by J. R. Bonham
He didn’t wait for an answer and just carried on. “I hope you enjoy the tape. Don’t forget – no one else need see it, I would be too embarrassed! You can give it back to me next week. So is next Wednesday OK?”
“Yes, I think so. I’m still not working yet, so I’m free most days.”
“I’ll give you a ring on Monday anyway. That OK?”
“I guess,” she was non-committal. She didn’t know what else to say.
He paid the publican and they went out to his car. He suddenly took her by the hand. She felt electricity all up her arm and through her body. Such strong hands. But soft too. Not workman’s hands like Geoff’s. He pulled her over to be closer to him. Then he enfolded her in his arms completely and kissed her right there in the car park. Not a peck on the cheek as she was expecting but full on the lips. It took her by surprise. She almost said ‘thank you’ again, but thought better of it. He got in the car, waved and drove off.
She was left in the car park, feeling quite stunned. ‘What just happened? He kissed me, that’s what! And I enjoyed it, yes I did. I’ll go home and play the tape before anyone else gets home. I can’t wait until after the weekend. I’m too curious as to why he should be embarrassed.’
She got home and took the video out of her bag, put the kettle on to make a cup of tea and put the tape into the video recorder. She sat down to watch with her cup of tea. Nothing else was going to happen until she had at least seen some of it.
She heard Mike’s voice say, “Who lives in a house like this?” (Just like Through the Keyhole, except it wasn’t Loyd Grossman!). He went from room to room all around his house and garden. In the bathroom, she could see his reflection in the mirror and she liked what she saw. ‘I guess he would have been embarrassed if anyone else had seen it. They would have thought it most strange. I think it’s strange! Why did he want to show me his house?’
She had seen about half an hour of the video when suddenly the television screen went blank and she heard the video recorder stop playing. There was a power cut. ‘Oh what a nuisance, I was just getting into that.’
She took Hamish out for a walk as she felt guilty about leaving him in all day. When she came back in, the electricity was still off. It was nearly time for the children to come home so thought she’d better take the tape out and hide it away.
‘Oh no, I can’t eject it with no electricity. Here comes Louise back from work! Now what am I going to do? They’re bound to find it as soon as the electricity comes back on when they want to put on the video for this evening. Come on, Jan, think fast!’
“Hi Mum,” shouted Louise from the hall as she disappeared upstairs. Jan wanted to put the kettle on, but then she realised that was a waste of time with no electricity. She put the light switch on in the kitchen. That way she would know the moment the electricity was back on. Then she would dash to the sitting room to retrieve that tape and hope no one got there before her. It was a different make from the ones they used and so that would arouse suspicion if anyone saw it.
“Hi Mum.” It was Steven this time. “Dad’s just backing up the drive. What’s for supper and what video have we got for tonight?”
“Hi. Well, the electricity is off so I can’t cook supper til it comes back on. So I suggest one of you can go out and get fish and chips.”
“Oh Mum, I’m starving. And tired. Can’t you go and get the supper? You haven’t been at work all day like we have.” Just then Geoff came in and heard Steven whining.
“What’s up? Hello,” he said as he gave Jan a peck on the cheek. “I tried to ring you today. Several times. You were out all day!”
“Hi, yes pretty much. I’ll tell you about that later,” she said. “I was just explaining to Steven that the electricity is off, so I suggested we can have a takeaway tonight. We can’t watch the video until it comes back on anyway. I can’t think it will be that much longer. It’s been off for a couple of hours already.”
Just then the kitchen light came on. Steven went into the sitting room and Jan rushed in after him to make sure he didn’t put the video on.
“Come on,” she scolded, “you know the rules. Upstairs and get changed. Do you want a cup of tea?” She hoped he would do as he was told, but then Geoff came in and sat down.
‘Oh hell, now what am I going to do?’ She was frantic.
“What was that you said about a cup of tea? You know I only drink coffee. I’ll watch the news now the electricity is back on.”
“Yes, I do know you only drink coffee but the kids and I like tea at teatime.”
‘Please don’t put the video on, whatever you do. I’ll be dead meat if you do!’
He turned on the television and starting watching the news. So Jan went to put the kettle on thinking it safe since he would only watch the news. While it was boiling she went to her bag and removed the tape of City Slickers. She gambled on showing it to Geoff, and then while he was otherwise engaged in reading the write-up about the film, hoped she could go to the video machine and remove the offending tape without him noticing. ‘Fingers crossed!’
She couldn’t wait until Steven or Louise came back downstairs, otherwise she would never be able to get it out without some nosy person asking about it. She took her chance while Geoff read the synopsis on the video box. It was sleight of hand on her part as she sidled over to the video recorder, ejected the tape, and hid it in her hand. ‘Phew!’ She sighed and took it straight out of the room before Geoff had looked up and noticed. She put it away in the bottom of a drawer in the kitchen. No one went there but her.
“I’ll make some tea now and coffee for Dad,” she called out, relieved. She felt she could breathe again. “Then I’ll go and get a takeaway a bit later.”
