Eleanor

by Dave Calder

For Clara and Edward

2020

Revision  18

Contents

Sheila’s Party 3

Roads and Bridges 15

Something Different 26

Gary’s Fairy Tale 34

Eleanor’s Picnic 39

News? What News? 46

Suspicion 54

Ricki 59

Middle East 73

Another Surprise Date 80

Sheila’s Birthday 88

Gary’s Car 99

Dinner for Four? 109

Overstitching Vanessa? 132

Shopping 143

A Four Year Old Solution 148

Interminable Meetings 162

Gary's Parents 173

Ellie Takes the Lead 183

Poker Player? 192

The End 201

Sheila’s Party

Its so annoying when there's a stray phone ringing off the hook and the guy calling hasn't got the common courtesy to stop disturbing everyone when clearly the person they want to talk to isn't there.

And Sheila was becoming increasingly nervous as she let the phone ring for way longer than she had intended before it was answered, hoping she sounded calm enough and sweet enough to get away with it.

She knew about mainframe programming. That was her job after all. Computers were logical, weren’t they? And they did what they were told, didn’t they? And yet sometimes, what this one did bore no relation to what Sheila had told it to do, or at least what she thought she’d told it to do. This type of bug was uncommon, and devilishly difficult to find because they broke all the rules. 

But the good news was that there were people around who knew about these things. They didn’t work for IBM, they worked for regular user companies like the one she worked for, but at some point had found it necessary to investigate such anomalies to solve their own problems. Such people were hard to track down. They revelled in low level problems and knew how the machine itself worked and how it made its calculations, and often were so much on the same wavelength as the computer that they had difficulty talking to people and handling the real world. 

This was the domain of the geek and this is who she was trying to track down right now.

Maybe he gave up trying to ignore it or maybe he'd just come back to his desk but he sounded unflustered and quietly spoken. She explained that the hardware engineer had given her his name and although they'd never met, she was following any possibility no matter how low it's chance of success. 

He listened to her description of her problem. 

“He said you'd seen something like this before” she prompted hopefully

“Yeah. Like I've seen a compiler bug before. But it might or might not be the same as this one. Look, how long are you going to be at your office?” 

“As long as it takes, I guess” 

“Ok, we won't solve it on the phone. But I can pop over to your place and take a trawl through if you like” 

“Yes please!” she accepted, surprisingly elated at the prospect of making even the slightest progress. 

She laid out the printouts that he'd asked for and speculated about what he might look like. Maybe some 55 year old fat bald troll, gnarled by his time sat on a stool in front of a screen and keyboard for twenty years. Or maybe some secretive wimp too timid to join the real world and hiding inside computing instead. 

But no, standing in reception he was tall, but not basketball tall, slim but not like a rake, short-ish dark hair and smart appearance in light grey chinos and a proper shirt with no tie.

“You said you didn't need a purchase order? How does that work?” she asked as they climbed the stairs.

“I'm not freelance. I work for Transworld Shipping. I'm only doing this cos you asked me to” 

He sounded serious. Too serious for her! And then when he got into the depth of it, she hardly understood a word he was saying as he tried to explain the technicalities of what he was doing and how it can all go so wonderfully wrong. Here was a geek. A fully immersed fire branded geek, solving her technical problem in his own time just because. Just because? Yes, just because he was a geek. 

He drew a finger down her source code while flashing glances over to two other listings. “This is where I think your problem is. I don't think that statement is doing what you intended. It looks like it should, but its not being translated correctly. Try this” 

He scribbled half a dozen lines of code for her to insert into her system for them to try. 

It was gone 10 o'clock now and the resets were appearing on screen. 

“That looks like it's working” she said with more excitement than she'd intended. 

“Hmm” he said with enough enthusiasm to quell her rising spirits “But the one after it was 10087” he remembered without referring to any notes “and it's not there any more. So we've found your missing account and lost a different one. Or maybe not just one” 

By 1 a.m. geek had deleted his original code and inserted half a dozen new lines. But the nightly update runs were now in full swing taking priority over their test run and it took another hour to complete. 

By 4 o’clock they’d updated the code again, but this time with more confidence and submitted the live run. She followed him back to the development console in the programming office that they’d been using and was amazed to see the real time progress messages appearing there instead of the master operations console in the computer room. 

“How did you do that!”

“Magic” he replied retaining concealment of the secrets as she just stared at him as he explained “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic” 

They watched it for the next hour on the slave console but popping in and out of the main operations room

“We need to keep coming back in here” he said “We need them to think we’re still interested and we don’t want them to know we’ve cloned their console. Operators can get twitchy about things like that”.

 Everything seemed to be ok. Everything except it was taking forever to run. By 6.30 geek coded up an interrupt snapshot display deck. Oh my! She'd vaguely heard of an interrupt snapshot display run but that was the sum total of her knowledge of the subject. She’d looked at this technique, once. She’d thought it would be a useful thing to do, but when she’d asked about it she found that Operations didn't like them. They played around with the low level system and bypassed every single one of the safety and security controls, and she’d dismissed any farther interest on the grounds it was far too technical. But geek coded his off the top of his head and submitted it from the slave console he’d already cloned, so there was nothing they could do about it. 

“Look” he said shortly pointing to the screen in front of him “the whole sequence is there now, including your missing one, and the ones I lost too. Look, you can see them here one by one. The run isn't finished yet, but this is as good an indication as we're going to get that it's working properly now. But I've gotta go soon. I'm due at a meeting at 8.30. Can you phone me later just to let me know if it's ok?” 

Sheila was flabbergasted. She was aiming to go straight home and catch up on last night’s sleep. Him? He was headed for a normal day at the keyboard. 

She phoned mid-afternoon. Yes it had worked but... 

“Thought you'd be pleased! You hardly sound it!” 

“Sorry, but I've been told I need to run the same thing against the other databases and the only time I can get machine time is Saturday.” 

“I see. Bummer. Well, if there's anything I can help you with, you know where I am” 

That was kind. Way too serious, but, actually, he was quite cute - for a geek. 

The following Tuesday she phoned again, she apologised for being so downbeat before. She said she'd now sorted a lot of her other issues and asked if he would like to come to her house warming party. She was getting the keys by Saturday and the event was planned for that evening. 

But as Friday rumbled along she was back on the phone again 

“Gary?” she purred as a dead giveaway that she was about to ask for something “you know you said if there was anything you could do... I just wonder if you could do me a huge favour... In my office there's only three girls and the rest are all blokes. I've invited them all to the party tomorrow but I'm now a bit concerned that some of them might think I've invited them for... let's just say, something more. So I thought, if you're coming, and you are coming aren't you? you could pretend to be my boyfriend for the evening. Just to make sure there's no inappropriate behaviour because that would cause me all sorts of problems back here in the office, and you’d be ideal because no-one knows you”

“Sounds a bit bizarre. But hey, Sheila. Why not? So long as you don't think that everyone thinking you had a geek for a boyfriend would sluice your street cred” 

And it was even later on Friday afternoon when Gary's phone rang again. Everyone else had gone home, but he was musing over a short routine that he could include anytime to redirect the screen output like he had solving Sheila’s problem. He smiled as the first output came through. Not perfect, but the concept was working. That was one secret he wouldn’t be sharing with IBM.

Sheila was in tears “Gary thank goodness you're still there. I've just got the keys to my new house. It's in a dreadful mess. They've moved out and just left everything behind and its mess and dirt and I don't know what else everywhere.” 

“What’s the hassle? You've got all night! And all day tomorrow. Kick off is still 7 isn't it?” 

“But I've got to be back in the office to check stuff this evening and then complete everything tomorrow morning. It could go on till mid-afternoon if it goes wrong” 

“Sort yourself out a priority partition before you start. If they won’t give you one tell them you won’t be working and you’ll point your boss in their direction when it isn’t done. But your house – what about all those blokes in your office?”

“They’ve all left the office and I don’t have their home numbers”

“Ok, pretend girlfriend. I'll bowl over and sort some stuff out in the morning.” 

Gary was finding this a bit surreal. The boundaries between reality and fiction were being warped and the pretend relationship was, at least in his mind, being stretched a little too far already. Still, why not. If it helped her out. And who knows, maybe one or other of the girls from her office may be worth a chat. 

Over at the house next morning, he'd already formulated a plan of sorts when an old BMW grumbled to a halt outside. 

“Hi” the girl said nervously extracting herself from the passenger seat “I'm Eleanor, this is Jon” 

“Hi, I'm Gary” 

“And I guess you know Sheila” she probed hesitantly

“I've been helping her with some issues at work” 

“Is she around? I'm her sister. Didn’t see her car” 

“No. Working. Apparently the thing I helped her fix needs running today ahead of month end. So she's well stressed” 

They’d gone inside while Jon finished listening to something on the car radio. 

“Oh my goodness!” she exclaimed “what a mess!” 

“Yeah. And everyone coming in later might think she actually lives here” 

“No wonder she's stressed” 

“Yes, she asked me to come over” 

“You know her well?” 

“Nooo. But you know, there are some people you met a long time ago but hardly know at all. Others you met yesterday and feel like you know them inside out already” 

“But I thought you worked with her. Its not that big a company” 

“No. I work for TS. Some dude gave her my number saying I might know the answer” 

“And did you” 

“Eventually” 

“You must be her favourite guy, then” she teased 

“Doubt it. I'm just a geek. But a helpful geek. Look, I've made a start” 

She followed him into the kitchen as Jon finally left the car 

“And I've cut that grass” 

“Cut the grass! Look at this place! It’s a dump! And you're cutting frigging grass” he said as he finally caught up. Gary shrugged and continued moving crockery out onto the kitchen table which he'd relocated to the lawn beyond the patio. 

“Gotta catch the card for the 11.30 at Lingfield” he muttered by way of explanation for his exit to the front room.

“I figured the kitchen would be the place to start. A lot of activity will be based here, setting up everything and then during the event. I was getting this crockery out to wash ready for some food and then give the cupboards a wipe while they’re empty.” 

Outside he turned the hose on the table, cleaning it and rinsing it before washing the bowls and plates from a large bucket, letting the splashes and drips fall onto the grass as she brought more out.

“You see, if we did this on the patio, we'd be knee deep in dirty water and mouldy bits of everything and we'll keep taking them back in on our shoes. Here, they’ll just fall into the ground and we can hose it all away” 

Smart move - so that's why he cut the grass.

“Oi! If you're just doin' more grass cuttin' out there get in and help me fix this television. Its got no signal”. 

Gary followed her through towards the front room. 

“Is the aerial plugged in” she asked innocently. 

“Of course its plugged in. What d'you think I’m stupid or something?” 

Gary turned at the door and headed upstairs to the bedroom. Whoa! It didn’t half honk in here, but he did find what he was looking for. 

“Thought you were fixing this TV, not sorting out the wardrobe!” as he reappeared with a wire coat hanger. 

He crossed the room without a look or a word and wiggled it into the aerial socket. The picture sprang into life and Jon lost no time changing the channel and gluing his eyes to the screen. 

Gary returned to the kitchen and hurried through the cleaning, letting everything dry in the morning sun while Eleanor concentrated on the hall and front room, attracting only mild abuse for interrupting the racing results. 

“Saints and Madonna! Vieverey told me it was a dead cert to win. Rats! I had thirty quid on that” 

Eleanor evacuated to the kitchen “His horse came in second to last” she said by way of explanation.

“Second to last?” Gary emphasised “Why? Was there a three legged donkey running as well” he said with a straight face and purely enquiring tone. 

“Come on” called Jon from the hall “We're going to get some lunch now. Can't see there'll be anything to eat at this party later so we'd better get noshed up now” 

She heaved a big sigh “Have to see if I can do something with that front bedroom when I get back - there's so much to do!” 

“Yes. It smells like something died up there. Hopefully it's not the previous resident. You can't just bundle a dead geriatric into a bin liner like you can with a cat or a dog. Its considered impolite”

He finished hoovering the living room around where Jon had been spilling crumbs, restacked the kitchen cupboards leaving out bowls for nibbles and started on the bedrooms. He folded back the sheets and hung the duvet on the line. The smell was from a small rat caught in a trap under the bed and Gary lobbed the pungent duo into a bin liner, tied the neck and put it in next door’s bin.

He cleared the dust from the top shelf in the front room, opened as many windows as he could and headed to the supermarket. He quite liked looking round the shelves. It gave him ideas for recipes, but today it was more of a dash. Crisps, peanuts and a whole raft of bite sized delicacies from the party food section. Sausages, sausage rolls, sausages with things on sticks, other things that looked like sausages but were labelled as chicken something. And drinks. Lemonade, squash, coke, juice, tonic, American dry…. 

“Hey bud, looks like you need some beer in there” 

“Yeah! Thanks dude” 

Beer? Yes, but given what he knew, a keg from the brewery would be a better bet. He checked his watch and reckoned he had time even if he did have to pick up his music system from his flat. 

But, leave it all in the car. Don’t want any of this sitting around in that house if its not needed. This is all just in case. Just in case? Yes, he told himself, just in case you throw a party yourself next weekend or maybe the one after if Sheila's already got all this sorted. 

But Sheila wasn’t even there when he got back at gone 4.30 although Eleanor had cleared the garden

“Gary we....” 

“Come on” Jon interrupted before she had started “You need to get home and changed. You're nowhere near sexy enough for me to take to a party” 

Gary watched the frustration rippling across her face, but just smiled as sympathetically as he could. Alone again in the house, he unloaded his amp and tape deck and installed them on the top shelf, hopefully out of the way of any flying liquids. He hid his speakers in oversized dustbin liners, knowing they’d be used as drinks tables and by 6 he was ready to roll. Eleanor bundled in but Jon was steaming. He barged into the front room and switched the TV on to the late racing results breathing a sigh of ‘Just in time’ relief. 

Back in the hallway Eleanor was running a frantic finger through her already getting out of place hair. Gary smiled at her “You look fabulous” 

“Thanks, but I won’t do for long. Gary, I’ve not done anything yet about drinks, or food or anything” 

Gary frowned at her as if to ask why not “I've not been able to get out. We've had to watch the pigging racing all afternoon” 

Gary tried hard not to look too disapproving 

“Bowls and plates are out ready in the kitchen. There's food in my car” 

Her eyes widened as the words sank in.

“Oi!. turn this friggin' music down. I can’t hardly hear the results” 

Gary handed her his keys. “Red 4 by 4. Just a few doors down this side. Looks a bit like a Land Rover” 

He placated Jon then followed her out to get the keg. 

Sheila finally showed up half an hour later. She looked like she might explode, or maybe just die of frustration until she made it to the kitchen.

“Ellie! You star! Did you fix all this? Fantastic. I knew I could rely on you to save me” 

And almost immediately people starting arriving. Gary turned the music back up and Jon poured himself a pint.

Girls were in short supply at this party. Sheila had hinted at that when she invited him, but no matter. He had to pop back to make sure no-one was getting too frisky with his pretend girlfriend and that meant that progress with anyone else was distinctly limited.

The music tape he was playing was about 4 hours long, so come 10 o’clock, he’d just flip it over and play the next 4 hours. That should be enough.

And enough it was. The drift homeward started around one o’clock and no-one was left in the front room by two. He packed his music system into the car turning the sticky side of the speaker bin bags to the inside to use for clearing up and eventually returned to the kitchen. Eleanor was there with Jon, and Sheila was there as well except she was a bit more entangled with a guy he recognised as having been hovering around her all evening. She was clearly a little the worse for wear, but managed a drunken ‘Hi Gary’.

But Gary felt less than welcome. Two girls, two guys – and him.

“Guess I’ll be going – see you around” he said with some finality. Eleanor looked on, mortified, as Gary smiled weakly. 

It was mid-morning on Monday that Gary’s phone burst into life.

“Hi is that Gary Aldridge?”

“Yes”

“Hi, my name’s Pete. I work with Sheila Farnell”

“Oh yeah”

“I think you’re the guy that helped her with her compiler problem, and I wondered if you could talk me through that interrupt deck you wrote for her”

“O Pete. Look, I’m really sorry buddy but the interrupt deck stuff is all in the IBM book”

“Yeah but I…”

“And, Pete, look, I spent that whole night with Sheila – right through to nearly 8 the next morning just ahead of my first meeting. Didn’t even get a wink of sleep”

“Spent the night with her?”

“Yeah. And she hadn’t even organised a priority partition and the system was dead slow with batch. It just took forever. And I’m really up to neck over here. So I’m going to have to get on with some work for my company instead. Look, I’m sorry, but I can’t help you. Sorry buddy. Cheers”.

Gary made good progress, now with his mind concentrated on the job in hand and he was left in peace till late afternoon when his phone rang again. He scowled at it as it continued insolently to interrupt him – twice! In one day!

“Gary Aldridge” 

“Gary?”

“Yes”

“Gary, its Eleanor. I’m so….”
 “Oh wow! What a wonderful surprise” he interrupted

“Oh! Thankyou. But Gary, I’m so embarrassed about Saturday. I’m surprised you’re still talking to any of us, and I’ll understand if you just hang up on me”

“Now, now. Don’t start getting upset and stressed. We did enough of that on Saturday”

“Thankyou. But I don’t think Sheila even said thankyou. And after everything you did!”

“No, she thought it was all you and Jon. I don’t think she even considered where the sounds were coming from. But never mind. Thankyous come in different forms. Sometimes it’s a hug or a kiss, sometimes just a few words, sometimes flowers or a small donation to the beer fund. My guess is that she couldn’t make up her mind which one was most appropriate”

“Gary, that’s so kind of you. But I had to call you even if all I can offer you over the phone is a few words”

“She’s your sister, isn’t she?”
 “Yes, and its not the first time I’ve tried to pick up the pieces after her”
 “Good for you. I’ve never had to do that for my sister”

“Lucky you!”
 “Because I haven’t got one”

She chuckled

“And then at the end – she just let you go because she was with Ricki. I thought you two were, you know, an item”

“Hmmm – by there hangs a tale. And maybe she’ll tell you about it some time. But that’s ok. She looked like she was chasing him all evening anyway – no surprises there”

“The more I think about it, the more I remember it, the less I think that I can apologise enough”

“Look, you phoning me up is enough. Clearly you thought about this and that’s a big deal to me. Saturday is history and the way I think is that today is the day before tomorrow, not the day after yesterday. The money’s spent, the party’s over and the girls have all gone home. But thanks for phoning. I really appreciate that”

He heard her broken voice at the other end of the line. Maybe she was crying “Gary – thankyou for everything you did”

“That’s ok. No problem. ‘Bye Eleanor. Be kind to someone for me, will you.”

But Eleanor had expected him to be really cross and instead he only sounded really disappointed. She hung the phone up close to tears with that last phrase still ringing in her ears. 

Roads and Bridges

Gary got back to flicking through the vintage pages of Exchange and Mart while also pondering another programming puzzle but back at her office Eleanor was distraught. She’d made the call to Gary, so that was done, but it seemed to be replaying itself on loop inside her head. She had a meeting in ten minutes and needed to tidy herself up. The supplier had already arrived, but her mind was still somewhere completely different.

The meeting drifted along leaving her behind for most of the way, and only near the end did she manage to tune in to it and interrupt the flow of negotiations

“Sorry guys. But are you seriously suggesting a 22 ½ percent rise! There’s no way we’re paying that. I suggest that you go back to your office and completely rethink your strategy. Its back to the drawing board”
 “But Miss Farnell, we haven’t passed on a price rise in three years!” 

“That is not my issue. My issue is that I cannot raise the cost to our customers by over 20%. And that means we cannot pay you 22 ½. Has anyone anything to add? Good. I’ll be happy to meet you guys again if you have something constructive to offer”

The visitors trudged out dejectedly and she found herself alone in the conference room with her boss.

“Ellie? What’s got into you?”

“Well we can’t, can we!”

“No, I know we can’t. But….”

“But nothing. We can’t raise our price that much in retail. We can’t take that much hit on the margin and we’re certainly not going into a deal knowing we’ll make a loss”

“You are right, but..”
 “But nothing, Ben. It speaks for itself. I’m fed up with people taking the rind”

“Ok, Eleanor. Just calm down”

“Maybe they’ll take us more seriously next time”

Her head was still spinning the next day. She’d met Jon as usual in the evening in the Red Lion and as usual had only a couple of drinks so that she could drive him home. Jon had, if anything, more to drink than usual, and this was an issue for her. He’d lost on every horse at the weekend and now was scrounging drinks right left and centre. Which would be ok until they had to be paid back, and she wasn’t looking forward to that. He’d moan something chronic at everyone’s lack of generosity. But now thinking things couldn’t get any worse, it was closing time and they just did.

Ben was at her desk next morning picking up exactly where he left off “But we put the retail price up last year and the year before”
 “Of course we did. But we can’t write off future losses on the product against historical profits. What sort of accounting is that?”
 “We need to find a way of maintaining the continuity of that line. Its very popular”
 “It won’t be if the price goes up by a quarter. Look, Ben, I know about the continuity and I’ve done some numbers. We can go to 15%. Supposing I phone them and tell them its 15 non-negotiable”

The supplier thanked her for the pro-activity and the concession and provisionally accepted the deal pending its approval at a more senior level. She felt better, or at least not quite so bad. She wasn’t a hard bargaining person. She wasn’t a hard person at all. She wasn’t sure why she was in the buying department in the first place. But it was a job and it paid well. Even well enough to pay off Jon’s drinks tab. But that wasn’t the problem.

She reached for the phone and hesitantly dialled Transworld Shipping – then hung up. Maybe not, she thought. She tried again two minutes later and chickened out - again. On the third attempt she held on long enough for the switchboard to transfer her as she bit her lower lip so hard she began to taste blood.

“Gary?”

“Yes”

 “Gary, its Eleanor. I was…”
 “Eleanor, what a lovely unexpected pleasure. No less in fact than before”

“Gary. You’re so kind”

“So what can I do for you?” 

“I just wondered if you’d like to meet me for a drink?”

“Em. Yeah. Like, for sure.” 

Gary tried as hard as he could to sound enthusiastic rather than sceptically surprised but couldn’t help thinking that there must be more to it than this

 “Ok. Give me a time and date”
 “This evening – if you can? After work, say six? In the White Hart just off the square in town”

Gary left his office in plenty of time. He ordered a beer and tried to visualise what she might be wearing. She’d be coming straight from work but he knew nothing about what she did. He perched at the bar as the pub began to fill up with the usual supply of after work part time alcoholics. 

She was wearing a nervous smile as he watched her edge her way towards him, but was smartly dressed – skirt not too short - executive style rather than admin while retaining a distinct femininity.

“What would you like?” 

“Sorry? Oh, Jon always just gets me a half of lager” 

“Maybe. But what would you like? You don't really strike me as a lager lout, more a Bacardi babe” 

He led her away from the bar to a quieter area. This would normally be for eaters rather than drinkers, but it was still early and it was almost deserted. 

“Half of lager!” he teased “some traditions are worth retaining, others ought to be questioned” 

She chuckled, but soon returned to a serious, even sad face. She talked about her meeting and her work as a buyer and he listened with a few encouraging so-s and and-s and waited for a natural pause 

“That all seems fairly clear cut, not that they've definitely accepted your lower offer yet”

“Nooo…” she trailed off as if maybe she wasn’t thinking about that at all.

“Hmmm. Eleanor, I may be wrong, but I think that maybe something else is preying on your mind. Of course, it could be just me, but then there’s a door over there if you felt that bad…”

“… No!  no, Gary, I’m trying hard not to ….”

“… There’s a ‘but’ in there somewhere. So now I know there is something else” 

“Yes” 

“Are you going to let me into the secret? “

 “Gary, I’ve got a problem and I want to talk it through with someone so that I can get it clear in my head. No. Scrub that. Gary, I want to talk it through with you”

“Me?”

“Yes. I know we hardly know each other, but every time there’s been an issue, you’ve just quietly solved it, without fuss or bother, with no ceremony or fanfare. And .. .. and I want you to help me solve this”

He could hear the marginal confidence fading as she raised her head to face him with a hopeful plea in her eyes that broke into more of a smile as she realised he’d not immediately bolted for the door. Now some of her tension started to fade as she was finding it so easy to be with him. 

“I'll get another round in. You think about where to start” 

She was still thinking when he returned 

“But don't start at the beginning, we'll be here forever. I think we only need the history that has a direct impact” 

“Thankyou” she smiled faintly taking a sip from the new glass. “Ok. Ok. I was in the pub with Jon last night. I nearly had to pour him into the car at closing time. Anyway, he suddenly blurts out 'Ell'. I hate being called Ell. It makes me feel 18 inches tall… “ 

“Oh I don't know” interrupted Gary “L isn’t so bad. The precursor to M who is James Bond’s controller, and follows K which is a special cereal from a leading supplier - other cereals are available” 

She laughed – it was so easy just to laugh with him - even if it wasn’t that funny.

“And it could be worse” he continued “you could be called Hannah and that would be shortened to Han’ and a hand is only 6 inches” 

That brought a full sized grin to her face and a big sigh. She took a long sip from her glass and continued. 

“Anyway, as he was getting out of the car he said 'Ell, we've been seeing each other for years now and that's long enough. So we're getting married. Next April should be ok. Time enough to get planned’ .” 

Gary refrained from congratulating her. This clearly was her issue that she wanted to talk about. That stuff with her suppliers was just the warmup act. 

“Naturally, you shouted ‘yeahhh’ as loud as you could” he said just as he bounced up from his chair and called ‘eehah’ loudly across the bar 

“Sorry”, he apologised to the people two tables along “just anticipating her answer to the next question.” 

Her jaw fell open as he sat back down “Gary how embarrassing. I can't believe you said that!” 

But the grin across her face showed so clearly she was in no way upset and that any residual ice between them had been well and truly melted.

“Sorry. I won’t interrupt any more – or not much anyway”

“Ok! No, no I didn't shout yeehah, or anything else. I was dumbfounded. Speechless. All I managed to say was ask me again tomorrow when you've sobered up” 

They looked at each other for several moments 

“I mean, we've been going out for nearly three years. The next logical step is to get engaged, and then married….” 

“But…?” he prompted, but there was no continuation. 

“So are you disappointed that it wasn't as romantic a proposal as you'd hoped?” 

She frowned, taking the question seriously. 

“I suppose that's part of it” 

“Or maybe that you weren't expecting it. If not, what were you expecting?” 

“No, I wasn't expecting it. I…  I didn't shout Yeehah” 

“And that might indicate you don't really want to do this thing. If I asked someone that question and they didn't answer yes so quickly that I thought it was an echo, I'd retract the offer for lack of enthusiasm. Getting married is something you really need to want to do. Its Yeehah! not just yeah, whatever” 

She nodded slowly “but it's not just that Gary. He didn't ask me. He just told me. And I’ve been thinking - he tells me everything. He tells me I'm having half of lager, he tells me we're going to the pub to see his mates. He tells me we’re watching the racing because he's got a sure bet on a cart horse. He tells me I’m paying his bar tab. And I don't think I want to live like that. I don't want it any more and having that for the rest of my life scares me” 

She ran her fingers through her hair

“What do you think?” she asked after a long pause “you see, that's why I wanted to talk to you. Sheila or maybe Katie at work would be sympathetic and then tell me it's my decision, and I need to do what's right for me. A ghost like that doesn't help. I know all that already. But I need some help thinking it through. And that’s why I asked you, because you think ahead and think things through, and not everyone can do that”

He paused a moment absorbing the compliment – if it was one. 

“Ok. And for sure its your decision in the end. But, Eleanor, I can only give you my perspective. Let me just set a background of what it would be like for me. And because its me, my analogy involves cars. You like cars?” 

“Yes, my dad’s in the trade” 

“So if it was me, I’d be driving an Aston Martin. Fat chance, but that’s the fantasy. Now, I really like my mum, so I give her a lift to work and back every day. So, as I’m driving to work, no matter how attractive that girl is at the bus stop in the pouring rain, or how much she smiles at me in the traffic queue hoping I'll invite her to take a ride, I can't. And that's because my passenger seat is already taken. Now, I'm never going to make any progress with my mum. No Oedipus Rex for me. And I'm never going to get engaged to her. But if she's always in my passenger seat, how am I ever going to take advantage of the opportunities that come along to find someone who is right for me.

You see, you didn't jump at the chance, and that means you don’t really want to do this thing. And that means you shouldn't. And not just that, if you don't want to marry him now after 3 years, what needs to change so that you do sometime in the future?” 

She was clearly trying to reconcile this analogy until Gary broke the silence “Is this helping, or am I just confusing or annoying you?”

“Oh, no. no, Please Gary. I’m beginning to form a picture”

“Ok, maybe I should draw a little road map. Look, here’s the road and you’re on it. Along the way there are side turnings and you have to decide which way you’re going to go. See, this one – you had to decide whether to go to Uni after school, or just get a job”
 “I didn’t have that choice, I didn’t get the grades”

“Ok so that one was easy. Now way over here there are bridges along the road that you might want to cross. You will inevitably get to those bridges if you just follow the road you're on. Here’s one. Its called getting married. Getting engaged is just the official start of the planning phase for that project. Also along here there’s one called having kids – one, two, maybe a whole football team - and I imagine you’ve already decided whether you’d like to have kids or not – given that you meet the right guy, and that means you need to get yourself onto a road that leads there. You need to be with a kids guy or with a no kids guy depending on your choice before you get to the getting married bridge. Look, here’s another fork in the road that leads to different lifestyles. Whether you want to be suburban, or just travel the world like a nomad. Opt for an emotional constant or to be continually the emotional hunter. Boring stability or rollercoaster.

 Now, back here somewhere you met a guy called Jon and you decided to go out with him. So, with him in your passenger seat you’re now approaching this bridge. So if you cross this bridge with Jon, will you both be making the same choices at the next junctions and bridges – like having kids, living on a kibbutz, becoming bank robbers, private education….”

“Private Education! Jon would never afford that. He gambles every penny”

“And is that the lifestyle you want?”

She paused, looking forlorn, but was interrupted by the waitress “Excuse me Sir, Madam, but this is the restaurant area. Are you dining with us tonight?”

Gary looked up, startled “Em, yes I guess I gotta eat somewhere. Eleanor, will you join me?”

“Em.  I… well, yes please, thankyou”

“I’ll bring you a menu”

“Sorry, I didn’t know if you had to rush home”

“Me? Oh, no. The default in our house is you’re out unless you tell mum you’ll be in. Mums ok if I tell her I’ll be in and she’ll cater for it, but otherwise…”
 “.. oh! So you live at home”

“Yeah. I guess I just never felt the need to move out. But Gary, you’re talking as if I had a choice. Jon’s already told me what’s happening”

Gary paused then turned sharply towards her “Right!” he snapped “Stand up! Now! Take all your clothes off. Come on, you’ve already got your coat off, now the rest. Dress, bra, shoes, tights, panties. On the floor with them. Now would be good!”

“But.. but I can’t do that. I..”
 “Come on – chop- chop”

“Gary, stop it you're frightening me!”

He reached out and gently touched her arm “Of course you can’t” he said gently “It’s a ridiculous request. And because its ridiculous you have to say no. Just because someone tells you to do something still leaves you with the choice of whether to do it or not. There’s no law ever been made that hasn’t been broken. You said no to that price rise in your meeting. Now you need to say no to me. None of these decisions is inevitable”

She heaved a huge sigh of relief “I thought you were being serious”

“Anyway you told him to ask you again tomorrow. Was that tomorrow from yesterday or tomorrow from today?”
 “Yesterday, so that would be today”
 “And?”

“I haven’t spoken to him”

“Surely he wouldn’t just ask you on the phone!”

“Probably. But I think I’m actually relieved that he hasn’t”

She heaved another big sigh gazing down at the scribbled diagrams

“So what do I do?”

“Eleanor, I already said I can’t and I won’t tell you what to do. But look. Here’s another bridge”

“But its not joined to the road”

“No. And you’ll see why. Over this side of the bridge is a place called suburbia. This place here is called super yacht with its bridge.  Here’s a third bridge. Now if you’re here” he said pointing back to the original drawing “And you want to get to this place called superyacht, what do you need to do now to get there. What route do you need to take and what forks in the road do you need to follow?”

“I don’t know. I’m not quite with this”
 “Ok, if you dream about life with the super rich, you need to meet that kind of person. To get involved with an oligarch you need to meet one. Now I can guarantee there aren’t any in this pub. So instead of drinking in a town centre bar every night you need to go to St Tropez or Monaco where guys like that hang out”
 “Ok, but I can’t afford that”
 “So what do you need to do to save up enough to go there and stay long enough to succeed in the mission”
 “Oh, I get it. What you’re saying is I should work out where I want to get to and then work back to see what I need to do today to get there”
 “Yes, but it can work both ways. You can see where the road is taking you that you’ve started on, or if you’ve already decided you want to marry a billionaire, now you have to start to achieve that”
 “Actually, I’m not sure I’d like that. My only experience of that life is through movies and TV and its full of unpleasant and unhappy people”
“Everywhere has its fair share of them, but lets go to this bridge number three. The other side of that bridge is a place called smelly 8^th floor flat in the Cornfields Estate and there’s a direct road to that bridge from the Red Lion because that’s where these people are going to spend 50 years of their life - unless they win the pools.”

She sat puzzling over the maps fitting her entire life into half a dozen icons.

“So what about you Gary? Have you got a map for yourself?”
 “Kind of, I guess. In the analogy, I’m sort of on a touring holiday. I’m taking different roads, seeing where they lead and predicting if that’s a place I want to get to. But I’m also keeping track of the junctions so I can get back to somewhere if I need to. There are bridges I want to cross, but they may not be on the road I’m on now. So yeah, I’m kinda cruising - with no permanent resident in the passenger seat so I don’t need to ask anyone else about the turnings I take, bridges I cross - and the ones I burn. But Eleanor, with Jon in your passenger seat there's no room for anyone else and the bridges on your road are fairly clear cut. You’re with him by default rather than design and its only now that you’ve started to think about it that the future is not inevitable” 

The conversation turned to food, and in particular spicy food as they ate. It was relaxed. The stress had managed to dissipate somewhere. “I need to get you a drink” she said as they finished “Can’t have you paying for me all the time.”

She put the glasses down and moved to sit beside him instead of across the table

“I was right in one thing. Asking you to talk it through with me. Sheila would only have told me it was my decision and she shouldn’t interfere. Are you going to see her again? After the party, its left me a bit confused”

“Why?”

“Because she referred to you all night as her boyfriend and then at the end had wrapped herself around Ricki”

“Yeah, that was kind of expected, although I wouldn’t know Ricki from Abraham”

“But you don’t seem too concerned about it “
 “No, not at all. It was always set up that way. I was just there to pretend to be her boyfriend to prevent any of her work colleagues getting too frisky with her because that would cause no end of issues in her office”

“And you went along with that!”
 “Yeah. She asked me to”

“Actually, that makes me feel a whole lot better. Even if that sounds cruel. I wasn’t sure how I was going to explain why I spent all evening in a pub with my sister’s boyfriend”

“But you will phone me and tell me what you’ve decided to do, won’t you?”

“Why?”
 “Just interested to know if I’ve been any help”

“Are you asking me or telling me?”

“I’m asking you to. But either way its up to you if you do or not”

It was Friday morning she phoned. Gary had scheduled to give up waiting at close of work, and in any case, it hardly mattered to him, did it?

“I’m not doing anything” she said “You see, he hasn’t asked me yet. I saw him, briefly, yesterday, but he spent all his time with his mates at the bar and hardly spoke to me and he didn’t mention it so maybe he’s forgotten”

“Poor you, never mind. I guess you’ve got a fun weekend planned?”

“Not really. Usual stuff, which is not much. Jon follows Town and they’re playing away tomorrow. Sometimes he invites me too, but sitting on a train swigging cans and singing football chants for 6 or 8 hours is just not my scene”

“Oh that is sad. Look, Eleanor, if you’re at a loose end, maybe we could take some time together tomorrow”

“What? You and me?”                     

“Yeah. I guess I don’t know you very well, but I could take a guess and set up something I think you’d like”

“Really?  Something I’d like? Not just something you’d like?”

“Yeah, we could go out for the day. Never know, it might even cheer you up a bit”

“Em,”

“Sounds like that’s a definite maybe, or maybe it sounds like you’ve got some angle on this”

“Kind of. Its just Sheila. You were quite adamant you weren’t her boyfriend, and that figures with her attention to Ricki. But, .. .. But I also heard you spent the night with her, and that doesn’t quite fit in”

Gary burst out laughing “Yah, but if I’d been going out with her for that long, surely she’d have mentioned it to you. But I did wonder how long that would take to go all the way round and back. Can I tell you about that tomorrow?”

“Em… Ok”
 

Something Different

Next morning, Ellie was buzzing. She hadn’t felt like this since she was, oh, maybe seventeen, and Gary was envisaging what her reaction was going to be at the ‘spent all night with’ accusation. 

“I hope you like this surprise” he told her as they met “It’s a bit like telling you what you're going to do, but I think you're going to like it. I hope so anyway”

“Any clues?”

“Like?”

“Are we going to do something or just watch something?”

“First we’re going to drive about 40 minutes. You can’t do this anywhere nearer. And you did bring some trainers or flat shoes like I said?”

“Yes. So we’ll be doing something?”

“Yes. We’ll be doing, but there’s a lot of watching involved too. We’re headed for some quiet countryside time. And definitely no football chants”

“Sounds nice”

“I thought you were more of a quiet thoughtful person than a frantic adrenalin seeker”

 “Right so far”

“Lunch will be at a waterside pub”

“That sounds nice too. And then?”

“Depends if you’re enjoying yourself or just putting up with it because you don’t have a choice except to walk home”

They pulled off the main road into a lane, and a mile on, pulled off the lane onto a track. They bounced along for a couple of hundred yards and pulled in through the gates of a ….

“Boatyard?”

“Hope I’m not too far off the mark, but I thought you’d like a quiet little cruise up the canal through the countryside, just sit back, watch some ducks, maybe find a kingfisher, take in the scenery”

He watched her face light up “We’re doing what? Really? Gary, I’ve never been on a canal. Are there loads of people going?”

Gary looked blank “Just two – you and me”

“And the driver”

“No, we have to do that ourselves. So just, you and me. Two of us”

“And three’s a crowd. Right?”

“I don’t like crowds that much. What I really wanted was to spend some time with you, and give you a chance to wind down and I thought you’d like this as a quiet distraction without being too boring”

Keys were exchanged, minimal instruction given and then the two of them were alone with the unobtrusive chug chug of a marine diesel. The narrow boat was shorter than she’d seen before. Not that she’d seen very many and she sat at the back with him and talked about everything. The scenery was sedately drifting by as he handed her the tiller. He put his hand on hers as he helped her get the idea behind how to avoid both of the banks at the same time. That had some success but she still managed to hit the jetty as they moored at the pub although no-one seemed to mind or even notice. 

Eleanor found lunch to be quite magical with the gentle splash of the ripples on the boats as bluetits and chaffinches hopped around the table trying to pinch crumbs from their plates.

