miss Miller looked down at her list again, completely exasperated. Who should she ask next, who would be a “safe bet”?

  ‘Next? Who is next?’ Miss Miller spoke sternly to silence the laughing five-year-olds. ‘Yes, Penelope?’

  ‘Miss? Miss? May I go next?’ Penelope’s little hand shot straight up the minute Miss Miller had said ‘Next?’ She was dying to tell the teacher her ambition.

  ‘Well, yes dear, if you really want to, I don’t see why not….’ Miss Miller sighed as she sat back in her chair.

  Penelope stood up in front of her desk, her little hands clasped tightly behind her back.

  ‘When I grow up, I want to be a beautiful princess, and I want to live in a castle…’ Penelope beamed at Miss Miller, waiting for the praise that she was so used to. The teacher usually said things like ‘Excellent, Penelope’ and ‘Good girl’ to her. Sadly Penelope did not expect the reaction that was heading her way.

  Miss Miller started to go puce again; she simply could not cope with another minute of this carry on.

  ‘Really Penelope?!’ she exploded. ‘I have heard quite enough of this nonsense today, sit down and come and speak to me at the end of the class…’ Miss Miller gasped; her patience had run out, she was completely exasperated at this point!

  ‘But Miss?’ Penelope answered back, in shock.

  ‘That’s quite enough out of you, now…’ Miss Miller warned her.

  Tears welled up in Penelope’s eyes, it was the first time her teacher had ever been cross with her, and she did not like it one little bit.

  ‘…who is next? Tommy? Tommy, please go next.’ Miss Miller took another deep breath to regain composure. Tommy stood up.

  ‘Miss, when I grow up I would like to be a fireman…’ Tommy began describing the kind of things a fireman does.

  ‘Now that is more like it.’ Miss Miller thought to herself, the children had finally stopped fidgeting and giggling, as they all listened to Tommy.

  At going home time, Miss Miller sat behind her desk with the two five-year-olds standing side by side in front of it. Both of the children were wearing their most angelic expressions, Penelope looked up from beneath her mop of fine blonde curls, and Alyx batted his extra-long dark eyelashes. Alyx looked bewildered, the poor little guy was used to going to school in France, and he was not used to the English ways at all. Penelope looked worried, she had never been in trouble before, and she didn’t quite know what to do with herself.

  ‘Now children I specifically asked you to prepare a future job that you would like to have when you are grownups, and Alyx… a Beatle, and Penelope… a princess, well they are not real jobs. Why didn’t you ask your mummy and daddy for help?’ Miss Miller’s tone was very much softer now, but she tried to look as stern as possible hiding her urge to smile. The two children looked so serious… Alyx was shifting
from one tiny little foot to the other, and Penelope was afraid to even look at him. Her nose was wrinkled up, and the teacher knew that Penelope was looking for just the right words to say… Penelope decided to get in there first.

  ‘But Miss, I did ask my mummy and she told me to ask daddy, and when I asked him… he told me to ask mummy, so I just did my homework myself.’ Penelope wrinkled her nose again, she just couldn’t understand what she had done wrong, but one thing she did know… Alyx was in so much trouble! She was afraid to even look at him in case it rubbed off on her!

  ‘Alyx, did you ask your mummy and daddy for help?’ The teacher turned to Alyx who was still shifting from one little foot to the other, looking very much like he needed to go to the toilet.

  ‘Yes, and my Dad told me the story of The Beatles… so I want to be like that when I grow up!’ Alyx could not understand why his teacher was so angry with him, and with Penelope too, she just wanted to live in a castle when she grows up… just like his granddad does.

  ‘Really! Children! What am I going to do with the two of you!?’ Miss Miller snapped, and then she paused for effect… ‘Alright, I have heard enough now, seeing as you both did prepare your homework you are not in trouble anymore… even if the results were a little… unrealistic..’ Miss Miller sighed.

  ‘Thank you teacher!’ the two of them chanted in unison.

  Penelope was completely relieved; she couldn’t believe that she was going to be in trouble! Her mummy would be sooooo angry.

