Innholdsfortegnelse for August 2024 i Take a Break Fiction Feast

Having been a steady item for just over three years, Gabby and Michael were a perfect match. It seemed inevitable that they would get married. Alas, Michael wasn’t quite sure how to propose. He had geared himself up to do so on a number of occasions, only to shy away at the last instant. Thankfully, the perfect opportunity was about to present itself. Being huge sports fans, both Gabby and Michael loved the Olympic games. Given this, Michael decided that the first night of the Paris games would be the perfect time to pop the all-important question. The day that the Paris games were due to start, Michael left work early to collect the engagement ring from the jewellers. On his way home, he rehearsed exactly what he was going…

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Annie glanced at the clock that Friday afternoon and thought sadly of her kids just starting their summer holiday with her partner all those miles away. Had Jenny enjoyed her first paddle in the sea? Had Tom found many crabs in rock pools? Would Sophie be upset because her mummy wouldn’t be there to read her a bedtime story tonight? How she missed them all. Just then, there was a sudden knock at the door and the dogs started barking in the kitchen as though all hell had broken loose. Annie wiped away a tear and went to answer it. ‘Hello!’ beamed a young man in a suit. ‘Please don’t slam the door in my face!’ ‘I… I wasn’t going to,’ Annie replied. She smiled at him. In fact, it…

You know the feeling. A glimpse across a crowded canteen and your heart begins to thump crazily in your chest. If you spot him in the dinner queue, you have to hide behind the fridges packed with sandwiches and yogurts until he’s disappeared — unless you want to be seen with a face the colour of pickled beetroot. And standing next to him in the lift? Well, thankfully that’s only happened once, as I nearly passed out. I looked Liz squarely in the eye. She knew very well what I meant but I said it anyway ‘Are you OK?’ His voice matched his looks. Boyish, cheeky, charming, yet still the kind of voice that would warm you on a cold winter’s evening. ‘Er, yes, I’m fine, thank you.’ Ping! Saved…

Moving out When Debbie wandered into the lounge, she nearly choked. The smell — a mixture of stale cigarette smoke and lager — turned her stomach. It was disgusting! She made her way to the window, knocking a half-full can of lager flying. She flung back the curtains and opened the window to let some fresh air in, but it was only when she turned, that she saw the full devastation of the room. ‘You can’t walk across the floor for tripping over half-empty lager cans’ There were cans everywhere, half of them on their side, cigarette ash had been dropped willy-nilly, newspapers and Simon’s precious car magazines had been knocked off the coffee table, cushions were scattered all over the floor, and there was even a cigarette burn on…

Listen up. I have great news. We are all going on the holiday of a lifetime. And it’s on me!’ Ginny could barely contain her excitement as she made her big announcement to the family. She and her husband Sean had discussed this and decided that treating the people she loved to an expensive getaway was the perfect way to spend her recent lottery win. ‘I have great news. We are all going on the holiday of a lifetime’ ‘All of us?’ Her son Tom exchanged a glance with his new wife Danni. ‘The kids too?’ ‘Of course,’ said Ginny. The three-year-old twins currently racing through her flower beds were from Danni’s first marriage. ‘They’re family now.’ ‘Where are you taking us?’ asked her sister Sara, eyes gleaming. ‘I mean I’m…

My cruise would definitely be a trip to remember. Fourteen nights at sea, with visits to the Canary Islands, Spain and Portugal. I’d enjoy all the facilities aboard The Princess Adriana. I’d love all the sunny weather and the clear blue seas. I’d have chats with handsome ship officers wearing crisp white dress uniforms. Oh and I’d also have my mum yelling at me on a regular basis, like tonight. ‘There you are, Kirsty. I told you to meet me in the Empress lounge. I’ve been sitting there for hours.’ ‘Oh sorry, Mum, I thought this was the Empress. You know I can’t follow the ship’s maps.’ In a bar actually called The Crown Grill my companion for the evening raised his eyebrows. Mum couldn’t see his horror since he…

When our landline rings, it’s going to be one of two people. Either it’s a scammer wanting to fix non-existent problems with our computers, or it’s Dan’s brother, Geoff. It’s not that Geoff doesn’t have a mobile phone — he has. And you can be sure it’s the latest launch and the very top of the range. But it gives Geoff pleasure to know that while Dan is standing in our tiny kitchen, trying not to block off the fridge for everyone else, because that’s where our stupid landline is, he, Geoff, is sitting in his leather swivel chair at his big oak desk in his airy study. Geoff is older than Dan by four years, but richer than us by far. He and his wife, Penny, live in a…

L aura woke with a start as her daughter sat down on the end of the bed. ‘Oh, sorry,’ she said once she’d pulled herself together and remembered where she was. ‘I was just unpacking, and I must have fallen asleep.’ ‘Yes, so I noticed,’ Holly replied. ‘I could hear you snoring from downstairs.’ Laura gasped. ‘You couldn’t!’ ‘No, I couldn’t really,’ Holly admitted with a smile. ‘But you were snoring, though, Mum, and you were really fast asleep. I talked to you for a bit before I sat on the bed, but I didn’t get any response. You were dead to the world.’ ‘Yes, well, travelling always makes me tired,’ Laura explained as she wriggled around and sat up. ‘And this bed’s really comfortable, and the duvet cover’s beautiful,…

