Chapter 15

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

The barbecue was in full swing. Nick had promised to teach Hassan how to make sure the meat was properly cooked on both sides. Olena and Anna were playing a form of badminton with Cath supervising. Brooke and another girl were setting everything up on the tables.

Mercury and Eddie had offered to get the salads ready. It was too nice a day to be stuck indoors so Mercury had insisted they bring everything outside, including the kitchen table.

Eddie was making light work of cutting a cucumber. Mercury watched him with interest.

"Do you do most of the cooking at home?" Mercury asked.

"Yeah."

"What's your best dish?"

Eddie thought about it. "Usually when it's a school night, I'll get something out of the freezer. If it's a weekend and I've got time, I like making spag bol. Oh, and at school we did soup. Mum loves that. It's easy to eat."

"Any ideas what you'll do when you leave school?"

"Fuck knows," Eddie replied. "Try and get a job, I suppose."

"No college?"

"Can't afford it."

Mercury watched the young lad moving on to slicing tomatoes. The matter-of-fact way he accepted the limitations on his life broke Mercury's heart. When he remembered some of the pointless things he had worried about at Eddie's age, it made him cringe.

He glanced over at Nick. He was carefully showing Hassan how to turn the sausages with his tongs. Nick must have sensed Mercury's eyes on him. He looked up and gave the most imperceptible wink.

"Have you and him got it together then?" Eddie asked.

"Bloody hell, you should go to MI5 for a job."

Eddie had a twinkle in his eye. "It's just with you going into his yesterday. You stayed ages."

Mercury put the knife down. "Are you kidding me? Did you say anything to the others?"

"Nah," Eddie replied. "I'm not a grass."

So much for them keeping things quiet. They would have to work harder on that one in the future. Mercury worried that Nick might get into trouble if it got out that they were sleeping together. Somehow, he trusted Eddie not to let their secret out.

"What about Brooke?"

"Haven't said nothing," Eddie replied.

"How come?" Mercury asked. "You were pretty sure the other day that you liked her."

"I do," Eddie said. "It's…well, you know."

"Terrifying?"

"Something like that."

Mercury stared across at Brooke. She very rarely let Eddie out of her sight when he was at the House. Mercury suspected that Eddie had nothing to worry about on that score.

"I think you should have faith," Mercury replied. "But not until you've done these salads."

The food went down a storm. Hardly anything had been left. As the kids lay on the grass with full bellies, Hassan treated them all to a dance routine he had choreographed. The confidence of the boy was admirable.

"You should go on one of those talent shows," Cath said. "You're excellent."

Hassan shrugged. "I might do."

Mercury stood with Nick, surveying all they had created.

"I think it's a success, don't you?" Nick said.

"One hundred percent."

"I wish you could stay at mine tonight. I like sharing a bed with you."

Mercury turned to him. "I finally have my tag off on Friday. Fancy helping me celebrate with a meal out, few drinks and a night at yours? I know how cheeky I'm being, but fuck it."

Nick raised an eyebrow. "Fuck it, indeed. I'd love to. I guess your mother is still in the country?"

Mercury flinched. Once again, he felt like a loser having to build his social life around his mother's movements. Nick must think him a child that never grew up.

"Yeah. She's going back next week to finish her scenes. Our style is most definitely cramped in that neck of the woods."

They stood in silence. Now Mercury had tasted Nick's body, he couldn't get enough of it. Still, it wouldn't do them any harm to wait a few days. By then, he would be fit to burst.

He scanned the garden and saw Eddie and Brooke deep in conversation.

"What do you suppose is going on over there?" Nick asked.

"Oh, I'd say young love is blossoming."

Nick turned to him with a raised eyebrow. "With a little help from a friend by any chance?"

Mercury clutched his chest. "I would never interfere in other people's lives. You should know me better than that by now."

Nick chuckled. "So that's a yes then?"

"It's a perhaps."

Nick moved a little closer to Mercury. Their hips pressed together. "They've been destined for each other ever since they started here. Good work giving them that push."

"Just a little of the Mercury Morrison pizzazz. Let me know where else you need it."

Nick picked up his mug from the table. "How about in here?"

"Bloody hell," Mercury said, grabbing it. "You are a hard taskmaster."

