The Vintage Cinema Club

She stepped, tentatively, into a light echoing space, kicking off her converse as she hit the floorboards. Lugging the rocking horse past an elegant staircase, she wrinkled her nose at the sharp smell of paint and newness. If the house had looked impressive from the outside, now she was inside, she could see it was to die for. Not that she would have personally. But she knew high quality when it smacked her in the face. Even though she’d only seen the hall, she could already tell from the impeccable finish, from the plasterwork to the perfect wide oak floorboards to the brushed stainless electrical switches, that this was a stylish, luxurious, money no object renovation.

Izzy knew from working with her mum, that for a finish like this, you were talking serious dosh. As for the man of the house, if his jeans were slipping down over his bum as he made his way into the next hallway, she, for one, was not going to notice.

‘It’s all newly done.’ He offered an unexpected burst of conversation over his shoulder as he went. ‘All that’s left to do now is the furnishing.’

Stating the obvious here, obviously.

Izzy always found it strange plunging into the heart of people’s homes as she carried furniture in. One lucky family, moving into this place, although she suspected that houses like this had a lot less to do with luck, and more to do with hard work on someone’s part.

The guy thumped down his cupboard on the hallway floor, opposite a doorway.

‘Dobbin’s going to live here.’ He pushed open a wide panelled door, and stepped back, and gestured for Izzy to walk through first with the rocking horse.

She hesitated slightly, trying to take a line through the doorway, to ensure she made it into the room, without knocking into either the paintwork or the customer. Her heart lurched as she arrived in the huge space, and saw toys scattered across the floor.

‘A playroom…’ Of course, why wouldn’t it be a playroom? Her mouth went dry, and her gut dropped. Why the hell did she feel as if she’d been thumped hard in the stomach?

‘Are there children?’ It came out as a croak, but she had to say something to fill the space until she started breathing again.

She kicked herself for being ridiculous. Of course he’d have children. Why wouldn’t he? Hunky, virile, thirty-something men like him did. He was hardly going to live in this big family house on his own was he? She’d had no expectations at all in his direction, so why the hell should it matter to her if he had children or not.

‘Two, actually.’

His gravelly confirmation echoed around the room, stamping on the hopes she hadn’t even know she’d had. Not just one child then, but two. That was doubly resounding. She took a deep breath, and asked herself why she even cared that he was spoken for. Of course he’d have lovely children, and a beautiful wife. A life and a family to go with the perfect surroundings.

She needed to remind herself. She was making a delivery to a resoundingly unfriendly, arrogant customer, who was too idle to take his own purchases home, who she happened to have encountered the day before. Who was completely and utterly unavailable. It was nothing more, or less, than that.

‘I hope Dobbin will be very happy here with them.’ She lowered the rocking horse to the floor, gave the horse a pat on his dappled grey velvet rump, tugged his woolly mane for the last time, and turned to leave.

Izzy had to get the hell out of here and fast, before she made any more of a fool of herself. She arrived at the door, expecting the guy to have already melted away down the hall, but instead she came to an abrupt halt, faced with the faded grey of his t-shirt.

‘Excuse me.’ She looked up at him, close enough to see the stubble on his jaw, the creases on his lips. He smelled just the same as yesterday. She shuddered, then reminded herself to get a grip.

He hesitated, staring straight at her, with those eyes full of darkness, his head inclined, for what seemed like an age, as the blood rushed through her ears, and her heart clattered against her chest wall.

Then he cleared his throat loudly.

‘S-sorry. I was miles away’ He shook his head, stepped back, and turned to walk down the hall.

Izzy followed him, her hands scrunched into tight fists, her nails digging into her palms, her breath coming in shallow bursts. She had the strangest feeling that he had been about to kiss her back there. It was only half a feeling, the kind that makes you feel totally wrong, and stupid all at the same time. Perhaps she’d completely misread the moment, which she had every reason to have done, given how out of practice she was. The immediate thrill that had pulsed through her was replaced by a seeping revulsion. What a sleaze. A great looking guy who thought he could, literally, have it all. Well that went some way to compensating for the fact that he was taken. Not that she was in the slightest bit interested, because she wasn’t. Who would want a guy who behaved like that?

