Maggie Sullivan - Christmas on Coronation Street - The perfect Christmas read

It was over very quickly. Elsie hardly had time to catch her breath. It felt so amazingly daring; although the door was closed and no one could see them, they were practically standing in the street. Elsie started to laugh but it turned into a coughing fit and she lunged for the entrance and fresh air, with Stan hurriedly trying to straighten her clothing as she emerged into the yellowy gas light. She was still choking but Stan was right behind her, slapping her on the back. Then he fastened his own buttons before putting his arms round her.

‘Our secret,’ he whispered into her ear. ‘This is only between you and me.’

The idea of having such a secret with someone as special as Stan thrilled Elsie. Which was why she was so upset to discover that it didn’t remain a secret very long.

One night after work a few days later she went home with her friend Aggie. It was something they liked to do when Aggie’s family were all out and they had the place to themselves. They would sit together on the couch in the front room swapping stories and feeling proper grown-up. Elsie had told her friend lots about her new boyfriend and Aggie had been thrilled to share in Elsie’s excitement about her birthday present and the trip to the moors. But tonight when they sat down in front of the fire, Aggie wasn’t her usual smiling self. In fact she had a frighteningly serious look on her face.

‘Is summat up, Aggs?’ Elsie asked. ‘You know you can tell me, whatever it is. By the look on your face, anyone’d think the dog ate your dinner.’ Elsie nudged her friend, trying to chivvy her into a smile.

But Aggie didn’t smile. Her forehead puckered into a frown. She didn’t answer immediately and when she did, she refused to look directly at Elsie. ‘There’s something I’ve got to tell you,’ she began, as if Elsie hadn’t spoken. ‘It’s about Stan, and I think you should know.’

‘Why, what’s up wi’ ’im?’ Elsie was beginning to feel anxious now.

‘I mean, I know you two have been doing a spot of courting,’ Aggie said hesitantly.

‘I don’t know as I would say we were courting .’ Elsie relaxed a little and grinned. ‘Not yet awhile.’

‘No, well, you know what I mean. You have been sort of “stepping out”.’

‘Good God, Aggie, that makes it sound dead posh. It’s just me and him … like. Well, we work together at night in the pub. He walks me home afterwards. You know …’

‘No, that’s just it. That’s the point. I don’t know.’

‘You don’t know what? Now you’re talking in bloody riddles.’

Aggie hesitated, then said, ‘I suppose what I’m really asking is, do you know him well enough to trust him?’

‘Course I do. I don’t know about courting, but he is me boyfriend, isn’t he? He bought me a birthday present an’ all.’ Elsie jutted her chin out defiantly.

‘I know about that and you’ve said nice things about him.’

‘Well, I like him, why shouldn’t I? It’s only natural.’

‘It’s just, what I’m trying to say is …’ She hesitated again, then blurted, ‘He’s not saying such nice things about you.’ She stopped when she had said that and looked anxiously at Elsie.

Elsie frowned. ‘How do you mean? What kind of things is he saying?’

The colour had risen in Aggie’s face and there were two rosy spots on her cheeks. ‘I don’t know if I should. I—’

‘Course you should. You’re my mate, aren’t you?’

Aggie remained silent, avoiding her gaze. Instead she looked down at her hands, which she was clasping and unclasping in her lap.

Elsie didn’t know what to think. ‘C’mon, spit it out,’ she said. ‘I want to know what he’s been saying.’

Aggie took a deep breath. ‘He’s saying …’ She had been unwilling to tell her friend the awful stories Stan was spreading about her, but now it felt as though she had opened the floodgates. Aggie sat forward and Elsie looked at her in anticipation, but her friend only sagged back into the chair. The rosy spots had disappeared and her face now looked drained.

‘For crying out loud!’ Elsie was torn between irritation and alarm. ‘You can’t stop in the middle like that.’

Aggie spoke again and this time the words came out in a rush, although her voice was barely above a whisper.

‘It’s about that day on the moors. Your birthday. And you finding that old house and …’

Elsie felt the blood drain from her face. Knowing what must be coming, she wasn’t sure now that she wanted to hear it, but Aggie was still speaking softly. ‘You kissed him? Right?’

‘Yeah, I bloody kissed him. Isn’t that what people do when they have a boyfriend? Don’t you and Danny …?’

‘I’m not talking about me.’ Aggie dismissed the question sharply. ‘Did you …? You know … did you go any further?’

Elsie felt the blood rush to her face. The girls at the factory giggled about what they got up to with their boyfriends, but it was all very ‘nudge nudge, wink wink’ and no one talked in any real detail about what went on between a man and a woman – not to girls of her age, at any rate. Elsie knew that she wasn’t like most of the other girls and she was starting to realize that doing things your own way could attract the wrong sort of attention.

‘He’s my boyfriend, I told you,’ Elsie said, as convincingly as she could. But then she stopped. No longer so sure of anything. A cold shiver ran down her spine. ‘What’s he been saying?’ Elsie demanded. ‘I’ve got a right to know.’

‘Stan’s been boasting. About what you two got up to – not just on the moors, but on the Field as well.’

Elsie felt the gorge rise in her throat. She was so angry, she couldn’t speak. The toad. For that’s all he was. A snitching toad. And all the while she’d thought they’d had something special.

‘I hope I did the right thing, telling you.’ Aggie’s voice was tentative. ‘Only, I was mithered about what other people might be saying. Some of the girls at the factory … well, they’ve not been saying kind things about you. Calling you a slut and rotten stuff like that.’

Elsie gave her friend a doleful smile. ‘Ah well, you should know me well enough by now to know I don’t give a bugger what other people might say. What I do or don’t do isn’t any of their bloody business.’ She sighed. ‘Isn’t life hard enough as it is, without having to fight for me sodding reputation.’

‘Oh, Elsie, are you a slut?’ Aggie had such a worried look that Elsie couldn’t take it seriously. To her friend’s astonishment, she burst out laughing.

‘I don’t know whether I am or not. What’s more, I don’t care. All I know is the way Stan makes me feel – or he did, at any rate. Stop looking so worried, Aggs.’

‘But aren’t you worried about getting … you know … in the family way?’

Elsie cocked her head to one side. ‘Stan said he was careful, whatever that means.’

Aggie threw her arms round her. ‘Elsie Grimshaw, you’re a one and no mistake. What am I going to do with you?’

‘Still be my friend, I should hope.’

Aggie nodded. ‘Of course, I’ll always be that.’

‘It’s that bloody Stan,’ said Elsie, still fuming. ‘He’s the one needs pulling down a peg or two. He swore on his life not to tell another living soul. Wait till I get my hands on him!’

Elsie left Aggie’s house in such a fury it was all she could do to contain herself. Somehow she was going to have to keep a lid on her emotions until closing time at the Butcher’s. With old Hairy watching like a hawk, she would have to be civil to Stan during the course of the evening shift; she daren’t let her anger spill over and risk upsetting her boss. In the event, all she could manage was short, curt responses whenever he spoke to her. The first time she did it, he looked at her surprised for he had no inkling of what was going on. She quite relished the fact that he would have to remain puzzled, for there was no opportunity to talk once they had set to work.