Midsummer Magic

‘That’s one word for him,’ Diana said pointedly.

‘Look, Di,’ Harry felt even more embarrassed, ‘I’m sorry. I had no idea that you and Ant knew each other. I’d never have brought him if I’d known.’

‘It’s okay,’ said Diana, with a grateful smile. It almost made her look vulnerable, and he noticed with slight surprise how pretty she was. ‘Past history. Done and dealt with a long time ago. Now let’s get onto something far more interesting. Like you two getting hitched.’

Harry tried to smile with enthusiasm. He wasn’t sure ssssshe wanted to talk about the wedding either. For reasons he felt uncomfortable dwelling on , the thought of the wedding was making him feel more and more uneasy. But he’d do anything to avoid a row, so he smiled again and said, ‘Yes, it’s going to be great, isn’t it?’

‘I know,’ said Josie grabbing his hand. ‘We’re so excited, aren’t we, Harry?’

‘Yes,’ said Harry, with more enthusiasm than he felt. ‘We can’t wait.’

He felt mean then. He squeezed Josie’s hand and kissed her on the lips. Of course she was excited. They were getting married; they were going to spend the rest of their lives together. The thought of spending the rest of his life with Josie made him tingle all over. She was so gorgeous and she was his; he was very, very fortunate.

Diana was looking at her texts, and frowning.

‘Shit, first signal I’ve managed to get all day, and apparently I need to ring work. Will you excuse me for a moment? You two can keep wedding planning in peace.’

‘Wonderful,’ said Harry, trying very hard to feel it was wonderful.

The afternoon was turning out better than expected. Ant still hadn’t come to join them, as soon after Harry had sat down with Josie and Di, Freddie had been joined by none other than Auberon Fanshawe, the star turn in the Illusions show. While Freddie’s act had been all about the art of illusion and the power of the mind, Auberon Fanshawe had been everyone’s favourite TV magician. They’d made a formidable duo, and a formidable fortune in the process. Ant looked like all his Christmases had come at once, sitting between them; a small puppy trying to please two masters.

‘Look at that,’ Diana smirked, having sat back down after being unable to get a signal. ‘It makes a change to see Tony, I mean Ant, looking overawed. That is something positive to take from this weekend, at any rate.’

Josie laughed. ‘I know what you mean,’ she said, ‘Ant is always so much in control. Hilarious. Anyway, back to the wedding; let’s talk table plans …’

Josie was feeling a little out of sorts, and she couldn’t work out why. The sun was still really warm, and the beer she was drinking was making her feel ever so light-headed. She didn’t often drink in the day. It was pleasant sitting basking in the sun, and watching the seagulls whirl above the cliffs, and dive down to catch fish. Part of her wished she could stay here always. She missed Cornwall when she was up in London. It should have been a perfect afternoon, but somehow she felt that Diana and even Harry just weren’t as interested in talking about wedding plans as she was. Diana kept drifting off, looking across at the bay, and acting as if she hadn’t heard what Josie was talking about, while Harry … Well. Sometimes she wondered why he’d asked her to marry him. He couldn’t have appeared less interested if he’d tried.

Josie wasn’t the sort of person to get irate, or worked up about things; she normally hated taking charge, and being confrontational, but this was her’s and Harry’s wedding and she just wanted it to be special. So she decided that she would have to take charge for once, and be more forthright.

‘Look, Harry,’ she said, as she caught him drifting off again, ‘this is important. We can’t just sit your Auntie Vi with Dad’s sister. It won’t work. Lulu is a huge snob and an alcoholic to boot. She’ll be vile to Vi, I just know it.’

‘I can’t believe we’re even talking about the tables,’ said Harry. ‘The wedding’s next year. Auntie Vi might not come.’

‘Fail to prepare, prepare to fail,’ said Josie. ‘I do not want my wedding to turn into an episode of My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding, with brawls at the top table.’

‘Come on, it can’t be as bad as all that,’ laughed Diana, ‘weddings aren’t normally that exciting, except in films.’

‘And we’ll have to keep Ant away from pretty much everyone. He’s bound to upset somebody.’

