Short story: ‘Our very own diva!’
Whatever mood she is in, Lucy loves to be the centre of attention
Bang, crash! The drama queen arrived at the café in her usual noisy flurry and, as always, she was going to dominate our conversation. She said at once: “What would you like first – the good news or the bad news?” Sue and I looked at each other and almost rolled our eyes. It was a good job that we had arrived half an hour early so we could catch up with each other’s news before Lucy made her entrance. We were old hands at this game. “Tea or coffee?” I asked, leaping up from my chair. Anything to give us some extra sustenance for whatever was about to be revealed.
“Coffee, please, Jackie. No sugar. I’ve started another diet – but that’s not the news. Go on, hurry up, I need to tell you.” Lucy plonked herself down on the spare chair, oblivious to the peace and quiet all the other customers had been enjoying before her arrival.
There are some people who might well be offended by our dear, manic Lucy. She’s always been a bit of a contradiction – great fun, with a heart of gold, but very demanding in other ways. She has plenty of friends, although they are not what I call ‘real’ friends. They go partying with her, but they aren’t around when life falls apart at the seams, as it has done recently.
Her best friend and sometime boyfriend Mike, is always there for her, which is probably why he gets the rough end of the stick quite often. But Sue and I have known Lucy for a long, long time so nothing she does or says surprises us. “Okay, give us the bad news first,” I said when we all had a fresh coffee in front of us.
Lucy took a deep breath, pushed back her long blonde hair and sighed like some tragic actress in an opera. “Mike and I have split up again.” “Ah,” Sue and I said almost simultaneously. Nothing new there, we were thinking. Lucy and Mike’s romance had been on and off more times than we could count on the fingers of both hands.
“And this time it’s definitely final,” she added, sensing we weren’t too surprised. “Ah. Okay,” we replied like a pair of slightly bored parrots.
Sue stirred her coffee calmly. “And the reason this time is?” she asked in her sensible teacher’s voice. “He says I’m too challenging, whatever that means. He absolutely raked me over the coals. He said I’m not a kid any more and I need to sort myself out and grow up!”
She dabbed her eyes and checked her phone messages in one fell swoop. She really is quite something when it comes to amateur dramatics – you half expect a round of applause when she is in full flow.
“Was it because you went to that party without him?” I asked.
“I suppose so,” she mumbled, not meeting my eye.
I hated to pop her balloon but, as I said, we have known Lucy forever. “Are you surprised he’s cross?” I asked as nicely as possible.
She gave me a hurt look. “No, perhaps not, but…”, she suddenly found something to look at out of the window so I couldn’t see the expression on her face.
“Okay so, um, what’s the good news, if there is any?” I ventured.
Lucy took a deep breath. “I’ve just booked a month’s singles holiday in India,” she replied, smiling wildly and trying to put on a brave face when she saw our horrified looks. Talk about doing things on the rebound!
“Oh, Lucy!” I whispered as I pushed back my chair and went round to give her a massive hug. I held her tight as she sobbed in my arms to the astonishment of the other customers who were fascinated while desperately trying to pretend all this was none of their business.
I knew what Sue was thinking and I was thinking exactly the same thing. If good old dependable Mike had any sense this would definitely be the last time they split up. He’s a lovely guy, kind, straightforward and patient – which is exactly what Lucy needs. Everyone knows he loves her and would marry her tomorrow.
I held her until she calmed down, then dragged my chair close to hers. Sue did the same. The three of us sat together holding hands and Mary, the lovely owner of the café, knew just what we needed. A huge piece of chocolate cake and three forks appeared as if by magic.
“On the house,” she whispered. “Thank you,” I mouthed back. Quiet descended as we all held our breath waiting for the next act of this Greek tragedy to unfold. “I know, I know,” Lucy snuffled as she tried to put some cake in her mouth and wipe her nose at the same time. “I’m an idiot and I do need to sort myself out, but it’s so difficult right now since… since…”
Her phone pinged and she snatched it off the table to see who the text was from. “It’s Mike,” she sniffed as she rattled off a message in reply.
Sue and I looked at each other. “Meeting him later?” I asked. “Yes,” she smiled. “Cancelling the Indian singles holiday?” Sue said.
“Yes,” Lucy sighed.
“Maybe a holiday for two would be better? Maybe make it a honeymoon?” I suggested.
Lucy leaned her head on my shoulder, tears streaming down her face. “I need to get over it, don’t I?”
“Yes, darling,” I agreed, gently stroking back her unruly hair. “But it’s early days yet. You know that she would never have wanted you to be so unhappy.”
“Shall we go?” asked the everpractical Sue as she passed Lucy a clean tissue.
“Yes, let’s,” Lucy said, standing up and putting on her best brave face. “Did you remember to get the flowers?” Shortly afterwards, we were standing by Mum’s grave. Three sisters with their arms around each other, just as she would have wished. Little Lucy Drama Queen, as Mum had always called her, was in the middle between me and Sue. Safe and loved.
Lucy would need more time to grieve in her own way, but that was okay, we’d be there. Just like we’d always been there for each other whether life was falling apart at the seams or going along nicely. That’s what good friends do, but good sisters do it even better.
About our author
Hazel says real life and humour are the inspiration for her short stories and articles. She loves to travel and has written a book about the mid-life gap year she took with her husband and son.
We were both thinking the same thing – if good old dependable Mike had any sense this would definitely be the last time they split up