Megan of Merseyside by Rosie Harris Page A

with revellers returning home from the Tower Ballroom. Robert had found seats for them inside and he’d taken her silence for tiredness. She hadn’t been tired at all, only lost in thought, reliving the excitement of the evening, especially meeting Miles and mulling over what he had said.
    She couldn’t be sure whether Miles had intended it as a private, personal message or whether it was merely a casual comment made on the spur of the moment.
    On the first day back at work in the New Year, Megan felt uneasy about what she should say to Miles.
    Then, as the days went by and she didn’t see him, she even began to wonder if he was deliberately avoiding her since he hadn’t come in to the office at all.
    Her world seemed flat without him. In the end, she plucked up the courage to ask Bob Donovan, the other shipping clerk, if he knew where Miles was.
    ‘He’s off sick. Gone down with flu. Is it anything I can handle?’ he asked.
    ‘No, no it’s quite all right.’ She flushed with embarrassment, wishing she hadn’t been so impatient.
    Another week went by before Miles returned to work and during his absence Megan’s thoughts strayed constantly to the Walkers’ place perched high on the headland at New Brighton.
    She tried to imagine what Miles’ room was like in such an enormous house. She decided it would probably be a huge room looking out over the sea.
    There was bound to be a desk in there, she mused, and perhaps an armchair. On the wall would be photographs of his school group, or cricketing team. And he probably had a gramophone and perhaps even one of the new wireless sets to listen to as well.
    By the time Miles did return to work they were so busy that when he breezed into the office there was no chance for them to speak to each other.
    Megan began to think that his remark on New Year’s Eve had meant nothing after all. Her spirits sank and even her father commented on how listless she had become.
    ‘Are you finding it too much having to go to night school three times a week?’ he asked sympathetically.
    ‘No! If I didn’t go there then I’d just be sitting at home here every evening, wouldn’t I?’
    ‘Not necessarily. You could be out enjoying yourself, going to the pictures or out dancing with Robert.’ Her father smiled.
    ‘He certainly asks you often enough,’ her mother chipped in.
    Megan coloured, knowing this was true. Ever since he had taken her to the Tower Ballroom, Robert had been trying to persuade her to go out with him again, but she always found an excuse to turn him down.
    She knew her family all liked Robert and couldn’t understand her reason for doing it. Lynn was always going on about how good-looking he was with his thick fair hair and smoke-blue eyes and how she’d jump at the chance of going out with him if she’d been Megan.
    What none of them knew was that when she compared him to Miles all these attributes faded into nothing. Miles was far better looking, his strong features so much more handsome. His brilliant blue eyes had such sparkle and verve that Robert’s seemed dull in comparison.
    She didn’t dislike Robert, but he always took everything so seriously. He was always discussing politics with her father.
    ‘Our Lynn seems to enjoy herself well enough now that we’ve said she can go dancing, so why don’t you go out with her now and again?’ Kathy suggested.
    ‘Go with her to the Stork Club! No thanks! You can cut the atmosphere in there with a knife. It gets so crowded that you can’t breathe let alone dance.’
    ‘Megan’s right. I should never have let you talk me into letting Lynn go there,’ stated Watkin emphatically. ‘It’s a wonder to me that the authorities don’t close the place down.’
    ‘It’s not all that bad,’ retorted Kathy mildly.
    ‘I hear there was practically a riot in the place the other week,’ commented Watkin. ‘I would have thought Lynn could find something better to do with her time than listen to jazz bands playing