Later that evening as Henrietta sat watching TV with another conciliatory glass of wine in her hand, she received a perfectly timed phone call from Terry who asked after her health and welfare. She was still shaken and distressed by the theft and wanted to talk about it and vent her anger to someone, in English, and was pleasantly surprised to hear such compassion from the reformed man who listened attentively to every word and acknowledged her fears. As Henrietta did not own a computer, he offered to inform her bank of the theft so that they could immediately cancel her cards and he even offered to purchase the flights she required to return to the UK for the Christmas holiday and offered to collect her and Oscar from the Airport.
All he wanted her to do in return was to represent him, as his wealthy fiancée, at a meeting with a local bank manager in a nearby hotel. He explained that she would be collected by a contact of his named Ted who lived in Marbella and knew the aforementioned bank manager. Terry explained that Henrietta literally had to sit and look pretty in her finery, as all the information necessary for his proposed mortgage application was already in the possession of the bank manager, or would be once Ted had met with him. Henrietta was horrified that he was pushing ahead so quickly with his plans and although he seemed to have turned over a new leaf, she did not want to spend her life with him as he proposed. She refused to go on his errand but he gave her an ultimatum which left her speechless and with no alternative. He made it clear that if she did not do exactly as he asked, he would arrange for a man he knew to break into her mother’s home, armed with a hammer. He said the man had already checked out the security at the farm and would ‘go back to do the old lady in’. She cut Terry off and immediately called her mother.
After a subtle yet spurious conversation in which Grandma complained about feeling vulnerable and lonely, she told Henrietta that she had been frightened by the recent actions a couple of men in a black four wheel drive vehicle who had driven into the yard at night and revved the engine and caught her in the main beam of their headlights. Hetty comforted her mother but was worried that Terry’s threat might be a genuine one. When he phoned again she did not chance her mother’s safety and gave in to his request.
December 14th 2006.
Terry had given precise instructions about the time and place to be collected by Ted but she felt anxious as she waited in the Kempinski Hotel car park and was startled when someone tapped on the glass. The smartly dressed, middle aged man smiled at her and gestured for her to lower the window slightly.
“Hello. Henrietta?”
“Yes, who are you?”
“I’m Ted. Terry has asked me to introduce you to an associate of mine inside the hotel bar.”
“Who is he and what does he want from me?”
“Nothing, don’t worry, he’s a very nice man who helps people like Terry who wish to buy a home and move their assets over here. He is a bank manager. Please step out of the car and I’ll take you to meet him.”
“Will you be in this meeting?”
“Yes of course. It’s just an informal introduction, as Terry cannot be here himself.”
They walked through the revolving doors of the hotel and into the cavernous double height foyer. Ted guided her towards a much younger man in an open necked crisp white shirt and grey flannel suit. The men shook hands and greeted one another warmly and Ted introduced Henrietta to Robin as head of banking on the Costa del Sol for large multi-national bank. This description seemed instantly unlikely to Henrietta as he was a slight and unassuming man in his early thirties who had no business card to offer her, his note pad was blank and he had no pen or other item bearing his bank logo. She was not sure what purpose this meeting was meant to serve but she was certain that the man named Robin was NOT a bank manager. She drew the conclusion that the whole charade was to see if she would act upon Terry’s commands when threatened. These guys were stooges employed to establish how amenable she could be when her strings were pulled hard enough. She decided to play them at their own game, held her head high, showed no fear and accepted the coffee offered to her and watched Ted slide a stuffed white A4 envelope across the table towards Robin who opened it carefully and peeped inside.
“It’s all there, everything you asked for.” Said Ted
Henrietta sat and listened to the two men chat over coffee and was polite when addressed and replied with platitudes like; ‘of course’ or ‘I couldn’t say’ or ‘you would need to check that with Terry, I don’t know’ to every question it seemed she should answer but was also relieved to say ‘goodbye’ to them half an hour later when suddenly it seemed the meeting was over. Ted returned Hetty to her car but said no more than it having been a pleasure to have met her.