That evening, Madeline had gone out to a party for something forgettable. Mercury was bored. His text to Nick remained unread. He wasn't worried, Nick had said he had plans for stocktaking the kitchen after they closed up. For once, Mercury was glad of his current ankle jewellery. Yet, even doing such a boring task wouldn't be so bad. If he did it with Nick.

God, you've got it bad, Morrison. You're sounding like a very dated pop song.

He wandered through into the conservatory to find Gwen scrubbing at the windows as though she'd seen the face of the devil himself in them. It was late for her to still be working.

"Gwen," Mercury said. "What are you doing here?"

She stopped and wiped her brow with the back of her hand. "Didn't your mother tell you? I'm doing afternoons and evenings on a Wednesday for the foreseeable future. My Bill has got a counselling client. They can only do five o'clock. He wants the place to himself."

She beamed.

"Well done, Bill," Mercury said. "Is it his first session tonight?"

"No, they've been going a couple of weeks now. I went to bingo until we sussed if it was going to be long term. Thankfully, they're getting on like a house on fire and Bill really thinks he can help him."

Mercury hugged Gwen. "That's absolutely brilliant."

"Thanks."

"Please send him my love."

"I will. He thinks very highly of you."

Bill and Gwen had often helped out with babysitting duties when Mercury had been little. He adored Bill, who told stories with the best voices.

They were fast approaching their silver wedding anniversary. An event Madeline had grand plans for.

"Gwen, when did you know Bill was the one?"

She looked intrigued. "And why would you want to know that?"

"I asked first."

"Fair enough," she said, perching on the end of the chaise longue. "Let me see, I first clapped eyes on him probably thirty years ago. I was a raver in those days."

Mercury gasped. Gwen was in her mid-fifties and still attractive. She favoured quite a sensible haircut and he'd rarely seen her out of jogging trousers. The image of her dancing around in a field with a whistle and glow sticks was a difficult one to conjure up.

"Is it that hard to imagine?" she said laughing. "I do scrub up quite well, you know. When I put some effort in."

"I'm dismayed we don't warrant your full glam look."

She swatted him with her cloth. "Do you want to know or not?"

"I do. I do."

"So we were both at a rave. Somewhere near Southend, I think. God, he was so fit. A bit like Keith from The Prodigy."

Mercury resisted the urge to let his jaw drop. Bill had a receding hairline and scruffy ponytail now.

"We moved in the same circles for a bit," she continued. "Then one day it all kind of happened."

She blushed.

"Gwen!"

"You don't own sex, you know. I had no intention of letting him slip through my fingers."

Mercury was seeing a whole new side to them.

"But when did I know for sure?" Gwen asked. "It was on our third date. He took me to see Four Weddings and a Funeral. I knew Bill would hate every minute of it. I asked him why he chosen that film. He said the smile on my face was the only thing he'd been watching."

A lump formed in Mercury's throat. "Oh my God, Gwen. That's so nice."

"I know," she said. Her eyes glistened at the memory. "I made up my mind then and there. I was going to fall in love with this man and I had no choice in the matter. We've had our ups and downs but he's never given me a reason to regret it. I don't think you can ask for more than that."

Mercury took her words in. They'd known each other less time than he'd known Nick and Gwen had been totally sure. He'd been trying to dismiss his feelings. Maybe he should be more like Gwen and just give in to them.

"Are you asking for a reason?" Gwen asked.

"I am," Mercury replied. "I really am. There's a guy I'm working with. Gwen, I think I'm really falling for him."

She hopped up and took hold of his arms. "Now the mother in me wants to tell you how inappropriate that is and how it can't possibly work."

"But?"

"But the young girl who went to the movies all those years ago is saying to tell you to go for it. My darling, love isn't as common as all those crap singers would have you believe. If you genuinely think there is a chance, grasp it with both hands."

He hugged her close. "I don't know what I'd do without you."

She wriggled out of his clutches. "Then you'd better let me get on with those windows or your mother might have a different opinion."

Mercury laughed. "She would never sack you. No one else knows how to use the dishwasher."

She flicked him with her cloth. "I know how close to the truth that is. Now scoot."

He made his way through the kitchen and up the stairs to the drawing room. An evening in front of the television beckoned. Not that he really minded. Soon he would be able to spend the night at Nick's. The anticipation burnt through him.

As he flicked the TV on, he remembered Gwen's words.

What if I already know he's the one too?