The below short stories were originally featured as part of the blog tour for ‘An Artisan Lovestyle’ in July 2018 and tell the history of the friendship between Sukie, Harry and Elsa.
Sukie
(First featured on Jennifer Gilmour.)
“Thank you, Mrs McClaren. We’ll look after Suzette. School finishes at 3.30pm. You may collect her then.
“Thank you, Miss Graham.” Beth McClaren stood up and walked to the door of the headmistress’s office. She looked back and caught the forlorn look on her seven year old daughters face. “Oh, Miss Graham, Suzette prefers to be called Suze or Suzie.”
“I don’t agree with shortened names, Mrs McClaren. Suzette will be called by her full given name.”
Beth walked back over to the large, mahogany desk and gave the officious woman behind it a hard stare. “My daughter prefers to be called either Suze or Suzie. I would ask you to please respect that. She is called these names at home and I want her to be called them at school. Have I made myself quite clear?”
She watched as the headmistress bit down the reprimand she clearly wanted to administer. “Yes, Mrs McClaren. I will ensure the form teacher is told.
“Thank you.”
Beth bent down and tweaked one of her daughter’s pigtails. “You have a good day darling. I hope you make some new friends. I’ll meet you at the gates this afternoon. I love you.” She gently stroked her daughter’s cheek before rising and, giving the headmistress a curt nod, she left the room.
***********************
Suzie walked down the corridor behind Miss Graham. Everything was quiet and the only sound was the squeak of the headmistress’s shoes on the polished linoleum. They came to a door and Miss Graham barked, “Wait here!” before she knocked and entered. She left the door open when she entered the room and Suzie could see the children in the classroom staring at her. She looked at the headmistress talking to the lady at the front before she turned and beckoned Suzie into the room.
“Suzette… Err… I mean Suzie, this is Miss Ross and she is your form teacher. She will look after you from here.”
Miss Ross crouched down to Suzie’s level as Miss Graham left the room. Suzie looked at her. She had short, dark brown hair, brown eyes and a soft smile on her lips. She had a nice face and Suzie felt herself beginning to like her.
“Shall we find you a desk to sit at, Suzie?” she whispered quietly. “I’ll sit you next to Elsa because she’s a nice, kind, girl. I think you’ll like her. Come with me.”
She took Suzie’s hand and walked her over to the second row of desks. She stopped next to a girl with blonde hair and the biggest blue eyes Suzie had ever seen.
“Elsa, this is Suzie McClaren. Suzie, this is Elsa Benton. Elsa, do you mind showing Suzie the ropes and taking care of her until she has settled in?”
“I’ll look after her, Miss Ross.” Elsa gave Suzie a big smile and revealed a mouth full of metal. Wow, thought Suzie, those are one big set of braces!
Elsa patted the seat next her and said, “Sit here, Suzie.”
Suzie smiled back as she sat down. She took her pencil case from her schoolbag and turned her attention to the teacher who was now talking at the front of the class.
*****************
The bell rang for lunch and Elsa turned to Suzie as she slipped her jotter and pencil inside the desk. “Do you have a packed lunch, Suzie, or are you going to the canteen?”
Suzie leant down and took out the lunch box her mum had prepared for her this morning. “Packed lunch.”
“Oh goody, that’s what I have. Would you like me to show you the tree where I like to sit to eat mine?” Not waiting for a reply, Elsa took Suzie’s hand and pulled her from the classroom. It was a warm day outside and the two girls were soon settled, in the shade, under the tree. “What have you got for lunch?” Elsa asked.
“Cheese sandwiches, a packet of crisps, a Kit-Kat and an orange.” Suzie tried to hide the supermarket own brand crisps underneath her sandwich.
“I’ve got peanut-butter and jam sandwiches, Monster Munchies, grapes and a packet of Rolo’s.”
“That sounds lovely,” replied Suzie, trying not to feel envious of her classmate’s much more exciting lunch. It wasn’t her mum’s fault that she didn’t have much money and could only provide a basic lunch.
“Would you like to share? If I put my jacket on the grass, we can pretend it’s a rug and that we’re having a picnic. We can each have a bit of everything if we do that.”
Suzie felt her envy disappear and quickly agreed to Elsa’s plan.
They hadn’t long finished eating, and were sitting chatting, when three boys approached them.
“Hey, Metal Micky, give us a smile. Let’s see your big rabbit teeth,” jeered the boy in the middle, who was considerably bigger than his two puny friends.
“Go away, Sid Miles. Leave me alone.” Suzie watched Elsa’s happy face change and become sad.
“Oh, go on! I want to see if they’ll blind us when the sunlight hits them.” Sid kicked Elsa’s foot as he spoke.
