“That’s better. Sex, like everything else in life, has its funny side. It’s a mistake to get too serious about it. Do I take it you’re willing to stay and give it another go?”
She nodded.
“Good. And this time we’ll take it very slowly – and extremely gently.”
o0o
Kate’s heart was light as she bounded through the gates of St Mark’s Hospital and took her usual short cut across the grass to The Willows. She couldn’t wait to tell Brenda the good news which the post had brought that morning.
Slipping her key into the lock, she pushed open the door and went down the corridor to her office.
“You seem very bouncy this morning.” Brenda slung a used tea bag into the rubbish bin.
“I feel it. I’ve just heard that I got distinction in my Stage 2 typing exam.”
“Well done!”
Kate detected a slightly forced air in her friend’s congratulations. She looked at her more closely.
“You’re looking awfully pale – are you sure you’re OK?”
Brenda shook her head. “I’ve just been sick for the third time this morning. We went out for an Indian meal last night – I think something must have disagreed with me. It wouldn’t be the first time. I really shouldn’t tempt fate, but I do love a curry.”
“You’ll have to go home if it carries on. You look as if you should be in bed.”
Brenda sighed. “I’d go home now if I could, but I know Tim wants me to get the first draft of the chapter he’s written for a medical textbook finished – it’s due at the publishers in a week or so.”
“Well, do let me know if I can do anything to help – I’m a dab hand with the tea and sympathy.”
Brenda smiled. “Thanks – I’m sure I’ll need some of both before the day is out.”
o0o
Less than an hour later, Kate heard footsteps on the stairs. Tim appeared, looking harassed, followed by a wan-looking Brenda.
“I’m driving Brenda home.” He gave his secretary a sympathetic look, tinged with only a slight degree of exasperation. “She can’t stop being sick – the poor girl needs to be in bed. I should be back in an hour if anyone phones.”
“Fine – I’ll tell them.”
“And congratulations on your typing exam by the way. Brenda tells me that you got distinction.”
“Thanks,” Kate smiled at him. A thought struck her. “Speaking of which, I’ve got this ancient typewriter down here if you’d like me to do some work for you in between phone calls, etc. Brenda said you needed to get the draft chapter for the book done as soon as possible.”
“That would be a great help.” Tim’s expression brightened. “It’s only copy-typing so you won’t need the dictating machine or anything. I’ll just fetch it for you.” He disappeared up the stairs.
“That’s really good of you.” Brenda sank down into a chair. “I should warn you though that, nice though he is, Tim’s a bit of a perfectionist… well, more than a bit actually. I just hope your spelling is better than mine.”
“It is only a draft copy though, isn’t it?” Kate was beginning to regret her rash offer.
Brenda nodded. “It is, but that won’t stop him expecting it to be perfect.”
“I’ll do my best,” Kate assured her. “And I’m sure you’ll be back in a day or two anyway in time to type the final version.”
“I hope she will.” Tim deposited a pile of papers on the table. “It’s my fault really for leaving everything to the last minute, but Indian food is off the menu until the chapter is with the publishers.”
Brenda smiled weakly. “It’s off the menu for at least a year as far as I’m concerned,” she assured him.
o0o
Apart from answering the door to three patients who had come for appointments and fielding a couple of phone calls, Kate was able to plough on with the typing. At four o’clock she had just reached the end of the chapter when Tim appeared, having finished his session in the sports clinic. Gathering up the neatly stacked pile of typing in front of her, she handed it to him.
“You’ve finished it already?” She saw the surprise on his face.
“It’s been a quiet afternoon – I had plenty of time to get on with it.” She smiled at him. “If Brenda’s still off tomorrow I’d be happy to help out again.”
“I’m really grateful.” Tim returned her smile. “We’re more dependent on our secretaries than we like to admit.”
o0o
He appeared the following morning just as Kate had unlocked all the doors in The Willows and tidied the magazines in the waiting room.
“Brenda rang me at home this morning,” he told her. “She’s still being sick so she’s made an appointment to see her GP this afternoon.”
Kate gave him a sympathetic smile. “In that case, I’d be happy to do some more typing for you if you’d like me to.”
Tim thought for a moment. “Have you done any audio-typing before? I’ve just dictated a few letters which I’d like to get off today if at all possible.”
“I haven’t, but I’m sure I could manage if you showed me how the machine works.”
“I’ll fetch it for you. In the meantime, I’d really appreciate a coffee.”
“Of course.” Kate switched on the kettle and spooned some ground coffee into the percolator.
Tim reappeared a few minutes later bearing the dictating machine and a few files. She handed him a mug of coffee which he sniffed appreciatively.
“We only had the instant stuff when Mrs Maybury was here. This makes a welcome change.” He grinned at her and plugged the dictating machine into the nearest socket. “Now these, as you can see, are the headphones, and this is the foot pedal.” He placed it on the floor beneath the table. “You press the right side of the pedal to make the tape go forward, and the left side if you want to go backwards and replay anything.”
Kate nodded. “I’m sure I’ll get the hang of it soon enough.”