Seconds later Louise and Steven both emerged when they heard the kettle boiling and Jan made a cup of tea for them. They also heard that she mentioned a takeaway.
“Can we have a Chinese takeaway tonight for a change?” Louise asked.
“Ooh, yes, please! You didn’t tell me what video we had for tonight,” Steven asked his mother again. He was glad she had taken on board his suggestion of her getting the takeaway instead of one of them. After all, they had been working hard and she hadn’t. But she had other fish to fry. She was happy now to go and fetch the takeaway in the knowledge that her secret wouldn’t be discovered whilst she was out.
“Your father’s got it, have a look. I think you’ll enjoy it. It’s called City Slickers. It’s a comedy.”
‘Yes, a comedy of errors!’ Jan had a wry smile on her face.
Chapter 30
Jan picked up the airmail letter that she had bought and started writing. Geoff came in to change into his pyjamas and asked her what she was doing. It was getting late and the kids had gone to bed already. Geoff was on his way to the bathroom.
“Just writing to Marian as usual. I told her I would write,” she said lightly.
“But you only saw her last week!”
“Yes, I know but we didn’t have time to talk about everything.” She had to think fast. Marian wanted to know about Mike and Jan had confided in her. But there was no way that Jan was going to tell Paula, her other old school friend. They had conversed by letter and telephone over the years and she had given Jan some good advice in the past but she was keeping this to herself for the time being. After all, it might come to nothing and Paula was not so broad-minded as Marian. Paula would probably take a dim view that Jan might be cheating on her husband.
Geoff went away muttering under his breath. Jan thought she’d better change the subject. “I went to the Job Centre today. It doesn’t look like there’s much around, although they were hopeful of one secretarial job which might come up next week and they’ll let me know,” she lied. ‘Anything to throw him off the scent. I know he’s not that interested, so he won’t pursue my job prospects.’
“You can’t have been at the Job Cent
re all day. I rang you this morning, then later on this morning and then this afternoon.”
“Well, I’m a very busy person! What did you want?” ‘Checking up on me?’
“Busy doing nothing? I didn’t want anything, just to say hello.”
“Not doing nothing, no. If you really want to know I took Hamish out for a long walk this morning. I felt that he hadn’t had a proper walk with Steven. He seemed to come back with him after a very short time this morning before he went to work. Probably because he had slept in and then found himself short of time. Then I went shopping later on this morning and saw Sheila in her lunch hour so had a catch-up with her. Then this afternoon I went to the job centre, as I told you.” ‘Lies, lies and more lies! My nose will drop off soon!’
Geoff seemed happy with these explanations.
She put the letter aside. She would have to do it some other time. It wouldn’t catch the post until Monday anyway. She had to tell Marian all about what happened on Friday.
Monday morning arrived and she started writing the letter again to get it off in the post. When she finished it she started on the washing. The usual mundane Monday morning jobs. Then the phone rang.
“Hello,” she said, rather flatly.
“Hi. Mike here. How are you? You sound a bit down?”
“Me? No, not really. Better for hearing a friendly voice,” she confirmed.
“Are we still on for Wednesday?” he asked her.
“Oh, yes, I think so.”
“You don’t sound too sure.”
“I was miles away when you rang. Doing all the usual housework type jobs that seem to come up after a weekend, like washing and cleaning. When I was working I was much more organised and structured.”
“Did you watch the video?” ‘Oh, hell. Yes, the video, I’d forgotten all about that. I shall have to tell him I watched it. Or should I come clean and say I only managed to watch part of it? Or should I tell him the whole story of what happened on Friday? He might be amused.’
“Well, yes and no! Yes, I watched part of it until we had a power cut!” She continued to tell him the whole story, chapter and verse.
“You couldn’t make it up! That was lucky, wasn’t it? What did you think of what you did see?”
“Oh, it was very good. Just like the Loyd Grossman and David Frost programme. You should put in for a job!” She made a mental note to watch the end of the video well before the others got home.
“Glad you liked it. Are you going to watch the rest?”
“Yes, I will today and then I’ll give it back to you on Wednesday.”
“Are we going to meet at the same place?”
“We can do. Or we can go somewhere different. You choose.”
“We’ll meet up first and then decide.”
“Ok. I’d better go. Geoff might ring and then if it’s engaged and he knows I’ve been on the phone I shall get the third degree and have to tell him who I’ve been speaking to!”
“Is that the Gestapo you’re living with?” Mike enquired.
“Probably! See you Wednesday. Bye.” She hung up the phone and found she had a smile on her face. He had really cheered her up. She wondered what he was doing at work. Was he thinking of her as much as she was thinking of him?
Mike hung up the phone and in the next second Wendy waltzed in.
“That was a quick call! Everything OK? Did it all go according to plan last Friday?”
“All these questions!” he smiled. “Yes, I do think everything went very well, thank you. And before you ask, yes, I’m even more smitten than I was since the last time you asked! We’re meeting again this Wednesday so as far as you’re concerned, I’m meeting with a client.” And then he winked at her.
“Gotcha!” She winked back.
On Wednesday they met up at the car park of the pub on the seafront, as before. Jan noticed something different about him. His beard was gone!
