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    In The Stars Part II, Episode 8: Leo
    In The Stars Part II, Episode 8: Leo
    In The Stars Part II, Episode 8: Leo
    Ebook171 pages3 hours

    In The Stars Part II, Episode 8: Leo

    By Debbie McGowan

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    Life is getting serious, blurring the line between love and loss:
    It’s Toby Brown’s first birthday, and he’s not the only one in for a surprise;
    Josh abandons his professionalism to help a desperate client;
    Andy treats himself to something he’s wanted for a very long time.

    * * * * *

    ‘Leo’ is the eighth episode of In The Stars. For those readers unfamiliar with the series, ‘Capricorn’ (episode one) re-introduces the main characters, so you could pick it up from here and perhaps catch up with the previous books later.

    In The Stars explores the day-to-day lives of The Circle—nine friends from high school, now it their late thirties—following them through celebration, loss, illness and life-changing decisions.

    Each episode covers the period of time indicated by the zodiac sign from which it takes its title.

    The full novels of In The Stars Part I: Capricorn–Gemini and In The Stars Part II: Cancer–Sagittarius are also available for purchase (paperback/ebook).

    In The Stars Part II is season five in the Hiding Behind The Couch Series.

    The story follows chronologically from In The Stars Part I (Season Four) and Breaking Waves (Novella). It continues in A Midnight Clear (Novella), Red Hot Christmas (Novella) and Two By Two (Season Six).

    * * * * *

    What readers say about the Hiding Behind The Couch Series:

    “The remarkable characterisation in these novels is what makes them for me.”

    “This story reminds me of my favorite movies about friendship and relationships.”

    “Few authors have explored the depths of longtime friends within a group, or ‘circle’ the way Debbie McGowan has!”

    “I have a love-hate relationship with Debbie McGowan’s Hiding Behind the Couch Series. I love to read them, I HATE it when they’re over.”

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBeaten Track Publishing
    Release dateJul 24, 2014
    ISBN9781909192690
    In The Stars Part II, Episode 8: Leo
    Author

    Debbie McGowan

    Debbie McGowan is an award-winning author of contemporary fiction that celebrates life, love and relationships in all their diversity. Since the publication in 2004 of her debut novel, Champagne—based on a stage show co-written and co-produced with her husband—she has published many further works—novels, short stories and novellas—including two ongoing series: Hiding Behind The Couch (a literary ‘soap opera’ centring on the lives of nine long-term friends) and Checking Him Out (LGBTQ romance). Debbie has been a finalist in both the Rainbow Awards and the Bisexual Book Awards, and in 2016, she won the Lambda Literary Award (Lammy) for her novel, When Skies Have Fallen: a British historical romance spanning twenty-three years, from the end of WWII to the decriminalisation of homosexuality in 1967. Through her independent publishing company, Debbie gives voices to other authors whose work would be deemed unprofitable by mainstream publishing houses.

    Read more from Debbie Mc Gowan

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      Book preview

      In The Stars Part II, Episode 8 - Debbie McGowan

      In The Stars Part II, Episode 8: Leo

      Hiding Behind The Couch

      Season Five

      by

      Debbie McGowan

      SMASHWORDS EDITION

      * * * * *

      Second Edition

      Published 2018 by Beaten Track Publishing

      First published 2014

      Copyright 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018 Debbie McGowan at Smashwords.

      https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/debbiemcgowan

      This book is available in print at most online retailers.

      Cover Design by Debbie McGowan

      Licensed stock images: usage is not indicative

      of the models’ identity, activities or preferences.

      Zodiac Illustrations by Emma Pickering

      http://www.beatentrackpublishing.com

      This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

      * * * * *

      This novel is a work of fiction and the characters and events in it exist only in its pages and in the author’s imagination.

      * * * * *

      Life is getting serious, blurring the line between love and loss:

      It’s Toby Brown’s first birthday, and he’s not the only one in for a surprise;

      Josh abandons his professionalism to help a desperate client;

      Andy treats himself to something he’s wanted for a very long time.

      * * * * *

      ‘Leo’ is the eighth episode of In The Stars. For those readers unfamiliar with the series, ‘Capricorn’ (episode one) re-introduces the main characters, so you could pick it up from here and perhaps catch up with the previous books later.

      In The Stars explores the day-to-day lives of The Circle—nine friends from high school, now it their late thirties—following them through celebration, loss, illness and life-changing decisions.