‘Thanks anyway.’ She hurtled towards the open front door, overtaking him half way down the hall. Remembering Luce’s firm instructions, she yanked herself to a halt at the door, and as she shoved her feet into her shoes, she forced out a sickly smile. ‘You know where we are if you need anything else.’

Vaguely aware of his slightly bemused expression as he squinted after her, rubbing his chin, she stumbled over the cabinet on the doorstep, and fled for the sanctuary of the van.

13

Text from Luce to Izzy:

And…?? Was the hot guy hot enough for u Izzy? Did you nail a date? Need deets!!!! :D xx

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Text from Izzy to Luce:

Already spoken for xx

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Text from Luce to Izzy:

OMG!!! Really???? :( xx

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Text from Izzy to Luce:

Married with two kids. Also loaded. You KNOW I’d never do loaded xx

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Text from Luce to Izzy:

Eeeek, sorry :/ XX

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Text from Izzy to Luce:

Give you deets l8r ok? xx

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Text from Luce to Izzy:

Might give Corks a miss 2nite…need to do Steffie’s dress :/ x

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Text from Izzy to Luce:

Me too. STACK of painting height of house. Catch u 2moz then, hugs xx

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Text from Luce to Izzy:

((((HUGS)))) for you 2 Izzyboots :) xx

14

7th June, Saturday Afternoon

LUCE

The Bridal Suite

Coup de Kerr

‘So, do you have anything special in mind?’

Luce put down the mugs on the table next to the chaise lounge, and waited for Jules the bride, who was tentatively flipping through the wedding dresses hanging on the rails. So far, so good, with her very first Bridal Studio appointment. Even though she’d done it lots of times before at her flat, something about being in her own studio made her heart beat really fast. It was scary, yet at the same time, exhilarating.

It was so strange how life worked out. If it hadn’t been for The Vintage Cinema Club needing her to do this, she’d never have taken the plunge. As it was, Izzy had kind of fast forwarded it, so Luce hadn’t had time to put out the mental anchors, and resist. She hadn’t even had the time to feel how far out of her comfort zone she was going, and like so many things, once you were there, it wasn’t half as uncomfortable as you thought. In fact now it was done, and she was into her first appointment, she was feeling incredibly happy about it. Whatever happened with Aidie and the cinema, she’d always be able to say she’d had her own Bridal Studio. Luce mentally mouthed OMG, then punched the air with an imaginary fist.

Luce looked back at Jules. She was small, with a neat figure underneath her oversized shirt, and most of the dresses Luce had in stock would be an option for her. And not your everyday bride either, given she’d said no to the chilled cava in champagne flutes, which had been Dida’s contribution to Luce’s new venture, and opted for tea instead.

‘You know I’m really not a wedding-y kind of person.’ Jules sank down on the grey velvet chair. ‘I hated it the first time around, and at forty it’s even worse. I really don’t want anything white and pouffy, but the guy I’m marrying loves vintage, so here I am. I really hope you can sort me out.’ Jules gave a hopeless shrug, and a sigh.

Oh dear. Somehow Luce was used to more enthusiasm in her brides. ‘Is there anything on the rail that catches your eye at all? You’re not having a “coup de coeur” moment?’

A lot of brides said they knew instantly, the moment they saw “the dress”. Often it was a love at first sight thing, but Luce definitely wasn’t sensing any love here.

‘To be honest, I can see all those dresses would be beautiful for someone, but for me they’re all a bit lacy, or satiny, or beady…’ Jules trailed off, and pulled a face.

At least she was being honest. Was this her first anti-wedding bride? If so Luce was completely sympathetic.

‘Lace and tulle and beads tend to go with the territory, even for the vintage dresses.’ Luce gave her a smile that came right from her heart. ‘But don’t worry, we can easily do something different. What kind of wedding are you having?’

Jules took a sip of tea and gave a desperate grimace. ‘It sounds awful, but I’d really rather not be doing it at all. I’d much rather just wake up one day and find I’m married, but it’s really important to Joe, so here I am.’

‘Oh dear.’ Luce had never had anyone this reluctant before.