“She said, ‘Go away’! Are you deaf?” Suzie felt her temper begin to rise. She tried not to let it, her mum had told her she must learn to control it, but sometimes that was really hard.
Sid turned his attention to Suzie. “Who do you think you’re talking to?”
Suzie got to her feet and made a big show of looking Sid up and down.
“I don’t actually know. Has the research scientist given you a name yet?”
Sid went puce with rage as his cohorts let out a snort. “Oooo, you’ve had it now. No one ever speaks back to Sid,” they sniggered.
Sid stepped forward and grabbed one of Suzie’s pigtails. Before he could pull it, however, he received a hard thump on his nose and a sharp kick in his shins.
“OWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW,” he squealed, as tears began to run down his face. He quickly stepped back and Suzie stepped forward.
“How dare you pick on girls and how dare you pick on someone younger than you. I hope you’ve enjoyed having a taste of your own medicine. Now go away and don’t ever come near us again. Have you got that?”
Sid hobbled away with the sound of Suzie’s and Elsa’s laughter in his ears.
Elsa stood up next to Suzie. “Wow! That was amazing. You were so brave.”
“I don’t think my mum will call it that when she finds out I’ve been fighting on my first day.”
“Oh, you’ve no need to worry, he won’t tell anyone because everyone will laugh at him.”
Elsa turned and looked at Suzie. “Suzie, do you have a best friend?”
“No, I don’t. We’ve just moved here and I don’t know anyone yet.”
“Would you like to be mine?” Elsa asked her shyly.
“I would love to be your best friend Elsa.”
“Pinkie shake?”
“Pinkie shake!”
The two girls hooked their pinkies together and sealed the beginning of their life-long friendship.
Harry
(First featured on Six Tinder Weeks.)
Harry Clairmont was walking along the road with his mates. Today was their first day at senior school and he was dreading it. He’d heard stories about how the big boys bullied the new kids and shoved their heads down the toilet and things like that. His mates weren’t worried but they were all big, solid lads. He was slim built and not very tall. He just knew he would be the perfect target for them to pick on. Unconsciously, he began to slow down as they got closer to the school gates and he was soon lagging behind.
“Hey Harry, get a move on or all the good seats will be gone. Do you want to be the teacher’s pet and sit at the front?”
Harry held on tightly to his rucksack and ran to catch up. He had to push through a gaggle of other pupils and, in doing so, bashed a couple with his bag.
“Oi, you stupid oaf, watch where you’re going!”
He turned his head to apologise and saw two girls glaring at him. The taller one, with brown hair, was giving him the verbal while her blonde friend had bent down to pick up the bag which had fallen from her hand. When she looked up at him again, Harry felt his whole world stop and spin on its axis. He was looking into the biggest, darkest blue eyes he had ever seen and they were sitting in the face of an angel.
He walked back to the girls, his friends now forgotten. “I am so sorry. Are you okay?” He looked at the blonde girl as he spoke.
Her taller, darker friend replied, “Yeah, but no thanks to you. Try looking where you’re going in future.”
Harry managed to tear his eyes away from the cute blonde and looked at her gobby friend.
“I will,” he said, “I’m really sorry.” With one last, lingering, look at the angel in front of him, he turned and rushed off to find his mates.
**********************
That lunchtime, he sat on the wall watching his mates playing football. He longed to join them but it had been declared a long time ago that he was utterly rubbish and too much of a hindrance, so he spent more time watching from the sidelines. In this new environment, he was feeling a bit lonely and wished he was better at sports. He looked away and saw the two girls he’d bumped into that morning sitting down at one of the picnic tables. He picked up his rucksack and hurried over to them.
“Hi there,” he said, as he approached the table, “I was hoping to bump into you again.”
“Not literally I hope, once was quite enough, thank you!” replied the dark-haired one.
Harry realised what he’d said and felt his cheeks grow hot and red. “Er… No, not literally. I wanted to apologise again for that and I got you both these to say sorry properly.” In his hand, he held out two Mars bars which he’d bought from the tuck shop during morning break.
“Well, Elsa, what do you think? Are we in a forgiving mood today? Can we be bribed with chocolate and caramel confectionary?”
“Damn right we can!” Elsa smiled at Harry and took one of the bars from his hand. Suzie leant over and took the other.
“Thank you. You didn’t have to do that,” said Elsa, as she shuffled along the bench. “Would you like to join us? I’m Elsa and this mouthy mare is Suzie.”
“I would like that… If it’s alright with you of course?” He looked at Suzie for her approval. She was clearly the leader in this little twosome.
“Of course I am. You’ve just fed me chocolate, you’re allowed to stay.” For the first time since they’d met, she smiled at him and Harry saw the mischief in her eyes.
