She had really blown it. Sophie knew that she had. That was why she was sitting on this bench out on the street. It was a typical summer night in Weatherfield, humid with a threat of rain. It didn't matter anyway if it rained or not. Sophie didn't feel like sitting at home watching stupid telly or her bedroom ceiling. At least her mum wasn't still annoyed with her. Sally was over the whole "Paul Jenna Eileen thing." Thank God! Sophie didn't want to hear anything more about it. She just wanted it all to blow over.
Of course sitting out here on a bench wasn't doing much to make her feel any better, but really there wasn't much else to do. Sophie sighed as she rubbed her temples. How could she have been so stupid? She had honestly believed that she was doing the right thing by reporting Lloyd. Well tell that to Eileen Grimshaw who looked like she was going to slag her off right there in the street. It was so awful. The whole thing was doing her head in.
Chesney had always loved walking the street at this time of year. Whether it was walking Joseph in his stroller or avoiding his mum as a kid, he knew every corner of the cobbles of Coronation. And his son would too. He smiled at the thought. Even as a small boy it gave him that steady immovable buoy in the middle of an ocean. Les, Fiz, John, and now Katy, well…people they let you down sometimes. But Chesney wanted his son to have a place, no matter how small, which was solid. That would always be there.
As he pushed Joseph along the smoothest side of the street, he looked up and saw "her" sitting there. He knew the look in her eyes. He'd seen it before. Like himself, Sophie Webster hadn't had it easy. She'd been thru it and back.
He'd heard the latest to be sure. Everyone had. Sophie was lucky that she didn't have a fat lip the way he had heard it. But then again Sophie had always been tough. One of the toughest girls on the street he reckoned. And that was saying a lot considering. As he watched her tonight though she looked so very small as she sat staring at nothing. Lost.
It was never a good thing when Sophie Webster was lost.
She had nearly toppled off a church roof in such a state once, Chesney remembered.
He rolled the stroller in her direction. There was no other choice for him.
Sophie looked up as she heard a rumbling over the cobbles. It wasn't too late, but it was past the point when anyone would be out. Of course Ches wasn't just anybody. She'd known him as long as she could remember. She hadn't talked to him enough in recent years she reckoned. Each of them had their own share of things to be occupied with.
He was rolling towards her with baby Joseph. She couldn't help it as a smile tugged at her lips. Sophie was a sucker for babies.
"Hiya" Ches said as he pulled up next to her. He motioned towards the space beside her on the bench. Sophie nodded as he sat down. Her attention was instantly drawn to the little man in the stroller. Her face lit up as she saw the shock of ginger hair.
"Hey little fella. Where are you taking your dad out to?" She cooed softly.
Ches watched her demeanor change instantly as her attention moved to his son. Joseph always seemed to cheer everybody in his presence. A little charmer he is, Chesney wistfully thought.
"He saw you sitting here and thought that you could use a little good cheer" Chesney turned toward the brunette.
Sophie sighed. Her disposition turned back to its previous weariness, the corners of her lips turning downwards.
"I expect you've heard how I've stepped in it? Well you couldn't miss it since Eileen Grimshaw was shouting it up and down the street." Sophie looked downward. Chesney nodded that he had.
"You're brave you. I wouldn't take her on" Chesney chuckled as he tried to imagine it. He had been busy working earlier in the market. Sinead and Fiz had filled him in.
Sophie chuckled softly and rolled her eyes. "Heh I know! Thought she was going to give me a going over right thar. Thank god my mum came along" Sophie exasperated. "Well it will all blow over soon. Something else will come along. It always does" Chesney tried to reassure her. It was true. Something always seemed to be happening here in Weatherfield.
"Yeah but I completely blew it with Jenna. She was so mad. I think she's done with me" Sophie felt tears prick at the back of her eyes. Threatening to fall.
"Hey! Now don't be daft Sophie. She'll see that you didn't mean no harm" Chesney turned back to his son. He pulled him out of his stroller and started bouncing him softly.
"Y'know sometimes I can't help but think that if things had gone differently…" Chesney didn't finish his sentence as he turned from Joseph's eyes to Sophie's. She was turned towards them watching and waiting for him to finish his thought. "You were my first, Sophie Webster. Before Katy, It was you" he went on looking her straight in the eyes. "So smart and strong, but you were always kind to me. Remember that you made sure I had the right jumper for school when Cilla wouldn't bother?" he asked being all wistfully nostalgic.
"Ches…" Sophie said softly.
Chesney laughed. "I was all set. Had heard that you'd dumped Ben Richardson and I was going to tell you how I felt. So I followed you from the shop…" Chesney recounted.
Sophie's mouth slowly began to drop open. "Chesney! Go on!" she hissed playfully.
"As always you and Sian were joined at the hip but I knew that if I could get you alone. So I saw you head down a side street…I turned around the corner…and saw you and Sian…together…" Chesney bashfully turned away.
Sophie couldn't believe it. They had been so careful in those days. Sian and her had done whatever they could to be together, but they weren't ready to "come out" to the world. This had meant much sneaking around, ducking and diving around corners. Still early in their relationship, Sophie had to admit that it had leant a sexual charge to everything between her and Sian. The threat of getting caught meant their snog-a-thon sessions were intense and would leave them shaking.
"Oi! Well you got an eyeful you perve!" Sophie playfully slugged his arm. "Why didn't you say anything?!" she asked him as put Joseph back in his stroller. "At first I couldn't wrap my head around it. But then I thought about it and everything started to make sense" Chesney went on to explain. "See, I had always thought that it was my weakness that meant that you would never want me. That we would never get together because I wasn't strong enough, confident enough y'know? But then I understood it had nothing to do with me. That the heart wants what the heart wants. That You and I weren't ever going to happen because it wasn't meant to. Not because of anything that I could control or change."
Sophie was barely holding herself together as she listened to Ches. Here throat closed up to the point where only oxygen was allowed thru.
"Love is a feeling that should always give you strength and understanding. Even though you won't ever want me in a romantical-like way, you've given me more than that. That's when I decided to make a go for Katy Armstrong and now I have my son" Chesney finished.
"Oh Ches…" Sophie reached out her arms and wrapped her arms around him. She couldn't believe what she had just heard. As she pulled away from him, she wiped a single tear away from her cheek.
Chesney stood up, grabbing a hold of the stroller. "Well I best get on. Sinead and Fiz will be worried. It will all work out Soph. I'm sure of it" he said placing a hand on her shoulder as he headed down the street.
Soph stood up. "Ches!" she shouted out. She walked over to him as he turned towards her. "Y'know if things had turned out differently…" she looked in his eyes.
"But it didn't and I can't compete with Cheryl Cole" he smiled. "Cheeky!" she laughed. It had been her first full-throated laugh all day.
"Thank you Ches," she said sincerely. "Now get home, I don't Sinead yelling at me in the street. What would people say aye?" as she shoved him towards home.