Alex Hines - Chance

‘Morning, Ava!’ boomed Jeff Marshall as she entered the deli. ‘Glorious day, gorgeous! How can we help?’

Ava selected some fresh pasta as a bit of a treat, knowing she wouldn’t feel like proper cooking when she got home in this heat, and asked for a box of eggs from the Marshall’s hens, as well as a bunch of enormous-leaved basil.

‘How’s business then?’ asked Sandy in her soft West Country burr, as she bustled up to the till with Ava’s goodies all wrapped in neat paper packages.

‘Not too bad, it’s been a lovely summer. You?’

‘Yeah, can’t complain. And that sister of yours has her wedding coming up?’

‘Not for a few months yet – it’s exciting, though. We’re off to meet the dressmaker in a few days.’

‘Cutting it a bit fine, aren’t you?’ asked Sandy with a small frown.

Ava gave a small wince. ‘Well, yes. But you know Lauren, nothing but the best for her. She has a fancy dressmaker doing her dress and mine – she works on telly stuff like Bishopstone Park and this is her last wedding dress slot of the year. We’re very lucky, apparently.”

‘Goodness! And what about you? Been waiting a while!’ Just as Sandy spoke, it seemed the rest of the lunchtime hubbub in the deli went quiet. For a moment even the air seemed a little more still. Why did people care so much? Just because Lauren was engaged, or did they think something was wrong with her because she’d been with Rob for five years without them so much as living together, let alone getting engaged? For a moment Ava longed for the anonymity of London. She blushed and ran a hand through her hair.

‘Oh, you know. No rush!’ Her voice, intended to be breezily casual, sounded shrill and insincere.

‘Right you are, then.’ Sandy seemed to realise that she had overstepped the mark and gave Ava a big wink as she handed over the goods.

Ava left the shop and headed for one of the benches on the riverbank, looking forward to sitting in the sun with her sandwich. So what was the Marshalls’ secret? Why did they always seem so delighted by one another? Their youngest was easily four, which meant they must have been together for at least as long as Ava and Rob. The chances were they had been a couple for significantly longer and yet they behaved like newly weds. Had they ever collapsed into a rut, or did they genuinely find each other deliciously gorgeous every single day? Were their standards lower, were they more realistic, or did they simply manage to put on a better show in front of their customers?

These unanswerable questions swum around Ava’s head as she sat by the river, sticking her feet out in the sun to dry off. What was making her feel so paralysed was the nothingness of the situation with Rob: he had committed no great crime, no unforgiveable acts of cruelty, but neither had he done anything to convince her that theirs was a romance worth sticking with. Were they going anywhere, or were they simply, irrevocably, in the doldrums? Time for action , she told herself. Something has to be done . She took another bite of her sandwich and watched a family of ducks eating some bread crusts thrown by a passing toddler and her exasperated-looking mother. As she wondered what to do, Ava’s phone buzzed in her handbag. She pulled it out and saw a text from Mel.

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Applied for Strictly tickets first thing – am beside myself with excitement. Cannot WAIT to hear! Am also convinced Emma is having an affair with Damiano, she’s like a different women. Polish your dance shoes, babe, we’re heading to Strictly. I know it! xxx

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Ava was thrilled when she saw the message. The idea of getting to see Strictly Live seemed impossibly glamorous compared to her current humdrum daily routine. Seeing the dances up close, and as for the dresses … it was impossibly exciting! She was halfway through a reply when her phone rang – it was Lauren from her car, clearly bored.

‘Hi, Sis!’ Ava could hear the crackle of the in-car speaker system. Lauren had a habit of calling when journeys were longer than 10 minutes, or if she found herself stuck in traffic. Ava found it endearing that it was conversation she turned to in those instances, not music.

‘Hello, you.’

‘I wanted to check that you were okay – you seemed a bit down yesterday. I couldn’t tell if you were just tired or what and I know we talked about the wedding for ages so I thought I’d check in and find out about you.’

‘Okay, I am a little down but nothing major. No specific thing has happened.’

‘But what’s up?’

Ava explained a little about Rob – the rut, the sense of nothingness. ‘I suppose we need to decide to move in one direction or the other,’ she concluded.

‘Why are you so “we” about everything?’ asked Lauren.

‘Ha! Hark at the woman getting married in a few months!’

‘It’s not that . It’s just … well, you don’t do enough for you. Do you know why Rory tries so hard to please me? Because I please me the most.’ Listening, Ava knew she was right. ‘You need to do something for yourself , stop making your happiness dependent on Rob.’

‘I know …’ began Ava.

‘I know you know! But sometimes you need someone to say it out loud. Don’t forget you’re a successful, creative, romantic woman. Rob’s lucky to be with you and maybe he needs to remember that, too. Has he stopped making an effort with you? I’ll kill him if he has!’

‘I suppose he has a bit, but now I find myself wondering if I …’

‘If you’ve stopped making the effort with you too? Stop making your life so much about him and pleasing him ! Remember what you’re proud of in your life.’

‘Urgh, stop getting so motivational speaker on me! I just want my business to do well, to be kind to people, to get on with things without feeling as if I’m being a bit left behind by life – you know what I mean.’

‘Your business does do well, but the worst thing you can do is to start moping around in that shop. Who wants to buy romantic gifts from someone who looks as if she has a heavy heart? No one. No . One ! You know what? At this point I think the kindest thing you can do, for you and for Rob, is to be good to yourself. Take a little of the pressure off. Do something you like doing – he clearly does, what with his squash matches and Formula 1.’

‘I suppose …’

‘Yeah, yeah, and if you want to win points for still being a good person you can do something nice for him too. Cook him a bloody pie or something! Jeez – relax, Sis!’

Sometimes standing in the full force of Lauren’s advice was a bit like standing under a power hose on a warm summer’s day – refreshing and exhausting in equal measure.

‘Okay, okay , you’re right. Thanks, doll. Well, you’ll be pleased to hear that Mel and I have applied for tickets to see Strictly Live . Can you imagine, we might get tickets and go up to the studio – the works! Anyway, how are you? Aren’t you supposed to be the stressed one?’

‘I’m fine and I really must talk to you about the flowers for my wedding, but I’m sitting outside of a property now so I can’t chat any longer. I do want to hear all about this Strictly business, though. It sounds amazing! Let’s have coffee before we go to see the dressmaker, shall we?’

‘Sounds great! We can hatch a plan for maximum efficiency.’

‘Oh, relax ! We’ll just have coffee.’

‘Okay, okay !’

She could hear Lauren laughing as she said goodbye and hung up. For every inch that was terrifying about her sister’s personality, there were two of good-heartedness. Ava wriggled her toes, noticed her plimsolls seemed to have survived their dunking and headed back for the shop.