THE THURSDAY GROUP - CHAPTER ONE

 

“I’ll be late,” Annabelle moaned as she swung through the kitchen door.

David lowered his newspaper and regarded her over his glasses.

“Calm down, Annie.  They’ll wait for you.”

“That’s not the point.  You know that I don’t like being late.”  She rifled through her handbag.  “Damn, I can’t find my keys.”

David sighed and returned his attention to the latest share prices.  If Annie was getting stressed then he knew from experience that it was better for him to keep a low profile.

“David.  Can’t you help me look?  Please!”

David folded the newspaper carefully and laid it on the table.  He stood up, walked through to the hall and picked up Annie’s keys from the telephone table where he’d correctly guessed that she’d left them.  Returning to the kitchen he placed them on the worktop in front of Annie.

“There you are, sweetheart.  Now you can go and see your friends and perhaps I’ll get a bit of peace.”

“Oh, David, you found them.  You sweetie.”  Annie lifted her face for a kiss.  “See you later, then.”  She grabbed her coat from the back of the chair and flew out of the door. 

Annabelle hated being late.  In fact, in all the years that the Thursday group had been meeting she had never been less than five minutes early and was usually the first to arrive.  When they were meeting in a restaurant, as they were today, she made a special effort to arrive first so that she could get a good view of the comings and goings.  She hated sitting with her back to the door and not knowing what was happening behind her.

She glanced at her watch as she opened the car door and breathed a sigh of relief.  Plenty of time, after all.

That was the benefit of starting to get ready early, she thought as she drove out of Rainbow Close.  If you were held up you still could manage to be on time.

Ten minutes later she turned into the car park of the Chinese restaurant.  Mandy was here already; her Focus was parked in the shade, Annabelle noticed, and she pulled up alongside it.  Before getting out of the car she touched up her lipstick and ran a comb through her hair; it wouldn’t do to turn up looking less than perfect.  She wondered if Julia was here already as well; sometimes Mandy picked Julia up on the way in.  That would mean that they’d have the better seats.  Damn!

“Julia not here yet then?” she asked as she hung her bag on the chair next to Mandy and sat down.

Mandy looked up from the menu.

“Oh, hi, Annie – no, she’s going on somewhere else after this so she’s making her own way in.”

“How are you?” Annie asked as she sat down.

Mandy shrugged. 

“Oh, you know, getting used to the single life again.  It’s not easy.”

“I’m sure that it’s not.”  Annie shuddered.    When Mandy discovered that her husband was having an affair she poured out her heart at the Thursday group and they all tried to be supportive.  But having a friend go through something like that wasn’t the same as having the experience yourself.  All three of them knew that the sympathy that they offered wouldn’t even start to cushion the blow of finding yourself in the divorce courts after twenty years of what had seemed to you a happy marriage. 

Annie didn’t know what she’d do if David had an affair.  She might seem cool, calm and collected, but without David as the pivot of her life she knew she would go to pieces.  

She rested a hand on Mandy’s arm.

“You’ll get there,” she said, “give it time.”

Mandy smiled.

“Yes, I know I will, and I have to admit that the bad times aren’t so intense or so frequent.  You know what the hardest time is?”

Annie shook her head in reply.

“Sunday afternoons.  It was the time that we always spent together.  You know, our time.  We didn’t do anything special, sometimes we just sat around reading the Sunday papers, or maybe we’d go for a drive.  Now I’m lost on Sunday afternoons; I just don’t know what to do with myself.”

“Goodness, we can’t have that.  Why don’t you come round ours next Sunday?  Come to lunch if you like, and stay on for tea.”

“Oh, I couldn’t …” Mandy began.

“Nonsense, of course you can.”  Annie was the bossy one of the group.  “Dad will be there for lunch but then he and David generally go and watch footie, so we can have a nice girlie chat.”

“Okay, that will be great.  Thanks, Annie.”

“You’re welcome – ah, here’s Julia.”  She waved.

"Hi, you two.”  Julia sat down and looked round.  “No Lydia yet then?”

“Don’t be silly, she’ll still be hitting the shops.  Shall we order drinks at least?”  Annie handed the menu to Julia.

“Good idea,” agreed Mandy.  “Knowing Lydia it could be some time before we can eat.”

“Ah, that’s where you’re wrong,” said Annie who was, as she planned, facing the door.  “Here she is now.”

The four women ordered their meals and then Lydia insisted on showing the others the bargains she’d picked up.

“It’s all right,” she said to Annie, noticing the disapproving look, “I’ve been in the charity shop.”

“I never said a word.”  Annie protested.

“You didn’t have to,” Lydia mumbled as she pulled various carrier bags on to her lap.

“Anyway,” she continued, “Look at these.”  She pulled out two jumpers.  “Eight pounds for the pair of them.  And I picked up these trousers for a fiver and a jacket for Chris – only eight pounds.  Ooh, and look at these,” she pulled out a pair of shoes, “aren’t they lovely?”

“Gosh,” Mandy said, “they’re brand new, aren’t they?”  She reached out and touched the stiletto-heeled, black, strappy sandals.

Lydia caught Annie’s eye again and looked sheepish.

“Oh, these didn’t come from the charity shop,” she said, “but they were less than half price – reduced from £59.  They were up at £25 and I just couldn’t resist them.”

Annie snorted.

“Honestly, Lydia, you’ve got loads of shoes – what did you go and buy another pair for?”

“Oh, you’re always so negative, Annie.”  Lydia held out the shoes.  “Don’t you like them?”

“Whether I like them or not is immaterial.  The point is, unless you’ve come into money since we last met, then you’re as broke as you ever were and can’t afford to buy £25 shoes that you don’t need.”

“Now, now, girls, let’s not get into a wrangle.  We don’t want to spoil our lunch, do we?”  Julia, the peacemaker among them, said. 

“You’re right, Julia.”  Annie looked across at Lydia.  “Sorry, Lyd; it’s really none of my business.”

Lydia sighed as she slipped the shoes back into the bag.  “No, you’re right Annie.  Chris will have a go at me for spending so much money; it’s just that they were such bargains I couldn’t resist them.”

“Lydia, you’re every shopkeepers dream.”  Mandy said.  “Talking of Chris, how is he?”

“Oh, he’s fine now – back at work.”

“So his back’s better then?”

Lydia nodded.  “The doctor says that it’s bound to recur from time to time but it seems okay at the moment.”

Their meal came then and the women spent the next half hour trying everyone else’s meal choice as well as their own. 

The four of them met on the third Thursday of every month.  Normally they took it in turns to meet at one another’s houses, but four times a year they met in a restaurant; the one whose birthday was closest to the date choosing the venue.