by Paul Kelly
The day went past in anxiety to hear what Assim had in his letter regarding Gerard’s new position and we knew there was a considered gamble as the medical authorities in Scotland knew that Gerard had studied and qualified as a doctor and as a surgeon without doubt, but it was not in the U.K. It was in France... and we were all anxiously waiting with fingers crossed to hear the news.
Assim came round to Mansfield Road about seven-thirty that evening. but as is the usual drill with him, he could only stay a very short time and we huddled around together waiting for what was to come and it transpired that Gerard could be accepted as a G.P, in Scotland where he would be expected to open a practise in Glasgow as that was the town of his birth. He would be allowed a two bedroomed house with a hallway for visitors to gather and he would have a small surgery where he would be able to see his patients. Telephone and rent etc would be covered by the Glasgow authorities and we were all ecstatic with joy when we heard that news. Assim could not control his joy and he told us that all day long he had been unable to concentrate on his work knowing that he would be able to give us all the good news when he could be round to see us. There was only one possible flaw and that was as Gerard was a doctor and was getting a house where he could make his practice, it was expected that he would be a married man... and Assim looked to the ceiling but I don’t think he was wishing he was a woman and he had no intentions of getting married just to have a house of his own.
Chapter Twenty-One
It was another month before Gerard came home from Paris and Emily and I went to meet him at the airport.
Freddie was great in insisting that he would look after the children when we went and although we were most grateful for his help, I was worried about him and I couldn’t think of any reason why I should be like that. I ddn’t think Emily was particularly worried about Freddie as she only saw him occasionlly whereas I was working for and with him all of my days. He was my boss; my employer; my brother-law and perhaps most important of all, he was the man I spent my time in prison with... but we met Gerard as arranged and he looked well and very happy.
He told us about his new ambition to leave surgery in the theatres and concentrate in being a General Practitioner and he already had an address to go to which we understood to have been a derelict house for some time that had been taken over by the council and was being used to make an area for a new doctor as the area where he was going was certainly in need of a medical man.
Naturally the first thing Gerard asked us was Assim alright and we told him he was fine but that he had three operations that day and would not be free until seven o clock that evening and Gerard decided that he would come home with us to Mansfield Road until his new offices were ready for him to move into which we anticipated to be the following Monday and we were already in Wednesday of the previous week so the wait wouldn’t be too long.
Freddie greeted us cordially when we got home and had made a pot of tea under the instructions of the bossy Alfie who had insisted that tea was the welcoming gesture for any new company, but Sylvie simply smiled as she usully did and cried with joy when we came into the house. Hugs and kisses were everywhere and we settled down to a quiet afternoon where questions were asked and answers were in abundance, but I wanted to meet Freddie in the garden to ask some questions of my own, After we had been home for about an hour and Emily had made Gerard rest his weary head on the bed in the conservatory as it was a lovely warm day and it seemed the most appropriate place to have a rest, I got Freddie to come with me into the garden, asking him one or two questions about his building business which in effect were of no consequence but it gave me a chance to ask my questions and I told Freddie how concerned I was for him and that I thought there was something troubling him and he simply looked at me and sighed.
“Felix, you always were a meddling old goat and even when we were in prison I thought you were sometimes a pain in the arse... but there is nothing troubling me. .. not at the moment anyway, but why do you ask?”
I told him that I had this inner feeling that I got from time to time, that he was not the person I knew so well and he stared at me as if I had said something to alarm him and he capitulated as he slumped into a garden seat.
“I think I am in love, old chap, but it is complicated,” he said as he rubbed his forehead with his fist. “ I have met a woman who is nearly twice my age and I am now nearly forty, so what do you make of that?”
I truly was surprised at what Freddie had told me but life takes you where it will and there is bugger all you can do about it, so I reached out and touched his hand.
“Is she a single lady?” I asked and Freddie shook his head, “Two children but they are grown up, married and not living at home.” he replied, “but she had had a very unhappy marriage and is now divorced and thinks that marriage is a sham and that she would never get married again.”
“Could you not live together?” I asked and Freddie shook his head. “I don’t think she would agree to that either. She has ‘gone off ’ men.”
“Have you taken her out... say to a meal or a cinema or have you sat with her at home watching television?” I asked but Freddie shook his head and laughed.
“Felix, I know this woman to look at only. She doesn’t know I exist.”
“What... are you telling me that you know all about this woman and that you have never even spoke to her Freddie?”
“Yes, EXCATLY that... She is a cousin of mine and I know All about her life but she doesn’t know that I am her cousin, so what do you suggest I do?”
