Page 80 of Someone For Everyone

Calvin winced when the loud buzzing of the hair clippers sent shock waves vibrating through his skull. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d had a hangover. Thankfully, he’d downed a pint of water before collapsing into bed last night, so the effects of consuming too many bottles of Peroni weren’t as crippling as they might have been.

What had started out as a quiet evening, watching football training, had ended up with a group visit to a curry house in Ashford, followed by a few pints at The Black Horse Inn with Nelson. His car was still parked outside the pub, which had seemed sensible at the time, but less so when they were staggering home in the drifting snow. There was no way of retrieving the car this morning, as two feet of snow were blocking the driveway.

On the plus side, the heavy snowfall meant that the local trains weren’t running, so Kate hadn’t been able to leave as planned and was trapped at Rose Court, along with everyone else. Thank heavens for small mercies. Although he wasn’t quite sure she saw it that way.

Lucky Larry appeared from his bathroom, a towel tucked into the collar of his blue shirt. ‘Ready when you are.’

‘Are you sure you about this?’ Calvin had a definite shake in his hands.

Larry sat down at the dressing table. ‘I need a haircut and won’t be getting into town anytime soon in this weather, so clipper away. What’s the worst that can happen?’

Calvin winced. ‘I make a mess of it?’

‘It looks the same whether it’s a good or bad cut. And with my eyesight, I can’t tell the difference.’ He met Calvin’s reflection in the mirror. ‘Besides, you’re more used to handling Afro hair than anyone else here. You’ve been selected by default.’

Calvin picked up the wide-tooth comb. ‘Don’t say I didn’t warn you.’

Larry smiled. ‘How was soccer training last night? Looks like it involved liquor.’

‘It did.’ Calvin winced. ‘And I’m feeling the effects this morning.’

‘Do I need to do a sobriety test? How many heads do I have?’

Calvin squinted into the mirror. ‘Just the one… I think.’

Larry laughed. ‘Okay, then. You know, I’d get so blasted in my day that I couldn’t tell the black keys from the white ones. Probably accounts for why I can still play piano with poor eyesight. I’m used to blurred vision.’

Calvin combed through Larry’s hair. He was struggling to cope with one hangover, let alone having to deal with them on a regular basis. He supposed it was part of being a musician. The collection of framed Motown discs hanging on Larry’s bedroom wall was a reminder of the man’s prestigious career. ‘Did you drink a lot when you were younger?’

‘Sure, it was all part of the scene back then. The band wouldn’t come on stage until nine and we never finished before one in the morning. You’d be too hyped to sleep, so you’d unwind with a few shots at the bar and then sleep it off the next day. That was my life for many years, until I met my Francie. Things change when you have a reason to get up in the morning. You get my drift?’

Calvin picked up the clippers. ‘I do.’

‘You have that in your life?’

‘Not anymore.’ Calvin searched through the range of guards, trying not to think about his fractured love-life, past or present. ‘Number four okay?’

‘Perfect.’ He could feel Larry watching him as he fitted the guard to the clippers. ‘I kinda thought you might be sweet on Kate. She’s quite a gal, you know. I like her.’

‘I like her, too,’ he admitted, knowing there was no point denying it. He wasn’t oblivious to the sly looks when they were together and the muted conversations that would abruptly stop when he entered a room. It seemed everyone at Rose Court had known what was going on long before they had. And now it was over. Ended before it had even started, and all because he’d been an idiot.

‘If I was fifty years younger, I might make a play for her myself,’ Larry said, with a wink.

Calvin ran the clippers up the back of Larry’s head. ‘You’d probably be more successful. You have more in common with her than I do – she’s very passionate about music.’

‘Seems to me she’s passionate about a lot of things. I see kindred spirits.’

Calvin raised an eyebrow. ‘Hardly.’

‘You don’t feel a connection?’

‘Maybe, but it’s… complicated.’ He didn’t want to say too much, as it wouldn’t be fair on Kate. Whatever was going on between them needed to remain private.

Larry tilted his head. ‘How so?’

‘Bad timing, mainly… keep your head still,’ he said, fearful of taking a chunk out of Larry’s ear. ‘This is precarious enough as it is.’

‘What do you mean, bad timing? You either like each other, or you don’t. There’s nothing complicated about it.’

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