Eileen wiped the back of her hand across her tired face. She felt she was starting to look a lot older than her fifty-three years. She really needed to get her mother to help her colour her hair again. She rarely had time for hairdressers but her roots were starting to look like a runway at Gatwick. Yet there was always so much washing and ironing and feeding of everyone in her household. No time for herself what with work and her two boys. Marcus and Troy were in their early twenties yet told her regularly they had no intention of leaving home until they found their Mrs Rights. Sure, they both had jobs, down the local supermarket and training up for management, no less, and she’d loved having them around since her husband Graham walked out of their lives, saying he was going down the pub one evening, never to return. But sometimes some help from them – offered, not cajoled – would have been nice.
She’d long given up hope of ever finding Graham. The police had done their best, they’d told her. There had been sightings of course and CCTV had showed grainy images of someone who might have been Graham. But nothing had come of it. Eileen knew that if his intention had been to disappear then that’s precisely what he would have done. He’d been gone for over three years at any rate.
Not that Eileen had really minded. He’d been a drinker, had Graham, and not a very nice man when he was on one of his benders. He’d also never really managed to hold a job down for very long, so Eileen had always been the main breadwinner. Anyway, since she’d always had so much to do there wasn’t much time left for lamenting over her loss in that respect. So she and her boys had got on with things without him.
At her mother’s request, though, she’d moved out of the rented flat she’d been living in with Graham, and she and the boys had moved in with her mother, Veronica.
‘It’s a bit of company for me, rattling round this big old house. And I won’t charge you rent just as long as you do all the shopping. Plus it’ll be easier on your purse strings now you’re the only earner.’
Eileen had never known her father. ‘A quickie behind the coal shed, with an old boyfriend,’ was how Veronica laughingly explained her daughter’s parentage.
But Eileen knew life was full of glitches, grievances, problems. ‘You have to make do and mend,’ her mother was fond of telling her. Eileen agreed with her mother that having plenty of problems herself made it so much easier dealing with other people’s problems.
Anyway, she was busy putting the washing into piles, setting up the ironing board and checking the temperature on the iron and then while the iron was hissing away, climbing to the correct heat, she got a saucepan out. She filled it half full with cold water, added a bag of frozen peas and then began filling up the sink to wash the potatoes.
‘Chicken and leek pie tonight, Mum. That do you?’
‘Of course. You know I’m happy with anything, love.’
Eileen took the pie out of its carton, placed it on the side by the oven and switched the oven on.
‘Hi, Mum,’ said Troy, coming in from work. ‘Marcus is gonna be late. Problems with cashing up. So he’s got to stay and sort things out with that new cashier. She’s not very good. She’ll be getting the boot if things don’t improve with her.’
‘Uh-huh. Well dinner’s going to be a bit late. I’m just catching up with the ironing.’
‘Whatever. I’ll be in my room. Just yell when it’s ready.’
Veronica tutted. ‘You know, you ought to teach those boys how to look after themselves, love. What if they decide to leave home? Neither of them can cook. Neither of them knows what a washing machine’s for. They’re pretty useless!’
‘Uh-huh. Well maybe one day when I’ve got time and a whole load of patience! Oh, can you pass me those jeans, Mother? No, not those. Those there. Thanks.’
‘You’re running yourself ragged, love. And then you’ve got work on top of that. Don’t know where you get all your energy from.’
Eileen put the iron down and sighed. ‘You’re right, Mother, as usual. It’s funny. I love my work. I love helping people help themselves. But you’re totally right. I get stuck when it comes to sorting out my own family, don’t I? I’m good at giving advice but not so grand at taking it. Anyway, we’ve got another Afternoon Tea Club meeting on Saturday. Why don’t you come with me? You started all this lot off in the first place and I’ve got the results back from that meeting we had. I think it’d be really nice for you to meet everybody. What do you think?’
***
‘Dora? Is that you?’ Yvonne called from her office.
She rubbed her face and stared bleakly out of the window, even though the view of the hotel garden with its colourful herbaceous borders, two willow trees and pond that attracted squirrels and hedgerow birds was a delight to behold. She tutted, trying to solve a problem on the supplier’s invoice in front of her. Yvonne was getting behind with her paperwork these days. She’d have liked nothing more than to take a breather outside in their garden, with a glass of white wine, for half an hour or so. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d actually had time to do that and, come to think of it, it had been ages since she’d read a good book, let alone gone for a walk in the lanes with Dora, like they used to do.
