Summer at Little Beach Street Bakery
Page 35
‘Where’s that guy who thinks he understands grain subsidies?’
‘Long story,’ said Huckle, ‘I think I’ll let Poll tell it.’
Huckle kissed her as he held his hand out for her to dismount from the sidecar, an act it was absolutely impossible to accomplish with grace. They picked up Neil, looking for somewhere nice and sunny to put him down for a restorative snooze, and grabbed their bathing costumes. It would be a bit nippy, but Reuben had installed heated towel rails in the little beach hut changing rooms, with personalised robes, so you ran out of the sea all chilly and wrapped yourself up in the fluffiest, cosiest bathrobes you could imagine, until you were warmed enough by the sun to take them off again.
Kerensa came down to meet them, nut brown from the sun, teeth standard-issue rich-person white these days, eyebrows arched expensively. As she got closer, Polly noticed that her teeth weren’t smiling, they were gritted.
‘How are you?’ said Polly. ‘I am so glad to see you, I have had the worst —’
‘Awful,’ said Kerensa.
Polly looked up, startled. This conversation seemed to be the wrong way round.
‘Yay!’ said Reuben. ‘I’m making lobster salad, and lobster Thermidor. Basically, if you’re a lobster, you don’t want to be within five miles of us today. Except you do totally want to be within five miles of us, because I am only serving the best sustainable local lobster, because that is the kind of brilliant guy I am. Also, everything is fucked.’
Polly and Huckle looked at each other. Polly gave Neil his antibiotics on the last piece of cheese toast and tucked him up in a little yellow blanket under a tree.
‘Seriously, where did you get the blanket?’ said Huckle.
‘Muriel gave it to me as a present,’ said Polly. ‘It was her baby’s.’
Huckle shook his head. ‘All right.’
‘What’s wrong with Neil?’ said Kerensa. ‘Did someone tell him he wasn’t a person?’
Reuben busied himself opening the champagne.
‘Pink first,’ he announced.
‘No, he just… he had an accident,’ said Polly, taking a glass. ‘Can I explain later? It’s a bit emotionally exhausting. Anyway, I think we should make a toast.’
‘Happy un-birthday!’ chorused everyone, and Polly showed off her bracelet for Kerensa and Reuben to admire.
Kerensa looked at Reuben, then he brought out a bag from behind the champagne bucket.
‘What?’ said Polly.
‘Well, Reuben got you a birthday present too.’
‘It’s not my birthday!’
‘I told him not to,’ said Kerensa. ‘I am staking my claim here and now and saying that I have a separate gift for you. That you can have IN SEPTEMBER.’
Polly looked inside the bag. It was pale blue, from Tiffany’s.
‘He’s such a show-off,’ hissed Kerensa. ‘I am totally embarrassed by him and everything he stands for.’
‘But the shame turns you on, totally, a little bit,’ said Reuben.
Polly had never seen a real Tiffany’s box before, although she recognised the iconic wrapping, of course.
‘My goodness,’ she said. There was a bag tied with a ribbon, then a box done up with the same dark blue ribbon. Inside there was another, smaller blue velvet bag with a drawstring, and inside that something wrapped in tissue. Polly was laughing now. ‘This is like pass the parcel,’ she said. ‘I ought to be handing it round.’
She opened it, and gasped.
This charm bracelet was solid platinum. Apart from that, it was absolutely identical in every single way to the one Huckle had given her.
‘Reuben, you PUTZ!’ said Huckle. ‘Man, what is WRONG with you? Why did I even tell you? This was my big thing! You knew this was a big deal for me.’
Polly just stared at it, completely confused.
‘It was a great big deal,’ said Reuben, nodding happily. ‘Huckle buying you a really nice present. I figure you like Huckle’s one – and who isn’t going to like it, it’s a great idea – so I reckon you like mine too. And you know, one day you wanna wear silver, one day you wanna wear platinum, right? So you got the option. Just like one day girls wear blue things, one day they wear black things.’
‘Thank you for summing up the history of fashion so well,’ said Kerensa.
‘One day you have your lovely bracelet from Huck, next day lovely and much more expensive bracelet from your friends Reuben and Kerensa. I am basically a genius.’
‘You doof!’ Huck was saying. ‘You knew this was a totally special thing for me!’
‘I told him it was a stupid idea,’ said Kerensa.
‘Hey, man,’ Reuben looked the closest he could to wounded, which on his perpetually cheerful, entirely freckled face wasn’t very. ‘I just thought you had such a good idea, man. For once in your life. So sue me.’
Polly came over and kissed him on the cheek.
‘I love it,’ she said. ‘You were right about how much I’d love it. And having two is absolutely brilliant. So it was a genius idea, thank you very, very, very much.’
‘Seriously, you like it?’ said Kerensa. Polly kissed her too.
‘I love it. But give me my other present as well, on my real birthday.’
‘I suppose it can be back-up for when you lose the first one,’ conceded Huck.
‘I’m not going to lose the first one!’ said Polly. ‘All I’m losing this year is jobs.’
She told them the whole story, to sympathetic noises from Kerensa. Somehow, telling it whilst sitting outside in the sunshine, wearing two beautiful bracelets, one on each wrist, with Huckle and her friends there, Neil happily asleep and recovering, the sun on her back and a second glass of pink champagne in her hand, it didn’t feel quite so bad. Until she got to the end.
‘So now I am basically, not to put too fine a point on it, screwed. Hey ho!’
She took another slug of pink wine.
‘I am quite tempted to stay here for the rest of my life drinking this. Would that be all right?’
There was a long silence, long enough that Polly lifted her head and looked around.
‘What? I was only kidding, you know. Mostly kidding.’