After lunch they continued on for a bit before turning. They munched the chocolate bar and shared the can that Gary retrieved from his coat and headed back as slowly as they’d got there. They spent nearly an hour at one of the locks as the family coming up managed to get it all round their collective necks and they helped them recover closing the downstream paddles and stabilising the flow. 

Back in the car, she beamed over at him. Her face had picked up some colour from the mild breeze and the sunshine reflecting off the water, but there was no doubt that Gary had guessed right.

“Thought we’d pick up something to eat on the way back, if you want to?”
 “Mmmm?”

“There’s a quirky little pub in a village called Frigglesthwaite. Its called the Odd Farmer. As far as I know, the sign used to say the Old Farmers Arms. Then the sign broke and it became the Old Farmer until someone graffiti-ed it and the name stuck”

She chuckled “Sounds amazing. Lets do it!”

Now parked outside her house, the day was coming to an end with a strange formality.

“Gary thankyou. That was maybe the best day of my whole life”

“I’m so glad you liked it. Thankyou so much for coming with me”

Her face fell and the happy bubbly look he could still just see in the fading light had turned to sadness

“Its all nearly over!” she said trying to prolong it.

They leant over towards each other and their lips met briefly

“I think you told me once that a little kiss could say thankyou so much better than words”

“Yes. And a big kiss means something completely different.  But Ellie, can I see you again? What about we have a drink in the White Hart on Wednesday. We could meet up after work, a bit like before”

He thought he saw her nodding as the smile returned “I’ll phone you” she said as she opened her gate “promise”.

Wednesday came round all too slowly, although Gary reflected to himself, there’s a very good chance that she’ll decide against it. He didn’t even know if she’d made any decision on Jon, and even if she did, there was no certainty she’d want to see him again anyway. She might even blame him for the whole mess she was now in. But the scrawled message as he returned to his desk changed the day

‘5.30 as discussed. Hope you can still make it’

The White Hart was heaving, and they evacuated to a quieter bar. That seemed to set the trend for everyone else in town and they moved on again into what turned out to be a bit of a pub crawl. He poured her into a taxi at gone 11.30 and walked the hour home hoping that tomorrow he’d remember which pub he parked his car at.

They’d tentatively made another date for Saturday but he’d said she should phone him. She was busy at work but Friday she was still on a high from her supplier meeting where she thought Ben was going to shrivel up and hide in a corner. No messing, so definitive. She’d already worked out where she wanted to end up and was fearlessly pursuing it. She said exactly what she wanted and how far she was prepared to compromise and would not move from that position. They were agreeing to what she wanted, and she felt better for not being downtrodden or steamrollered. The deal was sealed and now, even if she was not in control of the whole situation, she felt that she was in control of herself. 

And now she could find time to phone Gary.

“There’s something I’d like to do tomorrow” he said

“Does it involve me?”

“I have to be careful you don’t get the wrong idea when you ask questions like that”

“Oh, that’s not fair. That’s not what I meant! And anyway, you still haven’t explained your one night stand with my sister”

“Tomorrow. I’ll tell you all about it. In about half a minute”

“Ok, so what do you want to do?”
 “I want to go and see a car”

“What, just look at it?”
 “Sort of. I’m thinking of buying it, but if you don’t want to come with me, I’ll try to arrange that for Sunday instead and think of something else for us tomorrow”

“No, that’s Ok. Is it a new car?”
 “No, but it won’t take all day anyway. Its just this side of Bristol, so we can get that done by lunchtime. We can take advantage of being up that way to grab a bite at somewhere you might not normally go. Then maybe just something simple like a walk along a wooded stream, or maybe along the beach”

“I’d like that. Its been a hectic week and a little quiet time would be good”

“Are you sure? I want to do something you want to do too”
 “Sure Gary. I quite like cars. My dad’s in the business, although I think I got a bit fed up with him going on about them when I was younger”

But this hardly prepared her for the viewing. They found the address and even found their way around to the workshops at the back. A large aggressive man appeared from a low doorway, breathless and somewhat flustered until Gary introduced himself.

He disappeared back into his house and re-appeared now wearing a shirt over his grubby vest. He unlocked the garage and there it was. Burgundy red, matching hub caps on narrow wheels. 4 large exposed headlights, tiny sidelights on top of wide outboard wheel arches that flowed down the side of the car as full length running boards and a narrowing trapezoid bonnet. Her eyes opened wide “What….is that?”
 “It’s a 1949 Riley RMB” he replied giving the car more attention than her.

“You wanna drive it? You driven somit like this before? S’got a pre-selector”

“I’ll just take a look round first, if that’s ok with you”
 “Sure – ‘elp yir sel’ “

Gary unfolded a sheet of polythene for crawling underneath and she ran her fingers across the polished surface occasionally stepping over his legs as the only visible part. This was post war luxury at its best without buying a Rolls Royce as she opened the back door and sat inside.  The leather was soft and worn and the walnut picnic table folded smoothly and silently out from the back of the driver’s seat. She lay back trying to imagine what it would have been like owning one of these with the lifestyle that went with it in the euphoria following the end of the war. Eventually he emerged and unhooked the bonnet catches to poke around in the engine. 

“You ok?” she asked seeing a wide black mark down his face

“Yeah. I was better until someone sat in the car and pressed the exhaust pipe down onto me”

“Ooops”

Silently she pointed out some of the bodywork blemishes that she’d come across, mainly around the rear wheel arches, as the seller returned.

Gary raised a friendly smile to the guy

“Hi, yeah. You see, I’m ok doing mechanical stuff which is all good, its in really good shape, but I’m not so good on welding and paint and stuff like we need around the inside at the rear arches there. So I think I’ll leave it if that’s ok with you”

“It’s up to you. Its good price”

“I appreciate that, but it’s a ‘no’ from me. But thanks for your time and for letting us take a look”

That, she reflected on the way back south, was a polite but firm no. No offence, no attack, no blame, no real reason, no list of problems issues or faults. Just thanks but no thanks.

“Thanks for coming with me. And thanks as well for pointing out the bubbles in the paintwork”

“He said it was a good price”

“He also said in the advert it was fully restored. In fact, what he’s done is a decent job of painting over the rust”

“But you didn’t tell him that?” 

“No, what’s the point? If I bought this I would have to get someone to do the bodywork restoration for me and that’s expensive. Engines and mechanical things I can do myself, and that’s cheap. I guess he’s the same otherwise he’d have done it all already. But there’s no point in upsetting him by listing the reasons”

“But he might have dropped the price”
 “In which case he’d feel either that he’d been found out, or that he’d been short changed if he thinks he’s done a good job. But you sound like you liked it?”

“Yes. I think I’d quite like running around in one of those. But then again, maybe I’m not that much of an exhibitionist”

The afternoon walk up the side of a tumbling stream was idyllic. He took hold of her hand crossing some rocks and didn’t let go all the way back to the car. 

They stopped at a village pub half an hour from home and took up residence in the garden sipping a drink until the kitchen opened for dinner.

“Wednesday?” he asked as he stopped the car outside her house and she leaned over for a goodnight kiss that said just more than thankyou

“Yes please. I’ll phone you Tuesday. Might be some update by then – Oh, and please remember to tell me about Sheila. I keep forgetting”
 “Maybe its just not important”
 “It is to me!”

“Look – I said this would take half a minute”

“I can’t believe that! I heard you’d spent the night with her and I also heard that you’d said on the same subject that neither of you got a wink of sleep. Now explain that in thirty seconds. Oh Gary! She’s my sister and I feel bad”

 “Wednesday? If I promise I’ll tell you”

“Ok”

Jon phoned her on Monday telling her to be in the pub that evening. As usual, he was at the bar when she got there. She said ‘hi’ but stopped short of any sort of welcoming kiss or hug or cuddle. He ordered up half of lager for her and announced that he’d lost on the horses again at the meeting on Sunday and that he had a decent sized bar tab for her to pay. Reluctantly, and with a rising vengeance, she paid the bill and closed the tab.

“Hey Ell! What happened to the tab” he called from his perch at the bar about an hour later.  A whole hour! The inquest into the failure of their three legged adversaries at the weekend must be more serious than usual.

“Well open it back up again”
 “No. I’ve got a bit of a migraine coming on and I’ve got some important meetings tomorrow, so I’m going to have to head off so I won’t be here to pay it”

“O. Ok. Look ‘fore you go…” 

He shifted his way across the bar to her “Listen, about the eh, you know –  d’you think I should talk to your dad. Like, he’ll be paying so I suppose its only fair”

“Jon, as far as I’m concerned you can talk to whoever you like about whatever you like. Just don’t include me in the plans because I’ve got a pain in my head and I’m going home”

“Oh ok see you Thursday in the Kings Head. There’s darts match on….” But she had already left.

Tuesday did not go well. The suppliers were not on her side as she complained to Ben after the meeting, but she phoned Gary hoping for some light relief

“Gary, its me. I don’t mean to be awkward, but can we not go to the White Hart tomorrow”
 “Is that not go, or not the White Hart”

“Gary, that’s not the White Hart” 

She sounded furtive and he was reluctant to suggest another town centre pub. If there was someone or something she was avoiding they may well crop up in any of these establishments.

“Ok. Look – supposing I cook dinner for you instead of eating out. Of course if it’s a complete write off we’ll need to get a take away”

“Seriously Gary, do you cook?”
 “You’ll have to come round to find out”.

Gary’s Fairy Tale

She was five minutes late ringing the doorbell

“Eleanor! You look fantastic. I just hope that my effort in cooking matches your effort in looking fabulous”

She looked around the flat. There was a short hallway with coat hooks that opened straight into the open plan living space. There was a soft leather settee this side of a low coffee table, a large armchair, a long bookshelf stacked mainly with CDs, a dining table… And an array of lights on the front of what might be a stereo amp. And 2, no, 4 table height speakers playing Chicago blues at a low volume.

She went over to the amp as he disappeared behind the breakfast bar to adjust the cooker.

“Are these the speakers you took to the party?”
 “Two of them to the party. That’s all I could get in the car, what with the keg and everything else. Anyway, there was no need for more than that”

“Is it very loud? Can we turn it up?”

“Yes, but don’t go above 6”

“Why?” she asked turning the dial carelessly and immediately backing down realising she might already now be permanently deaf. Gary dived round the settee to make sure she was turning it back down far enough

“Why? Because. Eleanor, you might just smash all the windows if you get to 8”

“Sorry!”
 “Oh don’t be. I can get new windows. Not sure what they’d say downstairs with glass all over their flowerbeds though”

But it was a great icebreaker and he already had a Bacardi and coke over ice on the coffee table as an aperitif.

“What’s on the menu? Something over there smells amazing”
 “Don’t sound so surprised! I fellas gotta eat you know. Ok, I thought since you like spicy stuff we’d go Southern States, Mexico. Starter is crispy chicken wings, then we’ve got Mexican Beef and its all ready to roll about now”

“Can it wait half a minute?”

“I guess. Just be a little bit crispier. We’ve got a drink to finish anyway”

“Gary, you promised to tell me about Sheila. I don’t think you understand how bad I feel about going out with her boyfriend”

“I didn’t know you were! Is that as well as Jon! and me- if you count me as someone you’re going out with”

“Gary! You make me feel like some sort of …. I don’t know what. You’re making it sound like I’m getting myself around like some kind of tart and I’m not. I’m not like that and that’s why I’m worried about my sis. Its you that’s been up for the one night stands!”

“Ok, Ok Ellie. Calm down, because there isn’t a problem. Let’s sit down quietly and I’ll tell you the saga of Gary and Sheila” 

He topped up the glasses as she sat down at the table losing concentration for a moment while she noticed how beautifully it was set for two. Candles, wine cooler, serviettes and… Oh Gary, please don’t break my heart in the next thirty seconds.

“Listening Eleanor? Are you sitting comfortably? Then I shall begin. 

Once upon a time, early one afternoon, a guy called Gary was sitting in his office when the phone rang. A programmer called Sheila that he’d never heard of was on the line. She said that the IBM engineer had given her his number saying he’d seen a problem like hers before. So being a helpful soul, Gary listened to her problem. But there was no way he’d solve it over the phone and he arranged to go over to her office later that day. Together they poured through the listings and source code and eventually found the issue. Unfortunately, when they put in their update to the code to fix it, they created a new problem. So they started all over again to solve the new problem - but the same thing happened again. By the time they’d got that sorted it was gone midnight. Fortunately neither of them had turned into a pumpkin and they set the main run going again in the small hours of the morning. But by this time the main daily update runs had started and their program was way down the priority list and was running so slowly that they were worried it might not finish before they had to start the daily schedule. By 6.30 Gary decided to code up a special interrupt program so that they could take a look at just the bit they were interested in and see if it was actually running ok. That checked out and Sheila was very pleased, but by then it was gone 7.30 and Gary had a meeting back at his own office at 8.30.

Word soon got round that Gary and Sheila had spent the night together, and not just that, they didn’t get a wink of sleep all night, but Sheila’s program was working now and as a thankyou she invited him to her party. Gary clearly was some kind of magician so Sheila decided to ask for a second wish to be granted and that was that he should pretend to be her boyfriend so that she could invite all her male work colleagues to her party without fear of them getting the wrong idea. And she asks Gary because no-one she knows would know him. Just before the party, she calls Gary again to ask for her third wish. The house that the party is meant to be in is in a terrible state and she asks if he could just pop round and wave his magic wand like he had with her program to make it all spotless and clean again. Sheila’s fairy godmother turned up as well to help, and the party was a great success. Gary however, discovers that granting three wishes to random girls that phone up is a shedload of work and decides not to ask her to go out with him and he lives happily ever after. The end.

 Oh, and the rest you were part of”

Eleanor listened, spellbound. It was a long, long time since anyone told her a fairy story and it was delightful.

“You did all that? For someone you didn’t even know?” she asked incredulously
 “She asked me. And she sounded quite cute on the phone”

“Now, that’s more like it! But if that’s all true…. Then its just all been misconstrued”
 “Partly a deliberate attempt at smoke and mirrors as a cover story for the pretend boyfriend bit”

“Oh Gary” she said near to tears and gasping for breath  “I feel so much better now”

“Ok, but Ellie. One other thing. If I had been going out with Sheila, I wouldn’t go out with you”
 “Why not!?” she squeaked in something of a panic.

“Because if I went out with you instead, she’d not only lose her boyfriend she’d also lose her best friend and her sister. Oh, Eleanor, please don’t you start crying now. You’ll smudge that makeup and the stripes will make you look like a zebra. Look, I’ll just put a bit of steam around the wings and we’ll have another drink and talk about something else and we’ll feel more like eating in a few minutes”

She took a deep breath and a long sip. Look like a zebra, indeed!

“It’s a lovely flat”

“I like it.”

“How long have you been here?”
 “Just under 4 years. It’s a bit off the beaten track, but that’s good in many ways. Its got its own parking space as well, that’s quite rare around here, and I’ve put an extra layer of sound insulation around the floor and the ceiling. Just in case anyone turns the dial up.”

She let out a huge sigh

“Come on Eleanor. Neither of us has done anything wrong, at least not to each other”

“I have. I’ve been hearing terrible things about you, and they’re all untrue. And I’m so glad”

“I’m going to serve some dinner before you start getting upset again. At least then I’ll know why”

There were four wings on the plate on a bed of assorted leaves. She picked one up with some disdain only to discover it had already been deboned and stuffed with ham and spring onion smothered in a sizable dose of smoked paprika.

“Gary, this is gorgeous!”

“Good, I’ve got a Viognier that I like a lot to go with it, although you could argue it’s too delicate and complex for spicy food”.

She helped clear the plates as he served the beef. The kick from the chilli knocked her back, but she managed to drown the heat with the wine. 

The olive bread he’d served with it was a bit of intercontinental fusion, but it all vanished quickly enough and she pushed her chair back from the table. 

“That was nothing less than wonderful”

“I’ve got some artisan ice cream. I didn’t know if you’d want dessert as well”

“But, you weren’t going to serve it, because there’s no spoon on the table, right?”
 “Right, I was a bit concerned about it. I don’t want you eating too much and getting fat and needing to go on a diet and then you won’t want to go out for dinner with me”

“What! Gary! You are nuts. You're crazy” she laughed.

They migrated to the settee “And I’ve never laughed as much as I have the last couple of weeks with you”

“At the risk of finding out something I don’t want to know, have you thought about you and Jon?”

 “Yes, but not a lot. And I’ve hardly seen him. I really haven’t thought about him at all in the last two weeks since I made my mind up. And it is thanks to you. But please don't spoil my perfect evening by talking about him. All I want to do right now is curl up on that settee for the next hour and listen to some more of your music” 

“Hour?”                  

“Yes, I've got such a big day at work tomorrow. Four supplier meetings one retail meeting and all of them will be hell” 

“So?” 

“So my dad’s picking me up from the corner at 10. ”
 “You mean you were still thinking one night stand with sis!” he teased

“Gary stop it! Don’t spoil the perfect evening! But I am going to help you clear up before then” 

“You don't need to. I’d rather curl up with you on the settee. I’ll have plenty of time after 10.” 

Eleanor’s Picnic

The eyes seemed to be on her as she got back home. Her dad seemed a little needled and had an expectancy about him as he drove home. At times he even seemed twitchy, and mum looked like she was expecting an explanation of something but hadn't said what. 

“What's up?” she asked glancing between her parents. Glances were exchanged all round “Nothing” said her mum with a contrary questioning look.

“What about Saturday?” asked Gary when Ellie phoned him the next morning to say thankyou

“Oh yes, Saturday. We ran out of time to discuss that.” 

“That sounds ominous….” 

“No, it's just that I've got something on. You see, every year we have this picnic at work. It's for little ones really, toddlers up to young teenagers. It's just an excuse to get families together in the park and have a natter in a less formal way. There’s games for the kids that everyone joins in with, like rounders and French cricket or just catching a ball, but I've been to the last two. I organised the rounders game last year” 

“All sounds like good clean fun if you discount a bit of mud. You should have a great time” 

“Yes, but Gary, I was hoping you'd come with me” 

She clocked the pause 

“Gary?” 

“Ellie, I'd love to. But that's a bit serious isn't it, introducing me to your work colleagues. Unless I'm just a pretend boyfriend like Sheila” 

“No, Gary, it's not like sis. It's more like one of those bridges” 

“Do you want me to make the picnic?” 

Saturday was bright, sunny and windless. The temperature was rising from first light and Gary looked outside thinking water, sun cream and hat. 

He pulled the wicker picnic basket from the back of his car as Ellie approached from the direction of the bus stop. She’d wanted to meet him at the end of the road so that they could arrive together rather than look like they just randomly bumped into each other. 

He laid out the blanket on the grass, watched by a three year old who was sullenly destroying daisies. 

“Look, if you need to talk shop to folks, don't worry about me. I'll be fine just here” 

“There are a couple of people I need to catch up with, but I won't be long. You sure you’ll be ok?”

“Not sure. Don’t know how dangerous toddlers are these days!” 

He looked over towards the little girl 

“I was hoping she'd go and play with the others” said mum, “but she's just turned shy on me” 

“I guess that means you're stuck here with her as well” 

Gary slowly ran his arm over towards the little girl using two fingers to walk along the grass. She watched as he retrieved the ball that was next to her and rolled it gently towards her 

“Are you going to roll it back?” 

But there was no response. He took a quick look into Ellie's handbag for something resembling war paint and drew two eyes and a mouth on his hand to go above the two legs that were going to creep out and play with the ball again. This time there was more of a response and with a few more rolls, she was happily rolling it back to him and giggling as the two legged fingers jumped and fell and got flattened by the rolling ball. 

“You're with Eleanor, yeah? Been going out long?” 

“Long enough. No, not long enough. I'm hoping we stay together a whole lot longer” 

“She likes kids too, and you are?” 

“Gary” 

“Zoe, are you ok playing with Gary for a minute. Mummy needs to go to the little girls room. Gary are you ok with that. I'm desperate to get to the loo” 

Gary was still playing roll the ball when Eleanor got back

“Hey, where’s Maria?”
 “She’s gone”

“Gone?”

“Yeah, she said give me a tenner and you can adopt her. Sounded like a good deal, so you owe me a fiver. I mean, you do want your half, don’t you?”

She stood looking down at them dumbfounded as they continued to play unperturbed and uninterrupted.

She had almost recovered enough to say something when Maria appeared out of nowhere

“You two ok? Thanks Gary”

“Gary! You nearly gave me a heart attack”

“Ow that would be a shame. She’s pretty cute though”

They all sat together as Zoe started getting bored with playing ball, and Eleanor too was eying up the picnic basket

“Snack time?” he asked rhetorically

“Do you like biscuits?” he asked Zoe and paused with no reply

“Do you like chocolate?” 

No reply 

“Do you like chocolate biscuits?” 

“Yes”

“Do you like Mickey Mouse?”

“Yes”

“Would you like a Mickey Mouse chocolate biscuit?” 

He opened a tin in the basket and pulled out a stylised Mickey Mouse shortbread half dipped in chocolate. Maria looked on as Zoe munched into it with a big broad grin 

“Hey, they look amazing” Maria said hoping she’d be offered one too.

“Mmm” hummed Ellie as he passed them round “Where do you get these?

“From the oven. 17 minutes at 170”

They walked around rather aimlessly chatting to people and she introduced him to her boss, Ben, before returning to the blanket for lunch.

Ellie ate slowly. The bread was so fresh in the sandwich, the chicken was soft and spicy, the cake was clearly homemade and she sat beside him, peaceful, content and happy. She tried to remember the last time she was happy – no, silly, the last time before she met him, and found that not only could she not remember, she didn’t want to.

Then it was games time

“Come on Eleanor, you did such a good job last year!”

Gary took up position on base 2. He was being helped by a five year old whose catching ability was on par with that of a legless tortoise. They just missed getting the first runner out, and the second. But Gary’s flick of the ball from the hip to third base prevented a certain home run for the next unfortunate. Cricket, chase and assorted ball catching games with the older children completed the afternoon.  Eleanor lay back on the blanket as Gary helped collect the various sticks, posts and stumps from around the area. He opened the biscuit tin just as Maria had finished packing up 

“Can you count up to two” he asked Zoe 

“One, Two” he prompted “Can you count the biscuits in the tin? How many are left if you take 1 away from two?” 

She continued to fix him with an inscrutable stare. 

“There used to be two biscuits, one biscuit, two biscuits. Now there’s only one. So if there’s one for Eleanor, where’s the one for Gary. Do you know where the other biscuit is?”

“Its in my tummy” she exclaimed proudly.

“You’re so good with the little ones” she said as he sat next to her on the blanket. Do you want your own kids one day?”

“I think so. I’m more interested in being a participant in this game of life, rather than just a spectator”

“Me too. I really want my own two”

“So what’s stopping you?”

She looked up puzzled 

“I mean, if you want a baby there’ll be only too many volunteers to help you with that down at the Red Lion”

“I don’t think so!”

“I mean” he continued “its different for blokes. They have to find a girl that likes them enough to stay around for a while. Girls are a lot more free to just get on with it”.

She thought about this shaking her head slowly 

“Maybe logically, Gary. But the practicality is that the baby would turn out like someone who inhabits the Red Lion and that would be a fate worse than death”

That in itself was interesting, because he knew that Jon was known to frequent the Red Lion on more than a rare occasion.

They checked the time and decided to walk round the park just to make the most of the summer’s day. Ben was standing at the edge of the playground where his two boys seemed in danger of fatal injury swinging from the giant climbing frame. Eleanor had met them once before when they’d come in to the office due to some sudden wifely disaster and now she volunteered to rescue them as Gary talked to Ben who seemed totally unperturbed at his sons’ imminent demise. But the boys were hardly in favour of being rescued and it turned into more of a game of chase. She clambered up, crawled through tunnels slid down poles and scaled rope nets chasing them round and round.

“That is so much fun! I haven’t been on one of these for years. They should make them for grown-ups as well”

“They do – there’s one there” said Gary pointing to where she’d just been.

Ben also was seeing her in a different light. Not the prim, shy, tense executive but impetuous, calm and confident with scant regard to her hemline as she scrambled around with the kids.

She slipped her arm round his waist and laid her head firmly against his shoulder as they walked slowly back to the blanket. He responded by putting his arm around her shoulders and hugging her in towards him as they discussed dinner.

Curry was the menu decision for that evening and the Royal Spice was the venue that first came in to view as they headed back into town. It was still early but four tables were already taken. Eleanor was still buzzing, even if a bit grubby around the knees as they checked through the menu. 

“I think you’ll choose…”

“… don’t tell me. Just write it down, and what you’re going to have and I’ll do the same”

“Ok, but maybe we should share a starter and a nan bread, so write down what you think I’d like as a starter as well”

The serviettes revealed the similarities – Chicken satay starter and chicken madras all round. 

“Looks like a full house on chicken” said Gary “In fact for a full chicken coop maybe I should dance the funky chicken”

“Good move buddy, I’m looking forward to that” came the unsolicited comment from the next table

“Shush Adam – don’t be embarrassing”

But Eleanor was no less surprised “You wouldn’t!” she blurted out impetuously not realising that it might be taken as inverted encouragement “Not in a busy restaurant!”

“Its not that busy”                                                            

The guy on the next table scraped his chair round “I’m watching”

“Or I could do the funky parrot”

“Funky parrot?”

“Yeah. But you’d have to join me doing the funky chicken first” he said with a bright enthusiasm to Adam on the next table”

“Adam, don’t you d……..”

But Adam had already got up from his chair “You’re on, dude!”

“I’ll pay for dinner if you do the funky parrot” added Eleanor in a sudden spike of frivolity flashing an incredulous smile at Adam’s girlfriend, now deserted forlornly at their table.

Gary and Adam set off round the room, hands in against their waists flapping their elbows up and down like wings and squawking ‘buck buck, buck buck buck’ or some similar sound that might loosely be construed as an imitation of a chicken if you had recently had so much to drink you might only recover by a week next Tuesday. 

The rest of the diners stopped to watch with almost universal astonishment and amusement.

But three circuits in, they returned to the start.

“Where’s this funky parrot?” accused Eleanor, now laughing almost uncontrollably “great chicken, guys, but so far no parrot”

“I don’t know that one” said Adam now almost crying with laughter. “I’m out”.

Eleanor was on the edge of her chair and doubled up laughing as were most of the other diners. 

“Where’s this parrot!” she demanded in between trying to recover herself and falling into a new bout of laughing, thinking that this was mad, this was memorable. This is the stuff history is made of.

Gary set off round the restaurant again with a repeat of the funky chicken

“That’s just the funky chicken!” mocked Adam loud enough for everyone to hear while still himself recovering as at that point Gary poked his head forward towards him “Who’s a pretty boy then!” he squeaked and continued “Pieces of eight, pieces of eight” each time poking his head unannounced at an unsuspecting spectator.

Now Adam really did slip off his chair crashing to the floor, Eleanor had tears pouring down her face and even Adam’s girlfriend was caught up in it. The two waiters trying to serve had stopped at the kitchen door completely confused until Gary sat back down. Ellie’s makeup was now fatally destroyed, but she hardly cared. She threw her arms around his neck

“Gary, you are crazy. Stark raving bonkers”

“But that’s a good thing, isn’t it?”

On her way home she checked that she still had Becky’s phone number and her parents were still up when she got back

“You look like you’ve had a good day!” exclaimed her dad.

“Oh daddy! I have had the best day ever”

“That’s wonderful, darling” added her mother hinting that some explanation would be in order “What was the best bit?”

“Everything, mum. Absolutely everything. The picnic, the games with the kids, and then the evening in this mad, mad curry house. But now I’m quite exhausted. I’ll see you tomorrow”

News? What News?

She was late up and mainly pottered around sorting clothes out in her room till she was called to set the table for lunch. Sheila had just arrived and it was just the four of them for Sunday roast. The crumble for dessert was up to the normal high standard and her dad had finished his first.

“Ellie, do you have any news for us?”
 “News dad?”

“Yes, any significant developments that you might want to tell us about”

She shook her head slowly, contemplating “No, in what respect?”

“Perhaps in respect of an expensive event in your personal life?”

“Expensive? No. It was all getting rather complex, but the cost never got that far out of hand. But its all really simple now”

“Oh good. I’m glad whatever it was is sorted out”

“Why?” she asked looking round from dad to mum to sister and back again. It was like she was accused and guilty and about to be sentenced

“We all think somethings happened” said mum “You’ve been so changed the last three weeks or so”

“You mean since two weeks last Friday!”

“And we wondered if that maybe tied in with events this Wednesday?”

“I’m sure he said Tuesday”

“Wednesday? Oh yes, I had such a lovely meal. The wings were awesome and the Mexican beef was spot on, even if it nearly blew my head off! But what’s that got to do with anything?”

“Was it a special occasion that you went round to Gerries?”

“Gerries? Geraldine Baker? Geraldine can’t even boil an egg, mum, despite her name. Sheils, you know that!”

“That’s true”

“Hey! Will someone please tell me what’s going on”

“We were hoping you would”

“What, just because I’ve been a bit happier. Is that a crime around here?! Sheils! Help me! Please”

“Ellie, Jon was round here on Wednesday”

“Jon! But I was out. What does he want?”

“We thought that was why you were out”

“What?”

“He came to see dad… seee daaad … about the eeevent. The expensive event Ellie! The one that was set up three weeks ago and you’ve been happy ever since!”

Eleanor looked blankly from face to face now tingling with annoyance.

“And Jon came round to talk to dad – actually I think he was only interested in how much he was going to put up for it”

“Up for what?”

“Ellie! The wedding of course! To Jon!”

“Sheils! You’re not marrying Jon are you?”

“Definitely not!”

“So why would dad put up anything for Jon to get married?”

“Only if it was to you”

“Me! Not me. No way”

“You’re not?”

“No. Apart from him being a terminal loser, he hasn’t asked me. And I’ll look forward to if he does because I’ll say no so forcefully it might just knock him over”

“Does he know this?”

“I’ve no idea. Its never been discussed.  I haven’t seen him for 10 days. Sheils, I can’t go around just telling guys I’m not going to marry them! Its only polite to be asked first, before you say no”

“So you’re definitely not getting engaged to Jon?”

“Nooo! Definitely not. No way on this earth, or any other”

“He gave me the impression that events were farther along than that”

“In some circumstances it might be considered polite to check that angle first, but I doubt it in this case”

“So you won’t be too disappointed that I said I would prefer not to contribute and that I’d actually prefer you to marry someone else, and that at the very least I should be consulted before an engagement is announced” 

“Daddy!  You absolute star!”

The conversation lapsed but Eleanor decided that maybe an explanation was needed. They all clearly had the wrong idea completely. She heaved a huge sigh.

“Listen” she said as they were finishing coffee “two weeks past last Wednesday I met a guy to discuss something quite specific over a simple drink. But then the conversation moved on and we agreed to meet up again. Since then I’ve been out with him about six times now. So if you’ve noticed I’m not quite so down, that’s why. And he’s showed me a new way to approach my job, and that’s going hugely better now, so that’s another monkey off my back. Only yesterday afternoon I was playing with my boss’s kids in the park after the picnic and that couldn’t have happened even a month ago”

“But you were with Jon for 2 years!”

“3. And 3 years of my life wasted, and what is so annoying is that I’m that stupid. But Gary says I should look forward to the next 50 that Jon won’t ruin”

“Gary? So it wasn’t Gerrie, wasn’t Geraldine last Wednesday?”

“Nooo”

“And did you take him to the picnic too?”

“Mhmm”

“And last weekend?

“We went to see a car he was thinking of buying”

“And before that on the canal”

“Yes, all that. More in three weeks than Jon ever did in three years”

“So Jon’s finished”

“Yes daddy”

“Does he know that?”

“Clearly not, Sheils. But I haven’t seen him for nearly two weeks and he hasn’t phoned me or left any message. And I don’t care one way or the other because I’ve moved on”

“Would have thought youda told him sis”

“I would if he phoned me or I bumped into him. But he’s plainly not that bothered. Like, he hasn’t made any effort to contact me either. So that says everything”

“It would be nice to meet this new boyfriend, sis”

“You already know him Sheils”

“I do?”

“Not the best phrase in the circumstances sis”

“Actually, I think it would be nice for us all to meet him”

“Mum, its not that serious!”

“It doesn’t have to be”

“I’ve only known him 3 weeks”

“No? Even though you’re a completely changed personality?”

“Sheils, he might think I’m a bit strange inviting him round to meet my mum and dad after less than a month. What if it puts him off? .. .. Oh all right, ok I’ll ask him for next Sunday if you like. Mum, you're sure to like him”.

The week spun round and Sunday came up on the calendar in a full scale rush. 

Gary was on time, Eleanor was dressed up and even Sheila had put on a dress. 

“You two don’t get dressed up like that to have dinner with me” complained dad, but they both resolutely ignored the comment.

“Just a small thankyou to the hostess” Gary said presenting the flowers to Susie as he was invited in “and a contribution to the menu” as he handed over his bottle of wine “It's a Viognier from Lange d‘Oc. I think you’ll like it, its one of my favourites. I drink it with anything – even just itself sometimes! Is there anything I can help you with in the kitchen?” 

“There’s not that much to do Gary, it's only the table needs finishing and Ellie knows where everything is”. 

Instead he was ushered into living room. Her dad stood politely as he entered 

“Mr Farnell. Pleased to meet you” he said extending his hand.

“Names Leonard, but friends call me Len” 

“May I call you Len?” 

He squinted quizzically at Gary doing a double take replay of the conversation. Is that not what I just said? No, actually it wasn't, and that was a sharp uptake. He smiled “yes, you can. So what do you do for a living, Gary?” 

“I'm in computers. I work for Transworld Shipping” 

“Oh, really? I get a fair number of shipments from them” 

“Yes, you’re in the motor trade in some capacity?” 

“Yes, components. My company is one of the main importers of spare parts. But you went to see a new car recently, I think Ellie was saying?” 

“Yes, but not a new car” 

“So what are you driving at the moment?”

“Subaru 4x4”
 “Ah, the thinking man’s Land Rover”

“I thought I'd use it more to get off road, but really, the potential is quite limited. Most places that you could really use one of these are closed to public traffic” 

“I see, so you’re thinking of trading it in” 

“Yes and no. There's a danger of some confusion here. Yes I am thinking of trading it in for a new car and I'd appreciate an opinion on that sometime. But the car Ellie may have mentioned is something else. Its completely different. It's a little older”

“So you'd trade in for an older car instead?” 

“No, I was thinking of trading my car in for a new car and buying this older car as well” 

“Ellie seemed to like it” 

“Yes, I was a little surprised at that, but on reflection, I don’t know why. But it's too much work of the kind I'm not good at. Engines I can do, bodywork is a mystery to me and its tin worm that needs sorting on this one. But it's interesting even just looking. What I don’t want to do is get like a guy I work with. He's been thinking of buying a Ferrari for 25 years. I tell him it doesn't cost anything to just think” 

“But it's not a Ferrari is it?” 

“No, no. I don't think I'd ever buy one of them. A Ferrari is just a racing car with number plates and it's far too uncomfortable for me. Given the option, I'd have an Aston. But a chance would be a fine thing. This is nothing like those, it's a Riley”

“Riley! That's going back a bit” 

“Yes. Its one of the first 2.5s. But it had too much rot on the rear arches and suspension mounts. The guy said it was fully restored so it was a bit of a disappointment, but there will be others. I might consider a Lanchester as well, if one came up”. 

Jon was in the Red Lion watching the racing. He knew the family's Sunday routine although he’d not been invited for a very long time as he usually had a more important race meeting on Sundays. He watched his horse come 5^th in the one o’clock and reckoned he could fit the call in before the 1.20. 

“Ellie it's for you. It's Jon” 

She picked up the extension in the dining room, not being too concerned that everyone would hear at least this end of the conversation. 

“Wedding, Jon. What wedding?  Who are you getting married to? That’s a bit of a surprise to me. .. Yes, I do remember you were so paralytic you couldn't even stand and you told me something about getting married. You didn’t ask me and were pretty incoherent. There was nothing romantic about it, and there was no ring or anything, so I assumed you were fantasising and told you to talk to me the next day if you’d sobered up and you never did… .. Well, maybe you haven't had the chance. Can’t have been that important. No I've not been to the Red Lion, but you could have phoned me. You could have invited me out, you could have left a message at work. But no, nothing. But! What it did was make me think about the future and what I wanted to do with the rest of my life and who I wanted to spend it with. And what I’d say even if you did bother to ask me. And the answer is a resounding no. No I don’t. Definitely not. So if I'm not going to do that, why would I spend any more time chasing you around the city pubs and the answer here is, I'm not. I'm not going to particularly avoid you, but I’m not going out with you and I’m not going to rock into the pub just because you might be there because you're just wasting my time. So we're finished, and that's the end of it. If you’d bothered to contact me or make any effort at all I would have told you sooner, but you didn't because it wasn’t important or you didn't care, or maybe it just never occurred to you. You just took it for granted like you've taken me for granted for the last 3 years and more fool me for putting up with it. So we’re finished. Got that? Finito. Bye Jon”.

She put the phone down and gave a friendly shrug to the rest of her family.

“O Ellie! I wanted a quick word with him” 

“What for!” 

“Just to say thankyou for all the work you and he did getting my house ready for the party a month ago. I haven't really done that yet, although I expect you baled me out there too, you usually do… Ellie? Ellie are you all right?” 

But Ellie was not all right. She was beginning to bubble and fizz and turn a darker shade of thunderous pink. 

Gary sussed it “Eleanor, don't. Don’t Ellie - It's not important” as Len and Susie looked on with mounting concern.

“Gary, it is important. Its important to me. Sheila, dear sister, let me just put you straight on this. Who was it that washed every plate and bowl in your kitchen ready for the food in the evening? Because that was Gary. Who cleaned the back bedroom including disposing of the dead rat? Because that was Gary. Who went to Sainsbury’s and bought the lemonade and the juice and the crisps and everything? Because that was Gary. Who drove all the way over to Childhill and bought a whole keg of beer because he knew there were loads of blokes going? Because that was Gary. Who brought his own stereo over to give you an epic sound system? Because that was Gary, and who didn't spoil your evening by not causing a scene when he'd finished clearing up and walked in to the kitchen to find you draped around Ricki Mansfield like a roman toga? Because that was Gary too” 

Sheila was close to tears now from this rare onslaught. 

“But, but .. .. where were you, then” 

“Me? I was stuck in the Red Lion watching the racing because a terminal loser I used to know had put fifty quid on an accumulator with options and we had to stay there until he'd found out that every single one of them had lost” 

Gary was squeezing Eleanor’s hand harder and harder to try to covertly calm her down

Sheila turned to him “I'm so sorry. I didn't know all that. I just assumed………” 

“It's ok Sheila. I wasn't going to mention it.” 