“Thank you. I’m Harry.”
Suzie stuck her hand across the table. “Lovely to meet you Harry, tell us all about you!”
************************
“Oh my goodness, you are NOT going to believe it! Darren McPherson has just asked me out!” Elsa rushed over to join Suzie and Harry who were sitting at their regular picnic bench.
“No way! What did you say?” Suzie put her sandwich back down on the table.
“Why ‘yes’ of course. He’s gorgeous! I’m so lucky – half the girls in our year fancy him.”
“He’s the lucky one, Elsa. You’re also gorgeous and far too good for the likes of him!” Harry tried to keep the bitterness out of his voice. The feeling of jealousy was rampaging through him and he was trying his best not to let the girls see. Although, judging by the look Suzie had just given him, she’d sussed him out.
He’d never actually put how he felt about Elsa into words but Suzie was very astute and he reckoned she’d worked it out – probably the last time Elsa had been asked out on a date, a few months prior. Thankfully, that hadn’t worked out but here he was, back in the same predicament again and feeling exactly the same emotions as he had then.
“Anyway, I can’t stop, I need to go and see Mr Easton about some English homework I’m struggling with. I just came over to tell you the news. I’ll see you both after school.”
Elsa skipped away, unaware of how wretched Harry was now feeling.
Suzie looked at him. “You have to say something, Harry, before you lose her for good.”
“So you do know then.”
“Of course I know! I’m not blind! I’ve known since the day we first met, over three years ago. It was a bit obvious.”
“Does Elsa know?”
“No, and she never will if you don’t find the bottle to tell her.”
“I’m scared of losing her friendship. What if the idea disgusts her and she stops talking to me? Do you know how she feels about me?”
Suzie looked at him. “I don’t know, Harry. I’ve never mentioned it because I didn’t want to risk putting a spanner in the works. But you need to do something and you need to do it soon!” She stood up and gathered her things together. “Elsa is not only beautiful on the inside, Harry, she’s also beautiful on the outside and the other boys are beginning to notice. Don’t leave it too late my friend.”
With a small smile, she walked off towards the main school building and left Harry to ponder over what he needed to do next.
******************************
“Wow, Harry! This place is really expensive. Are you sure about this?”
“Of course I’m sure.”
Harry held the door open to the very exclusive restaurant and let Elsa walk in first. She didn’t need to know that the owners were good friends of his parents and he’d promised to wash dishes there for the next month if they would give him a good discount on the meal tonight. He had one chance to make an impression otherwise he would lose Elsa for ever. He’d taken Suzie’s advice, found some courage and had asked Elsa out for, what he’d called, a ‘proper’ date. He’d been totally taken aback when she’d said yes and was very grateful to his mum for sorting this out for him.
The hostess showed them to their seat and, for the next two hours, he and Elsa talked like they had never talked before.
At the end of the night, he walked her home and they stood chatting outside for about half an hour before she said she had to go in.
“I’ve had a wonderful night, Harry, thank you. I would really like to do this again.”
“You would? Are you sure?”
Elsa looked at him with her big, sapphire-blue, eyes. “Oh yes, Harry. I’m very sure.”
She leaned in and placed a soft, gentle kiss on his lips. After a few seconds, she pulled away, opened the front door, walked in and, with a smile and a wave, closed it behind her.
Harry stood staring at where she’d been standing for a few more seconds before turning away.
It was official!
He loved Elsa Benton and he was going to love her for the rest of his life!
Elsa
(First featured on Ali, The Dragon Slayer.)
Elsa hung out of the car window, waving frantically to her best friend who was growing smaller and smaller as the car gathered speed. They turned the corner and she was lost from sight.
She sat down on the back seat and let out a big sigh while she wound up the window. “I’m going to miss Suzie so much. I can’t believe she chose not to join us in Glasgow. It won’t be the same without her.”
Harry took her hand and squeezed it tightly. “You mean Sukie, not Suzie. She won’t answer to that anymore.”
“Of course! I need to remember that although she’s been Suzie to me for over ten years, so it’ll be difficult.”
“Well you can lay the blame for the change firmly at the door of Sid Miles.”
“I know,” sighed Elsa.
Sid Miles had never forgiven Suzie for punching him when they were kids. One day, he’d overheard her mother telling her she’d been named after the dessert pancake ‘Crepe Suzette’. The next day at school, he’d begun calling her Crap Suzette. The boys in his posse latched on to it and, before long, several of the kids were yelling it at her. Suzie’s up-front, forthright manner didn’t sit well with a lot of people and they were only too happy to have the opportunity to get back at her. The day they’d finished school for good, she’d changed her name to Sukie and now refused to answer to anything else.