She drove away to a more familiar little café where she ordered herself a coffee and tried unsuccessfully to comprehend the morning’s strange events. Her phone rang:
“Hiya, Ted told me you were polite to Robin. Good girl.”
“What’s all this bollocks about and who was that guy?”
Terry giggled like a school girl. “It’s better you don’t know. It’s better for me, it’s better for you and it’s better for your mum. That is all you need to know.”
“Why are you behaving like a crackpot? Who are you dealing with and what the hell are you up to? Surely you can’t be serious about hurting my Mother?”
“Of course not! The old dear, bless her. What on earth do you take me for? Your trouble is that you have got such a vivid imagination. However, on a serious note; I’m selling my business, I’ve had it valued at more than a million and I’m going to be banking it all in Spain away from the clutches of the ex-wife and then I’ll move to Spain. Ted has introduced me to some very useful contacts, I’ll be fine. You’ll want to be with me!”
“Will you be paying back the money you owe?”
“You can be so damned materialistic. It’s a real turn off you know.”
“You would never leave your kids.”
“I won’t have to. When I’ve made it big they’ll want to be with me not their pathetic, looser mother. I think I might enquire about enrolling them at Oscar’s school. Bye darling!”
She put the phone in her bag, drank her coffee, nibbled the complimentary biscuit, admitted defeat and went home. Once inside, she phoned her removal man for a verbal quote to take her belongings back home, then over the next few days she made sure that everything except their clothes and basics was boxed or wrapped in bobble wrap and ready to be collected at a later date, once the house was sold.
December 20th 2006.
Terry was waiting at airport arrivals with a huge smile on his face and a large bouquet of roses in his arms. He greeted Hetty and Oscar warmly then helped carry their luggage to his waiting car. He filled the journey with questions about Oscar’s new school and his friends and their life in the sun. As he approached the appropriate motorway junction, he explained that he would relieve his new part-time shop assistant and then close early to drive them to the farm where Grandma still resided. He parked in his reserved space at the rear of the commercial building and handed Oscar a ten pound note to go and buy chocolate and sweets.
Terry cashed up swiftly and asked Henrietta to walk with him to his bank as it was such a pleasant afternoon by English standards. Henrietta paused on the steps of the bank to wait and wrapped her pashmina around her throat but Terry insisted she accompany him into the building rather than shiver outside. Terry spoke to the teller behind the glass screen and Henrietta overheard some of the conversation as the woman processed his cloth bag full of shop takings and told Terry that someone from the manager’s office would come for him. As he moved away from the counter his phone rang:
“Damn, I must take this, it’s important, it’s the agent selling my business and I’ve been waiting all day for his call.” He thrust a large white envelope into Henrietta’s arms and asked that she pass it on to the manager’s assistant, then rushed outside to speak in relative privacy.
A smart woman unlocked d
oor beside the run of counters and scanned the foyer for Mr Newman. Henrietta stepped forward and explained where he had gone and duly handed the envelope over as requested and the uniformed woman asked her to wait. When she re-appeared, she handed the envelope back to Hetty but asked for proof of her own identity. Henrietta had her passport in her handbag and showed it to the woman who took it to photocopy, then returned and seemed satisfied.
Henrietta could not find Terry on the street outside, so sauntered back to his shop where he was waiting with Oscar to take them home. She thought no more about Terry’s banking and returned the envelope to him without peeping inside. They could not wait to see grandma, they were home!
Terry subsequently phoned to suggest a night out and the opportunity to discuss his future plans which included relinquishing his debt to her. He picked her up from Grandma’s barn on New Year’s Eve and took her to a restaurant in the city where he told her the fine details of his plan to sell his business and move to Spain. He spoke softly and repeated his proposal of marriage but Henrietta was politely resolute that their financial issues had to be resolved first.
