Page 66 of New Dreams for the Village Nurse
The office phone started to ring. Ottilie saw it was Lavender and picked up.
‘You’ll be pleased to know Mrs Blythe is early and she’s asking to be seen.’
‘Her appointment isn’t for another hour.’
‘I know, but she says she needs to go shopping.’
‘What?’
‘Hey, don’t shoot the messenger.’ Lavender lowered her voice. ‘I’d say no, but I did say I’d ask you. Up to you, my love. I can send her away if you can’t do it and tell her to come at her appointment time like a normal person.’
Ottilie glanced up at the wall clock and let out a sigh. She wasn’t doing anything else apart from worry about Fliss, and it would be good to have one patient out of the way. If anything it might do her a favour too – she’d be able to get some other things done during that slot. ‘Send her in.’
‘Sucker,’ Lavender said, and as the phone went down Ottilie could hear her chuckling.
Heath opened Magnus and Geoff’s side gate and stood back to let Ottilie through before following. It was strange to be here with him – the last time they’d sat in the couple’s home cinema it had been because Magnus and Geoff were trying to engineer a romance between them. They hadn’t succeeded – in fact, they’ddriven things a long way in the opposite direction – though Ottilie had to admit that they’d been right to see the potential.
Most of the members of film club were already there. Flo had decided, as she often did, that she didn’t fancy the film and so wasn’t coming, but many of the other regulars were in attendance. Simon was yet to arrive, and though Ottilie wanted to think better of Heath, it was telling that the first time he’d been interested in coming along was also the first time Simon would be there. She’d given him absolutely no reason to be jealous, and yet, she sensed it.
‘Ottilie!’ Magnus came rushing from inside the cinema room to greet them. ‘Everyone is inside already. ‘We haven’t started yet, so don’t worry about that.’ He offered a grateful smile to Heath. ‘It’s lovely to see you here too. I hope you enjoy.’
‘I’m sure I will,’ Heath said, and though Ottilie tried her best, the look she threw his way was laced with more than a little scepticism. Perhaps it was unfair and undeserved, and she didn’t really want to feel that way, but it was hard not to. Perhaps he really had only decided to give it a go, and perhaps it was for all the right reasons.
‘I hope everyone hasn’t been waiting for us,’ Ottilie said. ‘You should have got started if you needed to – we could have caught up. I did text Lavender to tell her we were running late and that she could?—’
‘No, no…we’re still waiting for Simon too. I wouldn’t dream of getting started without him – seems a bit rude as it’s his first one.’
‘Oh, right…That’s fine then.’
‘Not to stress but do you know how long he’ll be?’
Ottilie gave him a blank look. ‘Me? Not a clue.’
‘Only I’m assuming you’ve seen him at work today and I thought you might have left together.’
‘Why would you think that?’
‘Um…’ Magnus let out a self-conscious laugh. ‘I suppose I thought…I don’t actually know. I wondered if he might come to your house to eat and get changed in the meantime.’
Ottilie suddenly realised she’d never even asked Simon what his plans were in that regard. He wouldn’t have driven all the way back to his place in Liverpool and then returned and, presumably, he’d have wanted an evening meal and a freshen-up. How did she not think of that? How could she have been so remiss? ‘I don’t know where he went.’
‘Probably went to Fliss’s place,’ Heath said.
‘Oh, right…I suppose he did,’ Ottilie replied vaguely, though she had some doubts because she’d waved Fliss off herself that evening, alone and with no mention of Simon planning to follow on.
She resolved to be better than that, regardless of what Simon had ended up doing this time. Next time she needed to be more mindful and to check he was OK. She was settled in Thimblebury now and she had lots of friends here, people who always had her back, but she had to remember that it wasn’t like that for Simon, not yet at any rate. And she had to remember what that was like, because not so long ago it had been her.
Magnus was already beckoning them inside when the gate opened again and Simon appeared. Ottilie noted that he hadn’t changed his clothes from earlier that day – though that wasn’t necessarily any indication of what he’d been doing during the chunk of time in between the end of surgery and now – and he seemed fairly relaxed. At least that was a positive.
‘Sorry I’m a bit late,’ he said, glancing between all three as they turned to greet him. ‘Got carried away catching up on some paperwork and lost track of the time.’
‘Oh, don’t worry about that!’ Magnus hurried over and grabbed him by the hand for an enthusiastic shake. ‘We’re just glad to have you here!’
‘Glad to be invited,’ Simon replied with a grin. He glanced again at Ottilie and Heath and gave them both a good-natured nod of acknowledgement.
‘Come through if you’re ready,’ Magnus said. ‘There are nibbles out. We usually do the drinks and nibbles after the film, but as we weren’t quite ready to go we decided to have some of them beforehand today.’
‘Is that my fault?’ Simon asked as he followed him to the doors.
