Innholdsfortegnelse for March 2024 i Take a Break Fiction Feast

I wish I hadn’t come out,’ Mia muttered glumly, as she carried her drink to a table in the far corner of the bar. ‘I don’t feel like socialising.’ ‘Nonsense,’ Abi told her. ‘It will do you good and stop you moping about Ray. It’s not healthy. There are plenty more fish in the sea, as they say.’ ‘Yeah, but I don’t want any old fish. I want the one that swam away.’ Abi sighed. Mia was her best friend, but sometimes she drove her mad. Ray had cheated on her three times and three times she’d taken him back. It was infuriating. But this was the very last time she was getting involved. If Mia took him back again, that was it, she was on her own. She was…

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Suzy opened her purse and counted the notes and coins. ‘All right, love?’ Phil asked, looking up from his tea. Suzy shook her head. ‘I really don’t know how we’re going to manage with you being made redundant and me on maternity leave,’ she said. ‘We’ve got this huge mortgage.’ He reached over and squeezed her hand. ‘We’ll be fine,’ he said. ‘We’ve got to look on the bright side, we’ve got our home, our baby on the way, good neighbours…’ ‘They all think that I consider myself above them,’ sniffed Suzy. ‘No, they don’t,’ said Phil. ‘They do, Phil. Just because I speak with a southern accent and we’ve got this big house. Was it my fault I worked such long hours I didn’t have time to go to…

This might come in handy one day,’ Aunt Flossie would say, folding a plastic shopping bag carefully and putting it to one side. At family reunions, it had become a running joke. She’d always leave with 10 times as much stuff as when she arrived. ‘You’re not serious about getting rid of that lovely scarf?’ she’d say. ‘And those jars would come in handy when I make marmalade.’ If only we’d known she had a problem, there may have been time to stop it getting out of hand. But none of us knew, and never really gave it any thought. It was just Aunt Flossie, and we’d got used to her saying these things. How could we guess the state of her house? She always said how much she loved…

A photo sits on the mantelpiece in my flat. Two girls aged seven or eight, wearing light summer dresses and sun hats, grinning at some joke or other. It’s a picture of innocence and joy. A fragment of time when the two laughing girls had no idea how complicated life can become, how friendship can be destroyed. One of those girls is Sally. The other is me. You know how, if you’re lucky, there are some friends you have forever? They last your entire life, and at some point the time when you first met each other grows misty and forgotten. That wasn’t us. I never forgot the first time I met Sally. ‘Mum?’ ‘Uh-huh?’ I was kneeling on a stool, ‘helping’ with the washing-up, when Mum moved beside me…

Sophie was in the middle of having a lovely gossipy lunch with her friend Ali, when her mobile started beeping. ‘Sophie!’ Ali cried. ‘Can’t you have a break from your phone? We’re in the middle of a meal…’ ‘But it’s Tony!’ Sophie replied. ‘He’s sent me a text. After last night, I just have to read it.’ She clicked on her phone. ‘We had such a wonderful evening last night,’ she read out loud. ‘I really love you, babe… OH!’ Sophie’s squeal was so loud that heads turned all around them. ‘Oh! Oh! I can’t believe it!’ she cried, jumping up excitedly. ‘What? What?’ Ali said. ‘What is it?’ ‘He’s only asked me!’ cried Sophie, her eyes shining. ‘What? To go to that gig you’ve been raving about?’ ‘No! The…

In the kitchen of my terrace, Ashley released her Jack Russell terrier. He went snuffling into every corner of my kitchen as she frowned and said: ‘Something weird just happened on our walk, Stella.’ I’d met divorcee Ashley Lewis a year ago when she moved in next door. I guessed she would immediately think of me as an old fuddy-duddy. Just the kind of ageing, childless widow you’d find in a village that’s barely changed since the Fifties. Still, whenever Ashley had a problem these days — a dripping tap, a broken roof tile, a surly landlord — she’d come round as if I had all the answers. We’d sit over a cup of my favourite Darjeeling and chat. At other times, like today, she’d drop off her 18-month-old daughter…

I can’t believe you’re seeing that man,’ said Zoe’s mother over the phone. ‘It’s fine, Mum,’ said Zoe, crossing her fingers. ‘It’s anything but fine after the way he treated your sister.’ ‘I’m not Marie,’ said Zoe gently. ‘Honestly Mum, I know what I’m doing.’ At least she hoped she did. But she understood her mother’s concerns too. She knew not everyone approved of her relationship with her sister’s ex, but sometimes you just had to do what was right. She and Josh had only begun dating when he’d surprised her with a luxury holiday. He hadn’t been pleased when she insisted on separate rooms, but she’d managed to persuade him they needed to get to know each other a bit first. It was only on the very last day…

Sue was staring out of the window of her bungalow. She longed to be back in the shop, with the bridal dresses all lined up on their rails, and plastic wrap waving in the breeze whenever the door opened. She ached for her sewing room upstairs where she so carefully made alterations to the dresses, taking up the hems and taking in the seams. Most of all, she missed the brides — their rose-tinted cheeks, bright eyes and excited chatter about flowers and honeymoons. Now she gazed down into the garden. The grass lay in ratty clumps, the borders choked with weeds. She really ought to tidy things up, only motivation eluded her. Redundancy. She hadn’t expected to feel like a dormouse in a dark hole, falling into a long,…