“You weren’t going to mention it?” questioned Susie, but Gary just shook his head briefly as Eleanor continued

“But there was some good came out of it. Because of all that, I decided that I should phone Gary and at least say thankyou. And that's when we started talking and that led to him asking me out and that led to me having the best three weeks of my whole life so the whole thing has a happy ending. - so long as mums chicken isn't burnt to a cinder” 

“No, but my glass has run dry” 

“No worries Len, I’ll get the other bottle from the car” 

Suspicion

Now with Jon and Sheila officially notified and Gary’s favourable reception from Susie and Len, Eleanor revelled in her new found life. Every day she counted down the time till she would see him again, and every time they met her heart leapt right up into her mouth all over again. It was wonderful and she started to realise the depth of the rut she’d been stuck in. She tried not to think about life after Gary, but she also now knew that guys like that existed and that a return to the meagre existence like she had with Jon was quite incomprehensible.

And due to this change in lifestyle, work was going so much better. Her mind was clearer, she was more confident and that stopped her being downtrodden which instead had left her feeling dejected and frustrated. 

This downside had also rekindled her hopes that Ben would give her more responsibility. Maybe let her run bigger negotiations on her own. She knew she was capable of so much more. She knew she could do it, but it just wasn't happening and she began to notice a level of secrecy. Or maybe she was just becoming paranoid. 

Right up until the Wednesday that Ben was off sick. It was too late to cancel the meeting and Cecily was nervous that she didn't know enough about the account. Eleanor stated the obvious - they'd handle the meeting together, and if it really got into trouble, they'd apologise and reschedule. 

Everything was going smoothly. She seemed to be able to get onto exactly the same wavelength as her boss's boss and the discussion moved ahead in the usual format.

“Do you think”, the supplier was saying “that you'd want to pick up the transport costs directly, as you do on the existing product range?” 

Cecily paused. This was new to her but Eleanor was keen to keep the amiable atmosphere to be as helpful as possible and take the lead to impress her.

“The consistency would help our accounting processes” they prompted.

“I can’t see why we’d do that?” questioned Eleanor “But if that’s the existing process then I don't see why not. It's all part of the same equation to us. If it helps you, we can split it out that way, yes, for sure” 

She looked to Cecily for confirmation and a look was all it took. 

“So, to summarise” Cecily said in conclusion “we've ticked off all the major points and come to a mutually acceptable agreement” she looked round the table for nods or dissents. “So, what's next?” 

“What's next, Cecily, is that I will write up what I think we’ve agreed to and send it to everyone for confirmation, then we reconvene to discuss the minor points” 

“Like?” 

“Like call off volumes and frequency. Signature levels for call off variations, frequency of update meetings, things like that” clarified Eleanor 

“And best contacts, which may not be round this table, like, maybe our warehouse manager, and location of manufacture” 

“Ok” said Cecily “any final points?” 

“Hold on, Ces! Sorry, but we can't agree to you changing location” 

“With respect, Eleanor, I think that is one for us. It always has been. Its part of our internal strategy to vary manufacturing locations as geographic economic situations change” 

“Ok, yes. I appreciate that. But that was before we were picking up shipping costs. We can't have you suddenly change manufacture from Eire to like, Hong Kong of Taiwan or somewhere” 

“Hmm. Good point, Eleanor” agreed Cecily

“We'll have to think about that. Can I assume that you're still prepared to break out the shipping while retaining some flexibility in location while we revisit this?” 

She glanced over to Ces who looked like she was thinking about something entirely different, but anyway, the question was hers 

“Yes. We're happy to retain this type of amiable dialog where we both try to understand the others perspective, and we're happy to retain flexibility so long as it's transparent what our costs will be overall. Within that we can split the invoicing any way you like” 

They all shook hands. Deal done, but Cecily still looked as though she'd disappeared to a faraway place. 

That evening she was meeting Gary again in the White Hart and as usual was buzzing just to be on her way. She wanted to tell him all about her meeting with Ces and she mentioned that at the end she seemed to drift off. 

“Probably picked up on a stray comment and was trying to extend that to other meetings or accounts, wider implications maybe?” Gary had said, but dropped the point rather than have a fact free speculation. He got the second round in and put the glasses on the table then pulled some rolled up papers from his pocket

“I made you something”

“Really! What is it?”
 “I was thinking about what you said about the numbers being difficult in these meetings, so I made you this” 

He unrolled the pages and laid them on the table weighing down the rolled corner with his beer mug.

“Its not complicated” he began as she stared at the maze of amassed numbers on the pages that were already making her go cross eyed.

“Its simply a print of all the different answers. Its just a matrix so you can look up your shipping percentages and apply them to the overall margin.” 

He demonstrated by making up a hypothetical case as she studied it intensely

“Of course you can work these out on a piece of paper, but I thought this would be quicker so you didn’t slow the meeting down”

She tried her own test case as he helped her trace the lines and just looked stupefied

“Gary, that’s amazing. I feel so dumb asking everyone what the true impact is. I’ve got at least half a dozen different ways of asking that question, but now I won’t need to. Except, what happens if its 4%, that’s not here”
 “Next sheet” Gary said with minimal emotion.

“Gary! That’s amazing. It must have taken ages to work it all out”

“Not long. I got the machine to do most of the work. I was working on something for a project that’s coming along and I did this as a kind of side line experiment”

But it was getting busy and became more difficult to talk. 

“We need a quieter pub” she said

“Probably worth avoiding the Kings Head”
 “And the Red Lion” she added “We could just go back to your flat, its quite quiet there”
 This was something of a revelation, and he certainly wasn’t going to pass up the opportunity for some undisturbed cuddle time.

Back at the flat, he made some coffee “I won’t be able to drive you home if I have much more” he explained, and coffee it was. Its not as if she was an alcoholic, it just appeared that way. She’d spent almost every evening for years in one pub or another.

But this was a very different kind of evening. The flat was every bit as warm and comforting as she’d remembered it. Somehow it seemed to wrap itself around her so she felt calm and secure. There was a slight aroma of garlic, but hardly unpleasant as she sank onto the soft settee beside him. He talked a bit about music bouncing from track to track to illustrate the points. It was all a bit academic to Eleanor, she would have been happy just listening to the music, but was fascinated by the depth of knowledge Gary had about the career progression of certain guitarists as bands formed and members left. It all brought in a new dimension even if she never remembered any of it.  

She felt safe which she seldom did in the Red Lion and Gary seemed happy with a cuddle and a kiss and wasn’t pushing her to move on to anything more serious. 

The music drifted through her. As Gary explained, it flowed properly, it wasn’t continually demanding attention from misplaced notes, discords, missed chords and scratchy guitar work because the guitarist was incapable of hitting the fret accurately first time. And without the piped music and background chatter of the pub she was able to think more clearly. She liked Gary. No, not just liked. She liked Gary a lot more than she thought she ever would. He was so easy to be with. He was simply on her wavelength. He wanted to take her out to different places and have fun and hold her hand and buy her lunch and he wanted her to be happy and go out with him. He wanted to understand her. .. and this is what a boyfriend should be doing - wasn’t it? But more importantly, she wanted to be with him whether it was in the pub, at dinner in the park, or at his flat. She and Jon had been known as an item, but for 3 years she’d just happened to be in the same pub at the same time as him. They’d hardly been anywhere together. She drove him home sometimes in his car if he was too wasted to drive himself, but she never stayed and sometimes she’d walk home from there and sometimes she’d borrow his car. But he didn’t like her doing that and only recently she’d found out why and it was because he hadn’t renewed her on his insurance. Something to do with losing the renewal premium on an absolutely certain nose the day before it was due.

And now she realised that with Jon in her passenger seat, she’d missed out on any opportunity to find someone else. And after all that time she realised she hardly knew him. Did he want to have children? Did he want to travel, even if it was to visit the racetracks of the world? She didn’t know! They’d never discussed it. In fact, she was struggling to think of anything serious that they had discussed. How would you ever do that with drunken noise going on all the time? She didn’t even know what religion he was. Not that it mattered, it just confirmed that she was wasting her time with him. And out of the blue he’d said they should get married. He must be mad, although she most certainly was more stupid than him. She looked up at Gary and tried to remember when the last time was that Jon had shown her any real affection? No, the nearest he’d got was telling her to pay his bar bill. And there was Gary giving her a little squeeze as she looked up showing that he was paying attention to her even if all she was doing was lying on the settee with her head on his shoulder. And now, this evening was just delightful. She felt alive and ready to move forward with her life, not just vegetate in a bar room. She lay on the settee listening to music and snuggling in to him and by the time it was time for Gary to take her home she wondered what she really would have said if he’d asked her to stay.

Ricki

Monday kicked the week off with a whimper and on a whim she arranged to see Sheila in the Kings Head after work and then on another impulse she phoned Gary late in the afternoon.

“Yeah. Sounds good. I’ll be a bit later though, I’m up to my neck at the moment”

Eleanor was with Sheila as she’d said when Gary got there, but there was a guy with Sheila as well. He looked vaguely familiar, but Gary was too unsure to make any assumptions.

“You guys want a drink? I’m getting a beer”

“You’re a friend of Sheila’s right?” the guy commented as Gary returned with the 4 drinks

“Yes, I know Sheila. I’d probably say I was more a friend of Eleanor’s”

“Cool, no introductions needed”
 “So do you work with Sheila?” Gary opened 

“Nah. We know each other from the Red Lion. I’m a friend of Jon’s. He introduced us at Sheila’s party”

Ah. That’s where I recognise him from. 

“But you work with Sheila, yeah?”
 “We’ve done some work together, but I work at TS. We just work in the same field. What do you work at?”
 “Me? I was an apprentice brickie”
 “Really?” said Gary trying to sound interested “But something happened to it?”
 “Yeah, like I got the sack. I just couldn’t show up enough days what with following the racing”

“And is there more money in racing?”
 “Nah. Not that much right now. But enough to pay for the beer. Not like Jon. He’s really struggling”

“So I guess you’re not following the same tipster”

“Didn’t know Jon was following a tipster”
 “A guy called Vieverey, I believe, but my knowledge of the subject is strictly limited”

“Vieverey? Can’t be right. Vieverey’s a bookie. Best he’ll give you is whatever camel will still be running when the next race starts. Interesting you know Jon though”
 “I wouldn’t say I know him. I’ve met him”. 

“Yeah? He’s all right is Jon. Ell, it’s a pity you're not going out with him just now. We four could team up for Chepstow next weekend”

“I don’t think so Ricki”
 “No? Well, you’ll get back together soon. He’s still got me planning the wedding. I’m gonna be his best man”

“I wouldn’t spend any more time on it Ricki” said Eleanor carefully, becoming even more uncomfortable.

“Yeah, I’ll keep it up. You two’ll be back together soon. When his luck changes at the tracks he’ll have a bit more time for you, you’ll see”

“Ricki! No I won’t. Its not going to happen” 

But Ricki ignored the comment

“Of course, it’ll be a fairly low key affair. Though, Sheila, you’ll be chief bridesmaid right? – for your sister”

Gary was losing patience now which was a rather rare event, but the couple next to Ellie on the bench seat got up to leave and Gary repositioned himself beside her, slipping his arm around her shoulder

“See here you! That’s my best mate’s fiancé you’ve got there. Don’t you be getting too familiar”

Gary got up “Look, Ellie, you stay and have a drink with your sis. I’m gonna shoot off. I’ve got a meeting first thing tomorrow”
 “You wimping out already. Its only 8.30”

“So what time would your first thing meeting be”
 “I don’t do meetings”
 “Fair enough. But mine is at six o’clock”

He turned and left without another word. He thought he might have heard Eleanor call his name, but there was a fair bit of background noise and he didn’t want to look back.

Eleanor was livid. She’d tried as best she could not to upset Ricki as Sheila’s boyfriend, but…

“I’m going for pee” he announced

“Sheils! What are you doing!”

“I can’t say anything, Ellie. Jon’s his best mate, and they won’t have it”
 “Well, I couldn’t say anything more. I’m trying not to upset you and him”

“Gary’s obviously got the hump”
 “Wouldn’t you! Sheils, I’m going to have to go. I’ll only end up in tears and Ricki will get violent, he does when he’s wound up”

She thought Gary might be waiting for her outside somewhere and she looked expectantly up and down the street, but no. What if he thought maybe she was still on with Jon. Oh my!  She didn’t need this. And from her own sister at that!

She held herself together all the way home on the bus. She quivered a few times and thought people might be looking at her, but now in her hallway with her mum meeting her with “Did you have a good evening – you’re back early” and without warning, she burst into tears.

They slumped into the front room and Len got up from his chair, folding both arms around her and taking over from his wife.

“What on earth has gone wrong? Did you not meet Sheila?”

Somehow, Eleanor managed to catch her breath long enough to blurt out a few words “Yes, and she was with Ricki. Gary popped in too. And Ricki did nothing but talk about Jon and how I should still be going out with him and that we’ll get back together.”
 “Gary didn’t hit him did he?”
 “No, Gary would never do that”
 “Maybe he should’ve”

“No daddy, Ricki’s violent at the best of times. Gary just – just walked out”

“What? Without saying anything?”
 “No, he apologised that he has a six o’clock meeting tomorrow – it’ll be before the night shift operators go home – and that I should stay and have a drink with Sheils”

“Probably a good option. But he’s not mad at you is he? Or maybe he is”

“I don’t know”

“Can’t you phone him up?”
 “No, daddy. He’ll be asleep already. He’ll have to be up at five”

A friendly sounding guy answered Gary’s phone the next morning

“Gary? ‘Fraid not, babe. He was in the computer room when I got in this morning and as far as I know he’s still there.”

But she did catch up with him for just long enough to say she was meeting Sheila again that evening, hopefully on their own. He said he’d pop in for just one, and to apologise to Sheila. Eleanor was about to say it should be the other way round, but she could hear that Gary was already involved in another conversation in his office. She only hoped that he’d show up. But if he didn’t she’d find a phonebox.

Sheils was on her own when Eleanor got to the bar, but not for long. Ricki managed to show up just as she was ordering, and clearly that made it her round.

“Saw Jon earlier, Ell. He’s still out of luck at the tracks, but he says hi, and he’s got a bar bill at the Red Lion for you to pay”

Sheila, for once looked shocked, she glanced over at Ellie, but before she could say anything Gary appeared at the table.

“Evening Rick. Sheila, how nice to see you. Hi darling”

“Oi! Don’t you go getting that familiar with my best mate’s….”
 “Shutup you imbecile” snapped Gary “Company such as you, I can do without. Ellie. It would be nice to have a drink with you, if you’d care to join me. Something’s come up and I need to tell you about it”

She got up with her coat “Sorry, Sheils. I’ll catch you sometime. Ricki. I am not getting married to Jon. I am not going out with Jon. He has never asked me to marry him and if he did I would say an emphatic no. I haven’t seen him for weeks now and he hasn’t contacted me either. As far as I’m concerned I’d be happy never to see him again, or you for that matter.  I’m going out with Gary, at least I hope I still am because I’m hoping your interference hasn’t caused too much damage between us. Very shortly, I’m going to find out. And if it has, I shall plant this stiletto heel right through your stupid skull”

She clasped Gary’s hand and held it as tightly as she could as they reached the door. Just ahead of a sharp yelp from Gary as he fell to the floor. The bottle ricocheted into the doorframe showering glass and beer back over them as screams echoed round the room immediately ahead of mayhem breaking out. The crack of the bottle sounded like a gunshot and there was a stampede for the door and she tried to shield him lying on the floor by crouching next to him. 

The blue lights were almost immediate, but to Eleanor it seemed an age. She went with him in the ambulance, and waited impatiently while he was checked in. A nurse was still in the ward when she was finally allowed in, but Gary looked almost lifeless. He can’t have died she kept telling herself. He can’t have. Of course he can’t have died. They don’t put dead people in wards. They take them away to the cellar, or somewhere. She took hold of his hand as she sat in the bedside chair

“Please don’t die, Gary. Please don’t leave me” she whispered  

“He’ll be all right” comforted the nurse still fussing over some equipment “He’s been prescribed a sedative for now, but its all under control.”

Around six the next morning, Gary became aware of the increased activity in the ward, but with the sharp lights and the pain in his head, he dozed on and off for a while. Eventually he managed to turn round and was surprised to see that Eleanor was still there, sitting in the chair next to him, fast asleep.

He felt a bit better and wriggled his arm out to touch the dressing on his head to gauge the damage, but it seemed that it was mainly covering his ear. He hoped that he still had two ears. Maybe he could get an ear transplant, although he’d never heard of one. Well, no, if you needed a new ear you wouldn’t be able to hear about it, would you? He smiled to himself. At least his sense of humour was still as warped as ever.

The nurse woke both of them around 8,

“Gary! You’re alive” she beamed

“I think so” 

“How are you feeling this morning?” the nurse asked. 

“I'm ok. A little bit of a headache over on the left side. But that could just be pressure from that storming great bandage.” 

“That” she rebuked “is for the lacerations all over your ear lobe. It has to go all the way round your head” 

“Sorry, I wasn't complaining” 

“And a good thing too. So what have you been up to?

“Not sure really. I guess someone was lobbing stuff round the bar I was in” 

“Hmm. Well the doctor will be round shortly”

The nurse gave him some more painkillers and informed him that the likelihood was he’d be kept in for observation for at least another night. She helped him sit up and continued with recording her checks on temperature, blood pressure, vital signs of life…..

Eventually Eleanor was alone with him – apart from the seven other people in the beds in the ward - and had no reservations showing how relieved she was

“Gary, can I do anything for you?” 

“Hey, Eleanor, I can't believe you stayed here all night. Still, at least you can tell your sis that we spent the night together” 

She sighed, realising that his sense of humour was, sadly, still intact. 

“Not quite how I imagined it. Gary, I’m so pleased you’re going to be ok. No, seriously. Should I call your work?” 

“Work! Oh, yes. Is there a phone near here?” 

“Only the other end of the corridor” 

“Can you push this bed that far?” 

“Gary, you don't get to do things like that” 

“We'd bring it back. We don't want to nick it or anything” 

“Who d’you need to phone. Should I call your boss?” 

“Hmmm. Don’t know. More effective if you call Sophie – then everyone would know within five minutes.”

She looked at him as if to ask if there was any danger at all of him being serious.

“Hmmm. Can you phone Vanessa. Just call the switchboard and ask for Vanessa. There is only one” 

“Is she your boss?” 

“No, but she's quite senior. Head of Strategy. Don’t think she’s a Director. Anyway it's most important she knows because this means our plans for the rest of the week are up the creek. We’re meant to be going to Riyadh for a few days” 

“And you didn’t tell me!”

“No, that’s why I wanted to extract you so that I could talk to you about it. But that was before we got.. .. interrupted”

“I'm sorry Miss, but we have to exclude visitors during examinations” 

The consultant was a slight girl not much older than Eleanor herself 

“But” she continued “do you know what happened?”

 Eleanor explained as best she knew from her own experience and catching some of the crossfire chatter before the ambulance arrived.

“Ah, I see. That makes more sense. You see the bruising on the head is consistent with a blow from behind, but the damage to the ear is consistent with glass fragments from the front. Thankyou. Most helpful because now we know what more we should be looking for, but I'm afraid you are still going to have to leave.” 

She made a small move back towards him, but decided against it 

“Gary, I'm going to try to make my 11 o clock meeting, but I'll be back later.” 

The old fashioned look made her take a step away, “Gary” she whispered softly hoping he might just hear “I love you”.

Vanessa was hard to get hold of. Eleanor got past the switchboard, but only as far as the troll playing the part of a secretary.

“Please” she said “its critical that I speak with Vanessa. It won’t take long”

“I’m afraid she’s in a meeting right now”

“Well, could you possibly interrupt it? This really is most important regarding her plans for the rest of the week”

“And you are?”
 “Eleanor” 

The pause was nerve racking, especially as she was worried she’d run out of 10ps

“Eleanor, what can I do for you?”
 “Vanessa?”
 “Yes”

“Its about Gary Aldridge. He wanted me to let you know he’s in hospital”

“Oh no! Really. What’s happened? Bruce, Gary’s been taken to hospital!”

“He was hit on the head with a bottle last night in the Kings Head”

“Good Grief. Is it serious?”
 “He’s being kept in till at least tomorrow”

“Can't see him being able to fly out on Thursday. Skunks! I was quite looking forward to that trip with him. Double skunks! Bruce, we’re going to have to reschedule the whole plan. Sorry Eleanor, thankyou for letting me know”

“Do you want an update when I get one”
 “Oh, would you. How helpful. This really is quite critical. I’ll contact them anyway and see if they'll give me an update. But if you could call me anyway that would be helpful too”.

Eleanor's next call was Ben, yes, I'll be in for the 11 o'clock and then a call to her dad 

“Nice of you to call” he replied dryly “might have been nice to know you weren't coming home last night” 

“Dad, please. Don't. I'm still at the hospital. I've been here all night. I just didn't get a chance what between things here and the police statements and then it was all too late....” 

Late afternoon, she called Sheila. No, she hadn't seen Ricki after he hightailed out through the loo

“Sorry Sheils but I had to phone dad and I just let slip it might have been a boyfriend of yours who lobbed it. I didn't mean to, but it's just the way the conversation went. But I thought I'd better tell you – you’re still my best sister” 

“Thanks for the heads up. He’ll be hopping” 

“Sorry Sheils, I didn’t mean to”
 “He’d be bound to find out sooner or later. Probably best. Although I haven’t made a statement. I tailed Ricki out of there. Imagine what he’d do if it was my statement that dobbed him in! But no doubt the old bill is looking for him. There were quite a few in there that knew him” 

“But sis, you really ought to give those guys up. It's not the best scene to be in any more. It was ok a while back when it was just a crowd and everyone together. But it's getting serious now, like Joe and Patsy are getting engaged - where did that come from? And that's not where you want to be long term” 

“I guess so. It's just hard to move on with nowhere to go. I need to have a think” 

“Maybe you should talk to Gary. He's good at thinking things through” 

“Is that why you gave Jon the elbow?” 

“No. Sheils, I dropped Jon because I thought it through. Where Jon is going is not where I want to go. Gary came after that. I didn't drop Jon for Gary. And you can drop Ricki without having anyone else to go to. C’mon – you’ve only been with him a few weeks. You'll soon find someone else. Like, you wouldn’t be short of offers. Sheils, you need to consider if where Ricki’s going is a place you want to go too” 

Finally back at home Eleanor slumped in an armchair in the front room 

“Thought you'd be at the hospital?” said Len apparently forgiving her for not coming home last night.

“Just about to go. Visiting isn't till 7, but it's two busses from here and you know what connections are like this time of the evening in town” 

“I'd take you over there, but I've got an important call with the distribution depot any minute now” 

Susie, however, decided she could spare the time and while Gary was hoping that Ellie would show up, the added bonus of Susie was a surprise 

“Eleanor! Oh my, and mum!” 

What he really meant was 'Eleanor and her mum' but that's not the way it was heard 

“Oh, I see! Its mum now is it” she smirked in his direction “Moved on from Susie have we?”

“Oh dear. Maybe that's not quite right! But my own mum is a long way away, so maybe you'll just have to do instead” 

“ ‘Have to do' is it! Can't see a great deal wrong with you, young Gary me lad, expecting to get away with comments like that!” 

“Sorry, mum” he teased knowing now that she would probably rise to the bait. 

Susie sat down at the end of the bed as Eleanor moved in towards him and took his right hand holding it in both of hers. Susie watched as Ellie talked about her meetings and that she'd spoken to Vanessa and to Sheila. She watched the look in Ellie's eyes, intense and now slightly watery and wondered if she had ever felt that way about Len either before or after marrying him thirty years ago. 

“So what have you been doing all day?” she asked 

“Not much. Loafing about looking untidy mainly. Some of the nurses are worth watching, though. And I've been thinking - although to be honest I'm not sure I can recommend it” 

But on the event itself they both realised that neither of them knew exactly what happened. 

“I was thinking it was probably Ricki that lobbed it” said Gary “but who knows, it may have been random in frustration or annoyance, or maybe he did lob it at me – or maybe you”

“Who’s this Ricki?” Susie asked

“He’s a guy in the Red Lion crowd“ said Gary “Sheila knows him better than me“

“But if you know who it was you could press charges” offered Susie, now somewhat shocked that it might have been a friend of Sheila’s.

“I don’t know” said Gary “Hadn’t thought about it. Why would I do that?”
 “Just to demonstrate to whoever it was that you can’t just throw bottles around a busy bar”

“Hmm. Trouble is guys who throw bottles tend to be violent at the best of times, so there could be a future risk in that. I’m not inclined to put Ellie or me at any risk just to prove a point of ethical behaviour. But I’ll probably not be back in the Kings Head for a while”

“And I’ve been thinking too” said Eleanor beginning to sound concerned “About lots of things. But what’s this trip Vanessa said about?”
 “Oh, yeah. That’s what I wanted to talk to you about. That’s why I wanted to take you somewhere else so I could tell you about it. Its quite secret, but I can’t not tell you – what with me and Vanessa jetting off to the Middle East together”
 “When?”
 “It was meant to be Thursday, but I can’t see that happening”
 “That’s the conclusion she came to. There was a guy called Bruce with her. She said to him something about rescheduling”

“Oh? They won’t be too pleased. The whole project may have to be put back now. But at least they know and that means they can plan for it.”

And all too soon it was time to go

“Thanks for coming” said Gary as the nurse signalled that visiting hours for that ward were over “It's a big risk you know. Hospitals. They’re all full of sick people, you never know what you might catch” 

“Ok. But we have to go now. Is there anything you want me to do?”

Gary thought a moment as the girls put their coats on.

“Yes please, can you phone Vanessa with an update. They should let me out tomorrow. I’m hoping I get time off for good behaviour”

“At least he’s managed to retain his sense of humour” said Susie on the way home “But he seems such a nice boy. He’d be the last person I expect to get into a pub brawl”

“It wasn’t like that mum. We were just leaving. We were at the door and someone threw a bottle” - But then again, maybe it was meant for me!

“But you seem as keen on him as ever?”
 “Mmm. Mum, he was trying to get me out of there to avoid trouble. Its all my fault and now look where I’ve landed him.”

Gary sat up in his bed the next day. Hospital wasn’t so bad – boring but ok. They brought food and water at regular intervals and they might even let him go home later. He persuaded the nurse to find him a sheet of paper and a pen so that he could scribble some notes, but was interrupted by noticing a lady making her way between the beds. She slowed at each one and looked carefully, but the other occupants of the ward were all either sedated or asleep or both. Gary mused that maybe they had all died, but rebuked himself. No, the nurse might have noticed at least one of them. He thought maybe she was a nun, but as she approached it became clear she was just in traditional Muslim dress complete with head wear.

She smiled inquiringly at him.        

“Hi – you looking for someone?” although Gary reflected, he wouldn’t be able to help if she was because he didn’t know anyone. She came closer and spoke quietly

“Not really. My job is to just talk to people who are unfortunate enough to be in here. Sometimes they’re very concerned or upset or lonely and I do what I can by chatting to them. So how are you?”

“I’m good. That’s cool. That’s well useful, going round talking to people like that”
 “So why are you in here? I must say, you don’t look as ill as the rest of the ward”
 “No. And I hope the consultant agrees with that view as well. Then she’ll let me out”
 “Oh, have you got something special you need to be doing”

“Oh my! I have so many things I want to do and I feel my life is on hold waiting in this bed. I’m meant to be flying to Riyadh tomorrow, but I expect it’ll have to wait”
 “Riyadh indeed. Is this business?”
 “Yes, I’m supposed to be going with our strategy director. I was looking forward to it”

“Maybe he can go on his own?”
 “She” he corrected

“She? Surely not. Maybe you, or she, have not been to the middle east before”

“No indeed not. That’s one reason for looking forward to it. It should be quite exciting”

“I think it will, but perhaps not as you expect”

“You seem doubtful”
 “Oh yes. Although I have never been to Riyadh, the culture in the whole of the Middle East is very different from here in the West. The laws vary a lot, but where I come from women are not treated as equal to men in any way shape or form. Their role in society is quite different to that of men and they are not involved in business at all – instead they handle the social side of life.  Quite frankly, it is very unlikely that your colleague will be awarded any appointments at all, and will certainly not be taken seriously – unless of course it is purely Americans you are going to see, but if that was the case I would have thought you’d go to America”

“What will they think if we do turn up, like we would here in England?” 

“They may just think you're rude paying no heed to their culture and beliefs. In that case they will not talk to you at all. If she turns up in a normal English dress she may well be arrested as she leaves the airport. Gowns must be to the ankle. If they think she is your wife, they will try to entertain her while you attend the meetings, and if they think you are not married but sleeping together, heaven only knows what fate awaits you both. Such behaviour is not tolerated at all. 

Of course I cannot tell you what to do or how to run your company, but I can foretell with some certainly that no success will come of this unless you conform to their customs. I certainly think you would be wise to check with your hosts before you leave England”

“Wow! Thankyou so much. I’m not organising it so I’d not considered this at all. I suppose I’d assumed Vanessa would have thought about this”

This angle on life in foreign countries was something of a revelation. The sooner he discussed it with Vanessa the better, although he was also fairly sure that Ellie thought he was just jetting off on holiday with her. The thought had never occurred to him. She was quite a bit older than him – like 20 years - and a complete contrast to Eleanor. Fiercely elegant rather than softly pretty, but then, isolated together a couple of thousand miles from home, who knows what she might start thinking.

Late morning the consultant signed his release. Having arrived unexpectedly he had come in with nothing and had nothing to pack up. “But look after that ear” she said as he picked up his jacket. 

Time to go home, get cleaned up, put on some clean clothes, phone Vanessa, phone Ellie and maybe phone Susie, I may need the points.

“Mrs Farnell? It's Gary, Ell.....” 

“That's a bit of a change, last weekend it was Susie, yesterday it was mum, and now we're back to Mrs Farnell! Have I done something wrong?” 

“No, of course not. Sorry Susie. I just wanted to say thankyou for coming to see me yesterday, and that I'm out now, in case you were thinking of coming down this evening” 

But it seems that she wasn't thinking of visiting, and he declared his attempt at ingratiation something of a failure. 

Middle East

He bowled in to work late afternoon, still with the giant bandage round his ear, and headed straight for the fourth floor. Vanessa's pet dragon was intent on keeping him out, but Bruce had heard them talking and rescued him. Bruce was the Managing Director and Vanessa's boss, although talking directly to the MD was not on Gary’s plan. 

“I'm ok thankyou. I'm supposed to be signed off till Monday, but I think that’s just a standard procedure. But, no, actually, I'm not sure exactly what happened. I was just leaving. I was near the door and just got floored. I don’t know if it was a random attack, meant for someone else, or if I just got caught in the crossfire“ 

“Do you think it might have been someone deliberately trying to stop you flying to Riyadh?” 

“I can’t think so. I've not told anyone anything about this at all. So unless they found out through a different route. And then they’d have to follow me. The Kings Head is not a pub I go to very often. And if it was targeted, why not Vanessa? Actually, Bruce, I'm a bit worried about Vanessa. That's why I came up here to see her” 

He related the opinions of his new Middle Eastern friend and Bruce listened with growing interest. 

“I didn’t know if anyone had considered this aspect”

“I expect that much of what you say is correct. But I have been leaving the arrangements to Vanessa without interfering. Even so, I'd like to be a fly on the wall when you tell this to her” he said dryly 

“I'll try to borrow a crash helmet” 

“So what do you suggest?” 

“Either someone else goes, such as you, or she has the discussions over here. That way English culture might prevail. But if that’s their way of life. They’re unlikely to change their opinions just by crossing a country boundary”

“Yes. Hmm. But we can't review the computer system from here” 

“That's true. That needs to be done over there” 

“And that means you have to go anyway. It's just who goes with you” 

Or, as Bruce suggested, he could just go on his own.

Vanessa did not take well to the news. She took a couple of hours out to phone some people who could give her a detailed view and was even more wound up and down beat when she reconvened the meeting. 

“Paul Leadburn has some experience in the Middle East” offered Bruce “If we need a substitute we could do a lot worse” 

Vanessa should have been pleased. It wasn't every day that her understudy and substitute was a non-executive director. But she wasn't pleased. And she was even less pleased when Gary suggested that there may be ongoing issues. 

“If this goes ahead” he said “ it's likely we'll keep most of the management to run the operation out there. And I expect they will probably retain their beliefs, culture and religion. And if that is causing us an issue in the negotiations, would it not also give us the same issue in day to day implementation of policy and strategy?” 

“Well I think it's outrageous. I think if we complete the takeover, they should work to our rules. Its us that’s taking them over, not the other way round!” 

Bruce was clearly considering this possibly. 

“But then there's the possibility that they'd all leave rather than offend their culture and that means we'd be paying 25 million dollars for an empty paper bag. Gary?” 

“I’m afraid I agree sir. The point is, they operate in a different country. Countries were formed, usually violently, to create boundaries so that ethics, culture, economics and religion could evolve differently in adjacent communities without raising a conflict. What we're doing is expecting those differences to evaporate just because we want to expand our business. I think that if we want to succeed in their country we have to play by their rules” 

“Really Gary! You're surely not condoning their treatment of women. I'd be very disappointed if you were” 

“No, Vanessa. What I'm saying is that England has evolved in a different direction at a different pace to the Arab world. They're different. We can think they're worse if we like because they formally separate life’s responsibilities between the genders. But similarly they might think that our headlong lunge towards equality is equally absurd. We can't change the ethics of a nation overnight, so if we want to succeed we have to give ourselves the best chance we can, accept things the way they are and be realistic”.

And that evening, he finally managed to persuade Eleanor that this was purely a business trip. Vanessa had decided to delegate her place to Paul Leadburn the non-exec, justifying it to herself on the grounds that he already had some experience of doing business in that part of the world.

This was strange. For the first time for as long as she could remember she felt alone. She wouldn't normally see Gary on a Monday, but the issue was knowing that he wasn't even in the country. 

Tuesday was the same. She stayed late at work and found the quieter environment a whole lot more productive, but Wednesday she decided to go out. She felt that her sitting in the front room just reading her book like a zombie was unsettling her parents and she also felt the need for alcohol. 

It was quiet in the White Hart as she sat alone. She had a number of things she needed to think and think hard about, and the difficult bit was knowing where to start. Maybe one of those forward back plans of Gary's. Where did she want to be? Looking back at this, what would she want to report to herself?

Of course there was always the threat of being interrupted, being a girl on her own.

And sure enough, half an hour on a guy sidled up to her table. Maybe he'd been watching her and had decided that whoever she was waiting for wasn't going to show up. 

“You on your own?” 

She looked around as if to check.

“No. I'm surrounded by an entire colony of archangels” 

“You what?” 

“Careful! Jostling archangels can be very bad for your health” 

“Oh yeah?”
 “Yes, whatever it is you want, you’ll be disappointed. Guaranteed”

“I could get you a drink”
 “Got one, but thanks – disappointed”

“Just talk for five minutes”

“No. But thankyou. I need that five minutes for all the thinking I need to do - disappointed”

“I could help you think”
 “Are you suggesting I only have half a brain and need yours as well?”

“I guess not”

“Disappointed”

Or maybe, she thought as he wondered off, that he had been building up his intake of Dutch courage.

She congratulated herself on successfully fending off that attack while being pleased that she could attract interest, but she still desperately missed Gary.

Three thousand miles away, Gary was finding his trip interesting. He could hardly describe it as fun because his normal humour, understatement and frivolity were all off the agenda. Paul was a good coach but several leagues ahead on protocol and inference. 

Gary found himself becoming paranoid over tales of draconian penalties for infringing rules that were largely both unwritten and taboo to discuss. The hosts were courteous rather than friendly although Gary was totally unsure about the female contingent in the hotel lobby not knowing what their angle was or if they were perhaps even a honey trap.

The guys in the computer room knew what they were talking about and that made things easier – even if the answers were not what Gary was hoping for.

He made his notes, but was surprised when their manager demanded that he read them back to him so that he could check what Gary was reporting.  Still, he thought, when in Rome….especially when the taboos are unclear….

Thursday evening saw him back in England, but the debrief meeting was brought forward to 9 o'clock the next day and he was glad he'd taken time out on the flight to collate his notes. Paul was impressed that 11 hours after landing Gary was able to present a lucid report complete with implications and risks. 

He picked up a phone call that was reminding him of the change of time and location and Gary had to quickly wind up his conversation and extract himself from his daily mountain of program errors. It made him the last to arrive and he was surprised at the committee line-up sitting there waiting for him - Bruce, MD. Vanessa, Head of Strategy. Hugh, finance director. Paul, non-executive director, but he was the guy who actually went to Riyadh. And him, erk third class, geek from computing. 

Bruce asked Paul to report first - thank goodness. Gary would be able to judge the level of detail and the mood - and the level of enthusiasm he should try to display. 

But Paul’s report was a revelation quickly dismissing the financial side with a few numbers - Turnover, margin, growth graph and spread of source of income then swiftly on to examples and details of management style, management morale, staff morale, speed of decision making and social and business inhibitors…… Jeez! Vanessa would never have picked up all this stuff. She dealt in extrapolating raw facts. This guy was tuned in to emotions. 

“So, do you have a conclusion?” 

“I have some thoughts. But I want to hear what Gary has to say first. I don’t want to influence his report at this stage” 

Perhaps he should have expected that but it seemed to put more pressure on him somehow raising the gravitas of his opinion. 

“Gary, I know you’re very technical and an immense asset to us all in that respect. But try to remember that we are not” 

“I’ll try. And I’m sure you’ll soon let me know if I stray too far from the linear and unadventurous.”

Gary didn’t have much good news. The computers they used were from a different manufacturer and that meant that the internal codes that they used were different. That would make it difficult to connect them together without expensive translation, like talking two different languages. Then there was the code they wrote. Most code is annotated with comments. The comments are for the benefit of human readers, the code itself was for the computer. But the comments could only use western style letters and not Arabic script, so the Arab programmers largely left them blank which meant that figuring out what the code was supposed to do was difficult. The net result was that linking the two systems would be difficult and for difficult read expensive.

However, he said, the major issue was one of terminology. For example, in our systems and processes he said, the word ‘Container’ means a shipping container that is currently in use for client freight, and empty containers either on a dockside or in return transit are not included. This was done so that the impact of any issue – such as if a freighter was to get into trouble in a storm - can be assessed more quickly and not be hampered by the inclusion of relatively worthless empty units.

 However, their system and their business processes make no such exceptions, so when they say they have 8000 containers in transit, it may be that half of them are empty and being returned and, said Gary, we need to take account of these differences in terminology when we talk to them or interpret their reporting, especially things like improving the margin on their current shipping volumes.

Gary paused as Bruce opened a side conversation with Hugh about the anticipated volumes that they had reported, now taking this new evidence into account. This said Bruce, would take some getting used to.

“However,” Gary countered, “if these guys are open to a takeover, there’s an advantage to us doing it to prevent someone else doing it which might effectively terminate our activity in that region. There must be an advantage in us being in control of our entire transport route from end to end. How would we operate if PanAsia took them over?”

