CHAPTER FIVE

The Birthday Party

Max was busy preparing the meal. 'He's bringing a girl?' he asked his wife, Bella. 'Are you serious?'

'Yes. Quite a surprise, isn't it?'

'Does the girl have a name?'

'He didn't say.'

Black smoke was pouring from the oven. 'Oh no! What's happening here?' said Max, running towards it. Then the doorbell rang and he ran to the door. He threw it open. 'Come in, come in! Food problems!' And he ran back to the oven.

William and Anna walked into the large kitchen.

'Hi! Sorry—he's finding the meat a bit difficult,' said Bella, welcoming her guests from her wheelchair.

'Hi,' said Anna.

Bella looked at her carefully. 'Hey! You look like ...'

'Bella, this is Anna,' William said quickly.

'Right,' she replied, looking carefully at Anna's face.

'OK, I've solved the problem,' said Max, turning back from the oven. 'Hello, Anna!' He stopped in surprise as he saw her face. 'Er ... Have some wine.'

'Thank you.'

The doorbell rang again and Max went to the front door.

'Happy Birthday! You look wonderful,' he said, as Honey hurried in.

Honey, a small young woman with a big smile and large eyes, danced around happily, showing her new dress. Max followed her to the kitchen.

'Listen,' he whispered. 'Your brother has brought this girl and ... er ...'

They reached the kitchen.

'Hi, everyone!' Honey smiled to the others. Then she suddenly saw Anna. 'Oh, wow!'

William spoke quickly. 'Honey, this is Anna. Anna, this is Honey. She's my baby sister.'

'Hi,' said Anna with a smile.

'Oh, wow! This is one of those really important times in a person's life. I know I should be calm about it. But Anna, I love you! I think you're the most beautiful woman on Earth. And I have honestly believed for some time that we could be best friends. What do you think?' Anna looked surprised and amused, but pleased. 'Marry Will!' Honey continued. 'He's really nice, and then we can be sisters.'

'I'll think about it,' Anna laughed.

The doorbell rang again.

'That'll be Bernie,' said Max, going to the door.

A large man with a round, pleasant face walked in.

'Sorry I'm late, Max. I made a mess at work again, I'm afraid. Lost millions.'

'Bernie! Come in. This is Anna.'

'Hello, Anna. Glad to meet you.' He shook her hand, then turned to Honey. 'Happy Birthday, Honey Bunny! Here you are.' He gave her his present. 'It's a hat. You don't have to wear it.'

Max poured Bernie a drink. Then he and William went to prepare the table. Max took his drink and joined Anna.

'So tell me, Anna, what do you do?'

'I'm an actress.'

'Great. I'm a stockbroker. But I've done a little bit of theatre in my time. Not as a job, of course. I always thought it was a difficult life, acting. I mean, the money's terrible, isn't it?'

Anna agreed. 'It can be.'

Bernie continued. 'I know friends from university—clever people—and they earn very little. Seven, eight thousand pounds a year. What sort of acting do you do?'

'Films, mainly.'

'Oh, excellent. Well done.' Bernie seemed more interested. 'How's the pay in films? The last film you made ... What were you paid?'

'Fifteen million dollars.'

Bernie's face went bright red. 'Right. Right. So that's ... quite good. Very good, really. Er ... can I get you another drink?'

'I think we're ready,' called Max, walking towards the table.

Anna looked around, then asked Bella, 'Could you tell me where the ...

'It's just down there, on the right,' she said, pointing.

'I'll show you,' offered Honey.

'Quickly, quickly—talk very quickly. What are you doing here with Anna Scott?' Bella said to William after Anna and Honey left the room. The others crowded around them.

'Anna Scott?' said Bernie, turning pale. 'The film star?'

'Yes.'

'Oh, no ...'

Honey returned to the kitchen, and said in a whisper, 'I don't believe it! I walked into the toilet with her. I was still talking when she started taking off her jeans. She had to ask me to leave.' The meal was very enjoyable. The old friends laughed and joked together, and Anna soon felt part of the group.

'What do you think of the meat, Anna?' asked Bella.

Anna answered in a whisper, so Max couldn't hear. 'I don't usually eat meat ...' She smiled.

Bella put her hand to her mouth. 'Oh, no!' she laughed.

They moved into the sitting room for coffee.

'Anna, you have done so much and we have clearly failed in life,' Max said. 'That's not a bad thing. In fact, we should be proud of it. I'm going to give the last piece of cake to the person who has the saddest life.' Max looked around.

There was a short silence. Then William looked at Bernie. Bernie went first. 'Well, it's me, isn't it? I do a job that I don't understand. I haven't had a girlfriend since I was twelve. And if I get any fatter, I probably never will.'

'I like you,' Honey told him. 'Well, I did, before you got so fat.' Max turned to Bernie. 'You see. And you also earn a lot of money. Honey here earns almost nothing for working long hours in London's worst record shop.'

