Lucy Alex

Chapter 8

A New Start

That was Chrissy's reintroduction to normal life. She spent the next week job hunting and writing her CV on my laptop, she caught up with her friends, spending hours walking round the house with a telephone to her ear and on the following Saturday we went looking for a new car for her. She decided on a sporty yellow Renault Clio with all the extras and Lorraine went to the bank to get a banker's cheque. The car would take one week before it was ready and we made arrangements to pick it up the next Saturday at two pm.

As the next weekend drew near Chrissy began to get excited about her new car, she was very sweet and I could not help but smile at her new enthusiasm, she was already planning her trips out with friends. On Tuesday she had had a job interview at a facilities management company in Croydon and so when on Thursday she got a telephone call to tell her she was successful she was over the moon, it looked like her life was back on its usual happy track.

On Thursday Chrissy was watching TV in the lounge when I got in from training. She gave me a cheerful "Hi, had a good day?" and a big smile when I walked in.

I smiled back "A very good day thank you. Where's your Mum?"

"She went for a bath, she played tennis today for the first time in ages and she aches a bit."

Chrissy turned the TV off and turned on the sofa to talk to me "Alex...can I ask a huge favour of you please?"

"Sure" I nodded, "I'll help if I can."

"You know that you and Mum arranged to take Evie and Elle to the airport tomorrow evening, well the garage has phoned and told me that my car is going to be ready early and I can pick it up tomorrow if I want. They don't close until six, so please, please, please could take me to the garage to pick up my new car instead...please." She put on a pathetic pleading face and batted her eyelids and I had to laugh.

"Sure, no problem, I was only going to keep Lorraine company for the journey back from Gatwick."

"Thanks! I'll tell you what, I still owe you for ruining a nice meal out, lets all go out for dinner tomorrow to celebrate my new car and new job, my treat."

"OK, I don't know what time your Mum will be back though. I'll go and suggest it to her."

I went up to the bedroom, the bathroom door was open and I could hear Lorraine in the bath. I called out to her as I got undressed. "Chrissy has asked me if I would take her to collect her new car tomorrow while you take Evie to the airport. Are you OK with that?"

Lorraine replied "That's fine, I think I can just about manage to find my way to the airport by now."

I laughed and told her about Chrissy's idea that we all go out for dinner when she got back from her taxi service duties.

She called back "Good idea, saves cooking and I can meet you at the restaurant, I should be back by seven thirty, if we book a table for eight...? Where are you thinking of going? Come and join me in the bath and we can talk about it at length...possibly"

The next day after work I drove straight home to pick Chrissy up, she was waiting for me as I pulled up, she looked very excited. She had a handful of compact disc cases and a large envelope and carried a small black leather bag over her shoulder. I noticed that she had had her hair done, she was growing it longer, but her darker roots had been starting to show, now it was all blond and it had been styled so that followed the curve of her face, not quite long enough yet to be a bob but that kind of style, it really suited her in my opinion.

She got into the car and fastened her seat belt, I said "Hi, had a good day? I like what you have done with your hair by the way, really suits you."

"Thank you, I needed a change. The day has gone by too slowly, but having my hair done and sorting out all the insurance has helped. And I bought some new CDs to play in the car."

I drove to the garage and went in with Chrissy to make sure that she could definitely drive the car away. She did all the paperwork and I helped her to inspect the car to ensure there were no glaring faults then she took the keys and got in to adjust the seat and mirrors and to load the CD changer with her new CDs. She opened the window and gave me a huge smile then started the engine and said "See you at home then."

I walked back to my car and got in, I watched Chrissy light a cigarette then she drove to the forecourt exit, gave me another smile and a wave then joined the traffic to make her way home. I started my car and followed her.