You Got It Wrong - Part Three

Chapter Three

                “How are you doing?”

Mansell was sat on a bench near the Home, looking out to sea. He glanced up at Nina’s voice and gave a sad smile, “I’m ok.”

Nina could tell he was anything but ok, but she could also see his pride and his anger in the contours of his face, “you weren’t in your room, didn’t expect to see you out here.”

He sighed, “feel close to Gordon here...”

There was an unsaid ‘but’ going on there, but she wasn’t ready to pry, he’d tell her what he wanted her to know, she’d learned that about people. “What was it like? To be part of the D-Day landings, I mean it’s such a historical thing...such a detrimental thing to be part of.”

He sighed, “I was seventeen, and I thought that I knew it all. We sat in the channel in boats, waiting and waiting. That’s what I remember, just sitting, shall we shan’t we. They were changing their minds the commanding officers, one minute it was go...then it was stop. Ultimately it was that that surprised the Gerries, the weather forecast wasn’t great...they thought we’d wait. But it was still dark when the shout came.” His eyes hadn’t drifted from the open sea in front of him, “then it was carnage, so many were slain, falling in the sea, blood everywhere...but then the tide turned. My battalion got through at Arromanches, there were bunkers along the beach, but we managed to get between them, in fact, one of my comrades, managed to take out the biggest bunker, ran straight up and died doing it, but it was thanks to him that we took that beach.” He sighed, “we were welcomed like heroes...the people there had lived in fear for years, the military men taking over their homes, their families under threat...”

He looked wistful for a moment, so Nina leaned back against the bench, “I think you should go...to Normandy.”

He sighed, “I can’t go that far...not really.  I mean my leg let’s me down if I walk too far...I don’t know how to find hotels...”

She smiled, “I can help you book things, I’ll bring my laptop over later. We can find somewhere to stay...”

                “I don’t know...I asked my remaining grandson today, but it’s all too much for them. Too busy, it’s not like I ask them to do much for me.” He finally turned to meet her eyes, “I don’t have confidence anymore Nina, I don’t feel strong anymore.”

She laughed trying to make light of that, but he looked sad, “you are strong, you invaded Normandy for Christ’s sake, you can do anything you want!”

He laughed at that, “rubbish, seventy years have passed.  Seventy years I tell you. I can’t do this.” He stood up, “I have to go get dinner, see you soon Nina.”

She was filled with sadness as she watched him go.

                “So I’m thinking that we should stay in the Big Smoke when we meet the Wootton’s!”

Nina looked up from her sketches and groaned, “really? I KNOW what that means to you!”

Lilah skipped across the kitchen, “oh yes, shopping, eating, partying. Come ON woman, you KNOW it’ll be amazing!”

Groaning she dropped her pencil and sat back, “I know that it’ll be carnage. You are a nightmare when you get to London; the calm woman I share a house with becomes a lunatic.”

Lilah opened the fridge and took out a bottle of white wine and poured a glass, “we all need to let our hair down every now and again, don’t be such a prude!”

She wafted the bottle in Nina’s direction, “can I have a beer?”

She rarely drank wine, whisky was her thing, or in its absence...or before five pm like today, beer. Lilah found a bottle of American beer and passed it across the table to her.

“You all set with your designs.”

Nina nodded, “I’ve got a few options...I’m hoping they’re what they are looking for, I mean I think you captured their wishes. I’m confident...if they don’t like them, then I can merge ideas. It won’t be a huge job.”

Lilah grinned, “and what about New York?”

She shook her head, “I think it’s too soon Lilah. Too much work. The beauty of these rings are how exclusive and individual they are. If we increase too quickly then we’ll lose that, and I don’t think we’re a big enough brand.”

Lilah looked disappointed, but both her and her cousin Amelia were super enthusiastic about the business they’d invested in, but as the actual force behind it, she was far more cautious.

Amelia had called them a week earlier begging them to come to a specialty wedding fare in New York, the thought being that it would give them a chance to be recognised across the Atlantic. But that was a huge amount of pressure for Nina, also she wasn’t ready to start employing people to craft her designs, after all, that was the thing that she loved, switching off and focussing on the piece of jewellery in her hand.

She knew Lilah was disappointed at her reluctance, but she was right about this, she knew that.

                “Ok ok, I’ll do the London thing, if that makes you smile again.”

