Secret Love

The girl on the train

As she watched the countryside roll by, Felicity "Flick" Wilks knew she'd done her best for them, sending them to her parents for the holidays.  The city, although full of things to see and do, wasn't the place to spend your holiday.  The seaside was the place, as it had been every summer since she could remember.  Walking the dog on the beach, scaring the "Olds" on the Amusement rides, lighting bonfires of driftwood and watching the stars come out, lying on a blanket looking for satellites.  All things they used to do together, all things they used to do as a foursome. 

At first it had been Flick; Toby her brother; her mum and her dad.  Then, as time had gone on, Toby had left for the "Big Smoke" and he'd been replaced by John.  John Wilks.  Tall, dark, handsome and the first man she'd ever loved. The last too. They married in a whirlwind and spent the next five years watching satellites together.

Clare and Jenny had appeared over time too.  Growing into a couple of little chips off the old block.  They had the perfect blend of her common sense and John's sense of the ridiculous.  They had something else too.  Compassion.  By the bucket load.  Hence why the back garden in North London was like a refugee shelter for wayward animals.  Snails with cracked shells, baby birds rescued from next door's cat, the occasional hedgehog and even a bat once, found crawling along their fence in the middle of the day.  All cared for, all returned safely to the wild - well except the snails, but less said about that the better.  

Flick, Clare, Jenny and John.  The Four Amigos. The Fantastic Four. The.... as she thought about it, her soul clenched as hard as ever.  They would never be a foursome again, would they?  John was gone.   Taken just over three years ago, one night when the roads were dark, the ground was icy and the other driver? Drunk as a skunk.

They'd never had the chance to say goodbye.  Never had the chance to make a promise to see each other on the other side.  Never had a chance to grow old disgracefully.  All gone in a matter of seconds on that cold November night.  

But as she often said, mangling her favourite films into one, you can take the box of chocolates and get busy living.  So, for the sake of Clare and Jenny, she got busy. VERY busy.  Now, the Three Stooges, as they called themselves were back. Grief had given way to acceptance, the protective wall had started to come down .  Clare and Jenny were as bright and articulate and fun loving as they should be, Flick just decided that just living was enough.  Her love story had died with John, her life though, would continue.  John would always be with them, always be a part of their story, but now?  Now they would write new chapters and that started with this summer. 

Having left Clare and Jenny with their grandparents, Felicity was on her way home. They were growing so fast; at 11 and 13 they were far more advanced for their age than she had ever been. Now it was all makeup and fashion, Harry Styles and K-Pop. God only knew what it would be next week!  She tried her best, but she knew they needed more, more than she could give alone.  She phoned them an hour outside King's Cross, just to make sure they hadn't burned the house down or scared her mum's little Spaniel, Banjo, into packing his spotted hanky onto a stick and leaving home.

"EHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEH!" she laughed and tipped her head back, completely surrendering to the hilarity. There was no point in pretending, she loved a cheesy joke as much as the next person. Despite her outwardly trying to be a responsible adult, sometimes the inner child still won.....

Tom was reading a script, relishing the anonymity and peace of the carriage when he heard it.  The sound of laughter.  Not just any laughter, but real, full on joyous laughter.  It made him smile before he even looked up.  Putting the pages on the table, he glanced over and then away, feeling like he'd intruded on a special moment.  A second or two later, however, he looked back like a moth drawn to a flame.