TREVOR WAS SITTING ALONE IN THE ART ROOM. It was lunch time. He had decided not to take a lunch break but instead to finish the illustration he was working on. It felt weird to be working on Christmas scenes while the autumn sun was beaming through the window. But in the advertising world today was old news, everybody worked on tomorrow. The ring of the ‘phone on Sue White’s desk was like a fire alarm, and jarred Trevor’s thoughts awake. He let it ring for a few moments in the hope that whoever it was would realise it was lunch time and hang up. They didn’t. So he answered the ‘phone. It was Nicky in Glasgow.
‘Hello?’ Trevor said softly.
‘Hello. Who’s that?’ Her voice was nice.
‘Hutchinson & Bailey,’ Trevor answered.
‘I know that, who are you?’
‘Sorry. It’s Trevor, Trevor Browne, I’m an artist here.’
‘Ah, so you’re Trevor.’ The young woman laughed.
‘I beg your pardon?’
‘Oh, I’m sorry, Trevor. This is Nicky in Glasgow. I was looking for Sue.’
‘Oh! She’s not here, she’s gone out, I’m afraid … em, Nicky.’ For no reason Trevor blushed.
‘She’s probably gone looking for another date for you!’ Nicky announced. This time they both laughed.
‘She keeps you up to date then, Nicky?’ Trevor relaxed.
‘I know exactly what you’re going through, Trevor. I was her victim for two years while she was here in Scotland. She means well though. She really does.’
‘Oh I know that, in fact, and don’t tell her this, some of the girls were really nice, it’s not them it’s just – well – yeh know.’
‘You wouldn’t believe how I know. Listen, Trevor, tell her I called and that I’ll call her later, okay?’
‘Okay,’ he answered with a smile. Slowly Trevor returned the handset to its cradle. He liked her.
Sue was the last to return to the art room from lunch. Whatever had happened on her lunch break, it had her in a very happy mood. Then she and Tony had a few quiet words, and that seemed to change her mood completely. Trevor wondered what it was that had made her so happy and now so sad. At the four o’clock tea break he would find out.
‘I spent my lunch hour,’ Sue began, ‘driving out to look at a place in Cookham. It’s gorgeous, Trevor. A three-bedroomed house, right behind a country pub called The Swan Uppers. The back garden sweeps down to the Thames, and it’s right beside a golf course – you know how much Tony likes golf?’ Sue really was enthusiastic.
‘Yes, I do. It sounds great, so what’s the problem?’
Trevor’s question stopped Sue in her tracks. She hung her head for a moment, and when she brought it up again she looked across the room at Tony with the expression of a child who had just had her favourite toy stolen. In a disappointed tone she announced, ‘Tony says it’s too expensive to rent.’
‘And is it?’ Trevor asked.
Sue looked at him like he had just joined the enemy ranks. ‘Yes!’ The conversation was over.
Trevor had arranged to have a drink with Tony and Sue after work that evening. They often did this. Straight after shutting down for the day they would head around the corner to a tiny little pub called Mrs Muffin’s. There they would have a few drinks, a few laughs and talk shop for a couple of hours. Trevor wasn’t looking forward to this evening. Tony and Sue were fabulous company, unless they were fighting. When quitting time came, Sue was not in the art room. She had gone up to Mr Bailey’s office to make a presentation on a new soft drinks concept she had. She had already been up there for two hours, which generally meant the presentation was going well. Tony left a little note on her desk saying that he and Trevor would be waiting in Mrs Muffin’s and the two men headed off to the pub.
‘Two pints of mild,’ Tony called, before returning to the main topic of conversation with Trevor. ‘A hundred and twenty-five pounds a week is just out of the question, Trevor. Oh, we could manage it all right, but then I wouldn’t be able to save. If I can’t save then there would be no money for our own place, for when we get married.’
‘You two are getting married?’ Trevor asked the question not because he was surprised that Sue and Tony might marry, but the way Tony had said it, it sounded like they were getting married the next day.
‘Well, yes – eventually, I hope. I haven’t asked Sue yet, but I’m sure we will, what do you think?’ he asked.
Trevor got a little flustered at being asked such a momentous question by someone who to all intents and purposes was a stranger. So he drew on one of his mother’s sayings.
‘I’ll tell you, Tony, when God made you two he matched you,’ then he raised his glass to Tony. Maybe it was the clink of the glasses, or maybe Trevor really did hear a little bell going off in his head. Whatever it was, what was about to happen next was totally out of character for Trevor. He was not a spontaneous man, yet on this occasion as the thought struck him he spoke it out loud. ‘Maybe I could help?’
Tony was in mid-mouthful, and he swallowed and wiped his lips. ‘What do you mean?’
Trevor had started so now he had to finish. ‘What if I were to share in this house in Cookham? I could chip in forty pounds a week, no problem. You would actually be doing me a favour because I hate the kip I’m living in now. I wouldn’t be in the way or anything, would I?’
Tony slowly ran his finger around the rim of his pint glass and stared into the froth. After a few moments he looked up at Trevor. ‘You wouldn’t be in our way, but are you sure you want to do this? I mean this place has a one-year lease, that would mean you’re stuck with us for a year at least.’
‘If I have to be stuck with someone for a year, I can’t think of anybody else I’d rather be stuck with than you and Sue.’
As if by magic at the mention of her name, Sue entered Mrs Muffin’s. The presentation had obviously gone well, and she seemed to have got over her mid-afternoon disappointment over Cookham. Once she had a drink in her hand, Tony wasted no time.
‘Sue, if we are to move to this place in Cookham, we really can’t afford it on our own, but we could take in a lodger!’
‘Thanks, Tony, I know you mean well, but I’ve been thinking about it. You’re right, we can’t afford it, and as much as I love the place I don’t fancy living with a stranger.’
Trevor went to speak but was stopped by a sharp wink from Tony.
‘What if…’ Tony began, ‘the stranger was our Trevor here?’ Tony was only short of pushing his tongue into his cheek as he spoke, for he already knew the reaction this would bring from Sue.
Sue didn’t speak. Instead she snapped a look at Trevor. Trevor simply smiled and nodded his head. There followed a burst of laughter from the three and a group hug.