They soon reached the end of the canal, which was where Anna usually turned to go home. Rufus took off down a track.
‘Rufus, come back,’ called Anna.
Ted’s dog followed.
‘Penny,’ he called. ‘Penny, you naughty dog. You have no sense.’ He turned to Anna. ‘That’s funny – do you get it – Penny has no sense, cents?’
Anna stood confused – trying to make out what Ted had been saying and work out what to do about Rufus. The two dogs burst out of the bushes along the track and raced to the edge of the canal. A seagull was perched on a dead branch in the middle of the canal where it was almost dry. The dogs yapped at the seagull. Ted ran, picked up his dog, grabbed Rufus’s collar and returned him to Anna to put on his lead. They dragged the two dogs away from the canal.
‘There’s a dog-friendly cafe over there,’ he said. ‘What say we order something to drink while these two settle down?’
Ted chose a table at the edge of the paved area. He filled a bowl of water for the dogs and placed it under one of the chairs. Rufus and Penny lapped noisily and lay down side by side.
Anna played with her cup of tea as she explained to Ted how she’d agreed to take Rufus and, despite her misgivings, was getting used to him.
‘I wouldn’t have had a dog either, if I had a choice,’ said Ted. ‘When my wife died, two years ago …’
‘I’m so sorry.’
‘That’s all right. She was very sick and it was almost a relief when she finally passed. She was allergic to dogs, so we never had one,’ Ted said. ‘Anyway, the first thing my daughter did after the funeral was to go out and get me a dog. Penny here. She made some excuse about a friend who couldn’t keep her, but I knew it was for me. They worry. The children. They worry I’m all alone.’
‘Penny is a nice dog.’
‘Yes, and usually well behaved. I suspect your Rufus is a bad influence.’ Ted laughed. ‘It is good to have something else to think about other than myself.’ He paused. ‘I was wondering if you’d do me a favour.’ Anna looked at him blankly. ‘I have a voucher for two people to have lunch at the newly renovated restaurant at the Quay. I need someone to go with me.’
‘You do?’ Anna recalled making a booking for William and Rachel at that restaurant for their anniversary.
‘I hate eating out alone. I know it’s silly and I used to do it all the time when I worked, but now I feel out of place.’ Ted wiped his glasses and regained his composure. ‘Since my wife died, I don’t enjoy going out on my own. If you came with me I would really appreciate it.’
‘Don’t you have friends or family who could go with you?’ Anna hated the thought of going to the restaurant, almost as much as she hated the thought of going out with another man, even on such an innocent pretext. After what happened with William, she felt discarded like an old dishcloth.
‘Not really. Most of our friends were my wife’s friends and I don’t have anything in common with them. And my children, well, they’re so busy with their lives. Could you please help me out?’
Anna felt trapped. She wanted to decline but couldn’t think of a good reason. Ted had made a plea for help and she felt obliged to assist. She wouldn’t go to a restaurant alone and understood how Ted felt. It was only a meal, after all, she reasoned.
‘Well?’
Rufus rubbed his nose on Anna’s leg. It was getting cold and she realised she must have been sitting there for some time, caught up in her internal conversation. She could almost hear her father asking where she’d gone.
‘Um, sorry. Oh, all right. I’ll do it.’
*
The following week, Anna entered the restaurant and paused to take in the sweeping view from the Harbour Bridge to the Opera House through the full-length windows. The waiter led her to the table where Ted was waiting.
‘How delightful to see you.’ Ted stood and gallantly held the chair.
Anna placed her briefcase, which was filled with paperwork for the Suitability strategy meeting, on the floor. She’d tied the fuchsia scarf she needed to return around the handle. She placed the garment bag, which held the mended jacket, on the back of the chair and sat down.
‘I’ve taken the liberty of ordering the degustation menu,’ said Ted. ‘We can try a little of everything they have. I hope you don’t mind.’
Anna was relieved. It would save time and release her from any embarrassment over the cost of the meal. Just as William had done the few times they had dined together.
