A SMILE IN A WHISTLE

Chapter 14

It was bound to happen. In fact, Sarah was surprised it hadn't happened sooner. When having breakfast the next morning, her parents swamped her with questions about Ben. Five days had passed since their argument. Katherine and Patrick thought it was just a couple's little fall out, the ones we all get once in a while. And yet, Sarah was still using their guest room and not once had she returned to her apartment. Sarah eventually told them about Ben's drunken nights out at The Dash with his lady friend. To her amazement, her parents still encouraged her to give their relationship another chance. Instead of listening to their advice, Sarah snatched her father's newspaper that was lying on the dining table, to search for a new apartment. Many students had left for the summer holidays, allowing her to easily find a little studio.

While flicking through the Flat Rentals page, the doorbell rang. Katherine ate her last mouthful of cereals, then opened the front door.

"Lydia!" she greeted. "How lovely to see you!"

Sarah jumped out of her chair in a flash, desperate to hide.

"If she asks, I'm out!" she whispered to her father.

She placed the newspaper in front of her face and ran across the dining room. Her father chuckled at her childish reaction. Sarah hoped to reach the kitchen before her mother brought Lydia inside... but it was too late.

"Hi Sarah!" said Lydia standing at the other end of the room.

"Oh! Hi Lydia! Didn't see you there... How are you?"

"I'm great, it's you I'm worried about!"

"Why?" asked Sarah, pretending she had no clue why her friend had come round.

"Well, I called you a million times, and no answer!"

Patrick and Katherine glanced at each other, then left the room at the same time. Slowly and quietly.

"Would you like something to eat?" suggested Sarah, trying to avoid the subject.

"What has gotten into you? Jimmy and I have spent the whole weekend with Ben, trying our best to cheer him up!"

Sarah sighed.

"I knew you were going to take his side, Lydia!"

"I'm not," she assured, "but you could have at least answered my calls! Or Ben's calls!"

"I'm fed up of people telling me what to do!" Sarah shouted.

She flung the newspaper onto the table, sat down and finished her strawberry jam toasts. This isn't how I wanted to start the day! she thought to herself. After a short moment of silence, Lydia sat next to her and was ready to listen to what her friend had to say.

"You knew I wanted to break up with him, Lydia. We talked about it. Why are you so surprised?"

"Because... to be honest... I didn't think you would actually go through with it... But he did tell us about that colleague he slept with. Sounds awful."

"They had sex?" asked Sarah, dismayed. "I thought they had just kissed at the club! Where could they have–" Sarah stopped herself from going any further. "You know, it's not even worth thinking about... It's putting me off my toast. What would you do if Jimmy cheated on you?"

"That wouldn't happen," she replied a little pretentiously.

"What makes you so sure?" Sarah fired back.

"Because we crave each other too much to give up on our relationship."

They both looked fixedly at each other for a few seconds, then smiled...

"Stimulation," they said simultaneously.

"I think you made the right choice, Sarah," assured Lydia. "But you must go and see Ben soon. He is very upset. He regrets everything."

"I know, he's been trying to call me every night... I don't want him to beg me to come back. I don't want to hear that."

"I think he's past the 'critical moment'," Lydia said while miming the quotation marks over critical and moment with her fingers.

"It sometimes seems hard for people to take my words seriously, even my parents! After asking them not to throw anymore birthday parties for me, they still did just a few weeks ago!"

"Any excuse to have a party!" Lydia joked. "So, what's up next for you?"

"A new flat," said Sarah as she pointed her index at the newspaper.

"It will be a big change!"

Sarah nodded, then browsed through the ads. Lydia couldn't help but ask one last question.

"Don't you miss him?"

Sarah looked up.

"Of course. But it's his company that I miss, not his love."

Katherine stepped back into the dining room.

"Would you like a cup of coffee, Lydia?" she asked.

"No thank you, Mrs Danton. I must be on my way to work. I just came by to check on Sarah."

"Very well," said Katherine, returning to the kitchen.

Sarah and Lydia walked together to the front of the stone house. One was wearing her very posh outfit for work – a lovely blue dress with a white shiny cardigan and white shoes – and the other was still in pajamas and slippers.

"By the way Sarah, I almost forgot, would you like to come to The Dash with me and Jimmy in two weeks' time? It's for his birthday. Twenty-eight this year!"

"The Dash?"

"Oh dear... I wasn't thinking... Will that be too awkward?"

"No, don't worry Lydia. That's fine. A couple of photos won't stop me from going!"

Sarah waved her friend goodbye as she drove down the graveled driveway. Once Lydia had left, she wandered to the back of the house. The grass hadn't been cut for at least a month; it was very high. Step by step, in her old purple slippers, she got closer to the wooden bench she used to sit on as a child. It was hardly visible with all the high grass around it, but it was still in a very good state. She sat down and enjoyed the peace around her. It was so calm she could hear every insect in the garden. Crickets, flies, bees, all of them were making music with their buzzing sounds. A few cuckoos joined in. Sarah pulled on a long blade of grass, put it between her thumbs and to her lips, and whistled. The sharp shrill sound was loud and steady. She smiled at her success and she wished with all her heart that she could share it with Sam one day.