Lilah beamed at her, “we’ll have SO much fun!”

Theo looked at the woman sat opposite him and groaned, she was a mess, but she was the mother of his little girl.

                “You’re not having her, not whilst you are in this state. I’ve called my solicitor...”

She made to protest, her words still slightly slurred from her alcohol she’d imbibed, but he silenced her.

                “Sadie, you are a mess. You are in no fit state to look after our daughter.”  She looked up at him and groaned, and he felt a chink in his armour, a little bit of sympathy for the woman in front of him, but then he thought of Melody, her cute grin, her innocence, her need for stability and once again the red mist of anger descended, “you can blame me, for how you are...but let me remind you that YOU betrayed me, YOU wanted more than I could give you, YOU made me leave. Now sort yourself out, I don’t want Social Services involved, if they see you you’ll never care for a chid again, Pull yourself together and I’ll work with you, keep this up and I will fight, do you hear?

She nodded mutely, but her eyes were already closing, she was already slumping back against the sofa.

Exasperated, he did something he thought he’d never do; he pulled out the phone and called her sister. A dangerous move considering she hated him, but he was thinking of Melody, as un-maternal as Sadie was, she was the only mother that Melody would have, he owed it to her to make things work.

                “It’s your brother!”

Nina had fallen asleep midway through Eastenders, and the voice calling her took a moment to register. Sitting up slowly she stared at Lilah, “what?”

                “Phone...” she waved the handset, “your brother.”

Nina felt her heart sink, she hadn’t spoken to James in months, he never called. He’d called a few days earlier and she had intended to call him, find out what he wanted, instead he was catching her unawares.

Taking a deep breath, she took the handset, “James?”

                “Nina. Hi.” There was no warmth in his voice, “we need you to come to London...you have to come to the solicitor’s office with us.”

She sighed; it was never any different, “what?  Why?”

She could hear him exhale almost angrily, “we need to release some funds. You have to be there.”

The bastard she wanted to scream. “You are telling me that the money you took out of our dead father’s estate eight months ago has gone?”

                “We invested it...it’s just not paying out yet...you know how big this house is, how expensive it is to run...”

Nina closed her eyes trying to contain her emotions, “James, you and my darling step mother could move out of so big a house, but you both want it all. You want to live in a huge house and do FUCK all! Are you surprised that father made me the controller of the fortunes? If it was up to you and Imelda everything would be gone. Why don’t you get a job?”

That flustered him, he huffed a little but she wasn’t about to give in, after more protests she ended the conversation, “I’m in London in a couple of days. I’ll discuss things with you then, but this can’t keep happening.”

With that she hung up and closed her eyes, not ready to share the latest instalment of her family hell with Lilah.

Her father Jack Willoughby was a very prominent politician. Throughout her childhood he’d been largely absent, he wasn’t a great parent, but then he hadn’t been a great husband either. James’ mother Paula had left him for another man when James was only four. A series of nannies had cared for him until Jack had married her mother Beatrice. She’d been the fourth nanny, and it was James’ greatest pleasure to tell her that their father only married her mother because she was pregnant. He’d been fifty, her mother twenty three. It sounded unhealthy, and as her mother had died when she was a baby, she had no memory of her, of them, of anything but her horrid big brother.

She’d been ten when Jack had met, and rather rapidly married Imelda Olenev, a Russian model, just twenty four. Her father by this time had been sixty one. As a growing girl with so many questions about her body, her feelings, about life that she couldn’t ask her father or her brother, and whilst her grandmother was good to her, she couldn’t talk to her, Imelda had seemed like a dream come true. A mother figure at last.

But on the first day after their honeymoon, Imelda had been sat at the dining table and Nina had walked in full of optimism, she could remember it like it was the previous day.

                “Can you brush my hair like yours?”

Imelda had amazing copper hair that flowed in waves over her shoulders; Nina’s lank dark hair was no match. But Imelda hadn’t as much as looked up from her book, instead she’d waved a dismissive hand, “not now little girl, I’m not your mother.”

Those words had cut her to the core, and she hated that the memory of those words still pained her fifteen years later.

Now the two leeches that were her step mother and brother wanted her, and she had no intention of making anything easy for them, neither had respected her father in life, and they weren’t about to in death. That much was obvious.