‘Now that, I can agree on,’ said Di.

‘Oh come on, Josie,’ said Harry. ‘I think you’re being unfair now. And you’re worrying about nothing. Why would anyone want to fight at our wedding?’

‘I just want things to be perfect,’ said Josie, wishing he’d understand.

‘I know,’ said Harry, ‘and they will, I promise. But the most important thing is we’re getting married, and nothing else matters.’

He grabbed her hand, and squeezed it tight, then gave her that little grin she found endearing, and she was instantly mollified. Harry was right; she was getting hung up on detail. Everything would be fine.

‘Excuse me while I barf,’ said Diana, with characteristic sarcasm. ‘I think I’ll just leave you two lovebirds to it.’

‘Di,’ said Josie, stricken. She hadn’t meant to make her friend feel left out, but she knew sometimes she felt she and Harry were in their own little bubble and the rest of the world was excluded.

‘It’s all right,’ said Diana, ‘I really need to get hold of work. I might get a signal on top of the cliffs. And I fancy watching the sunset anyway. I’ll wander back up to the Stones, and see you back at home. At least it means I get to avoid Tony for a bit longer. Result.’

‘If you’re sure,’ said Josie.

‘Absolutely,’ said Di firmly. ‘So lose the stricken face. You and Harry can have some time to yourselves. I’m sure you need it.’

And with that, she was gone.

‘Okay,’ said Josie, ‘time to talk about flowers …’

‘Josie,’ said Harry with a groan, ‘do we have to?’

‘Yes,’ she said firmly, ‘we absolutely do. Now shut up and listen.’

‘I love it when you come over all dominant,’ said Harry, giving her a grin that made her go shivery all over.

‘Oh, do shut up,’ said Josie, throwing a beer mat at him, but she felt better. Organising weddings was hard work, it was bound to make them tense with each other sometimes. So long as Harry always looked at her like that, they’d never have anything to worry about. ‘And concentrate, we have a lot to organise.’

Ant was having a whale of a time. Freddie Puck was fascinating company and Auberon Fanshawe a master of the discreet, or not-so-discreet, celeb story. Ant couldn’t believe his luck. Fancy meeting his boyhood heroes. No one, but no one would ever know how much time the young Ant had spent alone in his parents’ shed with a box of matches and a firelighter, trying out Auberon’s ‘How Do You Light The Burnt Match?’ trick. It was his little secret, but for the first time in his life he felt able to share it. They would understand. Freddie and Auberon were both good sports too, happy to have their photos taken with him, joking that their pictures would no doubt be all over Twitter and Facebook in an instant. Discreetly, when he thought they weren’t looking, Ant had done exactly that. He felt a little foolish when they caught him out, but it wasn’t every day you met your heroes …

‘So what’s your next project going to be?’ Ant asked.

‘Hush, hush, my boy,’ Auberon tapped his nose. ‘Early doors and all that. Let’s say my agent is in some … interesting discussions. And I have a few irons in the fire production-wise. I’m more in the production side of things now, with Freddie here.’

Freddie gave Auberon a sly look.

‘You could always sign up for A Dream. I hear an old friend of ours is playing Titania soon.’

Auberon blushed, and looked flustered. ‘I don’t think so,’ he said.

‘What about you, Freddie? Any chance we’ll be seeing Illusions back on our screens?’ asked Ant.

‘Possibly,’ said Freddie, ‘but actually, I’m down here researching a new project.’

‘Which is?’

‘Going to different locations in the UK, and trying to work out if the local myths have any grain of truth in them.’

‘Such as?’

‘Well, here it’s the Standing Stones,’ said Freddie. ‘Locally people claim to plight their troth at midnight, and fall in love for ever. I’m going to see whether by suggestion and hypnosis, we can actually make two people fall in love with one another.’

‘Right,’ said Ant. ‘Now that’s something I’d like to see. Because I don’t believe it can be done. Take me for instance. I’m not in the slightest bit suggestible.’

‘Really?’ said Freddie. ‘In my experience most people are a bit suggestible.’