Seeing someone else mortified at the idea of a wedding was almost like looking in a mirror. Somehow it spun her straight back to Ollie, and the way she’d reacted to him, when he’d started suggesting they should take things further. At the time, the idea of Ollie crossing the great metaphorical divide, from being friends, to landing in her bed, had sent her right up in the air. Looking back, she wondered if she hadn’t over reacted. There was something about today’s bride and her reluctance that reminded Luce of herself. She’d always kept Ollie firmly on the friends side of the divide, not because he wasn’t hot, but because she valued his friendship too much to lose it. Breaking her own very rigid rules would not only make things complicated, but there was too much at stake to risk it.

It wasn’t as if Ollie had done anything as extreme as proposing marriage, and it hadn’t come totally from out of the blue, but it all went horribly pear shaped all the same. What began with hints that he was thinking about her differently, had blown up into a full on explosion one Friday night, as she was leaving Cork’s Bar with a guy she didn’t really give a fig about. The next thing he was saying was he couldn’t bear to watch her with other guys any more, and if she didn’t want to go out with him, and only him, he was going to have to leave. For Luce, being pushed into a corner only made her more determined not to bend. If Luce had been like Jules, and not over reacted, but instead tried to overcome her fears and work something out with someone she cared a lot about, the outcome might have been very different. Because in the end she’d lost Ollie anyway. And although she’d been desperate to prove to herself she didn’t give a damn, and now she was just left kicking herself. Very hard.

Jules went on quickly. ‘Don’t get me wrong, I am happy about getting married really, I just hate being the centre of attention, and it’s all a bit last minute, I haven’t even got an engagement ring yet. Joe’s brother and his wife live in the states, so the ceremony’s in Las Vegas. I’m hoping it won’t be too brash. It’s all tied in with the business Joe and his brother are doing together.’

‘I’m sure a Vegas wedding can be tasteful.’ Luce tapped her thumb nail on her teeth, sounding a lot more certain of that that she was, and desperately burying thoughts of Ollie back where they belonged. If she was in Jules’ place what would she want to wear? ‘Lots of brides are going for short dresses now, how would you feel about that? Maybe something with an American swing, like the dresses in Grease?’

Jules’ face lit up. ‘It was seeing those lovely fifties dresses on the rail downstairs that made me finally book in to see you. I’ve noticed them every time we’ve passed on the way to our new shop. Joe’s taken the lease on the quick tan place just along the road, do you know the one I mean?’

Luce felt her spine stiffen, and her mouth dropped open. Joe who liked vintage? Wasn’t it Joe on Ollie’s email? That unexpected email from Ollie that had made her almost drop her phone, and sent her heart leaping right to the other side of the room. Joe, opening a “We heart home” store.

‘Err…’ Luce tried to act casual. ‘You mean the place near the Italian, with brown paper on the window?’

The future Mrs “Heart your retro home -– watch this space” was the first customer in her new bridal room? What were the chances of that? All Luce could think was OMG.

‘That’s the one. Joe’s been negotiating for months, but he finally got the keys this week. It’s a brilliant area for antique shops isn’t it, it’s getting quite a name for itself.’

Funny how they’d noticed that too. Not.

‘Yes. It certainly is…Great.’ Luce faltered. So what now? Should she pump Jules for all she was worth, or was it more professional to just get on with the dress. ‘Sounds like we’ll be neighbours.’ Luce cringed, and threw out a grin. What a corny thing to say. She hurried on. ‘You know, if it was me getting married in Vegas, I’d go for a dress like the ones downstairs. I could make you one up in whatever fabric you like, maybe in white or cream. We could always add in a really special belt.’

She’d blurted it out, to fill the space and move the job on, and only then remembered she should never be imposing her own views on her brides. She always tried to let them take the lead. It wasn’t even as if what Luce was saying were true, because if Luce was actually in Jules’ shoes, well, frankly, you wouldn’t see her heels for dust. Talk about runaway brides. If it were Luce, she would be legging it faster than the speed of light.

‘Wow, that’s a fab idea.’ Jules, suddenly brighter, sat up straight. ‘I love those off the shoulder necklines. One of those would be lovely, and white cotton would be great. We were in the states recently checking out the vintage American things we’re going to be importing for the shop here.’

Vintage American. Two words that made Luce’s heart plummet. A uniquely different shop was a lot worse than more of the same.

Luce blurted out the first thing that came into her head. ‘Wow, GI Joe is having his own Home Store?’

‘The whole thing is pretty exciting.’ Jules gave a grimace. ‘Joe’s brother is going to get the stock, and ship it over. You can pick masses of stuff up over there for next to nothing.’