Amelia’s house in Notting Hill was perfect for a weekend in the capital. Lilah was like an excited child as soon as they saw the memorable towers of Battersea Power Station. They’d tubed from Victoria to Notting Hill Gate, against Lilah’s request. She would get a taxi anywhere, but it was literally five stops on the Underground and despite having financial stability, Nina hated to waste money, she wasn’t tight, or overly thrifty, but she hated waste. Lilah rolled her eyes as they descended in to the heat of the tunnels that connected the bowels of London.

When they emerged it was less than five minutes to the house on Ladbroke Grove, a huge bay fronted property that was beautiful.

                “Half an hour,” Nina called as Lilah disappeared upstairs with her huge bag, getting ready for her friend could be a lengthy occasion.

                “Yes Mum,” she mock saluted from the stairs.

                “You make out that I’m a nag...but the quicker we get to Kensington and meet ‘Lord and Lady’ Wootton, the sooner we can hit the town.”

That made her friend’s eyes light up like Christmas lanterns, “FINALLY you speak my language!”

A few hours later, Lilah was crossing the wine bar, a bottle of champagne in her hands and a sashay in her hips for the benefit of the men stood at the bar checking her out.

Nina groaned and rolled her eyes, “you are in corrigible, and let me remind you, they merely agreed with the designs, I haven’t made the rings yet.”

Pouring the champagne into two flutes she beamed, “but you are amazing at that part of things. You are amazing Nina Willoughby, amazing!”

They chinked glasses, and sipped the fizzy liquid for a moment, then Nina turned to her friend, “so the other three enquiries?”

Lilah smiled, “all enthralled with your work. We’ve got steady interest, and I know that you are enjoying making these rings creating things at with love, and that is the beauty of your product, but you could be so much more in demand.”

Nina sighed, “we have this conversation a lot mate, I don’t need to break myself in two I have my grandmother’s house, so we have a roof over our head...we have fun...I mean you still disappear off modelling.”

Leaning close her friend smiled, “and you are scared. Think about it Nina, this could be all your dreams come true. All that’s holding you back is your own fear that it won’t work...but you’ve proved that you are successful, you’ve got this far, don’t let your brother and Imelda drag you down. Ok?”

Nina hated that there was truth in her words, being independent, not needing her family, not needing her father’s wealth was everything to her, but if this business failed, if “Anneau de Saule Jewellery” went broke, she had no plan B, and would likely lose everything, and she couldn’t cope with failure, it wasn’t an option. 

You Got It Wrong - Part Two

Chapter Two

Theo Peterson hated being late, he rarely was, if it happened, then invariably it was never his fault. But frankly since he’d met his soon to be ex-wife she’d been causing destruction and devastation in his life. He paced the hallway before knocking the door once again, but there was no answer.

Glancing down at the small girl beside him, he sighed, “she’s not home sugar. I think you’re going to have to come see Granddad with me.”

Melody his three year old little girl looked up at him with huge eyes, “where is she?”

He scooped her up into his arms, “I don’t know, she must be a little late. We’ll call back later, or maybe tomorrow. Do you want to come and see my Granddad? He lives by the beach, a little trip in the car?”

She bit her lip and he hated that tears welled in her eyes, “hey Melody, come on, it’ll be fun. Let’s go to the shop first, ok? Then we’ll get some ice cream for the drive. Sound good?”

When she nodded he kissed her on the nose, “amazing little girl, we’ll have SO much fun!”

 Twenty minutes later she was sat in the back of his car in her car seat eating a biscuit, a smile on her face, fifteen minutes later she was asleep, finally he could call the bitch that he’d married.

                “Sadie? I know you’re there.”

A groan preceded her replying, “what now?”

                “Are you drunk? It’s three o’clock in the afternoon...you are supposed to be having Melody.”

                “What?”

He saw red, since the day that they’d got married; the caring, funny woman he had met and fallen in love with had changed. She’d become something so much different, she’d become obsessed with money, HIS money, and living a life that involved spas, shopping and lunching. She craved a lifestyle that he felt was beyond his means and they argued repeatedly about it. He’d thought that Melody arriving would change things, and for him, the moment he held that little bundle in his arms he’d been besotted. And that had meant that Sadie could get away with more. Now, with the power of retrospect he could see his role in it all, he was working harder and harder, spent the weekends happy to care for his baby daughter. Sadie took every opportunity to get out, be seen, and their relationship deteriorated. But drinking? Drunk in the middle of the day?

