‘Yes, of course,’ said Patricia, so Barry picked up the receiver and dialled his number. The ringing sound was continuous so Barry thought that she must be out.
‘I’ll ring her later. She’s out, now.’ he tried over and over again, that evening and, finally, at ten o’clock, Shu answered.
‘And where have you been? I’ve tried to get you all evening,’ said Barry, partially annoyed that his wife should be out all evening.
‘One of my managers took me out to a concert for the evening. Why, what’s the matter?’ Shu had found a job at a Japanese bank in the city and was attracting lots of admirers.
‘It’s my grandmother. She’s had a heart attack, a bad one, and she’s dead.’
‘I am sorry,’ said Shu, with genuine feeling in her voice. ‘When did it happen?’
‘This morning. We have now got to decide what to do with my grandfather.’
‘Will he come and live with you?’
‘Maybe, I’m not sure because it’s hilly around here, we have steep stairs and it would mean my mother would have to stop work to look after him.’
‘Oh, I see. Well, will you tell me when the funeral is? I would like to come.’
‘Yes, of course. I’d better go now, but I’ll be in touch.’ Barry hung up with one thought on his mind - she went out with another man - already!
The next week, in between making plans for the funeral and generally helping out, Barry was jealously thinking about Shu and how she was really now free to go with whom she pleased. They were not thoughts that he liked and, in the end, he decided that he had to go back, if she’d take him.
‘Shu,’ he said over the telephone. ‘I think I have sorted myself out and I would like to give it another go. How do you feel?’
‘Yes, you can come back, but only if you’re serious,’ she said, sensibly wanting some commitment from Barry.
‘I know where I went wrong, now, so I want to come back after the cremation.’
‘We’ll try once more, then,’ said Shu, happy that her husband was coming home and glad to be finishing the lonely nights which she hated.
The cremation went quite smoothly but Barry’s grandfather seemed to give up all hope after his wife passed away. Barry could always remember him vowing to live until he was one hundred years old and tried to remind him of this but to no avail. He became ill and had to be put in a hospice, close to his old home. It was there that he ended his days and although it made everyone very sad, it had been expected for about a month, so his death was easier to cope with.
By now Barry was back with Shu and they decided to move to a new house. Barry had got his new job and the bank Shu worked for gave generous mortgage relief to any worker who needed it. It certainly made Shu’s wage much larger than Barry’s! They wanted - or mainly Barry wanted - to move nearer the City and so they were looking at houses around Barry’s old home, where his mother still lived.
Their budget was still too small for the majority of houses in the area that they liked, so they first went to see a terraced, three-bedroomed house on the outskirts of the City. It was too small, too near a busy main road and they didn’t really want neighbours on both sides.
One day, a letter from an estate agent fell on to the doormat.
‘Another set of details about houses!’ said Barry. Shu was not very interested. Barry had a quick look at the details.
‘Hey, look at this one! A three-bedroomed semi, close to town. It hasn’t got a garage but is at a very reasonable price.’
‘But, is it near the railway station?’ asked Shu.
‘I’ll phone up and ask.’
Barry got all the details of the property and they decided to go to see it the same day, as it was a Saturday. They arrived before the estate agent and had a look around the front of the house. No one was living there so they peered through the windows.
‘It looks a bit dreary,’ said Barry, looking at the pebble-dashed exterior of the house, which had never been painted and was dirty, whereas the house next door had recently been painted white. There was a piece of wood missing from the pattern on the walls, making it look worse, but at least the window frames had been painted, even if they were a nasty yellow colour.
The estate agent turned up and showed them around the house. She tried to make them forget about the front and back garden which were in a terrible state and would take years of work to put right. The only room that had been decorated was the living room, which was quite nice but every other room needed decorating, badly. Barry could see this but he was only interested in the structure of the house and the layout. He liked the separate dining and living rooms because of savings possible in the winter when heating one small room and not a large combined one. The kitchen was narrow and had a larder, reducing the length, but Barry could remove that easily. The two flights of stairs turned back on themselves which appealed to Barry, and the two larger bedrooms were a good size. The third was just a box room but there was a separate toilet which would be useful.
They were standing at the top of the stairs, looking at the stained glass in the hall window.
‘Now I love that window,’ said the estate agent, ‘Such a beautiful pattern!’
‘I would have it changed,’ said Barry. ‘You can’t see out of it. And can you tell me what is in the loft?’
The loft entrance was six feet long and three feet wide and Barry had never seen the like before but there was no way of looking in the loft because the house had no furniture to stand on.
‘I’m sorry, I can’t,’ said the estate agent. ‘Maybe it’s something to do with an extension.’ There were four houses in the same style in the road and one had a dormer window sticking out of the roof.
Barry and Shu had one last look around and said that they would be in touch. On the way home, they discussed the property.
‘I like it,’ said Barry.
‘But what about all the decorating?’ asked Shu? ‘It will be a lot of work.’
