Calling All Dentists (Calling All... Book 2), page 26
“Washing-up all done,” said Ruby as she entered the room, carrying the drinks.
“That was so nice of you to cook all of that food Rue. Thank you so much, I owe you one.” Emma smiled and took the mug from Ruby.
“Oh, it was nothing. You’re my best friend,” said Ruby, curling up on the opposite sofa, “I wanted to do it for you. You’ve had a hard time lately and you deserved it.”
Emma could sense that there was a ‘but’ or something more sinister coming. “Come on then, what was wrong with you yesterday?” Emma sipped the sweet, alcoholic beverage.
“I got so upset because I didn’t know what to do Em.”
“About what?” asked Emma, desperately trying not to burn her lips, but wanting to drink more of the coffee.
“About Pete.”
“What’s wrong with Pete, I knew it was to do with him. I hope he hasn’t upset you Rue.”
“No, it’s not like that.” Ruby hesitated as if she was deep in thought, “He’s done something that I wasn’t happy about.”
“Oh no, another woman?” asked Emma, still sipping.
“No, not that,” replied Ruby, coyly. “I don’t know what to say. I don’t know how to say it.”
“Right, I’m totally intrigued now – tell me,” Emma propped herself up further on the sofa, in case she slid off it completely.
Ruby peered down into her mug of coffee, like she was contemplating her next string of words carefully.
“It can’t be that bad, surely,” Emma added.
“It was the other day when you went out with Colin.” Ruby began to sip her coffee too.
“After my explosion in the office – yes?”
“Yes.”
“What happened then?” Emma was becoming more intrigued by the second, “So this is to do with me as well – is that why Pete has been a bit funny with me too? He sent me a text tonight to apologise for being ‘off’ with me.”
Ruby sat motionless and looked quite petrified. Her big blue eyes stared ahead and appeared to gaze right through Emma, to the window behind her. So much so that Emma turned around to check that nothing was behind her – like a giant, black, house spider or something else, far more horrible and scary, maybe even something from her dreams.
“Um,” said Ruby, absent-mindedly.
“Go on then, tell me,” said Emma trying to hide the agitation building in her voice.
Ruby’s eyes refocused and she appeared to snap back into the here and now. For a moment Emma thought that she was going to start crying again as her eyes looked very moist. Tilting her head questioningly, Emma waited for a response.
“Well we all had a talk after you left.”
“Oh? About me I guess.”
Ruby nodded, “Everyone was really concerned about you. They all care about you, you know.”
“Yes, ok. Carry on…”
“Well, after the chat, Pete went very quiet and didn’t seem to be himself,” said Ruby, struggling to find the words to carry on.
“Yes?”
“We went out at lunch time together and that’s when he told me. He feels so awful Emma. He doesn’t know what to do. And then we had some more words that evening when he came round. He didn’t want you to know but I disagreed with him.”
“About what?” asked Emma, shifting further up on the sofa. Taking a large gulp of coffee, her eyes began to smart as the hot liquid slipped down her throat.
“It was Pete…” Ruby bowed her head as if in shame and gazed into her mug which was tightly gripped in the palms of her hands.
Emma briefly wondered how Ruby’s hands were not burning. “What was Pete?”
“It was Pete who did it,” Ruby paused, “Err… you know… Pete did it.” Tears had actually welled in Ruby’s eyes for sure this time as she peered across the room, on the brink of a watery explosion.
“Did what? I don’t understand Ruby.” Emma thought she sounded overly aggressive, “Come on Rue, spit it out – it’s no big deal.”
“Secret Santa…” Ruby set her mug of coffee on to the side table and padded into the kitchen to grab some kitchen roll. Returning to the lounge, she blew her nose and sat back down.
“What? So it was Pete that bought my presents?” Emma was amazed rather than angry, like she thought she might have been once she’d found out who it was that gave her such a cruel and insensitive present. “I can’t believe it…”
“Um,” replied Ruby, looking somewhat dumbfounded that Emma hadn’t actually hit the roof with rage.
“I… I just can’t believe it… is that why you’ve been acting like this?”