“I was fed up with it,” he explained when he saw she had noticed. “I shaved it off last weekend; I’d had it for twenty years. I only grew it to make me look older. A lady who did the photocopying at work thought I had just come out of school – I was 27! Funny thing on Sunday, I went to see my mother and she never even noticed! Her neighbour was there and she noticed straight away. Poor Mum was a bit embarrassed.”
Jan laughed and said, “I think it suited you, it was very neat. You look quite different now.”
“I can always grow it again, but I quite like the smooth look. Anyway enough of that, shall we go for a drive?” he suggested. “I want to take you somewhere where they have proper tablecloths and napkins.”
“OK. I’m not sure if we’d find anything like that around here!”
“I’ve looked at the map and thought we could go for a drive up to Dartmoor. It’s not too far. We could go for lunch there and maybe have a walk. How about that?”
“Sounds good.”
He drove up to Dartmoor to a remote place near a shallow river with lots of flat rocks. He didn’t let on to her that he had already researched a restaurant nearby. He got out of the car and went around to the passenger side to open the car door for her. She was very impressed, he was behaving like a proper gentleman.
“This is beautiful here,” she mused. “I’ve been here once before and I think there’s a pub restaurant just down the road but I don’t know about tablecloths. Shall we take a walk along the river and see if it’s still there?”
He took her by the hand and kissed her. Then he walked her down to the stream and onto the rocks and took her in his arms, enveloping her and kissed her again.
“I love you,” he told her and kissed her with more passion. “I knew I loved you from the first moment I saw you. I believe in love at first sight. Do you?”
“I… I don’t really know. Can I get back to you on that?” she joked. She wasn’t quite sure what to make of this situation. Yes, she liked him but she wasn’t sure how much. She thought she would play it by ear. Then he was worried that he had overstepped the mark. They walked on in silence for a while, just holding hands. ‘This is a bit surreal,’ she thought.
They got to the restaurant, just as it was opening. It was a bit early for lunch so he suggested having a coffee first. Or a drink.
“Coffee will be just fine,” she replied.
At lunch, they talked. He took his wedding ring off and put it in the middle of the table. The significance of this was meant to be that his marriage was over. He hoped that she would follow suit and eventually she did. She put her ring beside his.
Two rings in significance.
After lunch they walked slowly back to the car, hand in hand not wanting the day to end. They noticed an elderly man pushing an old woman in a wheelchair along the path.
“That could be you and me in a few years’ time,” he told her.
‘I don’t want to be in a wheelchair! But I think I know what he’s trying to say. I’ll just smile; that should placate him.’
They got back to the car and sat in it and talked, about all sorts of things, trying to make the time spin out. But like most things, time runs out eventually and they had to face it.
“I’ve just remembered,” he said, as he reached into the glove box and produced a CD and passed it to her. “I bought this for you.”
“Oh, thank you,” she said as she turned it over and read the title. “‘Never Let Her Slip Away’ by Andrew Gold. I don’t think I know this one,” she told him.
“The words in the song are very apt. I wish I could be with you when you play it. Listen to the words when you do and think of me.”
“I will,” she confirmed.
“I want you to know that I love you very much and want to spend the rest of my life with you,” he told her.
She mulled over that piece of information and all she could think about was to say, “Oh!” Qu
ite surprised. “I… I think I’d like that. One thing, though – it must be fun,” she stipulated, not quite believing that all this was happening to her. So quickly. It must be happening to someone else, not her.
He smiled and confirmed it could be great fun for both of them. They talked more about what they were expecting in life. He told her that he was a very patient person and he would wait for her, forever if need be. He also told her more about himself; that he was a very placid person and wasn’t moody at all. She was very pleased to hear this, as she was mightily fed up with Geoff’s moods.
He drove slowly back to Torquay to make the time spin out together and then he dropped her off at the pub car park where she had left her car.
“It’s late now and I have to go. I don’t want to, but I have to. You understand?”
“Of course,” she confirmed to him.
He got out of the car and went around to open her door. He gave her a lingering kiss which nearly made her knees buckle.
“Parting is such sweet sorrow. Do you know who said that?” he asked her.
“You? Ha! Ha! No. I do know. Let me think… yes. It’s from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. I believe Juliet is saying goodnight to Romeo. Their sorrowful parting is also ‘sweet’ because it makes them think about the next time they’ll see each other.”
“Correct.”
“What’s my prize?”
“Me!”
“Oh!” she mused coyly.
With that he drove off, waving and smiling.
Jan got into her car and drove home, thinking all the way of any excuse that she might have to make in case she was asked. ‘I went shopping, met up with Sheila in her lunch hour and then played tennis. I know it’s not my usual tennis day, but I was filling in for someone who was ill. Who? Rosalind. You don’t know her, so you can’t ask her! That’ll do. I’m so naughty, but I’ve really enjoyed today. Is he really serious? I think he might be, from what he says.’
At work next day Mike was grilled by Wendy. She wanted all the gory details!
“Come on,” she said, smiling. “Spill! Tell me everything and don’t spare the horses. Was it everything you expected?”