As Felinthia passed through the door and entered The Rusty Anchor, time seem to slow down for Norman. At first, he just remained sat where he was, waiting with insurmountable dread until the moment that Felinthia spotted first him, and then Elise. Then he snapped quickly into action, getting to his feet.
‘Come sit down, you must be exhausted,’ he whispered, leading Elise to his seat and helping her to remove the bulky backpack from her shoulders.
He did all this with his back to the door, hoping that Felinthia wouldn’t recognise him from behind. Elise sat down, looking a little flustered from his frantic removal of her backpack and forceful ushering to her seat.
‘Norman?’
He sighed. He’d grabbed the back of the other chair and was half in the process of sitting down. Smiling weakly at a now confused looking Elise, Norman slowly swivelled round. It was Felinthia. Of course it was. They’d known each other for donkey’s years. Enough time to recognise one another from behind.
‘…Felinthia…you came,’ Norman said, leaning awkwardly on the top of the chair.
He was squeezing it so tightly that his fingernails were digging slightly into the wood. Felinthia gave him a long penetrating stare, before shifting her gaze to Elise, who gave an awkward little wave of one hand. Beryl was cleaning the plates away on a nearby table, occasionally glancing over at the three of them. The landlady didn’t usually do this, as she had ample waiting staff. No, it was purely an excuse to get close enough to eavesdrop on the conversation. Norman was now regretting his decision to come here after all.
‘I did, as have you…and you’re not alone I see,’ Felinthia stated, nodding at Elise.
Norman laughed nervously.
‘Ran into an old friend.’
Felinthia nodded. Her expression was neutral but Norman had a sneaking suspicion she was simmering underneath. She was wearing a very fashionable green jumpsuit, a gold necklace and a pair of half moon earrings. Her hair had been done up in a bun and she wore very red lipstick. Her eyelashes had been curled and her nails polished green, like her jumpsuit.
She’s obviously put a lot of time into looking this good. This made Norman feel even worse. All he’d done was pluck away the hair that was causing his monobrow and thrown on his smartest, least crumpled looking shirt.
‘Norman?’
Norman forced his gaze away from the vision that was Felinthia and instead focused on Elise. She was wearing baggy clothes; her face was red and sweaty and her hair dank and lifeless. A very different sight to behold, and yet he was just as hypnotized.
‘Aren’t you going to introduce us?’ She said, giving Felinthia a polite smile.
Norman didn’t entirely process what she said at first. Both Elise and Felinthia were being so civil to one another and it had totally thrown him. He didn’t know what he’d expected to happen but it hadn’t been this. When he had been caught before in the past it had usually involved a lot of shouting and hitting.
‘Right…right.’
He prised his fingers free from the chair and put his hands on his hips. Everything he did with his body felt clumsy and awkward. Although more upright he was still leaning at a bit of angle, and with his hands on his hips and a slightly bemused expression he appeared to resemble Eddie from an episode of Bottom.
‘Elise, this is my…friend Felinthia,’ Norman said, gesturing at her rather formally, like a stuffy professor.
Felinthia raised her eyebrows at his use of the word friend. There was the smash of glass. The three of them glanced round. Beryl, trying her utmost to eavesdrop on their conversation, hadn’t been paying attention to what she’d been doing, and had accidentally knocked one of the pint glasses off the side of the table.
‘Apologies,’ she said guilty, and barked at a passing member of staff to fetch her a dustpan and brush.
The young girl scampered away dutifully to do as instructed. Felinthia moved forward, brushed past Norman and sat down in his chair. Norman he on stupefied as she put her handbag down on floor and rested one arm on the table, drumming the surface a few times with her fingernails.
‘How rude of me, I interrupted your da…evening. I’ll leave you to it,’ Elise suddenly said, beginning to alight from her chair.
Norman felt a little relieved at this, although he shouldn’t have. The situation was far from resolved. Felinthia flapped at her.
‘No, no don’t be silly. Sit, you’ve had a long journey by the looks of it.’
Elise hesitated. She looked unsure what to do. Norman sympathised. He too was at a loss. What was Felinthia doing? Was she being genuinely pleasant and accommodating, or was she trying to make Norman more uncomfortable and on edge? If so, it was working. Elise sat down, glancing at him for help but he had no idea what to do. The three of them fell silent.
Felinthia stared at Elise, Elise stared back at Felinthia and Norman stared at both of them, one at a time that was. Eventually the two women both looked pointedly at him. It was then that he realised what was happening. There were only two chairs and he was still standing.