“Um,” said Ruby, nodding her head in little movements while peering from underneath her fringe with watery, blue eyes.
“Oh Ruby, it didn’t need to come to this. You could have told me sooner.” Emma felt a strong urge to leap off the sofa and go and hug her friend tightly but she resisted. She didn’t want Ruby mistaking her lunge towards her as an impending attack. “Is that why Pete has been a bit funny with me?”
“Um,” said Ruby, “He feels terrible. I’m so sorry Emma”
“Why did he do it then? And you don’t have to be sorry, you haven’t done anything Rue!” Emma’s emotions were beginning to swing towards disappointment and a slight agitation began to build inside her again. “Why did he do something like that if he was going to regret it?” The tone in her voice was beginning to change, “Do you want a drink?”
Ruby shook her head and picked up her half mug of coffee, gripping it tightly, with both of her trembling hands. Emma jumped up off the sofa and headed for the kitchen – this news required another alcoholic drink to help her mull it over.
Returning with a large glass of Baileys, Emma sat down and gulped a substantial amount before placing it on the table beside her. “So, why did he do it if he felt so bad?”
“You don’t understand Emma.”
“Well explain it to me then,” said Emma reaching for the glass again, “Come on, I’m not angry Rue. I’m completely amazed that Pete would do something like that. I didn’t know he had a dark side to him.”
“He hasn’t Emma… that’s just it. He’s been so stupid and realises that now.” Ruby took another gulp of her cooling coffee, “He meant no harm by it, honestly. I just couldn’t believe it when he told me though. I said to him that we couldn’t carry on seeing each other unless he told you that it was him that sent you the present.” Hiding her face in the mug, Ruby then peeped over the rim again at Emma who was rolling her eyes up to the ceiling and shaking her head.
“You mean you’ve finished with Pete?” asked Emma, more astonished than before.
Ruby nodded, “He was so worried about you finding out and he didn’t want me to tell you. I said that I couldn’t live with secrets, when you had so desperately wanted to know who had done it.”
“So you have really finished with him?”
“Um,” replied Ruby.
“Why have you both been whispering in corners and going out at lunch together then?”
“Because he wants us to stay together. We’ve been sort of arguing about it all this time,” said Ruby, sniffing and wiping a hand across her nose.
“Oh my God, I don’t believe it – this is madness.” Emma gulped another mouthful of Baileys and tucked the almost empty glass into her lap.
“He didn’t mean to hurt you Emma…”
“What – so he just thought I’d laugh about it? He, like everyone else, had probably noticed my teeth were bad. I just don’t get how he thought I would find it funny!” Emma gulped down the rest of her drink and suddenly felt the warmth of the alcohol inside her – it felt good. Jumping up, she went back to the kitchen and poured herself another large Baileys. “You want one?” she called through to Ruby.
“No thank you.”
Ruby had finished her coffee and sat tightly curled-up on the sofa, when Emma returned, feeling flushed and slightly tipsy. The alcohol was, yet again, going to play havoc with her gums but she didn’t care too much right now. “So, what now?” asked Emma.
“I need to let you know why he did it.”
“Oh go on then.” Emma laughed, “Not that it will make any difference – he still did it.”
“It’s not like that, he feels really stupid now and had no idea that you would see it differently,” said Ruby, pulling herself upright on the sofa. “You had told him at some point when you were both out dog-walking, that you hated dentists.”
“Did I? Don’t remember that!”
“Well, he bought the electric toothbrush for you because he’d seen an advert about them and how they were supposed to be better for you than a traditional toothbrush.” Emma laughed out loud and took another gulp from the glass in her hand. “He thought it would keep the dentist away if you had a really good toothbrush,” added Ruby.
“Oh for goodness sake,” said Emma, unsure about how she was feeling, now that the alcohol was beginning to set-in, “And the wind-up teeth?”
“Well, you know he used to have a thing for you…”
“Glad you said ‘used’,” replied Emma.
Ruby smiled sweetly. “Well, he gave you those as a sort of message really.”