Bruce nodded

“We’d have to assess that. But there may also be an opportunity if they did that we could bid for a distribution alliance with them restricted to that part of the world that would open up other areas of the Middle and Far East that are currently unavailable to us. And conversely we might be able to help them with some of their volume destined for America which currently has political problems. I think that’s one for Vanessa. Maybe you two can put your heads together on it.” 

He nodded to Vanessa as confirmation without interrupting the senior man.

Bruce held him back after the meeting

“Good work, Gary. Not too technical for us. But also I like your consideration of these non-technical issues you raised. And bearing in mind the cultural issues you highlighted before the trip, I’d like you to be a permanent member of this project group. I’ll square it with Errol. It shouldn’t take too much of your time”

This was success. Acceptance by the non-exec. Inclusion by the MD and a poke in the ear to Errol who was the non-technical manager of the extremely technical computer department who Gary had no respect for at all. And he couldn’t wait to tell Ellie!

Another Surprise Date

Saturday was another date with Gary and she couldn’t wait. He’d said he wanted her to go to a concert with him, a gig by a band she’d never heard of. It was the other side of Oxford, a couple or three hours’ drive away. He’d been quite vague about what kind of music it was, except that it was similar to some of the stuff they played at the flat. But he said he’d thought she’d like it if she approached it with an open mind. This all sounded intriguing, but it was with Gary and that had to be good.

“And you're going out with Gary today?” asked Susie at breakfast.

“Mhmmm” she beamed “we're taking all day to get to somewhere just the other side of Oxford, then this evening we're going to a concert. Oh, and mum, I'm not expecting to be back tonight” 

“Not back?” questioned Len 

“No, dad. The gig won't finish till probably midnight, and Gary says it'll be a while after that before we get out, then its three hour’s drive back. I don't want to be waking everyone up at 3 am” 

“So instead you'll be.....? “ 

“Staying at Gary's” 

“But you'll be back for Sunday lunch tomorrow? Is that with Gary?” 

“That’s the plan mum” 

The detour Gary had planned was a trip to Bristol Zoo. She hadn’t been to a zoo for years, and it made a pleasant change and something quite interesting even though the weather was not on their side. They wandered along the paths seeing how many animals they could name without reading the labels and in between they talked about the future and what they were looking forward to. Gary told her a lot more detail about his inclusion in the takeover bid team in the Middle East. He explained how he’d phrase this experience in a future cv building up opportunities away from pure technical knowledge which would so quickly become out of date.

Six thirty saw them in a traffic queue waiting to get into the theatre car park. Gary had hoped that they were early enough to avoid this, but apparently not, and they sat there in patient anticipation as a girl in a yellow hi viz made her way along the line. 

“Do you have tickets?” she asked politely “because it's completely sold out and I’m afraid you won't get in if you’re trying to buy on the door” 

Gary produced a small envelope from his inside pocket and passed two bright orange passes to her. She examined them looking quite startled 

“Oh my! In that case, you should drive all the way down the outside of this queue to my colleague that you can just see by the barrier.” 

She passed the tickets back with a smile and he returned them to his pocket although Eleanor was sure she had glimpsed ‘VIP’ emblazoned across them.

They were held at the door as the usher called for an escort to accompany them to their seats. This was different, she thought. Finding seats had never been difficult before. But there they were directed through a side channel and out into a narrow back staircase. The steward led them along the corridor and through a door which opened out into a private box perched high above the main auditorium. It had a magnificent view of the stage as clearly was intended by the Victorian builders. 

“Wow, this is different. I was half expecting to be crushed in the mosh” 

No sooner had they sat down than the door opened again 

“Is it all right if I set up the buffet now?”

Eleanor watched the auditorium and the buffet table fill up and was aware that they were an object of some attention from the general crowd down below with people pointing and looking up. She felt a bit self-conscious and although there was plenty of space she preferred to snuggle in beside him leaning over the edge. 

Four other people entered the box. Gary and Eleanor said hello politely but it was clear that none of the new arrivals spoke much English and the conversation was muted. Gary suggested that they might be Romanian, but gave no indication as to why he might think that.

Neither were they familiar with the food on offer. They tried to think of a way of explaining it but decided instead to simply cut off a small piece and offer it as a trial. This friendly gesture was rewarded with smiles and nods and Eleanor felt that friends had been made and communication established despite the absence of words.

She wasn't sure what to expect. She'd agreed to go with him because he'd asked her, and because she wanted to just be with him. But also because she was his girlfriend and that held a certain responsibility to match the expectation. She thought she might have heard of this band, but now on reflection she thought it might just have been another name in Gary’s CD collection. It certainly seemed popular but she wasn’t even sure what type of music to expect. The anticipation was exciting and even if the music was different to what she’d normally listen to at home, that didn't mean she wouldn't like it. Just that she'd have to keep an open mind as Gary had suggested…. 

The lights dimmed, the curtains opened and the opening band tore into their first number. It was ok. No, not what she'd put on at home, but not unpleasant. And the atmosphere in the theatre made all the difference. The other four in the box with them seemed more enthusiastic than her, but maybe that was to be expected. It was loud to the point of deafening and she decided she probably wouldn’t be buying their CD but at the same time wouldn’t throw it away if it was given to her.

Break came along with a range of desserts and more non-verbal communication before the headliners were introduced. This is what Gary had come to see and what he had wanted her to come and see too - to the point of being unusually insistent. She knew he was hoping she’s like it, but even if she didn’t she kept telling herself, she was with him so it couldn’t be all bad.

The show opened with a reverberating guitar chord that shook the building and went on and on as the volume was increased from deafening to immense. This was even louder than when she turned that dial in Gary’s flat, but her ears adjusted - either that or she'd gone deaf - and the track unfolded. The guitar riffs were complex, the cutover to keyboards was split second perfect and the thunderous applause started before the instrumental track finished because, she assumed, so many of the audience already knew it. 

The guitarist stepped forward to introduce a girl that had now appeared on stage as Liliana something and the rest of the show was underway. Following the first track Eleanor was expecting more deafening volume heavy metal, but although the volume was wound up, the riffs were still intriguingly complex, the newcomer could actually sing and whoever was on the mixer had got the balance just right and it was unexpectedly melodic. 

She had a wonderful pitch to her voice and Gary said she’d been classically trained. The songs told a complex story. It wasn't exactly an opera, but there were links between the tracks and overall the traditional tale of love and hate evolved throughout the evening. Eleanor was enthralled. She'd heard some tracks like this at Gary’s flat but had never listened to a whole CD right through. She’d never have dreamt it would be this type of music - complex proper musicianship with a classical meso soprano belting out a storyline under the guise of a heavy metal band. And all too soon it was over.

“Thankyou. Goodnight, and if you're desperate for a replay, we’ll see you in Dresden on Monday night” 

The encore had finished, the lights were up, the sound was ringing in her ears like tinnitus, and the crowds were jamming the doors. Their new found friends turned right with a wave and disappeared along the corridor towards the exit.

But instead of joining the crush, he led her the opposite way finding a staircase and exploring their way down to the main arena and forward to the side of the stage. By now it was deserted as the crowd had shuffled along on their way home.

“Gary, what’s going on – where are we going”
 “To meet the band”

You are joking! Although she managed to whisper how epic she thought it was and thankyou so much for persuading her to come, as their bright orange tickets persuaded the gorilla to let them through.

Backstage, it was altogether quieter 

“Don't be surprised if some of the guys are not entirely dressed” Gary warned “they’ve been jumping around on stage under those lights for nearly three hours. Their objective now is to get beer, get clean, get cool and get dressed. Probably in that order. The last time I saw them, they’d all just come out of the shower.” 

“I’ll look forward to that!”

The door to the main dressing room was open and Gary led her straight in. She recognised the guy who was pouring a can of beer down his throat in one hit as the lead guitarist, although it nearly choked him when he saw them.

“Hey! Gaz! You made it” 

“Hey Ro! Wasn't gonna miss it. Try explaining that to mum” 

They'd given each other a hug and a loud slap on the back which sounded like it might have broken several vertebrae. 

Gary took her hand to include her 

“Ro, this is my girlfriend Eleanor. Ellie, meet my brother Roland.” 

Brother! Oh my goodness. Now I know why he was so interested in coming here. But even that apart, the gig was epic.

“Ro, great to meet you. I've never heard anything like this before, and man, it was epic” 

“Hey! G, glad you liked it sis.” 

Ro cracked open a couple of cans and talked about the band and where the tour was taking them next and the tight schedule for getting to eastern Germany by Monday night. The bass player joined the conversation, and then Liliana, although it became clearly apparent that all she was wearing was a towel. 

“We're all supposed to get turfed out of here before 12. Its standard if they're not licenced for Sunday's. But so long as we're not too noisy and not playing live, we'll probably get away with being here till everyone gets washed up and dressed”. 

12.30 saw Ellie and Gary on the road but it was gone 3 by the time Gary had Ellie in one hand and her overnight case in the other. They collapsed into the settee still elated from the evening and her body was still tingling from the excitement. Gary put her case in the bedroom and poured a small glass. She curled up and nestled in to him with his arms round her the way that she had found she liked to be cocooned. 

“Only 9 hours before we're due for lunch with you mum and dad” he said wearily, only then noticing that she had her eyes closed. “Come on, we need some sleep”.

Ellie unpacked her new nightdress and changed into it without fully waking up.  Gary disappeared into the bathroom, but she felt nothing strange at all about taking all her clothes off in his bedroom. 

“My turn” she said as he returned. He was already in bed when she got back and crept in under the duvet. She snuggled into him replicating their position on the settee, the room went dark and next thing she knew it was morning. 

“What time is it?” she said quietly not knowing if he was awake or not 

“10.15” he said as he pulled her closer. 

Relaxed refreshed and now excited, Ellie felt that making love had never been more natural. She felt it was exactly the right time to move forward like this with Gary and it was gentle and soothing. It was driven by love and not lust and the oxytocin rippled through her rebounding from the tips of her body.

Gary made the coffee and they sat up together “Half an hour till we have to leave for lunch” he announced breaking the spell.

“We could be late” she offered 

“Not that late!” 

He tidied the coffee cups and made the bed as she showered, 

“You don't have an iron, do you? she asked 

“Why? What happened to it? Have you thrown it out the window?” 

“No, silly. I’ve got a new dress for today, but its still got some packing creases in it” 

Gary took the dress as she got herself dried.

“My goodness she exclaimed. Not only cooking, but ironing as well. Perhaps I could bring mine round for you. How about Tuesdays?” she teased 

“Tuesdays are good - so long as you come with it. But,” he hesitated as she stood in the bedroom doorway wearing just her underwear “do you really need this dress. I quite like it the way you're dressed right now” 

“NO! Not for lunch with my parents” 

“Did they not say ‘come as you are’ on the invitation” 

“No, they're having enough problems with me staying here last night” 

But lunch turned out to be less of an issue than she'd expected.

“So you stayed at Gary’s last night?” stirred Sheila 

“Mhmm. Didn’t want to wake everyone up getting back so late” 

“What time?” 

“Half past 3” said Gary finally being able to join the family conversation. 

“So is that going to become a common event” she teased 

“Probably” replied Ellie without looking up, without glancing at her dad or attempting confirmation from Gary, but there was no comment at all from Len or Susie.

“What was the concert like? Did you find out why Gary was so keen on you going?” 

“Apart from she'd have to stay at his place after they got back” Sheila prompted.

Ellie ignored the bait “It was awesome. I’ve never heard anything like it” 

“That bad huh?”                 

“No, daddy, it was mega. Heavy metal, as I expected”
 “I don’t mind heavy metal. Often the guitar playing is expert. But when they start singing – Oh my, that’s when I switch off”

“That’s sort of what I was expecting too dad, but these guys weren’t like that. Their vocalist was a classically trained opera singer which solved that whole thing”

“I’m with you Len” said Gary “but as Ellie says, these guys are a bit different. It’s a European band, even though the bass player’s an Aussie. The keyboard player is Danish, the drummer is Romanian and they’ve teamed up with an Austrian opera singer. She’s classically trained and the fusion of the guitar riffs and her voice is just awesome”

“Ok – I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt, but I think I’d stop short of getting myself a ticket. So how did you hear about them if they’re that obscure?”

“Gary’s brother is lead guitar”                     

“Really! So that’s what the special interest was”
 “Yes, but I’d go and see them again even if he wasn’t. – And then we went backstage. Sheils you’d have loved it. The whole band is in one dressing room and the four guys were all, well, getting changed. Oh, Gary do I get to tell them about this”
 “Yeah – if you want to”

Intrigued, Len and Sheila stopped eating.

“So they’re in various states of undress and then Liliana, she’s the singer -  she comes in from the shower wearing only a towel. Ro – that’s Gary’s brother introduces us, but she’s continental, so she goes to give Gary a kiss on each cheek like they do, except to do that she drops the towel. So there I am watching Gary have this kiss with a girl we’ve never met before and who’s completely naked”

“So that’s what my little girl gets up to at midnight of a Saturday!”

Dinner was over, coffee was finished

“Are you going out with Gary for the rest of the afternoon, and if you are, are you coming back?” asked Susie rather pointedly.

“No, mum. I’m staying here. I’ve got some stuff to do for work tomorrow, and I haven’t got anything ready to wear either” 

But a nod of his head was enough for Ellie to know that her dad wanted a word with her as well.

“Ellie” he said seriously “Just to round off the lunchtime conversation, if you're going to be staying at Gary’s you make sure you let us know. Otherwise we’ll be searching all round town for you when you didn’t come home. It won’t be like the hospital where Sheila knew where you’d gone”
 “Ok dad. No problem. And I’ll write down Gary’s number for you anyway”

“And Eleanor, I can’t imagine that you’re staying in Gary’s spare room. So be careful. I don’t want you waltzing in here looking for sympathy over some careless mistake”

She smiled weakly, but this was tantamount to him giving his nod of approval for the situation.

Sheila’s Birthday

Wednesday saw them back in the White Hart. It was a convenient pub because it was on the edge of the town centre and easier for Gary to park at, and it was just across from the bus stop for Eleanor.

Gary tilted his head to one side and watched her edge her way through the crowd at the bar. She was gorgeous. Just watching her made him think life could not get any better. It was just the way she looked. And the way she sat on the edge of her chair beaming over at him when she got excited about something. And the way she caught hold of his arm when she was surprised. And was so enthusiastic about just being with him.

“Its Sheila’s birthday on Saturday” she said trying to squeeze it into the conversation.

“Really. I guess I need to get her something”

“Yes, but I don’t know what”
 “Bottle of Vodka maybe?”
 “Oh, I don’t know Gary”

“Ok, two bottles?”

“No! I don’t want to encourage her to drink any more than she already does.  She’s been a bit down lately. I think she’s feeling a bit of a lost soul since dad had that go at her about Ricki”

“Maybe he managed to talk some sense into her! But maybe your mum and dad will want you all to go out as a family”
 “Can’t think so - we’re not fourteen you know”

“Yeah, but its still nice going out with your parents sometimes”
 “Maybe – if you don’t actually live with them, and she’s only been moved out a couple of months”.

She phoned him the next day suggesting that maybe they could take her out, just the three of them rather than the blind date Gary had suggested. Yes, he thought, a good thing that she’s binned Ricki but likely to stay that way based on how she’s been behaving recently. So variable! And from what Ellie was saying, snappy and short on patience and unpredictable, but then again someone who was totally predictable would be mind-numbingly boring.

As always, Gary could see a number of pitfalls and issues, but he could also think of ways round them if they did crop up. And he didn’t want to appear too negative which would spook her into abandoning the idea and he’d have to think of something else. So Gary was persuaded and agreed to re-create the canal trip that Eleanor had found so special.

He was a little sceptical that this would be Sheila’s thing and that she was more excitement focussed than Ellie, but Ellie’s angle was that she’d invite her to do something she and Gary would like to do and she could join in, rather than try to guess something that Sheila would like with the possibility that it turned into a lousy day for everyone.

“That’s a bit risky isn’t it?” Katie said to her at work “Supposing he decides he likes Sheila better than you and decides to go out with her if he gets to know her a bit better” 

Gee thanks, Katie. There’s me trying to do the best for my sis who’s not having much luck this year and you have to put up the biggest scare of my whole life. She remembered what Gary had said when he explained the ‘spent the night with’ riddle about losing her best friend, her sister and her boyfriend all at once and the thought distracted her.

 “Sorry Ces! I was miles away”
 “Maybe you could catch a flight back in the next ten minutes and make it along to my office”

Oh deep joy.

Sheila was a bit more chirpy on Saturday as she arrived at the Farnell family home.

“Don’t know anything about canals and boats, but its different, and it’s a day out, and its ..” she hesitated as if pondering whether to continue “…its with Gary, so it can’t be all bad”

Oh my! She’s either winding me up – and maybe Katie’s responsible for me being twitchy or maybe Katie was right and.….
 

Gary picked them up and headed north. The conversation was mainly between Gary and Sheila. She’d done a lot of work on that program Gary had fixed for her, and the fix had pointed her in the direction of a load of amendments that would improve it no end. 

“Good” said Gary in between her incessant jabbering “its nice to make a positive difference sometimes”
 ‘Sometimes,’ thought Ellie from the back of the car. 

She’d let Sheila sit in the front as a treat and to try to make sure she felt included, but was now beginning to regret it as she herself now felt a bit left out. But, she consoled herself, it was always difficult talking from the front to the back of a car. Although, she realised, she hardly understood a word of the bits of the conversation she did manage to catch. That was another issue – they had all this work related stuff in common and she and Gary had….?

Boarding the boat failed to diminish her trepidation. She now felt even more on edge watching him hold Sheila’s hand longer than just to help her on board. But this was Sheila’s treat. This was to help her feel less miserable, and she’d asked Gary to help with all this. And it got worse, as he slipped his arm around Sheila to help her with the tiller as he demonstrated how to steer the boat. He’d only put his hand on hers when he’d been showing her how to do it. She remembered how excited she felt about it back then all those months ago – all 3 of them. And she was glad and relieved when the pub came in to view, except this time they didn’t run into the jetty.

“You ok?” asked Sheila as Eleanor rushed past her to grab the seat next to Gary at the table, but Gary had other priorities in the direction of the men’s room. He’d come back a different way and now approached the table from behind. His place had clearly been moved to opposite the girls rather than beside one of them and he stopped as he heard them talking more intensely than he’d expected 

 “I wasn’t sure I was going to like this” Sheila was saying “it sounded a bit slow, but its great. Its kind of stress free and after the week I’ve had! And Gary! He’s so nice” 

“You don’t have to tell me that!”

“I’m beginning to understand what’s so good about going out with him. You know, I think he likes me a bit more than he did after the party”
 “Maybe he’s just trying to make sure you don’t feel left out”

“D’you think so?” she said sounding disappointed “And we’ve got so much in common with our work” 

Eleanor failed to hide her apprehension 

“Ellie! You’re not that serious about him! - Are you?”

“Aren’t I?” 

 “Hey, you two. Is the food not here yet? Maybe I need to get another round in”

The trip back was equally leisurely, except that this time they stopped at one of the locks to take the snack Gary had mentioned. They sat on the grass and watched the sedate pace of lock operation. He produced three plastic wine glasses and a half bottle of champagne along with a cake. It was as small as could be inexpertly iced pink with ‘Happy Birthday Sheila’ and was just for the three of them. The slight breeze meant the candles failed to light but Sheila gave him a kiss anyway that did nothing to ease Eleanor’s blood pressure.

She’d got the hang of driving the boat now and much to Ellie’s relief there seemed no need to cuddle her at the same time. And, Ellie reflected, the cake was a lovely touch and Sheila had clearly appreciated it. She had a feeling that there was a plan for all five of them to go out for a curry that evening, and if that was the case there’d be no cake there. Another box ticked, another point earned, another reason for Sheila to want to steal him from her.

The drive back should have been less stressful for her. She claimed her front seat back, and Sheila was happy to crash out in the back. She’d already had her quota of alcohol for the day, and wasn’t used to this much fresh air.

He put his hand on her knee as they cruised the dual carriageway, and Ellie turned round nervously to see if Sheila was still asleep. But Eleanor wasn’t feeling quite herself. She knew she’d brought all this on herself, but surely after all the fun they’d had he wouldn’t drop her in favour of her own sister! The one she was only trying to help. The one she’d always tried to help and seldom got any thanks from. The one that had scant regard for her sense of emotion. Sheils was her best friend, she’d always been her best friend since they were about eight, but for how much longer? Surely it wasn’t meant to be like this, that Gary would come between them whether he went with Sheila or if he stayed with her. Oh. Ellie! How did you manage to create an everybody lose situation? But, she shouldn’t have to choose between her sister and her boyfriend, and if she chose her sister and let Gary go, there’s no guarantee Sheila wouldn’t chase him anyway. Suddenly she didn’t want that hand there, it was no longer appropriate. Something inside her was too afraid that she was about to lose everything. Maybe Gary would move on so that he wouldn’t come between them even though that would split them up anyway, or that Sheila would take him from her and she was defenceless because … because she was putting them first? Or just because. And she started to cry inside, silently and almost invisibly. 

The plan that evening was for the family four to go to the curry house and Gary was pleased he’d taken the cake. He was also quite pleased that he could take a break from Sheila. 

There were too many people watching for a full scale kiss goodbye with Eleanor and she was briefly struck by the thought that somehow it might be their last. 

“You ok” asked Len. 

She nodded swallowing the tears. What would she do, maybe she’d have to leave town? Get a job in London? Jump off a bridge? And Gary hadn’t seemed too worried about anything, but then he was quite good at stifling emotion until, except and maybe when they were alone.

Naturally, the conversation over curry turned to the day trip. Sheila had perked up no end declaring it awesome and quite possibly the best day she’d had all year, and a huge thankyou to Ellie for inviting her and to Gary for looking after her so well.

“I’m so glad you had a good time” said Susie “You’ve been looking a bit glum recently”

“I know. Sorry. But I think things will get better now”
 “After today’s trip?” questioned Len

“Oh! Daddy! It was great. And Gary is so nice! The way he looked after me”

“Really! That’s good. I was a bit concerned it wouldn’t quite be up your street, but at least it was different, yes?”

“I’d never have considered it. But it was Gary that made the day. He even brought a birthday cake. Did he make that, Ellie?”

“I expect so. He’s quite good at cooking. He made some shortbread biscuits for my work picnic”

But Ellie had drifted to a different place. She looked around at the three of them. Its all very well Sheila’s had a good day, and mum and dad are thankful for that.  

“I think its really kind of Ellie to invite you”

Yes and share Gary. And believe me, in the unlikely event of us surviving this, it won’t be happening again any time soon. 

But she resolved to try not to spoil the day. Gary had done so much – maybe too much, and she’d done her bit too and her going into meltdown would ruin everything. Keep the lid on it and just pretend you’re just tired.

“That’s just the kind of person I am. I’m sure that’s part of why Gary likes me” she responded knowing full well that Sheila was nowhere near as considerate.

“And when are you seeing him again, Ellie?” asked Len

“Don’t know. We haven’t set anything up, we didn’…”
 “…. Really! oooh that’s interesting”

She narrowed her eyes. There was a fine line between the cliff edge to meltdown and no retaliation at all.

“I don’t think so Sheils. I’m not through with him yet – not by a long way”
 “Oh, I know that Ellie, but I was just remembering when he…”
 “Yes” she said more wistfully than she had intended “and maybe it’s a possibility, because the only thing I want in the whole wide world is for him to be happy”

Len nearly choked on his Cobra

“Ok Eleanor! Let’s take that another day, can’t we?” he said trying not to splutter

“Good idea” she replied more positively and then with a lighter humour “The last time I was in here someone was doing the funky chicken all around the tables”

“Ellie, I’m not volunteering”

That night, the four of them stayed in the Farnell house. A bit like old times when they were growing up together although it had only really changed in the last few months with Sheila buying her house. Like old times after they’d been put to bed as kids, Sheila came to sit on Ellie’s bed. She said that following the trip with her and Gary she was now determined to get herself sorted out after the traumas of the last couple of months but gave no clue about how she intended to do that. Eleanor stopped short of offering to get involved with or without Gary’s help and eventually managed to fall asleep without crying. 

She phoned his flat the next morning, but there was no reply. Not that strange she convinced herself, they hadn’t made a habit of seeing each other on Sunday except when he was invited to family lunch. There was nothing suspicious about this she told herself, after all, what had changed? They’d taken Sheila out and Gary had made every calculated meticulous effort to make the outing a success, to include Sheila – even if it was at some expense of excluding her – and that was ok, wasn’t it?. That’s what she’d asked him to do. She tried to think back to any sign he’d shown that things had changed between them but couldn’t pin anything down – but then, she was biased.

She tried to be as natural as expected with Sheila. She really didn’t want to fall out with her, she wanted to keep her sister as her best friend, but Sheila had also proved recently that she couldn’t be completely relied on. Like when Ricki was being so insensitive in the Kings Head and she didn’t even try to do anything about it. Maybe she should start building up a fall back option. Maybe she should try to get a bit closer to Katie just to see if that was a viable option. But then, wasn’t it Katie that put the idea of Sheila and Gary getting together in her head in the first place?

Gary wasn’t in in the afternoon either. Ok. So long as he wasn’t with Sheila. She phoned Sheila’s house and the lack of a reply moved her trepidation into overdrive.

It was all still preying on her mind the next day at work

“And what is it you’re away with the fairies thinking about?” demanded Cecily as Eleanor had become distracted again

“Oh, sorry!”
 “Well? What place did you disappear to this time?” she asked severely 

“I was wondering how much to tell him” she confessed

“Boyfriend?”

“Yes”

“Well tell him everything – save getting found out later on. Now come along, we’ve got the Supplier Round-up meeting in five minutes and Ben isn’t in”

That was good advice from her rather unempathetic boss’s boss – but then again she was a lot more direct than her mum.

Gary phoned early afternoon. “We didn't get much time together this weekend. Thought you might have time to meet up after work?” 

He sounded up beat, but then he would so as not to wear his heart on his sleeve at work. But Monday hadn’t become one of the days they saw each other. Maybe that was a tradition that needed to be challenged - wasn’t it?

“White Hart? she asked 

“No, I was thinking something else. Can you get off the bus two stops before that, opposite the park at the end of that lane that winds all the way up the hill”

She puzzled this. Yes it was opposite the park, but there was an 8 foot high stone wall between the road and the park at that point and the only way of seeing much was from the top of a double decker bus. 

His car was parked entirely on its own at the side of the road slightly up the lane from the bus stop. It wasn't a popular parking bay because of the walk from there to the park gate but she crossed the road and got in, relieved that he was there, relieved that he was smiling gently at her, relieved that he wasn't looking as nervous as he would if he was about to say ‘sorry but I'm.......’ 

She shut the door and put her handbag down in the footwell strangely aware that he was studying her every move.  But before she could say anything he leaned over, took hold of both her shoulders, pulled her over towards him and kissed her almost to the point of suffocation. She was gasping for breath from surprise and elation when they broke apart, but immediately threw her arms round his neck

“Ellie,” he whispered as her ear was right next to his face “I knew it was going to be difficult to get the balance right on Saturday, to make sure Sheila had a good day, but to make sure you didn’t feel neglected either. I know I paid a lot of attention to her because I knew your intention was for us to try to cheer her up. So if I got that slightly wrong this is my way of starting to make up for it” 

Eleanor melted - again. There was nothing wrong, there never had been. Gary was just being Gary, doing what she'd asked him to do to the best of his ability and going that extra mile as well.

“Gary” she beamed “You have no idea how worried I’ve been. We all went out for dinner and she was all about what a lovely day she’d had and how you got on so well together and how you had so much in common and I was so afraid that she’d start going out with you instead” 

He smiled inquisitively at her “What? Me go out with Sheila? – There’s a thought. She dresses a bit casually, bordering on scruffy. That would take some getting used to, and she’s pretty self-centred. But Ellie, there’s really only one good reason for me not doing that”
 “You mean, because she’s my sister and you said before…”

“No, not that. Well, yes that as well. But she’s got one fundamental flaw. Actually, its something she’s got in common with almost all girls…” 

He watched her face fall to a panic 

“Only one thing? What's that?” 

“She's not you” 

“Oh Gary, that’s nearly another heart attack”

“And Ellie, next year, I’m going to get her a bottle of vodka – or maybe two”

“Gary, when we get to the White Hart I'm going to phone mum and say I won't be home tonight”. 

“Why am I not surprised?” said Susie 

They got through a couple of drinks rather quickly and decided that for purely economic reasons they’d cook something at Gary’s rather than eat in town.

The kitchen area behind the breakfast bar was big enough for two people providing they were fairly friendly. He got a small pack of mince from the fridge but Ellie was hoping he knew what he was doing because her cookery expertise was hovering somewhere between virtual and non-existent.

“We just need to bulk it up a bit, can you grate a couple of carrots”

Carrots? In chilli? Oh well, why not?

“And another tablespoon of smoked paprika” and in she stirred it. A whole tablespoon?

“Rice?” she asked thinking this might be her sole original contribution. 

“Yes, 200 grams. And give it a rinse under the tap so’s it doesn’t stick together – we don’t want chilli and rice pudding”

They seemed to work well as a team and the result was eminently edible. 

But this was different. It wasn’t a work day when she’d stayed before. Tomorrow she’d have to get up and dressed and get the bus to work, which bus? And how long would it take? and what time did Gary normally get up? It must be different to Sundays.

And where Gary had said they should just leave all the clearing up till after she went home last time he cooked dinner for her, this time he seemed intent on getting everything sorted out before they collapsed onto the settee. 

He’d poured two drinks and put them on the coffee table as she flicked through a shelf of his CD collection. So many bands she’d never even heard of, and next to none of the ones she had. She figured out how to operate the music system and returned to the settee to listen to two or three tracks before bouncing back up 

“Not sure about those guys” she said and moved on to the next CD sometimes deliberately landing on Gary as she returned to the settee.

It was a lovely evening. Just the two of them together doing nothing in particular.

But soon it got late. She checked that she had that navy blue dress for work tomorrow, she checked that the contents of her handbag would enable her survival and looked for the nightie that she was sure she’d left here last time.

Eventually she asked him

“Its under your pillow – where its been since a week last Saturday” he called from the kitchen. 

She sat on the edge of the bed. My pillow! This was the perfect end to the weekend - a day late. This was just an ordinary domestic evening. Just her and Gary. But it wasn’t all about getting into bed. There was so much more to it. Of course they’d been together on the settee, touching, caressing, fondling. But there was no panic about it. She tingled just thinking they’d make love later, but for the evening it was about being together without a frenzied lust driven stampede. This was gentle, soft and unmistakeably Gary. 

Gary’s Car

But Gary had not been short of thinking time of his own and his plan was now coming together. Yes he was roving around life rather aimlessly but now the road ahead was looking a lot clearer. The bridges he wanted to cross needed a slight variation in the current route and now was the time to make the changes. 

And one of those was his car. Off road four wheel drive was no longer appropriate. That old Riley was more like it, but it wasn't really suitable for cruising in sunnier cIimes like the Adriatic coast. Not without a full toolkit and a tent for unexpected overnight stops in remote areas. He wondered if Ellie would be interested in that sort of thing. That is, the sort of touring holiday where you might or might not get to your next overnight destination and may have to spend several days in one place, mostly up to your elbows in oil and grease and laterally thinking about how to make this machine go again. No, there were better options. Ones that left more time for slowing down, loafing, sitting in tree shaded village-square cafes watching tourists rush by, rather than flat out working even if it didn't involve computers. 

Every time he glanced across at his empty passenger seat he imagined he could see Eleanor. But this wasn’t the car he needed any more. He’d hoped he’d make more use of the 4 wheel drive off road and do more mountain biking and maybe get closer to these hill tops so there would be less walking. But no, it just hadn’t happened. And now he wanted something more laid back, more chilled out than active, and more about the whole journey than just the arrival. His rugged 4x4 was for girls in jeans or jodhpurs, and he was looking more for something that said chiffon scarf and suede mini skirt. And more than all of that he could just picture Eleanor in a dark shade sun dress with bright geo micro pattern looking unbelievably wonderful sitting right next to him. 

She’d liked the Riley and the whole concept of driving a vintage car but he wasn’t sure she’d appreciate the hours of effort in the workshop to keep it all running smoothly. 

And he now thought he knew Len well enough to ask his advice. 

Len was helpful and sounded pleased to be asked

“Why don’t you get a BM ? There’s loads of them around and that’s keeping the prices down”

Yes, thought Gary, Jon had one. It was a wreck and sounded like it, and while Jon wouldn’t give a monkeys if he stranded Ellie in the back of beyond, he would be mortified.

“It’s too obvious” he said “I want something less aggressive, more individual without being ostentatious. Actually, I’m thinking Saab” 

Len agreed “I do find Saab drivers more considerate. I think it’s because they’re thinkers as well as do-ers. They’re more individual about their choice of car and so they think more when they’re driving as well. Reasonable servicing costs too. Parts are well priced ….” 

Stephen at the dealership was more helpful than Gary had expected. They’d been talking on and off about this before. Ok he was trying to sell him a car but he listened to Gary’s perspective and asked a few questions, and in any case he remembered Gary from school.

“So on colour, you’re not so keen on the brilliant orange or the summer yellow. You want something more reserved. For people who need a huge load space we’ve got the estate, but you don’t, and you don’t really want a big family cruiser either. What you need is a car for all seasons. What you need, Gary, is the convertible. Its pretty versatile too. We had one guy bought a wardrobe and took it home in the back by putting the roof down. So what I need to find for you is the right spec and then try to find a deal that fits it into your budget for you. Ok, Gary I understand the challenge. I’ll see what I can do. There’s a lot of cars in group stock and I’ll go through all of them and see what I can come up with”

True to his word, he called the next day. The Chelmsford branch of the group had sold a limited edition but the cheque had bounced and the buyer disappeared. So they’d registered it as sold but it was still there. This was not the first time that they’d screwed up recently and it would cause them a major problem with their figures at head office at end of month. But to get everything through in time he needed the cheque straight away to make sure it would clear. 

Gary left work early to see him ahead of meeting Eleanor as usual on Wednesdays. Oh well, I’ve worked more than my fair share of unpaid overtime recently and I’ll make up the time tomorrow, or maybe Friday – or maybe not.

“Now, Gary. I’ve found the car you want but I need some lateral thinking from you because I’m going to show it to you in four separate pieces and I need you to put them all together in your head. Ok? Then if its all good, I can get it down from Chelmsford”.

Gary looked at him somewhat bemused. Was this a normal sales technique around here?

“Ready? Right! We’ll start here. Now I appreciate this is the estate, and I appreciate its mid brown in colour, but what I need you to do is ignore all that. Just sit in the driver’s seat. All you need from this car is the dashboard layout – not anything else ok.”

 Gary surveyed it, it was a dash. Ok it had an oil pressure gauge and oh, a turbo boost meter, rev counter, minor switches. Nice, everything just to hand.

“Nice gearstick” he said

“Ah – gearstick’s not included from here. That’s later. Now over here in this saloon - never mind the colour, or that its a saloon or even the dash layout. Look at the trim level, it’s the seats and the amount of leather and the leather colour. This white is the same as your car. So its not just the fascia and seats, its minor trim, door trim, all except the headlining in the same leather and the headlining is very nearly the same colour. But you can’t have a leather headlining, its too inflexible. Now over here is the convertible. Ok this one is tangerine, so forget that. Just sit in there and remind yourself of that dash and that white leather and the only differences you need to take account of are the gearstick and the button for the electric hood. And of course, the fact it doesn’t have a roof. Got it? Right. So Gary, its that dash layout, that white leather, the open air…”  

He led Gary over to the wall where the colour panels were displayed and unhooked one from its peg “Yes, its black but watch” he turned it to different angles as Gary watched the colours refracting from the jet black background – It reminded him exactly of how he imagined Eleanor would look in the black micro geo pattern dress he was going to buy her.

“Wow Stephen, that’s some spec. But can I afford it? What’s the deal?”

“Gary, you might not believe this, but I can get this to squeeze just inside your budget, but…”

“But?”

“Yeah but. But, we need to complete it and get it out the door by Monday. That’s end of month”
 “That’s tight”

“I know. But Chelmsford branch need to get this off their books. It’s a limited edition and if its not completed by end of month, then it doesn’t get Chelmsford off the hook and that’s where most of the advantage is coming from”

“Ok I get it. Maybe we need to talk to our banks? Who do you bank with – not you, I mean the garage?”
 “Midland Bank in the square in town”

“Really! Me too! Now, Ok if we can get the transfer done just in the branch we should be able to do that in one or at most two days rather than wait for the regular cheque clearance. Or maybe I just meet you there and I get the cash out and give it to you and you pay it back in straight away”

“Good plan. So if you gave me a cheque right now, I could take it in this afternoon and if I hit trouble, I can call you, yeah. Maybe even meet you there?”

But Gary was all for reducing the risk and the potential for failure and decided that a visit to the bank was the priority. 

That evening Gary was nervous that he hadn’t included Ellie as much as he should have. They had a laugh as usual, but instead of getting another round in, Ellie suggested they move to the New Townsman which was a more trendy bistro type bar. She said there was a good chance that Becky and Adam would be in there and while she hadn’t arranged anything definite, she had said they might make it in there for one or two. 

This was a complete diversion. Not her old friends from the Red Lion that they sometimes bumped into around the town centre. Not Gary’s friends, few that they were. This was their friends. People they’d met together. This was new to Ellie. It seemed to impart some kind of bond between her and Gary, like they were a couple and don’t anyone think otherwise. She and Jon weren’t a couple, just an item. They were in the same pub at the same time, but seldom together otherwise. That wasn’t what she wanted and she glued herself even more tightly to Gary’s arm. Getting to know them was exciting. It was different and Adam turned out to be way, way madder than Gary, kept only barely under control by a long suffering girlfriend who loved every moment of it. They swapped stories about their work and Gary eventually managed to turn the subject to cars. Becky said that ultimately she would be quite happy with a chauffeur driven Mercedes. Ellie, as he expected, would choose something slightly off mainstream, but not too big and not too exotic. She said she was quite keen on the odd turn of speed, but really was quite happy to pass on owning a Ferrari or anything that flamboyant. Maybe just a 3 series BMW. Ok, maybe a 320i.

Gary wanted to know what she really thought about the old Riley, but that moved the conversation on to talk about doing your own work on a car and Adam admitted that he actually owned a beach buggy. And not content with that, he described how he’d been daft enough to shoehorn a 2.8 litre Jaguar engine into it without considering that the very short wheelbase with all the weight at the back would make it well nigh impossible to drive with even the slightest dampness on the roads. Even in the dry it had a habit of lifting both its front wheels off the road as it accelerated and that made steering quite interesting. 

And on that crazy note, they moved on to other subjects.

Friday afternoon he phoned her. He explained that he had the opportunity to take delivery of his new car on Saturday but said he’d happily delay that till Monday if she wanted to do something else instead. Then maybe they’d take a drive out just to see what it was like and have a picnic somewhere and maybe a walk by the river before retiring to the pub. 