Autumn had set in. It was cold, damp and the wind was whipping fallen leaves around the garden. After the argument ended, Harriet went to check on the hedgehog she had recently rescued. She found him sheltering in a pile of leaves near the shed. He looked so small and fragile. She had been doing her best to supplement his diet with cat food to try to help him survive the winter. As she leant down, Harriet sensed Michael approach. ‘Is the little fellow going to be OK?’ he asked. ‘I hope so,’ Harriet said. ‘What about us? Are we OK?’ There was a lengthy pause before Harriet replied. ‘I’m not sure.’ Quietly, Michael said: ‘In that case, I’m going to leave.’ Harriet wanted him to stay, but pride prevented…

When Sarah came downstairs, she noticed an airmail letter, perched on top of the pile of post. That was odd. She didn’t know anyone who lived overseas. Usually Graham dealt with the mail. By the time the delivery came, she was on her way to work but she had an optician’s appointment and had taken the day off. She’d just picked up the letters when Graham appeared. ‘Anything interesting?’ he asked. Sarah shuffled through the mail, keeping the letter hidden. ‘No, just the usual — bills, bank statement, your gardening magazine.’ She handed him the magazine, then went into the kitchen. Graham followed her. ‘I think I’ll have a cooked breakfast for a change,’ she said. ‘It’s not often I get a morning to myself. Would you like one?’ ‘No…

FAYE ‘I thought the relationship therapy session was going well, until the counsellor turned to Steve. Then we discovered he’d fallen fast asleep!’ Ella rolled her eyes at us, as we chatted in the works’ canteen. ‘Oh, that happened to me with Paul at the theatre,’ Katie grimaced. ‘During a pause in one scene, everyone — including the actors on stage — all stopped when they heard him snoring his head off. I was absolutely mortified!’ ‘Oh no!’ I giggled, trying to lighten the mood. ‘Most husbands are pretty useless,’ muttered Ella. There was an edge to her tone. Katie nodded. Ella glanced at her watch. ‘Coffee break over, girls. Back to the grindstone.’ Ella, Katie and I worked full time in a call centre. We were all in our…

Dylan’s in his back garden, pitching a tent,’ Andy said. ‘I bet he’s had a row with Kath and she’s kicked him out.’ ‘Hmm, maybe.’ Joanne tried to sound like she wasn’t interested, but Kath had already told her she’d give Dylan his marching orders if he didn’t do some decorating soon. ‘The place hasn’t been touched for years,’ Kath said, when she’d popped over for coffee. ‘I’m not asking for a major refurb — just a coat of paint will do.’ ‘Couldn’t you do it yourself?’ Joanne asked. ‘I mean, it looks easy in the DIY adverts…’ ‘Why should I? Dylan does very little around the house while I do the cooking, shopping andcleaning. All he wants to do at weekends is go fishing with his mates. They camp…

Curled up in the armchair with the TV on, Paula sipped her glass of wine. She loved her husband Nick dearly, but there were times when it was just nice to relax on her own with a good movie. And with him having gone for a boys’ night out, she was making the most of it. She sighed softly as she glanced round their newly decorated living room. They’d both worked hard at modernising the place, and the pale grey walls looked fab with the sumptuously soft graphite carpet. OK, the place was almost in the middle of nowhere. But that was part of its charm. They’d both wanted to live in the country, and to be surrounded on three sides by fields and woodland still took her breath away.…

No! Just look at that sky!’ cried Maggie, staring up at the grey clouds as she and Tim drove home from the shops. ‘At least we’re not waiting for a bus,’ said Tim. ‘But my washing’s out!’ cried Maggie. ‘Two loads, all my new undies…’ ‘We’re nearly home, we’ll be back before the rain starts,’ Tim replied, cheerfully. Maggie shook her head. That wasn’t the point. Ivy didn’t need actual rain — she just needed the threat of it. ‘Please, please, let her be out!’ Maggie prayed as they rounded the corner into their avenue — just as Ivy scurried back up their drive. Maggie’s heart sank as her neighbour eagerly waved at them. ‘I’ve just got your washing in for you,’ Ivy said, as Tim wound down his window.…

You hear plenty of references to ‘the boy next door’, but James was ‘the boy round the corner’. We first bumped into each other at the mini-supermarket one day after work, got chatting, and he insisted on carrying my bags home. After that, he popped up a couple more times and I was grateful that he lugged home my groceries and didn’t seem to mind. ‘I keep saying I’m going to learn to drive,’ I told him. ‘If I had a car, I could fill a trolley and I wouldn’t need to do my shopping every single day. Do you ever hanker after a set of wheels?’ James swung my bags on to my garden wall, as I dug out my house keys. ‘Actually, I’ve nearly finished a restoration project,’…