‘Just a mo,’ he said, and rushed off in search of another.
He needed to get back to the table as quickly as possible. The more chance Felinthia had to talk to Elise the worse it would be. Beryl was still stood at the same table, observing the young waitress sweeping up the glass and pointing out spots she’d missed. Norman went to grab one of the chairs.
‘Don’t even think about it Norm, this table is reserved for 8pm,’ Beryl barked sternly.
Norman backed down and went in search of another chair, muttering a slightly rude remark under his breath. He made sure Beryl didn’t hear though. The landlady was a force to be reckoned with.
‘Make sure you don’t take any from tables with reserved signs on,’ she instructed bossily.
The second table Norman checked was also reserved. He glanced over his shoulder. Felinthia and Elise were still sat opposite one another. Felinthia’s lips were moving but he couldn’t hear what she was saying. A few diners Norman knew were also starting to take an interest in the situation. He finally found an available chair, grabbed it and made a beeline back to the table.
‘Everything alright?’ Beryl asked him nosily, as he rushed past.
Her ignored her. Telling her would be futile. Beryl was a sharp one and he was almost certain she’d already connected the dots, or at least had some rough idea what was going on. He wondered how long it would be till the Merkel Sisters found out.
‘Got one,’ he said breathlessly. ‘Ow.’
In his haste to return to them he’d walked the chair straight into the table and banged his ankle as a result. Whatever conversation Felinthia and Elise had been having promptly ended. Norman quickly sat down and began massaging his throbbing ankle.
‘What did I miss?’ he asked.
‘Elise was just telling me how you two…’friends’ know each other,’ Felinthia said, fixing him with an uncompromising stare.
Norman’s ankle continued to throb but he didn’t seem to notice the pain as much, distracted by her words.
‘Okay.’
It was a weak response but he couldn’t think of anything else to say.
‘And Felinthia was telling me how you two know each other. Been…’friends’ a long time I gather,’ Elise said, folding her arms.
This was excruciating and that was without factoring in the ankle pain. What Norman really wanted to do was run away and bury his head in the sand somewhere, instead of suffer this intense grilling. At the same time, he couldn’t bear the idea of the two of them being left alone and him not being present to hear their conversation.
‘Well, you know, small town and that,’ Norman offered.
It wasn’t the worst thing he’d ever said but he was pretty certain it wasn’t the response Elise had wanted. Then again he didn’t think there was anything he could say at this moment in time that would be sufficient.
‘Well, I don’t know about you Elise but I could certainly do with a drink,’ Felinthia said, rising to her feet.
‘Sounds good,’ she concurred.
‘What you having?’ Felinthia asked.
Not for the first time that evening Norman was confused. Felinthia and Elise were being so friendly to one another. He hadn’t expected them to go for one another’s throat. They weren’t the type to do that. Not as far as he was aware at any rate. However, he’d expected a little more hostility between them. It appeared though that the hostility was directed more at him, evidenced by the frosty looks thrown his way. Felinthia not offering him a drink was further proof of that.
‘You sure, I can get….’ Elise began but she waved her down.
‘Gin and Tonic please,’ Elise asked.
Felinthia nodded, gave Norman a withering look and made her way over to the bar. He’d slipped down a little in his chair, subconsciously trying to slide down and disappear under the safety of the table. For a strange moment an image of a family huddled under one during a World War 2 air raid popped into his mind. Elise cleared her throat.
He glanced round. She looked cheesed off but not as angry as he would have thought. More than anything she looked very uncomfortable and uneasy. Her inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly. Beryl had returned to the bar to serve Felinthia. No doubt to try and prise some information out of her.
‘She looks nice.’
He focused his attention back on Elise. She looked a little more upset now. Her cheeks were still red but Norman suspected that was more from high running emotions than the exertion of her journey.
‘Yeah…I suppose,’ he replied, as casually as he could.
‘Do all your…’friends’ always dress up this nicely when you meet up?’ She asked coldly.
Norman’s eyes hovered momentarily on the lit candle at the centre of the table. Elise wasn’t stupid. She knew this was more than just two friends hanging out. The Rusty Anchor wasn’t exclusively focused on catering for couples and romantic encounters, but it was a big component. One only had to glance around the place to see that most of the diners were couples or people on dates. Norman scooched his chair closer to Elise. She remained where she was but seemed to retract slightly in her seat.
