A Midsummer Night's Dream or A Dream of an App.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream or The Dream of an App. 

He stalks off, hands in his pockets.

  “Oren, for God’s sake, come back. Let’s talk about this.” He ignores me, striding towards one of the beer tents. 

Oh, well, let him. I’ve got enough to do. I check through the list on my phone. “Damn! I haven’t seen all the bands yet” 

You going mad? Talking to yourself out loud?  Shaking my head, I allow myself a small smile as the girls setting up the burger wagon, wave to me. 

  “Save one for me won’t you?”  I wave back, as I pass by. 

  “Every time Tia.” 

            The morning begins to sizzle. The ground is dry and hard, unlike last year, where we were nearly flooded out, and the festival almost cancelled. Thank goodness we held it together. This year, everything’s looking great. 

   “Hi T. Come over here, I’ve something to show you.” Wiz, Oren’s son -  influencer, DJ and app developer, waves his phone in front of me.  He pulls me down to sit on one of the benches close to a picnic area.

  “ What is it Wiz? I’m really busy.” 

  “You’re going to love it. Look”

The phone’s screen shows a red, beating heart. ‘THE ATTRACTION APP’ ‘Find your perfect partner.” I frown. “ Hasn’t that been done before?” 

He gives me a shove. “Not like this and don’t be such a cynic. It works. I’ve tried it on Jennie, Molls, Paddy and Ian. They loved it. Said it ‘put them in the mood for lurve’.”

I glance over to where Oren is in deep discussion with one of the other organisers.

  “You and Dad ok?” Wiz says.

I shrug. “Not really. He’s just stormed off.”

  “Give me your phone. Come on.” 

I watch as he installs the heart shaped app onto my phone. “ There you go. Next time he’s anywhere around, just activate it. The app will do the rest, and you’ll be back , kissing and cuddling and …” 

  “Wiz! That’s enough, thank you.” 

  “You can thank me later,” he says. And wanders off towards the burger van.

            I sigh, take a swig of water, and notice two young people pouring over their phones. 

  “It’s very pretty,” she says. The boy next to her grins. “It’s supposed to put you in a ‘good’ mood, understand?” 

  “Liam. Is that all you ever think about?” 

  “No, Mia. All I ever think about is you.” He wraps his arms around her and gives her a huge kiss. 

  “MMM” he says. “You taste so good. You know I love you Mia, don’t you?”

  “ And I love you too, but my dad will go ape if he sees us,” she says.

  “I’m not afraid of him. I’ll tell him I love you and he can’t keep us apart. Why does your dad hate me so much anyway? ” 

  “I don’t know. The only boy he’s ever agreed  I could see was Derry, and that was ages ago. But really, Liam, if he sees you, the shit will hit the fan. I mean it.” 

  “Better make sure he doesn’t see us then.” He drags her off towards another smaller stage, decorated with yellow flags, where it looks as though he’s trying to eat her face.

  Am I getting old? Feels like that sometimes. Wonder where Oren is? 

            I spend the next hour checking in with the groups who will be performing tonight. They all seem pretty chilled. Lots of beer cans stacked up in their caravans and tents, but no one is drunk, and everyone is gearing up for tonight. I wander outside and find myself next to an ice-cream van. Two youngsters stare at each other, arms folded, heads tilted, eyes locked, like two stags ready to do battle. 

  “Derry please. I only want to talk to you.” 

  “Get lost Emma. I told you. It’s over” 

  “Just because you think you want to be with Mia. You know she’s all over Liam. You don’t have a chance. It was only the other week you said you wanted to be with me forever.” 

  “That was then. This is now. And now, I don’t want to be anywhere near you.”

  “She won’t want you. Not when she’s got Liam. I know. She’s my friend.”

He pushes his face close to hers. “Well, you don’t have a chance with me either. Take a hike, Emma. I won’t be so nice next time.” He shoves her out of his way and strides off towards the small tent with yellow flags. I watch as Emma stares at the screen of her phone. The large red heart pulsates. 

            As I walk towards one of the many refreshment tents, the app Wiz installed on my phone starts to make noises. First it  beeps, then it buzzes and finally it hums. The only way to turn the sound off appears to be by opening the app and answering some of its questions. Once done, the heart continues to pulsate, but at least it’s quiet. 

            At the far end of the field, a couple of suited, business men stare around at the various stages, tents and stalls. They appear completely lost.

  “Can I help you gentlemen?” I say. 

The man in the front, a wide, tree trunk of a man, steps forward. 

