Chapter 8

It is a mark of coping with life’s changes that one can adapt, swing with the punches, or whatever, but even better if you can influence what happens to you in the future. That was my aim, but a woman’s wiles can derail any scheduled train of plans. The new bed, mattress, sheets and duvet arrived as expected, and I helped the delivery man carry the parts upstairs, though I left him to screw the headboard to the bed and got him to take away the plastic wrappings of the mattress and duvet. He admitted they usually left the customer to dispose of the wrappings, but the boss had said to be nice to me, so he was just doing that; as well as thanking me for helping with the carrying.

Once he was gone, I unwrapped the sheets and duvet cover, and got busy making the bed up for myself. It looked comfy when I had it ready. I checked that all my clothes were tidied away in the wardrobe and chest of drawers that I had moved back into the room, then we were shipshape and Bristol fashion, as the saying goes. It means that everything is organised and ready for a Bristol ship to go to sea; and these Bristol ships were tough!

All we needed now was to find when her cousin was arriving. Phemie will have her in her double bed instead of me, and I am not sure she was looking forward to that, much though she must like her cousin to invite her. I had not ventured to ask about the said Fiona, as I was not family and indeed somewhat of an intrusion into Phemie’s life. I just hoped she was not ugly and obnoxious, or as prone to temper tantrums as my former wife.

Phemie got back from school to discover my neatly made bed in the spare room. She admired this neatness by me as a man, quite an achievement it seems. She went over board so much that she exclaimed, “My God! We have to christen this wonder by you having your way with me on it, my love!” With that declaration of intent, I was put out by her timing. “But Phemie, there is not much time before we need to make our evening meal. Can you wait until we have eaten?”

With some reluctance, she accepted that the time was not right for bed frolics, and we started to prepare the ingredients for the meal. As I peeled potatoes prior to slicing them, she attended to the onions for our potato and onion frittata. I paused for a moment to finally ask her, “Are you going to tell me about your cousin Fiona, dear?”

“Oh, have I not told you about her? She is coming up twenty-one, just finishing dough school ... I should call it Catering College, shouldn’t I? Anyway, she is young, well presented and good-mannered.”

“Is her family home far from here? How is she getting here?”

“Her parents are in Exeter, so she is enrolled at Exeter College, just finishing off the one year course this week. She’ll take the train to London and get a bus from town.” “When do her parents go off on their cruise, then?”

“Next week. Isn’t that convenient for Fiona? It is something to do with break times fitting in with cruise schedules. However, it is fine for Fiona getting here for the three weeks. She can use her time with us, looking for catering jobs in the vicinity.”

“Sounds like a sensible girl, Phemie.”

“She has a good head on her, alright, but she isn’t really academic. She is afflicted with a partial dyslexia, and that means she finds reading to be difficult and slow. She thinks very well, but just has that brain defect that stops her for going for any university course. There is so much reading involved, as I recall from my own degree studies Your reading has to cover so much, most of which you’ll hardly ever use, but you have to absorb the knowledge. Which university did you go to, Alec?”

“Strathclyde. Did it through the army, as they wanted me and a few others to take specific courses at an open-minded university that would serve the needs of the officer corps. Even back then they had earmarked a few of us as possibles for the SAS; must have had the right sort of approach to life for that regiment: a kind of controlled recklessness that allows an officer to make right decisions in tricky circumstances. Enough said about my military past, Phemie. It is our present that is important to me. My current boss tells me he has a job lined up for me soon, and I don’t think it is out-of-theatre. That means somewhere fairly local, I expect; Southern England, anyway.”

“What am I going to tell Fiona about you, Alec? I can’t say you are an undercover SAS man, as that might frighten her.”

“I take your point, Phemie. Then I am officially your lodger, and I have a high-powered job that takes me away from time to time, and I don’t know when I will be called for. That sounds mysterious, but also more commercial. Yes, that might do it: commercial. Say that I work for a security firm that offers confidential services to companies with urgent or awkward problems that need a delicate touch.”