‘Hard work never killed anyone and we’ve got plenty of time to do it. I think I’ll offer thirty-seven grand for it as forty-three is way over the top. It’s near the shops, under a mile to the railway station and in a quiet side road. All it lacks is a garage but we’re used to that.’
‘Okay we’ll make an offer for it,’ said Shu. And they did.
Barry thought that they didn’t stand a chance at the price he wanted to pay but the property had been on the market for a couple of months. The estate agent called back and told Barry that the owners were willing to drop the price, which was still too much, so Barry offered a tiny bit more. To his relief they accepted Barry and Shu were on their way.
When they bought their present house, Barry had been irritated by the time the solicitor took to handle the conveyancing and when he had telephoned, he had only ever spoken to the secretary. He had seen a book called the ‘Conveyancing Guide’ and had studied it when they first thought of moving. The book went into great detail and if you followed the format described, you could hardly go wrong. It seemed so simple - just form filling, really, so Barry decided to do the conveyancing himself. Doing this had already lost him one house in the area but that was being sold by a policeman who may not have trusted Barry’s conveyancing abilities. This time, the vendors were not too worried, so Barry did the work. It consisted of typing a few letters on a typewriter, which he borrowed from the astonished production secretary at work, sending off for details and form filling.
It all went very sweetly and when he went to the building society’s solicitor to exchange papers to sell his house, the secretary handling it commented that Barry had done more work than was usual. The only time Barry felt a bit scared was when he gave the keys of his house to the estate agent and had to go to the other estate agent’s to pick up the new keys.
‘You know, Shu,’ said Barry. ‘We’
re homeless now!’
‘What - homeless?’ spluttered Shu.
‘Well, we’ve sold one house and have not yet got the keys to the new one, but it’s okay - we’ve got a contract of purchase for the new house.’
‘Oh, don’t scare me like that!’
Barry laughed. They drove to the estate agent’s, picked up the new keys and went to the house. The previous owners had removed everything that heated the house apart from an original gas fire in the bedroom, a boiler that heated the water and one radiator in the bathroom. It was January 5th so it was very cold and Barry thanked his lucky stars that they had brought a portable gas-fire from the old house and they huddled around it wondering where to start when the removal van arrived. Everything went smoothly and within a few months they had started carpeting, decorating, putting central heating and a fire in and generally getting on top of things.
Barry’s job was about to change - again. At his present job - work wise - things were going along as usual, but he was not too keen on the changes happening to the staff. One boy had joined his department and he had a very loud, obnoxious mouth and he rode roughshod over anyone who came up against him - Barry in particular. He was a creep with the girls and seemed to get them to tell him many things. He started scoffing about his wages to Barry and how he earned more than Barry did. Barry felt that this pest had found out about his wage and was trying to annoy him - he was succeeding!
Barry was really too clever to stay in that job for long and, suddenly, someone who had joined the company after him was promoted to Account Executive - the position Barry had longed for. This person was another loud mouth but such a smooth individual. Barry felt almost betrayed for he was sure that he could handle the Account Executive’s work - he had forgotten about his limp and his quiet personality
This tormented him for quite a while when, one weekend, Charles came to see him in his new home. They were sitting in the front room when Charles spoke.
‘How’s your job going, Barry?’
‘Well, it’s not too bad, I suppose,’ he said glumly.
‘Len is only coming into the office on one day a week now. He’ll be retiring soon and then I’ll be slowing down and looking for an early retirement. How do you feel about coming back to work for me as assistant Account Executive?’
‘Err - I don’t know. What would I do?’
‘You would take over all Len’s work - he would supervise when he comes in but he’ll be gone soon and you’d have it all to yourself! You’d get a company car plus a petrol allowance and this would make travel free!’
‘Okay - so how much are you going to pay me?’
‘Ah, well, as Len hasn’t gone yet, we can’t afford the same rates as the City but remember the car!’
‘Hmm, I’ll have to think about it.’
‘Yes, but it’s a step in the right direction - promotion from your present position and the office is so much nearer,’ said Charles. This was a good point. He would drive four miles to work instead of the trek to the City every day.
Charles left and Barry discussed it with Shu.
‘What do you think?’ It’s probably the only way I’ll get to the position of Account Executive,’ said Barry.
‘You must do what you want,’ said Shu, being her usual helpful self.
‘But what do you think?
‘We’ll be all right. I’ve got a good job, so go on.’
Barry really needed more support and encouragement than that but he knew it was the only way to progress so he made up his mind - he’d do it.
Things began to gather pace. He accepted Charles’ offer and handed in his resignation at work and then he mentioned it to his mother.
‘Oh, no, Barry, you’re not,’ gasped his mother, tears welling up in her eyes. You’ve got a good job at the moment - you can’t lose it.’ Patricia had never liked Charles as she thought that he had a devious character.
Barry was totally taken aback by his mother’s attitude. Shu and Barry had gone to Barry’s mother’s for lunch on a Sunday and he tried to reassure her.