Eleanor was buzzing even more than usual. Susie thought she was getting over dressed but for Ellie it was just an ordinary matter of looking nice so that she felt more confident and looking good for Gary to be proud of her and to make sure he wanted to see her again. 

She looked each way in the showroom but couldn't see him. Maybe she was there first and he'd show up any minute. She knew next to nothing about Saabs and slipped in behind the wheel of the large saloon. It looked big, it was so comfortable it felt expensive. 

“No” she said impassively as a young man who looked nothing like a salesman approached her “my boyfriend is picking up a new car this morning. I said I'd meet him here” 

He was about to say something but was interrupted 

“Jason, could you bring the Oak Brown round please” he smiled quickly at her and picked the keys from behind the main desk. Two minutes later he reappeared at the front of the store emerging from a large chocolate brown car. It was nice, but only nice. If looked expensive and there would be no shortage of room for stuff and passengers in the event that you ever needed that much stuff. Or passengers. But it was hardly inspiring. Ok Jon's BM was a wreck and this was new, and if it was anything like the one in the showroom she’d been sitting in it would be ever so comfortable, and she knew she'd never look a gift horse in the mouth even if it was pig ugly and poo coloured. 

“I'll just run through the controls briefly and you enjoy! This way please….” 

Salesman and client headed out to the mud coloured saloon but it was scant consolation for Eleanor. The next one round might be Gary's and it could be worse. It could be an estate. Too big. Surely Gary didn’t need a car that size? But there were no small cars in the showroom. Just big ones in different colours and what colours! Like the lurid green she had been looking at on the samples wall. Now, over there! That was different. Ok it was fluorescent orange, but it looked amazing with the smooth lines and raked windscreen. Wow! A convertible! Now that would be fun. She wondered what it would be like at speed with the wind in her hair and the sunshine dazzling her face. She’d tried to remember if she’d ever been in a convertible and she just stood there staring at it, dreaming. Maybe if she'd taken more interest or stuck her oar in a little harder. Actually, she didn’t even know that Saab made convertibles or how much they cost – but then she didn’t know they made pig ugly poos either. Maybe…. But she hadn't wanted to interfere. It was Gary's car, and Gary's choice although she might benefit from it occasionally.

“It also comes in summer yellow and lime green” said Jason now returned. 

“Actually, I don’t think I'm that much of an exhibitionist” as Jason was given his next task to fill Mr Aldridge’s car with fuel and bring it round to the front. She watched alone again, now excited that the next car round would be Gary's, just as he appeared from a back office. He squeezed her hand 

“I know I should have asked you more about this, but I’ve been round the loop so many times with Stephen and I’m pretty sure this is the best option. Its just it had to be done immediately to get all the discounts” 

“... No. No you shouldn’t. It's your car you should have what you want” 

She caught sight of a giant daffodil out of the corner of her eye as it rolled round the corner of the building and turned in something of a panic to see the huge estate car roll to a stop in front of her. Now she had serious reservations. Surely Gary hadn’t bought a giant lemon the size of a small van. But strangely Gary was distracted. He'd gone back to the sales desk to collect his wicker picnic basket. Of course, she remembered. A picnic in the new car. Oh dear, never mind a picnic basket, you could get a hot air balloon basket in this thing. 

But it was the service manager with a client that headed for the pineapple on wheels and Eleanor breathed another sigh of relief. Ok these cars were big, but please make it white or grey or something – but not fluorescent blue that would be safe in a car park because no-one would ever want to nick it. 

It was a few more minutes before she was joined by Stephen and Gary and the suspense was killing her. Finally they headed out onto the forecourt and over towards the main gate. 

“You can operate the hood remotely” Stephen was saying as she watched the roof on this car rear up like a startled stallion before disappearing under a flap just forward of the boot lid. It was like the orange one, except…. gorgeous. Sophisticated. Sleek, smooth. Shimmering all colours of the rainbow in minute shards reflecting from the intensely shiny black meta-flake paintwork. She stopped for a moment just staring at it. She was about to murmur ‘you are joking’ but the words didn’t come and Stephen was already opening the door for her. She felt the soft white Connelly on the backs of her legs as she sank into the seat. There was almost no room for extra stuff, or passengers, except a picnic basket

“You're familiar with the controls?” 

“Yes, thankyou” 

“And remember you’ve got to be in reverse to get the key out. That’s what most people forget. Any problems, anything at all, you know where I am” 

It purred into life and out into the traffic. Her hair, so carefully set only an hour ago was tangling unmercifully in the wind and it felt wonderful. Leaving town behind was a revelation, sitting outside in the countryside while gliding through it. And since she’d got in, she’d said nothing at all.

There were three other cars at the picnic spot by the stream that Gary was aiming for, but everyone seemed to have gone for a walk, as he pulled silently on to the verge. He turned to her for an opinion, but she just faced him with her mouth open. He put a finger up towards her and she kissed it to break the spell.

“Its…Its. Unbelievable. I absolutely love it!”

Picnic chat was about cars and this car in particular but Ellie was over the moon with it, although she admitted she might not spend quite so long on her hair in future. 

“I want to take a couple of pictures” Gary said. It's quite a special occasion, getting a new car. What I'd really like is a photo of you sitting on it” 

“You mean like one of those super models at the National Exhibition Centre draped across the bonnet?” 

“Oh! Yes please! That would be wonderful. But actually I was thinking something a bit more demure, more tasteful. The sort of thing we wouldn’t mind showing your mum” 

“Ok. So long as I can have a copy. I’ll remember this as a special day too” 

“But there's a particular location I want to go to. Maybe you'd like to drive so that I can read the map?” 

“I'd love to! Oh but Gary, I can't. I'd probably scratch it on something and I'm not insured” 

Gary nodded at her 

“You mean you agree I'd probably scratch it?” 

He shook his head 

“You think I'd be insured?” 

He nodded “I added you to the policy. Thought you'd like that” 

She jumped clean off the ground in excitement. She'd driven Jon's old BM quite a bit, especially when he was incapable leaving the pub, but this was a whole different league. She tingled with excitement as she slid in behind the wheel and Gary ran off a couple of shots. 

He navigated as she drove, slowly at first. She’d never before driven a brand new car.

“Next left “he said eventually “then take the second right. It’ll be a lane or might even be just a track” 

Gingerly she bounced along the track trying to avoid the worst of the potholes as far as a small clump of trees that concealed a fiercely humped narrow bridge over a leat. 

“We’re here. Stop on the bridge. That's the location” 

“Oh, I see! It's one of your bridge milestones. Yes, that’s quite appropriate” even though the track petered out just beyond the bridge ending in a couple of field gates. Eleanor climbed onto the bonnet of the car and promptly slipped down again. She tried again and now with increasing laughter she slipped off. 

“Gary, I'm worried I might dent it. It doesn't feel so strong” 

“Maybe you need to go on a diet!” 

“Cheeky monkey! Maybe I'll just say no next time you ask me to dinner!” 

“Ok, let's try the boot. That low spoiler there will give extra rigidity” 

She jumped up and Gary helped her recover her balance as she perched up on the back of the car. She relaxed and smiled sweetly as Gary snapped a couple of angles. 

“And one with your eyes closed, please” 

She complied like a good model would 

“And open....” 

“Is this an important bridge for you, you know, getting a new car?”

“Yes. But the Subaru was new when I got that. This is a different bridge altogether”.

She was slipping down from the boot lid and was pleasantly surprised by how tightly he was holding her.

“No, Eleanor” he said suddenly serious and paused just long enough for her to start to get nervous “This is the bridge that you cross when you realise that you’re really deeply in love with someone.”

She stood gazing at him, mesmerised. Was that Gary saying that? Or was it an echo of what she was thinking?

Gary had only that morning bought the very car she’s have dreamed about if only she knew it existed and now this. Her eyes welled up and she found that tears were pouring down her face in the solitude of that remote bridge, overcome by excitement, exhilaration and elation.

Dinner for Four?

It was Sunday lunch at the Farnell house that triggered the invitation. The conversation had meandered around food but was now focussed on Gary’s flat. Len and Susie’s house wasn’t big but it had been big enough for the two girls to grow up in and it was comfortable even if not over spacious. It suddenly occurred to Len that Gary’s flat might really be an attic bedsit and that ‘Gary’s Flat’ was overstated just to try to impress. He remembered back to when he and Susie were first married and lived for two years with her parents. Naturally, he’d just mentioned to his work colleagues that he was living in a three bedroomed semi even though they’d spent most of their time in the same bedroom that she had grown up in, and the only good thing about it was the level to which it fixed his resolve to move out. Of course he didn’t want to say anything derogatory but was strangely interested and oddly relieved when Gary invited them over for dinner. Would he really invite his girlfriend’s parents to an attic bedsit? Gary? Hmmm. Quite possibly.

“Susie” he’d said during crumble “this is excellent, and its really kind of you to invite me. Maybe you’d like to come over to dinner at my place to return the treat. I could cook for you for a change. Ellie could help me. What d’you think? Would you and Len like to come over for dinner one evening?”

Len had agreed rather quickly, if only to check out this flat of his and Susie was taken too much by surprise to object. 

A week later they were creeping down the road looking for number 37 among the large detached turn of the century houses. Maybe it was just a bedsit in a converted Victorian house, or an attic, or even a caravan in one of the back gardens.. Or .. Or a first floor apartment in a new block that had been built in place of the original Victorian and its large garden.

Gary had already prepared most of the menu and was well within the schedule but he already knew Ellie was going to be a little late. Cecily had asked her to stay on using her authoritative face after the rest of the team went home. 

But 10 minutes in and Eleanor knew this was not going to be short. 

“Listen Cecily, it's ok, but I just need to phone someone to say I'll be a little late” 

Cecily motioned her to use the phone, but without leaving her office. 

Gary carried on regardless. Her parents were due for dinner at seven and that was another hour and a half and there was no need for panic, at least not yet.

Preparation was almost compete by six thirty although he was becoming a little concerned. But he knew she knew the plan as he set the table and the music and placed 4 aperitifs on the coffee table as the final preparation.  

Come ten to seven he welcomed Len and Susie but Eleanor was nowhere to be seen.

“Right now we’re missing a vital component” he apologised as they hung up their coats

“Surely not the food?”

“No Len. The good news is that the food is on schedule and the wine is in the chiller. It’s the hostess we’re short of”. 

But seven o’clock came and went and on Gary’s suggestion they waited a few more minutes. At quarter past Gary rang her office

“Parsons”

“Hi Ms Parsons. I was wondering if you knew whether Eleanor Farnell was still in the office?”

He heard the phone being passed as Ellie came on the line.

“Hi Gary. I’m so sorry. It’s the worst disaster ever. I can’t explain right now. Look, can you start without me? I’ll get back just as soon as I can, promise”

“Ok babe. Don’t worry about us – after all, we’ve got the food. See you soon”
 “Gary” she said slowly and nervously “Love you”

Gary took a long look at the handset before setting it in its cradle. That was not her normal sign off.

“Looks like its dinner for three” he announced, while reassuring them that she was all right.

But Gary wasn’t too phased by this. His job after all was based around sorting out the unexpected. For sure this was a bit odd because they’d only been together for four months, so it could hardly be considered overdue, and its not as if she’d moved in. But it was an opportunity to get to know her parents a bit better and that would be an advantage if it was done well.

He diverted the conversation to talk about them and their background and in there somewhere there was a lot more information about Eleanor as she was growing up. 

Of course there was a little initial embarrassment but the wine worked its magic, the cooking was up to standard, and on the whole, the evening went well. Gary even managed to find some music that met with their more conservative tastes and he managed to slip in a bit of his brother’s music as well as an interest factor in what Eleanor had found so magical. He had, he thought, showed himself to be a perfectly acceptable choice of boyfriend for their daughter.

It was just gone 10 when they heard a key in the door.

“The wanderer returns” he said getting up.

It was a rather dishevelled Eleanor that fell in and immediately hung herself around his neck and held on like maybe he was a life belt in the ocean.

“Oh! Mum, daddy! I’m so sorry. Was everything all right with just Gary?” 

“Yes darling. Not quite what we were expecting but Gary’s dinner was lovely”

But they were more interested in making sure she was all right herself.

Gary sat her down at the table and produced the remains of her dinner which he’d been keeping warm all this time in an upturned steam filled casserole dish.

Len wanted to hear about her disaster – whatever it was - but was interrupted by Susie.

“She must be exhausted, Len. Maybe we should leave this for another day”

“Yes, dear. And its time we were going as well. Are you coming home with us, or …?”
 “Oh, Daddy. I need to talk to Gary about what’s going on at work – or as much as I think I’m allowed to. It’s a disaster, a catastrophe  – I don’t know what to think. I think I’ll just stay here tonight, if that’s ok with you. Oh! But I’ll have to be in early tomorrow as well – oh, but that means the early bus and I don’t know when it is, It must be the 34 from here that early…”

“Ellie. Ellie. Slow down! Yes its the 34 from here but it only gets you there 10 minutes earlier because it goes halfway round the world to get into town.  You take my car tomorrow”

Len looked puzzled. Was this more serious than he had suspected after such a short time? Invite to dinner, key to his flat and she’s insured on his brand new car. Well, well, well!

Now with a half tumbler of vodka calming her down, she slumped onto the settee as Gary cocooned her and waited patiently for her to recover enough to volunteer some kind of explanation

“Its a disaster Gary. Ces – she’s my boss’s boss – she picked up on a point I made during one of the bigger contracts we were doing about a month ago when Ben was off sick. It got her thinking, and now she – no, we – uncovered this massive fraud. Gary, it includes nearly everyone! We spent up till about nine o’clock finding the evidence – it wasn’t hard to find once we had a clue what we were looking for. And then the last hour I helped her write some notes and tomorrow – tomorrow Gary, first thing she’s going to sack seven of the team – there’s only 10 of us”

“But not you?”

“No! I made a point of going through the same stuff on my accounts to show her I wasn’t involved”
 “So you’ll be doing all the work!”
 “Oh my! Don’t! No, I can’t. I can’t do everyone’s work. There aren’t the hours in the day to do all those renegotiation meetings, although I suppose someone’s got to”

“You could just send them all a letter extending their existing terms. That would get you out of all the negotiation meetings”

“I suppose so”

“That might buy some time”

“Buy time? Yes. I don’t know. Because if the contracts lapse, suppliers will stop shipping and then we’ll go out of business”
 “Maybe this Ces girl will have a plan. But if you’re going to be up early, you need to get a good night’s sleep”

“Can I really take your car?”
 “Yeah. You can drop me in town and I’ll get a bus out from there”

“Sleep. No, Gary, I just want you to hold me all night long and tell me you’re not mad at me, and not going to leave me. This was the first time we invited my mum and dad for dinner – I never invited them for dinner anywhere before. And Gary – I missed it. I missed it! What will they think of me now!”

“Its no problem. You’re their daughter. They’ll forgive you anything. Its not as if it was my parents. And there’ll be other times – it’s a team game. Sometimes you have to cover more than your own position. We’ll invite them again sometime.”

It was a wonderful treat to drive the convertible and the refreshing air at that time in the morning really woke her up. Despite the trauma of the previous evening, it made her feel alive and ready for anything. 

Which was just as well as the next twist hit her just as she got to her desk. Ces signalled her to join her in her office with a somewhat deranged look on her face.

“Eleanor! Yesterday you convinced me you had nothing at all to do with all this”
 “But that’s right Cecily. I was never invited, and I wouldn’t anyway. Ces, I’ve got far too much to lose”
 “So you said. But now you turn up in the car park with a brand new expensive sports car. What am I supposed to think?”

“Oh Cecily! Surely you don’t think I’m that daft!  If I had been involved and I’d got through last night, I’m not likely to go and blow it all now! You wanted me to get in early. The early bus only gains me 10 minutes so I borrowed my boyfriend’s car”

“Really. Well its brand new and I know someone at that garage, so we’ll see if we can verify that, shall we?”

Eleanor sighed deeply “They don’t open till 8. Why don’t we assume innocent until proved guilty – and get on with the next stage that we have to do anyway”

“Yes. But don’t you go running away”

“Cecily! You can still fire me even if I’m not here”

“All right Eleanor. I’ve no idea how we’re going to cope. But we can’t keep those guys on – Its specifically stated in policy. I checked again last night. And the whole job depends on unconditional trust”

“I know. What about we buy some time. Like. We phone – no – we drop a letter to the suppliers offering them a six month extension to their contract on an RPI increase. That might give us time to sort ourselves out.”

“It doesn’t redress the balance of the fraud”
 “No, but if we get swamped and contracts lapse we’ll run out of stock and that’s our whole business, so it’s a start. Cecily, have you told Alan yet?”

“No. That’s on my list. But I need to do the deed first. I don’t want him exploding at me quoting corporate policy. There’s no choice about this so I need to do that first. Why don’t you stay here and start that letter of yours while I collate my evidence”

But now it had gone 8 and Eleanor sat quietly as Cecily dialled the garage.

“Stephen, its Cecily. Tom Parsons mum”

“Oh, hi Ces. In the market for a new car?”
 “No, Stephen, I’m afraid not. I want you to give me some information”

“Ok. If I can”

“Earlier this month or maybe last month you sold a convertible”

“Convertible, Ces. We’ve sold quite a few in the last two months. But I would have thought you’d be more estate car with plenty of room for the dogs”

“Yes, I probably would. But did you sell a black convertible recently?”
 “The black one – Ah yes! Special Edition. Yes! There’s only one black one. I got it in for a friend of mine – you might know him as well - he was in class with me and Tom – though its more than a few years ago now – my! Doesn’t time fly! Yeah. Ces, I sold it to Gary Aldridge”

“I don’t remember him. Did he suddenly come in to some money then?”
 “Who Gary? Nooo. He’s been saving up for this for a while now. We’ve been talking about it on and off for at least a year. Then he decided he wanted to trade in that red Scooby of his before it got over 4 years old”

“And he’s the kind of guy that would go for the soft top?”
 “Didn’t used to – that Scooby was four wheel drive with great big chunky tyres for climbing mountains. But he’s got a new girlfriend that I think he’s trying to impress.”
 “Oh really? You don’t happen to know her name do you?”
 “Actually, Ces, I might do. Just a minute. I’m sure I remember it being on the insurance doc. We need to check that they’re insured before we let them out with a brand new car. Just a sec – yeah. Let’s see the file. Ces, Eleanor Farnell, that’s the name you want. Eleanor Farnell. And to be honest Ces, I can understand this. She’s pretty cute. She was in here when he picked it up. Just hope its all working for him”

Cecily looked over at Eleanor as she assimilated this rare insight into the private life of her staff.

“Ok. So your story checks out. Oh Eleanor, I’m sorry”
 “That’s ok Cecily. We’re under a bit of pressure right now”

“You don’t say. How about I just promote you and then it’ll all be your problem”

“Thanks Cecily. I’ll remember you said that but right now I’ll pass on it, if you don’t mind! I’ll do what I can to help, but……”

“So what were you saying about buying time?”

“We can’t do it all with just us – who’s left anyway? Is it just me and Katherine?”
 “And Simon”

“Who? Never mind. We need to do something to delay – I’m suggesting we just prepare a standard letter and send it to everyone with a six month extension to avoid all the re-negotiation meetings and new contracts”

“Everyone?”
 “Yes, if we just select a few – say this month’s renewals – we’ll never catch up”

Cecily leaned forward across the desk

“Ok. I don’t have any better ideas. You sort out that letter. I’ve got … some people …  to talk to. When that’s done, you talk to Katie and Simon but don’t give too many details. Then get them to help you with this letter thing of yours. I’ll brief Alan. Then the next thing is to concentrate on recruitment.”
 She shook her head slowly “I may not survive Eleanor. If Alan thinks I should have picked up on this earlier, I’ll be out the door too”
 “Oh Ces! Please don’t do that – we were struggling with the full 10!”

Eleanor kept her head down as one by one the rest of the team was escorted from the building. None of them said goodbye to her, which hurt. Maybe they all thought she’d blown the gaff and she didn’t get the chance to tell them it wasn’t like that and that she didn’t even know it was going on. But they were colleagues not friends and an eerie silence fell on the room as the fallout dust seemed to settle.

Katie got to her before she got to Katie with a dismayed “What’s going on Ellie?”

Katie was likeable and helpful and wasn’t afraid to try her hand at whatever was thrown at her, but seldom with total success. For some reason, she often found a flaw in what she’d been asked to do or that suddenly the person who’d asked her changed their mind and one way or another the mission became impossible.

Eleanor took a deep breath “Katherine, it appears that some members of the department have been running some sort of fiddle. And corporate policy dictates that that’s a dismissible offence”

“But Ellie – it’s everyone! Where’s Ces? Has she gone as well?”
 “No, Katie. Not to say she won’t be. She’s explaining this to Alan right now. So if you hear something like a nuclear bomb going off you’ll know she’s chosen the wrong words”

“So what happens now?” 

“It's all up to us. It's you and me and hopefully, Ces as well”
 “And Simon”

“Simon? I haven't had anything to do with him” 

“He's been with Ben since he arrived a week ago” she narrowed her eyes and furrowed her brow “He's not the brightest button in the box” 

This should have set all sorts of alarm bells ringing. Although she tried hard, Katie’s track record was no flashlight, more of a smoky candle, so her perception of the button box should have alerted her. But Eleanor wasn't thinking that way. This situation presented a massive challenge and there was no-one else there to take it on. 

“I've got a plan, Katie, but I need all the help you and Simon can give me” 

“Who needs help? And where is everyone?” Simon had arrived, woken from his indolence by the silence. 

“Seems like they all had their hand in the till. So it's just us now” replied Katie 

“So if a phone rings anywhere, answer it and take a message. Don’t say there's only us here. This sort of thing is bad for business” 

“Plan?” prompted Katie “you said you had a plan”

Eleanor explained as Katie listened intently waiting for Eleanor to describe where she fitted in.

“Its to try to buy us enough time to recruit new people and Ces says she’s going to do that. So Katie, can you get a list of all the suppliers and the name of the key contact there. Start with those due to renew this month, then next month. Simon, can you start writing the names and addresses on envelopes. You'll need to get a new box from stationary. I'm going to finish writing the letter.” 

Simon had managed to answer most of the calls. Everyone was, apparently and variously, not in, out with their team, in a meeting, in the loo or out at lunch, even though it had now gone 2 o'clock. 

Eleanor finalised her efforts at the photocopier and dumped the first stack onto Katie's desk with a thump. Now we can input the name and sign them, then we can give them to Simon to put in the envelopes. Ok, Simon?” 

“No. I'm nowhere near finished these addresses. It's really boring. I didn't come here to get bored” 

“Ok, said Eleanor “why don't you put some in envelopes and then go back to doing more addresses.” 

“Can't do that. I've already sealed all the envelopes. Addresses are boring I've moved to sticking stamps on too” 

“Sealed! But we haven't put the letter in yet.” 

“No one said anything about putting a letter in. Addresses are boring. I've taken some up to the post room as well. They're finished” 

“What! Without the letter? You imbecile” 

Simon was crestfallen. “That's not very nice.” 

“But Simon, we need to put the name and address on the envelope...” 

“Name as well?” 

“Yes, name and address so the post office know where to send it. Then put the name on the letter and put the letter in the right envelope? Then seal it, stick a .....” 

“Whoa stop! That's all way too much for me in one go” 

“Look, you moron, it's perfectly straightforward” 

“Sounds complicated all these different things” 

“Look, dummy....” 

“You were wanting me to help you. But you're rude so I'm not going to now” 

“Ok. Look, Simon, I'm sorry. Maybe you should just answer the phones” 

But Simon now had the hump and slumped in a chair with his feet on the opposite desk wearing a face like a recalcitrant five year old with his arms folded in front of him.

The afternoon was taking off now. Phones started ringing all around the room, and it was all Eleanor and Katie could do to get rid of one call before another took its place 

She checked her watch around 4 o’clock and realised the day had almost gone. But they were surviving and on the whole the suppliers weren’t too bent out of shape. At least, not yet.

She got back to her mountain of letters as the phones fell silent around 6 and phoned Gary to say she was intending to stay at his flat that night. This was, she said, so that she could talk it all through with him and get it clearer in her own head, although Gary suspected that was a good excuse but only half the reason.

Next day she dropped Gary at his office and took in the fresh morning air as she drove across town. She was nervous about what Cecily might say about her car, but wasn’t sure what Ces wouldn’t find suspicious.

She assessed the progress they’d made and set about continuing the task with a renewed vigour until Katie arrived. She was earlier than usual and now looking at the task with her, Eleanor realised just how little progress she’d made. Simon too, was in somewhere as his coat had appeared on the hook, but he seemed to have wandered off. Maybe he was helping another section towards an early grave in his inimitable way.

They changed the tack from trying to operate a production line to doing each letter individually in between interruptions to try to prevent mistakes, and the stack ready for posting grew even more slowly.

It was tough. It needed concentration and Eleanor was surprised at how little time had flown and that it was now looking less likely that she might survive the morning, although, looking on the bright side, the same result for the afternoon was looking increasingly promising!

“Hi, are you Eleanor?”

She jumped at the unexpected interruption.

 “Hi, I’m Stacey. I'm agency. I work for ProTemps. I was working in finance with Andy McLaughlin but today's my last day. He said you might be able to use a hand” 

“Oh wow Stacey! We sure could - do you know anything about purchasing contracts?” 

“Not really, I'm more just secretarial.”

“Ok, how do you feel about answering the phones?” 

“Sure. And do you need help with that letter?” she asked picking one off the stack.

“This is just a holding operation while we take stock and try to regroup. But progress is slower than I’d hoped?” 

“Ok. So if I mention this….” 

She scanned through the text “So if I mention this deal and tell them to go and think about it. That might buy some time too without you having to phone them back, at least not straight away”

“Yes please! And Stacey! Could you ask Katie for all the diaries and then cancel all meetings for the next week, please”

“Sure thing”

Oh my! The cavalry has arrived.

Simon returned soon after having been kicked out of the warehouse for playing chicken with the forklift truck and was now reminding Eleanor of just how much of a pain he really was.

Work frequently stopped just to count to ten instead of shouting, yelling or exploding.

By lunchtime the three girls had made some progress on the letters and on delaying all the call backs despite continuous interruptions from Simon, but it was becoming clear that as soon as Eleanor had to start actually negotiating with suppliers again, the strain would tell. It would be difficult sorting out where to start, especially as she wasn’t familiar with most of the contracts. The added issue was that some of them had clauses that had been specifically inserted so that the ex-members of staff could exploit them and that would be difficult to unravel. Oh Goodness! Why wasn’t there someone to talk to about this? But no, she was on her own and that meant she had to research every call before she made it.  Eleanor made a few supplier calls, and although she aroused some suspicion, she managed to avoid scheduling any meetings. She'd hardly seen Cecily and hadn't spoken to her except to say they hadn't collapsed, at least not yet. She also felt that it might actually be possible for this delay to work until Ces rebuilt the team.

Stacey was doing a sterling job of batting all the phone calls into the long grass despite Simon being a menace, and Katie was proving a lot more useful that Eleanor had remembered. Maybe it was just that the continual changes in what she was asked to do made everything seem like a failure. Maybe that’s it – the plans were changed in order to lose the original objective and that way it would be bound to look like a failure. Maybe it had been deliberate!

Simon on the other hand was becoming an increasing nuisance, first asking for something to do and then complaining that even the most simple task was too complicated. Now bored - again - he took to annoying them, bumping into things to make a noise, and knocking things off desks, pens, pads of paper. “Sorry” he'd call out “Hand slipped” 

And not content with that, he started firing elastic bands at Stacey with the aim of getting them down the open neck of her shirt. But it was Katie who broke first. She was in the middle of what was developing into a serious call that she wanted desperately to handover to Eleanor when he brushed past her desk knocking her large glass of water all down her dress. It took several minutes to finish the call with her trying to keep calm while the fury fermented inside her. 

“I'm soaked” she shrieked at him “you useless plonker. Look at the state of me” 

“You could just take it off” he sniggered while taking aim at Eleanor with an elastic band. Twang! “Ouch! Ow!”

It hit her just above the eye and fell down the top of her dress. 

“Bullseye” he smirked, genuinely proud of himself. 

But this was now too much for her 

“That's dangerous! You hurt me now” 

He put his thumb to his nose and waggled his hand in a defiant gesture.

“Get out” she said with increasing ferocity. “Get out, GET OUT you useless vermin”. 

She gasped for air rising from her chair and moved menacingly towards him “Get Out, get out of my office and don't ever come back” 

Simon backed towards the door bursting into tears like a three year old “I'm going to tell Mr Preston on you” 

Katie wasn't staying late that evening. She was upset. She’d worked really hard under the pressure, and she still felt a cloying dampness not only to her dress but also to her spirits, as Eleanor suggested that she go home early.

“I don’t know how to hide this” she moaned “Everyone on the bus will think I've wee'd myself” 

“Katie, I'd swap clothes with you, but I don't think it would work” 

That brought a glimmer of a smile to Katie, she being a rather dumpy size 12 and Eleanor being a tall size 10. Instead she just drove Katie home basking in the reflected glory of Gary’s car.

It was nearly six o’clock when she got back to the office and phoned Gary saying she’d be later, probably as late as 9.30

She’d just got a system running to progress through the letters when Alan Preston crept up on her.

“Oh! You startled me”                     

He didn’t apologise. She hardly knew him. On the whole he kept out of the way taking his input from Cecily rather than canvassing various opinions from the whole team. But then, as the director, he had a much wider remit and in any case, was not what you might describe as a sociable person.

“Cecily says you have a plan?”

“Of sorts. But is Cecily all right. I was expecting her to come back by now”

“Kind of you to think about her like that. Yes, she’s ok. Stressed. But then who isn’t”
 “I ain’t. Is it lousing time yet?”
 “Who said that?”

“Oh my!” she wailed “That is the resident menace”

Alan flashed her a fierce glance 

“Ahh Simon. Of course! Without Ben, I trust you're looking after him. But Cecily will be back. She’s been getting recruitment moving. She’s not leaving the company, if that’s what you were asking. Now this plan?” 

Alan had listened patiently without interrupting while she explained the plan concluding with “….and that should take the pressure off till Cecily can get some new people in” 

“And this was your idea”

“Yes. Its just a holding ….”
 “Yes I appreciate that. Good move. In the circumstances”

“And can we keep Stacey? She’s saved the day today”
 “Yes. If you want to. Your call”

“I was going to stay late tonight and get some more letters finished. If I ask Katie to stay late tomorrow can we pay overtime?”
 “Yes. Look, you do what you need to. The primary objective is to maintain an air of calm in the department wherever possible. But you’re not on an overtime grade are you?”
 “No, not me. I meant just Katie and maybe Stacey as well, if she’s available”

“And you can keep Simon busy as well, no doubt?”
 “No! Please. The less we see of him the better”

“He needs to be kept busy at all times and in a calm environment” Alan glared at her, but unfortunately, she wasn’t watching.

She phoned Gary and updated her arrival at his flat to 10 o’clock. Dinner was on the table when she got there and she spent the rest of the evening just cuddled up trying to ignore thoughts of the disaster as they forced their way on a regular basis to the front of her brain.

Gary was sympathetic about Simon. 

“The function of employees is to add value” he’d said. “But every so often you get someone who just doesn’t fit in with the rest of the team and they become value destroying. That is, the rest of the team gets more done when they’re not there. The sooner you kick him into the long grass the better – for your own good” 

Following Cecily’s continued suspicions, Gary decided to take Eleanor into work and then pick her up later on. Now with this visible evidence of support she felt ready for the next phase of the war never mind the next battle with the suppliers.

She took stock of where they'd got to the previous day and set out all the remaining letters on a now spare desk. Stacey was first in with a cheery good morning, but then distracted Eleanor with the necessary admin

“I'm taking a bit of a risk” she said “I don't have a purchase order covering today, which means I won't get paid” 

But it was only after Eleanor had sorted all that out that it occurred to her that Cecily said she would be concentrating on recruitment, and is that not what this was? 

By the time she got back, Katie had made a decent dent in getting letters into envelopes 

“Simon, can you stick the stamps on for us please” 

“No. Stamps are boring” 

Eleanor closed her eyes and thought about counting to ten.

“Ok, can you just answer the phones” 

“No. Do it yourself” 

“Oh come on, Simon. What about a bit of team spirit” coaxed Katie. 

“I don't work for you, I only work for Benny” he scowled raising his thumb to his nose and waving his hand again.

Simon was useless. Less that useless. And he wasn’t just the phrase Gary had used 'value destroying', he was soul destroying as well.

But Stacey had a plan. Maybe he could photocopy the templates Eleanor was using for her supplier calls. That might keep him busy for a few minutes and maybe he’d be more co-operative if he felt he was being included and would go and answer the phones.

Reluctantly he took the wad of paper and followed her. She showed him how the sheet feeder worked and set it up to collate. 

“I can do that!”

“Ok, Simon. You come and find me if you have any problems”

But Stacey hadn’t even got back to her desk before a mechanical graunching noise alerted her to the problems the machine was having with its operator.

“Simon, is everything all right?”
 “No, its stopped”
 “How many sheets did you put in”
 “Just one”

Stacey looked at the mess

“Just one?”

“Yeah “

“Are you sure – how did all these get stuffed in there?”
 “They’re all joined to the one I put in”

Eleanor went to unjam the machine, Yes, he’d put the whole lot in at once. Eleanor opened the covers and immediately Simon yanked the wad out 

“There! Out now!”

She looked in dismay at her navy blue dress now splattered everywhere with stray photocopier toner. This she knew was unlikely to come out. 

“You useless worm” she fumed “You’ve ruined my dress”

“What’s up with it?”
 “Its got back stains all over it”
 “It was black to start with!”

She phoned Gary – that always helped. As always he was sympathetic 

“We can go shopping on Saturday if you want. Maybe we can find a new one for you. And tomorrow I’ll drop it in to the cleaners and see if they can recover it” 

That was sweet. How many guys had she ever known that would offer to go clothes shopping with her – just one.

It was gone seven when Eleanor sat down quietly to start thinking about the suppliers and to get a plan together to restart negotiations. The clerical work had been done, the letters were out, the phones had been answered and Stacey and Katie had gone home. It had been a hard day but she felt like she was winning. Yes it would be hectic trying to organise the supplier meetings and she started to mull over a plan to schedule some of them three months out. That way they wouldn’t expect one in the meantime and Ces would have some more people on board by then. Eleanor had started making notes on each supplier to speed up the calls and meetings while Stacey and Katie held the fort. This was becoming increasingly difficult as some suppliers were becoming nervous about what was really going on and whether they should be worried about extending additional credit. 

But none of this progress prepared her for Alan’s visit.

He appeared through the door like a deepening typhoon and stormed across to where she was. Eleanor looked up innocently, but was immediately taken aback by the explosive look 

“Miss Farnell!” he thundered “We are a major company in this town and we take our social responsibility very very seriously. You however have made every effort to thwart everything I have been doing. Its not good enough. Simon is one of the most disadvantages individuals in our society and it is your responsibility to ensure that he is integrated into this department and you are failing at every single step. Tomorrow, you will present me with your plan not only for improvement but on how you intend to redress the balance….”

“What? But the supply chain …”

But that innocent exclamation just seemed to incense him more

“This is a supposed to be a test case - our Social Responsibility– an example to the industry and to businesses throughout the country of what can be achieved and you – you are destroying it. Of course it takes time and effort, but nothing – nothing is more important”

“What!”

Nothing could have been farther from what she was expecting. She opened her mouth to say something but her brain wasn’t sending any words. She tried to replay what she’d just heard. She was trying to assimilate this new perspective but it wasn’t happening. Instead she moved slowly to pick up her handbag, collect her coat from near the door. She thought he might be shouting something but nothing was clear and she walked straight past him staring unblinking straight ahead out into the evening. 

Gary waited. He said he'd be there from 7.30 and it was now 7.20 so she might be out any time soon. Or it might be another 3 hours. But he knew she was expecting him and she knew he'd be at this side of the gate. 

But half an hour later she still hadn't appeared. Gary took a break from idleness in the car to walk down the street. She'd wait by the car if he wasn't there, it's not as if she wouldn't recognise it. 

Surprisingly, there was a corner shop set back from the road a couple of streets down. It's strange how you notice things when you are walking rather than driving, and the flowers in buckets outside the window looked in good condition. Just a little extra. 

Back at the car he took out his notebook and started scribbling some headings for the take-over meeting. This was an opportunity not to be missed. Bruce was impressed by the way he'd handled Vanessa - no, not literally he told himself - and Vanessa was still talking to him, and now that he'd been invited to join that committee he wasn't intending to stick to just his speciality computing stuff. He'd already broken out into cultural differences, so the precedent was set. And he’d been told to work with Vanessa on it – not for Vanessa, but with Vanessa.

But there was still no Eleanor. 

Just on nine o'clock he watched the lights in the building go down. It seemed systematic and finally a tall lean gentleman closed the gate carefully behind himself. 

“Excuse me, sir. I was waiting for someone. Does that mean that there’s no-one left in there?”

“No. I’m afraid not. Apart from Security”

This raised a concern with the building now in darkness - and no Eleanor. 

He drove slowly down the now deserted street looking for a phone box, but instead found the Lamb. 

The Lamb was a drinking man’s pub - salt of the earth rather than villains, but not the sort of place he'd take Ellie - or any other girl for that matter. But it had the anticipated telephone. 

There was no reply from his flat after ten rings. And a second attempt failed as well. Even if she'd been in the loo she'd have answered the second call. 

Next call was Ellie's house, but not without distinct trepidation. Why would she have gone there? She knew he was meeting her. And why did she not see the car? And worse, what would Len say when he finds out he’s lost his daughter.... Of course, she could have fallen asleep at work..

“Oh hello Susie. It's Gary. Is Ellie there?” 

“Gary, yes she is. But she's not well. She hasn't said anything at all since coming in, not a word and is just sitting there staring at the wall. I've never seen her like this. I thought maybe you two have had a row or something” 

“No, Susie. I haven't seen her since I dropped her this morning and we spoke this afternoon about going shopping on Saturday. We were supposed to meet outside her office but I waited there till nine when all the lights went out” 

“I'll see if she'll speak to you. She's not raised a whisper with me or her dad - Ellie, darling. Gary's on the phone, If you want to speak to ...” 

“Oh no! Oh Mum! I was supposed to meet him. Is he cross? Oh no, what next!” 

“Look, Susie, supposing I just come over. I can be there in 15 minutes” 

But at least the spell had been broken 

“Mum, dad I'm so sorry. I can't believe what happened today. It's just frozen my brain. I can't think about anything - nothing at all. I don’t know what’s happened to me! Mum, is Gary mad at me. Is he? He’s never been cross with me, Is he really mad at me?” 

“No, darling. He doesn't sound like it. He's coming over. Dad and me had assumed you two had had a problem.” 