‘I know how this looks but you’ve got to let me explain…’
But he never got a chance to do so as he was interrupted by an ungodly sound. The low din of chatter from the other patrons was suddenly cut short, as was the clink of cutlery and glasses. Even the muffled sounds from the kitchen behind the bar died off. All that remained was the gentle rhythmic beats of Bonobo playing from the jukebox. Everybody’s attention was focused on the source of the new noise. This was revealed to be an enraged looking Evie Foliswell stood in the doorway.
‘There you are,’ she hissed at Norman, marching over to him.
Everyone watched on, mouths slung open in surprise, Norman’s included.
‘…Evie…what’s going on?’ he said, flabbergasted.
Evie said nothing but instead slammed something down on the table hard. Norman and Elise leant forward to see what it was. The bottom of Norman’s stomach fell out. It was a pregnancy test but much worse than that, it was a pregnancy test with a little plus symbol on it.
‘I don’t…understand,’ Norman gasped.
He looked at Elise. She scoffed indignantly.
‘You assured me you used protection,’ Evie said loudly, not caring that everyone else in the pub could hear what she was saying.
Of course, the night he and Evie had done it in the disabled’s. For Norman it had felt like a lifetime ago, or rather another life entirely. In reality it had only been a few weeks ago, but so much had happened since then and he’d undergone quite the transformation.
‘…I did,’ Norman stammered, although in all honesty he couldn’t remember.
He was surprised that’d had managed to actually finish, considering his inebriated state at the time. Elise tutted. Norman turned to look at her and his heart, which had already sunk quite low, sank yet further still. She was shaking her head in disbelief and her eyes lacked any warmth.
‘You’re unbelievable Norman.’
He dropped his head, defeated, and got to his feet. It was Felinthia who’d spoken. She was standing next to Evie, holding two drinks in her hand. Norman went to speak but didn’t even get a single word out, before Felinthia threw one of the drinks in his face.
‘Sheila was right about you.’
She moved over to Elise and placed the other drink down in front of her.
‘Good luck with him.’
Norman, Evie and Elise watched silently, as Felinthia stormed out of the pub. None of it felt real to Norman. It was so dramatic and theatrical, that it felt like an episode of EastEnders as opposed to real life. Then he remembered the night of the impregnation and following day, and realised that his life prior to the last couple of weeks had been quite similar to a soap. He went to go after her but Evie sidestepped in front of him, barring the way.
‘Oh no Mr, you’re not going anywhere until we sort this out.’
Evie was a tiny woman but had a fiery disposition, not to mention that her husband Divvy Dave had a mean right hook. There was a sharp hiss. Norman glanced around. Elise had necked her gin and tonic and was getting to her feet.
‘Elise, if you give me a chance to explain.’
She ignored him as she lifted her backpack off the floor and onto her shoulders.
‘I’d run while you’ve got the chance love. This one’s a rotten apple,’ Evie commented, glancing around at the spectating diners.
The handful of men who were sat at tables with women who weren’t their wives, visibly sunk lower in their chairs. Backpack on, Elise made for the door, shrugging Norman off when he went to put a hand on her arm. He had the sense at this point to leave it alone and let her go. At the door she paused and turned to face him.
‘I really thought you were different Norman but you’re just another liar and a womaniser.’
Her words cut into him deeply. He knew it was true but hearing it hurt nonetheless. So much so that he wished she’d thrown her drink in his face like Felinthia instead.
‘Elise,’ he pleaded, but it was no use.
She’d already gone. Even Beryl, who had moments ago been watching the heated exchange with devilish delight, now looked rather saddened by the whole affair.
‘I’m keeping the baby,’ Evie said.
Norman reeled. It just seemed to be one shocker after another.
‘Why?’ he asked bemused.
‘I have my reasons,’ she replied, tight lipped. ‘Believe me its not the way I wanted it to happen.’
Norman pressed his thumb and forefinger into the corners of his eyes. He could feel a migraine coming on.
‘Can we talk about this somewhere else?’
Some of the other diners had returned to their meals but most were still watching Norman and Evie, unable to look away. There was a light tap on Norman’s shoulder. He turned round.
‘Look, can you give us a sec…’
He was face to face with none other than Divvy Dave. Correction, he was actually facing Divvy Dave’s chest, as the man was well over six foot. Norman instinctively brought his hands up to shield his face. He needn’t have bothered, as Divvy Dave opted for a gut punch instead. As Norman doubled over and crumpled to the floor, the one solace he could take from the encounter was that at least his nose had been spared a pummelling this time around.
