The Reject's Club

Chapter 8

Caroline threw herself into her new life with gusto. She'd always had a chameleon personality, able to adapt to the varying characters and situations in her life when necessary, without making it appear obvious that she was actually doing so.

The flat was not large and was not even hers, or Allen's for that matter, being rented, but it felt like home, her secret safe haven. It was accessed from a discreet door that stood directly on the pavement, and up a dimly lit set of skinny stairs that looked as if they went nowhere, until one reached the top and saw the door to the right. It opened directly onto a corner of the large bedroom that was furnished with a huge bed, a substantial wardrobe and a dressing table. Directly in front of the main door was the bathroom,obviously a conversion as it was constructed of plasterboard. Through a door at the far left of the bedroom was a very long kitchen-cum-living room with a settee on one side and Allen's electrical goods; a television, video recorder and impressive stereo on top of a cabinet opposite. To the end sat the kitchen worktops,sink, oven and fridge. Large storage spaces were nailed above. Every wall was pale blue, but the carpets and curtains were a warm turd-coloured brown, the only thing that Caroline really disliked about the flat.

She was learning more about Allen every day. This wasn't a particularly difficult thing to do, as he was his own favourite topic of conversation. Naughtily, Caroline secretly nicknamed him Me,Myself, I. She thought herself highly self-obsessed but Allen took narcissism to a higher plane.

He was close to his family, whom he visited once a week. He would have liked to spend more time with them, he'd said, but for now he just wanted to be with her.

He was a good cook, having pulled his weight in the Marlowe household and was very experimental, much more so than she herself as food to her was no great consuming passion. You ate so that you lived, she thought. From his creative hands she sampled the delights of sweet and sour chicken, chilli beef and nachos and had to admit she was more than a little impressed with his culinary skills.

He was in touch with his feminine side, and though it pleased her that he was always clean and freshly groomed, his recital of what beauty products he invested in annoyed her. For Caroline, it was okay for a man to take care of himself but...poncy to talk about it so much. It also concerned her that his only friends were female; his sisters- Caroline had not met any of his family yet- and his ex-girlfriends.

'Ex-girlfriends!' Caroline exclaimed. She found this strange. 'Why on earth would someone want to keep in touch with a previous lover? I'm a moving on and new beginnings girl myself.' she said. Allen showed his disapproval through slitted eyes. She also did not trust men who felt the need to surround themselves with women. To her it smacked of insecurity and the need to make himself look endearing to the opposite sex.

Caroline had met all three of his former paramours and had found she had nothing in common with Marcia, Stella and Disa.

'Disa! What a stupid bloody name!' said Caroline, who had a thing about names that didn't trip of the tongue lightly, and jarred instead. Allen glared at her, but she'd privately and gleefully nicknamed the woman Dieter due to her Germanic features and square head. They were all skinny blonde women with ditchwater coloured hair. They all had boring office jobs and didn't make the best of themselves or dress up.

Caroline preened vaingloriously. She was more beautiful and more interesting.

He loved all kinds of music, especially rock. No surprise there, he had a vast record collection and owned a guitar which he played as a hobby, proclaiming himself too unconfident to perform on stage.