He shook his head in distress, “Sadie, Melody is staying with me until I can work out what to do. You weren’t where you were supposed to be, and you are in no fit state to look after her, so you won’t. She’s staying with me. Meet me tomorrow when she’s in nursery and we can discuss what happens.”

                “But...”

She was slurring and he felt red mist descend on his world, how could she?

Because she’s never cared about anyone but herself. He hated the voice of reason sat there to remind him of the mistakes he’d made. Then he caught sight of his darling little girl in the rear view mirror. Whatever he did, whatever he regretted, that disaster of a marriage had led to her, and for that reason he wouldn’t change a single thing. She was the apple of his eye, and he hated that he only saw her at weekends. Sadie wasn’t interested in her, she only wanted to use their daughter to bleed him dry, he was already paying for them to live in a ridiculous post code, thankfully his work was taking off and he could afford for that at the moment, that didn’t mean he didn’t begrudge her and her antics. Especially now that she had abandoned Melody.

Pulling up at the Residential home with a sea view, he parked his truck in the car park then skipped out, waking Melody gently.

                “Come on cherub, we’re here.”  She opened her eyes and gave him a sleepy smile, and he felt his heart melt, “My granddad is waiting.”

Scooping her up, he carried her into the entrance to the building, and strolled inside.

                “He’s what?” Theo shook his head, “he knew I was coming.”

The receptionist smiled awkwardly, he knew he cut an imposing figure and he couldn’t contain his anger, “he’s gone out. He didn’t say when he’d be back. He’s been a little sad the last few days...”

Theo shrugged, he wasn’t close to his grandfather, but then he wasn’t close to his parents. He shook his head, he hadn’t known his grandfather until he was sixteen so he’d missed out on some of the formative years of their relationship. He hadn’t known who his father was until he was twelve either; his mother hadn’t divulged that information until he found a picture of her and a man who he guessed was his father as he was starting secondary school. At the time he had no idea how to trace his father, but over the next few years he searched, not frantically, but pretty regularly until he got a few leads. It was a few days after his sixteenth birthday that he found Mansell Gershwin, his grandfather...his father was a stranger to his own father as well as his son.

It had been a difficult relationship, but he loved the old man in his own way and had dropped everything to make it to Brighton when really he had a lot of other things he should be doing. And he wasn’t there.

He smiled at Melody, “shall we go get something to eat? I expect Granddad will be here when we get back.” He glanced at the receptionist, “call me as soon as he comes back?” He tossed them a business card and didn’t wait for any response from the woman.

There was a cafe a few buildings along the road, so he bundled his daughter in to a window seat then ordered a coffee for himself and a huge doughnut for her.

                “Daddy?”

His eyes moved from their position on the street to the blue eyes of his daughter, “yes darling?”

                “Where’s Mummy?”

Theo sighed, “she’s away darling, but she’ll be home soon. Do you miss her?”

She shrugged such a mature gesture for her tiny shoulders, “maybe...but I like doughnuts!”

That made him laugh, and as he tapped his thigh and let her climb up onto his lap. “Well there are plenty more where that came from. You may be staying in my house for a little while, is that ok?”

Melody nodded, “as long as there is doughnuts.”

Theo was still chuckling at her conversation when he spotted his usually regal grandfather hunched over shuffling across the road towards the Home.

                “Come on darling there he is.” He bundled Melody into her coat, then pocketed the rest of her doughnut. “Quick before he disappears like a dream.”

Melody was once again in his arms giggling like the child she was as they burst into the reception, and it was her laughter that made Mansell look at the noise.

                “Theo? You came?”

Theo nodded, “you sounded serious on the phone.”

Mansell stepped towards them, “oh Melody, it’s SUCH a treat to see my GREAT granddaughter. How are you here?”

                “Mummy’s missing!” She announced.

Theo rolled his eyes, as Mansell looked at him questioningly.

                “Can we go to your flat?”

It was his grandfathers’ turn to roll his eyes, “flat? Don’t over exaggerate.” But with a nod, he led them up the corridor.

Melody was settled in front of the TV within moments, Mansell managed to find some Peppa Pig on one of the channels, then he offered Theo a drink.

Theo shook his head, “no, I’m fine. But I want to know what’s up? Why did you sound so desperate on the phone? Why are you so...sad?”

