‘Bye, Marjorie. I should be back in a couple of hours. Yes, I’m going to have a look at that cute flat I told you about with the two bedrooms. It’s a couple of roads over from the community centre. Close to Mum and Philippa. Close to you and Stacy. Crikey, we really will all be neighbours! Too close for comfort did you say? Ha, ha. See you later.’
It had been really nice having Dora stay these last few weeks. She was very easy to get on with and cleaned up after herself, as well as helping with anything else that needed doing around the flat. She’d cooked on a couple of occasions too. Marjorie had sampled chicken teriyaki as well as Indian potato curry, perfectly warming for the frosty month of November. Dora’s friend Jodie had been around for a meal with them and then they’d gone to the pub, afterwards, for a glass or three. Jodie was a right laugh. She’d been married a couple of times and had a son who lived and worked as a teacher in Australia.
‘Yes, I flit between the two countries, each year. Wish he’d get his ass back to Britain and get settled down to be near his old mum, though. But kids, huh? They do what they do. Dora says she’ll come over with me next year and we’re going to play tourists. That’ll be much better for me than hanging around his place awaiting his return from work each day!’
‘I know that feeling,’ said Marjorie. ‘My daughter’s a teacher, too. But she’s met a lovely chap – in fact they’ve just gotten engaged! – and they’ve moved away. It was hard for me to settle without her at first. But Dora’s helping me get over that. Oh that reminds me, I haven’t rung my daughter for a couple of weeks! That’s a new record for me.’
It was true. Dora had helped her a lot. She even showed her how to change a light bulb. And whilst that might seem a silly and easy thing to do, to some people, Marjorie had never changed one before – she didn’t even know there were differences between the bulbs or the stems and whether they were dimmable or not. Then, between them, they mastered the central heating system instructions as well as the hot water tank. In fact, Marjorie hadn’t rung Gracie for any reason whilst Dora had been staying with her.
And then, just as Dora left the flat, as if on cue, the phone rang. It was Gracie.
‘Hi, Mum. It’s me. Haven’t heard from you in a while, so I’m just ringing to check everything’s okay. Dora still there?’
Marjorie chuckled to herself. Yes, it somehow felt good to be self-sufficient again. And if Dora took the flat nearby she wouldn’t feel lost and lonely any more. Oh, it was nice that Stacy wasn’t far away either but youngsters didn’t have the same aches and pains and anxieties as she and Dora and their friends. It was different. Yet Marjorie had even come to realise it was possible to maintain a friendship with someone young enough to be her granddaughter.
‘Oh, Gracie, everything is wonderful, darling. But, you know, if I hadn’t met all the lovely people at the Borough Community Centre I doubt if I would think everything was fine at all. Now that’s a sobering thought, isn’t it. And yes Dora is still here and I’m pleased she is. We’re getting on like a house on fire, which has been great for me and I’ve even been out and about with her and her friend Jodie. I’m starting to come into my own, darling, and not before time either, I might add. How are you and Steven? Set a date yet?’
‘Yes. Ish. Well, I’d like a spring or a summer wedding. So we’re just looking into all that. Think Steven would like us to get married somewhere exotic like Mauritius. Not by ourselves. Just immediate family. How would you feel about that?’
‘Oh, darling, that would be lovely. I’ve not been away in years. Good grief, I’ll need to renew my passport, though. I’ve hardly ever used it. I used it once when Oliver and I went to Italy before all his nonsense and then, again, when we won that trip to Paris.’
‘Right, well you’d better look into updating it then. And I’ve told Harry about us all. I bumped into him in Waitrose. He’s starting to put on weight and his hair’s going grey. But he had yet another young thing clinging to his arm. He’ll never learn, Mother. What a shame, really. But I’m totally happy with Steven, so that’s that.’
‘Okay then, Gracie. Look I must go. My mobile’s ringing!’
‘Okay then. Bye, Mum.’
‘Bye, darling!’
Marjorie tapped the green phone button.
‘Hello Marjorie Sykes here?’