Worse and worse. Luce shuddered at the information dump. ‘Wow, it all sounds so amazing. I’ll just grab the fabric samples, then you can try some dresses on to check out the sizes. The nipped in waist will really suit you.’

‘Thanks.’ Jules stood up, and smoothed down her shirt. ‘All we need now is a name for the shop. He was thinking of The Diner, but I’m not sure that’s right. Come to think of it GI Joe’s would be a fabulous name. Would you mind if we used it?’

Oh no. Luce wished she didn’t have to say. She was already kicking herself for having said it at all. Shit, shit, shit.

‘You can call it whatever you like, really you can.’ Right this second Luce wished she had Izzy’s ballsy attitude, instead of being wet and weedy, and so damned polite.

‘I can’t believe that by the end of August I’ll be Mrs Kerr. I’m so pleased I came in here. I’m about to find the perfect dress, and I’ve maybe found a name for the shop too…’ Jules looked suddenly doubtful. ‘Of course, that’s if you don’t mind me using what you said.’

Effing hell. How many mental effs could Luce get away with, before she was owing the swear box?

Luce gritted her teeth, and made her voice so light, it was almost a shriek. ‘Mind? Of course I don’t mind.’ It wasn’t poor Jules’ fault, and at least she’d been decent enough to have a qualms about it. Luce composed herself and smiled at her. ‘It must be your lucky day.’

As for Luce, she’d got a sale underway, dropped the clanger of the decade over the rival shop name, and found out a whole bunch of stuff she’d maybe rather not have known. She just wasn’t sure how this was going to go down with the rest of the crew.

15

Monday Morning, 9th June

IZZY & LUCE

Vintage at the Cinema

What’s in a name – expletives, implosions, and introductions

SUBJECT: TANNING SHOP

To Dida and the crew,

Just heard on the bush telegraph that the Retro American shop is going to be called GI Joe’s - obvious for someone called Joe Kerr, but a damned good name, unfortunately for us. Was hoping they were going to call it American Tan - geddit??

Ollie Sent from Bangkok, Thailand

‘Oh crap bloody asshole shit.’ As Luce let out a stream of expletives, her phone smashed down onto the polished teak counter top, bounced off, traced a perfect arc through the air, and landed in a basket of jugs.

Izzy had been propping up the last of the Free Coffee and Bridal Studio signs she’d hurriedly painted yesterday evening, when the email had arrived on her phone, but she had managed to get to the end without going postal. She stared at Luce until her eyes wouldn’t go any wider, then blinked, and stared again. What was going on? Luce swearing? And not once, but a whole colourful string.

Oh crap bloody asshole shit – what the hell?

‘Are you okay sweetie?’ Izzy swooped in and put her hand on Luce’s wrist. By rights, her first move should be to pass Luce the swear box, given the way Luce jumped on Izzy if she swore in front of the customers, but something told her she needed to cut Luce some slack here.

‘No I’m bloody not alright as it happens. Look at that bloody email.’ Luce’s pale cheeks were uncharacteristically pink.

Izzy flinched. She didn’t think she’d heard two bloody’s in one of Luce’s sentences, ever, not even when she’d been in labour, having Ruby. ‘Yes, I was looking at the email, isn’t it mostly what we know already…?’

Luce hammered her hand on her forehead. ‘You don’t understand, I was the one who handed them the bloody GI Joe name on a plate. I didn’t say before, I was hoping they wouldn’t use it. They were going to call it The Diner, which is completely lame, and would have ended up with everyone being cross they weren’t being served burgers.’

Izzy raised her eyebrows, then knitted them into a frown. ‘Whatever, at least we’ve got a couple of weeks before they open, that should give time to raise our game. As Ollie says, GI Joe’s is a damned good name.’

‘That’s the other thing…’ Luce was taking through gritted teeth here. ‘What the hell is bloody Ollie doing in bloody Thailand? I thought he was in Goa.’

‘And this matters because…?’ As far as Izzy was concerned, all that mattered was that Ollie was away, which meant he wasn’t here. He sent her emails now and again, mentioning where he was, but one foreign destination sounded very much like another. That was the thing with far flung places, they only became significant when you were actually there yourself.