Esther was halfway through the door, when Lionel called from upstairs. ‘Don’t forget to cancel the newspapers. We don’t want to come home to a pile on the mat.’ She sighed. In the 31 years they’d been together, Lionel had been happy to let her organise all their holidays, but that all changed when he retired and decided to take over the job. She didn’t mind too much — it was one less thing to think about but there was one tiny little problem. Her husband was so worried about forgetting something, it was making things very complicated. Before making any decisions he insisted on doing lots of research, even when it wasn’t needed. He’d spent ages searching for the right resort when all they wanted was somewhere close to…

From her place behind the reception desk at the Rosewood Hotel, manager Ella kept an eye out for one of the room attendants arriving for work. ‘Anya!’ she called when she spotted the young woman. ‘Is there any chance you can do a shift in the bar this evening?’ Anya was in housekeeping but her boyfriend, Tony, worked behind the bar. It wasn’t unusual for her to come and wait for him after work, and she was usually happy to pick up a shift and pocket some extra cash. ‘You bet!’ said Anya, eyes lighting up. ‘Oh, wait. It’s not them again, is it?’ By ‘them’ she meant the group of loud-mouthed salesmen from a company who descended on the hotel every quarter for meetings and training. As the reps…

Barry and Mia were studying a tourist map of Barcelona. Soon, they’d be there on holiday enjoying mouth-watering Spanish meals — Mia couldn’t wait! But Barry had other ideas. ‘Thank goodness there are restaurants serving English food close to our hotel,’ he said. ‘I don’t want to eat any Spanish food.’ ‘Why not?’ ‘You know why — it makes me ill. Remember that trip to Alicante?’ How could she forget? Barry had made friends with some blokes on the plane. They were all staying in hotels close to each other. During the week, and being football fans, the men bonded over vast quantities of booze and noisy singing. The WAGS stuck to a glass of wine each so they could steer their partners home. But one night, their behaviour was…

Natasha’s mind was on a million different things as she walked up the path to her front door. But the sight of the strange man in her garden drew her up short. ‘Who are you?’ she demanded, her heart racing. The man jumped. ‘Er… I’m Sam. I’m…’ ‘He’s with me,’ said a belligerent voice and Natasha’s husband — soon to be ex-husband — appeared from around the side of the house. Her heart sank. After a long day at work, the last person she wanted to see was Kyle. Her chin came up. ‘Which doesn’t explain why you are both in my garden and why you’ — she frowned at Sam, noticing the phone in his hand — ‘are taking pictures.’ Kyle snorted. ‘We’re in the garden because you changed…

How would Ellie and Don satisfy their daughter’s demands? Rachel and Ben had been a couple for 18 months, and after several unsuitable boyfriends, Ellie and Don, her parents, were pleased she’d found Mr Right. They weren’t so keen on her wedding plans, though. Rachel wanted a huge wedding, and much as they hated to disappoint their only child, there was no way they could finance her extravagant whims. They’d tried talking to her, asked her to be more realistic, but she didn’t seem to hear anything they said. ‘I want it to be the best day of my life, a truly memorable occasion.’ Ellie wondered why her daughter wanted such a big fuss. Was it just to show off to her friends? Her own wedding to Doug had been…

How did it go?’ my mum asked when I got back from the pub. ‘It was OK,’ I said as I sat down on the sofa. ‘I was really nervous, Mum, but James soon put me at my ease. We had nothing in common though and there were a few awkward silences, but… yeah, it was all right.’ Mum stared at me as she turned the TV off. ‘You don’t sound that enthusiastic.’ ‘Well, it was kind of embarrassing,’ I said, taking my shoes off so I could curl up on the sofa. ‘And there were some people I knew in the pub, and I was worried that one of them might walk over and ask who he was.’ ‘But they didn’t.’ I shook my head. ‘No, they didn’t, but…

I’m so sorry, Paula. I should have checked first. The museum isn’t open on Wednesday afternoons.’ ‘Don’t worry, Adam. We can always come back tomorrow.’ He nodded but I could tell he wasn’t convinced. It was the first time we’d gone away together. So far everything that could go wrong had gone wrong. There was a mix-up with the booking, which meant we were given a twin room rather than the two singles Adam had asked for. As it was March, that wouldn’t normally have been a problem but the hotel was hosting a conference and was fully booked. Rather than dining at the hotel, Adam had booked dinner at his favourite restaurant on the first night. He hadn’t been back to Wales since he’d lived there as a student…

Happily settled on the sofa, I was watching Corrie with a cuppa when I heard the sound of a key in the front door. I froze. Who the heck was this? It must be my newlywed, middle-aged friends, Jack and Stella, arriving home early from their month-long honeymoon abroad on an exotic, sun-soaked, paradise island. I wondered why they’d needed to come home early and why they hadn’t let me (their house-sitter) know about their sudden change of plan? Their ‘second time around’ wedding had been a truly lovely day, full of fun, delicious food, and plenty of wine, joy, laughter and music. It would stay in my memory for a long time. Anyway, back to the key in the door... grabbing the remote control, I quickly turned down the…

As always, Brian arrived early to collect his customers for their trip to the airport. Well, he always prided himself on doing a professional job, and besides, it suited him to see his customers actually inside their own homes, rather than picking them up from their doorstep. ‘Oh, we’re not quite ready!’ said Mr Cox, as he opened the door. ‘That’s all right, mate,’ said Brian, with a smile. ‘I’ll just carry out your first cases for you.’ He followed the man into the lounge and cast a quick look around and smiled. They had some really lovely things. ‘Nice house you’ve got here,’ he said admiringly. ‘Yes,’ said Mr Cox as he locked a case. ‘Here’s the first case for you.’ Brian picked it up. It was big and…