“Oh please don't say that. You might be tempting fate. Oh I do hope he's not too cross on top of everything else” 

She waited in the hall and opened the door as the car drove into the driveway. Gary picked up his flowers but was assaulted by Eleanor hanging herself around his neck and squeezing him like a boa constrictor before he could give them to anyone. Susie closed the door and rescued the bouquet.

“Gary, how sweet. You didn't need to bring me flowers” she teased 

“That's ok, Susie. I thought they looked nice and that made me think of you.”

Gary made it to the front room but only by lifting Eleanor clean off the floor and carrying her. Susie was sure the story would now unfold and wanted to stay. But instead she hurried to the kitchen to return with the sandwiches she’d prepared and a pot of tea while Len managed to delay the discussion by suggesting that less than 12 minutes all the way from Ellie’s office must surely have been marginal on legality.

Now, cuddled in tight to Gary foregoing any embarrassment in front of her parents, and with the tea and sandwich, she tried to explain. But it was difficult. She didn’t understand what had happened to her, but she was quite sure of the details of the incident up until her head froze and she hadn’t heard anything after that or noticed any movement or any other people or anything. Gary tried to paraphrase it so that he understood it better, but while the actions were clear, the motives were a mystery.

Susie was in favour of her taking a couple of days off and just phoning in sick. Ellie looked at Gary for guidance but then said very slowly

“Mum, I don’t think I want to do that. I don’t want anyone to think I can’t handle the suppliers. I want to explain to Ces and Katie and Stacey why .. .. why I’m going to .. .. to quit”

“With no other job, Eleanor?” cautioned Len.

“Yes, daddy. I don’t know what happened to my head. It just stopped. I switched into some sort of autopilot to get home. Gary, are you really really really mad at me?”

“No, I’m not really really mad at you at all. But I am worried worried worried about you.”

“But you do understand that I need to go into work tomorrow – even if I don’t stay long”

“Ellie, you think about it overnight. But not too much. You need to get some sleep too. I’ll pick you up in the morning”

At twenty to seven he was back outside her house as arranged. She smiled weakly feeling a lot better but not yet ready to take on the world.

“Gary…” she said as if about to ask something, but he interrupted 

“Ellie, I can’t tell you what to do – I don’t know enough about the situation and the detail or how you feel. But I can suggest that you don’t do anything hasty. Focus, think, then do. I’ll try to stay by my phone just in case. But whatever you do decide to do, I’ll be right there beside you to support you. Now, you call me when you want picked up whether that’s this morning or later tonight. I’ll be in my office till you call – so long as its before Christmas.”

They stopped outside the gate “Gary, what do you want me to do?” 

“Whatever feels right for you. Staying till you find another job is good, but leaving straight away gives you more time to look. 

Best thing if you feel up to it is to talk to his boss at least as far as tracking down an explanation of the tactics. This guy is so far out of line that any CEO would have to consider what action to take. Think about whether your brain is working before you do anything terminal”

She nodded “I think my head’s beginning to work again now. Because I know I love you”.

She sat deliberately at her desk and wrote her address at the top of a piece of plain paper

“Dear Cecily,

Following a serious difference of opinion yesterday with Mr Preston our Director I do not believe that I can reconcile his stated priorities for the department with my clearly defined and firmly believed view of what is best for the company.

I see no alternative other than to leave the company

I have 18 days holiday left, so I shall take that starting next week and return for the remaining three days of my month’s notice on the 28^th of next month to hand over any relevant knowledge to whoever you appoint as my successor.

Yours faithfully

Eleanor Farnell

The words flowed easily. It was the only card in her hand, but she wasn’t there as a nanny or a nursemaid or to receive the sharp end of a tongue so fierce that it made her brain freeze and her whole body feel ill. Yes it was draconian, but it was her life and her health and they’d just have to cope. How often had she heard that nobody’s indispensable? And she knew from her cursory glances through the back pages of the specialist rags that there was a competitive demand for her line of work. 

Stacey was a temp – she’d simply be placed on another assignment. Katie? Katie was a survivor no matter what happened.

Ces gazed in disbelief at the note in plain view as the only piece of paper on her desk. Eleanor was in the office so she wasn’t ill. She had the suppliers under control - at least for today. What could Alan possibly have said to her? And why? 

And why couldn’t he direct his criticism through her as the section head? He was fully aware that she’d let almost the entire team go and that the situation for the company was as desperate as she’d ever known it. But if Alan was in some dispute with Eleanor then taking sides by talking to one or other of them first without the immediate opportunity to assess the alternative was also a huge risk in this sensitive situation. And she had interviews all morning anyway.

So she had half an hour to sort out an even bigger disaster than the original fraud. Only one thing to do – delegate. Upwards. 

Matt Barrington took her at her word when his secretary said it was of the utmost importance and related directly to the current circumstances.

He already knew that she’d let 7 staff go and agreed that given the offences, dismissal was the only option, as Alan had briefed him.

“Unfortunately, Matt, last night Alan had some altercation with our only surviving buyer and, I’m afraid she’s resigned. I have interviews arranged all morning without respite and I know that’s a little rash but she was doing such a good job of keeping everything under control, I wondered if ….”

“… ..Run that past me again?” he interrupted “One buyer?” 

He looked up with his head slightly on one side
 “Yes, I only had seven, and I had to let 6 go. The seventh person was clerical”

He leaned across the desk at her “Seven, all from Purchasing?”

“Yes, Mr Barrington. That’s what I told Al – Mr Preston” she stumbled over the words now becoming increasingly nervous.

“Cecily – I was told seven from Alan’s department – he has upwards of 200 people”

“Well yes. That’s not wrong – they are, I mean were, all in his department. But what I told him was that they were all in my section, which used to be 10 in total.. ..  including me and another admin girl, Katherine”

He sat back “Only one?” he asked in dismay. “Only one?”

“I’m afraid so, Mr Barrington”
 “And who is that?” he wailed, now sounding distraught
 “That would be Miss Farnell”

The name meant little to him

“So what is Alan playing at? Is he trying to foreclose us – surely not”

Overstitching Vanessa?

Over at Transworld, Gary was thinking about dresses. He spent some time watching the two girls in his office that were actually wearing skirts trying to figure out why they looked infinitely more appealing than the otherwise ubiquitous trousers and jeans but still not quite perfect. More research was necessary, and the finance department was the answer. There were at least twenty five girls up there and some of them must be properly dressed – surely?

But up on the fourth floor he recognised an unexpected opportunity. She had come out of her office just ahead of him. Maybe she was headed for the canteen rather than another meeting “Vanessa!” 

She stopped and turned.

“Oh, Vanessa. Have you got a couple of minutes I could steal from you?” 

She glanced at her watch “I suppose so. Is something wrong?” 

“No. Actually it's more of a personal issue, so if you’re really busy - I mean even more busy than the normal really busy, then let it pass”

She’d turned to him now with a look that suggested he should continue having now interrupted

“It's just that you're always so wonderfully elegantly dressed I thought you'd be a good person to ask” 

“Gary, I have a very poor opinion of flattery. But on this occasion I'm intrigued.” 

She led the way back in to her office and Gary closed the door 

“I already know you want something. As yet I don't know what” 

“I was hoping you'd help me. You see, tomorrow I need to buy a dress...” 

“... A dress? Gary?” 

“Yes, a dress. No, I'm not intending to wear it to the office. Neither am I intending to wear it at weekends and call myself Mandy. I need to buy one for a friend of mine and I was hoping you could give me some tips on what to look for to get good quality” 

“What you’re telling me is that you're going clothes shopping with your girlfriend. Did you spill red wine over it maybe?” 

“No, it met with an overdose of photocopier toner in her office” 

“Oh I see”

“And I thought if you could give me some hints, I might be able to contribute rather than be just a spectator”

“I see. And you think she might be impressed by that?”
 “I was hoping so. But also I just prefer to be involved”
 “Yes, all right. A few hints then” she said slowly with a rare smile. “Quality. To start with, hold it up and look at it. Does it feel flimsy? Even light fabrics should have some substance to them. Good quality lighter fabrics use lighter threads rather than threads less densely woven. Make sure it looks as though both sides are equal, that one sleeve isn't shorter than the other and they're both joined on in the same way. Have a look at the material. If it feels very thin, check if it's see through and if it is, is there a built in slip. Are the seams and hems straight? But most important you should check the stitching. Check for overstitching to make sure it's finished off properly. If they’ve taken the time to do this accurately, there’s a good chance that the rest is done properly too”

But clearly Gary had looked puzzled 

“Oh, come round here” she said impatiently beckoning him to her side of her desk. She took hold of the hem of her skirt and folded it up revealing the significant majority of her leg. 

“Now look. At this seam. Here along the hem there are two rows of stitching not just one. The rows are straight, parallel to the edge of the hem and evenly spaced. Here at the edge it runs back on itself. The threads here are finished off and there are no loose ends and no loose stiches. Of course, there's no substitute for trying it on to see what it looks like and that it fits in all the places it's supposed to fit. And my last suggestion – do the transparency check and the hem check before its on the model, not after. As in this case” she added sensing that he may not be concentrating entirely on the stitching.

“Wow! Thankyou so much, Vanessa. At least I'll be able to contribute without making a complete fool of myself” 

“I hope so” she said breaking another rare smile “but Gary, I think, in the circumstances, we’ll retain this as one of our confidential discussions?” 

“Thankyou Vanessa” as he smiled at her in agreement.

Meanwhile Eleanor had engrossed herself in making supplier notes as she waited for some response to her letter and despite everything she was managing to retain a certain enthusiasm. Maybe it was just that everything is easier once decisions are made and all that is left is the run out.

And, she mused, Alan hadn’t been back for his plan. She wondered what she’d actually say to him and was concerned that she might not be able to restrain the deep seated sense of injustice that could easily surface in the wrong circumstances. She took some calls that Katie passed to her from particularly impatient suppliers and soon it was time for lunch – this time with Katie and Stacey.

Eleanor listened as the others talked. They were nice – bubbly, kind, considerate, supportive. You could easily find yourself working with a much worse team than this. But at the same time, she couldn’t work for Alan Preston – not unless there were several layers of managers between them. And the problem with that was that if she made any progress in this company those levels would decrease. No, she convinced herself, it was time to move on. His attack was deliberate and vindictive at the very time he should have been supportive. It wasn’t just sad, it was infuriating. But, as Gary had convinced her, she had a choice, and this was her choice.

She continued through the afternoon, although she did overhear Katie asking Stacey if she thought she was all right. But it was a deliberate strategy. She was keeping her own council until she had some response to her letter as every move would affect Katie and Stacey. 

She’d asked Stacey to take Simon out somewhere so that there was a smidgen of opportunity to get something useful done and she was waiting for Katie to return from the postroom, when the tall lean figure appeared through the door and moved almost silently towards her. 

“Oh! You startled me. Oh. Sorry, Hello Mr Barrington”

“You remembered who I was?”

“Yes, we met when I first joined” 

“And you must be Miss Farnell as you’re the only one here”

“That’s ok Mr Barrington. You must have a hundred staff to remember, but I only have one MD”

“That’s a very charitable way to look at it. But Miss Farnell….”

“Hey Ellie, have you got any more …. Oops, Sorry, didn’t mean to interrupt. Oh my. Mr Barrington, I didn’t know it was you”
 “No worries Katherine, it could have been anyone just sitting on the desk like this”
 “Hardly, Mr Barrington. There’s no one left”

“How kind of you to remind me, but do continue”

“Oh, yes. Ellie, have you got any more of those letters, I need another dozen or so”
 “Yes, but I thought we’d covered everyone?”
 “So did I but the clown sent some of the envelopes to post-room without letters in them so they need to be redone”
 “Do we know who they are”
 “Yes, post-room didn’t send them because they had no name on the envelope, just the address”

“That’s the last of my batch, but we can copy more if we need to. Sorry Mr Barrington. It’s a bit hectic around here”

“ ‘Ellie’, she said. Is that short for something?”

“Eleanor. Although close friends call me Ellie”
 “Nice name”

“Everyone calls me Eleanor. Even some suppliers“
 “That’s very good, being on first name terms with the suppliers”
 “I suppose so. Although. I was in a corridor a few weeks ago and I overheard a conversation. It was something like ‘I thought I told you I wanted this place spotless. Don’t you know we’ve got Eleanor coming in – Sorry, I’ll get right on it – Oh too late, she’s already here’. And Mr Barrington, I never wanted to cause that sort of fuss. A little dust here and there isn’t going to make any difference to the contract”
 “But it means you get on well with them and they respect you”
 “Yes, I think so. I think they make the effort because I try to understand their point of view. Like, they have to make a profit too. Its no benefit to us if we screw their price down so far they go out of business”
 “Quite so, and I heard you’ve put together some exclusive deals as well recently”
 “Yes. Mainly through getting them to think about things a different way. I suggested to a couple of them that they weren’t doing themselves any favours by supplying our opposition as well. They may think that increases their sales but there’s a limit to how many people want to buy a given item, and it also introduces competition in the retail space. That pushes prices down so we can’t pay them as much and overall they may be losing out. Ok, they gain short term turnover, but they may be losing margin, and its margin that pays the wages”
 “Quite so again, turnover only drives the share price”

“So it seems to me that you quite enjoy your job?”
 “I used to”
 “Used to? You mean until our recent issues? Which would be strange, because I heard only yesterday that the recovery plan was working, and then today I get the news that you’ve decided to leave us”

Eleanor nodded 

“Yeah” she whispered with the saddest voice

“Dare I ask why? With the recovery underway, and you making something of a name for yourself, and you like your job and the suppliers like you too. .. .. It also goes without saying that I and the company, will be significantly worse off without you”

“I’m sorry Mr Barrington”
 “Look, Eleanor. Put simply – what do I need to do to make you change your mind and stay?”

“That’s kind of you, Mr Barrington”

“Self-preservation is often disguised as kindness”

Eleanor stayed silent. Not through being impolite, but it was the only way she could prevent herself from crying

“Eleanor, maybe if you could explain what went wrong I’m sure I’ll be able to do something to sort it out”

She took a deep breath to swallow the emerging tears

“I guess I do owe you an explanation. Its only fair. Mr Barrington, but yesterday destroyed me. The day the issue hit us I didn’t get home till after 10. I was meant to be hosting a dinner party but I missed it. Then I’ve been getting in at 7 and not leaving till gone 9 or 10. I borrowed my boyfriend’s car because the busses are so erratic at those times. I took Katie home because Simon had poured water all over her and she was soaked. I’ve been doing everything I can. Yesterday, we’d finished the letters so I started to think about how to calm the more nervous suppliers. Then around 7 Mr Preston just exploded at me. He just went ballistic and it was nothing to do with the current issue. It was all about something I’ve never heard of before. I was so stunned I couldn’t think. My whole brain just stopped working. Like maybe my head had been shot off. I can’t describe it any other way. I walked out like a zombie. I think I was on autopilot back to my parents. I’ve not even been staying there since the issue started. I was meant to be meeting Gary. He waited outside the gate for me for two hours before coming to find me. I tried to explain what had happened and he helped me understand it. He sometimes makes up analogies. This one was – I’m in the choir and one day the Bishop gets rid of the whole choir except me. Singing solo in the cathedral is daunting, but what else can I do. I’ve been practicing the song for weeks. Then during the evening mass, I sing as loudly as I can and I’m encouraging others to join in and two of them do and its going all right and – and the Bishop smacks his hand on the lectern and says in a loud voice, Eleanor, you’re singing the wrong song. You’re singing Praise be to God, and you should be singing The Devil Went Down to Georgia. How far wrong could I be all this time?”

Matt Barrington stared at her looking for any sign of what this meant

“But Eleanor, you’ve been doing such a good job – Cecily was just saying that she has every confidence that you can keep the supply chain running while she accelerates the interviews”

“But Mr Barrington, we’re not here to buy stock for the warehouse…..”

“…Yes you are…”

“… no, no we’re not. We’re here to be good citizens. We have to practise Social Responsibility and that must take priority”

Matt was more than nervous now but was loathed to interrupt as she gazed blankly into the middle distance.

“I thought it would all work. I had a plan. I wanted to prove it would work and I could do everything. Ces told me to just go do it. I worked 15 hours a day for nothing extra other than because there was no-one else who could.  It was all working Mr Barrington. It was all going to work! And then yesterday I’m told – I shouldn’t be doing that. I should be…oh no, give me strength!”

“Tra-la-la. Ding Dong skunk Tra –la –la ducks got sunk….”
 “Ellie! Ellie, please don’t ask me to do that again! I know I said I’d do anything to help you but I’m going to have to retract that. Oh Please! Can I get a cup of coffee, or maybe a large gin! I’m surprised I haven’t been arrested!”

“Yeahhhh. Brick. Got him right on his back. He sunk straight down, didn’t come up – Yessss”

“Excuse me Mr Barrington.. .. Stacey, sit down on the settee there. I’ll get coffee. There’s a cake in my bag as well. Gary made it. Oh, I’ll get coffee for you as well Mr Barrington”

Now sitting down Stacey began to calm down with coffee and now with Gary’s cake
 “Cake! I like cake” as Stacey’s cake was snatched from the arm of the settee and stuffed into an undeserving mouth. 

Eleanor snapped “Get out” she screamed as loudly as she ever had “Get out. Get out. Get out. Get out of my office and don’t ever come back.” 

He backed away towards the door as she hurled a stationary tub in his direction showering pen shrapnel in every direction as it exploded on a foreground desk. 

“You’re not nice. I’m telling Mr Preston on you”

Eleanor was gasping for breath as she tried to recover herself just as Alan appeared at the doorway

“What’s going on – What’s all the shouting about. Miss Farnell what in hell d’you think you’re doing!”

“Reserving your place with the Devil, Mr Preston!” she screamed.

Alan stopped dead in his track, building up into a rage, paused only by seeing the fire in Eleanor’s face. She turned back towards Matt even then increasing her fury.

“You see, Mr Barrington. Our first priority here is Social Responsibility. We have to do whatever it takes to integrate that imbicille into our working office so that he can experience normal life. And I disagree with that because I think that the company’s survival is more important. I cannot operate the way my director has instructed and that’s why I’ve resigned”

Stacey was suddenly at her side, Katie grabbed her arm “Ellie, you can’t. You can’t go. We’ll all relying on you to keep the show on the road. We’d all be out of a job. The whole place will shut down.”

Eleanor caught her breath again bypassing Katie’s support 

“Is that not right, Mr Preston?” 

But the lack of response pushed her over the limit again 

“Is that not right” she shrieked “Its your department and you decided that we need to look after that thing rather than recover our supply chain. That’s what you told me yesterday at 7 o’clock at night. Not thankyou for working late, thankyou for the plan, thankyou for a glimmer of hope, thankyou for anything. Just you're not looking after Simon very well. He’s unhappy. You’ll have to do better. I need a recovery plan. You need to take more time. I haven’t got the time – Well make time you said.  I need to redress the balance. Make time. Where’s your contribution to the recovery? I need to make time to look after your pet vegetable. For what?  Your personal satisfaction? Your industry kudos? Is that right? Or maybe you're just trying to screw his social worker.”

Alan stood shaking in the doorway waving his finger “You cannot substantiate that claim”

“And you can’t fire me cos I already quit” she yelled.

Matt Barrington stood up and stretched to his full six foot four “Go to my office Alan. And take .. whoever he is .. with you”

“Won’t go. I’m staying with the girls”

“Now!” he commanded with rising tension.

Eleanor sank onto a chair as the wrath on her face subsided

“I’m sorry Mr Barrington. So sorry. So Sorry. I was so hoping I’d have left the company before that happened. I guess I failed - again”

“Eleanor. Try to calm down. And please do just one thing for me. Please don’t leave the building before I get back. The Bishop may have tapped the lectern, but the Cardinal is in the congregation”

The girls retired back to the breakout area and collapsed onto the settees. Phones rang unnoticed and Katie poured more coffee while Eleanor buried her face in her hands

“I’m Sorry. So Sorry.” she repeated and repeated as Stacey just hugged her.

“You said Gary made the cake” she said in an attempt to start to return to some form of normality “is that your boyfriend?” 

“Yes. And he’s been brilliant over the last few days. He’s done everything for me”

“Are you really leaving” asked Katie quietly.

“Yes. I wrote my letter this morning – and I think that episode pretty well sealed it. Mr Barrington had just asked me to reconsider. But I don’t think I can. Apart from anything else I’ve made too big a fool of myself”

“But he did ask you to stay till he got back”

“Yes, but that could go either way”

“Ellie, lets all wait and see, can we? But if you do need a new job, I can put you in touch if you like. I’ve been in several companies in the last 3 months that are desperate for good contracts people”
 “Thanks Stace’. So long as they want someone who’s volatile, violently emotional, shouts a lot and throws things round the office”
 “Oh come on Ellie! Everyone has their limits. Everyone becomes unpredictable when they’re pushed over the edge. You’re handling the disaster brilliantly. Its that adult sized toddler that’s the issue”

“Yes, he may be disadvantaged, but I didn’t realise it could be contagious”

“I agree entirely” said a surprisingly mild voice from somewhere high above them “I once threw an entire fax machine at a member of staff. Hit him on the neck, hospital for three days and off work for a month. Didn’t wind me up after that though”

“What happened to the fax machine, sir” 

Matt glanced at her, considering whether this was a serious diversion from Katie. 

“It never recovered” 

But it had broken the tension 

“Do you want coffee, sir”

“Thankyou Katherine, I would. And I’m afraid I don’t know you. I’m Matt Barrington. I set this company up fifteen years ago and I’m Managing Director”

“Good to meet you. I’m Stacey Auburn. I’m from the ProTemp agency. I was with Andy McLaughlin in Finance and then this issue occurred and I volunteered to stay on and help where I could”
 “I’ll bet you’re regretting that decision now!”

“Not at all. Its different for sure, but its so encouraging when you get to work with people who are really enthusiastic and passionate and then they’re empowered to just get on with it. It’s a revelation what can be achieved”

“I understand you’ve been a vital asset to the team”

“Thankyou. I did say to Ellie I’d do everything I could, but…..”

“….But there are limits” Matt completed for her “Now, I have had a conversation with Mr Preston and I have suggested that he takes a couple of days off specifically to prepare an explanation of why he introduced such a disruptive influence into our company, albeit a significantly disadvantaged individual from our society, and whether, in the circumstances, he might have been more supportive of the damage limitation exercise which you are studiously pursuing almost alone. Not forgetting your excellent admin assistance.

Eleanor. There is a certain protocol and standard of behaviour that we all come to expect in our offices and I think you’ll agree that these have not been maintained this afternoon. 

However, the additional pressure, and the method of its delivery from Mr Preston is significantly more serious, and I do recognise that the use of a stationary tub as in improvised nail bomb is genuinely inspired. I for one will be taking cover if I consider myself within reasonable lobbing distance.

Eleanor, I really don't want you to leave. In anticipation of us being able to find a compromise, I have retrieved your letter from your file and its in my desk drawer. What I want you to do is come in to work here as normal on Monday and sometime during the morning I will share with you my plan to address the problem. I can't do that at the moment because.. .. simply because I haven't thought of it yet. Now, are you prepared to give me my weekend stay of execution?” 

“Please Ellie. Its not just him – its everyone” 

“Oh, Katie! Ok Mr Barrington. But I too need to consider my future. I don’t know what happened to me and I’m scared” 

Back at the flat, Gary had cooked dinner, but both of them were tired. Eleanor seemed all set to just curl up on his settee and hibernate for the entire weekend, but Gary wasn’t convinced that Len and Susie had got used to the idea of her staying over at his place so often. They were old fashioned people and that meant they were old fashioned enough to want to look after and protect their daughter no matter how old she was. 

He dropped her off at her house even though he would have to drive back over there in the morning to pick her up again.

But it did mean that she had access to her wardrobe and Gary always looked forward to seeing what she would be wearing next.  And thinking about her wardrobe, if she manged to look fantastic at work like she did, and Vanessa managed to look so elegant, why didn’t the other girls? Wouldn’t it be a better place to work if all the girls looked like that?

But, Gary reflected, Eleanor seemed to be able to handle the disaster – it’s the disruptive interference she had a problem with. Oh, and the vicious attack by senior management and her director’s stated priorities, all resulting in the emotional toll - but a special weekend would not hurt at all. And dress shopping seemed to fit the bill as a good start. 

Shopping

Saturday morning was busy in town. She held on to him like they were caught in the middle of a hurricane rather than a hurrying crowd, and it soon became clear that she was only going to buy something that he liked. 

“I'm so pleased you wanted to come with me” 

“That's ok. Fashion shops always have pretty assistants to look at while you're in the changing room” 

She prodded him “that's not the plan! You're supposed to be helping me find something to wear to work, not spend the morning eyeing up the opposition” 

But she couldn’t be cross with him as he continued to tease her and his innocent smirk said it all.

He also had his own agenda. Since before he got the new car he'd developed a vision of her in a specific dress, sitting next to him and looking unbelievable wonderful. And this was his opportunity to find that dress. This was something she would probably not wear to work but not as short as Jon had told her to wear for the party. It wanted to be more relaxing than that, but he already knew exactly what it looked like and all he had to do now was find it. 

The depression of the previous evening soon faded to the background as she guided him from one shop to the next but it was still burbling around in her head occasionally bumping into other thoughts. 

“I don’t really want to leave” she said “but it's the only way. I’ve backed myself in to a corner by losing my rag. But you will help me won’t you?” 

“Ellie, I'll do everything I can. I won't even moan if you don't get your round in. And you can borrow the car to get to interviews. But this Barrington guy wants you to stay. That’s a big deal – don’t underestimate what its worth to be sponsored by the MD” 

Gary tried hard to keep her spirits up. A bit of banter with the young Saturday assistants would continue to keep her mind off her work troubles and sometimes it only took a look or a smile to encourage them into joining in with a giggle or two.

“I like this” she said “It's quite like my navy blue one” 

“Your navy one had arms. This’ll look like a gym slip.” 

“Do you think so.” 

“I was just hoping so! What with that halter neck, maybe a white blouse underneath?” 

“Oh, maybe” 

“But that’s not bad. I'll go out with you any day of the week if you’re going to wear a school gym slip” 

The young assistant unsuccessfully stifled a giggle as Eleanor disappeared into the changing room. He picked up a heavier autumn range midi length skirt and held it up as he imagined that Vanessa was watching him. He turned to the assistant 

“I can’t remember if I should examine the seams before or after she was trying it on” 

The assistant nearly choked “I think that would be before!” she gasped
 “Hmm. Sounds like a whole lot more fun if it was after. You don’t want to try in on for me do you? You look like you’re about the same size”

“I don’t think so! – especially if its only so you can examine the hem!” as Eleanor returned from the changing room wearing the gym slip.

“Right again. Come on Ellie. What about a few cartwheels”

“I don’t think so Gary! But I think you’ve persuaded me against it. Its supposed to be for work, but what’s that you’ve got there?”
 “I think it would be great for later in the season”

“She might not be going out with you later in the season” interjected the assistant

“I guess – But she’d look gorgeous in it for whoever she was going out with”

Eleanor looked at them from one to the other “I must have missed out on the start of this – But maybe I’ll try this on anyway. Gary, you behave yourself!”

“I doubt there’s any other option with Alex. Or is it only the right one that’s called Alex!” he said pointedly staring at the name tag on her chest. “maybe the left one’s called ‘Andra”

“Gary, I think you're embarrassing her now”
 “Can’t think so – She’s gorgeous! And that means she must be used to being teased. I’m sure she can take a joke”

“Alex, two minutes and I’ll take him away! Promise”

Gary waited for her, deliberately putting on a look of dumb innocence but when they left they both distinctly heard Alex comment to her colleague that she wished her boyfriend was a bit more like that.

She glued herself to his arm as they headed for the next shop “And don’t be so embarrassing in here”
 “Its not embarrassing – its light relief!”

She stopped in the doorway, turned and kissed him “that will just give them a clue about us, just in case you start off again”

But the assistants here were neither young nor attractive and Gary examined the seams on his own and without comment. 

They talked through the problems over dinner. Somehow it all became clearer as Gary helped her to understand the probable options and by the time they got back to Gary’s flat she’d almost convinced herself to give Barrington’s plan every possible chance of success, assuming that he still wanted her to stay, which after her behaviour yesterday was no better than even money, as they’d say in the Red Lion.

But despite everything, Eleanor was no less buzzing as she got dressed the next morning. She was meeting Gary again and even if her job fell into a chasm in the ground it wouldn’t matter if she’d still feel like this about him. They’d decided to travel back up to the canal to have a look at narrow boats and the possibility of buying one and spending time together on the canal. Neither of them was really taking the idea too seriously, but it would be interesting just to look and, after all, you never know! 

 At the yard there were dozens of boats in various stages of decay and disrepair. Gary talked about how much work it might be to bring them back up to standard and speculated on how difficult it might be and whether they’d need professional help. Slowly they moved up the price scale and the condition improved, but by the time they were looking at something that didn’t need a multi-year project they stood back looking at each other not believing the price tag.

That, they agreed, was different and that’s about the best you could say for it. 

The next yard was far more realistic. Day boats, cabin cruisers and assorted other craft of all sizes which were far more affordable although by now the consensus was that maybe they didn’t want to spend enough time to justify the cost when they considered moorings and insurance and other things they hadn’t thought of. But Gary was clearly considering this as a joint project and something that they’d do together, and that meant staying together with her and that thought sent her excitement level sky-high all over again and all of that in the middle of these major issues she was having at work. 

Of course it might just be a distraction to help her push other thoughts aside. This was an insight into a Gary type background investigation so that he knew what he was talking about. This was a side of Gary that most people would never see. They’d see the side that had all this information assimilated and ready to formulate into an informed opinion or decision. They’d never see all this research and investigation that formed his opinion in the first place. And Gary inviting her into this secluded world made her feel even more a part of his life.

And even if they didn’t buy one, this was as good a sign as any that he was looking beyond the next Saturday date with her.

They pulled in for lunch at the Odd Farmer again, and noticed as they slumped on a threadbare sofa that the sun had now come out – and that was a signal to spend most of the afternoon in the pub garden slowly working their way through as little drink as they could get away with so that one or other of them could drive home and talking about friends and work and future dreams.

Eleanor was in the office at 7 on Monday. The weekend had put a different perspective on her situation. If she left Barringtons, she'd have to find somewhere else, and that might mean a longer commute and less time with Gary. Or even a different town, but could she really take a job that far away! How much would Gary support her and for how long? Even if she got paid more which she almost certainly would.

So the question was, how much of Alan Preston could she put up with, especially now that their relationship would be in a much worse state. He’d probably even try to get rid of her – force her out like he had this time. But staying was the option that would put least pressure on her relationship with Gary. Unless she got so stressed out by Alan Preston that Gary would have to recover her every evening. But maybe Barrington would have reconsidered his position anyway?

Katie was first to plonk herself down at Eleanor's desk. She'd brought her an uninvited cup of coffee as a bribe. What she really wanted to know was if she'd reconsidered her position over the weekend. Eleanor said she'd had a great time shopping with Gary, and Katie confided that last time she took her Aaron with her he seemed to have the alternative agenda of not liking anything where the hemline was longer than whatever was in the previous shop. 

Cunning, said Gary later. The longer he was kept out there shopping the better visceral effect the skirt would have. 

A Four Year Old Solution

Stacey came in with Simon. She'd been keeping him out of the way by pouring breakfast into him, but was now running short on patience and energy and was looking for some help. 

“You two hold the fort, I'll take Simon out to the park or something” 

“But you're the only one that knows anything” protested Katie, although Stacey was a bit more suspicious.

“Ellie, you make sure that your 'or something' does not include tipping him over the side of the river bridge” 

“Oh, rats! Back to the drawing board!” 

But it didn't, it was specifically to walk all the way to the rose garden and then all the way through it and out to the short parade of shops. And she was almost certain that the corner store would have a colouring book and some crayons. Which it did, together with a 1 to 100 scale model of a Chieftain tank. 

It wasn’t long after she’d gone that Barrington poked his frame around the door and frowned to see only two of the girls in the office.

“Hi, Mr Barrington” opened Stacey 

He frowned again as if trying to remember her name 

“Stacey Auburn” she reminded “I'm working with Eleanor but I'm from ProTemps agency. Oh! And since you’re here, I had a word with my office over the weekend and we would be in a position to supply up to 3 contracts specialists with good experience starting Wednesday. This isn't exactly a sales pitch. It's just to let you know that that would be a viable option for you” 

“Thankyou Stacey. I'll bear that in mind. But we'd still need someone to point them in the right direction and provide training and introductions. And that means we need to persuade Eleanor to stay. Is she in yet?” 

“Yes, she was in before me. I think it's only because you asked her to.” 

“I’m not sure about that Stacey. I think she likes it here really. She seemed to have it all under control.”
 “She did. It was actually great to be part of it. Just that whole fragile system being held together by such a delicate balance”
 “But then Mr Preston gave her this huge shove that pushed her over the edge” said Katie “That’s scary. Surely he should have had a chat to Cecily first.”

“I agree” said Mr Barrington.

 “I can’t believe he did that. Surely he must’ve known it would have that kind of effect considering the situation” continued Katie.

“Careful, Katie. This is your director you’re talking about”
 “I don’t care. He shouldn’t be allowed to do that to anyone, especially Ellie. And who might be next?”

“Eleanor’s really sweet and gentle” continued Stacey hoping to divert the vitriol “I can’t believe she got in such a rage, but that Simon is seriously disruptive. I don’t mind hard work but he ought to be in a kindergarten not an office. Maybe if you could offer the prospect of some staff coming on board, that might relieve the pressure and help her make her mind up to stay” 

“Who said this wasn't a sales pitch?” 

“Anyway, she’s taken Simon out somewhere to get something that will keep him quiet so that we can get some work done. And she does have her instructions from her director”

“You mean he’s back in here again!”

“Oh yes. A lady called Dawn dropped him off this morning around 8. She seemed ever so pleased that …”
 “… yes, I’d be pleased if I dropped him off somewhere as well. Leave that with me. I’ll pop back later”

Now mid-morning, Simon was finally quiet with only the occasional request that initially left Stacey mystified 

“My orange doesn't work” and “my green is broken” that Eleanor solved with a pencil sharpener. The magic remedy lasted till lunchtime with only minor input from the girls telling him how good his drawings were and suggesting additions that would keep him occupied.

It was early afternoon when Barrington loped back into Eleanor’s office and Katie disappeared to the canteen to get some real coffee and a carton of juice for Simon.

“Ah, there you are Eleanor. I was hoping you'd come in to work today, although I wasn't going to put my shirt on it.” 

“But you specifically asked me to. And I reckoned Mr Preston would still be on his couple of days off so my brain would be safe from attack” 

He slumped down on the settee in the breakout area 

“Have you tamed him, or sedated him?” he asked with a nod in the direction of the disruptive influence 

“We came up with an alternative” 

“Who did?” prompted Stacey 

“Ok” admitted Eleanor “ ‘I’ came up with an alternative. You see, someone like Stacey is a 24 year old with a 24 year old brain, or thereabouts, and just to pick on you because Katie’s not here. Whereas, Simon is a 23 year old body with a 4 year old brain. His social worker wants him to experience as normal a life as possible and that’s understandable, but the disconnect between brain and body makes that quite hard. But why is she concentrating on normal living according to his body age? Stacey, you don't have a choice because they're both the same. But his are different, so why aren't we concentrating on giving him the normal experiences for his brain rather than his body. Giving him tasks for a 23 year old is bound to stress out his 4 year old brain. Give him 4 year old stuff to do and he's quite happy just sitting at a desk on his own” 

“So does that solve had differences between you and Alan?” 

“No, not at all. All it means is that we can get some work done. We can concentrate without the continual fear of distraction”

She paused, thinking about how Gary had phrased it the previous evening

“You see” she continued “there’s a fundamental difference between me and Mr Preston.” 

She ran through in her head what Gary had said ‘you, Ellie are a junior member of staff and therefore work in the best interests of the company that pays you. He is a senior member of staff and therefore works for his own interests while drawing salary from the company’

“But” she said out loud “I still can’t agree that we should prioritise social work over company survival. How socially responsible is it to make 300 people redundant, never mind the knock on effect on all our customers that are relying on us and our supplier’s production lines?”

“I admit I have to agree with much of what you say which is why I have asked him to stay at home for a few days more and reflect on his decisions. But in his defence, he was under the impression that the seven were throughout his department, not all concentrated in Cecily’s area.” 

“It's no excuse, Mr Barrington. In the first place its surely his job to verify the facts, assess the impact and act accordingly, but in any case I quite clearly heard him insist that social responsibility was a higher priority than Purchasing and I am unable to see how that can possibly be the case. And even, even if all that was correct which it isn’t, there’s no way he should reduce anyone to the state of a zombie. That’s nothing short of criminal” 

“I think it's a conspiracy” said Katie bundling in from the cafe, happy that Eleanor was still actually there not realising that Barrington had slid from view as he slumped in the aging sofa 

“I think he's trying to get rid of you because he was in on the fiddle and if you're gone as well then no one will ever know how to find out” 

She turned immediate beetroot “oh my! I'm sorry Mr Barrington, I didn't mean it. I was only speculating” 

“Perhaps Katherine, but there must be some reason for it and at this stage I wouldn’t rule out anything. But Eleanor, I still don't want you to leave. You have single handedly brought this situation under control. Of course it has a long way to go, but that path is now relatively clearly defined. In the immediate term you are the only one who knows the suppliers, the contacts and how things work and all of that is essential for continuity. So what do you want to make you stay since it appears you have me over a barrel” 

“I don't want anything, Mr Barrington. I was happy the way it was. I was happy believing that purchasing was important, that it was at the front line of company profit. We have to buy the right stuff at a price that gives retail least problems selling it. That's our whole business - it's got to be important. And that's a big reason to go to work at all - to do something of value. If I'd wanted to look after vegetables I'd have gone into gardening. I can handle the suppliers, and the current issues and I can handle the pressure.  And I’m ok with being shouted at on an odd occasion if I really deserve it. But what I can’t take is being told that everything I worked for, everything I believed in was wrong – and in such a violent way. Its like someone proving that your whole religion is just a fantasy” 

“As I said, Eleanor, Alan Preston won't be in for a few days and I said I would have a plan. So I have a suggestion to make to you.

It's a four point plan: 

One, I want you to continue to take the day to day control of this department. Not Cecily. You. Because I want her to concentrate full time on recruitment. She’s already got back to back interviews scheduled and she tells me that she has every confidence in you without her interfering. Two. I understand that I can get some agency staff in mid-week, but the intake must be regulated. No point in having so many people here that don't know what they're doing that they cause more problems than they solve. Three, we retain Stacey because she knows what's going on and is perfectly capable of working as independently as necessary. And four. I expect that you need some immediate help with the urgent supply cases. I need to leave Cecily on recruitment to establish a permanent solution, so my plan is that I will bridge that gap personally. As you might expect, I have some significant experience of the supply chain contracts. However, it is several years out of date and I'm not in personal contact with many of our current contacts. However, I said I need you to run this operation, its your plan and so far it seems to be working, so for the time I spend in this office I will be working for you and under your direction until we can get the contractors established.” 