A fellow diner came over to their table and wished them the ‘compliments of the season’ and shook hands with Terry and smiled warmly at Henrietta.
“Good evening David please let me introduce you to my fiancée Henrietta. She is the reason for my business and house sale as she is living in Spain now and I can’t live without her.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you Henrietta. Be assured that I will do all I can to ensure a quick sale after the Christmas break. Nice tan by the way.”
“David, are you still happy to market the business at £1.4 million?”
“From the details you have sent to me, I can’t see why not. I will call you next week.”
After he had walked away, Henrietta enquired:
“Who’s he? He looks rather familiar.”
“He’s the agent from the big estate agency in Market Square who’s valued my business at one point four million pounds. Isn’t it brilliant? I’m thrilled. This is it, this is the life changer!” At last Terry believed he had a chance to be valued as a business man and a provider, whilst Henrietta surreptitiously believed she could extricate herself from him and also recover her money. She smiled and raised her glass but disguised her true thoughts and deliberately misled him into thinking that they might all live happily ever after.
Five days later Terry phoned again and said that having spoken to David he had a more immediate financial proposal to put to her and asked if he could take her for a drink. Henrietta was pleased that Terry was taking his responsibilities more seriously and willingly jumped into his car when he arrived in the driveway, despite her mother’s misgivings. He drove past the two nearby country pubs and took her directly to the market town where they had first met and parked his car at the rear of his shop. He said he did not want a drink until he had resolved his proposition with her privately. He escorted her inside the steel back door, turned the alarm off and led her through the shop in the semi darkness, illuminated only slightly by the street lights which peeped through the cracks of the roller shutters. He said that he did not want to turn the lights on in case someone thought he was being burgled and called the police.
“Henrietta, I think David might have found a buyer already, it is fantastic news! The man is coming with his wife all the way from Surrey to view next week. I want to do the right thing; I want to marry you and live with you and live the happily ever after thing but you keep putting this financial hurdle in the way, surely you can see I’m trying my best but I also need to pay all the bills and pay maintenance to the ex or I won’t get to see the kids. I need to see my kids but I can’t survive without your help. Please help me. It has taken so much planning and cog-oiling and thinking outside of the fucking box, you have no idea. I can’t go under as there is so much at stake this time. I can’t and I won’t!” He pulled a resolute and stern face. “Will you see this deal through with me? Will you stand by me? Can we be a team again? I promise you will reap the rewards with me. Or lose everything.”
“I can’t keep you afloat all the time. If the business is good, it will sell. I’m just shocked it is worth so much. I can’t see how.”
“Women don’t understand business, you’re no different. Are you saying you don’t want to help me or be with me? Your fucking bank balance means more to you than our family.” He was exasperated by Henrietta’s stance.
“Surely you can give me a bit more time?”
“Why have you brought me here?”
He ignored her question and asked if she had collected her ‘replacement plastic’ from the bank. She thanked him for his help and said she had. She also told him that several relatively small withdrawals were made at ATM machines in Spain and a few larger ones taken from her account simultaneously in the UK, but the bank had offered to cover all of the fraudulent UK withdrawals, as it was proven that she was in Spain and had insurance.
“So you’re ok? You aren’t accusing me are you Hetty?” Something she hadn’t considered but the logic of it could be seen passing through her mind.
His demeanour changed as he grasped the golf club he kept at work ‘for protection’ and began to swing it deftly around Hetty’s head, stopping just millimetres from her ear.
“What are you doing you idiot, you could hurt me with that thing!”
“I don’t want to but I have no choice unless you put your credit card in there. I must keep this place going until the bloke signs on the dotted line. My back is so close to the wall, I’ve got fucking blisters on my arse! When I sell this; I’m rich, can pay you and everyone else off and I’m out of here and can go and play golf in the sun instead of this miserable, damp, depressing hole! I play off 4 now you know.” He shoved the electronic payment machine towards her across the glass counter top.
