“Not Like Normal Folk”
“Lottie, are you still home?” Lucy poked her head into the bathroom, where her older sister was fixing her hair before work.
“Course I am! You lot in telecoms start at the crack of dawnseven o’clock! Decent folk like us office workers keep civilised hourseight to five!”
“Oh, don’t make me laugh’office workers’!” Lucy snorted. “You’re just as much a factory hand as the rest of us! Sitting about in your lab coats in R&D, thinking you’re ever so clever.”
“Nobody stopped you studying engineering too!” Lottie shot back. “But no, you had to chase after that sweetheart of yours, Edward, straight to technical college!”
“Oh, give over!” Lucy waved her off. “Edwards long gonevanished like last years snow! Hurry up, I need the bathIm dead on my feet after that shift!”
Lucy hated when anyone brought up that old business. Edward, her schoolmate, had beenin her eyesdevastatingly handsome. Shed fallen for him head over heels in Year Six. He ought to have been in films, but for some reason, hed fancied telecoms. So, sighing, shed followed. Not that hed appreciated the sacrificegraduated and married a girl from his course instead.
Lucy rinsed off quickly, pulled on her cosy pyjamas, and shuffled yawning into the kitchen.
“Anything to nibble so I dont wake up starving?”
“Theres half a fry-up left under the lidmade enough for both of us,” offered Lottie.
“Ugh, eggs again! How can you eat them every day? Id rather something lighter.”
Lucy dug out instant porridge, poured boiling water over it, and stirred lazily.
“Youll fall asleep mid-bite!” Lottie smirked.
Lucy forced down a couple of spoonfuls of the bland mush and pushed the bowl away.
“No, Im off to bed.”
She retreated to her room, and soon her loud, steady snores drifted out. Lottie checked the clock. “Whyd I get up so early? Couldve had another half-hour with my book.” She curled into the armchair hogging a corner of their spacious kitchen and buried herself in reading.
Thena knock at the door. Lottie answered, accepting a New Years telegram from distant relatives who still refused modern conveniences: *”Wishing you health and happiness in the coming year”* She signed the slip and settled back by the radiator.
Suddenly, Lucy padded past to the loo, then stopped in the hallway on her return and yelped, “Blithering idiot!” Lottie listenedshoes scraped, a coat zipped, then the door slammed.
“Lucy, whereve you gone?” Lottie jumped up, but her sister had vanished, leaving her phone on the side table.
“Honestly! Forgotten something at work, has she?”
Shaking her head, Lottie returned to the warm kitchen.
***
Lucy raced down the icy pavement, squinting at the shadowy figures trudging ahead. Still dark, but she hoped to spotah!Lotties winter coat. When the telegram arrived, shed been asleep, but the slam had woken her. Silenceshed assumed Lottie had already left.
After tossing a while, shed nipped to the loo. Passing the hall, shed spotted Lotties factory pass on the table. “Blithering idiot!” shed cried, thinking Lottie had forgotten it. Shed thrown her coat over her pyjamas, jammed her feet into boots, snatched the pass, and bolted after her.
But Lottie was nowhere among the workers. The factory was only ten minutes away, so Lucy reached the gates quickly. No sign of her. She approached the watchman.
“Seen my sister?”
His brow furrowed. “Nah. Its only half sevenshes never here before five to.”
“Half seven?” Lucy gaped. “Blithering idiot!”
He peered over his glasses as if she were smuggling in artillery.
“Im going!” she yelped, sprinting off. Lottie would be tearing the place apart for that pass!
Nearly home, her foot hit a slick patch of iceshe crashed onto the pavement with a thud.
“Mum!” she groaned as a figure rushed over.
“Can you stand?” a man asked gently.
“D-dont think so,” she mumbled, looking up.
A young man in a warm overcoat, a white lab coat peeking underneath. Tired eyes, but kind.
“Whats the rush on ice like this?”
“Long story. IIve got to get home, or my sister will murder me!” She tried to rise, then gasped in pain.
He sighed. “Righthold tight.” Scooping her up, he carried her inside.
“Which floor?” he asked in the lift.
“Third,” she muttered, flushing. Never had she been so close to a manlet alone a handsome one. He smelled faintly of cologne and something medicinal.
At the door, Lottie gaped. “Lucy! What happened?”
“Evening. Looks like a bad sprain or dislocation,” her rescuer explained, stepping inside.
“Tell you later,” Lucy gasped, handing over the pass.
“Oh! Here it is!” Lottie stuffed it into her bag and fledthen doubled back.
“Lucyyou know this chap? Safe to leave you?”
“Perfectly safe,” the man assured. “Im a doctor. Mind the ice out there.”
Lottie nodded and dashed off.
“Right then, Lucy,” the doctor said briskly, removing her boot. He whistledher ankle joint jutted unnaturally.
“Bad, isnt it?” she winced.
“Afraid so. Hospital for you.”
“Oh, must we? Im shattered from my shiftall those X-rays”
“Night shift too? Colleague?”
She blushed. “No, Im on the switchboard. Factory runs round the clockphones never stop.”
“Ah. Well, an ambulance is non-negotiable. Needs relocating, and that means anaesthetic. Havent any on me.” He dialled.
“Steve? Got an ankle here. Slipped on iceyes.” He grinned at Lucy. “Address?” He passed her the phone.
*Blimey*, she panicked. *What if theyre burglars? Ive just given them our flat!*
“Dont fret,” he said, patting her shoulder. “Thats my colleagueexpert with injuries. Stevell sort you.”
“Hes good?” she blurted, then cringed.
“Steve? Top-notch. Youll see. Im Max, by the way. Nearly forgot my manners.”
She offered her hand, engulfed in his warm grip. Part of her wished hed never let goor better yet, sweep her up again
***
That New Year, they celebrated togetherLucy, Lottie, Max, and Steve. They toasted the ice, Lotties pass, and the magic of the season that sparked not one, but two love stories.