‘Hello, Marjorie. It’s Raymond here. I’m just ringing to see how you’re doing now? I haven’t done much with the community centre recently because I’ve been doing a bit of DIY outside with my Simon. We’ve had those three steps removed and replaced with decking. So it’s only one step down into the garden now. Much easier for me. Oh and I bumped into Dora the other day and we had a natter. So how are you getting on living together?’
‘Well, it’s been just delightful really, Raymond. I do enjoy having the company, even though it’s only a temporary arrangement until she finds her own place.’
‘I’m very pleased for you both. And she seems a lot brighter too. Right, well the other reason I’m ringing is to ask if you’d like to go out for a little meal with me? Oh and I don’t mean as a date, before you start panicking. I mean a friendship thing where two friends simply go out with each other. There’s a wonderful little pub near where I live and I could pick you up and drop you back afterwards. Would you like to think about it and give me a ring back? I’m free every night apart from Fridays, once a month, when I babysit for the grandchildren.’
Good grief! Marjorie could not believe it. Nobody had asked her out in a very long time. But Raymond had stressed it wasn’t a date. It was just two friends meeting up for food and a chat. A bit of company. She thought back to how angry Oliver got when she even glanced at another man. She’d rarely lifted her head up to appraise anything or anybody when he was around.
She even felt a little embarrassed at being asked. What if they didn’t get on for some reason? How embarrassing would that be when they bumped into each other at any of the activities laid on by Eileen? But no, she mustn’t think like that. How often had Gracie told her to rejoice in the fact that men did approach her from time to time and show some interest, even if it was only a smile.
But Marjorie knew she was a different person now to who she’d been with Oliver. She was even a different person to who she’d been when she was living with Gracie, a matter of months ago. The community centre friends she’d made and subsequent outings and parties had changed her. And, together with Dr Baxley’s encouragement, she felt a lot more confident than she’d ever been in her whole life before. Why only yesterday Dora had dubbed her gregarious!
So, yes! Dinner between friends sounded absolutely wonderful.
‘Are you still there, Marjorie?’
‘I certainly am, Raymond. Thank you for asking. I’d love to go for dinner with you. Any night would be perfectly fine. Just tell me when you’d like us to go.’
***
Despite the wonder of supermarkets, Stacy still needed to buy bulky or heavy items like toilet rolls or cartons of milk from the corner shop because struggling on and off the buses with them and then having to carry them home was too problematic. She’d tried it at first because she had a proper shopping bag, albeit rather old. But a week ago it had split as she was getting off the bus; tins of tomatoes and beans plopping onto the pavement, rolling under the bus and then she had to shout for the bus driver to stay put until, red-faced, she emerged from the task of retrieving everything. Never again! It wouldn’t have been a problem if she’d had a partner in her life, she’d suddenly thought; someone to shoulder the heavier loads like these. It was the first time she’d thought like that, about actually wanting to have someone in her life. There hadn’t been anyone since Mike.
She’d seen him once, a couple of years ago. He was busking rather badly on a street corner in the middle of town. His hair was long, lank, unwashed. She’d stood near some onlookers listening to him for a while. His guitar needed tuning and there weren’t many coins in his cap. Thinking back, she remembered the first time he’d touched her. She’d been mesmerised, smitten. Yet he’d looked old and dishevelled when she saw him again; his sexy swagger had left him. The people drifted away. His eyes rested on hers temporarily and then he’d looked away. He hadn’t seemed to recognise her. Or maybe she’d never meant anything to him.
Stacy wondered if she had another cold coming on. She felt chilled to the bone, even though the shorter days of November tended to be chilly and damp. She’d put her gilet on and wrapped a huge scarf around her neck for the short hop to the corner shop during her lunch hour that day. Luckily it was only a ten-minute walk away, less if she jogged, which she’d taken to doing now it was colder. So she’d have just enough time to make the private phone call she needed to make today and sort a few other things out. She did need to buy milk first, though. She said ‘Hi’ to the girl behind the counter. It was the same girl who’d been there since Stacy moved into her flat but they’d never shared more than a hello or ‘that’ll be such-and-such a price’.