      Each episode covers the period of time indicated by the zodiac sign from which it takes its title.

      The full novels of In The Stars Part I: Capricorn–Gemini and In The Stars Part II: Cancer–Sagittarius are also available for purchase (paperback/ebook).

      In The Stars Part II is season five in the Hiding Behind The Couch Series.

      The story follows chronologically from In The Stars Part I (Season Four) and Breaking Waves (Novella). It continues in A Midnight Clear (Novella), Red Hot Christmas (Novella) and Two By Two (Season Six).

      * * * * *

      Dedication

      For Eileen:

      See you in the next one. Maybe.

      And for the Dog People:

      we are a transient population,

      unthwarted by rain, wind, snow,

      sun-baked earth and horse flies;

      may the source of our insanity

      remain our salvation.

      * * * * *

      Acknowledgements

      Thank you to my wonderful proof-readers, Tracy and Andrea, for your persistence in / insistence on finding and then laughing at my dreadful mistakes, not to mention your extraordinary expertise in all matters, but in particular, those of bingo and healthcare! The Circle thank you, too!

      Much gratitude to Hans M Hirschi, for checking and correcting my dodgy Norwegian / Swedish translations, even though we had only just ‘met’!

      Hans also writes beautiful stories – visit his website to find out more. www.hirschi.se

      Thanks also to Beth, for excellent chat show related creative input.

      Elliot Sanchez lives because of you.

      ***

      Excerpts from:

      ‘The Signs’, by Henry Van Dyke

      The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Poems of Henry Van Dyke.

      Hamlet, by William Shakespeare.

      Macbeth, by William Shakespeare.

      Great Expectations, by Charles Dickens.

      Reproduced under the terms of the

      Project Gutenberg Licence.

      www.gutenberg.org

      ‘Footprints In Your Heart’, by Eleanor Roosevelt;

      also attributed as

      ‘Today is a Gift’, by Laszlo Kotro-Kosztandi.

      Further bibliographic information unavailable.

      * * * * *

      Table of Contents

      Acknowledgements

      Dedication

      The Legend Of Shabina: Saturday 29th July

      Haze: Thursday 3rd August

      One: Sunday 6th August

      Someone Else’s Arms: Monday 7th August

      Short Circuit: Thursday 10th August

      Starlight: Thursday 17th August

      Mistakes Like These: Sunday 20th August

      Milk, Genes And Kidney Beans: Monday 21st August

      The Story Continues…

      About The Author

      By The Author

      * * * * *

      It’s the time-birth-death gimmick. Can’t go on much longer, too many people are wising up.

      William S. Burroughs

      * * * * *

      Leo

      The sign of Leo is the sign of fire.

      Hatred we hate: but no man should desire

      A heart too cold to flame with righteous ire.

      The Legend Of Shabina

      Saturday 29th July

      Bored already? Josh glanced through the lounge door as he came in, his one remaining Saturday morning appointment done for another week. It wasn’t yet eleven o’clock, and George was lying on the sofa, playing Ocarina of Time, his still-healing leg propped on a cushion.

      Yep, he replied and grunted in frustration. I can’t get past this bit, either. He’d been stuck on the same part of the game for most of the week.

      Do you want me to do it for you? Josh called back on his way to the kitchen to make a coffee.

      Nope. George paused the game and followed on his crutches.

      Are you sure?

      Yep.

      How about a hint?

      "Nope. I told you. Even if I end up smashing the controller to pieces in the process, I will complete that game, by myself, without your interference, or ‘assistance’ as you like to call it, thank you very much."

      "It would help if you didn’t throw the controller across the room. Maybe you should just stick to playing Crash."

      On my own? It’s a bit too much like, um, self-pleasuring. Josh laughed, and George grinned. How was work?

      OK. She still won’t agree to move her appointment from a Saturday, though.

      What you gonna do?

      I don’t know. She’s probably nearing the end of her treatment anyway, so I might just have to finish it off here. It’s that or see if Zsa Zsa can take her on.

      I don’t know whether to feel more sorry for us or your client.

      This was all part of the grand plan. Come a week on Monday, Josh would officially be an employee of the university. As such, he had given notice on the lease for his surgery, which he needed to vacate by the end of August, and he was trying not to think about it. It had been his second home for the past thirteen years. Indeed, he’d spent more time there than anywhere else, and it was impossible to imagine not being there.