He watched the older man move around the kitchen making coffee for a moment, when he finally looked up he was more than sorrowful than he’d ever seen him.

                “I want to go to Normandy. But your useless father won’t take me, Daniel is too busy...”

Theo groaned, his father was a first class bastard, he was as likely to cut off a limb as help out one of his family members, Daniel was different, his older half brother had welcomed him with open arms as a teenager, and now as a forty year old pillar of the community, politician, businessman, father and husband he’d have expected him to do anything for their grandfather.

                “I’d believe that of Robert the bastard, but Daniel, really?”
Mansell rolled his eyes, “it’s the anniversary of D-day in two weeks, I can’t get to Normandy on my own...I’m too old. I just want someone to take me.”

Theo sighed, he was about to embark on a bitter custody battle with his wife over their daughter, he couldn’t disappear, and there was no way Sadie would let him take Melody with them.

                “Can you take me Theo?”

How could he say no? But how could he commit to something that was out of his control.

                “I’ll sort it; I’ll speak to Daniel...” His pride wouldn’t let him admit to the mess his own life had become. But that riled his grandfather even more.

                “Great! You too. I ask for nothing from this family...all I want...” he sighed, “what the hell does it matter? I’m locked up in this bloody place...See yourself out?”

With that he walked into the bedroom and shut the door. Leaving Theo running his hands through his hair in disbelief.

Theo looked at Melody playing happily with the Barbie doll that she’d found in his car, oh to be young and innocent. With a sigh of despair, he called to her and they headed for the car. The one thing he knew was that he got his stubborn streak from the Gershwin branch of the family.  He’d have more luck speaking to Daniel than he would Mansell, so he headed for his truck and a trip back to London.

You Got It Wrong - New Story!

Chapter One 

A/N A new story, another slow burner I'm thinking. This is just a taster. Hope you enjoy, more to come! 

                “Have you got any dry shampoo? My hair is desperate.”

Nina Willoughby looked up from her sketch pad, to see her housemate and best friend Lilah stood at her bedroom door looking a million dollars, then glanced at herself. Her friend was the epitome of beauty and looked particularly breathtaking at that very moment. With a smile of exasperation she offered, “A - your hair looks perfect, as always, and B - WTF is dry shampoo?” She had no idea what it was, let alone have any in her bedroom.

Lilah groaned and rolled her eyes, “you are such a heathen Willoughby, do you know that?”

Nina laughed, “you do enough glamour for us both.” And that was true; they were like chalk and cheese. Lilah all colour, vibrancy and exotic, Nina was a tomboy, polar opposites but best friends. Since their first day in school age five back in the centre of London they’d been devoted best buddies. Lilah was an only child, whereas Nina was years younger than her brother James, so they’d been sisters, friends...everything for years.

Lilah was an ex-model, her six foot frame, amazing bone structure and glossy healthy hair made her a wonder, without her funny, devoted and caring personality. Nina on the other hand was short, dark and chunky, she would never command a crowd as her friend did, but where Lilah loved attention, loved glamour and all that that brought, Nina was happy carrying the bags, being behind the scenes. And that worked for them both.

Lilah laughed, “the irony is that no matter what I do I never look as lovely as you do!”

Shaking her head in bewilderment, Nina looked at her friend, “Now I KNOW you’re after something Miss Ellis! Where you going anyway?”

Her friend smiled, “on a date! Would you believe that?”

Nina grinned, “brilliant, who is he?”

Lilah’s heart had been broken the previous year by the man she thought she’d marry, they’d been together for three years, and whilst Nina had never REALLY liked him, Lilah had been besotted, but finding him in bed with another friend of theirs had more than devastated her. It had taken her months to rediscover her joie de vivre, and over the last twelve months her fragile heart had started to heal. This was the first man she’d dated to Nina’s knowledge since.

                “I met him at that trade fair the other week, he’s called a couple of times, flattering me, you know?”

Nina smiled, “you deserve some happiness, they’re not all bastards, ok?” She dropped her pencil and jumped up to hug her friend. “If I knew what dry shampoo was, then now is the exact time that I’d pass it to you. OK?” Nina meant that, she’d do anything for Lilah, because her best friend had done so much for her over the years, as unlike family, she got to choose who she spent her time with.