“I don’t understand. What do you expect me to do?” She said calmly and bravely.
“I want your new credit card in there now!” He yelled and appeared to dribble slightly as he resumed swinging the golf club so close that she could hear and feel the swishes of air. She slowly and gingerly opened her handbag and felt for her purse without daring to move her head until he raised the club away from face long enough for her to find her card.
“Pin number please!” He demanded and grimaced menacingly. She looked away from his deranged expression and did as she was instructed, the machine whirred and spewed a receipt which he tore off and stuffed in his pocket.
“You are frightening me, you mad bastard. You have gone totally berserk! How much have I spent and what do I have to show for it?”
“Don’t be rude, I’m under a lot of pressure. Let’s stay friends and just call it six thousand pounds worth of air time and some breathing space for me, thank you very much.”
He grabbed her by the elbow and hurriedly guided her out of the dark shop as she continued to protest. She could see the local Police station across the car park and wanted to make a dash for it but he kept a firm grip on her arm. She chose to say nothing as he drove her straight back to the farm, leaned over, pulled her door latch and ordered her to get out. Grandma and Oscar were curled up watching TV and surprised to see Hetty back so soon. Grandma sighed and gave her a disapproving look and Hetty was too upset to do anything other than go straight to bed and lay alone in the darkness.
Henrietta was forced to accept how vulnerable she had become and realised she could not face returning to the loneliness and personal insecurity of Spain, so immediately applied for a place at Oscar’s old school for him to resume his education and in the hope that they could stay with Grandma. After and urgent appeal to the governors of the school board Oscar was awarded a place in his old class with his old friends but both Henrietta and Grandma became increasingly troubled as they watched Oscar fall deeper and deeper into a non-communicative depression which culminated in laying on the sofa and refusing to talk or eat. Henrietta asked what she could do to make her son happy again an
d managed to coax a reply in which he explained how much of the UK curriculum he had missed and how much he was struggling to cope. He said how much he loved his Spanish school and missed his new friends whilst she explained as best as she could, that she could not bear to be in Spain.
They struck a deal that Oscar would ‘full-board’ and only see his Mother during school holidays and she phoned the school with a heavy heart and made the necessary arrangements.
A couple of days later Henrietta phoned Barclays bank and asked which branch Mr Lewin managed as she wished to speak to him about her currency deposit, but it seemed as though they were all idiots. She put pen to paper again and wrote to him, giving Grandmas address and asking him to transfer the balance back to her Lloyds bank account. She then took Oscar back to Spain to resume the spring term and after a couple of days grace in their Spanish house whilst she made the legal arrangements with her solicitor Francesca and made sure Oscar was happy, she flew home and began to search for a new English home.
March 2007.
Henrietta had helped her mother move into a new home and had rented a flat of her own whilst she hunted for a suitable property to buy and waited for Terry to sell his business and return her money. She called her financial advisor and asked him for an alternative phone number for Mr Lewin at the international currency exchange, as the number she had was now unobtainable but she needed her un-converted cash returning. Aiden gave her a preferential mobile number and suggested she mention his name when Mr Lewin answered. He also crossed his fingers as he lied and assured her he no longer had any form of communication with Terry since they had argued over financial irregularities in the phone shop accounts. She told him of her need to recover money from Terry to enable her proceed with a proposed house purchase, as her Spanish property had not yet sold. Aiden advised that recovering money from Terry could take longer than she could reasonably wait and he suggested a mortgage without penalties, so that as soon as Terry did finally repaid his debt, she could immediately redeem the loan. He expanded his thinking by convincing her that since he had caused her such angst and expense by his error on the farm mortgage, he wanted to make amends. Therefore, as he already had all the details needed to apply for and obtain a quick mortgage on her behalf, he begged her not to use her own bank as she intended. Henrietta capitulated and allowed him to ameliorate his previous negligence, whilst also knowing that he would earn commission on her application.
The Unsuspecting Housewife Page 8