“A message? What sort of message?” Emma was feeling quite tipsy now and the whole evening was turning into an amusing night of revelations.
“It was meant to be taken as, ‘fancy a chat’ or something like that, maybe it was, ‘wanna chat’ or ‘I love chatting to you’. I can’t remember exactly,” said Ruby, looking anxious as she waited for a response.
When Emma had finished laughing hysterically (almost spilling her drink) and holding her aching tummy, she took a deep breath and sighed. “Oh dear Rue, what a ridiculous state of affairs this has all been.”
“Um,” replied Ruby, looking nonchalant as she shrugged. “So you’re not really angry then?”
“How can I be – it’s ludicrous,” she laughed. “Why don’t you text or call him and tell him to come round then we can sort it all out?” said Emma, feeling more than slightly tipsy now. “You shouldn’t finish with him Rue.”
“Ok, but maybe you shouldn’t give up on Andrew either…”
Pete looked pensive as he walked into the living room, biting his bottom lip and clutching his hands together in front of him. Following him in to the room, Ruby sat on the sofa with him. “Right, we… err… we need to get this all… err… out in the open… and err… and be done with it… don’t we?” slurred Emma. “I obvi… ously took it all the wrong way, didn’t I?”
Pete and Ruby sat motionless on the opposite sofa, looking uncomfortable, like a couple who had just come to visit an estranged great aunt, with a speech impediment.
“I’m really sorry Em, I just didn’t see it the same way that you did. I had no idea about your teeth before… well, before the beginning of this week.” Pete sounded like he was pleading for forgiveness and his words had the effect of making Emma burst into raucous laughter yet again, while the alcohol continued to muddle her mind and take over absolutely everything. Pete and Ruby just stared at her with dead-pan faces, unsure of what to do or say as their friend made a complete fool of herself by laughing so much that she rolled off the sofa and ended up flat on her face on the floor.
Less than an hour later and Emma had been carefully guided to her room under Ruby and Pete’s supervision. Laying her down on the bed fully clothed, they tiptoed out, turned the light off and shut her bedroom door quietly. The night had become theirs alone and they could now rekindle their love affair without upsetting anyone.
Chapter 24
The crisp and frosty January morning lay under an oppressively gloomy, grey cloud cover, just outside Emma’s bedroom window. She opened her eyes wide and strained to focus as her muddled mind tried to make sense of the day… the time… the previous evening. Turning her head to one side, her senses kicked in and the pain inside her head became prevalent – hangover. Emma rubbed her forehead and then moved her fingers over her eyebrows, trying to rub away the thumping pain that seemed to be beating in rhythm with her heart.
It was Saturday morning and as consciousness began to dawn, Emma abruptly stopped rubbing her aching head. Shit – Saturday – Andrew! Glancing over at the alarm clock on the bedside table, her eyes widened as she took in the red, illuminated numbers and the time of day began to compute. Oh no – 10:36. Jumping out of bed as if she’d been electrocuted by the mattress, Emma grabbed her dressing gown from its hook on the back of the door and headed to the kitchen and more importantly the kettle and the medicine drawer.
“Morning,” Ruby mumbled, peering sleepily over the rim of her mug. Propped up by the kitchen cupboards, she had that usual, worried expression on her small-featured face. “It’s just boiled,” she said, indicating with a small pointed finger, towards the kettle. Emma smiled weakly, flicked it on and then proceeded to root around in the drawer for some pain killers. “Have you got a hangover?” whispered Ruby.
“Yeah, a bit of one,” replied Emma, becoming frustrated when she found the foil packet of tablets, only to discover that there was only one left. “Guess that will have to do.” Closing the drawer with a flick of her hip, Emma prepared a mug of coffee and momentarily puzzled over why Ruby was standing in the kitchen, mug clasped between her hands and watching Emma’s every move. “Are you ok?” she asked.
Ruby nodded, “Yes I’m fine.”
“What time did Pete leave? I don’t even remember saying goodbye… or going to bed for that matter.”
“About 20 minutes ago,” said Ruby, peeping wide-eyed over the top of her mug of steaming coffee.
