Carrie Stone - Kate & Alf

‘Oh, God! It’s all over your dress.’ Stating the obvious, Alf’s stare was fixed upon the unmissable bronze smear on the delicate cream chiffon.

He looked on helplessly as Kate’s expression changed to horror; a wave of both panic and exasperation taking hold of her. ‘No, no, no, no…!’ She hastily grabbed a used make-up wipe and tried to erase the seeping bronze stain. It was a futile attempt. The sticky mess had already formed an inch-wide stain on the material, obvious for all to see. ‘Oh goodness, it’s ruined, it’ll never come out.’ Unable to control her deflation, she felt the buildup behind her eyes and tried desperately to hold her head upwards, fluttering her eyelids in an attempt to stop the threatening tears from streaming into her eye make-up. ‘What am I going to do?’

Realising the gravity of the situation and knowing that it couldn’t have happened at a worse moment, Alf stepped forward and placed his arms around her. ‘Come on, it’s not the end of the world. You look gorgeous in whatever you wear.’ He gently wiped a small tear from under her eye. ‘Get changed into something else – we’ll get you another dress to replace this one next week.’

She wanted to argue that next week was too late – her special moment was tonight –but she refrained. Aware of the ticking clock, she slipped off the beautiful dress that had made her feel so glamorous and exceptional and walked across to her wardrobe. Not having indulged in luxurious or unnecessary purchases over the past year, she knew her alternative options were limited. It was either her faithful black shift dress – worn countless times and a little faded, one of the many dresses she no longer fitted since going up a dress size, or the asymmetrical green party dress she’d bought last Christmas that made her resemble a billowing tree. She deliberated for a few seconds before plucking the black dress from its hanger. It would have to do.

Stepping into it and pulling it up, she struggled to fasten the awkwardly angled rear zip. ‘Can you zip me up, please?’

With one swift motion, Alf fastened the rear zipper and Kate’s body was snugly embraced in the black material. She walked across to the free-standing mirror. It didn’t look bad. Just, well… a bit plain.

Standing next to her, Alf nodded in gratification, a beaming smile lighting up his face. ‘Now that is the Kate that I know and love. You look lovely. Much better than that fussy cream thing.’ He kissed her cheek. ‘This is much more you. Simple, classy and understated.’

Looking at him quizzically, Kate didn’t say anything. She couldn’t help but notice that his sparkling eyes and happy demeanour at her appearance were genuine. She felt herself rile ever so slightly. His words were not those of dishonest encouragement to make her feel better – they were words spoken from the heart. Unsure how to feel about it, she tried to quickly dismiss the thought. Simple? What was that supposed to mean?

‘Okay, well this looks fine – so I guess we can get going. There’s no point me crying over a dress on my birthday, is there?’

‘Exactly, babe. It’s a special night anyway – you won’t even be thinking about the dress once we’re out and celebrating.’ A hint of a smile played on his lips and intuitively Kate knew what he was referring to. Her pulse quickened.

Alf picked up his wallet and slipped it into his pocket. ‘Right, let’s make a move, then.’

Re-touching her eyeliner in a final attempt to look as good as she possibly could, she picked up her clutch bag and switched off the bedroom light.

Two years she’d waited. It was just as they’d agreed. Two years in order to allow enough time for travel, the house renovations and, of course, Alf’s career advances. It had passed so quickly – much quicker than she’d expected. It seemed almost yesterday that they’d had the conversation – she could still recall the moment she’d blurted out her feelings. It had been minutes before they’d left the house for her monumental thirtieth birthday dinner. He’d been surprised; she remembered the shock on his face. But then he’d hugged her and explained his reasons for not asking sooner. They’d talked about it for what seemed like hours, but it was, in fact, probably only minutes. Two years is what he’d said and she’d remained silent on the matter ever since, not wanting to push him.

And now, tonight – two years later, on her thirty-second birthday – if Alf was true to his word, Kate was about to fulfil her deepest wish – accepting his engagement proposal. Her heart fluttered at the thought.

She was more than ready to become Mrs Alf Stafford.

Alf drove eagerly out of their suburban housing estate as Kate gazed quietly out of the passenger window, scanning the rows of identical red-brick terraced houses. She’d never given much thought to their mid-terrace property until lately. It wasn’t that she didn’t enjoy living in Ramsley Way – they’d bought the rendered white two-bed home six years previously and had been more than happy living there. Yet, looking at the mass of similar houses, she realised she was yearning to become more individual. They’d never planned to live there long term. It was supposed to be a starter home, but that idea had seemed to have fallen by the wayside…

She noticed that the detached pointed-roof house that sat on the corner of Worthington Road had recently been renovated. Its fresh coat of white exterior paint, potted shrubs either side of the green door and new sweeping brick driveway made her spirits lift even further. She’d been fixated on that particular property for some time now. It seemed so grandiose in comparison to their own home. It was idyllic – the type of marital home that she hoped to one day share with Alf and their children.

‘What are you smiling at?’ Alf asked, glancing sideways.

Kate grinned excitedly. ‘I’m just happy – it’s not often a girl gets to celebrate turning thirty-two with a handsome man by her side.’ She rubbed her hand on his leg and returned to looking out of the window.

Alf smiled at the comment and stared ahead. His spirits were high, but he hoped Megan hadn’t taken it upon herself to interfere and let Kate know the finer details of the surprise he’d planned. Their close friendship puzzled him. Kate’s ways were so different from those of the showy and attention-seeking Megan. She wasn’t anything but troublesome in his opinion – always filling Kate’s head with silly ideas and notions of riches and glamour. Kate was gentle, grounded; it bothered him that Megan couldn’t appreciate that.

‘So, am I allowed to know where we are going?’ Kate asked with a sparkle of anticipation in her eyes.

Alf grinned, feeling himself swelling with pride. Arranging surprises wasn’t his forte, but even he had surpassed his own expectations with what he’d organised. He was certain Kate was going to be impressed with the thought behind his idea.

Tapping his nose cheekily, he narrowly missed the left turn needed for the venue and just managed to pull the car onto a verge before hitting the A road ahead. Kate reached out for the dashboard to brace herself as the car came to a sharp, abrupt stop.

‘Sorry – I should have taken a left back there.’ Putting the car into reverse gear, he cursed under his breath as he waited for the traffic to ease to make his U-turn.

Trying to hide her mild confusion, she remained silent. She had been so certain that they’d been going to the small country pub venue she’d discreetly found bookmarked on his laptop. It hadn’t helped that Megan had remained uncharacte‌ristically tight-lipped on the subject. Yet it made sense; the country pub was the typical type of event venue that Alf would go for. It looked cosy, quaint and welcoming. She’d already envisioned herself walking into the pretty beamed entrance to the cheers of her nearest and dearest. Perhaps a DJ playing in the corner…