Chapter 12: Evening ends

“I wonder what my husband is up to right now?” Mabel Smythe wonders, sitting up in bed in the Lower Songlebridge love nest cottage that Monty rarely visited.

“Halfway up Nurse Sofija, I shouldn’t wonder,” says Evelyn Mason stirring in the king sized bed beside her, “do you think we should check out what’s on the direct feed on the computer?”

“I want to,” Mabel replies, looking at her lover with pleading eyes, ‘you’re sure that looking at it or winding the tape back and playing it won’t affect the recording?”

“No, Mabe, it is being safely recorded in the cloud, there’s no tape, it is simply being recorded and we can download a copy when it’s done and we can also look at it and play back any part of it.”

“I’m glad you know all about this stuff, Evie,” Mabel says as she put her arms around her, “I just wonder if the images will come out clear enough, you know, for evidence.”

“Come on, Mabe, Get your dressing gown on and cover up that luscious bod so I can concentrate on getting into the feed,” Evelyn urges as she threw the bedclothes off on her side of the bed. “What can I wear?”

“Monty’s dressing gown is hanging up behind the door,” Mabel says as she gets up and, noticing Evelyn’s screwed up face at the very thought of wearing Monty’s dressing gown. “Don’t worry, Monty only wears it occasionally and besides, I purposefully washed and tumble dried it this morning and it has been hanging airing ever since. It should smell nice, I put one of those fabric softener sheets in with the drier.”

Evelyn tentatively sniffs at the gown and smiled. “Oh, that smiles lovely, thank you Mabe, you’re thoughtful. I might have to thank you ... properly, later, as she bent down and kissed Mabel softly on the lips. “Now, let’s go down to the study and watch ‘Studly’ go, shall we?”

“All right,” Mabel sighs as she slowly slips out of her side of the bed and puts on her dressing gown that she had dropped on the floor earlier in the evening. “I’m just not sure how I will feel, seeing him with another woman. I mean, I do need to get rid of him and it has to be this way because of the way Daddy set up the pre-nup, but we had to press it though now, what with the upcoming housing deal that my brother is organising, which will at least double my shares in the family firm. I just wish...”

“Look, we spoke about this, Claire told us that this Nurse Sofija perfectly fits the spoof ‘ideal partner’ survey that Claire got him to fill out at last year’s Christmas Charity do, she’s blond, buxom, and quite pretty in a sort of Slavish Eastern European refugee way, and she has to do it as we’ve got her over a barrel on her forged papers, she’s an illegal immigrant and from one of the countries that we presently have sanctions against, Belarus.”

“All right, all right,” Mabel says, “You go sort out the computer, and I’ll have a quick shower and wash my hair. I, I just want to feel clean while he’s doing the dirty ... silly, I know, but...”

Evelyn squeezes her and and gives her a brief hug. “It’ll be over soon, Mabe, sweetheart. Monty will do what men out on the town will do, Sofija will give him the encouragement and you will get your divorce and get all the money and assets in the marriage as per the pre-nup. In the meantime, as the wronged woman, the one side of the partnership that has put all the charitable work in the constituency over the past few years, will then stand against your disgraced husband in the selection meeting of the party on 5th December and get the nomination and you will win his seat in the next election.”

“How Monty managed to send an email to Cynthia apologising for missing last night’s nomination meeting at the clubhouse is beyond me,” Mabel complains, “I insisted that Cynthia show me the email and it was a simple apology, no explanation, but sent from ‘monty.westminster@gmail.com’ at 1408 hrs when he should still have been driving the bloody bus to Weston.”

“He must’ve borrowed someone’s phone and logged into his email account. We didn’t even have that email address on our radar, the sneaky bastard! But at least you managed to get enough support at the AGM to stand against him for the vote in December, so you were both nominated,” Evelyn points out, “and, Mabes, once the scandal breaks down Monty shagging the nurse, backed up by the shit-hot-graphic evidence gets out...”

“Yes! He’ll be screwed!” Mabel cries in triumph.

“Yes, he truly will be,” Evelyn smiles, “Then, I can leave Tom, after all, he’s not been interested in keeping up the marriage anyway and then we can live happily ever after. And with your wealth secured and the influence you’ll have in local and National politics, who knows how far you could go in Westminster?”

It was quite a happy band of holidaymakers that walked or wheeled back to the Sea View Hotel. They were all quite cheerfully tired and most of them knew that they would get a good night’s sleep and thought that this trip to the seaside, even at such an unseasonal time of the year and heavily subsidised by some generous charity, was a resounding success.

Monty summed it up for everyone once they had all filed though the staff entrance and Monty, Sofija, Ada and Sally walked up the steps to Reception, while Elsie, Boris, Dot, and the very tired and stiffening George squeeze themselves into the goods lift and after getting out of the lift made their way up the ramp to Reception then into the comfortable Sun Room.