~~~
Norman trudged back home, still massaging his stomach that ached sharply from Divvy Dave’s punch. His head was all over the place. In the space of five minutes his date with Felinthia had been ruined, Elise had come back into his life only to promptly leave it again, and worst of all he was now apparently going to be a father to none other than Evie Foliswell’s child.
When he’d made the decision to better himself and improve his life and those around him, he knew that it wasn’t going to be easy. Wrongs needed to be made right and things from his past would rear their head from time to time, but he’d never envisioned this.
Felinthia and Elise’s response to the situation had been devasting but not unexpected. Deep down in his heart Norman had known as soon as Felinthia had seen him with Elise it was over, and when Evie had slammed that pregnancy test down it had pretty much spelt game over for Elise too. He was at a loss what to do. Evie and Divvy Dave had left shortly before Norman had staggered outside, heavily winded.
They were nowhere to be seen on his journey home. This provided some solace. The last thing he wanted to do was to run into Divvy Dave again. At the same time, he needed to talk to Evie about their apparent baby. He wasn’t totally against the idea of having kids but not now and certainly not with Evie Foliswell. It still came as quite a shock to him, and from the looks of it most of the people in The Rusty Anchor, that she didn’t feel the same.
~~~
Norman was hoping to avoid seeing his mum when he got home but he had no such luck. She was sitting in the living room watching TV and despite Norman’s best attempts to be as quiet as possible, she heard him come in.
‘In here Norm,’ she called out to him.
Reluctantly he slouched into the living room. His mum was watching some reality show where a bunch of Z list celebrities were smashing up large barrels in front of a swimming pool. She hit the mute button and turned to face him, a wry smile on her face. She had a large glass of red wine in one hand.
‘A young lady stopped by asking after you.’
‘Elise,’ Norman clarified, almost choking as he said her name aloud.
‘She seems nice. You should invite her round some time. I’d love to meet her properly,’ his mum said, her eyes twinkling.
Norman nodded, forcing himself to smile.
‘Sure mum.’
He scratched his arm.
‘I’m going to go to grab a shower.’
‘Okay dear,’ his mum said, beaming at him warmly.
Norman left the room and began slowly climbing up the stairs, his head bent low.
~~~
Although Norman’s series of unfortunate events had been a direct result of his past shenanigans and general tomfoolery, he’d almost reverted back to his old ways and decided to go out on the town on Saturday night. In the end though he decided against it, opting to get drunk at home instead. He couldn’t deal with seeing everyone at Flannigan’s Dick, as by now they would all know what had happened.
His mum had gone round a friends for the evening which Norman was relieved about. He’d been avoiding her all day, unable to bear any more questions about Elise. So, he’d shut himself in his room, turned up the volume on his sound system and blasted music, while he cracked on with the crate of beer he’d bought from the shops.
At first it was a sombre affair and although the music helped vent his pent-up emotions and provide some cathartic relief, it didn’t stop him from occasionally picking up his phone, opening the Fuckface app and checking his message thread with Felinthia. The last message between them had been about the time of the date. He considered messaging her several times but never acted upon that impulse. He knew it was a bad idea.
Elise wasn’t on Fuckface, a factor that Norman wasn’t sure was a good or bad thing. He didn’t have her number and it was the only way of contacting her. Unless she was somehow still in Little Werthing,d but he doubted that. She had come here for Norman so there would be no reason to stick around now things hadn’t worked out.
Norman’s thoughts eased a little when he had a smoke. It was raining lightly in the garden but he braved it regardless. It was too risky smoking in his room. His mum undoubtedly knew he enjoyed a bit of the old puff but she would not stand for it being smoked in her house.
~~~
Norman drank on the Sunday evening as well, which wasn’t unusual but he imbibed far more than his customary one or two, and woke with a horrendous headache on the Monday morning. It hadn’t been overly long since his last hangover but enough time had passed that he’d become accustomed to waking up and not feeling like absolute death. He didn’t go to work that day, or on the Tuesday for that matter.
~~~
On Wednesday though he had no choice but to attend. His mum had strong-armed him into going and he’d conceded, if only to get away from her insistent badgering. No one said a word to him through the first part of the shift, but he knew they were all aware of what had happened last Friday at The Rusty Anchor, their occasional whispering and furtive glances indicating as much. During lunch however Waxy Ears Gavin came over and sat next to him. Norman deeply regretted talking to the man last week. Gavin was the last person he wanted thinking they were friends.