Lilah chuckled, “what about you? What are you planning on a sunny Saturday afternoon?”

                “Painting class at the Oakdale Home, then finish those designs that I started for the Wootton wedding.”

Shaking her head Lilah sighed, “you work too hard!”

                “How can that be true when it’s SO much fun?”

Half an hour later Lilah called out a goodbye and Nina heard the door close, peace. It was a while since she’d had the house to herself. Sliding her design sketches into the pad open in front of her, she stood to leave the bedroom; it was the mirror on the back of her bedroom door that stopped her in her tracks. She looked at her reflection, her unruly black hair, short and spiky on a good day, but today wild and out of control, the freckles that adorned her nose, a snub nose. She sighed, she’d never be what Lilah described, and she would never own dry shampoo...like that even made sense.

Opening her wardrobe door, she found her leather biker boots and pulled them on, with her short denim shorts and layered vest they were anything but elegant, but she loved them. She loved being different, she loved not conforming, and she loved that being that way drove people away from her.

The walk to the residential home that she volunteered in several times a week was less than twenty minutes, and when the sun was shining, there was nothing nicer. She waved to Cliff, the pensioner who rented the ground floor apartment next door.

                “Need anything while I’m out?”

He was recovering from a hip replacement, and whilst he was getting on well, he wasn’t back to full strength, though as he kept reminding her, “not bad for eighty one.”

                “No thanks Nina...your Lilah got me milk this morning.”

Nina stopped in her stride and gasped, “Lilah? WOW. She really is turning over a new leaf.”

He laughed, “saw a young man collect her just now, that must be a good thing.”

                “It is!” Then with a wave she carried on her way.

She had been giving art lessons in the home for eighteen months, volunteering to help older people who were lonely, bored and tired. Initially it had been a form of guilt that made her help others, a need to pay something back to society, but now it was compulsion, she loved the people there, and whilst art was the reason they all came together, more often than not they just gossiped, the women so stereotypically about soap operas and family, the men usually sport or the latest technological gadget that they’d purchased. But for Nina, the times there reminded of Sunday afternoons she’d spent with her maternal grandmother in the very house she now lived in with her friend. They were her greatest childhood memories, and she came close to the same feeling of contentment with the residents of Oakdale.

Nina looked out of the window and smiled, was there anywhere more beautiful than here, on the coast, watching the puffy clouds blow across the horizon?

                “Are there you are Nina. There are only three in the group today, is that enough to run it or do you want to leave it this week?”

Nina turned and smiled at Donald, the warden for the residential home, “one is fine.”

He nodded then left her to it.

The three women wanted to work on watercolour skies as their topic, and the framed picture of blues and greys out of the window that dominated the room was a perfect example to work on, so they set the easels in front of the glass and began the instruction. Cheryl, the youngest of the three at seventy nine, was so extravagant with her painting skills, that the four of them had dissolved into giggles before the halfway point.

After a particularly raucous session, Nina was grinning as she put away all the equipment remembering some of the scandalous comments that the women had made, when the door to the room opened and a man backed in.

                “Mansell?”

The man spun around looking distraught and shocked at seeing her there.

                “Are you ok? Come and sit down.”

She guided him to the seat and sat beside him, and he looked up at her gratefully, “sorry, I just needed some space.”

Nina instantly worried about Mansell. He was one of the quieter men in the home, he told her in the past that he’d been quiet since he’d had a stroke four years earlier, though externally there was very little sign of that now, she could only imagine that internally it was a lot harder for him. He’d joined a few of her lessons over the last few months, but nothing regularly, and never very frequently.

                “You ok? You seem a bit...worried.”

He laughed, slumping back in the seat. “That, young lady, is a gross understatement.”

She leaned close, “what’s wrong?”

                “I don’t want to bother you...”

Nina reached in her bag and pulled out a silver hipflask, “no bother, I’m here for the night!” After taking a slug of the whisky it contained, she passed it to her right, and after a few seconds delay, he took it and threw his head back, his lips around the opening of the bottle.

                “That feels good. A serious whisky.”

She nodded, “only a single malt, but a good one. I don’t mess when it comes to whisky.”

                “I can see that.”

Nina sat there quietly watching the sun set through the window in front of her as they occasionally passed the flask between them. It was more than ten minutes later when he finally spoke.

                “It was my brother’s birthday today.”