“C’mon, cheer-up, we’ve got so much to look forward to. We’re about to become university students and you know how much fun that involves,” Harry said, leaning into her and giving her nudge.
“Err… Not TOO much fun I hope, you two,” said Elsa’s father, from the front of the car. “There had better be some serious studying too.”
“Don’t worry, Daddy, there will be, I promise,” replied Elsa with a giggle.
**********************
“Here we go, that’s the last box!” Harry dropped it on the floor and let out a groan as he stretched and rubbed his back. “Trust you to find us a top floor flat, Elsa!”
“You mean ‘trust me to find us a very WONDERFUL top floor flat’ don’t you?”
Elsa had been at an art exhibition when she’d met a couple of students from the Glasgow School of Art. She’d mentioned she was studying art history and they’d quickly become friends, soon joining the little social group that had grown around Elsa and Harry. They’d decided to flat-share in their second year and Elsa had found an advert for this perfect flat hidden away on the notice board in a nearby supermarket. They hadn’t wasted any time in signing the lease and the four of them, plus two lads on Harry’s engineering course, had moved in.
On their first night, they went to the pub to celebrate their new found freedom from the halls of residence and, somehow, the discussion came round to how long Elsa and Harry had known each other and had been a couple.
“So when are you getting wed then?” asked Garry, one of the engineers.
“Well, he has to ask me first!” Elsa laughed in reply.
“What’s stopping you, Harry?” Clara, Garry’s girlfriend, piped up.
Elsa giggled to see Harry blushing at being put on the spot but, before he could reply, their four flatmates all began chanting, “Ask her! Ask her! Ask her!”
Garry thumped the table in time to the chanting which got them some dirty looks from the barman.
“Okay, Okay! Back off and give me some space.”
To her great surprise, Harry pushed the table away from him, got down on one knee and, taking her hand, said, “Elsa Veronica Benton… Will you marry me?”
Almost crying with laughter, she decided to give him an ‘out’ – after all, he’d been almost forced into this –and managed to gasp, “Only if you have a ring to put on my finger!”
Harry looked round at their friends and shrugged.
“Oh no, you don’t! You’re not getting out of it that easily. Here, use this!” John leant forward and twisted off a ring pull from one of the beer cans on the table.
Harry turned back to Elsa, slipped the ring pull onto her finger and repeated his question. “Elsa Veronica Benton… Will you marry me?”
She looked into his eyes and, leaning forward to kiss him, whispered quietly in his ear, “Harry Alistair Claremont, it would be an honour. Yes, I will marry you.”
***********************
Elsa stood looking at herself in the full-length mirror. The big day had finally arrived. It was nearly nine years since Harry had proposed but, in that time, they’d both graduated with honours in their respective subjects, gotten apprenticeships which had grown into good jobs and bought their first home. Everything was in place for them to take the next step.
A knock on the bedroom door drew her eyes away from her reflection.
“Come in!”
Her dad stuck his head around the door. “It’s time, poppet. Are you ready?”
“As I’ll ever be,” she smiled, while pulling the ivory veil down over her face.
Her dad walked over, lifted the veil and placed a soft, loving kiss on her cheek. “You look absolutely beautiful, darling. The best bride I have ever seen!”
“Oh, Dad! You’re biased!”
“I sure am, honey, I sure am. Ready to go?” He held out his arm.
She stepped forward, placed her hand in the crook of her father’s elbow and said “I sure am, Daddy, I sure am!”
Fifteen minutes later, Elsa stood at the entrance to the church, waiting for Sukie to finish arranging the train of her dress. She could see Harry standing at the front of the alter. He was nervous – she could tell by the way he was shifting his weight from side to side. She wondered if she would ever tell him the truth, that Darren McPherson hadn’t asked her for a date that day in senior school. She’d fabricated the story in the hope it would force Harry into making a move. Only Sukie knew that she’d fallen in love with Harry that first day at senior school, when he’d bumped into them. Maybe I’ll tell him that too, she thought, it might soften the Darren McPherson blow.
A small tap on her elbow brought her back into the moment. Sukie smiled and whispered, “That’s you, gorgeous. You’re all good to go!”
She nodded to the vicar who gave the signal to the organist.
The powerful, reverberant tones of ‘The Bridal Chorus’ resounded around the building and soared up into the rafters as Elsa placed her hand once more upon her father’s arm.
It was time to marry the man she had loved for most of her life and whom she knew she would love for the rest of time.
Continue to read the story of Sukie, Elsa and Harry in The Lovestyle Series – available in ebook, paperback from Amazon and also on Kindle Unlimited.