“That was an absolutely amazing evening, everyone,” Monty grins, “George and Sally, I must say that you have made my day, if not my year, witnessing your unbelievable display of dancing, it was a very surreal experience, I must say. And Boris, thank you so much for treating us to those bottles of Champagne and sharing them among us, so generous of you, I think that I will definitely sleep the sleep of the dead tonight! But I will also definitely never forget this night or forget you all.”

Boris nods his acceptance of Monty’s thanks, and then reveals a couple more bottles of bubbly that he brought away with him from the Royal Hotel in a rack at the back of the scooter. They borrow some glasses from the bar to finish them off before retiring. So they all sit around relaxing and idly chatting.

“Well, I feel I must thank you in return, Monty, it has been fun getting to know you too,” George says on behalf of them all, “I made an pre-conceived assumption that you would be a stiff and reluctant person who would think he was far too important to mix with us old codgers.”

“Actually, I was dreading it too,” Monty admits, “but thanks to Sofija, who made sure I didn’t look a complete idiot driving the bus and, once we got over the first two stops, I’ve honestly enjoyed it. I’d go so far as to say I’d do it again, but we’d have to get a better bus!”

“I think we had all heard the rumour that you were being forced into the volunteer mini-bus driving because of your threatened driving ban under the points-totting system,” George continues. “But, you’ve got us here safely, you’ve been in general good humour and you seem like a decent bloke ... Well, I must admit, I’ve always voted Labour even though they never have a chance of winning around here, not here exactly, but Songleton South constituency. I’m not a party member or anything and I admit that I am not too fond of our last Labour candidate, she was too shrill and sounded angry all the time for my liking. So, I like you, Monty, though I’m still not going to vote for you, because I’ve got to have some principles, but I’ll not vote against you.”

Monty laughs, “I’ve nothing against principles, George, we all have our lines drawn in the sand that we feel we must never cross, I certainly have lines of my own. But I’ll shake your hand and be grateful that you are not against me. You know that you could always join your preferred party and stand for Parliament, I am sure that you could give me a run for my money.”

“No, Monty, I’ll leave politics to you,” George smiles, “I worked hard for 50 years and earned my relaxing time spent in my comfy carpet slippers.”

After a last half-glass of bubbly, Ada and Dot decide they need to go to bed. The girls express their tiredness after such a lovely day and warmly say their goodnights to all the party. Even Dot is sweet for a change and implores Boris to take more part in the care home life and that she’ll get him “teas and biscuits for the next year to pay you back for the two glasses of real champers I’ve ever drunk, for the first time in my whole life.”

“But ze teas und biscuits are free, Dot und zey bring zem to ze table.”

“Yes, of course, they do Boris’” grins Dot, ‘but with any gift it’s the thought that counts, right?”

Ada and Dot say their goodnights and retire.

Elsie also said her goodbyes and Sofija got up and said she’d be back after settling Elsie down for the night.

Monty offers to help lift Elsie into bed but Sofija says, no, she had it covered. And she did have it all covered, and at the end of getting Elsie tucked up in bed she handed Elsie her laptop so she could edit the photo stills and video clips from the journey, various stops and the dancing ready for her regular vlog. Sofija had often wondered why once or twice a week Elsie would ask her to leave the laptop and phone on the left side of her bed after she’d been tucked in; now she knew and told Elsie she would look forward to seeing the finished article in the next few days.

“Sunday, tomorrow,” Elsie replies, “I send out my vlog every Sunday evening.”

After Elsie and Sofija had left the Sun Room lounge, George stage-whispers to Monty that there was more to just lifting required in putting Elsie to bed. George points out to Monty that Elsie would need a nappy change that would probably be more than simply wet, would need cleaning up and washing down, new nappy in place and changing into bedclothes, before tucking her in and lights out. Then Sofija would need to change her again in the morning. “It will probably come to us all one day, Monty, and then you need someone who cares for your dignity to care for you and Sofija cares for and loves us all, however much she denies it and really she’s the best thing that the care home has going for it.”

“I can see that,” Monty says, “so I guess as she’s coming back one of us must make sure we’re still here, otherwise we’d be letting her down and disappointing her.”

George looks at Sally who nods and smiles back at him as he picks up one of the champagne bottles, “Sally and I’ll keep you company, Monty, there’s still some wine left and getting up at 6 in the morning to help with breakfast prep is a bit of a lie-in for me.”

“I am in no hurry,” Boris says, “I zink I have never enjoyed an evenink like zis before ever, und I’m reluctant to see it end. You can top my glass up, please George, I feel more zen a little decadent tonight.”

George shares out the wine between Sally, Boris, Monty and himself, leaving enough in the bottle for Sofija’s return. They sit down and generally chat about whatever comes onto their heads.

Eventually George talks to Monty about his not General supporting the last Government on many policies, but says he at least approved of the previous Government’s stance on Ukraine and happy that the new Labour Government were continuing to support Ukraine but it was worrying that the country’s financial state was not properly preparing us for the dangers posed by the future US President’s promises to resort to isolationism on trade and possibly cutting Ukraine off from future funding.