“But if you have such an important job, why would you be staying with a history teacher in her flat?”

“True. Go with the undercover meme, then. My company doesn’t want me and my activities to be publicly known, so I am their hidden asset that they pull out when wanted, and not be identified as such; just ‘a representative’ of my firm. Okay?”

“That makes more sense, Alec. Do I call you Alec when Fiona is here, or do I address you more formally by your surname: Mr. Jones?”

“I think we can go with Alec, as that is how I have asked you to call me. My surname is used as little as possible, as part of my ‘hidden asset’ status; so stick to Alec,”

“That suits. I’d hate to have to call you Mr Jones after what we have experienced recently!”

“Ah, yes. Do you think you can manage without sex while Fiona stays with us?”

“Oh, God! Do I have to?” Phemie said, almost to herself. “Can’t we do something when she is out?”

“Possibly, but remember that you, yourself, are out at work most days of the week, Phemie. Fiona is not going to be out looking for employment most of the time, I would guess. In fact, most of her initial enquiries will be online, and only needing to be out to attend interviews or practical tests of her abilities. Do you want me to find an excuse to take myself away a lot of the day?”

“Possibly. What would you do?”

“If I could get to a major library; one of the universities, for example, I could do some studying to bring myself up do date on some technologies that may impact on my work. For example, CCTV in low light situations. That research usually means online journals, which cost if you don’t have an account with the university or other organisation. Do you have a university library account anywhere?”

“I might have, but it probably has expired. The Academy may have a generic account for staff, if I could persuade the Rector to let you use it as ‘temporary unpaid staff’. I can at least ask.”

“Do that please, Phemie. Otherwise, I may have to ask my current employer to lean on a university to grant me access as, quote, a member of his staff. I’d rather avoid putting too much reliance on him, in case of unexpected consequences.”

“Right. I’ll speak to the rector, perhaps suggesting it might be seen as a form of reward for your talks to my pupils.”

“Good thought, Phemie. Go for it, my dear.”

By Friday I was informed that I now had access to the university library the Academy had an account with, and Phemie passed on the Rector’s thanks for my teaching service and he trusted that this small pittance would go some way to recompense me. I smiled at the ornate words he had used. That evening, Phemi got a call from her cousin, saying she would be arriving some time after lunch on Saturday. Phemie said how much she was looking forward to seeing her, but after finishing the call, she came to fling her arms around me. “Alec, will you be specially nice to me in bed tonight? I want a good memory to hold to when I can’t be with you.”

Of course I could not refuse, and we frolicked for ages before getting to sleep. I was appreciating her arms around me lovingly as we slept, and as I awoke in the morning I regretted having to sleep alone for the next three weeks.

It being Saturday, Phemie didn’t have to rush off to school, but she was very aware of the impending arrival of Fiona, so after breakfast she fussed around the flat making sure everything was tidied away, and the shelves dusted, and all the cooking stuff washed and put away in cupboards and drawers.

I protested, “Phemie, you are acting as if preparing for an inspection. This is a family visit, so cool it, woman!” “But Alec, with you here, things are not normal and I want her as much as possible to see the flat as normal.”

“Then think of the present as normal, and get Fiona to view it as normal. You don’t fuss like this for me, do you?”

“No, but with you it is different. I am comfortable around you now; you are my man and you have to see me as I am, without me putting on airs and graces to appear better. I want you to love me for me, not for some artificial me.”

“Then remember that Fiona knows the real you, doesn’t she? Act accordingly, my love.” Phemie subsided and dropped into a lounge chair to admit, “I suppose you are right, Alec.”

With a more relaxed home, we spoke, and cuddled and kissed, and I played with her breasts from time to time. Phemie asked if we should make a special meal to welcome Fiona, and I suggested, “Or we could take her out for a meal as a treat. I’ll pay for it.” “Well, she will probably just be snacking at lunchtime while she travels, so a decent meal would probably be welcome. Thanks, Alec.”