'That's true. And I've got strange hair and funny, goggly eyes. I only seem to go out with men who are unkind. And no one will ever marry me ..."

'You see, Honey is terribly sad,' said Max.

'But her best friend is Anna Scott,' Bella added.

'That's true,' Honey agreed. 'She needs me. What can I say?'

'And her legs work,' continued Bella, 'while I'm in this wheelchair, day and night. And even worse, I've given up smoking, my favourite thing. And the fact is,' she said hesitantly, 'we can't have a baby.'

The room was completely silent now.

'Bella!' said William.

'No! It's not true!' Bernie said sadly.

'That's life. We're lucky in lots of ways, but surely I get the cake?' Bella asked.

Max lightened the conversation. 'Well, I don't know. Look at William. Very unsuccessful at work. A failed marriage. He was handsome, but is now losing his good looks. And it's clear that he'll never hear from Anna again. Not when she knows that he was called Floppy at school.'

They all laughed loudly.

'Ah, so I get the cake?' suggested William.

Max answered. 'I think you do, yes.'

William reached for the cake.

'Wait a minute. What about me?' It was Anna.

'You?' asked Max.

The others stared at her.

'Well, I'd like to try for the cake.'

'You'll have to prove it,' William smiled. 'It's a lovely cake and I'm going to fight you for it.'

'Well ... I've worried about my weight since I was nineteen. So I've been hungry for ten years. I've had a lot of not nice boyfriends, and one of them hit me. And every time my heart's broken, the press write about it. Oh, and it costs me millions to look like this.'

'Really,' said Honey, looking closely at her face.

'Really. And one day, not long from now ...' The table was silent again. It was clear that Anna was speaking from the heart.

'... my looks will go. They'll realize I can't act. And I'll become a sad middle-aged woman who was famous for a few years,' she continued sadly.

They all looked at Anna in silence. Then Max broke the silence with a shout.

'No—nice try, beautiful, but you must think we're stupid!'

They all laughed.

'Useless!' said William to Anna. 'You're not getting the cake!'

When it was time to leave, William and Anna stood up.

'That was a great evening,' Anna said to Max.

'Thank you so much for coming,' he replied warmly.

'And I have to say that I love your tie, Max.' It was blue with red telephone boxes on it.

'Now I know you're lying.'

Anna turned to Bella. 'Lovely to meet you.'

'And you. It's a pity you don't eat meat. But don't worry—I won't tell Max.' Bella looked at her husband with a smile.

'What? Oh, no!'

'Goodnight, Honey,' said Anna.

'I'm so sorry about the toilet thing. I meant to leave but I just ... Listen, ring me if you need to go shopping with someone. I know lots of nice, cheap places. Of course, money isn't really ... Nice to meet you.' Honey gave her a kiss.

'You too. I'll come to you for help with all my clothes!'

'Love your work,' said Bernie, smiling nervously.

As the front door closed behind them, William and Anna heard the others scream with excitement.

'Sorry,' William said. 'They always do that when I leave the house ...'

'Floppy?' she laughed.

He looked at her. 'It's my hair! It was always falling across my face.'

'Why is Bella in a wheelchair?'

'It was an accident—about eighteen months ago.' There was pain in William's eyes at the memory.

'And the baby thing—is that a result of the accident?'

'I'm not sure. I don't think they've tried for children before.'

They walked in silence, a comfortable silence. It was a lovely night.

'Would you like to come ...? My house is just ...?' William asked hesitantly.

She smiled and shook her head. 'It's too difficult.'

'OK. That's fine.'

'Are you busy tomorrow?' she asked.

'I thought you were leaving.'

'I was.'

They were walking along a street with trees on one side.

'What's in there?' asked Anna, pointing to the trees.

'A garden. All these squares have gardens in the middle for the people around them. They're like little villages.'

'Let's go in.'

'Ah, no. They're private. They're only for the people who live here.'

'And you always follow the rules?' she asked. She seemed very interested in his answer.

'Me? Er ... oh no, not me. I do what I want.' In fact, William was the kind of person who always followed rules. But he started to climb the locked metal gate. He fell back. 'Oh dear ...' He tried again, and again he fell. 'It's more difficult than it looks, Anna.'

'Stand back,' Anna replied, starting to climb. She was over the gate in a second. 'Your turn, Floppy!'

At last, with great difficulty, William succeeded in climbing over. He jumped down inside the garden.

'What's in this garden that's so good?'

Then, in the silence of the garden, under the trees, she reached out and kissed him. This time it was a real kiss.

'Nice garden!' he said, in surprise.

As they walked around on the grass, they came to a wooden seat. She read the words on it, 'June loved this garden. Joseph always sat here with her.' The dates below it read: June Wetherby 1917-1992. 'You see, some people do spend all their lives together,' Anna said quietly.

William looked deeply into her eyes. He spoke softly. 'Yes, they do.'