I hadn’t a clue how to help Freddie, but as we went indoors from the garden, I was pleased to see Assim had come from the hospital having completed his tour of operations for that day and he and Gerard were obviously thrilled to see each other. We all waited up late after the children had gone to bed and enjoyed a good drink of every kind, including tea with whiskey and even some champagne that Emily had bought earlier in the day for the forthcoming jubilations. Assim had his phone with him so he could stay the night and he slept in the conservatory whilst Gerard slept in the spare room. We were very fortunate that night as the weather was fine for sleeping out and we had forgotten that there was a draft in the conservatory, but Assim never complained when he stepped out of the bath the following morning and was singing some song that I had never heard before, but he sounded happy.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Alfie continued to be a perfect nuisance at School and Emily was constantly being asked to come to the school and control him, but by this time, Sylvie had started her schooling in the same school at Alfie and the teachers made such comparisons in the behaviour of the two children that the Headmistress was convinced that they must each be from a different family. Sylvie was content to sing with the class and dance too, if everyone else started that, but she was quiet in comparison to Alfie.
Meanwhile Freddie kept coming into the office, but it seemed that his difficulty was unresolved as he told me later on in the day that he was going to spread out and get another set of offices going with his name as a building trade and I was pleased for him and hoped that this new venture might help him to sort out his private life and give him more peace of mind, but quite to the contrary, he suddenly announced something that was far removed from his problem... he told me he wanted to make me a partner in his business and not just an employee and I was amazed. This was something that I had never ever in my solitary life thought might ever become. It just never entered my mind. It felt as though I had been knighted and should be called SIR Marr, but I laughed at that title myself, thinking what a bloody lot of bollocks I would get from most of my mates, However, I had to move from my little office which had been built for the progress chaser and then for the office manager and I got a much larger office and to my pleasant surprise I was able to employ Milly as my private secretary and she sat on a desk near to where my office door was situated.
I had only b
een in my new office for three days when Milly told me that a lady had come to see me and asked for me by name. I asked Milly to show her into my office and I could see that this lady was indeed a very beautiful creature with blonde hair and a figure that most men would die for. I asked her to sit down and would she like a coffee, but she declined with one wave of her hand.
“Mr. Marr, I have come here because of one of my building offices has been taken over by Mr.Southdown and I don’t think we have come to a satisfactory arrangement for the price, etc. I have spoken to Mr. Southdown. .. Freddie, I mean... and he has told me to speak to you about it. Is that correct?”
I hadn’t a clue what this lady was talking about. All I knew was that Freddie had told me he was branching out and was buying more property for the business to extend, but I knew nothing about pricing or anything of that nature, but I looked very seriously at this lady and tried to make the best conversation I could think of.
“I am sorry madam... may I ask your name please, as Mr. Southdown is not here at the moment and I have only taken over this part of his company in the last few days.”
“My name is Georgie... Georgina Faulkner and Freddie is buying a company from me because it belonged to my husband but he is no longer with us anymore and as a woman, I have no interest in building as I am sure you will understand.”
I explained to Georgie. .. that at that moment there was nothing I could do until I had spoken to Freddie again and she accepted the situation and left the office as I tried to phone Freddie at one of his other offices, but without success, however he turned up at my desk less than an hour after I had tried to contact him and he must have realized the problem as he immediately asked me if I had met Georgina Faulkner and I nodded, expecting him to tell me that I was a bloody know all... but he didn’t. He started to explain the lady’s presence to me as if the information he had would be of importance to me in the running of the office, but I was sure the information he had was something more important to himself.
“I have bought this lady’s offices from her as one of three more to add to this one so that the business is much bigger. It was a business that her husband had before he went off somewhere with a youngster of seventeen and she was left with a hefty mortgage. I wanted to expand, but I did not realize or know of the difficulties she was in and it was only when I had contacted the first two offices that I had intended to buy and one of the guys who owned those offices and wanted to sell them quickly as he was finding a difficulty in getting staff to work for him, asked me to contact her as he had heard of her problem and he thought she might want to sell.”
Freddie had told me all this in an excited voice and I had a job taking it all in. All I could understand was that Freddie had wanted to expand and that was all I knew, but now, he had a further explanation... and a woman involved, so I thought it best to try to understand and ask no further questions.
“You have bought three new offices to make this one bigger, Freddie. Is that what you mean” I asked and Freddie sat down to get his breath back, “Yes, you bloody idiot. That’s what I have been trying to tell you.” he snapped and after a few seconds of deep breathing, we both laughed together.
“I am sorry to be so hasty, Felix,” said Freddie and I nodded my understanding as he went on, but this time with less heavy breathing and a controlled tone of voice. “Georgie... Georgina Faulkner is the lady I have bought the building office from. It was her husband’s business and it seemed that everything in her marriage and the building business was going O.K, but only last month, the husband disappeared suddenly, leaving no trace and she got worried thinking that he has been in some accident, but one of the chaps who was a builder with the firm, told her that they had all been fired and that their boss had buggered off with his secretary.”
“But that’s a terrible thing to do to her,” I commiserated and Freddie looked about him as if he was at a loss as to what to do until he decided to buy her business as she had no interest in building and had a heavy mortgage around her neck, but I could see Freddie struggling in his thoughts as to what would be best for Georgina Faulkner.