‘As long as we can be finished by two o’clock. I have to go to an important meeting.’
‘Important meeting? I thought you were retired?’
‘This is for Suitability, the charity I told you about,’ said Anna. ‘The coordinator is out of action, and I had to set up the meeting and organise all the paperwork.’
‘Very impressive,’ said Ted. ‘I’m sure it will be a well run and productive meeting.’
Anna felt a rush of importance. ‘It has to be. You see, we might have to close down if we can’t find new premises.’
‘That would be terrible,’ said Ted as he waved at the waiter. ‘Will you have a drink? I ordered wine to complement the food we are eating. It’s part of the whole experience.’
‘Perhaps. Just a little.’ Anna swirled the pinot noir in her glass and took a taste. It was light yet complex, with a hint of berries.
‘Now tell me more about the problem you are trying to solve.’
Anna picked at the food as she told Ted about the premises issue. The morsels of food burst in her mouth with different tastes and flavours – some coriander, a hint of lime. It was cool in the restaurant and she shivered a little.
‘But you are cold,’ said Ted. ‘They have the air conditioning set at such a low temperature. Here, I’ll help you put your jacket on.’
Before she could protest, Ted had whisked the jacket out of the garment bag and put it around her shoulders.
‘My, what a beautiful jacket,’ he said. ‘It goes with your outfit. From the look on your face I can see you are surprised I pay so much attention to clothes?’
Anna nodded.
‘Well, my father was a tailor and I worked in the tailoring business, so I know a good cut when I see it. Also, when my wife was ill for all those years, I bought her clothes and dressed her.’
Anna didn’t know what to say. She was being bombarded by sensations from all directions: the different tastes of the food and the wine – salty, sweet, creamy – the sounds of other diners eating and chatting. Competing thoughts rushed around in her mind. She felt a slow panic rising.
‘I’ve upset you. Here, have a drink of water.’
Anna stared into Ted’s eyes while she steadied herself and sipped the water. They were clear pools. Her breathing slowed. He seemed familiar and trustworthy.
To calm herself, Anna concentrated on the decoration of the room. Underneath the spotted gum timber tables, a lush blue carpet covered the floor. Above was a timber ceiling which, along with the carpet, would absorb sound.
She thought about the numerous restaurants she had been in for meetings where she could barely hear what was being said. This restaurant would be ideal. She searched her mind for a question to ask.
‘Did you spend your working life as a tailor?’
‘Oh, goodness no. It’s not a career nowadays. Too many clothes are bought off the rack or made much more cheaply by tailors in Asia. I was in merchant banking.’
‘Merchant banking?’
‘I found I was good at understanding markets and financial matters and enjoyed working with people. It was also lucrative and I was able to negotiate flexible hours when my wife became ill.’
Anna hiccupped. Ted poured her another glass of water.
Once she had composed herself, Anna spent the rest of the meal asking questions about the ins and outs of merchant banking. By the time they finished their meal, the weather had changed and a rainstorm replaced the mild winter sunshine.
‘You can’t p
ossibly take public transport in this,’ said Ted. ‘Wait here and I’ll bring my car around. I’m parked close.’
Ted insisted Anna put on her jacket and scarf to stay warm and dashed into the storm. One of the waiters held an umbrella and helped Anna get into Ted’s Mercedes.
They arrived at Suitability an hour early for the meeting.
‘I’d better go in and set up the room,’ said Anna.
‘Can I come and have a look at the place?’
Anna wanted to say no, to tell Ted he had done enough for one day, but she couldn’t find a valid excuse. He helped her out of the car and carried her bag while she discretely put the code in the key-locking device and retrieved the key.
‘The building is well located, although this laneway is not the most salubrious entrance,’ said Ted as they entered the front gate. ‘It’s in poor condition on the outside. I expect it would be bought as a pull-down so they can build a new and larger block.’
She led him up the stairs and into the showroom.
