Michael stood and paced up and down the room. He really wasn’t ready to propose, but what choice did he have? ‘I don’t think you know me quite as well as you think you do, Nance. If you did, then why would I have bought you this?’ Michael asked, chucking the red velvet box on the bed next to Nancy.
Nancy had always been a bit of a romantic at heart. At the age of fourteen she had played Juliet in her school play and had been awaiting her very own Romeo to whisk her off her feet ever since. Picking up the box, Nancy opened it and gasped. It was a beautiful engagement ring with a big diamond in the centre and two smaller stones either side. ‘Oh Michael, it’s beautiful.’
Michael dropped to one knee and grabbed his girlfriend’s hand. ‘I still don’t want to rush into anything, babe, but surely getting engaged proves how I feel about you? Please don’t let this Denise crap spoil what we have.’
‘Getting engaged still doesn’t change the fact that another girl is carrying your child, Michael. Anyway, I’ve told my mum that I’m moving back home now.’
Michael placed the ring on the third finger of Nancy’s left hand. ‘Please don’t leave me, Nance. Agree to marry me instead.’
Donald Walker was not a man to show much emotion, but inwardly he was thrilled that his daughter would be returning home this evening. He was still annoyed that Nancy had got herself involved with Michael Butler in the first place, but he was willing to forgive even if it might take him a long while to forget.
At ten to eight, Mary sat by the phone willing it to hurry up and ring. ‘Go and put your jacket on, Donald, and get me a coat. We’ll be leaving in a minute and it’s chilly outside tonight.’
Christopher scowled at his mother. He thought his parents were being far too lenient with Nancy, considering how badly she had treated them.
The sound of the phone bursting into life made Mary jump. ‘Hello, love. Me and your dad are ready. Where do you want us to pick you up from?’
Nancy took a deep breath. ‘Mum, I’m so sorry. Please don’t hate me, but I’m not coming home now.’
‘What! Why? The Butlers aren’t stopping you from leaving, are they? If they’ve threatened you, you must tell me, Nancy.’
Nancy felt awful as she plucked up the courage to tell her mother the truth. ‘No, Mum. It’s nothing like that. Michael bought me a beautiful engagement ring, so I’ve agreed to stay and give our relationship another go.’
As a huge racking sob escaped from her lips, Mary dropped the phone in shock.
With Debbie’s stark warning still fresh in her mind, Karen felt edgy when Vinny suggested they both take a night off work and he take her out for a nice meal instead. ‘Aw, thanks for asking, Vin, but to be honest I’m not that hungry and I’d rather just work.’
‘Don’t be daft. I’ll still pay you for your shift, babe. A pal of mine has a lovely steakhouse in Canning Town and I was gonna take you there.’
Karen shook her head. ‘You go with Ahmed. To be honest, I feel embarrassed because I got in a bit of a state again last night and I would rather face the staff and apologize immediately. I’ve made a decision. I’m not drinking any more alcohol, Vinny. I’m sticking to orange juice instead.’
Vinny was immediately alarmed. There was a very special reason why he had to take Karen to that particular restaurant this evening, and he was determined to get her there by hook or by crook. He sat down next to her on the sofa and put his hand on her knee. ‘Babe, I want us to get back together properly. I’ve taken things at a steady pace because I wanted to be sure about us first. I am sure now, and that’s why I’ve booked the restaurant tonight. You must have a drink. I’ve spent a fortune on champagne and it’s waiting for us on ice.’
Any earlier doubts about Vinny’s intentions towards her were banished from Karen’s mind. Grabbing Vinny’s hand, she led him towards the bedroom.
Vinny felt physically sick when Karen firstly stuck her tongue in his mouth, then tried to fondle his manhood. Knowing what was in store for her later, there was no way he could get a lob on. ‘I’m sorry, babe, but I want you so bad it’s making me feel nervous. Let’s go to the restaurant and we can come back here and get it on later, eh? I’ve been on my own for so long, I need a few drinks to relax me first,’ Vinny lied.
Feeling slightly embarrassed, Karen removed her hand from Vinny’s nether regions and nodded. She had waited a long time to be intimate with Vinny again, so another few hours wouldn’t kill her, would it?
The atmosphere in the Walker household was as though a death had occurred.
‘I mean it, Mary. If you have any contact with that girl again after the way she has upset us all tonight, I will never forgive you.’
‘I’m sorry, Donald. If I’d have known that Nancy would break our hearts like this, I would have never asked you to allow her to come back home. I’m devastated, and so, so disappointed in her. Now she is engaged to Michael, I know we’ve lost her for good,’ Mary cried.
Donald held his sobbing wife in his arms. He loved his Mary, hated seeing her so distraught and, unusually for him, had tears in his own eyes. ‘We have to let her go now, darling. Nancy has chosen to marry the enemy, and I hope on her wedding day when she looks around and sees not one member of her own family in attendance, she will realize what pain she has caused to us.’
In a restaurant in Canning Town, Karen was thoroughly enjoying herself. She had felt a little deflated earlier when Vinny hadn’t been able to perform in the bedroom, but she was fine again now.
‘You enjoying yourself? It’s so nice to be a proper couple again, isn’t it?’ Vinny asked.
‘Yes, it’s lovely. When are we going to tell Little Vinny? Can we tell him together?’
‘I thought perhaps we’d get my mum, aunt, and the rest of the family together at the weekend and tell them all at once,’ Vinny lied.
‘Sounds perfect. Who was that man who just spoke to you, Vinny? The one who just left with the black suit on,’ Karen asked.
Vinny leant forward across the table. Canning Town wasn’t his territory and he didn’t want anybody to think he was gossiping. ‘That was Eddie Mitchell. Him and his family run this manor like me and mine run Whitechapel. Why do you ask, babe? You don’t know him, do you?’
Karen giggled. ‘No. I just asked because he was handsome like you, and I could tell he was a somebody.’ Vinny had been plying her with champagne all evening, and Karen hadn’t wanted to be a spoilsport and refuse to drink it as they truly were celebrating something special.
‘Do you want a dessert, babe? I think I’ll order us another bottle of champagne. No rush to get home, is there? Especially seeing as we’ll probably be spending all night and tomorrow in bed together.’
Karen beamed from ear to ear. ‘No, I don’t want a dessert, but I must use the ladies’ room. Where is it?’
‘Upstairs, babe. The ladies’ is the first door you come to on the left.’
As Karen walked away from the table, Vinny checked no-one was watching him, topped up her glass, and discreetly added the crushed tablets to it. He shoved in a very high dosage, like he had when he had spiked her drinks twice at the club, and therefore knew it wouldn’t be too long before he would have to ring his special cab to come and collect her.
Vinny had planned this evening to perfection. The flat he had supposedly rented for Karen actually belonged to a friend of Ahmed who had gone on holiday and entrusted Ahmed with a key to keep an eye on it. Vinny had put that idea in place as he had wanted to keep Karen in his clutches, rather than have her disappearing back to Dagenham. His staff at the club had been shocked when Karen had made a fool of herself at his Auntie Viv’s birthday party, but seeing her collapse and have to be carried upstairs twice in the club since had really sewn the seeds that