‘Bit of a dark horse aren’t you Norm,’ he said, plonking himself down next to him and scratching his little beer gut. ‘Got three on the go you dirty bastard.’
Norman eyed his BLT for a long time before putting it back in its cardboard sleeve.
‘Not got, had.’
‘Yeah, shame that,’ Gavin said. ‘I mean Evie’s no real loss. She’s a bit past her prime but that other bird, the out of towner…what’s her name?’
‘Elise,’ Norman said, through clenched teeth.
Gavin gave Norman’s BLT sandwich a sideways glance.
‘That’s the one. Saw her this morning. Not bad. Gives Felinthia a run for her money. You planning on eating that?’ he said, eyeing the sandwich again.
‘Wait, what do you mean this morning? You’re telling me you saw her here in Little Werthing?’ Norman asked, an intense look of concentration on his face.
‘Yeah, I saw her coming out of Dawn and Tim’s place,’ Gavin responded, a little taken aback by Norman’s sudden intensity.
Dawn and Tim owned a little B and B that was ironically located only one street down from Felinthia’s house. Norman couldn’t believe it. Elise was still here. He was sure she would have left by now. He studied Gavin. The man looked highly confused. Norman got to his feet.
‘Here,’ he said, handing Gavin the BLT and starting to walk way.
‘Cheers, here where you going, you’ve still got fifteen minutes left on lunch.’
But Norman wasn’t listening and he wasn’t going back to work.
~~~
Norman stood at the door to D and T’s B and B, eyeing the doorbell pensively. When he’d left work his plan had been, quite simply, to go find Elise, apologise profusely, beg for her to reconsider and throw himself on her mercy. However now he was here, he was struggling to go through with it. He’d been rejected once already. Twice if he counted Felinthia’s drink in the face. Why did he expect this to go any better?
Much to his surprise the door opened and he found himself face to face with none other than Elise. She was wearing a vest top, jogging bottoms and trainers. The water bottle in her left hand suggested she was about to go for a jog.
‘Hi,’ Norman forced himself to say.
‘Hi,’ Elise said, flustered by his unexpected appearance.
~~~
Elise sat on the edge of her bed, processing what Norman had just said. He’d spent the last five minutes explaining to her, in detail, the many transgressions of his past. He didn’t know exactly why he’d done this. It had started out as a simple but heartful apology, that had somehow transformed into a longer speech about his misgivings, not just on Friday night but those before that.
There was a scratching noise at the door. Norman went over, opened it and Clarence the Cat wandered into the room, purring loudly. Elise didn’t comment on the fact. Anyone who stayed at Dawn and Tim’s quickly learnt that Clarence the Cat came and went where he pleased. Norman knelt down to stroke the animal. He wasn’t actually much of a cat person, tending to prefer dogs. However, at this moment in time he needed something furry and soft to stroke to calm his nerves.
‘Thank you for telling me that in such…intricate detail,’ Elise eventually said.
Norman nodded. She sighed and got to her feet. The bed had various clothes laid out in neat piles. She began packing some of them into her backpack, which was on a nearby chair.
‘When’s your train?’ Norman asked.
Clarence had lost interest in Norman and was instead licking himself with great aplomb.
‘Six twenty,’ she replied, rolling a pair of socks into a ball.
‘Lot of stuff to bring for a relatively short journey,’ Norman commented, moving around the other side of the bed.
Elise threw the socks into her bag with some force.
‘Well, I didn’t think I’d be leaving again so soon, did I?’
Norman looked at his feet guiltily. Elise’s temper receded a little.
‘Besides, I’m not going home.’
‘No?’ Norman said, frowning. ‘Then where?’
‘Bristol if you must know. Got a friend I can stay with. He has a flat on the outskirts,’ Elise said, grabbing one of her t shirts before Clarence managed to walk across it.
‘He?’ Norman said, raising one eyebrow.
‘It’s not like that,’ Elise said, pausing in her packing for a moment. ‘Besides, you’d have no right to be funny about that even if it was the case. Not after the other night.’
Norman held up his hands placatingly. Elise returned to her packing.
‘Why did you stay?’ Norman asked, leaning his back against the wall.
Elise picked up Clarence and dropped him gently on the floor. He was getting in the way. Clarence looked affronted and immediately jumped back up onto the bed again.
‘…I needed a few days to think. Figure out what to do next.’