  Alyx turned to Penelope and said, ‘Pen-lopeee… my granddad lives in a castle, and sometimes I go there.’ Alyx was still shifting from one little foot to another, he was struggling to pronounce Penelope… it was a very big word for such a small person… He thought Penelope was so beautiful with her golden hair and her huge blue eyes; she always wore pink dresses to school.

  Penelope decided, now that they were not in trouble anymore, it was safe to speak to Alyx… ‘Is your granddad the King?’ Penelope enquired matter-of-factly.

  ‘I dunno, maybe he is, I will ask him.’ Alyx shrugged his little shoulders, he had never considered the fact that his granddad could be the King!

  ‘Well… is your granny the Queen?’ Penelope stood there with her hands on her hips, speaking to Alyx as if he was a complete idiot! Secretly she was really interested now!

  Alyx considered this for a moment and said ‘She’s not the real Queen, the one that lives in London… but maybe she is a queen…’ Alyx considered the possibility that his granny was a queen.

  ‘Well that’s what I want to be when I grow up… a beautiful princess and I want to live in a castle.’ Penelope was holding onto her dream, she didn’t care what any grownup said…

  Chapter 2

  72a Abbeville Road

  Mrs Evans took her job very seriously, after all… first impressions really count, and in her day women dressed like women, there was none of this denim jeans at work carry on. She made sure that she wore a suit to viewings, tweed of course, she was not going to be intimidated by these young estate agents whizzing around in their Mini Coopers. Mrs Evans had been in this business longer than they had been alive! She fussed around in her little brown crocodile handbag, which had stood the test of time, until she found the right key…

  She turned the key in the lock fifteen minutes before her next appointment. As always she did a quick run through the house, opening a window here and there and checking for anything off-putting.

  At 1.55 pm Charlie and Penelope hovered outside The Abbeville pub.

  ‘It couldn’t possibly be here?’ Penelope looked at the Google Map that she had printed off in work again. ‘This is a pub, there must be some mistake.’

  Charlie shrugged. ‘Let me take a look.’ She offered him the map. ‘Well this is where you have marked on the map, so it must be right.’ Charlie flashed her a winning grin, in his experience charm always worked to alleviate stress and he could sense her getting a bit uptight.

  ‘Hmmm,’ Penelope agreed with him stifling a laugh. ‘We are a little early, so let’s hang around and see if the estate agent shows up… if not… I finally give up on finding somewhere, and resign myself to living with my mother forever.’ Penelope sighed. Charlie grimaced at her at the mere mention of this.

  ‘There you are.’ Mrs Evans appeared as if by magic, through a brown inconspicuous door right in the centre of the front of The Abbeville pub.

  ‘Good lord, you startled me there, hello, I’m Penelope and this is Charlie,’ they exchanged introductions.

  ‘We actually thought we had got the wrong location, all we could see is the pub. This door is very inconspicuous.’ Penelope wasn’t sure how she felt about living above a busy pub, no matter how lovely it was.

  ‘Ah yes, very inconspicuous.’ Mrs Evans beamed at them, keen to change the subject, and veer away from the fact that it was above a pub.

  ‘I’ll just let you in so that you can have a look around. This is a communal front door for 72a and b, we are straight ahead.’

  The three of them crowded into the tiny dusty hallway, and Mrs Evans motioned to the door to 72a. She went ahead of them and opened the door to reveal a steep staircase leading up to the property.

  ‘The deposit is one and a half month’s rent in advance, and of course the first month’s rent needs to be paid in advance also… there are four bedrooms…’ Mrs Evans started her monologue, she spoke rapidly, it was clear that she had done this before.

  ‘What do you think?’ Charlie leaned over to ask Penelope, hoping that she would finally like this one!

  ‘It looks ok so far… a bit dusty though’ Penelope gave a half smile; she was not impressed so far. Penelope liked her home to be clean and orderly, and not like some kind of student squat.

