“Never Like Anyone Else”
“Laura, are you still home?” Lucy poked her head into the bathroom, where her older sister was fixing her hair before work.
“Of course I’m home! You lot in telecoms have shifts at the crack of dawnseven in the morning! Decent office workers like me work civilised hourseight to five.”
“Oh, come off it, ‘office workers’!” Lucy snorted. “You’re just as much a factory girl as the rest of us! Sitting in your design office in your little white coats, thinking you’re the clever ones.”
“Who stopped you from training as an engineer?” Laura shot back. “But no, you had to go to that technical college for telecomsall because your precious Ian was going there!”
“Oh, shut up!” Lucy waved her off. “There is no ‘precious Ian’ anymorehe’s long gone! Hurry up and free the bathroom. I need a wash, then it’s straight to bed. That shift was a nightmare!”
Lucy hated being reminded of that old story. Ian, her old classmate, had been drop-dead gorgeous in her eyes, so shed fallen head over heels for him back in year five. He couldve been in films, but for some reason, he chose telecoms college. So, sighing in frustration, she followed him there. Not that he appreciated the sacrifice. After graduation, he went and married a girl from his course.
Lucy rinsed off quickly in the shower, pulled on her cosy pyjamas, and shuffled into the kitchen, yawning.
“What can I nibble so I dont wake up starving?”
“Theres half an omelette left under the lidI made enough for both of us,” Laura offered.
“Ugh, omelette again! How can you eat eggs every day? I need something lighter.”
Lucy grabbed a packet of instant porridge from the cupboard, poured boiling water in, and stirred slowly.
“Youll fall asleep at the table!” Laura smirked.
Lucy shoved a couple of spoonfuls of the bland mush into her mouth and pushed the bowl away.
“Nope, Im going to bed!”
She retreated to her room, and soon the sound of her deep, steady snores filled the air. Laura checked her watch. “Why did I get up so early? Ive got a whole half-hour to kill on my phone.” She settled into the armchair that took up a corner of their spacious kitchen and started scrolling.
Suddenly, the doorbell rang. Laura answered and accepted a congratulatory telegram from distant relatives who refused to embrace modern technology: “Happy New Year, health, happiness” She signed the receipt and returned to her warm spot by the radiator.
Then she heard Lucy head to the loo, pause in the hallway on the way back, and exclaim, “Oh, for heavens sake!” Laura listenedLucy rustled with shoes, zipped up her coat Then the front door slammed.
“Lu, where are you going?” Laura jumped up, but her sister had already vanished, leaving her phone behind on the side table.
“Blimey! Did she forget something at work?”
Laura retreated to the cosy kitchen.
***
Lucy sprinted down the slippery pavement, squinting at the figures trudging ahead. It was still dark, but she hoped shed spot Lauras coat any second. When the telegram arrived, shed been asleep, but the slam of the door woke her. The flat was quiet, and she assumed Laura had already left for work.
After tossing and turning, she decided to nip to the loo. On her way back, she spotted Lauras work pass on the hallway table. “Oh, for heavens sake!” shed cried, assuming Laura had forgotten it. She threw on her puffer coat over her pyjamas, jammed her boots on, grabbed the pass, and bolted after her sister.
But Laura wasnt among the workers heading to the factory. The place was only a ten-minute walk away, so Lucy reached the gates quickly. No sign of Laura. She approached the security guard.
“Have you seen my sister?”
He shook his head, baffled.
“She hasnt come in yet. Its only half-sevenshe usually shows up at five to.”
“Half-seven?” Lucy stared at him, then groaned. “Oh, Im such an idiot!”
The guard adjusted his glasses, eyeing her like she was smuggling missile parts.
“Im leaving!” Lucy yelped and sprinted off. Laura was probably tearing the place apart looking for that pass!
Panting, she was nearly home when her boot hit a patch of ice, sending her crashing onto the pavement.
“Mum!” was all she managed as a stranger rushed over to help.
“Can you stand?” he asked gently.
“II dont think so,” she mumbled, looking up.
He was a young man in a warm overcoat, a white lab coat peeking underneath. His eyes were tired but kind.
“Why the hurry on icy pavements?”
“Long story. I need to get homemy sister will kill me!” She tried to stand but yelped in pain.
He sighed. “Right, hold onto me. Tight!”
He scooped her up and carried her to the building.
“What floor?” he asked in the lift.
“Third,” Lucy muttered, blushing. Shed never been this close to a man, let alone one this handsome. He smelled faintly of cologne and something medicinal.
At the door, Lauras jaw dropped.
“Lucy! What happened? Where were you?”
“Hello. Your sisters badly bruisedpossibly a sprain,” the man explained, heading to the living room.
“Laura, Ill explain later,” Lucy said, handing over the pass.
“Oh! There it is!” Laura stuffed it into her bag and dashed out, then doubled back. “Lu, is this a friend? Can I leave you with him?”
“Hes fineIm a doctor,” the man assured. “Watch the ice outside.”
Laura nodded and vanished.
“Right, Lucy,” the doctor said briskly, “lets check that ankle.”
He eased off her boot and wincedher ankle joint jutted unnaturally.
“That bad?” she groaned.
“Sprain. Youll need hospital.”
“Oh, really? Im knackered from the night shiftI dont fancy traipsing round X-rays!”
“You work nights too? Colleagues?”
She flushed. “No, Im on the factory switchboard. Round-the-clock operationphones never stop.”
“Ah. Well, an ambulance is still best. The joint needs resetting, and Ive no anaesthetics on me.” He pulled out his phone.
“Mark, got a sprained ankle here. Slipped on ice.” He smiled at Lucy. “Address?” He handed her the phone, and she gave it to the strangerMark.
“Oh no,” she panicked. “What if theyre burglars? I just handed over our address!”
“Relax,” the doctor patted her shoulder. “Thats my colleagueexcellent with trauma. Hell sort you out. Im Max, by the way. Nearly introduced you as a colleague without introducing myself!”
Lucy shook his hand, her fingers swallowed by his warm grip. She wished hed never let goor better yet, scoop her up again.
…That New Year, they all celebrated togetherLucy, Laura, Max, and Mark. They toasted the ice, Lauras forgotten pass, and the magic of the night that sparked not one, but two love stories.
