You, Me & 'Charlie'

You, Me & 'Charlie' - chapter 26

Chapter 26

 Mrs Turner could be intimidating at times, especially when I had visited Bree’s house before, but this time was different. I stopped abruptly outside her drive this Tuesday evening. I looked up at the house, bathed in darkness, aside from the front porch light and a sliver coming through the curtains in the living room.

“Tabby, for goodness sake, hurry up!” Paloma called, irritated. She had gone ahead while I’d had a slight lapse in concentration.

I gulped nervously. “Ok, I’ll be there soon.”

“Soon isn’t soon enough, just come on, I’m not going in on my own.” She called back.

I sighed and followed her to the door.

“Well, go on then.” She nudged me forward.

I took a deep breath and knocked clearly three times.

It seemed like an age before Mrs Turner answered. I shivered while Paloma muttered something about missing dinner.

“Sure Mike, I’ll get right on to that.” Mrs Turner said into her phone as she answered.

She clicked off and raised her eyebrows at us. “Tabitha, Paloma, what a surprise.” She said, in a sceptical tone.

“Hi Mrs Turner. I was just wondering…”

“Bree’s not in at the moment.” She cut me off. “Sorry.” She gave me a wry smile and went to shut the door.

“No, I’m not here to see Bree.” I said, holding the door to stop it from closing in our faces.

Mrs Turner waggled her eyebrows again. “Then who are you here to see? Kate and George are out too.” She crossed her arms and frowned, making her wrinkles much more obvious.

“We wanted to talk to you, if that’s not a problem?” I asked timidly, afraid she’d bite my head off.

Her brows furrowed together even more, if that was even possible. She shrugged while holding that expression. “Fine then. I’ve just finished my paperwork, so you can come in for ten minutes or so.” She stepped aside, letting us come through.

I heard Paloma mutter something sarcastically about making us feel welcome.

“Take your shoes off please. Would you like anything?” she asked, heading to the kitchen.

“Erm, no thanks.” I replied.

“Ok then, just make yourselves comfortable in the living room.” She said, gesturing to the door on our left.

I smiled as sweetly as I could at her while dragging Paloma with me.

“God, what a stuck up cow.” She muttered, sitting down hard on the squishy leather sofa.

“Try and behave, yeah?” I said, giving her the ‘look’.

She folded her arms and stuck her bottom lip out. “Fine, you can do the talking then.” She said.

It seemed to take Mrs Turner an age to come back out of the kitchen. I had no idea what she was doing, but I could see Paloma getting agitated. She reached for her pocket.

“Don’t even think about it.” I hissed.

This time she gave me the look, but put her phone back anyway. I knew what she had wanted to do, text her mum, or Max, or anyone to give her an excuse to not be here.

I twiddled my thumbs nervously, wondering if it had been a bad idea to come here in the first place. I could just imagine Bree walking in and seeing us here, having a not so cosy chat with her mother.