Chapter Thirty-Seven
Back in the village and after a late start, Grace made her way into the club. She paused slightly for she felt somebody else's presence. Though hoping it was just her being paranoid, she swung open the office door. She gasped, quickly picking up the first thing she could (which was a wine bottle in this case)...
"What are you doing in my club?" Grace demanded to know.
Declan had slept in there all night and was previously asleep on the couch. He had stayed in there after arriving in the village late last night. For his dad's old club was better then the cold and wet streets.
"Sorry" Declan mumbled to her.
"Who are you?" Grace asked him while still slightly on edge.
"I'm Declan...I don't mean any harm, I just needed a place to crash and you left the office door open last night" Declan tried to explain.
"That doesn't give you a right to break and enter" Grace reminded him.
Though she finally put the wine bottle down. This young man was clearly not a threat, she could tell. Declan stood up as he grabbed back onto his suitcase, ready to leave her to whatever it was she was planning on doing.
"I know but my dad use to own this palce so I kinda still feel a connection to it" Declan told her.
"Not another son of Warren I hope"
Declan gave a small laugh in response as he shook his head.
"No...Brendan Brady is my dad"
"Name does ring a bell"
"Yeah? Anyway, I best be off"
"Yeah you better and if I find you in here again, I will not hesitate to ring the police next time" Grace warned.
"Scary" Declan sarcastically replied with a cheeky smile.
He made his way past her and down the stairs. Leaving through the club door and it was like he was never there in the first place.
...
Harry was wandering through the village when he spotted his ex Ste sitting near the fountain. He looked rather sullen and despite everything, Harry still wanted to be civil. Even if they are both going out with 'nutters'. He paused briefly before making his way over...
"Hey" Harry spoke simply.
"Come to gloat some more have ya?" Ste asked rhetorically with his arms crossed.
"No, I just wanted to see how you are...James told me you were having a go at Joel" Harry informed him.
He did tell him that little bit of information. It did make Harry want to check up on him despite everything. Though he understood that his problems were no longer his concern and he was thankful for that.
"Oh, did he now? How sweet" Ste spoke with sarcasm.
"Everything okay with you and Brendan?"
"Yeah, great...Brendan is still as fit as ever" Ste insisted with a false tone of joy.
Ste didn't want to admit what a state he was in. That would just make him sound pathetic and he doesn't want people thinking that. As far as Harry is concerned, Brendan was the threatening type and Ste wanted to keep it that way.
"You sure?"
"Apart from him having two broken legs and being in prison.." Ste was cut off mid-way through his sentence...
"And him being nearly 40" Harry added.
This made Ste pull a slight face. So he's slightly older, so what; big deal.
"Yeah? Well your James isn't exactly a spring chicken" Ste snarled in response.
"I didn't mean it like that, it's just that with him being in prison for years; he be an old man when he gets out"
Ste shook his head, if he was trying to cheer him up; he failed miserably.
"Thanks for reminding me" Ste replied with sarcasm.
He seemed agitated however Harry didn't seem to know when to shut up. The two only broke up quite recently. So he still felt quite comfortable to tease him about this and that, Brendan was no exception. Thus, Harry had a smile on his face when he said...
"Has he gone slow?"
"You what? He's in prison Harry so why don't you stop making digs at him; do you hear me?!" Ste shouted.
Pushing Harry back slightly.
"There's no need to take your frustrations out on me! We were together not long ago and now you think you can take all your crap out on me? I won't be having it Ste!"
"Then you tell your stupid little boyfriend to never talk about him again to me!"
"Why don't you let anyone talk about him? Is it because you don't wanna hear the truth? The truth being that nobody likes him and nobody besides you cares...we all think you're wasting your time"
"Is that right?"
"Yeah, that's right...even Brendan knows that I bet but you keep you running back to him"
"And I will never stop because I love him and if people don't understand that, that's not my problem"
...
Ste had made way into Tony's house after that encounter. He noticed Sinead putting on lipstick while Scott was sorting out her hair. They both looked his way when he stormed in and sat down on the sofa. Scott looked back towards Sinead with a sigh..
"Everything okay?" Scott asked him reluctantly.
"He's just moping" Sinead spoke up; handing Scott her hairclip.
The mood was quite sour in the household. Sinead was trying in vain to make him jealous however she also quite liked Wayne. So it was a win-win situation for her really, Scott was just helping her get ready.
"Have you been to seen Bernard?" Scott then asked.
"Brendan" Ste corrected him with his arms crossed...adding.."And no, not today"
Making Scott clear his throat as he turned back towards Sinead. Placing her hairclip in and to try and make it an updo style. Being in the middle of this was not something he was expecting today.
"I need you to look after Hannah tonight because I got a date" Sinead informed him.
"Who with?"
"Just some guy, you don't know him" Sinead insisted.
Giving him a smile before making her way up the stairs to get dressed. Leaving Scott and Ste in a rather awkward silence. They weren't exactly friends, nor did they have anything in common. So small talk it was...
"Have you met this guy?" Ste questioned Scott.
"Yeah...he seems alright but it's early days"
"Oh...right"
"You not seeing Brendan today then? I seen his picture online, very...1970s" Scott muttered. Making Ste pull a slight face.
"It's only because he has a moustache"
"Yeah...I quite like it though"
"Well your not his type" Ste replied.
Making Scott laugh in response. He shook his head, not exactly what he meant by that but Scott let it slide. He knew not many would have a good word to say about him and he had a bit of sympathy for Ste, not like he would tell Sinead that.
...
Declan meanwhile found himself wandering around the village, not knowing where to go or what to do. He spotted Lily walking away from 'The Hutch' and since she looked polite. He made his way over...
"Excuse me...do you know where a Ste Hay lives?" Declan asked her, making her stop in his direction.
"Yeah; he lives in Oakdale Drive" Lily informed him.
"Thanks" Declan simply replied with a smile.
He thus made his way up to his father and aunt's old home.
...
TBC