                “Ah.” She handed him the flask, “how old would he have been?”

He took a drink then looked at her, “he was two years older than me, would have been ninety today.”

                “You are eighty eight? Oh my God, Mansell I wouldn’t give you a day more than seventy eight!”

He laughed at that, “been a long hard life, I’m sure you flatter me. Seventy years he’s been gone. Seventy years of living that he was denied.”

                “How did he die?” She had turned sideways in her seat, genuinely interested and concerned in equal measures.

                “D-day. He was one of those slain as they rushed out of the sea; the Gerries all sat in their impenetrable bunkers mowing down young men as though they were tin cans lined up on a wall. I feel close to him here, you can almost see France...I know it’s not Normandy...but it helps. You know?”

She nodded, “shit. I watched a show about it a few weeks back. It looked terrifying, but also amazing, what an achievement. Something SO special, something to be proud of.”

                “Ha, yeah. For those that made it...like me.” He looked up at her, “he was married, an eight week old baby...I had nothing at home, I left the boat before him, why did I live and he die?”

She squeezed his hand, what an awful thing, to question your own life when a sibling died so young. “Because...sometimes things just happen that we have no control over. And I always have to believe that things happen for a reason. Maybe you came back because you were destined to have a family, the same future that he had?”

He guffawed at that, “to be stuck here? Really? Great job I did with my family if this is what they put on me, dumping me here without a care.”

Again Nina sighed, “at least you had the chance to have a family. Some didn’t, and whether you live or die by your decisions regarding the children, you had them. Your brother would have given everything to have seen his family grow up. Don’t resent that Mansell. Don’t be bitter and angry, be happy, pleased, be grateful that you could see your own family grow, as well as his. I’m sure if your brother had a wish it would be that you would celebrate what you have, not mourn what you don’t. He wouldn’t appreciate your pity.”

Mansell sat with his head hung for a few long moments then sighed, turning his head towards her.

“Where did you get all your wisdom from? It was like listening to Gordon speak then; my brother always was the wisest man I knew.”

She gave a pity filled laugh, “you aren’t the only one who has regrets Mansell and it’s always easy to see things from the outside when it’s not you at the heart of it all."

That made him laugh heartily. “Thanks Nina, you’ve made things...realistic for the first time in ages.”

As he stood to move away she wondered what that meant. “I didn’t mean...”

Mansell was taller than her and she could only imagine how imposing he was back in the height of his youth, “Nina, it hasn’t affected me, I’m not about to crumple up in a ball, and I’m not thinking that you are belittling everything about my life. No, you’ve just given me a huge reality check. It’s fine... I need to stop feeling sorry for myself.”

Later that night as she worked hard on her designs, Nina couldn’t help think about Mansell and his sadness. She thought of James, her brother at thirty nine ten years older than her, and wondered if she’d ever feel that level of worry, concern or affection for him. But she knew the answer, she despised him, so there was little chance of that. In the past that would have saddened her, but now, she was confident in her choices, she’d stand by what she’d done in the past and had no intention of regretting anything.

There was no sign of Lilah the next morning; her date had either gone very well or dreadfully, either way she wasn’t showing her face. She had a deadline approaching for her latest commission, but Mansell’s sadness was playing on her mind when she should be thinking of ideas for the perfect romantic design that encompassed the love of Jocelyn Cairns and Martin Wootton, two of London’s gentry into solid platinum wedding bands. Over the last few years she’d moved from a student of jewellery-making to what Ultimate Wedding Magazine had titled ‘the newest and biggest name in bespoke wedding rings.’

Despite this, despite the pressure to come up with designs, her thoughts were with an elderly man who had seemed lower than she’d ever seen him the previous day. So she packed up and headed back to the Oakdale Home.

By ten am she was knocking the door to Mansell’s “suite”, the home was purely residential, each resident had an individual bedroom, small lounge/kitchen and bathroom, but it was supervised, and there were communal areas for the residents to meet, and activities held throughout the day and evening which were of course obligatory. She’d volunteered at the home for the past eighteen months, and her commitment there had grown from occasional art classes to several hours a week for under many guises, she couldn’t imagine not committing to being there.

Mansell didn’t answer, so she knocked again, eventually he opened the door still looking sad.

                “I’ve been worried about you.”

                “You have?”

She smiled, “yes. You ok?”