Everything seemed to take so much effort these days. But it didn’t help that their last bookkeeper had left and they’d not found anyone to replace her yet. Was it her imagination or were the staff starting to take liberties with her now she didn’t have the same verve she used to have in her seventies?
A door slammed and she heard rustling in the kitchen.
‘It’s okay, Mum. I’m back. I’ve got the lot. Right, so that’s one thing done. We’ll get dinner sorted out and get them fed first. Now I know Richmond is usually here to give them a talk after dinner. But we can do that between us, can’t we? We’ve listened in on the way he does things often enough. They’ll have the usual mix of cameras, iPads and phones so we can have a chat about what they want to get out of the course, make some notes and that will buy us even more time!’
Yvonne closed her laptop and started filing her invoices away. Even her desk seemed to be unusually cluttered. She removed two empty coffee mugs and brought the overflowing paper bin into the kitchen to empty, as Dora was putting the shopping away.
‘God. Another day’s work almost over. But you know, Dora, I really think I’m getting too old for all this now. This is the fourth time Richmond’s let us down. I mean we simply can’t keep digging photographers out of a pot for a last-minute reprieve, can we. It’s too stressful!’
Dora poured two large glasses of icy sauvignon blanc and gave one to her mother. She then continued putting the shopping away.
‘You’re right, Mother. It’s bloody mental. The art classes are great. The jewellery and basket weaving courses are great. But it is all a bit of a faff, as far as the photography classes are concerned. And you’re right. You should definitely be taking things easier now you’re nearly ninety. I don’t know how you’ve done it all these years. Not that I want to run the place, I hasten to add. But I think we need to put our heads together and work something out regarding our retirement or retirement of sorts. So what do you suggest about tomorrow?’
Yvonne eased herself onto one of the barstools and took a long swig of her wine. ‘Oh, this wine is rather delish. Hmm. Right, well, we don’t want to lose their business, darling, so I suggest we take them all out tomorrow morning in the minibus, as usual and they can take whatever photos they like. Then we’ll get them back in time for lunch. And then. Um. Well, unless we can grab someone else at short notice, I think we might have to say he’s just rung and says he’s ill, can’t make it, was hoping he’d be okay, et cetera. Unless you have any better ideas?’
Dora shrugged with a frown. ‘I think that’s by far the best idea, Mother. Right, well. I’ll get the dinner on then and after that I’ll try ringing and texting him again tonight and if there’s still no response, I guess we’ll have to go with that!’
***
‘Right, folks, so this is the lady who started the ball rolling! May I introduce you to my mum, Veronica!’ Eileen explained, standing back as Taynor wheeled Eileen’s mum to the front of the room in her wheelchair and up a slight ramp they’d fashioned, so everyone could see her.
‘Oops, brakes! Don’t want you rolling back down the other side, do we, love.’ Taynor grinned, manoeuvring Veronica into place.
‘Well done, Veronica,’ someone yelled and everyone started clapping.
‘You’ve made a big difference to my life, you have!’ shouted someone else. ‘I’m loving all this. Never used to get out before.’
As the clapping faded, the members of the Afternoon Tea Club could see how flushed with pride Veronica was. She was beaming and thanking everyone for their kindness.
‘Thank you. Thank you all,’ Veronica said. ‘It was only a tiny suggestion. I never thought it would go as far as it has. But I must say it’s wonderful to finally meet all of you. It seems to be going great guns, doesn’t it!’
‘You’ve got me and my friend out of the house to meet all of these people here. It woke us up, in a way, it did,’ said one lady.
‘Never thought anything interesting would happen at my time of life now I’ve reached eighty-six. But you’ve made that possible for me,’ said someone else.
‘You see, Mother? I told you they’d welcome you with open arms!’ said Eileen, grinning. ‘Right, well thanks for that, everybody, and now let’s get down to business.’
Taynor gave Eileen a clipboard with lots of paperwork attached.
