Scene Eleven

On a Saturday morning when Jo was at a loose end, she loved the feel of strolling down the country lane to the village store. The sun's brightness lacked the fire of the scorching days of summer but maintained a warm autumnal glow while the leaves on the trees turned to that attractive many-hued colours of green turning to gold and hadn't yet fallen from the trees in any number. She felt as if she was a country girl at heart on days like this who had to earn her living in the great metropolis. She ambled slowly towards the store which was the compendium of country ways as well as odd out of the way items that superstores either didn't stock or only sold in half dozen plastic packages. She was at a loose end this weekend as John had been detailed to fill in at short notice for a lecturer at Warwick University, being the obvious choice as he'd once been exiled there to keep him out of was one of those things, they both agreed upon, as both weren't going to push togetherness onto their agenda too impatiently.

Unknown to her, a new visitor to the village was cursing herself to find that she'd run out of fags and she needed a new lighter and a carton of milk. Cursing, she slung on her leather jacket and strode masterfully down the lane. She wondered if the store could lay in a regular order of guitar strings but she reckoned she would have to work on that wasn't in the best mood as her idea of getting away to the country had already started to lose some of its charm. She stomped off out of her estate and down the lane. She could be grateful for one thing, she supposed. The amount of walking she'd done since her arrival had at least toned her body and freshened her complexion. Living in some dump in London had made her skin feel grimy and her lungs coated with carbon. Nowadays, despite her cigarette intake, she felt physically better about herself even if she felt down. She strode into the shop without thinking and collided with some posh looking country woman wearing a nice respectable blue coat.

"Hey, watch where you're going," Jo exclaimed with some force when a solid object collided with her just when she was opening the door to the village shop, jerking her out of her reverie.

"I might ask you the same question. We're only after the same errand," this stranger replied with cool assurance, looking Jo directly in the eye. It unsettled her as this woman ought to have been either more angry or more apologetic.

"Perhaps we'd both better get through the door so we both get what we want,"Jo replied more cooly than she ought to have done. She was certainly capable of fighting a verbal argument, this being the tools of her trade but for some reason she wasn't in a fighting mood.

When they were both in the shop, neither had the inclination to dive straight for what they wanted. After all, this wasn't like a city convenience store overflowing with packets of crisps, soft drinks and copies of the Sun. The stranger studied this posh woman very closely, being aware that her own origins weren't exactly proletarian. She'd erected this tautly restrained aggressive front to fend off those who might get at her and normally, this type of woman triggered off her defences. Somehow, this woman didn't provoke this reaction as there was something about her that started the wheels turning in her mind, something she couldn't put her finger on.

"Have you lived here long," she asked in her attempt at polite conversation, something she didn't normally go in for.

"I've lived here for ages except for a spell up North. I came here when I got married and stayed here even after he died and my sons moved away," Jo said, words tumbling faster from her mouth quicker than she'd planned. Normally, she was reserved when meeting strangers for the first time, especially those she'd met in not the easiest of circumstances.

"You make it sound like they still wear clogs and the mills are still open," the other woman replied with a smile that wasn't unfriendly and wasn't mocking her. "I've travelled all over the place in my time before I put down roots here three weeks back. I'm even starting to like the dawn chorus."

Suddenly, revelation dawned. Her thought whizzed back a million miles and she was once again in the school playground, a new girl in this strict grammar school, feeling very lonely, anonymous and plain in her brand new school uniform of grey tunic and white blouse. From out of nowhere, this dark-haired girl took pity on her. She smiled as she greeted her in her flighty and self-assured tone of voice and offered her a finger of Kit-Kat from out of its silver wrapper. That kindly gesture meant a lot to Jo as perfect strangers whizzed past her, intent on their own conversations and locking her out of the picture, her a new girl. She immediately started chatting to this girl who had all the self-confidence that Jo lacked. She could have attached herself to any of the other girls but picked Jo out of the crowd. That won Jo over immediately and, as someone who felt shy about bringing friends home from school, she made an exception of Mel. From then on, when they were in a situation away from the regimental uniformity of classrooms, echoing bare corridors and school assemblies, their intimate chats became important. Right from the start, they knew that they were as different as chalk was from cheese. When Jo would grow up, she would have a serious career, would marry a good man and would have two children and live in a nice house. Mel told her that having husbands was silly as they would tie her down from any of a fast changing array of fantasy ideas she had of herself, all more exciting than Jo's as yet prosaic unformed career path. Jo wistfully conjured up pictures in her mind of what her friend would do and halfway wanted to share this future but knew that she was too sensible,that it would never be for her. Thus it was that Jo found herself practising the cello which expressed her personality perfectly in being able to shape the orchestral sounds and stay in the background. Mel, of course, got herself a flashy Cherry red Gibson guitar and got a kick out of the racket she created while somehow managing to scrape through her exams by the skin of her teeth. There was that one moment when their worlds might have coincided when Jo was cajoled to take the place of the bass player that Mel had had a bustup with and Jo took her place in a performance in the local pub. To her shame, Jo had frantically backed out of becoming a permanent member of the band and that was the end of their friendship. When they left school, each went their separate ways...until today.

"I know you,"Jo breathed."We were at school 're Mel Bridges, aren't you."

"Got it in one,"grinned the other woman with that cheeky manner that instantly endeared herself to Jo all over was obvious to Jo that Mel had gone through the same process of time travel as she had just done. There were no recriminations for that most shaming of events which, when she thought about it, had caused her to pursue her numerous legal causes. She had suppressed the thought that all these years, she might have been compensation for her earlier perceived act of cowardice when she was young and impressionable. She had thought that John was the driving force in her career and, yes he was important, but she realised now that he wasn't the only cause. "I've just come into the area."