  ‘You might notice that it’s a bit dusty in here… hatchoooo!… the landlady has had builders in for the past four weeks renovating the kitchen. She intends to get the place professionally cleaned before the new tenants move in…’ Mrs Evans droned on in the background as Charlie and Penelope looked around.

  ‘That explains that then… it’s nice and bright, wow! The kitchen is amazing, perfect for a bachelor pad,’ Charlie was delighted with what he had seen so far. He was sold on the area; Clapham in South West London, was full of aspiring musicians, young professionals and cute twenty-something blondes… apart from that Charlie couldn’t care less what the actual house was like!

  ‘Bachelor pad? Bachelor pad! Do I look like a bachelor to you?’ Penelope roared with laughter, she was having none of it! Now that she had seen the brand new kitchen, the place was starting to seem more acceptable.

  ‘No… but you know what I meant.’ Charlie shrugged and grinned at her.

  ‘You needn’t think that you are turning this place into a groupie den. Let’s get that clear from the start.’ Penelope shrieked playfully, just out of earshot of Mrs Evans.

  ‘Ok! Relax! I was just saying that I liked it.’ Charlie grinned at her, tucking a strand of hair that had come loose behind his ear. He plonked himself down on the stairs as Penelope inspected the kitchen.

  ‘All of the appliances are brand new as you can see… The bathroom is quite large, and there is also a small en suite bathroom attached to the double room at the front of the house on the top floor…’ Mrs Evans droned on and on…

  ‘Do you think we can afford it?’ Penelope whispered to Charlie behind Mrs Evans’ back; she thought that the rent was a bit steep for just the two of them.

  ‘I’m not sure… we’ll definitely have to get two more in.’ Charlie saw no major issue with living with strangers, it was all part of the adventure of life…

  ‘I thought we agreed just one unknown.’ Penelope really liked her home comforts… she worked such long hours that she didn’t have time to get to know new people so that they could all live happily together.

  ‘I know but it’s turning out to be much more expensive than we thought with the council tax and all of the bills thrown in, and you didn’t li
ke the other three that we looked at today.’ Charlie had already made up his mind, and he knew he was going to get his way… he always did after all.

  ‘Yes, and I really do need to make a decision today, this house hunting is taking up way too much of my time.’ Penelope was working really long hours in an investment bank in the City, and taking half days every other day was not a clever move so near to bonus time! On top of everything else, living back at home was no fun at all… her mother was driving her mad! Asking her about her “day” and if “she met anyone nice”, and following her around the house… what a nightmare!!

  ‘I’ll just show you into the living room, as you can see it is quite airy. The previous tenants decorated it in these colours… but the landlady is flexible if you would like to paint it…’ Mrs Evans was constantly blabbering on about the house, she barely paused to draw a breath.

  ‘Oh my god! Did a coven of witches live here or something?’ Penelope mumbled to Charlie as they walked into the living room to find that it was painted deep purple with pagan-looking black spiral shapes.

  ‘What was that dear?’ Mrs Evans couldn’t hear a word they were saying, she was so busy talking herself.

  ‘Oh, I was just saying to Charlie what a lovely view there is out of this window.’ Penelope said the first thing that came to mind.

  ‘Yes it is lovely isn’t it. There is nothing nicer than watching the world go by in the Abbeville Village.’ Mrs Evans paused for a moment, with a far-off look in her eyes, ‘Now about this purple, and I’m not a hundred percent sure what these shapes are? Spirals…? Would you say…? As I said, the landlady is open to the idea of painting it a new colour, and this can be organised before new tenants move in of course… on the first floor we have one double and one single bedroom…’ Mrs Evans marched up the stairs and Charlie and Penelope dutifully followed her.

  ‘But seriously… purple… I mean… I didn’t think they even made that colour purple after the seventies!’ And then it suddenly dawned on her… ‘Oh no, Charlie, you don’t think that it hasn’t been painted since then do you!?’ Penelope was horrified at the thought! The living room was so dingy, it was such a stark contrast to the newly decorated kitchen and bathroom.