Norman nodded. He’d been hoping she was going to say for him. His chances with Felinthia were slim to non-existent, but he’d figured that out of the two of them Elise might be slightly more forgiving. Felinthia had known Norman his whole life, the two had a difficult history and she was best friends with Sheila. Elise, on the other hand, had only witnessed the old Norman once.
‘That other night was a mess Norman,’ Elise said, giving into Clarence and stroking him under the chin.
He purred loudly and plonked himself down on one of her folded pairs of trousers.
‘I know, but you have to believe me when I say that it was from another part of my life. One that I’m trying desperately to put behind me,’ Norman explained.
Clarence was staring intensely at him while receiving his strokes. It wasn’t helping the situation.
‘I want to but how can I know for sure,’ Elise said with a heavy sigh.
She stopped stroking Clarence. He looked a little irked by this but was too comfortable where he was to demand more affection at the moment.
‘Okay, I can understand whatshername? Evie…is it?’
Norman nodded.
‘That clearly happened before we met and she seems like a bit of a handful anyway,’ Elise went on.
Norman chuckled weaky but sensibly fazed it out quickly.
‘But with Felinthia. Was she… or is she still your girlfriend?’ Elise asked directly.
‘Neither,’ Norman stated plainly and when Elise looked unconvinced, he carried on. ‘Look, I’ll level with you. Before we met I had…feelings for Felinthia but they were never reciprocated. I’ve told you what I used to be like.’
‘Yes, in great detail,’ Elise said, folding her arms.
‘When I met you, everything changed and I know how that sounds but it’s the truth. I never planned on rekindling things with Felinthia. In fact, when I first got back all I could think about was you,’ Norman said.
Elise turned and walked over to the window, hiding her expression.
‘It was Felinthia who became interested in me and that was only because I had changed. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have given me a second glance,’ Norman detailed.
‘If that’s supposed to make me feel better it isn’t,’ Elise said quietly.
Norman banged his head against the wall.
‘I didn’t ever expect to see you again and standing here now I feel like an idiot for not trying myself. But I mean it when I say that I never meant to hurt anyone. My decision to go out with Felinthia wasn’t just so I could get my end away and have a good time. It was because I was lonely and…’
Elise turned around. She was crying. Not full-on sobbing but her face was clearly wet from tears.
‘I think it’s best that you go now.’
‘Elise?’ Norman said, taking a step forward.
‘Please,’ she said, turning back to the window.
Norman stopped. There was no more he could do, or if there was he didn’t know what.
‘Safe travels,’ he said, feeling his own eyes beginning to well up, and left the room.
~~~
When Norman returned to work, he steered clear of Gavin and tried to focus solely on his job. Thankfully no one bothered him, including Waxy Ears. If he’d still been on good terms with the old gang, they would have hounded him for details but they probably knew them all anyway. Even Norman’s boss had left him alone, meaning that either the man was sensitive to his situation or more likely he just didn’t care.
The emotional fallout from his conversation with Elise had messed with his head so much that on his way back from work, he hadn’t realised what street he ended up walking down until it was too late. Wirral Road. Norman considered turning around. He hadn’t quite passed Divvy Dave and Evie Foliswell’s house. Ever since the events of last Friday he’d been sensibly keeping clear of the pair of them and so far, successfully.
His phone buzzed. He got out the device and unlocked it. It was a text message from a number he didn’t recognise. The message read, ‘Meet me at the station at six.’ It had to be Elise. Norman’s heart leapt. Maybe she’d reconsidered. Whatever reason he was just happy that he had another chance to see her again.
He returned the phone to his pocket, as someone grabbed him roughly by one arm from behind. He twisted around awkwardly and his euphoria instantly vanished. It was Divvy Dave.
‘Time for a chat,’ the giant said, manhandling him along the pavement with unsurprising force.
Norman tried to break free of the vice like grip but Divvy Dave was too strong and continued to half escort, half drag him down the street. It was when they reached the Foliswell residence, that Norman started to become really scared. He tried to call out but Divvy Dave clamped his other hand over his mouth.
The door opened, revealing Evie stood in the doorway. She glanced up and down the street covertly, as the two approached the house. No one was around. If they had been things might have gone down very differently. Evie stepped aside as Divvy Dave shoved Norman inside. The door shut with a loud bang.
© [Daniel Ashby] and [Ashby Tales], [2023]. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to [Daniel Ashby] and [Ashby Tales] with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
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