“All the information you need – addresses and so forth – you’ll find in the relevant files. If there’s anything you don’t understand, just give me a buzz.” He disappeared back up the stairs and Kate heard his office door slam.
It took her a while to get used to the foot pedal which seemed to have a life of its own. Pressing it too hard sent the tape flying forwards or backwards and it was all too easy to lose her place completely. Answering the telephone without first removing her headphones led to some interesting conversations, but after an hour or so her confidence had increased and she began to enjoy the work. Running in and out of the office to answer the door, making coffee for another two consultants and dealing with the inevitable telephone calls slowed her down a bit, but by a quarter to five she had reached the final file.
“I’ve nearly finished,” she told Tim cheerfully when he stuck his head round the door.
“Brilliant!” He gave her a warm smile. “I’m just off to see John Fielding – I’ll be back to sign the letters shortly.”
o0o
It was nearly six o’clock before the letters were all signed and stamped ready to catch the final post. Kate was surprised and pleased to note that only one of the letters had needed a small correction when she had misspelled a particularly complicated word which she had failed to find in Tim’s medical dictionary.
“Sorry about that,” she murmured as Tim made the slight alteration.
“Don’t be,” he reassured her, “your spelling is remarkably good considering you’ve never done medical work before.”
“I think Latin O level helped a bit,” Kate admitted. “If you know a medical word is likely to start with a ph rather than an f, then you’re halfway there when it comes to looking it up.”
“That’s true enough. I don’t think Brenda ever had any truck with Latin – and spelling has never be
en her strong point anyway. She always had particular difficulty with the word ‘subluxation’. Sub-lactation is her favourite interpretation if I remember rightly. I asked her once how she thought it possible to dislocate a mammary gland, but she didn’t get the joke.”
Kate laughed. “Well, we can’t all be good at everything. I’m sure she made up for her spelling deficiency in other ways.”
Tim nodded. “She’s a very fast typist and she’s good at lending a sympathetic ear to some of my more trying patients. I have noticed though, that since she got married, she isn’t too happy if she has to work late.”
“I suppose that’s natural enough,” Kate said mildly. “I know her husband often has to work late himself so Brenda likes to get the house tidied up and the meal cooked so he can just relax when he gets in.”
“He’s a lucky man – I sometimes wish I had someone to cook me a meal after a long day’s work. Since I don’t – I often end up eating at The Cat and Fiddle down the road, which makes a pleasant enough break I suppose.” He gave her a tentative smile. “I suppose you wouldn’t care to join me this evening – or are you committed to eating at your hostel?”
Kate was taken aback. “Well,” she glanced at her watch. “I’d be cutting it a bit fine now to get back to Harrison House in time for supper, so, yes, I’d be delighted to join you.”
“Good. I’d like to repay you for all your hard work over the past couple of days – I really appreciate it.”
o0o
“Good evening, Dr Beecham – always a pleasure to welcome one of our regular customers.” Don, the barman at The Cat and Fiddle, gave Tim a welcoming grin.
“And may I introduce Kate – a colleague from the hospital who’s been worth her weight in gold to me these past two days.”
“Pleased to meet you, Kate.” Don passed them a couple of leather-bound menus. “And what would you like to drink, miss? I know the good doctor will have his usual pint of bitter.”
“A half of shandy, please.”
Don busied himself with the drinks while they perused the menu.
“I don’t know why I’m bothering to look at it,” Tim said laughing, “I should know it by heart by now.”
“So – will it be the T-bone steak, chips and salad tonight?” Don gave him a quizzical look. “Or will you go for the sea bass?”
“The steak please, Don. And how about you, Kate? You’re welcome to have anything on the menu, but please avoid the curry!”
Kate laughed. “I’ll settle for the salmon steak and salad please.”
“Well chosen if I may say so.” Don reclaimed their menus. “There’s a table for two over by the window if that would suit you.”
o0o
Kate, who had rather lost her bearings during the short but twisting walk from the hospital to the pub, was pleasantly surprised to find they had a superb view over the river.
“How lovely!” She gazed with pleasure out of the window as she sipped her shandy.
“Yes, it’s a restful scene,” Tim agreed. “I love the Thames at any time of day, but there’s something special about watching it as the sun goes down.”
“I love watching the sunset over the River Cockle when I’m down in Devon.” Kate felt her eyes grow misty. She’d be back there soon – at Easter – and hoped against hope that Jo’s assurance that Aidan was simply not her type – would turn out to be true. And, if it was true, then she, Kate, might still have a chance – however slight – of winning him over.
“A penny for them.” Tim broke into her reverie.
“Sorry – I was miles away.” She felt her cheeks grow warm and was thankful when Don distracted him by arriving with their food.”
o0o
They ate in silence for a while, enjoying the simple pleasure of well-cooked food to eat and a pleasant view to enjoy.
“I’m so glad you invited me to join you here tonight.” Kate smiled at Tim. “I felt like celebrating my typing exam result in some way, but my friends were busy, and I didn’t want to celebrate alone.”
