Chapter Two

New Discoveries and Hidden Talents


Flopping down on the saggy settee, Jacqui suddenly announced that she was getting a job.

James was stunned and simply looked at her.

"I know what you are thinking," she said lazily, inspecting her manicured nails, "it's going to be a one-off thing, just like everything else."

James just strolled over to the coffee table and picked up the discarded newspaper.

She sat up and gave him a hard stare.

"You don't believe me, do you?"

He shrugged, smiling down at Raven, sitting quietly playing with her teddy bear.
He'd heard this all before...

... the Beauty School...

... the Drama class...

... the lifetime membership to the local gym.

Each one an expensive waste of time, using money that they could ill afford to waste.
All his life, James had been exceptionally frugal, saving every single penny, squirrelling it away.

Jacqui stood up, hoisting her shoulders proudly, pouted, then stormed out of the lounge.

One way or another, she was determined to get what she wanted.
So, determined to prove him wrong, she sat down in front of the computer and began looking for a job.



For a few days, her search was fruitless and she was almost to the point of giving up.
Most jobs she'd seen, needed qualifications, something she lacked in great quantities.
She always managed to get what she wanted, simply by using her own remarkable charms.

Then she discovered it, almost by accident.

A scenery painter for the local Arts Centre.
All she needed was a little skill in painting.

"Pfft!" she smiled, "that's too easy, even for me."


So, every day, she practiced painting. Sloshing acrylics and other medium onto many canvases.
The majority of her paintings were simply messes, with no actual structure whatsoever.

She tried to sell them, unsuccessfully.

In fact, most of her earlier paintings ended up as firewood, keeping them warm on chilly autumn evenings.

In the meantime, James also made himself busy.
As they could barely afford a nanny, he decided to quit his part time job and stay at home to look after Raven.

That didn't mean that he was lazy around the house.
Oh no.
Far from it.

As part of the original plans, he'd had a workshop annexe built in the expansive grounds.
To which he'd converted into a workshop/fun room.

Being a qualified architect, that meant that he was pretty clever at designing plans and stuff.
But he also loved to mess about with building stuff too.

His opportunity arose the very day they moved in.

A group of friendly folk arrived to welcome them.
Amongst them, was a successful toy maker Stephen Tinker.

Impressed by James' clever carpentry skills, he offered James a job on the spot.

"It's fast approaching Christmas," said Stephen, "I could do with some help. Do you think you could help me out a little?"

James was stunned.

"I'd love to," he replied smiling, "however, I cannot work full time, I have my daughter to take care of."

They both looked down at Raven, who glanced up at Stephen, smiling widely.

"I can offer you 'at home' work if you wish. It's a whole new angle for me. I'll ship raw products to you, along with the plans of what I need, and all you do is to make them here at home and send them back."

"Sounds like a good idea to me."

"The wage isn't all that good, since we're a small company."

"It'll suit me fine, as long as I can keep an eye on Raven at the same time."

Stephen looked down at Raven and patted the top of her head.
Raven squealed in delight and clapped her hands.

"Raven," he mused, "such an unusual name. Care to elaborate?"

James grinned proudly.

"Because of her raven black hair."

"We have a daughter too," said Stephen proudly, "her name is Melody. She's the apple of our eye. However, she's not so keen to follow in our footsteps."

James looked quizzically at Stephen.

"She's a teenager," he explained.

James nodded, understanding completely.

"She's got a mind of her own then?"

"Oh, most definitely. We love her, but she's a nightmare at times. Stubborn too."

They stayed for a while, James made a few sandwiches and entertained them.

Jacqui in the meantime, decided that enough was enough and stalked outside to get a bit of fresh air.

Denise Jacquet, another guest, followed her into the garden and was trying her hardest to make compliments about the pretty flowers when Jacqui suddenly turned on her.

"I don't give a stuff about all of this!" she screamed, "I hate it, always have and always will!"

Denise stood, her mouth agape.

"I'm sorry," she said quietly, "I was just complimenting on your garden. It looks so pretty."


Without warning, Jacqui threw a glass of water into Denises' face.

"There!" she snarled, "let's see if you find THAT pretty!"


With that, she stormed indoors, charged up the stairs and flopped down on the bed, fuming intensely.

"I hate this place," she muttered to herself, "why we've got to stay here is beyond me. Surely he could have thought of better things to spend his money on."

Downstairs, Denise brushed herself down, blotting the excess water from her dress.

"I'm so sorry," James couldn't apologise enough, "Jacqui's just a little tense. That's all."

"Well," replied Denise, highly affronted, "that was very rude indeed. All I was doing was trying to get acquainted."

She sniffed loudly.

"I can see I am not welcome here, so I'd better go."

Jacqui stayed upstairs until she heard the last guest leaving.
She felt a little thirsty and decided to get herself a juice.

James had already put Raven to bed and was busy tidying up.
He heard Jacqui's soft footfall.



He turned his head slightly, just as she was passing.

"That was very rude of you," he said quietly.

Jacqui stopped dead and spun around.

"Rude?" she shouted, "rude? I'll tell you what's RUDE. They weren't invited in, they just turned up at the doorstep. THAT's rude."

James felt his temper rising.

"You're being unreasonable Jacqui." his voice rising in tandem with his temper.

"I'm being unreasonable?" she spat back, "I never wanted this house. YOU were the one that obsessed over every tiny little detail all those months ago. I never even got a say in the matter at all."

"That's a lie Jacqui, and you know it! I kept asking your opinion and you just shrugged it all off indifferently."

Sensing that she wasn't about to win this argument, Jacqui suddenly turned on her heel and stalked out.

"I don't want to talk about this any more," she said simply.

James stood, stunned as he watched her disappearing through the door.

Suddenly, without warning, a sharp pain seared across his chest and he doubled over, gasping for breath.

"Please," he whispered, "not now. Not now."