Luce’s eyes were flashing, and she was tossing her head. ‘Everyone knows Thailand’s the sex tourist capital of the world. What’s the tagline…“Land of Smiles”? Those smiles are for one reason only.’

Luce looked ready to implode.

‘I thought Thailand had jungles and pandas?’ Izzy was puzzled. It was hardly like Luce to pass judgement, especially on someone who definitely wasn’t on her Friday night list. Ollie and Luce hung around with the rest of the crew. They were friends, that was all. Izzy had once seen Ollie flare up on a night out and tell Luce she was worth more than some guy she was about to leave with, but apart from that, as far as Izzy knew, that was it. Izzy knew Ollie had always had a soft spot for Luce, ever since they made friends at school, but Ollie was punching above his weight as far as Luce was concerned.

When Izzy first brought Luce back home, back in the day, which must be twelve years ago now, Ollie had followed Luce around the house like a doe eyed puppy. Even if Luce had laughed a lot at Ollie’s jokes, Ollie didn’t have the rock star looks to make him a serious contender. That was the one time Izzy had to get fierce with Ollie, and insist that his sister’s best friends were totally off limits.

That was when Izzy was sixteen and prickly, and mortified at having to leave her upmarket school, and go into the sixth form at the local comprehensive. Izzy got a job at the coffee shop, to help with the dire family finances, and Luce, who worked there too had seen beyond Izzy’s growling, and befriended her. It helped that they were both doing art. A shared, if unhealthy, obsession with Busted and Robbie Williams cemented the deal. Luce, whose calm exterior was a front that hid a riotous sense of humour, considered Izzy, with her rarefied girls’ school background, to be underprivileged, and took it upon herself to fast forward Izzy’s real world education.

Since they’d all worked together at the cinema, Izzy was aware that Ollie sent Ruby into fits of giggles on a regular basis, and sometimes helped Luce out with babysitting, but as far as she knew, that was the extent of it.

‘Apart from anything else, think of the STD’s.’ Luce’s voice was verging on a wail.

If Izzy needed anything to prove Luce was off kilter today, this was it.

‘Yuk, this is my brother we’re talking about, please can we not go there.’ Izzy cringed. ‘Ollie’s old enough, he’s miles away. And it’s nothing to do with us anyway…Is it?’

Izzy watched, as Luce’s mouth froze in the open position, as Izzy posed that last question. It was almost as if someone had put Luce on pause, as if she’d suddenly been reminded it wasn’t anything to do with her. Which it wasn’t.

‘Errrr…’ Luce appeared to be struggling to pull herself together here. ‘No…You’re totally right…I wouldn’t have even mentioned it if I wasn’t kicking myself over that GI Joe thing.’

Right, Okay. Why might Luce be suddenly interested in Ollie’s sex life? It didn’t make sense at all. Even if Luce hadn’t been out of his league, the kind of one night stands Luce dealt in weren’t Ollie’s style at all.

Izzy had a sudden thought. ‘Have you emailed Ollie at all since he left?’

Luce pulled the corners of her mouth down, and shook her head. ‘No.’

Exactly as Izzy imagined. So there was no reason at all for Luce to be getting her thong in a twist over this then.

Izzy’s phone beeped, and she looked away from Luce as she opened the text. It was Dida. No surprise there.

GI Joe’s? Let’s have a Vintage Cinema Club Progress Meeting

Izzy banged off a return text,

Good idea - tomorrow before we open? xx

When Izzy looked up again, Luce was already half way down the cinema, and disappearing behind a large wardrobe.

16

Monday Afternoon, 9th June

IZZY & LUCE

Vintage at the Cinema

Hand signals and hidden messages

Pssst. Stop messing about with cushions and get over here quick. Talent in the grey section x

Izzy hooked the ribbon garland she was hanging on the stepladders, took out her phone, and read the text message from Luce.

Luce could arguably have walked across the shop and said the words to her, in the time it took to send the text, but Luce had been playing hide and seek all morning, and still was this afternoon. Wherever Izzy had been – and actually she’d been everywhere, desperately assessing ways she could make things better – Luce had made sure she was somewhere else. Izzy wasn’t quite sure why Luce was avoiding her. It was obviously something sparked by Ollie’s email, but although she wracked her brains, Izzy couldn’t imagine what it could be, other than that Luce was feeling mega guilty about the tanning shop name.