Kerensa shook her head. She was looking at Reuben.
‘You want to tell them?’
‘Long story,’ said Huckle, ‘I think I’ll let Poll tell it.’
Huckle kissed her as he held his hand out for her to dismount from the sidecar, an act it was absolutely impossible to accomplish with grace. They picked up Neil, looking for somewhere nice and sunny to put him down for a restorative snooze, and grabbed their bathing costumes. It would be a bit nippy, but Reuben had installed heated towel rails in the little beach hut changing rooms, with personalised robes, so you ran out of the sea all chilly and wrapped yourself up in the fluffiest, cosiest bathrobes you could imagine, until you were warmed enough by the sun to take them off again.
Kerensa came down to meet them, nut brown from the sun, teeth standard-issue rich-person white these days, eyebrows arched expensively. As she got closer, Polly noticed that her teeth weren’t smiling, they were gritted.
‘How are you?’ said Polly. ‘I am so glad to see you, I have had the worst —’
‘Awful,’ said Kerensa.
Polly looked up, startled. This conversation seemed to be the wrong way round.
‘Yay!’ said Reuben. ‘I’m making lobster salad, and lobster Thermidor. Basically, if you’re a lobster, you don’t want to be within five miles of us today. Except you do totally want to be within five miles of us, because I am only serving the best sustainable local lobster, because that is the kind of brilliant guy I am. Also, everything is fucked.’
Polly and Huckle looked at each other. Polly gave Neil his antibiotics on the last piece of cheese toast and tucked him up in a little yellow blanket under a tree.
‘Seriously, where did you get the blanket?’ said Huckle.
‘Muriel gave it to me as a present,’ said Polly. ‘It was her baby’s.’
Huckle shook his head. ‘All right.’
‘What’s wrong with Neil?’ said Kerensa. ‘Did someone tell him he wasn’t a person?’
Reuben busied himself opening the champagne.
‘Pink first,’ he announced.
‘No, he just… he had an accident,’ said Polly, taking a glass. ‘Can I explain later? It’s a bit emotionally exhausting. Anyway, I think we should make a toast.’
‘Happy un-birthday!’ chorused everyone, and Polly showed off her bracelet for Kerensa and Reuben to admire.
Kerensa looked at Reuben, then he brought out a bag from behind the champagne bucket.
‘What?’ said Polly.
‘Well, Reuben got you a birthday present too.’
‘It’s not my birthday!’
‘I told him not to,’ said Kerensa. ‘I am staking my claim here and now and saying that I have a separate gift for you. That you can have IN SEPTEMBER.’
Polly looked inside the bag. It was pale blue, from Tiffany’s.
‘He’s such a show-off,’ hissed Kerensa. ‘I am totally embarrassed by him and everything he stands for.’
‘But the shame turns you on, totally, a little bit,’ said Reuben.
Polly had never seen a real Tiffany’s box before, although she recognised the iconic wrapping, of course.
‘My goodness,’ she said. There was a bag tied with a ribbon, then a box done up with the same dark blue ribbon. Inside there was another, smaller blue velvet bag with a drawstring, and inside that something wrapped in tissue. Polly was laughing now. ‘This is like pass the parcel,’ she said. ‘I ought to be handing it round.’
She opened it, and gasped.
This charm bracelet was solid platinum. Apart from that, it was absolutely identical in every single way to the one Huckle had given her.
‘Reuben, you PUTZ!’ said Huckle. ‘Man, what is WRONG with you? Why did I even tell you? This was my big thing! You knew this was a big deal for me.’
Polly just stared at it, completely confused.
‘It was a great big deal,’ said Reuben, nodding happily. ‘Huckle buying you a really nice present. I figure you like Huckle’s one – and who isn’t going to like it, it’s a great idea – so I reckon you like mine too. And you know, one day you wanna wear silver, one day you wanna wear platinum, right? So you got the option. Just like one day girls wear blue things, one day they wear black things.’
‘Thank you for summing up the history of fashion so well,’ said Kerensa.
‘One day you have your lovely bracelet from Huck, next day lovely and much more expensive bracelet from your friends Reuben and Kerensa. I am basically a genius.’
‘You doof!’ Huck was saying. ‘You knew this was a totally special thing for me!’
‘I told him it was a stupid idea,’ said Kerensa.
‘Hey, man,’ Reuben looked the closest he could to wounded, which on his perpetually cheerful, entirely freckled face wasn’t very. ‘I just thought you had such a good idea, man. For once in your life. So sue me.’
Polly came over and kissed him on the cheek.
‘I love it,’ she said. ‘You were right about how much I’d love it. And having two is absolutely brilliant. So it was a genius idea, thank you very, very, very much.’
‘Seriously, you like it?’ said Kerensa. Polly kissed her too.
‘I love it. But give me my other present as well, on my real birthday.’
‘I suppose it can be back-up for when you lose the first one,’ conceded Huck.
‘I’m not going to lose the first one!’ said Polly. ‘All I’m losing this year is jobs.’
She told them the whole story, to sympathetic noises from Kerensa. Somehow, telling it whilst sitting outside in the sunshine, wearing two beautiful bracelets, one on each wrist, with Huckle and her friends there, Neil happily asleep and recovering, the sun on her back and a second glass of pink champagne in her hand, it didn’t feel quite so bad. Until she got to the end.
‘So now I am basically, not to put too fine a point on it, screwed. Hey ho!’
She took another slug of pink wine.
‘I am quite tempted to stay here for the rest of my life drinking this. Would that be all right?’
There was a long silence, long enough that Polly lifted her head and looked around.
‘What? I was only kidding, you know. Mostly kidding.’
Kerensa shook her head. She was looking at Reuben.
‘You want to tell them?’
