LITMIR.BIZ

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and the beachfront was emptying rapidly, so it was not difficult to spot who was making the noise. Coral and Nicks turned to see Duncan and Cecily sitting on a picnic bench in the shadow of a very low tree. The laugh had belonged to him. Cecily was just as amused, but hers was more of a delicate giggle. The girls watched as she brought her sparkly nails to her mouth, her eyelashes fluttering like butterfly wings. She then swung her glossy, strawberry-blonde curls over one shoulder and lifted her chin so that the soft, pale skin of her neck flashed in the fading sunlight. There was no doubt about it – the girl was in full-throttle flirting mode.

      But perhaps Jem and Em were wrong. Maybe Cecily really did love Duncan. Just Duncan.

      It was like Jem had read Coral’s mind.

      “Don’t be fooled,” she groaned. “She behaves like that with the rest of the team too.”

      Coral’s shoulders slumped. She felt let down. She’d always liked Cecily. In fact, she had been working on being just like her one day. But as a dedicated champion of romance, she now realised that Cecily clearly had the wrong idea about love. Unless…

      “Einstein moment!” she announced loudly. “Just leave it to us, we’ll sort this out.”

      Chapter 3

       lessons in love

      “It’s fate!” declared an excitable Coral to Nicks as they walked double-time in the direction of Nicks’s house. It would be dark soon.

      “Really…” murmured Nicks with a vague nod (because it was not always wise to encourage Coral).

      “Definitely! We have been personally summoned by Aphrodite the goddess of love.”

      “Personally, huh?” Nicks quickly sidestepped a boy on a skateboard without slowing down.

      “Well, maybe not personally, but it was absolutely our destiny to witness Cecily’s behaviour for ourselves. It made me realise just how desperately the poor girl needs the services of the Cupid Company. She should most definitely become our next client.”

      Nicks did not look convinced. “But we’re matchmakers, remember? Cecily doesn’t seem to have any problems finding a boyfriend, Coral.”

      “Matchmakers!” replied Coral indignantly. “We are far more than just matchmakers. We are Cupid’s arrow. We are Aphrodite’s coworkers. We are love’s sat nav. And it’s all suddenly very clear to me. Only this time our mission is quite different. This time we have to help Cecily, er… love a little less.”

      “Mmm. So instead of helping her find romance, you mean we help her to find less romance?” replied Nicks, looking confused.

      “Exactly,” said Coral. “We have to point Cecily in the right direction and help her to find true love. Right now she is simply love-struck with four boys at once. It would be much better for the Spikers if she gave up on all of them altogether and found someone completely new.”

      Nicks gave this some more thought. It would certainly be a different direction to the one they were used to. But there was the volleyball team to think about. By helping Cecily they would put the Spikers back on track and unite the team to victory.

      “Coral – this time you have definitely experienced an Einstein moment!” declared Nicks finally. She then put her head down and starting thinking through ideas to jot down. This really would be a different sort of challenge. Just how would they get Cecily to focus her affections?

      “Hello, Romeo!” Coral called out. They had arrived at Nicks’s house to find the caramel and white terrier pup waiting on the top step of the porch. The Westie dog, Miss Honey, was not far away. The two pups were still hopelessly in love.

      Coral knelt down and fussed over her pet. She scratched his head, tickled his chin and gave him a squeeze. Truth be told, she’d missed him today. They used to go everywhere together, but now Romeo often hung back and canoodled with Miss Honey instead. Of course Coral was pleased he’d found love. After all, wasn’t that what life was really all about? Still, it had taken some getting used to, though it helped that Miss Honey belonged to Nicks’s mum’s boyfriend, Ben, so Coral always knew where Romeo was.

      “Hi, Ben!” said Nicks just a little too loudly. She had a really wide grin on her face that looked completely forced. Coral recognised the signs. Nicks’s mum and Ben hadn’t been dating all that long and Nicks wasn’t sure about him. Coral liked him though. He was the manager at the aquarium and had all sorts of interesting things to say.

      “So Ben, how is that blowfish getting on?” Coral asked now.

      Ben chuckled and his kind eyes crinkled up at the corners. “Still shooting straight to the top of the tank every time it gets a fright!” he replied.

      “Scaredy fish!” Coral and Ben both laughed together loudly. Nicks tried to join in but made more of an uneasy chug-chug sort of sound.

      “Hello, girls.” Nicks’s mum stepped through the screen door of the house and on to the porch. Miss Honey sat up straight and wagged her tail instantly. Soft and round, she was a girly sort of girl dog who loved Ben very much but clearly enjoyed having another female around too. She especially loved the new pink bow in her fringe and the sparkly-studded collar around her neck.

      Nicks’s mum stared at Coral’s shiny waistcoat for a moment and then smiled. “That’s a rather distinctive-looking waistcoat,” she commented.

      Coral glanced down at her new fashion item and then turned back to Nicks’s mum with narrowed eyes. Was that a compliment? she wondered.

      “I just mean that I haven’t seen one quite like it before,” added Nicks’s mum.

      “That’s because it’s a theatre masterpiece – a work of art,” explained Coral.

      “We bought it second-hand from the theatre company’s stall at the seaside market,” added Nicks matter-of-factly.

      “This waistcoat has seen its share of the bright lights – it’s vintage,” added Coral whose face said ‘SECOND-HAND, PAH!’ ).

      “It’s eye-catching and quite unusual,” said Ben with an interested nod.

      “It certainly is,” agreed Coral. “And look, it even has a pocket.” She rubbed her fingers against its satin lining. This waistcoat was useful as well as eye-catching. “Ooh, hold on, this pocket isn’t empty,” she suddenly murmured.

      “I hope you haven’t found a used tissue,” yelped Nicks with a wrinkled-up nose. Miss Honey wrinkled her nose up too, as if she understood everything.

      “There’s more than one thing, there’s…” added Coral in a breathy voice, “a piece of paper and a coin.” She held both up in the air and then brought them close to her nose for inspection. The coin was copper with a star on one side and the words ONE PENNY pressed into the other. It didn’t look familiar. Next she unfolded the paper, square by square. “It’s got writing across it,” she whispered out loud.

      “It’s probably a shopping list,” said Nicks, who was fed up with the waistcoat already and desperately wanted to get back to Cupid Company business. They had so much to do!

      “It looks like a letter,” revealed Coral. She began reading:

       My dear Sam,

       This letter is a difficult one to write but the time has come for me to say goodbye to you and this lovely little seaside town. I am not getting any younger and there is still so much I need to discover about myself. And it is something I need to do alone. I will miss the company and closeness we have shared for the past six years but will always keep your love and those memories alive in my heart. How I shall miss old Mr Morris Minor! Do take care of yourself and perhaps we will meet again one day – in this life or the next. Be happy always.

       Yours,

       CBA

      For a few moments nobody spoke.

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