Just Believe

JUST BELIEVE

“Damn! Damn!”

Nicola threw the poker down on the hearth, shaking her head in disgust!

“What is going on” she muttered to herself as she headed for the kitchen. “The cooker oven is suddenly not working and now I can’t seem to get this stupid fire to co-operate.”

She was still talking to herself as she washed her coal streaked hands at the sink. “Who said living on your own was fun?!” she snorted in disgust as she pulled open the freezer door to see what she could find to stick in the microwave later for lunch.

Horror of horrors! “I don’t believe this!” she shrieked, surveying the soggy mess contained in the offending freezer. Frantically, she turned off the freezer switch and pulled out the plug; then inserted it again and switched on ... but nothing happened. Going to the meter box, she checked each of the switches. None had tripped; all was in order there. Unbelievable! The freezer had packed up.

“Universe!” she lamented, “What have I done to deserve this?” Tears slid down her cheeks as she started to throw the defrosted contents of the freezer into a black bin bag.

The soft chiming of her door-bell threw her into a panic as she realized her friend Veronica had arrived to take her to the new place recently opened in Bangor for coffee. Hurriedly wiping her tears with the sleeve of her blouse, Nicola opened the door and greeted Vonnie with a half hearted smile. Vonnie looked at her friends tear stained face.

“Where is he?! I’ll kill him right now! Sure it could only be a man that would get you in this state,” bantered Vonnie.

Nicola couldn’t help but smile. “That’s better.” Vonnie hugged her. “So what’s happened pet?” Nicola launched into her sad tale of woe.

Vonnie chuckled. “Been there, done that and got the T-Shirt! Right! We are still going for coffee,” she declared. “And then we will get this sorted The Universe will take care of it. Remember what I keep telling you … just trust! Works for me, so make it work for you. You just go and put some slap on, do the smoky eyes thing, it makes you look sexy. Meanwhile I will get that fire going before we go out. I had one of these temperamental contraptions for years, so I know how to coax it along”.

True to her word, in no time the fire was glowing as Vonnie expertly dealt with it. She was busy washing her hands when Nicola appeared, having changed clothes and put on her make-up.

Vonnie looked at her . “Wow! Wish I could get that smoky eyes thing right, you look great! Let’s go and get a coffee fix, I can feel caffeine withdrawal symptoms,” she chirped, making Nicola smile again.

They set off in Vonnie’s car, but decided to go to their regular coffee shop in Holywood as it was closer. Along the way Nicola voiced her financial concerns of replacing the cooker and freezer.

“Not to worry, these things happen for a reason. Put it out to the Universe that you need help with this right now and it will come right!” Vonnie reassured her. “We’ll make sure we buy a lottery ticket as back-up,” she added, keeping a straight face.

“Vonnie, you are wicked!” Nicola giggled.

Entering Reflections and looking round for a table, they spotted their mutual friend Peter, who also saw them coming in and waved them over to his table.
He was sitting talking to a young man.

“Hello, you two! Come and join us. Tom, this is Vonnie and Nicky. Tom is going to take some stuff to the charity shop for me in his van,” Peter explained as the ladies sat down.

“You know I’m moving to the new house next week?” he continued. “Well I’ve gone overboard and treated myself to a new state of the art cooker and a bigger freezer, so I need to get rid of the existing ones.”

Nicola’s mouth fell open as Vonnie whooped with laughter. Before Peter could say anything more, she grabbed Nicky’s arm and shouted, “What did I tell you?! The universe takes care of us. Just believe!”