"That's great," Jo enthused as they started to chat away amongst themselves, oblivious of the rest of the shop except for getting the items they wanted.

"I was wondering," Jo said hesitantly. "Have you got to go off anywhere special?"

"Not if you have any other ideas,"Mel said promptly in her direct fashion.

"Good then. If you're interested, there's a comfy tea-shop along the way. I always go there to mellow out."

"You've really joined the country set,"joked Mel. "Haven't I got to put on a sensible dress and a flowered hat before I get let in. It really isn't my scene you know."

"Just for once in your life, you follow my idea. It's only fair that you do.I spent half a lifetime following your madcap ideas. In any case, nobody will take a second glance at you."

Jo's mixture of more forceful leadership than Mel remembered her capable of and gentle persuasion did the trick. She was secretly amused at the contrasts in appearance, she in her rock chick getup and Jo in her knee-length blue overcoat and flat shoes. Ah well, it will be a new experience, she thought.

The two women strolled past the village pub, the post office and finally came to the tea shop, the window displayed with home made cakes. The old-fashioned front doorbell jingled to announce their entrance and instantly the white painted room with large windows either side conveyed the sense of stillness that Mel picked up on. Everyone smiled benignly at their entrance which brought out the well-concealed quiet side of Mel. Decorously enough, the two women asked the grey haired woman on the counter for a pot of tea and home made cakes and Mel had lived just long enough in the country not to expect fast takeaway service. Together, they found a table for two and each woman now fully had the time and space to absorb the presence of the other.

"So, how does the country woman come to live her life?"

"Oh, you know me, a glutton for work and respectability. I qualified as a barrister, got married and had two sons. My husband died a number of years ago, unfortunately..."

"I'm really sorry Jo,"Mel said instantly.

"That was a long time ago, sons are away at university and it feels that I've come round full circle being a single woman with the world at my feet."

The glint of light in Jo's blue eyes, the way her short fair hair curled and her fresh complexion conveyed a sense of real happiness and it made Mel truly glad for her. She remembered how Jo's very presence used to lift her out of one of her dark moods. She had obviously grown, matured from the girl that she used to be but she had not changed to that extent. She decided that she really liked this woman.. Right now, a shaft of sunlight seemed to bathe her in a golden glow and the dark-haired woman felt to her core that they had the chance of reconnecting their sundered friendship. They had so much to catch up on.

"But what about you?" Jo asked in her kindest, softest tones. It made Mel feel uncomfortable as life hadn't dealt with her that kindly.

"I've nowhere carved out the solid career that you have," Mel answered in disconsolate tones from years of struggle to live her dreams. "You know that I tried to make it with my rock and roll band?"

"I remember it so well. I used to buy copies of Melody Maker wondering if I'd see you on the front page," breathed Jo in awestruck tones that harked back to her adolescence. The lookof unabashed admiration in Jo's eyes touched Mel and warmed up her none too certain self-esteem

"I tried to make it," Mel said slowly. "We started out being in the right place at the right time as we ended up as punk rockers. We were into leather as you know so all we needed to do was refurbish our repertoire from rock and roll music. The trouble was that four hormonal women travelling around in the same van the length and breadth of the motorways were going to clash like crazy. You saw me argue with the bass player that night you came round and sat in..."

Mel stopped abruptly as she realised that her freewheeling reminiscences bumped up against the emotional road accident in their lives that caused the parting of their ways. She'd got very emotional at Jo's seeming betrayal which had eaten away at her emotional insides for years and she'd only just considered for the first time in her life what it might have meant for Jo. She desperately needed closure on that traumatic event and both women grabbed at the same chance to achieve this.

"I remember," breathed Jo with unashamed enthusiasm. "That was one of the magic nights of my life. I loved playing with you in a rock and roll band. My cello training happened to fall into place miraculously thanks to the amazing racket you were making on your guitar and the way the drummer was bashing hell out of her kit."

"I felt the same way," Mel answered with a light of enthusiasm in her eyes, old memories and feelings gradually stirring. She felt, once again that she was treading footsteps into virgin white snow and her dearest friend was with her. A wave of emotion swept through her system that Jo still remembered that magic night that way. The next moment, she flinched as she knew only too well half the truth of how the storyline went but she feared to know of Jo's reactions.

"It was only the morning after when some primal fear set in that I was being too daring, that throwing off restraints was risky and dangerous that I ended up letting you down. I've never forgotten the look in your eyes when I did that. I bought a half bottle of whisky from the off licence and got drunk on my own for the first time in my life." Jo continued in a disconsolate tone of voice. "It was something I needed to do to forget everything. The only way I could atone for what I'd done to you was never to make any more compromises and betrayals so I became a campaigning barrister."

"And now you've proved yourself to yourself and we meet again. We've come round full circle,so what then?" Mel said with an enigmatic wistful smile on her face. A sudden ray of sunlight shone through the window and illuminated Mel's the first time, Jo took in the other woman's brown, slightly wilfully curly shoulder length hair, her deep brown eyes and slightly curved nose. Lines of age and a hard life had sculptured her face but her normally feisty manner had been shed like a protective garment. She was still the bold, lively woman she had ever been, the one who complemented Jo's natural diffidence. Their eyes made contact.

"It means I don't make the same mistake, second time around," Jo replied crisply.

"That's what I wanted you to say. It means that we'll meet again."

"But of course," Jo said with perfect poise while the old ladies sipped their tea and chattered away inconsequentially to themselves.