Eleanor thought for a moment trying to take it all in

“Wow. That's a bit left field. Actually, that’s quite scary. You'd find out exactly how we work here and then most likely say there's a better way of doing it” 

“I would not rule that out. However, there is too much to be done to start changing the detail. We need action to stabilise our supplies and rewriting the process won't help at this stage” 

“What about Mr Preston?” 

“As I said before, I asked him to consider his actions so that he could explain his logic to me. May not agree with it, in much the same way as I may not agree with chucking pen holders around the office, but if I can understand the thinking behind it I can at least understand how he reached his conclusions. However, on Friday someone made a fairly rash comment about his interest in Simon’s social worker. I am of the opinion that it was purely speculative at that point but somehow a similar suggestion has been made known to his wife and he now has certain personal issues that are impacting his priorities.

So the plan, Eleanor, is that I come down to this office and work for you starting tomorrow. This afternoon we decide how many contractors we can handle and how long we need them for and together we will maintain the supplier base until Cecily gets some new people. The issue is that most of her candidates are on 3 months’ notice. A few are on a month, and it's those timescales we need to aim at. What do you say?”

Eleanor nodded, but he wasn’t sure if it was nodding in agreement or nodding in consideration. 

Oh wow! A reprieve. How do I accept all this without him thinking I’m biting his arm off? Sound positive now Eleanor

“Stacey! Are you and Katie still ok holding the fort for now?” she called out as she heard a phone continuing to go on unanswered. “Sounds feasible, Mr Barrington. Maybe we could get Cecily to define how long we need our contractors for because she knows the timescale for her new people starting”
 “So you’re suggesting that we give that whole responsibility to her?”
 “Yes, as part of her recruitment brief. First a short term personnel plan for this week I think you said. Then a longer term plan for up to three months depending on availability. Sorry Mr Barrington, I really ought to get that phone. Purchasing, Miss Farnell…. Yes, well I’m sorry about that, but we are rather up to our necks right now I’m afraid….. I doubt it Mr Grayson, I think it would take substantially longer to contact Mr Barrington. I know for a fact that he is not in his office at the moment…. Ok. But let me explain the way he operates his company. He is perfectly capable of doing everything himself. However, there are only 24 hours in his day and he would need well in excess of 2000. To solve this, he bribes some other people to help him by giving them an envelope full of money at the end of the week. In this respect he trusts me to liaise with suppliers and act on his behalf. As such, it is me rather than him that you need to talk to. . .. No unfortunately not. I won’t have time to meet until perhaps late January next year…. Yes, I’d be very interested in your revised product range….  Christmas? Well in that case perhaps you could send me a consignment of representative samples….Yes. And we would be quite happy to return these following our assessment…. No Mr Grayson, it makes far more sense to deal directly with purchasing… Yes, I will report to Mr Barrington that the situation is progressing and you haven’t forgotten him. Yes, thankyou. Thankyou for your call Mr Grayson.  Goodbye. 

Sorry Mr Barrington. Yes. Then when we get that plan we can start scheduling supplier meetings because if they have a date in the diary they’re usually happy to leave us alone till then. That would be our route back to normal. But Mr Barrington, if you come down here and Mr Preston isn’t in, that just creates a big hole in the top of the company instead of down here at the bottom”

“I wouldn’t say this was the bottom, but it could also be said that a hole at the top of the pyramid will simply let out the smoke and hot air, whereas a hole at the bottom will lead to the total collapse of the structure. Janice will refer all my calls and appointments to section heads claiming I'm in hospital or on holiday or deceased or some other passable excuse.”

But that’s not the problem, Ellie thought quickly to herself. Clearly he’s really worried about this and with good cause now he realises what’s going on. But sorting out the suppliers isn’t the issue and you can’t just cave in. Take the risk, go on Ellie. You need to look after yourself

 “That’s very generous Mr Barrington. We’re keeping the wolf from the door so far, and getting some contract help will take out some of the pressure by the end of the week. But unfortunately that doesn’t address the main issue”

He looked at her quizzically tinged with a trepidation that she may still walk away.
“Mr Barrington, I appreciate that stabilising the supply chain is important and in my view is the single top priority for the company. I can do that and contract help would be most welcome. But that is not my main issue because I know I can solve that. What I need you to do is get Mr Preston off my case. I can’t risk being treated like that again – its my health. I could have walked out under a bus last week and not even noticed”

Involuntarily he let out a visible sigh of relief. 

“And Mr Barrington, at the risk of appearing greedy, can we transfer Simon to a crèche?”

He raised a nod and a smile 

“I have no problem with either of these. Do we have a deal, Miss Farnell?”

“OK - let's do it.” 

She smiled up at him holding out her arm to shake on it 

“Let’s see what we can achieve!”

“And we’ll take a review on Friday. Ok? Oh and bye the way, thanks for punting George Grayson into the rough for me”

“Katie! Stacey! Mr Barrington says I can stay on despite behaving like a blocked musket!”

Self-deprecating innocence was not a trait he often found in executives, but on this occasion, Matt Barrington decided to accept an exception and he breathed a huge sigh of relief as he returned to his own office.

And an interesting perception, that yes he could do everything himself – if he had a couple of thousand hours in the day and its only because there’s not that he needs staff at all!

But now with that sorted and with his gut instinct telling him that Miss Farnell not only really wanted to stay but also was worth keeping, if not absolutely essential, the next issue for his serious consideration was Alan Preston. 

While Miss Farnell had been pushed too far and had lost her temper, this snapping point of hers appeared to be at the end of a very long fuse. Apart from that and despite the pressures, she was going the right way. She had invented the plan. Ok, so it was simple. But one of its best aspects was its pure simplicity. Everyone could understand it and that enabled her team to get a hundred percent with her and she was just getting on with it. She had stepped up to the mark. She had correctly revised the division of tasks between herself and Cecily as the situation developed. And on the subject of being innovative, that pencil bomb improvisation was brilliant. And then the way she handled George Grayson, We’ve been trying to get some sense out of him for years!

Alan’s behaviour on the other hand, was seriously questionable. Surely he must have been on something. He ought to have said something about his SR experiment. Ah, but then if he had, that would be like asking for permission or agreement and if the answer was no and he’d already agreed everything with this Dawn woman on whatever arrangement…. And how did seven people in Cecily’s critical section transmutate into seven people in Alan’s largely non critical department? Ok. So it was correct, but wholly misleading. And why would Cecily report to Alan on people outside her own area unless she was nominated? In which case she’d have said that. She must have known the real situation – she handled the terminations herself. She was sure enough about it when she came to see me. So it must have been Alan that generalised it. That might have been to protect his SR project. And then to reduce a member of staff to bordering on a nervous breakdown – was this all to protect his pet project? Surely if he was protecting his SR project he’d have explained it calmly instead of pushing her to the brink of extinction which led directly to her meltdown, explosion and resignation.

Why was it so important? Or was he playing with Dawn? Or… Was he in on the fraud and all of this is just smoke and mirrors as someone already suggested. And on top of everything we’ve still got the disruptive influence and we’re paying contractor rates for a nanny we shouldn’t need in the first place. Oh boy! Expecting Miss Farnell to handle that as well was incomprehensible, and then when she was in danger of actually succeeding, he goes into overdrive at her instead of simply withdrawing the offending article and supporting her as his contribution to the recovery. Maybe that’s why he went into overdrive. Ok, maybe he was playing away from home, but that was his business. At least until it starts to impact the company. But even that wouldn’t explain his attack on her. But I’ve brought that back from the brink and now I need to create the environment she needs to succeed, for all of us, especially me.

Preston isn’t a contracts guy. Cecily is out of date and altogether less pragmatic.  Me? I’ve got a company to run. Ok, maybe I could keep the show on the road, but probably only in a reduced format. Oh my!’

The magnitude of the issue only seemed to increase every time he considered it. But this plan of hers was purely a holding operation designed to enable survival until new resources were available. She wasn’t even attempting to do the work of the whole team of ten and that too was eminently sensible. Although she seems to have done a sterling job on the few top priority suppliers that needed attention. That was something only Cecily herself would have taken on only a few long days ago. But this plan was deliberately sized to be achievable and integrally linked to Cecily’s recruitment project the way a good team ought to be.

On the other hand, so much of Alan’s behaviour was now questionable. But maybe it didn’t matter right now. He couldn’t afford to lose any one else from purchasing, so he might be better not to know. But was it worth the candle to get Miss Farnell and Alan to work together? – with the current situation, probably not, and in any case, where would he start? At the end of the day, he needed her. His business instinct told him he could trust her. And Alan Preston?  Maybe not - not any more.

Alan’s invitation to the Cross Keys the next day did not go well. He had assumed that his boss would back him but this was the exception that proved the rule. 

“The point is Alan, you’ve done the strategy work, you’ve got everything up and running - not perfectly as there are a lot of disgruntled staff, but running all the same, and the section heads are pretty much autonomous. They’ll be able to keep their sections running on their own at least until I get a bit more time to sort it out. Ok these guys need to work together better, but that’s not really your forte either. 

Alan, I have no idea why you had to introduce such a disruptive influence to our offices as some sort of social care experiment, and then why you didn’t react by taking him away when the issue exploded in our faces. And then to have such a go at Miss Farnell. She was the only person working on the recovery after we had to let the rest of the team go. You cannot possibly have been unaware of that. Ok you have to redirect her if she’s going the wrong way, but quite frankly, no member of staff deserves that kind of treatment no matter what they’ve done.

Now with consideration, I find it completely inexcusable and apart from that I’d be very interested to see your alternative recovery plan. If I hadn’t persuaded Miss Farnell to retract that resignation where would we all be now? Where was your contribution?  

Of course I cannot expect you and Miss Farnell to work together. That would be asking too much. However, she knows the process. I need her for continuity with the suppliers. I need her to train the new staff. I need her to organise a replacement Purchasing section and quite frankly if I’d known that was what I had to do I wouldn’t have had a clue where to start. But she’s just doing it because it needs doing. Miss Farnell is running purchasing - even if it is limping along dragging three of its legs while she re-creates it. And as far as I can see it will all be there for when Cecily’s recruits turn up and its looking very likely that she might actually keep it going that long. So the bottom line is, there’s no real contest, is there?”  

“But you can’t have someone who shouts and shrieks like a dervish as a key manager” 

“She doesn’t shriek all the time, and anyway, you did” 

“Or throw things across the office!” 

“It had the necessary effect without actually injuring anyone. Alan, I need people with a passion and who can direct it towards my business. People with that level of enthusiasm may well be quite volatile - I should know!” 

“And what about my passion!” 

“Yes and your contribution to national Social Responsibility. SR doesn’t pay the wages, Alan. Nor does it boost the share price. Many of our share-holders would consider it misappropriated funding that should be contributing to the dividend, and its diversion for other purposes should be a board decision. Perhaps your comments to Miss Farnell were driven by passion. But not a passion for the business I’m trying to run. It was me that had to step in to mediate a dispute between you and one of your staff. A confrontation which you initiated due to a social experiment of yours which could easily have sunk the whole company – still might, and rather than contribute to the recovery, you exacerbated the issue. No Alan. You and I will sit down this afternoon when you’ve had a couple of hours to think and agree a package for you so that you can pursue your career elsewhere.” 

Alan phoned Dawn. She’d really screwed him, which to his huge disappointment is more than he’d done to her. He had to concede that Simon would be better off in a kindergarten than an office of any description, and that she ought to be organising activities for him that suited his mental capacity rather than his body age, no matter what her text books told her. 

“That’s what that Eleanor girl came up with she bought him the colouring book” 

He slammed the phone down and retreated to the bar to figure out how much he could get out of Matt. 

Back in his office, Janice gave him Eleanor’s message that she was really very busy preparing for the arrival of Stacey’s contractors and that delaying his transfer to her team would be in everybody’s interests.

In fact, without the resident clown, a calm urgency replaced a frantic rush to get something done before the next interruption and they were actually coping much better. Despite the undiluted frenetic pace all three of them felt more under control and looking forward to the contractors relieving the pressure.

Gary picked her up from work that evening and took her back to the flat. He parked her gently on the settee and got her a long drink as she talked through the day’s events as he prepared dinner. It was a long way to the weekend, but now that she’d got through today and Stacey’s colleagues start tomorrow, she might even see the flicker of a light at the end of the tunnel. She phoned her mum after dinner just to say she was all right and would be at Gary’s that night and Wednesday as well. 

“If that’s what she wants” Len said to his wife 

“I think it is. I’m just worried that she’s too dreamy about him”
 “You mean you weren’t that dreamy about me when we were that age?”

“She’s never been like that before. She went with Jon for years and was never like this”
 “But it turns out she wasn’t serious about Jon. When push came to shove she didn’t want what Jon had to offer, even after all that time. Not that I’m complaining. I think he was a thoroughly unsavoury character! She’s happy. All three of us noticed that after their very first date and she’s still like that. Maybe that’s the difference.”
 “Yes. But it just feels quiet around here, what without Sheila as well”

Somewhere else that was quiet was Eleanor’s office the next day.  

It was so much easier getting things done when you could think and concentrate. Stacey met her two colleagues when they arrived on time at 10, before handing them over to Katie for allocation of desks and introduction to the office coffee machine. This built up an aura of seniority for Eleanor as she briefed them on the current situation and their faces fell visibly. Stacey recounted the conversation that she’d had with them at the weekend implying that they should have been expecting something like this. And now with that in context and Eleanor’s explanation of exactly what she was trying to achieve, how she was approaching it and how she thought they could help, the show finally got moving again. 

That evening the two of them got together in their hotel bar and came up with a number of suggestions and a more detailed plan of their own to supplement Eleanor’s outline so that they could sit down with her to propose and agree their improvements.

 ‘Listen carefully to their ideas’ Gary had said ‘They’ll have been round the block more than once. They may even have a preferred way of working which would be a whole lot more efficient for them because they know it, so long as it doesn’t contradict what you’re already doing or what you’ve already said. Don’t be afraid to take advice. It doesn’t diminish your responsibility unless you let them take over”

“Go for it!” she said “You know what I’m trying to achieve and there’s more than one way to skin a cat”

And with that new found flexibility they lost the wheelspin and by lunchtime were touring through the backlog of phone backs and finding ever more excuses to avoid setting up meetings, reassuring the key suppliers and noting any issues for discussion with Eleanor before going round the loop again.

Eleanor found that most of the time, brief outline details were enough for them but she was also becoming aware that her original plan of a holding operation could possibly be relaxed slightly due to the efforts of these well-seasoned guys. They had huge experience of negotiations and she could learn from that if they set up some much needed meetings and then she sat in. Of course there were more bodies to fend off the assault but they found time for some discussions as well. Towards the end of the day, they set the phones early to auto-answer, making time for a round table discussion with Eleanor. They went through the day’s issues and discussed the solution that would be best for Barringtons as a company, so that next day they could implement it. There were issues, of course there were, and on a number of occasions she had to take a step back, ask why and recreate a solution. There was always an answer and often a false assumption, but no permanent damage was being done and that, in effect, was success.

Thursday evening saw her back at Gary’s. She wanted his help putting her report together for the review meeting, but now she was less stressed  and more confident. But this report was the first of its kind and she wanted to make the best impression she could. She also realised that all of a sudden she was in charge of two rather expensive senior contract negotiators in the same way Cecily was up until so very recently.

Interminable Meetings

Eleanor was not looking forward to this meeting. All the meetings she’d been to recently which were not with suppliers were team meetings and with Ben there, she’d felt that her opportunity to say anything constructive, innovative or useful was decidedly curtailed for fear of being controversial and landing up in more trouble than it was worth.

But Friday’s review meeting was just the three of them. Eleanor had prepared her answer in case the subject of her meltdown was raised, but Matt started straight in by reconfirming that her call on Tuesday to do without his help had been correct. She had enough to do to prepare and make some time for the recruits’ arrival. And as she now said, albeit timidly, it also kept Matt in reserve just in case anything went seriously up in smoke. 

She described how she’d organised the team to make best use of the new members as they arrived and their specific specialities, with a few examples of the more aggressive situations

Cecily was supportive and complimentary on what Eleanor was doing and her full update on the recruitment was genuinely useful. She recognising the names of the two internal people who wanted to move into purchasing. On the downside, Cecily said, they’d need a lot of specialist training, but on the upside they sounded enthusiastic and could be made available almost immediately with a little pressure from Matt. Eleanor agreed saying that internal transfers were good for overall company morale by showing that opportunities as they arose were open to everyone. But Cecily’s question was, when would Eleanor be able to find the capacity to take them? 

That, she thought, was a dumb question. Getting the new staff in was the primary objective of the entire exercise, with everything else just there to keep the company afloat till then. Tuesday. That would give them the weekend to look forward to it and Monday to handover their current work. 

And as Gary said later, they shouldn’t need a lot of corporate induction and starting from scratch in purchasing they’d be doing things her way rather than try to change the existing process to reflect what they’d done at their previous company. 

Matt was winding up the meeting. It had been clearly focussed and a lot shorter than she’d expected. 

“I’ve asked Cecily to put a meeting together for Monday” he was saying “I assume you have the invitation, Eleanor?”

She nodded as Cecily picked up the explanation “Matt thinks that the sections should all work more closely together, so I’ve invited everyone to get together to discuss ideas on how we do that. Now that a number of the offers are out there, I’ve got a few minutes to think about something else”

Eleanor took this as encouraging. But why not just come back to purchasing and run the show again? But she didn’t ask that. 

She wasn’t looking forward to this. Cecily may have got to a position where she had a few spare moments to think about something else, but she did not, and an internal meeting was not what she needed when her whole team was using every conceivable excuse to avoid far more necessary external meetings. Not just that, but because she was working longer than her normal day, she was working in her own time. This was extra, so this was essentially in her own time as well. But Friday’s meeting had been a revelation and maybe this one would be a similar improvement over tradition. 

Cecily emphasised that this was a collective, and she was simply organising it as a peer meeting, but with Eleanor as well because she knew what was going on in Purchasing and she, Cecily, did not. As it turned out, the main objective of the meeting was to have a meeting as Matt had asked and thankfully it came to no conclusions and Eleanor breathed a sigh of relief that she‘d escaped without a cartload of actions that she’d have to invent plausible excuses for not doing.

Katie was over the moon at being given the responsibility of organising another welcome, this time for the internal staff. She knew one of them already which would make things easier, and she’d already handled the induction of the two contract guys. That, she thought, was a practice run and Stacey was there to help out. This was like flying solo and in between fighting off the usual carnage she developed her list so that she looked professional. They’d know their way around the company but she had to organise stationary and allocate them a desk, get their security passes updated, update the central phone directory and generally make them feel valued and integrated. Her list grew by the minute but she still failed to understand how people in HR managed to turn this minor distraction into a full time job.

Eleanor was the last to be introduced. She described the situation and quietened their surprised gasps with a reminder about the confidentiality that was necessary in this section. She outlined the short term objectives and processes before handing them over for specialist hands on training. Both her contractors had done this sort of thing before and seemed pleased that she was trusting them with this initial but important step in their development. But they had another incentive. If they could pass the ground work off onto these new guys, they could get back into serious contract negotiation and do some proper work rather than simply fending off approaches. 

And as the day closed, the new arrivals had retained all of their initial enthusiasm and certainly appeared to be up for anything without too many preconceived misconceptions. 

The core team was working well and the situation was under control, even if it relied on her working at least 12 hours a days.  She tried to be in by seven and seldom finished before 8 or 9 in the evening. But now if her luck held, she’d be able to take the weekend out to recover. 

This was another piece of the puzzle put on the board, even if they weren’t all joined up yet. There was a long way to go but now the end was not quite so far out of sight. It also meant that with some careful team scheduling she might even make it to the White Hart by 8.30 the following Wednesday. 

Getting a lift into town made Eleanor a good 10 minutes early. But no matter, it would give her a chance to get the drinks in before Gary arrived – for once. She perched on a stool at the uncluttered bar near to the only other person there, thinking it would be a bit rude to deliberately sit at the opposite end of a deserted bar. She said hi out of politeness and ordered her Bacardi just as the barman had finished pouring it. And noticed the girl next to her looking at it with something approaching envy. 

“Do you want a drink?” she offered spontaneously 

“Oh! No, sorry. I've…. I've got one. It's just, that looks so much more .. .. something. I don’t know what. I mean, like more me. I feel I'm missing out with just this half pint jug” 

Eleanor could see she was still looking for the word she'd lost 

“Sophisticated” she offered 

“Yes, that's it. I guess I’ve just got used to this. But then they don't do sophisticated in the Red Lion” 

“No, that's true. But they do beer swilling quite well. They do beer spilling quite well too!” 

“Oh! You know the Red Lion?” 

“I used to go there sometimes. But there’s so much water under the bridge since then” 

“I'm meant to be meeting a guy there now. But I'm not going to go. I thought it would be exciting. You know all the tipsters arguing with each other and what difference to the odds the weather would make and the impact of a change of jockey, then ... Oh you do know that all they talk about there is horse racing?” 

“Yes, I can't imagine it's changed much since I was there last. I found Monday's worst. The inquest in to why the top rated tip was actually a three legged buffalo that's still lumbering home” 

“Yes. That's it. And the time spent drowning their sorrows and building up a huge bar tab that they then have the pure gall and brass neck to expect someone else to pay because they're skint after losing all weekend.” 

“Sounds familiar “ 

“Yes, and all I get from it is half of lager. And even that's on my tab.”

“Mhmm”

“But it's not just that. Did you hear about the bust-up? A couple of the guys got into this huge argument last week. Vieveray was one of them, do you know him? Don’t know the other. But he was accusing Vieveray of giving him a deliberate bum steer. He just pounced on him started beating three barrels out of him. Tables were overturned, glasses smashed on the floor and that turned into a kind of general brawl”

“But Vieveray’s a bookie. Why would he be giving anyone good tips? I think you’ll find he’s been doing that for years to anyone gullible enough to listen”

“Really! But if you know that, why have they only just found out? Anyway, there’s also a headcase there called Ricki. He’s a bit unpredictable and maybe a bit crazy – oh but don’t tell him I said that - and he was sitting at the back wall when the fight broke out. I think he was steaming to start with but he seemed to think this was an opportunity to add to the chaos. Like, he just started picking up beer bottles and hurling them right across the bar smashing on the ceiling and the walls and showering glass and beer all over everywhere. It was carnage. I had to leave, I ran out through the loo and just in time before the old bill turned up and arrested everyone who was there. Vieverey was taken to hospital. He's pretty badly turned over” 

“But you don’t know who the other guy was, the one who started it?”
 “No, but if it had just been the two of them it wouldn’t have been so bad. It was the broken glass raining down on everyone”

“That sounds like Ricki.”

“Yeah. I heard it might have been him that floored that poor guy by the door in the Kings Head a few weeks back?” 

“Mhmm. I think it was. But no one’s doing anything on that. There’s no real proof!”

“There must be. Someone must’ve seen. The bar was packed.”

“But its all gone quiet now, thank goodness”

 “But then, hold on, maybe that’s where I think I recognise you from? Aren’t you the girl that was on the floor beside him just as everyone was trying to get out?” 

She nodded “That’s right”

“Oh wow! That was brave of you, protecting him like that. But no charges have been made, have they?” 

“No, and they won't. The landlord has kicked up, but that's just noise. The guy that got hit is too gentle, and he’s really busy. He's got better things to do than spend time in a courtroom. Not just that. If it was Ricki, he’s pretty violent at the best of times like you found out. And if it wasn’t Ricki he’ll be pretty peeved at being accused. And whoever it was, guys that lob bottles around bars are volatile and best left quietly alone” 

“That's the conclusion I came to. That's why I stopped here on my way in to town instead of the Red Lion”

“You won’t be on your own for long in here. Not that the guys will pester you. They’re a good crowd in here. I’m sure they won’t leave you on your own, but you won’t feel under pressure either. They’re just friendly rather than persistent. I’ve spent an evening on my own in here and not had any trouble. And! They pay their own tab”

Gary arrived, shuffling through the door with a horde of others and Ellie ordered his drink before they all got to the bar.

She realised she didn’t miss the Red Lion one little bit, she’d confined that whole episode in her life to the wastebin called history. It seemed so long ago now and in a world so far away. But the thought started to terrify her that she’d spent so much of her life there when there was so much more outside to be discovered. And that she, herself, was capable of so much more.

Throughout the entire event Gary was sympathetic and supportive but had also squeezed in a bit of pragmatism. It was Gary that just encouraged her to just get on with what she thought needed to be done. No long winded proposal as a result of brainstorming, endless meetings, lobbying from the opinionated side-line and senior management approval. She didn’t have time for all that. This was a crisis and action was needed. Good management would see her as a rising star, one to watch and someone who could really contribute to the future. Poor senior managers would see her only as a threat.

Through Stacey, ProTemps had come up with three more candidates that Eleanor pointed in Cec’s direction. That really would ease the pressure. It would bring the team almost up to strength, but without the baggage of the history. They were expensive, but it would mean she could restart negotiations meetings earlier than she had expected.  She could get them even more focussed into specific cases or maybe she could get back to a normal nine hour day. Or …….maybe something else.

The Friday review came round far too quickly. Time just seemed to fly because she was so busy and if she did manage to escape a bit earlier, she squeezed in a bit more time with Gary or making sure her dad didn’t think she’d disappeared from the face of the earth.

 Now there was a certain calm around the table as Cecily gave her recruitment update. She asked how the internal transfers had gone and moved swiftly on to describe the two external candidates that she had selected who had some experience, but would come in at an intermediate level. She was reserving the other two places for more experienced candidates who were taking longer due in part to their being more established in their existing companies, and also on a longer notice period. At Eleanor’s suggestion they agreed to keep the contract staff till after the new guys had arrived to allow some handover time, which also meant that she would be able to give them a good indication on the expected duration of their assignment.

But it was the name for the admin position that took her by surprise. She looked up “Is that right?”
 “Is what right?” asked Cecily feigning innocence 

“Stacey?”

Cecily broke into a wider smile “Yes, she approached me last week. She said that she understood that one of the people that had left was secretarial. She said she hadn’t seen a notice or advertisement, but if there was a permanent position available she’d like to apply because she specifically wanted to work with you in your team – and Eleanor, you can’t get a much higher recommendation than that”

“That’s an unexpected bonus!”

“Yes” agreed Matt “Although I think you’ll find that she is somewhat independent”
 “That’s ok. I’ll just have to make sure she knows where we’re trying to get to. I’m finding that if I fully explain what the end point looks like everyone can just get on with their bit – there’s more than one way to skin a cat! That way you don’t have to micro-manage everyone and you have time to identify the gaps and get on with something useful instead”

“Quite so” said matt with finality “Cecily that concludes your contribution to our meeting. Thankyou”.

Interesting. An abject lesson on how to politely turf someone out of a meeting

“But Matt, Cecily won’t know what else is going on and where the hot spots are”

“You’re going to her integration meeting on Monday are you not?”
 “Yes. I suppose it will help if the section heads hear this update too. But it means you will have the up-to-date picture before she does”

“Yes, but Eleanor, there’s something you said as this whole issue was all kicking off. It was about how important Purchasing is to the company. I think I’d lost track of that and just included it in Alan Preston’s Operations Department. What I want to do, with your approval of course, is that you go to Cecily’s meeting so that you can integrate and cooperate with the other sections, but that you will actually report directly to me. My view is that the purchasing section is still very fragile and I don’t want conflicting management styles upsetting its recovery. Not that I think you and Cecily would see things very differently, I just don’t want to take the risk”

She increased her concentration trying to assimilate the implications as he continued

“So Eleanor, how confident do you feel now?”

“How confident? We can do it, Matt. I think there may be some disappointments along the way. Some of our suppliers are not very sympathetic about us being understaffed and their salesmen are getting frustrated. But at the end of the day, they’re trying to sell their products to us so they’ll have to put up with it. I’ve already told two of them not to phone me again because I won’t have time to deal with their issues until the end of November, but of course the plan is to contact them before that, which will improve the ambience of the discussion by outperforming the expectation I’ve set.”

Matt continued nodding in agreement

“You seem to have this whole thing sewn up”

“I think the operative word is ‘seem’ ”

“You know you can call on me if you want help with anything. Cecily also told me that you haven’t called on her to help either, and I was a little concerned. I would expect this sort of thing to demand senior management attention”

“Oh, I’m sorry, Mr Barrington. I’m not meaning to exclude you. Its just that its been so franticly busy but I think its all under control and there’s nothing I need to bother you with”

“I see. What you mean is that briefings to senior management take up time you haven’t got and would result in well-meaning interference that you’d have to consider if only to justify their existence”.

Eleanor hesitated long enough for Matt to assume he was right

“Hmm. You may be forgiven for forgetting that some of us senior chaps came all the way up from the shop floor. And we do have memories”

She smiled over at him and perhaps gave a hint of a nod

“Do you think you might also forgive and forget my meltdown?”

“I think we should set it aside. Driven out of a passion for this business it needs no forgiveness. You have been intensely focussed on doing what was right and necessary. And now having some short experience of that Simon character, I appreciate that you have a remarkably long fuse. I myself do not suffer fools gladly, especially when under pressure and your handling of the issue is more important than your intolerance of disruptive infants running around the office. But we need to remember enough to avoid burning it down so close to the end”

“I can’t see it happening again, Matt….” she slowed to a more gentle voice “ You see…. I think I’ve managed to come to terms with it, although I’m unlikely to forget it. What I have learned is that there’s no lock on the door and any time, at my choice I can just walk straight on through it”

“That wouldn’t be a threat, would it Eleanor?”
 “No, Matt. Not at all. I’m simply saying that I’ve discovered that I always have a choice and, now that I’ve had to use it, I know where my safety net is”

He looked quizzically at her for several moments clearly considering this

“So….. So what I need to do is provide the environment that makes sure that you continually make the choice which is beneficial to me”

She nodded. So far so good! But it was time to steer the meeting back to the original subject

 “Thankyou Matt. Although, I’d rather think of it as beneficial to both of us” 

She paused taking a deep breath as Matt waited for her to continue

“So, Matt. Suppliers?  Well, so far I think I’ve managed to keep it together. None of them has threatened to stop shipping although quite a few are nervous about extending additional credit and even more are annoyed that we don’t have time to review their new range. That’s not so good because we don’t want to be at a disadvantage against our competitors in retail who are taking the newer range. But now that I’ve got confirmation of the personnel timescales I can be a bit more confident in scheduling more catch up review meetings and the usual round of alternative sources– especially in the run up to Christmas and as our new recruits come in, the confidence should return”

“That all seems to be going the right way, Eleanor. And if you can do it all without me interfering that’s fine. I’ve got enough to do as it is with Alan Preston’s work as well. But this is important and if you need help you must ask for it in time. It’s a matter of priorities.”

 “’I’ll ask for help if I think I’m getting into trouble. The contract guys are quite quick at spotting trouble and avoiding it. Maybe I should schedule some more update meetings with Cecily or you?”

“Its important that someone knows what you’re up to!”
 “The team knows. There’s no secret about what we’re aiming to achieve and the timescales. Stacey as much as anyone”

He looked rather severely at her, then quietly relented

“We will keep our weekly Friday meeting. For the time being”. 

Her handling of the fallout from the fraud disaster boosted her confidence immensely. She was still concerned about her meltdown, even though Matt had said he’d ignore it, but maybe she just had to be more studious in looking out for the signs to prevent a next time. 

Stacey leaving ProTemps to join her team was an amazing bonus and Katie was proving to be much more useful than she had expected. And she was always bringing her cups of coffee just because she looked like she needed one.

Matt and Cecily were still backing her. It was all part of her new world and a whole world away from where she was four months ago.

Finally, after all this, Eleanor felt that she had earned her weekend off. She might not leave this completely behind, but even if she couldn’t slow down, she might be able to make more sense of the replays running riot in her head and maybe she could leave second guessing answers to Monday’s problems till Monday. She felt she deserved a break – maybe she and Gary could do something special.

Gary had a similar angle. He knew she needed a break and thought she might just be able to afford the time, but going somewhere on their own might only serve to concentrate their minds into the existing and recent issues. There had already been some mention of Gary joining the Farnell four for lunch on Sunday and while he wanted to go and was pleased he’d been asked, he also expected that conversation would be limited to Eleanor’s troubles at work and that would not do her any good at all.

And so it was a wonderful surprise to her that he suggested going away for the weekend. He mentioned he hadn't seen his parents for nearly six months, and did she fancy coming with him. Yes, they could drive up and back in a day, but going up on Saturday and back on Sunday afternoon would be less of a rush which might be more appropriate.

Susie wasn't particularly put out that they were declining the roast dinner and seemed to understand because she'd like to see Eleanor more than twice a year and had sympathy for his mum. 

Gary's Parents

The traffic wasn’t bad on the motorways but now wending their way through north London it was at a crawl with more than a hint of diesel fumes as they sat in the jam with the hood down. 

But a little farther on those closely packed semis and terraces gave way to less dense housing with proper sized gardens and frontages with space for more than a motorbike. 

They turned in to a wide avenue and Eleanor likened it to Gary's road at home where some of the original spacious Victorian detached properties had been replaced with newer houses. 

“Have they got a big house like this” she asked, realising she hardly knew anything at all about his family. He didn't have a sister - that's the very first thing she learned about him, and his brother was a guitarist in an awesome band, but beyond that – not much that she could think of. 

“Sort of”, he said. “Its quite a big house, but it's not like these. It's a lot more modern. Mum and Dad had the house demolished and built a new one when me and Ro were quite young. I think I was five or six” 

They turned across the pavement onto an open plan driveway. There was an E class Merc parked beside the front door and a BM just beside it. Despite that, there was plenty of space for them and even then any of them would be able to get out without disturbing the others and all without blocking the double garage. 

The house was not parallel with the road, instead receding at an acute angle. The front door was flanked by two round pillars that seemed to support the first floor overhang which made the house look as though it was recessed to provide a covered walkway to each side. The open plan front garden was big and the flowerbeds well-kept in some contrast to the houses on the other side of the street that had retained their hedges to provide privacy or possibly just to hide the state of their shrubs.

Once inside Gary made the introductions. Vince was a large portly gentleman, probably older than her dad but similarly thoughtful looking. His mum was an altogether more petite figure with darting eyes that Eleanor was sure would pick up the slightest detail. 

Eleanor had decided that a fairly formal approach would be appropriate, but despite its size, the house had a disarmingly comfortable ambience. Rina had moved towards her and given her a hug as she came through the front door

“I'm so pleased to meet you. I've not heard nearly enough about you” 

But it wasn't a criticism or a rebuke. Rather it was an invitation for her to introduce herself in the warmest of atmospheres. Now that Rina had set the scene, she turned to Vincent 

“So pleased to meet you, Mr Aldridge” as she leant over and gave him a kiss on his cheek that raised a delighted but bewildered smile.

They went through to the dining room that overlooked the back garden. It too was large and neat with a lawn certainly big enough to play knockabout football. And lunch was next on the agenda. 

“I expect you had breakfast early” Rina had said, “so I thought you’d appreciate an early lunch.” 

 Looking out across the large back garden Eleanor tried not to be too distracted as Rina served a full sized dinner. This was Sunday roast come early with carrots and runner beans, roast potatoes and the added bonus of a beautifully fluid conversation rather than the Spanish Inquisition that she was half expecting. She learned that Rina was short for Sabrina rather than Marina or Irene. And that the reason for the early lunch was that there was some kind of party planned for the evening.

“And” said Rina “that's another little reason I'm pleased you're here. It's given me the excuse to bring in our caterers to set up the buffet for tonight instead of me spending all afternoon on it and I can talk to you instead. Maybe you’d like to see the garden?” 

Rina was delayed by the phone ringing and Eleanor had wandered nearly to the far end of it when Rina caught up with her. “Ah there you are!” 

“Sorry, I didn't mean to disappear. I was just admiring you're garden. My mum grows lots of flowers too.” 

“And over at the other side of that hedge we've still got the swing and slide that the boys played with back when they were little. Somehow they managed to survive us completely rebuilding the house although I think they’re getting a bit rusty now – the swing that is, not the boys!”

Rina introduced her to a lot more of the plants, some rather exotic and all had some background history or tale to tell and they were nearly back at the house

“But Ellie. Oh! Does your mum call you Eleanor when she has something important to say?” 

“Not usually. Only when I'm getting told off!” 

“Oh dear! I’d better stick to Ellie then! But there is a more serious something I wanted to ask you, if you don't mind me being very personal?” 

“Not at all Rina. Ask away” 

“It's just that Gary told me not to go to any trouble setting up your own bedroom because it would be wasted effort. But I don't want it getting to midnight and you think you're being pushed into a compromising situation”

“Oh I see! That’s so considerate Rina. But its ok the way it is. During the problems I was having at work recently I wanted to talk everything through with Gary each evening and I wasn’t finishing till 9 or even 10 so I stayed at the flat for several days. I don't think my mum had quite got used to the idea, but I think that's more to do with my sister. She’s just bought a house and moved out a few months ago, and I think mum felt she was being deserted” 

“I can understand that. I felt a bit like that when Gary moved back to Somerset, what with Ro being on the road all the time.” 

The smaller of the front reception rooms was set with a large central table concealed by a white tablecloth which disappeared under the contents of a small white van, and the drinks tables took up nearly the whole of one wall 

“I was going to say we'd set his up specially for you” said Vince “but now I've met you I'm really disinclined to wind you up like that so I’ll admit it was arranged several weeks ago. When Gary said you were coming we saw no reason why you shouldn't just join in. Gary, you'll know some of these people. Eleanor, I expect you won't know anyone at all till later in the evening” 

It was a welcome caveat and obviously thoughtful.

“You would not be out of place dressed as you are” said Vince in response to her question on the dress code but Gary suggested that her black micro-pattern that she'd brought would be perfect. 

“Oh, I don’t know if that would be too short, Gary?” she questioned. “I don’t want to give the wrong impression to all your parent’s friends” 

“The fact that you’ve bought that dress, presumable to wear, and you’ve brought it with you, presumably to wear, reflects a certain side to your personality. I think that not wearing it would give a confused impression. And also deprive us of seeing something which is even more delightful” said Vince with a mischievous smile.

“Don’t let him wind you up!” declared Gary “You wouldn’t guess he was a psychologist, would you” 

“Not at all” contradicted Rina “I’m sure it will be eminently suitable”

“Yes”, said Gary “you should see what mum sometimes wears to work” 

“I'm not complaining” said Vince “but I do sometimes think she's aiming to distract the defence rather than win through articulate evidence” 

“What is it you do?” 

“I'm a prosecution solicitor specialising in corporate fraud” 

“Corporate fraud! How interesting - it seems to get everywhere” 

“It is on the increase” admitted Rina without appreciating the context “but it keeps me in business” 

“But since you're here, Gary, you can help me shift that chest of drawers that's been cluttering up the garage for the last two years” 

Gary looked at her as if to ask permission but she had already decided that this was just an excuse for some other conversation that she may not be invited to.