      He’d almost considered putting in an offer to buy the place so that he could rent it to someone else rather than letting it go, but as George had rightly pointed out, he’d get over it quickly enough. So the best thing to do was crack on with moving out and moving on, particularly as all but his Saturday client had now either agreed to move their appointments to Fridays or found themselves another therapist. However, Josh’s usual firm of removal specialists—Jeffries and Associates—were still working at half-strength, and with George out of action, he’d had to delay making a start. For now, that suited him just fine.

      The coffee machine ready indicator illuminated, and Josh withdrew the cappuccino. I’m just going to drink this, then take Blue out.

      OK, George sighed.

      Hey. It won’t be long now, Josh consoled. The doctor had told George that the best gauge of healing with a fractured fibula was pain; if it didn’t hurt, it was all right for him to do it. So far, that limited his options to walking from the lounge to the kitchen, possibly doing the washing up or a bit of cooking, followed by resting up for a couple of hours before he could put any weight on his leg again. That was all well and good until he needed the toilet and hopping wasn’t an option.

      He wasn’t even convinced it was the fracture causing him pain, but he was a patient patient and was doing as he was told, even though five weeks of being more or less completely housebound meant he’d put on at least a stone in weight, knew the daytime TV schedule off by heart and had ploughed through a good tenth of Josh’s extensive library of not-very-interesting psychology books, never mind that his mother appeared to have settled into the habit of coming round for Sunday dinner and ‘bobbing in’ with Pauline ‘of a Wednesday morning’ for tea and cake.

      Bored? The word didn’t even come close. On the plus side, he’d had plenty of time to work on his painting, and he was kind of happy with how it was turning out, when he wasn’t being moody and self-critical, like now.

      Tell you what, Josh said, interrupting his thoughts. After I’ve taken Blue for his five minutes up and down the road, how about we go somewhere in the car. We could go and eat ice cream. That always cheers you up.

      George shrugged. I dunno. At the moment, it’ll probably make me even more miserable. He sighed again.

      You really are very fed up, aren’t you?

      Yeah. Sorry.

      Josh put his arms around him. It’s OK.

      It’s not. The baby’s due in less than four weeks, if Soph doesn’t go into labour before then, and I’m still stuck on these damned crutches. What am I gonna do if he comes early, and I can’t drive, and she ends up giving birth in the back of a taxi, or on the bus, or—

      Whoa! Josh put his hand over George’s mouth. Stop panicking a minute and listen. Can you do that?

      Mmm-mm, George sounded.

      I’m going to move my hand, OK?

      Mmm-mm.

      Josh freed him, and he took a breath ready to start again.

      Shush! Josh said. George did as he was told. First up, if you are still on crutches when Sophie goes into labour, I’ll drive. In fact, I’ll drive whatever happens.

      But what if you’re at work?

      I’ll put my foot down.

      Or if there’s a traffic jam.

      How often does that happen?

      But it could.

      It could, but even in heavy traffic, we’ll be at the hospital in less than thirty minutes. George still looked dubious. Really. It’ll all be fine. I promise.

      OK, he said. You’ll keep your phone on?

      I’ll keep my phone on.

      And make sure there’s plenty of petrol in the car?

      I always do.

      But what if—

      George! I’ll keep my phone on, with the volume up full, and make sure the car has petrol, water, oil, brake fluid and screen wash. I’ll also avoid alcohol, drugs, sick people, thunderstorms—whatever it takes.

      George continued to frown a little longer while he got it all straightened out in his mind. The frown faded and he nodded. OK. Thank you. Let’s do what you said and go get ice cream.

      We don’t have to if you don’t want to.

      I know, but I need to get out and stop moping.

      Josh watched him trying to perk up and smiled. You are so wonderful. I hope you know that.

      I’m so grumpy, and I need to pack it in.

      All right, we won’t be long. Josh attached the lead to Blue’s collar, and they left. It was only during the past week that the dog had been allowed to start walking outside of the house again, and he seemed to be healing well, but he would always be at risk of dislocation now, so they were following the vet’s advice to the letter. It was a very strange concept for Josh—doing as medical practitioners advised.

      By the time they returned from their slow stroll to the other end of the terrace and back, George had hobbled his way up the stairs to put on a pair of slip-on canvas shoes—the only ones he could wear at the moment—and was ready to go,

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