“What style of meal would appeal to her, Phemie? Chinese? European? Burger and chips? Whatever.” “Oh my God, I don’t know. I haven’t seen her for nearly three years, so her tastes may have changed. Can we wait and ask her when she gets here?”

“Sure. It just means we can’t phone a restaurant and book ahead; that’s all. I suppose once she is here we can phone her preferred restaurant and ask if they can accommodate a meal for three.” “Lovely. Let’s do that. If I am giving up on house tidying, can we go back to bed for a final chance at sex?”

Never one to refuse a lady, I agreed and we had ourselves a final opportunity to show each other what we had learned about our likes in sexual activities. I had to slow Phemie down as she was over-anxious to please, and at last got her to relax and enjoy it instead of forcing herself to be the best she could be in bed, which is never a good idea.

We had ourselves our own snack lunch of chunks of pork pie, Cheddar cheese and several types of pickle, washed down with Devon cider from a large bottle in her larder. It was Phemie’s idea, and I liked her choice; it all knitted well together. This woman could fit in with me and my tastes very well. Another plus for her and me, I surmised.

After lunch we made sure that all my gear was now in the spare room, so as not to give away our closeness. It was all out of her bedroom and into the spare room, so that was fine. Phemie got a phone call from Fiona reporting that she had arrived in London and was catching a bus shortly, expecting to arrive within the next hour depending on the number of stops the bus had to make to get here, as well as the traffic situation.

When we heard the buzzer from the front vestibule sound at the door, Phemie was quick to answer it and tell Fiona to come right up. “Can you give me a hand with my case, Phemie? It is quite heavy.” “No bother, Fiona. I’ll send my lodger down to give you some help.”

At that, I acted my part and went downstairs to meet this young lady. She looked quite personable: brunette, willowy, an attractive face, and a very curvaceous body shape despite her height, nearly as tall as me. She also had a welcoming smile on her face as she knew I was sent down by Euphemia her cousin. I could tell I had the right person by the heavy suitcase she had on its wheels, and the fact that she was alone in the front vestibule of the building; no brainer.

“Hi. I’m Alec. This is the case to move upstairs?” I enquired. “Yes. It is fine being pulled on the level, with the wheels on the corner, but going upstairs it needs to be carried, and it is fairly heavy. Can you manage it?” “Sure. Good exercise for me.” I lifted the case up and she was right; it was heavy. “Bring your kitchen sink, Fiona?” “Not quite. There is a pressie for Phemie in there.”

I took the case up in stages, taking a pause at each landing or half-landing, until we were at Phemie’s open door. Fiona had followed me up, and Phemie flew out the door to grab Fiona in a hug and they kissed each other on the cheek. “Welcome, Fiona! Lovely to see you again. I think you’ve grown!”

“Well, it’s been three years about, Phemie. You still in the same job at the academy?” “Yes. A bit boring at times, but Alec stirred up my class for me with his tales of warfare.” “This Alec?” Fiona asked, taking a new look at me.

“For my sins, yes, Fiona,” I confessed. “Phemie dragooned me into it, but it turned out to be fun.” “You are on first name terms, then?” “I asked her to do that, as it makes me more comfortable. She was kind enough to indulge me.”

“So what do I call you, as I have only just met you?” “Oh, stick with Alec for now, and we’ll get along fine.” “Okay, Alec-for-now.” This made me smile. This girl adjusts easily, it seems.

Phemie pulled her inside and showed her to the bedroom that she would share with Phemie. I followed with the suitcase, pulling it along on its wheels. “Just dump her case on the bed, Alec, then scarper. You and I’ll deal with it later, Fiona. Are you tired after your journey? Need a shower to freshen up? Want a coffee or a cup of tea? We are going out for dinner later.; any preferences?”