“I offered her what I thought to be a reasonable sum and she accepted that, but now she tells me that there are other financial problems and she thinks it might be best to carry on with the business and hope that in time, she might be able to see a light at the end of the tunnel. It was then I told her to get in touch with you, Felix so that she would see what a good company we had and that we had no problems either with money or with staff. What did you think of her, Felix?”
As Freddie was talking, Milly came into the office followed by Georgie Faulkner who sat down in a chair by my desk and started to cry.
“I am sorry, gentlemen,” she blurted out through her tears, “I am living in a dream. I have no idea how to run a building business or any other business for that matter and all the workers who were employed by my husband have now gone to other companies and I just have to give in. I cannot do anything about this. I am truly sorry.”
Freddie told her that he would be happy to give her the money he had offered her in the first place and that he would also consider the other financial problems she had, but she shook her head.
“I have the mortgage which he paid and I have never worked since we got married as we had hoped to have a family together, so I will have to get a job somewhere and rent a flat or something until I can get on my feet again.”
Freddie told her he might be able to get her a job, but it would only be of a clerical type of work and she accepted as she dried her tears.
Later I watched Freddie escort Georgina Faulkner from my office and Milly gave me one of Emily’s ‘old fashioned looks’ as she closed the door when she left me sitting, wondering how the hell I had got into this problem and thanking someone up there above that there was only one woman in my life... and then the phone rang. It was Emily and she told me that I had better get to the school as quickly as I could as Alfie had given another pupil a black eye and she thought the police might be called in.
I thought of the time when I had given someone a black eye and I wanted to forget, but as I left the office to go to Alfie’s school, I was reminded that as a partner in Freddie’s business, I didn’t drive a Ford jalopy anymore and I got into my BMW.
The school looked very quiet when I arrived there until I could see Emily hugging Alfie as if he was the one who had been beaten up, but Alfie ran towards me as I came through the playground and I found it hard to believe or even think that he could be so brutal as the Headmistress inferred that he was.
We drove home as it was hardly worthwhile going back to the office and as I told Emily about Freddie’s experiences, I could see her smile as she walked into the kitchen.
“Where one heart is being broken another is being loved,” she murmured, “I think we are in for another love story.”
Later when I saw Freddie again, he had arranged for Georgina Faulkner to get a secretarial job with one of his new offices, but I wondered was that the finish of it all until two weeks later he told me that he was moving into Georgia’s house and he had arranged to settle the mortgage and any other problem that she had and I remembered what Emily had said to me when we came back from the school and my lovely wife Emily never ever made a mistake... or so she told me... on several occasions.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Steven was waiting for me when I came home from work less than a week after Freddie had moved in with Georgia to tell me that Celine had given birth to a baby boy and they had called him Syd, short for Sydney which I thought was a peculiar name to call a little boy as we had no Sydneys that I knew of in the family, but Emily thought it was a lovely name to call a little male child and told me that there were several film stars with that name, so I accepted that. At first I thought that Emily might be pregnant again and had hopes of having another little boy, but then I remembered that she was two years olde
r than I and I was in my forty-ninth year, so I gave up the idea as a dream. Did women have children at that age, I thought as I looked at myself I the hall mirror... only to see an old man with grey hair, but Emily looked exactly as she did on the day that we were married.
Sylvie was growing up fast and went to drama school where she also had ballet classes and I was told by her teacher that she as very promising. Alfie came home one day to tell us that he had fallen in love and asked me how old we would have to be to get married and I suggested he should wait until he was fourteen... knowing that he was in his eighteenth year, but I thought it best to say nothing about that, nevertheless I was stunned when Alfie asked me if men usually married HORSES and I just sighed in desperation wondering what sort of son I had given birth to... and I could find no answer to my problem, so I just gave up.
Emily started to think about grandchildren and I studied my scalp for a bald patch but the hair was still there, only it was whiter than white.
It was one afternoon when I was sitting quietly in my office with nothing in particular to do that Milly came in to tell me that she had met a footballer and she was sure she was in love. I remembered how I had first met Milly and she had told me of her dream to marry a fellow who could play football and again, I realized that I was getting into my old age and memories flooded my brain. I could see myself again with that gun in my hand and thinking that with this thing I could become a man, I saw again the face of Mrs.Madden as she fell to the floor and I looked on unconcerned. I could see Angus again and wondered what he was doing now that he was in prison and hoped he wold be there for a very long time when I thought of how he had treated Ellie and I could see a young scallywag who thought the world owed him a living as he nicked a sandwich from some other man’s plate. Yes, I reflected on my life for what it was worth and I could feel shame creeping over me as I saw again the lovely face of the woman I had married and the joy I had experienced with my two children. Why had I been so blessed when I was such a bastard?... but interrupting my thoughts and my nightmares, Freddie came into the office and told me that he was going to marry Georgia and would I like to be his best man.