“Really? He stayed the night again then?”
“Um,” mumbled Ruby. A smirk appeared on her face and she raised her eyebrows, “He’ll be back later. We’re going out tonight.”
“Well I’m glad you’ve sorted everything out.” Emma moved across the kitchen and began to leave the room, “It’s just my warped world to sort out now then, one way or another,” she said while looking back over her shoulder, before she disappeared into the lounge.
“Rue!” shouted Emma, “Rue… come in here quick!” Emma returned to the bathroom mirror and studied her reflection again.
“Are you all right in there?” asked Ruby from the other side of the partially opened door.
“Yeah – come in.” Emma continued to stand at the sink examining her image, which presented itself with a ridiculously, over-exaggerated grin. “Look!” She pointed to the mirror, “It’s going!”
“What’s going?” Ruby leaned over and stared into the mirror too.
“The gap – look!” Emma pulled down her bottom lip and they both gazed at the small space in awe.
“Ooh, that’s strange,” whispered Ruby, turning to Emma and squinting straight into her opened mouth. “How has that happened?”
“I think they’ve all moved,” said Emma, turning back to the mirror with a finger hooked over her bottom lip, pulling it downwards to the bottom of her chin.
“Ooh,” breathed Ruby in astonishment. “How have they done that?”
“I don’t know… I did think the other day that it looked a bit different but not as much as this.”
“Perhaps it was all the Baileys you had last night,” said Ruby, trying to sound light-hearted and ‘jokey’.
“Exactly!” said Emma, letting go of her bottom lip creating a ‘Pop’ as it sprang back into place.
“Really?” Ruby looked puzzled.
“Yes – really! Alcohol always makes my teeth loosen. They’ve all moved round and spread out.” Emma was high-spirited, the big gap that she’d had before had now turned in to two smaller gaps. It appeared much more normal and far less noticeable. Her gums were slightly inflamed, but Emma couldn’t care less how they felt today, as long as she looked reasonably ok. “It looks better doesn’t it?” she asked, hooking her lip down again and thrusting her face closer to Ruby’s.
“Yes… yes it does Em.”
“They’re really loose though,” said Emma, wobbling three other teeth on the bottom row, with her tongue.
“Ugh – that’s not good Emma.” Ruby looked in disgust and then turned her head away. “You have got to get them sorted out otherwise they’ll all drop out.”
“I will, don’t you worry. I’ve made my mind up, I’m having them all removed and that’s my final decision.” Emma grinned and turned back to the mirror to smile at herself and move her mouth around in lots of different ways. Ruby stood speechless in the bathroom, watching her friend go through her usual and rather absurd ritual, in a daze of despair and disbelief, for she knew how serious Emma really was.
Her headache had dulled slightly which made it easier for Emma to search fruitlessly through her wardrobe, trying to find something to wear. It had to be right. She had to look good. Although the sun had peeped through the ash-grey sky once or twice, it was still freezing outside. Emma’s favourite, grey jumper-dress was too grey for a dull day like today and she felt that she needed to wear something bright to match her renewed mood. That’ll have to do, she thought, reaching for a crumpled up, heavy-cotton, fitted dress. She’d have to run the iron over it but the well worn, red dress had always looked great when paired with her knee-length, high-heeled black boots and her black, suede jacket with a fake fur collar.
Peeping out of the bedroom window, Emma could just see that the conifer trees, over on the back road, were gently twitching in a slight breeze. She would leave her hair down in a tumble of waves and flicks cascading down her back like a lion’s mane, as it wasn’t too windy.
Hi Emma, are we still on for coffee? Andy x
Emma read the message twice, which sent shivers running through her. Nervous and worried, but strangely excited too, it felt like an age since she’d seen him or spoken to him but Emma’s resolve was far more prepared for the possible onslaught of ridicule and rejection today.
Yes, I do hope to be there on time… running a little late at the moment though. See you soon. Em xx
“How do I look?” asked Emma, standing in the doorway of the lounge. Ruby looked up from her Mills & Boon as Emma twirled around, holding her arms out to the sides.