‘I can see you have put in a lot of work here. The paint almost covers the crumbling plaster. Oh, my goodness, look at the wiring. It’s dangerous.’
‘How come you know so much about buildings?’ Anna asked more sharply than she intended.
‘I am sorry. I must sound very negative. Part of my job used to be assessing properties for investment potential. It comes as second nature for me to talk about the state of a building.’
When Anna opened the door to the combined meeting and storeroom, she could sense the comments which would follow. She recalled her surprise when she first walked into the musty, overcrowded rooms. Somehow over the past few months she’d become comfortable in the space.
Ted was silent while he looked around the rooms. Bags of donated clothes were sitting on the floor. Piles of partly sorted items were strewn on the table, which she would have to clear for the meeting. There were clothes everywhere of all colours and sizes.
‘Well, you certainly get a lot of donations,’ said Ted. ‘And there is nowhere else to store these clothes?’
Anna shook her head.
‘I recognise these labels from when I shopped for my sick wife.’ Ted rummaged through some of the clothes on the table. ‘They are very expensive.’
‘We do get a lot of donations of designer labels. It’s very generous of the donors as they’d still be worth a lot of money,’ said Anna.
‘Do you ever sell any of these clothes?’
‘No. They all go to our clients.’
‘Mmmm.’
‘Do you think it is wrong that our clients wear designer clothes?’ asked Anna. She started to clear the table and set up the chairs.
‘I was thinking that if your group needs money, you could sell some of the clothes. Here, let me help you.’ Ted placed the chairs around the table.
‘I’m not sure it fits with the aims of the group.’ Anna wished Ted would leave.
‘I don’t see why not,’ said Ted. ‘Look, I’m sorry, again. I can’t help myself from meddling in other people’s business. My head fills up with crazy ideas to make money. I am truly sorry if I have offended you. Please forgive me.’
‘There’s nothing to forgive. I just need to get the notes and everything organised for the meeting. They’ll be here any minute.’
‘Of course, I must go, but I do hope to see you again soon. And Penny loves to play with Rufus.’
Anna saw Ted off the premises and returned to finish preparations for the meeting.
‘Anna, thank goodness you’re here – Claire’s running a bit late,’ said Genevieve. ‘Adore your jacket; it suits you and matches the scarf perfectly.’
Anna felt the blush intensify on her cheeks. She was too embarrassed to tell Genevieve what had happened at lunch and would take the items home to be cleaned again.
‘What can I do to help? Oh, and here’s our trusty treasurer, right on time as usual. Alice, have you met Anna?’
Anna gave Genevieve and Alice a set of papers for the meeting.
‘This is fantastic. Did you pull these together by yourself?’ asked Alice.
‘You are a gem, aren’t you?’ added Genevieve.
Anna couldn’t help the pride which rose inside her. She knew she was good at organising but had doubted whether she could do it again.
15
CLAIRE
Claire struggled up the stairs at Suitability, cursing under her breath. Next place – if there was a next place – she’d make sure it was on the ground floor.
She edged open the door to the meeting room with her elbow and hobbled in, surprised to see an organised group of people sitting around the table.
‘Welcome! You finally made it,’ said Genevieve. ‘I’ve gone through the agenda and added a few items.’
Claire sat in the vacant chair at the head of the table and shuffled through the papers.
‘Anna, you’ve done so well, very efficient. Sit down and join the meeting.’ Claire looked up and noticed the fuchsia scarf and jacket, which she recalled Anna had taken home from Suitability.
Anna sat in the spare chair beside Valda, who had arrived minutes before Claire.
‘Now let’s start on the first and main item – premises,’ said Claire. ‘I had a call from Mr Tomati just before I left home. That’s why I was late.’
‘And … ?’
‘And it’s bad news. He’s sold the property and the buyer wants vacant possession. We have three months to move out.’
‘But what will we do? I’ve been through our financial records again and we don’t have enough money to rent another place,’ said Alice.
‘What can they do to us if we’re still here?’ asked Valda. ‘Maybe we should squat, like they used to do in the seventies and eighties.’