‘Well, it’s the only way I’ll get on,’ said Barry, his eyes searching around for support but his brother, Anthony, who still lived with his mother, just gave Barry an enquiring look, saying nothing. By then his mother was crying quite openly.
‘The way he treats you,’ she sobbed. ‘You shouldn’t want to go back to him.’
‘But it’s my only way forwards. I’m getting fed up with my present job and this is progress in the industry.’
Barry was determined that he was not going to be swayed. Anthony had to console his mother until she recovered, then they ate a quiet meal and, soon afterwards, Barry and Shu left.
‘I didn’t realise that mother would feel so bad about my new job,’ said Barry when they were in the car. I suppose she feels that she’s losing me again but she should know better than that! Anyway, I think it’s the right move!’
If only Barry had listened to his mother for the future was going to turn out a lot worse than even she had thought.
Chapter Ten
So Barry Connors went back to Triton Design, full of hopes and aspirations. The reduced journey time allowed him more time in bed, much to Shu’s disgust, but he still had to be up to take her to the railway station. The journey to work was quite congested in parts so he had to find a way around the back roads to save time.
He pulled up outside the office to find the typist/telephonist, Deirdre, opening the door. They exchanged greetings and Deirdre went to make some coffee. Barry studied the office, remembering the wallpaper, the staircase with no handrail on the open side, the ancient grant which enlarged and reduced pictures for tracing, the mini-kitchen and the same, worn carpet. Things hadn’t changed much since he had last worked there, five years ago.
Just then Charles and Charmaine, his fourth wife, arrived outside.
‘Hello,’ said Charles, as he walked in. ‘Are you ready for work?’
‘Yes, yes,’ said Barry, with a smile on his face.
The two men went upstairs and left the ladies to chat about the weekend. Barry was shown around the two offices upstairs and was given a desk in the one at the back.
‘Well, make yourself at home and then come in and see what I’m doing,’ said Charles.
It was quite an easy start for Barry as he had no real knowledge or experience of the job as assistant Account Executive. He didn’t like the assistant part of the title too much, but it was only Charles trying to make sure that Barry knew his position exactly. Barry should have remembered the lack of encouragement he had got when he was last at the company and people just don’t change.
It was quite fortunate for Barry that his start was so easy for since having his head injury, he had always been slow to pick things up but once he had grown used to a job, he was very good at it, but that took so long. Barry didn’t realise this and he just kept on trying.
The second day that Barry was there was the one day in the week when Len went in and that was only for the morning. He was seventy-one but, nevertheless, was very fit and still played a lot of golf.
‘So how are you, Barry?’ he said, smiling and, before Barry could answer, had disappeared into the next room. ‘This was the man whose place Barry had come to take and Barry started to see Len’s resentment. He obviously wasn’t prepared to go, not yet at least, and Barry would have a hard job edging his way in.
Charles was most helpful and although he gave Barry plenty of runabout jobs - rushing to the artist and up to town, he also took Barry to clients’ meetings to give him a taste of the work he had come for. Barry felt quite elated when going to see clients but he was never given any work to do and he just sat and listened whilst Charles took the notes and did all the talking - this became rather boring.
‘Charles,’ said Barry on the way back fro
m a meeting. ‘I would like to do something at these meetings. All I do now is watch and listen.’
‘Well you’re just learning - I wish I could have been as advanced as you are when I was your age!’ exclaimed Charles.
This was typical. Often, as a defence, Charles tried to belittle the opposition by making them think that they were stupid and wrong in what they said or did. He continued.
‘You’ve just started as an assistant Account Executive – assistant - and you want to take over?’
‘No, no, it’s not like that. I just want to do more.’
‘Well, you get your own clients and go from there. You can always do that.’
Barry fell silent. He was not nearly confident enough to go for new clients on his own, as Charles knew, so he figured that he would just have to sit and wait.
They drove on.
‘Listen,’ said Charles. ‘When we get a new client, a small one, you can take that over. Just be patient for once.’
This made Barry feel a little better. He should have realized that he had to push to get anywhere with Charles, but he still couldn’t assess situations quickly enough to be able to do this.
At the end of the year, Shu and Barry were feeling quite good. The house had been cleaned up; double glazing had been fitted to the front windows; a new kitchen had been installed; the main bedroom and the lounge had been decorated and carpets had been laid in all but two of the bedrooms.
One weekend, soon after Christmas, they were discussing holidays for the year.
‘I would like to go to Japan and see my friends,’ Shu was saying. She had her brothers, their families and friends scattered over the island and really wanted to get away.
‘What? That’s going to cost a fortune,’ exclaimed Barry.
‘No - I don’t think so,’ said Shu. ‘If we go in the spring, using Aeroflot, we just pay £530 for the flight and £100 for train tickets for three weeks in Japan. We fly across Russia and it’s the quickest way.’
‘How long will it take, then? I’ve heard tales of twenty-three hours when you fly over India.’
Would You Believe Him? Page 13