  “We’re looking for Tiana Faywood,” his says. His voice harsh and brittle, reminds me of the bray of a donkey.

  “That’s me. How can I help you?” 

He spends the next twenty minutes explaining about fabrics, textiles and designs. Something to do with next year’s festival decorations and potential costumes. 

  “I’m sorry Mr ?”

  “Weaverton, Nicholas Weaverton. You can call me Nick.”

  “Mr Weaverton, while I appreciate you’re coming  out here to speak to me, today is really hectic, and I don’t have the time to even think about next year, let alone discuss fabrics.”

  “Well, I’m sorry we came at a bad time.” 

  “Yes, call the office and we’ll set up a meeting.” I extend my hand, which he takes and gently moves up and down. 

The scent of something I can’t quite place wafts around me. I look at him, seeing rainbows, smelling flowers and tasting strawberries. His long, horse - like nose now seems regal and the heavy-set chin, simply rugged. I hang onto his hand. 

  “What did you say your name was?” 

He stares at me. “Nick, just call me Nick.” 

I don’t move. I can’t take my eyes from his. I flick my hair over one shoulder, blinking several times.  What the hell is this man doing to me? The only person who makes me feel like this is Oren.

  “Could I… I mean, can I buy you a drink? I know it’s early, but …” he says. 

  “Yes. Yes, over here. Let’s have a drink, several drinks.” 

I drag him towards an isolated tent with champagne flutes and bottles stacked to one side. I lower the exit flap. Now, it’s just him and me. The raised voices stop me from behaving in a very unseemly manner. At least for now. 

  “You don’t understand Mia.”

  “Yes I do. I saw you staring at Emma. You said you loved me Liam. You were willing to take on my father. Now, you can’t even look at me.” 

  “I guess, well, I suppose I thought about what you said. About your dad ‘n all.” 

  “You didn’t care before, did you?”

He hangs his head, shifting his weight from foot to foot. 

  “I’m sorry.” 

She sits down on one of the benches and sniffs. She begins to wail.

  “I really am sorry Mia. Look I’ve got to go.” He marches off towards the ice -cream van, where Emma sits sobbing. Mia watches every step he takes. She wipes her eyes. A dark frown crosses over her face. 

            I turn back to Nick, and find his fingers caressing my neck. It’s heaven sent.

But more voices interrupt our quiet moment. 

In front of the tent, Liam pushes Derry with both hands, knocking him over. He pulls Emma towards him and tries to lead her away. Mia gets in the way. Shorter than Emma by a head, she stumbles and sprawls in the dirt. Derry begins to laugh. Mia turns on Emma. 

  “This is your fault. You bloody witch. What have you done to Liam? He’s always loved me. Now suddenly he’s dumped me for you. What have you done to him?” 

  “Me? me? I haven’t done anything, you stupid cow. Maybe he got bored with all your whining about your dad and how controlling he is. Or maybe he just got fed up with you.” 

Mia throws herself towards the taller girl.

  “Get her off me. She’s like some bloody little gecko,” says Emma. 

  “Don’t you dare call me a lizard! Just because I’m not a sodding beanpole.” 

Liam pulls Mia away from her and dumps her, like some garden refuse, onto the ground.   “Emma are you OK? Has she hurt you? If she has I’ll kill her,” says Derry. 

Emma stares at him. “Not five minutes ago you were telling me to get lost. You even threatened me. What you trying to pull Derry?” 

Liam jumps forward. “Come on then Derrick . You and Me.” 

Derry, at least a good head and shoulders taller than Liam, pushes him away. 

  “Get lost Liam. I’m not going to waste my energy fighting you. Emma loves me anyway, she always has.”

  “Not anymore,” Liam says. 

Their voices continue to howl and rage like wounded animals. I turn back to Nick, whose eyes keep moving down towards my chest. I run my hands through his hair. It’s thick and grey, a little thin on top, but who cares. His kiss tastes of peppermint. I undo his shirt button, yank off his tie. He throws his jacket onto a sack. I smooth the fabric down, pull a few more old bags together until the result reminds me of some sort of  bed. I lie down, pulling him on top of me.  

  “Tia, what the hell are you doing?” 

I look up, leaving  Nick sprawled on the bags, and see Oren glowering at me. I rub my hand across my mouth, still tasting that peppermint freshness. Nick’s face is a bright tomato red. I glare at Oren. 

  “What did it look like Oren? You’re the one who marched off earlier. You’re always stuck in some sort of filthy mood. Why shouldn’t I have some fun? Nick didn’t mind, did you?” 