The party was all new to Eleanor. The only parties she'd been to had been saturated with booze and a loose excuse for every variety of outlandish misbehaviour. 

This, was quite different. This is what she would have incorrectly described as a cocktail party and was surprised that although all the ingredients were there on the drinks table, no-one was mixing cocktails. She'd only ever seen this kind of thing in films and found it surreal being immersed in it. She started by clinging closely to Gary but there was a distinct lack of malice in the air, unlike Sheila's party which was the only one she'd been to recently and it just seemed to be an extension of the Red Lion. Except without the beady eye of the barman on the lookout for trouble. 

The guests seemed to span most age groups. She reckoned she was the youngest person there until she discovered three young teenagers quietly playing monopoly on the dining room table, albeit with three glasses of something that looked decidedly alcoholic. Somehow she found herself separated from Gary and standing on her own next to two guys who were talking business. Quickly noticing her on her own, they interrupted their conversation. 

“You're Gary's girlfriend, aren't you? We haven't met. Giles” 

“Jack Bolton” introduced the other 

“Can't have you on your own now can we? Are you only up here for the weekend?

“Yes, we came up this morning and will be back home tomorrow night” 

“Not so much of a city girl then?”
 “No. I quite like the peace and quiet of Somerset. So, what is it you do, Giles?

“Hmm. That could take a while” teased Jack “although you could try to shorten it to less than two hours” 

“I work for Safeways. You know, the supermarket….” Giles started and Eleanor smiled to herself that the atmosphere was ambient enough for her to talk to these two guys without fear of appearing too forward and that they unreservedly let her join in their mutual familiarity. 

“….I work in business expansion. So when we want to take on new lines, it's my team that has to figure out what the supply chain looks like, and the retail price, and which stores to trial it in and what we can move or lose out of these stores to make space for it” he paused for breath. 

“Wow! That sounds interesting” but before he could expand farther he was interrupted “Giles, sorry to interrupt, sorry you two. But I know you wanted a word with Margot and she's about to leave, she's flying out somewhere exotic at crack of dawn” 

That was short, she thought to herself, but no matter. Start again with Jack. 

“I run my own company making light fittings” he said

“Really?” she encouraged “do you have a shop or something as well?” 

“Sort of. We do sell retail through various advertisements and we are open to anyone who turns up, but my main focus is in trying to find more wholesale outlets so that I don’t need to visit every hardware store and lighting electrician in greater London” 

This was fascinating. Here was a guy who was actually making stuff from scratch. Not just selling it on, and certainly not just backing short odds like the contents of the Red Lion. 

“Sorry, I've been waffling far too long” he said eventually “what is it you do?” 

Eleanor was taken aback. Somehow she’d felt she was there to listen, not to take centre stage 

“Me! Oh, I'm currently leading the purchasing team for a homeware wholesaler” she said carelessly almost without thinking

“You're not!” he gasped in detraction. 

“Oh, I think I am” 

Jack was taken slightly aback by her interpretation of his exclamation.

“Which one?” he asked with mixed trepidation that she was winding him up and mounting excitement on the prospect that she wasn’t.

“Oh its not in London I’m afraid, its in the West Country It's called Barringtons” 

“I say! You'll know Alan Preston then?” 

Eleanor's heart missed a beat at the mere mention of his name 

“Why” she asked more slowly than she intended “is he a friend of yours” 

“No, unfortunately not. I've been trying to get hold of him for over a month and he simply won't respond” 

“He's taking some time out at the moment” 

“You don't sound too disappointed” 

“I can't say I'm a fan of his” 

“I've also got a shout out to a .. .. Matt Barrington? Did I get that name right? I did get a call back from his secretary saying simply he's really busy but he will get back to me sometime. But then if you're in purchasing, maybe I can talk to you! Or do you all have individual market sectors?” 

Eleanor was nodding in confirmation 

“Matt’s the MD. That’s who I work for” 

Oh my! I didn’t realise. It makes me sound ever so important, reporting to the MD 

“But” she continued “It would come down to me anyway, no matter where you start” 

“Maybe I could come down to your office and bring some samples and see what you think? I was trying to get Giles to look at it, but I think he has in mind more mainstream hardware for his stores - maybe batteries or torches or ironing boards or something. But you already handle a huge range” 

“Not in lighting, Jack. We do several thousand lines, but very little in the lighting area” 

“I know I can do Tuesday…” 

The time seemed to have wandered past 11 o'clock and was charging headlong towards midnight when Jack returned to interrupt her to say goodnight. 

“So soon?” she said, and then noticed that there were significantly less people here than when she last looked 

“ 'Fraid so. I'm tee-ing off at 8” 

Interesting she thought to herself. Back with the Red Lion crew, people would be only just arriving at this time after getting booted out of the pubs and not having the price of entry to a club. Here, they're all off home to be back up at seven for golf at 8, instead of writing off the entire Sunday morning by staying up drinking till 3. 

But there was one main difference that it all came down to even though the average age here wasn’t really any different. Its not just that these guys sipped drinks and talked business while that other crowd spilled beer and swapped fantasies. It was that here they behaved politely and quietly like adults – the Red Lion was full of people who had never grown up and were mindlessly unaware of the fact.

That night, both Gary and his bed were beautifully cuddly until breakfast was sizzling on the stove. Ellie also realised that she’d probably had significantly more to drink that evening, sipping it unnoticed while talking to all sorts of interesting people, than she usually had in an evening with Gary or even when she’d been in the Red Lion where most people’s objective of being there was simply to drink. She helped Rina with clearing up the debris of the night before while Gary and Vince returned the furniture to its normal positions. It was wonderful just to be included and it seemed that both Gary’s parents were every bit as nice as him. 

Time to go and Eleanor found herself wanting to stay. She’d been made to feel so welcome and felt almost part of the family. She desperately wanted to ask Rina or Vince how many girls Gary had brought home to meet them, and equally desperately wanted to not know.

“Thankyou so much for the weekend” she said as she fastened her seat belt. It was so much easier talking to people with the roof down

“Not at all” said Vince “The pleasure was all ours. It was absolutely delightful having you to stay. I do hope we’ll see you again”
 “So do I” she admitted

“Good weekend? “ Len asked as she carried her small case into the hall

“Wonderful”

“And what are Gary’s parents like. I’m dying to know”

“They’re both quite like Gary, except his dads a bit of a larger build and his mum’s quite petite. They really pay attention when you're talking and they’re very friendly and quietly spoken. But, oh daddy! I didn’t realise they’d be so posh! We had a party last night – not all rowdy and noisy like Sheila’s but quite simply - more civilised. There must’ve been a hundred and fifty people there, but the house hardly seemed crowded. A lot of people there were talking business. I know that one guy was trying to bypass the waiting list for the golf club. And I made contact with a potential new supplier – he’s coming down to see me on Tuesday. 

And mummy, they’ve got a really big garden. Rina really likes her flowers. I think she’s something of a collector. She knows all about them and their Latin names. And there’s all sorts of flowers there that I’ve not seen before Its very different from down here.”
 “So they’re not short of money then. Big house in London, Business parties”
 “Definitely not. No one brought anything to the party. This guy turned up in large estate car and just unloaded it onto the drinks table and the buffet was bought in too. Rina said she needed the time to talk to me! His mum’s lovely. She’s a solicitor. She’s got a newish car too. It’s a 3 series, but daddy, it’s not the usual 316 its a 325”

First thing Monday saw her waiting outside Matt Barrington’s office

“Now, is this something Cecily could help with? She’s not entirely maxed out now, you know. “

“No. I don’t need help with anything. This isn’t really to do with the current issues. Its something you’ve been dealing with yourself. But I know how busy you are so I’m suggesting I take it off your hands”
 He squinted at her questioningly. The more he saw and heard of her since he persuaded her to stay the more he congratulated himself on a good decision.

“And what might that be?”
 “I was talking to Jack Bolton of JB Lighting at the weekend….”
 “You were what?”

“I just happened to bump into him at a party” she dismissed casually “Anyway, he said he was talking to Mr Preston, and then latterly to you about the possibility of stocking his new range of light fittings”

“Yes. Yes, I remember something about that. I’m meant to be doing something. But it takes some consideration. We don’t do many light fittings. It’s a difficult market as the fashion and trends keep changing and stock goes out of date so quickly”

“Yes, I agree. But that’s why the margins are relatively higher”

“Hmmm”

“So I was thinking that I’d take some time to consider it. I thought I’d get some ideas together then go through it with Retail and of course check out the impact on the Warehouse and come back with a proposal – which of course might be lets not bother.”

Matt looked questioningly at her. Business expansion was not on his mind right now with Purchasing only just getting back up to strength and normal operation still some distance away, and he was expecting the repercussions to drag on for months. But this seemed like an opportunity and a good excuse to let Eleanor even farther off the leash and see what happens. And if there were obvious flaws in her proposal, then there was already a pre-defined exit path due to the product sector volatility that he’d already highlighted. 

“All right. Since you know him anyway. But Eleanor, no charging off impetuously. This is effectively an expansion into a new product sector for us and I want signoff on that decision, understood? I may even take it to the board because of the risks”

“Yes, Mr Barrington.” 

But largely, she said to herself, because I don’t want to get all the blame if it goes pear shaped.

“And I don’t want you taking your eye off the ball of recovering the Purchasing Department, even if that means you tell me in a fortnight that there’s no progress on this because you haven’t had the time”

“Yes, Mr Barrington.”

That evening she wrote the card she’d bought on her way home. She didn’t know what was expected. Maybe there was a set protocol she should follow. But thinking about it, it ought to be what she thought was right. That was her personal choice, and that was something that made her her rather than someone else. She was reasonably sure that Gary’s parents would appreciate her ‘thankyou’, but the very least was they couldn’t take offence at it. And it did show she’d thought about it.

Ellie Takes the Lead

Life was beginning to get back to normal. She was expecting to be finished by 8 at the latest and Gary was looking forward to being able to eat out and not cook so much. And eat earlier rather than 10 o’clock at night wherever they were.

Wednesday saw them back in the White Hart. He had her Bacardi on the table when she got there smartly avoiding the crowd at the bar that came in the same time as her. She sat down beaming over at him and swapped updates on their work. Gary was about to get the next round, but hesitated as she looked like she was about to say something

“Actually, Gary. Could we just go back to the flat this evening?”
 “Sure, Ellie. You not feeling so good?”
 “N, no. I’m good. I’d just prefer it that’s all”

Maybe something had happened, maybe she had something she wanted to discuss, maybe she wanted to talk about the previous weekend or even next weekend.

She seemed ok in the car and gave absolutely nothing away as she hung her coat on the peg in the hall. He closed the door but hadn’t finished hanging up his jacket before she took hold of him in a hug that turned into a kiss that just went on and on. She seemed to be moving them backwards in a bizarre version of the tango even as she turned him at the bedroom door and he fell backwards onto the bed with her still attached. Her grip had tightened as she pinned him to the bed and Gary was now in no doubt what the plan was. But any sort of delay, like maybe to get undressed was not on her radar as she pressed herself against him. She hadn’t said anything – she didn’t need to and Gary was only too happy to respond. 

He’d never made love with so many clothes on, but this was her idea, she was leading the show and he was certainly not complaining.

Finally she rolled off him onto the bed and flipped her skirt back down. She beamed over at him briefly before folding him back into another hug that was trying to crush his rib cage before releasing her grip and simply lying very close to him.

Gary was struggling with finding anything to say. He didn’t want to ask, ‘what was that all about’, and he didn’t want to say ‘should I cook some dinner now’ and he didn’t want to get up and leave her just lying there, but none of this helped him with what he should do. But as he’d told himself many times in the previous half hour, she was leading this show. She let out a huge sigh and got up. 

“Just something I wanted to do” she said crypticly as she headed for the loo.

Gary raided the freezer while she raided the CD collection and talked about everything and not least her progress with Jack Bolton.

“I don’t know him, but dad clearly does. So if you want any background on him, give dad a call”

“I can’t do that!”

“Sure you can. You’ve met him. You’ve got his number. What’s the problem?”
 “Not sure”

“And. And” he repeated raising a finger “you’ve made such an impression on him. He thinks you’re delightful – his words not mine – he’d be over the moon if you called to ask his advice”

This, she reflected as she snuggled in to him on the settee listening to yet another band she’d never heard of, is how business is really done. All this standard process stuff that Stacey was trying to set up in the department, the same process stuff as Sheila was trying to code into her computer and all the bugs and issues that Gary sorted out were just the day to day churn of the handle and press the button. That would all stagnate and eventually wither and die. Business development, new business and business expansion was nothing to do with that. Progress was made at the cocktail party and the golf club and covert evening phone calls to friends of friends. Maybe she had always suspected that from the TV she’d watched, but now she seemed to have joined that parallel universe.

It was another card in her hand, it seemed senseless not to play it, and as predicted, Vince was over the moon at just being asked.

The weekly review meeting had crept up on her again. There seemed to be so much else going on as well, but with her two internal recruits and 5 experienced contractors on site in addition to Stacey and Katie – oh and of course herself,  it felt so much more under control. The plan now was to replace the contractors with permanent staff. Katie was just doing everything anyone asked her to do, and revelling in the success of just being allowed to complete a task without it changing mid-way through. Stacey was almost fully occupied keeping the admin consistent across everyone. Maybe, thought Eleanor, there is a place for this standard process stuff after all.

She sat at her desk on Friday morning surveying the scene. No panic, no major disasters, no adult shaped toddlers stressing everyone out, although she diverged to reconsider if she really did want children of her own. No phones ringing off the hook. No real chance of crazed directors rocking in with ideas from another planet. Oh My! She dared to think at last that she may even have pulled this off. Now she was even looking forward to the meeting.

But Cecily was missing. She passed her written report to Matt so that he had a base to annotate if he needed to and considered questioning the absence.

She quickly ran through the various points, looking for guidance on some things that appeared to contradict current strategy.

He pushed his chair back from the table and sat up

“Sum it up in a half a dozen words” he asked

“Its all under control” she replied looking across and heaving a huge sigh

“It does appear to be. I’ve been talking to a number of our suppliers directly, only because I know them socially, they’re not our usual business contacts, and they don’t think there’s a problem. A couple of the CEOs have said they’ve not even been informed of any issues. So that’s all good”
 “That’s encouraging! I’ve got a couple of the team dedicated to phoning every supplier and passing any of them with major issues to the senior guys to sort out. We’re trying to be proactive to improve their perception of us”

“So, you’re going to sit back, relax and just watch the team do its stuff now that you’ve got it all back running properly?”

“I’m not sure about that. I think the next big issue will be when I hand it back to Cecily. She’s been out of the loop for some time now and she might not like the way its set up. She may just want to do things her way anyway”

He looked across at her. Of course that’s what she would think. No one would have given her cause to think otherwise.

“But its not all running properly” she continued “There’s still a huge amount of catching up to do particularly on updated products and we need to make sure we’re on top of everything before the pre-Christmas period”

“Yes, but surely that will be handled by the team?”
 “Largely, but there will be loads of things to sort out. But if we can get the hand-over to permanent right it should continue to run smoothly. But I’m also looking to the future. I was thinking about a bit more business expansion like I did with Jack Bolton, but I think it might be better to get everything working properly in Purchasing first. And then what I want to do is fine tune it for Finance and Distribution.

You see, all the contracts are rather, well, narrow. Its just Purchasing trying to get a good financial deal from the manufacturer or the importer. That’s what Retail needs from us. But that’s only part of it. What we’re missing is the impact on Distribution and Finance. Like, some of these deals are well complex and Finance must spend ages just sorting out how much we should be paying in any one month. And it must be equally difficult over at the supplier end.

And I want to get with the warehouse guys and see what we can do in the contracts with the suppliers to make things easier for them.”

Matt looked at her somewhat surprised. This was not expected. This sort of language was not what he expected at all. This would never have been a conversation with Cecily while she was running the section

“Good for you” he said at length “Yes, we need to get the teams to work more closely together. I think Cecily has some ideas on that”

“Oh, Mr Barrington, this isn’t the same as that at all. Cecily is trying to get the middle management sorted out. This is a far lower level. Its about things like what size box they ship in so we can get stuff into our vans more efficiently and how much padding to use for fragile items to limit breakages which means we can safely handle stuff more quickly and setting invoice cut off dates at the 27^th instead of the last day of the month so that supplier finance teams have time to collate everything instead of working through the night”

He crooked his head over to one side  “And where would you start with this?”

“I’ve already started, as a kind of experiment. I went down to the warehouse and…”

The phone rang and Matt gave her a silent wave which she took to mean she’d been put on hold, She tried not to listen to the call as her mind replayed her visit to the warehouse. It was a depressing place as pickers and packers trudged around moaning and cursing. 

‘It's a good job that box hasn't got ears!’ she’d said ‘If anyone said that to me I'd be so upset. What's the problem with it anyway?’

‘Sorry, miss. Didn't see you there. That box? It's twice the size it needs to be. Wastes so much space on the truck. It's ok for them to ship in 'ere, they're paying. But sending it out when it takes up half the van width is plain painful’

She examined the box looking for the manufacturer 

‘What's you looking for?’ 

‘Just looking to see what it is and who it's from’ 

‘What difference does it make?’ 

‘Maybe I can go back to the supplier and ask them to send smaller boxes’

‘Can you do that?’

‘I can ask. Of course there may be a good reason why its in that box, like maybe it's cheaper for them to just have one box size no matter what they’re shipping, but I can find out if it makes life easier for you’

‘Yes it would, thankyou. But there’s a dozen other things that causes more problems than that’

‘Really? Do you have time to tell me about them?.....’

But she wasn’t well known in Distribution, and she hadn’t introduced herself either. 

Later, she’d overheard some chat in the lunchtime café ‘So you're telling me that you had a chat with someone about this? Who was that then?’

‘Yeah, I was having problems loading up when this girl appeared behind me and asked me what was wrong, so I told her, and then about these other things’ 

‘What did she look like? This girl of yours”’

‘Tallish, five nine maybe, long wavy dark hair, very pretty, beautiful dress, quiet’

‘Sounds like you've been sniffing that white spirit again and your fairy godmother turned up’

‘Humph! Maybe, but whoever it was it worked, didn't it’

And now Eleanor’s only real concern was that if no-one knew it was her, she wouldn’t be able to claim the credit. Cecily had improved margin – Eleanor had to make her own mark because living off the fraud recovery couldn’t last forever

“Sorry Eleanor. Where were we?”

She relayed the conversation and how poor Freddie was doing his best, but getting so frustrated about the waste

“He was talking about having to send a second van and that’s more expense and a lot more work collating delivery receipts in Finance. I got back to the supplier and they came back saying they would be only too pleased to use a smaller box. They thought it was us that wanted standard box sizes to make things easier in our warehouse!

So! Happy Freddie, lower shipping cost to the supplier and zero cost implication to us as well!”

“I see. A sort of bottom up approach”
 “Yes, very much. What I reckoned was if the guys on the ground actually doing the job are a happy crew, then that will filter up….”
 “…rather than some policy decision at the top that has to filter down” he interrupted

“Yes, and be interpreted and misinterpreted at each level till its gets there”

“Sometimes, Eleanor, I think you have a very meagre opinion of senior management”
 “I’m sorry. I guess, not being senior management I just look at the issues from a ground level perspective. But its also looking at the very specific. A top down policy would just say something like ‘packaging should not be bigger than needed’. This was one product from one supplier in one box”

Matt was nodding in understanding

“I always told myself not to lose track of the guys on the ground. Maybe I have” 

“I haven’t worked out any margin implications. But clearly if we get more in a van we need less runs. But if we have happier staff we can all share a better place to work, and it gives us more opportunity to talk to the suppliers apart from hammering out costs, That brings us closer together and that’s got to be good in the long run”

He took a deep breath as she paused and he managed to interrupt 

“This is good Eleanor. But the recovery must be the priority. I will not be disappointed if you tell me next week or the week after that you are not making any progress on this. I’m not saying don’t do it. I’m saying be mindful of priorities and time management” 

This sounded like he was closing the meeting. She thought back to what Gary had said. Its not just time management, its energy management, but she thought that maybe she’d said enough and Matt looked like he was about to say something else as he pushed his chair back

 “So Eleanor, it is looking increasingly like we may recover virtually unscathed – notwithstanding your personal brain damage.”
 She frowned. Was that meant to be humorous?

“Not unscathed, Matt. Not by any means. I think our credit rating will have taken a hit, but we may not notice that if we continue to pay on time. That’s why I’m focussing on their perception of us. We need to re-establish our credibility. But I think the section is stable now. It’s a matter of not destabilising it, more than trying to recover it”

“And that is an excellent job end to end and I must congratulate you”

He leaned farther back in his chair taking a deep breath before continuing

“Cecily will complete her recruitment activities when she gets acceptance confirmation from her last two candidates. Initiation into the department and into the company will be up to you as it was with the contract and internal staff.  However, it also means that Cecily has no other immediate commitments”
 “Does that mean she’ll be taking back control of Purchasing?” 

“No, not ….”

“But Mr Barrington, you can’t let her go! You can’t make her redundant – she’s worked so hard!”

“Yes, I agree. But Mr Preston will not be returning to the company and having no farther direct commitments makes Cecily immediately available to take over as Director of Operational Business”

 “Oh wow! Really! I’m so pleased for her. But I would have thought that Andy would be in line for that?” 

“Quite so. In isolation that is the natural progression. However, if I moved Andrew, there is no obvious candidate to take over Finance in his place. However, in Purchasing, there is an obvious choice to take over from Cecily. Someone who has already proved more than capable of doing the job.

 Now, Eleanor, I expect she will tell you herself so please express suitable excitement and surprise at that time, especially because it is your action that has made her move possible. But the reason for telling you this at this time is because you’ve shown such concern for her on a personal level, and also because if you know that she is taking over that position, I can confirm your own promotion. So congratulations, our new Head of Purchasing”

“Head of Purchasing! Oh my goodness!”

“You seem surprised. But you’re already doing the job, and you’ve taken control of even the most experienced of the contract staff. And you’re already working directly for me. So its really formalising the current situation” 

“Oh Wow! Thank you so much Mr Barrington”

She was still buzzing when she told Gary over a single drink 

“I think I’ll fall down on the floor when the excitement wears off.”
 “I expect so. I think you're absolutely exhausted underneath all this”
 “Yes. But Gary, I really need to go home before dad decides to rent out my room. We can celebrate better tomorrow when I’m not about to collapse”

Len and Susie were only too pleased to see her back again, and especially since she talked almost non-stop through the evening telling them all about the week and about Gary

“Oh Daddy, I couldn’t have done it at all without Gary. He looked after me so well. And he gave me so much good advice. The questions that he suggested that Mr Barrington or the contractors would ask, they all came up sooner or later and Barrington was so impressed that I had an answer ready like maybe I’d already thought of that. And if I hadn’t stayed at Gary’s we wouldn’t have had the time. I didn’t get there till 10 o clock and Gary had dinner ready even though I was falling asleep and then he came up with ideas for the next day and then he’d get me up at six so’s I’d be out again at quarter to seven….”

Susie listened to her rattling on and watched her devour her dinner. She absolutely glowed with excitement all the way through coffee and on until she looked like she would simply fall asleep exactly where she was standing sometime around 9. 

And then it would be time to catch up on sleep, catch up with her life and catch up with being with Gary.

Poker Player?

Len was on counter duty when Gary got to the parts depot but managed to step aside when he’d finished serving his customer.

“Gary” he exclaimed extending his arm for a handshake. 

“Hoping you’d spare me a few minutes for a chat” Gary opened.

Len looked at his watch “A bit late for lunch, but better than no lunch at all. The Coachman is only five minutes’ walk from here, if you fancy a pint”
 “Is it?”

“Straight across the meadow out back”

Gary talked a bit about how his new car was performing without getting into too many details. He knew that the prospect of Len and Susie buying a new, new car was quite low, especially with Len’s knowledge of how to keep older vehicles running and his access to a sizable discount on spare parts.

“ I like Saabs although I’ve never owned one. We don’t get that much call for spare parts on them so they must be reliable…”

and the conversation stayed on cars till the pub came in to view 

“There’s something else I wanted your opinion on Len, if you don’t mind”

“Oh yes? If I can Gary. What’s on your mind?”
 “I want to ask Eleanor to marry me”

He heard Len’s sharp intake of breath, but he had already decided that a direct approach would be his preferred option. Len seemed to be a very straight down the line kind of guy but he didn’t reply immediately and walked on uninterrupted. They reached the pub and Gary held the door for him. At least he hadn’t shouted ‘no’ and marched off back towards the depot.

“You don’t half play wide from left field do you!”

“I think there are times when you just have to lay your cards on the table and trust that the other players are honest even if they’re not on your side”

“You’ve not known her that long. Four months is it? Five? That’s not long”

“Just over, that’s true. But in that time we just think the same way about everything. And that makes me think that if we’re aligned on so many issues, then we’ll think in the same vein on other stuff as well”

Len nodded, considering the reply. “And you’re in computers. Is there a future in that?”
 “There’s a number of directions I could take. Currently I’m a system expert. Sheila calls me a geek. I sort out problems no-one else can figure out. I even get IBM calling me to ask how their system works because I have to fix real life problems on it, whereas they tend to know how its supposed to work. So that’s fairly steady sort of work. But I was over in Riyadh recently. It’s a bit low profile. Not exactly secret, but details are more on a need to know basis. I was there with one of our non-exec directors so I’m clearly respected at that level. There’s a company over there we do business with and we’re thinking about a take-over. A lot of the savings would come from linking or even merging the computer systems and that’s what I was asked to assess. And what that does is that it opens the door to consultancy in that part of A and M, sorry company takeovers”

Len nodded again. There certainly seemed to be a future there. And not just that, but Gary had clearly thought about it as well

“Have you thought about practicalities? Like where you’d live”

“Initially we’d live at my flat, at least until we figure out a more detailed plan and what would be best”
“Do you think you’d try to raise a deposit on a house?”

“Oh, I see. Yes. But that would be part of the plan going forward. Whether we sell the flat and trade up to a house, or if we stay in the flat for a while and enjoy more disposable income. We could certainly trade up with a bigger mortgage what with having two salaries”

“Oh! So you own the flat already?”

“Not really. Nationwide Building Society owns the flat. But I have a part share”

“I see! But you’ve just bought a new car, have you considered the cost of this wedding?”
 “Yes. I don’t know how much it would cost. Its so variable. Could be anything from something sky-high down to just the cost of a ladder! I’ve been saving up for this car for a while, so now I’ve got it, I can put that same amount into the pot. I’m sure Ellie would be able to as well. You might also be prepared to make a contribution. And my dad told me a couple of years ago that if the circumstances prevailed, he’d be prepared to make a contribution too. That’s if he approved of the choice, but of course that’s not a problem”

“And your parents, Gary. You’re not from round here”
 “Actually Len. I did my A levels here, but I’m originally from Warwickshire and my parents now live in London. 

“It’s a big decision”

“Yes, but when you decide that something is right the best bet is just get on with it”

“And what does Eleanor say about this?”

“Actually Len, I haven’t discussed it with her directly. Oh, we’ve discussed the future a lot. What we want to do with our lives and where our careers are going and what kind of wedding we’d each want – assuming we met the right partner. So we’re headed in that direction for sure, and I think we know each other quite well. But I haven’t actually asked her yet. I needed your view first”
 “And if I said no?”
 “I’d have to decide if that was a ‘no never ‘or a ‘no - maybe later’, or ‘no get yourself a ladder, Gary’!”

He raised a smile at that last quip, leaned back in his chair and drained his glass

“Time to be getting back”

“You don’t play poker do you Len?” asked Gary as they crossed the field hoping that he didn’t consider it too pointed

“No, Gary. But I do like to consider major issues first. But I’ll let you in to a secret. Going back twenty and a few years, Susie and I discussed going for a third baby. I suppose Ellie would be about two. We decided against it. And then only last week she said to me straight out the blue, Len she said, if we’d had that third baby and it had been a boy, I’d’ve hoped it would grow up just like Gary”

Gary held his breath. That sounded like a recommendation from the right direction

“At the end of the day Gary, its Eleanor’s decision. The days of the arranged marriage are long gone in this country. I won’t be discussing this conversation with anyone or even that it took place. But if its what she really wants then it would have my full support”

Gary finally breathed “Oh Wow! Thankyou so much Len. You won’t be disappointed”

“Good Luck, son”

As had become usual, they were sitting in a pub for Saturday lunch and on this occasion watching the rain tumbling from the sky and bouncing in the ever increasing puddles. The shaft of sunlight crashing through the window and bouncing off the glasses on the bar took them both by surprise. “Oh. Look” Gary enthused “If it stays out we’d be able to retake a couple of those photos on the bridge”

This was the first she’d heard of the photo shoot being less than perfect, but no matter. “Maybe you’d like to drive again, unless you remember the way”

This took her mind off everything else and she kept glancing across at him with a Cheshire cat grin. This was just the best afternoon even though they were doing almost nothing. She was driving the car and they were headed for somewhere which was already a special place for them.

Now on the bridge, Gary produced a sponge and cleaned the dust and splashes from the back of the car while she watched. He rinsed it several times in the leat until the sparkling black was spotless again. Then when he produced the polish, she joined in. It felt completely bonkers, parked way off the road, polishing a car in the middle of a muddy track. But it was Gary, and sometimes there was madness in his method.

“Are we doing the whole car?”

“Not unless you want to. Or if you want to perch on all sorts of bits of it, although that in itself might be quite interesting”

“We should go for an explore while we wait for the sun to come back out. We should go through the ….”
 “…Right gate” she interrupted 

“That’s what I was going to say!”

They watched the clouds to predict the next sunny break and then it was as before – sit up on the boot lid and look gorgeous – in Gary’s words.

And as before, a couple of angles and then

“One with eyes closed please .. .. And open” 

But it was a different Gary she opened her eyes to. He was crouched some distance below her due to the curve over the bridge. He was bent down on one knee and seemed to be holding something up towards her in his right hand. He spoke before she could register the whole picture 

“Please Eleanor, would you make the ultimate sacrifice and become my wife?” 

She paused only momentarily as she heard the question but didn’t believe it.

“Yes!” she gasped, then screamed “Yes. Yes!” as the question permeated 

Her eyes were nearly popping out of her head and she lost balance in her excitement as she tried to lean over towards him for some kind of kiss or a hug. He pinned her against the back of the car as he caught her and held her there just long enough to slip the ring onto her finger.

“Oh Gary! It's beautiful” she gasped. 

“Just like you” he said standing up taking a step back and running off another two frames before pinning her to the car again. 

Yes it was a whirlwind, but so many times they’d started to discuss something important and almost immediately found that they thought the same thing.  She kept glancing at her ring. How many times had she said to herself that she wanted to be with him forever? And that comment in the curry house that had nearly choked her dad. And now she could. It was now up to her to make sure that Gary was happy forever. And now he was committing to staying with her forever too. What else could she ever want? And all the other bridges that she was nervous of before would be crossed together, and there was so much more to look forward to.

She’d never felt anything like this. If there wasn't a bridge over the leat she'd have simply wafted across it without touching the water. She was floating somewhere above the ground, glancing every two seconds at her left hand and holding his arm like a tourniquet. 

Gary threw a travel rug onto the damp  grassy bank and she lay down just gazing at her ring while Gary went back to the car. He returned with a small bottle of champagne and two glasses which they slowly shared and talked about the weddings they'd been to. Gary wanted to get some ideas together but deferred the discussion as she was too distracted to talk any sense whatsoever. 

Gary too was elated. He had convinced himself that she'd say yes and now this was just the best feeling in the world. 

Especially since he already knew his parents and brother would approve and had already arranged to travel up to see them again the following weekend. 

Now mid-afternoon she raised herself up on one elbow “Gary, “she said with undiminished excitement “can we go tell mum?”

He pulled the car into the driveway and noticed that Len had appeared at the front window in response to the noise outside. He motioned to the car and they gesticulated in an exchange of approving sign language as Gary demonstrated the remote controlled roof. Eleanor however had leapt from the car and raced into the house like a scalded cat chased by the hounds of hell 

“MUM, Mummy!” she screamed as she fled into the hall. 

Susie dropped her sewing in the dining room and steeled herself for the worst, not knowing or daring to imagine what terminal apocalypse had just invaded her front door - and got up just in time to have Eleanor's hand waved in front of her nose 

“Oh my goodness. On my goodness. Oh my darling little girl! I’m… Oh my!” 

Gary had followed her in, but was holding back to let her break the news and revel in the shared excitement. 

“What's all this?” asked Len now joining from the front room. “First time I’ve actually seen Gary's new car, but I can't see that raising this much noise. I'm guessing there's something else.” 

Eleanor suddenly stopped dead. He'd quite clearly said that if she was going to expect him to pay for her wedding he expected to be asked first. Maybe it was old fashioned, but then he'd said, I'm an old fashioned man. 

She put her hand up to cover her mouth “oops” and then in a flash switched that to her right hand 

“Well! Well!” said Len “let's see that left hand of yours again” 

She bit her lip as the smile faded from her face but couldn't stop the excitement bubbling up inside her as she held her hand out. 

“On my! That is one beautiful ring. You, young Eleanor are a very, very lucky young lady”

Then, not being able to hold the pretence any longer he broke out into a wide grin and hugged her “congratulations, to both of you” as he shook Gary’s hand.

“Oh daddy. I thought you might be so cross!” 

“Why on earth would you think that? I think it's wonderful news. But this makes me slightly concerned about how well you know Gary. Surely you know he'd think this through and do his homework in advance?” 

“You mean you knew!”
 “No, but I knew it was a possibility. Maybe we should see if we can round up your sister and go out to celebrate. We could all do with a good curry!” 

“Yes,” said Gary, “anyone for funky chicken madras?” 

Sheila was in the middle of getting ready to go into town for her Saturday night out when her dad phoned and was only too pleased to divert to the Royal Spice. As usual at that time it was quiet but not deserted and they had only just sat down when Sheila arrived.

“Hey, hi there. Gary as well! Must be an occasion?” 

“Didn't you say?” 

“No, I just said she ought to join us because we're not cooking at home this evening, and I know my daughter well enough to know she'll always turn up for free food”.

Sheila looked expectantly between the four of them for a moment until Eleanor held out her hand. It took a moment to register before a huge grin spread across her face 

“On my goodness. Ellie, what have you done? You're not pregnant are you?” 

Gary stifled a laugh and Susie was momentarily shocked 

“Isn't it fantastic” she beamed ignoring the question

“Yeah. But it's an excuse for a kiss from my new brother in law!” 

She planted her face into his without warning and held on in there a whole lot longer than she should.

“Its all right, you're not actually married yet” 

The waiter arrived to take the order, but paused, looking quizzically at Gary until he seemed to suddenly remember.

“Ah. Mr Gary! You dance funky parrot tonight, yes?” 

Eleanor put her hand over her face and tried unsuccessfully to suppress a full sized laugh. Oh my. I hadn’t thought of that. What on earth will mum and dad say to that

“The funky what?” 

Len looked bemused as Susie, still elated at the news, blinked several times thinking maybe it was just an illusion. 

“You tell me because I stop serving the orders so they not go cold” 

All eyes migrated towards Gary but it was Eleanor who explained.

“Remember last time we were in here, for Sheila's birthday? I mentioned that the previous time I'd been in here someone was dancing the funky chicken….” 

“Surely not Gary!” 

“Really Gary!” gasped Sheila now genuinely impressed “I think you should do it again” she teased “it obviously went down well enough to be memorable” 

“Apart from bringing the whole restaurant to a standstill” spluttered Eleanor having trouble confining her laughter just remembering that evening.

“Yeah” said Gary in an attempt to back out “but I had an accomplice that time, and he's not here” 

“Who was that?” asked Sheila “can't have been anyone I know or I would have heard about it” 

“No, it was just some random guy called Adam” 

“Hey dudes, who called out Adam?” called the tall guy who had just slouched in with his arm draped loosely around his girlfriend’s neck. Gary turned round and the guy stopped dead in the middle of the room striking a dramatic pose like a gunfighter at the ok corral.

“Yo dude! Gary! Hey wow. Fancy seeing you in here. Hey dude - we gotta do the funky parrot, Yeah?” 

Ellie turned, “Hi, Becky” she said through the laughter now exacerbated by the tears pouring down her face 

“Hi Ellie. Whoa! Hey you weren't wearing that last time! I gotta see that! Congratulations, when did this happen?”

“Today!” 

“Oh wow. Adam, you gotta see this” 

Adam took a good look. “Whoa, congrats guys. But Becks, don't you go getting too many ideas, that there is one expensive thing” 

“Yeah” said Gary “but the guy cut all the corners off the diamond. Maybe he needed the bits to make some pendant necklaces or something” 

This final round of humour was too much for Sheila and she completely cracked up too. “So are you guys doing this chicken thing of not?” 

“Is it seriously embarrassing” asked Susie nervously looking around to see if anyone was in danger of watching.

“Yup. It sure is ma’am” said Adam with overconfident encouragement

“Well I don't ...” she started to say but Len interrupted 

“Like I said quite recently, here is a man who likes to play wide from left field” 

Gary took that as tacit approval. The very first day of future son in law and it's funky parrot time at the Royal Spice. Gary got up. “Chicken first, then parrot”. 

Adam slapped him on the back “Go for it, dude” 

Eleanor caught sight of her mum’s face that the blood had suddenly drained from, but that made it even funnier. Especially as dad seemed to be matching her trepidation with an increasing encouragement.

They clucked around the room for several minutes while Becky, Sheila and Eleanor fell about and commands in Urdu were fired into the kitchen as the waiters congregated at the kitchen door. As before there were a few tables occupied and everyone had stopped to watch. Eventually, with consternation now evenly distributed, they returned to Ellie's table as Becky leant heavily on her to stop herself completely falling over. Yes, it was as ludicrous as before and yes the tears of laughter had destroyed her makeup even before they'd hit the pub. 

The short interlude was enough for Len to lean over to Susie

“My single minor reservation about Gary was that he might be a bit too introvert for Ellie in the long term. But this kicks that misgiving out the park”.

“Ok so that’s the chicken! Where's this parrot?” giggled Sheila with a hint of malicious encouragement. The boys looked at each other. Adam looked straight at Susie as she appeared to be the least amused,

“Someone was bound to ask!” and off they went again just as the other diners were beginning to get back to eating. 

Susie could not believe it. She sat mesmerised on her chair like maybe she’d taken root, increasing her disbelief that she was actually a part of this farce as her eyes followed the mayhem started by Adam squawking 'pieces of eight' two inches from Sheila’s nose and then on around other random diners. 

Sheila was still quaking with laughter when Gary sat down. 

“And you've done this before? asked Len failing to hide a bemused admiration. 

“Nothing like a good bit of mayhem to start a Saturday night”

“Or the rest of your lives, maybe?” 

The End

All figures, people, facts and locations are fictional.

But the concepts are real