‘People do still squat, but this is a service for women in need and they don’t want police knocking at the door.’ Claire shifted in the chair, trying to find a comfortable position.
‘Sometimes I think they were more effective then, rather than trying to achieve change through the system and being so damned polite about it,’ Genevieve said.
Claire wondered what had gotten into Genevieve, who was usually so positive about the ability to change policies and the importance of having good bureaucrats.
‘We could go on television and appeal for someone to give us premises,’ suggested Alice.
‘We could … ’
‘Do you want me to take minutes?’ offered Anna. ‘I brought some butcher’s paper in case we needed to, you know, brainstorm.’
Claire nodded, pleased with herself for getting Anna involved. She didn’t know how she did it, but she had a knack for picking people to do jobs they were good at.
‘Great idea,’ said Genevieve. ‘Here, let me help. You even brought Blu Tack. What an organiser you are.’
The women randomly called out ideas and Anna jotted them all down, even the wild ones. The paper soon filled up.
‘Now let’s review the suggestions,’ said Claire. ‘We’ll give them a number. One for ideas we want to explore, two for those we might want to explore and three for those which are out.’
‘Closing has to be a three,’ said Genevieve.
‘And using my place is a three,’ said Claire. ‘Sorry, but Anthony won’t put up with us having clothes and people everywhere again.’
‘Joining with another organisation could be a two,’ said Alice. ‘It’s a longer-term option.’
‘I think media coverage should be a one,’ said Genevieve. ‘I still have good contacts in television, and Claire always gets something in the local papers.’
‘We should do more fundraising,’ said Alice. ‘We’ll just have to think of quick ways to make money.’
‘I’m not baking lamingtons,’ said Genevieve.
Claire recalled the days when her children were in school and she hosted the lamington baking days to raise funds for music or sports equipment. She found desiccated coconut in the kitchen for weeks after.
&nb
sp; ‘We could sell some of the clothes,’ Anna blurted.
‘But they are donated for our clients – we can’t just sell them off,’ said Alice.
‘Other charities do, and we certainly have enough of them,’ said Genevieve. ‘It’d make space for us.’
‘Did you have anything particular in mind, Anna?’ Claire could sense Anna’s embarrassment. ‘Anna, it’s all right, you can say what you want here.’
‘Well, we seem to have several designer label clothes. Not that I know all of them. Maybe they would fetch a lot of money.’
‘You have something there, I think,’ said Claire. ‘A clothing sale. High end.’
‘With Champagne,’ said Genevieve. ‘We always seem to be able to get donations of champagne.’
‘French champagne,’ said Claire. ‘Chic and champagne, my two favourite French words.’
‘Maybe we could get some clothing donations from famous people,’ Valda said. ‘My friend knows the actress Catherine Beaufort, who’s returned to live in Sydney. Says she’s a great person and I’m sure she would support this organisation.’
Claire felt a rush of excitement. ‘Maybe one of the film studios could donate a costume from the movie she was in,’ she suggested. ‘The recent film set in Paris – what was it called? Don’t Forget Me.’
‘Oh, you and France,’ said Genevieve.
‘If we must move, it would be worth reducing the amount of clothing we have,’ said Alice.
‘We could have a bargain sale as well,’ said Anna. ‘We could give our former clients the opportunity to buy clothes cheaply.’
‘Great idea.’ Claire was even more impressed by Anna. ‘That way we can still be aligning with our core goals and values.’
‘Well, it’s all very well to talk about fundraising and reducing the clothing we have to move, but we don’t have anywhere to go,’ said Genevieve.
‘That’s the next item on the agenda,’ said Claire. ‘Let’s wrap up this discussion and move on.’
Anna put up a clean piece of butcher’s paper. Claire reported she’d already called a family friend who was a real estate agent, and Valda suggested putting an article in the local papers.
‘Before we rush ahead,’ said Genevieve. ‘Do we have a clear idea of what our needs are?’
The Changing Room Page 13