“Actually,” Tim laid down his knife and fork, “I’m hoping you’ll have another reason to celebrate before the evening’s over.”
Kate looked at him in surprise.
“I had a phone call from Brenda this afternoon. She’d just got home after seeing her GP.”
“And was her sickness down to the Indian meal?”
Tim shook his head. “The curry, on this occasion, was entirely blameless. Brenda’s pregnant.”
Kate gasped. “And she had no idea?”
“Not a clue. She and her husband had been taking precautions – they didn’t want to start a family until they managed to buy a house.”
“That’s what I thought.” Kate sighed. “It must have come as quite a shock to them both.”
“It has indeed. And what you may not know is that Brenda had a miscarriage last year, which gives her even more cause for concern this time round. In fact…” Tim paused, his eyes on her face, “she’s decided to take her GP’s advice and give up work for the duration of the pregnancy – to give herself the best chance of everything going to plan.”
Kate nodded. “Certainly her train journey to work and back home again sounded stressful enough, what with trains constantly being cancelled and often being too crowded to be able to get a seat.”
“Exactly.”
“So is she not coming back to work at all?”
Tim shook his head. “She did offer to come in until I had managed to find a replacement, but I didn’t want to be responsible for any possible mishap with her pregnancy.”
Kate gave him a cheeky grin. “So that’s why you’ve brought me here this evening! You’d like me to carry on doing your work while you advertise for another secretary.”
Tim returned her smile. “Why would I need to advertise at all when I’ve already found an ideal secretary?”
It took Kate a moment or two to work out what he meant. “But I’m not a proper secretary…”
“An improper one will do me fine for the time being!” he assured her with a grin.
Kate blushed. “What I mean is that I don’t do shorthand and I have absolutely no experience of medical work at all.”
“I know exactly what you meant, Kate, I was only teasing you. But look at it from my point of view… I always use a dictating machine, so I don’t need someone with shorthand, and for someone who has never worked as a secretary before you’ve done an amazing job these past two days. You’ve got through all the work I’ve given you, your spelling is excellent, and you’ve done it all with a smile on your face. And besides all that, you make the best coffee I’ve ever had at The Willows and you’re easy to get on with. I’d be stupid to look elsewhere, don’t you agree?”
“But what about your accounts and all the other things I’d have to do? I haven’t got any experience of them either.”
“It’s simple bookkeeping, Kate. I have a qualified accountant who sorts out all the tax and everything. I’ll get her to show you how to keep the books up to date. You’re an intelligent woman – you could do it standing on your head.” He gave her an encouraging look. “So, Kate – how about it? Are you willing to give it a try? Carpe diem, etc.”
“Seize the day!” she murmured. She thought quickly, remembering her mother’s oft repeated aphorism that opportunity never knocked twice at the same door. “I’d have to have a word with John Fielding… he’s not going to be too pleased when I’ve not long taken the job as receptionist.”
“On the contrary – when I went to see him this afternoon he was delighted that I was offering you the job. And, if you accept my offer, he’s willing to employ a temp as receptionist at The Willows for the next three months, just in case you find you don’t like working for me and want your old job back.”
Kate looked at him speechlessly. H
e seemed to have thought of everything and, she had to admit, she really had nothing to lose.
“I also asked him what you earned as receptionist.” Tim took a swig of beer. “And I’m happy to tell you that if I give you the same salary as I’ve been giving Brenda you’ll be earning exactly double what you are now – and with the same holidays.”
Kate was stunned. “I’d be stupid to turn your offer down then, wouldn’t I?”
“I’ll take that as a ‘yes’ then.” He rose to his feet. “Perhaps we could celebrate with a glass of champagne.” He headed towards the bar.
Kate gazed out across the river, amazed at the sudden upturn in her good fortune. Many women, she was well aware, only became medical secretaries after completing a lengthy training. And here she was, walking into a prestigious job as a consultant’s private secretary with no experience whatsoever. Good luck didn’t begin to describe it.
“Here’s to your new job, Kate.” Tim handed her a glass of champagne. “May it be everything you hope for.”
“And may you never live to regret your generous offer!” Kate gave him a rueful smile. “I promise I’ll give it my best shot, but I’m bound to make some pretty elementary mistakes along the way.”
“I can live with that,” Tim reassured her as they clinked glasses.
A sudden thought struck her. “There’s just one thing,” she hesitated for a moment. “I’m supposed to be going down to Devon for Easter with some friends – we were going to stay for the whole of Easter week.”
“Mmm, I’m afraid that might be a bit of a problem.” Tim put down his glass. “In the normal course of events, of course, that would be fine. But the chapter I’ve written for the medical textbook will be needing any final alterations done around that time – and I don’t want to create any problems for the publishers by delaying.”
“Of course not,” Kate murmured.
Tim thought for a moment. “If I was happy for you to have the day after Easter Monday off as well, would you be willing to drive back to London on the Wednesday and come back to work on the Thursday, rather than staying till the following Sunday?”
Onwards Flows the River Page 20