He shrugged, “I want to see his grave...my brother, it’s the seventieth anniversary of D-Day in two weeks. But my wonderful family, not ONE of them can be bothered to take me, all TOO busy.”

She sighed, “not one of them.”

Again he shrugged, “nah. All too busy.”

Nina’s heart broke for him, “I’m sorry to hear that. I’m sure if you explain how important it is they’ll change their mind.”

With a sad shake of his head, he retreated back into his room.

As she walked into the house she’d inherited from her maternal grandmother, Lilah called out from the kitchen, “Neee-Naaa?” She called out in a way that only Lilah ever did. “Is that you?”

Nina grinned, “who else has a key to this place?”

Lilah looked up from the kitchen table and the Sunday papers with a beaming smile on her face, “your brother called earlier...can you call him back?” She grimaced as she delivered the foreboding news. “Sorry.”

Nina shared the grimace, “that’s a no. But you look amazing, and happy. Do I take it that you had a great date?”

Lilah paused for a moment, noting the subject change, but was too excited to contain her news, “he’s AMAZING, we had a great time, he took me to that new wine bar, then we walked along the front...smooched under the pier...then he walked me home like a real gent!”

                “He sounds perfect.”

Lilah nodded, standing to get Nina a cup of coffee, “James didn’t say what he wanted, and I didn’t ask.”

Nina took a deep breath, “his ounce of flesh no doubt.”

                “Don’t call him.”

Nina grinned, “he’ll just keep pestering me. Must be after money, it’s rarely anything else.”

Lilah paused, biting her tongue for a moment, “don’t do it Nina, he does nothing for you.”

Three hours later Nina had completed her designs and skipped upstairs from her basement workshop with a smile on her face, “go take these to the Wootton’s girlfriend. I’m all done.  Shall we go for Sunday lunch? On me?”

Lilah looked up from her current task of painting her nails, “you said you hadn’t a clue what to do earlier.”

Nina grinned, “inspiration.”

She tossed the four versions of rings on to the table and Lilah perused them. “How the hell do you pull it out of the bag EVERY time?” Her eyes were wide when she looked up at her friend, “these are perfect.”

Nina grinned, “if I stick to designing and making I can do this...but I need you and Amelia to front things, to be the face of the business, you know that.”

She’d become interested in jewellery making when she was young, but her rebellious teenage life had seen her travel for years, driving around Europe in her multicoloured Beetle. It wasn’t until she settled back in Britain four years earlier that she’d looked into pursuing what had always been a dream to her. It coincided with her inheriting the house they now lived in after her grandmother passed away, and so she could enrol on a course to learn exactly how to craft amazing jewellery.

Within the first year of her course, her tutor had singled her out as exceptional. By the second year she’d focussed on making rings, and only using precious metals as she found them more challenging, and the finished article had more lustre, more glamour.  

When she completed her first self designed ring, she’d sold it almost immediately for far more than she anticipated, ironically to Lilah’s cousin Amelia. It was one of those moments of fortune that had shaped Nina’s life, because, if Maya hadn’t been a fledgling Hollywood starlet, looking for the perfect wedding ring for her new husband, an American A list actor, then things could and would have been very different. But after the lavish OK magazine cover wedding, Maya came looking for her and invested heavily in Nina, with her financial backing and contacts, with Lilah’s people skills and charm, between them, they had developed a very lucrative business.

Nina emerged from her room fifteen minutes later dressed in a handkerchief top, brown with turquoise pattern, her favourite denim shorts and her biker boots.

As she was teasing her short dark hair into some semblance of control, Lilah appeared from the room opposite in a floor length maxi dress, immaculate make up and a side plait in her long thick hair. She could make work overalls look attractive, and beside her Nina had felt dwarfed for so many years, but her success, the fact that she was the driving force for their business, that she was successful, meant she felt taller than her five two frame, and more elegant than her larger than desirable figure allowed. She’d spent years trying to be what everyone wanted her to be, years of wearing glamorous clothes, heels...but she’d lost her confidence years back, and it had taken several years of travelling alone to get her groove back. Now she didn’t care what people felt she should wear, she dressed how she wanted to, she wasn’t about to conform for anyone.

                “Come on Lilah, it’ll be dinner time before we get lunch the way things are going.”

Arms linked they headed off into the late afternoon sunshine for some lunch.