Nick scrambles to his feet and tries to put on his jacket. 

  “I don’t want any trouble. Probably best I leave you to sort things out.” 

  “No.” 

I jump to my feet and block his way to the exit. Oren yanks me to one side. 

  “Tia, what’s going on? I know we had a bit of a row, so what’s new? But this? with him? This isn’t you.” 

            A whining sound comes from my phone. I sink to my knees and rummage in my bag trying to find it. When I do, the app is pulsating, the heart beating on the screen as if it will explode. The whole thing is going mad. Oren grabs it. 

  “This? Is this Wiz’s app? What he calls ‘The Attraction App?’”

  “Yes. He installed it. Said it would bring us together,” I say.

  “More likely to drive us apart. It’s malfunctioning Tia. Can’t you see that? It shouldn’t be making that noise, or be spiking like that.”

Nick takes a step towards the exit. “I’ll, I’ll be going then. The others will wonder where I am.” He gives a kind of laugh, something between a donkey’s bray and a gibbon’s mating call. It irritates me.

            I kneel down, gathering up the sacks, destroying the makeshift mattress or would be love nest. My face burns. Oren pulls me to my feet, brushes the hair away from my face and kisses me. It’s a gentle kiss. A kiss that says ‘I’m sorry’ and ‘I love you’ all at the same time.

  “I have no idea what happened to me. I’m so sorry Oren. If you hate me I’ll understand.” 

He chuckles. “I think this app of Wiz, has a lot to answer for. Have you seen the kids outside?”

            We pull up the flap, and the argument between Emma, Derry, Liam and Mia, has escalated into a full blown fight. The two girls pull at each other’s hair while the boys scramble around in the dirt, flinging punches at each other. It’s only when Mia tries to drag her long, red, finger nails down Emma’s face, that Oren steps in. He pulls Mia off  dumping her onto the bench near the ice cream van. Emma, her face streaked with dirt and with clenched fists hanging by her sides, glares at him. I hold her arms, keeping her away from Mia. Oren dives in between the two boys and hauls them apart. 

  “Enough,” he says holding  them by their collars. He points to their mobile phones, discarded on the grass. 

  “Delete that app,” he says. 

The two boys look at him as if he’s mad. 

  “Now. Get rid of it.”

They punch at the app, trying to remove it from their screens. Nothing  happens. Oren makes a very quick phone call. Almost immediately, Wiz strolls round the corner. 

   “You wanted me Dad? 

  “Get rid of that bloody app. It’s malfunctioning and driving people crazy.” 

   “It’s just a few teething problems,” Wiz says. 

I step towards him, getting as close as I dare without smacking him.

  “Your father and I nearly split up because of that stupid thing. Now, sort it out, get it off these phones, and try experimenting with something other than people’s emotions. Oh, and apologise to these kids here. You’ve caused them a lot of trouble. ” 

            His face floods with a bright red glow. “Sorry.” He mumbles the words into the phones as he eliminates the app, allowing them to return to normal. 

            Liam takes Mia in his arms, spluttering some apology, and how he didn’t mean any of it. But Derry and Emma just stand staring at each other. She tries to smile, blinks several times and then looks away from him. Derry crosses to her. Standing in front of her, he pulls her face up with a gentle finger and wipes a smudge of dirt from her face. 

  “Em, how could I not see it before? You’re beautiful.” He kisses her, long, close, his arms pulling her tight to him. 

            Wiz taps my arm. “See, I did some good didn’t I?” His impish smile is infectious.

I shake my head, trying not to laugh. Oren’s hand snakes around my waist and his fingers find a spot of exposed skin. I make a tiny gasp. His lips find my ear. “later,” he says. 

            The festival kicks off with fireworks, drones, screams of excitement and pulsating music on every stage. The stars compete with the light show as golden flares,  silver streams and dancing rainbows soar across the sky. Liam, Mia, Derry and Emma stand, arms wrapped around each other, chatting and laughing. They dance along with the thousands of others as the headline act mesmerises us all with her songs, moves and energy. We watch from the side of the stage. 

            Oren pulls me close. “Another successful one, Tia. You pleased?” 

I nod. “It’s always a relief when the first night goes well. Only two more to go.”

He bends down and kisses me. It tastes of summer, wine and excitement.

Wiz sidles up to us. 

  “Had a thought,” he says. 

  “Next time, I’m going to design an app to organise the beer tents. Something to make sure they don’t run out. An alarm system if they get too low. What d’you think?”

  “ No,” we say.