Searching the shelving for anything else that might take her fancy whilst she was there, Stacy spotted the old lady with the cricked neck. Mrs Michaels. The way she moved, with slow concentrated progress, the wire basket cocked on her arm, and the laboured way she had to angle her head to look at goods on the higher shelves, made Stacy feel sorry for her.
‘Hi there. Do you need any help?’ Stacy asked the old lady, kindly.
Mrs Michaels smiled wearily. ‘Oh, hello, Stacy. No, I’ve got what I came in for. I’m just looking to see if there’s anything else I fancy.’
Stacy smiled. ‘Yes, I do that, sometimes.’
‘You’ll be pleased to hear, I’ll have all the help I can get now. They’re taking me away soon.’
‘Taking you away? Whatever do you mean?’ said Stacy, alarmed.
‘Oh, I’ve got a place in a nursing home, so it’ll be a lot easier for me now. My daughter has finally managed to sort it all out for me. So I’ve just come in to get a few last bits for me and my Tibs and then they’re going to be clearing everything away, selling some of it, I should think. So I’ve got a few days left and then I’ll be leaving.’
‘Oh,’ said Stacy, wondering what would happen to herself when she reached old age, with no family looking out for her.
‘You don’t know anyone who’d take my cat do you? He’s a sweet little thing. He’s no bother. He’s an indoor cat. Didn’t you say you’ve got some cats?’
Stacy’s heart missed a beat. Taking people’s unwanted cats in had got Stacy into the mess she’d found herself in before. She did miss having a little fluffy face or two greeting her when she got home from work, but she wasn’t going to start all that again. No way. Life was much better now she didn’t have to be at the beck and call of all her animals. She’d actually started enjoying the ordinary bits of life that seemed to come naturally to everyone else: shopping, watching TV, going for walks. She felt so free; she was even enjoying working in the library again and bringing home books to read, something she’d not had time to do in a long time. It’s how she wanted to continue living her life. She smiled at Mrs Michaels.
‘I used to have cats but they all got too much for me. I had eight of them.’
‘Oh, well that’s rather a lot to handle. That’s too many.’
‘Yes, it was crazy really. Anyway, I’m sure your daughter will find somewhere for your cat. It’s been nice bumping into you here in the shop from time to time. And I hope you have a really nice time in the nursing home. I’m sure there’ll be lots of nice new people to meet in there. Take care. Bye for now.’
‘Bye then, love.’
Stacy picked up two one-litre cartons of milk and made her way to the checkout.
Walking back to the flat she was wondering what she should do about Christmas lunch. Should she invite her parents to hers? She might. She smiled to herself as she recalled Peter and Marvin’s Sunday lunch, after Bella breezed in. That woman, Stacy had known, was not going to take any crap from anybody. Bella had busied herself carving the roast pork after her initial outburst and Stacy’s father had just sat there, looking as if he was about to say something but no words passed his lips. Now, whether that had been her own mother’s influence or whether he’d realised Bella would eat him for lunch, if he spoke out of turn, Stacy was not sure. But he’d been surprisingly civil throughout their meal – even managing to answer questions put to him by Marvin – shock, horror! At the end of the meal he’d even shaken Marvin’s hand and said, ‘Bye then, son.’
Halleluiah. Job done!
Peter and Marvin had rung her later that night, immensely thrilled it had gone so well. She didn’t tell them that when her parents had dropped her back at her flat, she’d got out of the car and gone round to her father’s window and indicated that she wanted him to wind it down.
‘Just wanted to say, Dad, that I have been frightened of you most of my life and I hated you when I was little because I don’t feel you treated either me or Peter right. But you stepped up when I had my fall, sorting my flat out, and you also stepped up today and did something that I will forever be proud of you for. We had a great time at Peter and Marvin’s today and that was because of you.’
Then she had leaned in and kissed her father’s head. As she pulled back she saw that there were tears in his eyes. But he still said nothing. Maybe he didn’t know what to say.
***
At the foot of the steps to her flat Stacy changed her mind. She popped the milk on the bottom step, tore her scarf off and went racing back to the shop. She could see the old lady ambling back home, clutching the small number of items in her plastic carrier bag, as usual.
‘Mrs Michaels? Hello, Mrs Michaels? It’s okay – I’ll take your cat!’