‘Okay,’ Eileen began. ‘Well, the good news is that most of what we’ve asked for has been approved at the meeting. So what we’ve got is this. We’ve got afternoon tea twice a month. And we’ve got it on the first Saturday of the month here at the community centre and the last Saturday of the month at one of two garden centres. And we’ll alternate those. Now, don’t worry about keeping up with me on this because we’ll be giving you all a sheet to keep, at the end of today’s session, with extra sheets for any of your friends. And we’ve also secured two Friday afternoon sessions a month, to help anyone who’s having difficulties with their smart phones and iPads et cetera or wants to learn about computers and the internet. Now, these computer courses are limited because there’s only a certain number of computers available in the classroom. It will be at the local college but you’ll have to ring and book that yourselves, direct with the college. All the telephone numbers you’ll need are on the sheets. Right, on to swimming lessons! We’ve managed to fix the second Saturday of the month for a two-hour session if any of you want to learn how to swim. I’ve got four names down for that, already. Yes, Margo, your name is at the top of the list, love. And last but not least, art. We can do two Friday afternoon sessions a month at another community centre for those of you who want to either learn how to draw or paint. All the venues we’ve decided on have parking and disabled or wheelchair access, of course. Now refreshments will be available but they’re from a machine. So you’ll need to bring fifty pence with you for that. All other information is on your sheets. So just to be clear, the computer and art classes will be on different Friday afternoons.’
Eileen paused and looked around at the group of people in front of her, allowing the information to sink in. People were commenting in surprise at what Eileen had managed to secure for them.
‘Didn’t think she’d be able to get half of what she’s got!’ said someone.
‘Well!’ commented another. ‘Isn’t it lovely being able to have a choice about what we get to do? I think I fancy learning to swim but I’ll have to get our Sandie to help me buy a new swimming costume.’
‘And finally,’ Eileen continued, ‘as far as trips go, we can arrange either a trip to London each year to see a show, with an overnight stay, or it will be a day out to a seaside resort of your choosing, including lunch in a hotel. There will of course be a charge for the trips but this charge will be agreed later on. Now we’re looking into whether there might be additional charges for any of the courses or afternoon tea at the garden centre. But my bosses have assured me that nothing will be prohibitive. And we haven’t got prices for the London trip yet. Right now, regarding the trips, you need to be aware that each of the trips will probably be early morning starts from a set location. So you will need to be dropped off at these locations at the exact times stated because, unfortunately, the coach companies say they won’t be able to wait for stragglers. So please make sure you’re on time for those. We haven’t been able to secure any mini-breaks due to the fact they might be problematic as one of you suggested. But either way we hope you’ll be very happy with all the things we have managed to sort out for you. Right, now in a minute Taynor will come around and hand out the sheets to you all. Now another thing I need to tell you is that we’re going to initially run these courses up to Christmas to see how they go. We might need to change or alter them depending on turnout. If no one takes up the art or computer classes they’ll either be cancelled or replaced by something else. So please let us know by the date on the sheet which courses you or your friends would be interested in. And we’ll need those sheets back by next week so we can start putting things together and getting hold of tutors and the like. Yes, love, that’s a week from today!’
Eileen stopped to take a couple of gulps from a glass of water. Taynor took over.
‘Okay, so just to let you also know, we’ve already arranged a trip to Bournemouth on the fourth of September, which will be our trip out for this year, just to start that ball rolling. The date is on the sheet. And we can do this particular trip for £15.00 including a three-course lunch. The reason we’re arranging this now is to see what sort of response we get. And it’ll be a cracking day out. You’ll be dropped off at the gardens for a meander down to see the sea and paddle if you wish and then lunch in one of the hotels nearby, with a bit of shopping if you’re up to it after all that paddling! And also, once we’ve sorted out tutors and firmed up definite venues et cetera, everything will start running straight away. So I envisage the art classes being the first courses to start up on the third and fourth Fridays of the month. So have a good think about what you want to sign up for and we’ll let you know prices, if any, next week. Then we’ll start. So how do you feel about what we’ve managed to secure for you?’
‘Fantastic!’
The room erupted with people shouting joyously, clapping, banging on the tables and even a couple of sun hats being thrown into the air!