Chapter 29: Another First Date

Pulling up outside Lily’s house on Friday evening felt very, very strange. Before I’d left the house, Clarissa and I had exchanged text messages wishing each other good luck on our respective dates. The previous three nights had been repeats of Monday, with Clarissa phoning me after her mum thought she’d gone to bed. I also received quite a few more saucy photos from her during the week. On Thursday night, before we said goodbye, she asked why I hadn’t sent her any photos of me. I duly obliged—much to her textual delight.

I parked the car by the kerb and walked up the garden path to the front door. Lily lived in the same village as Clarissa, but her house was nowhere near as big. Clarissa’s could quite easily have been described as a ‘mansion.’ Lily’s was a lovely, big, modern detached property with a large front garden—it just wasn’t a mansion.

Lily’s father opened the door shortly after I’d rung the bell. The last time I’d seen him was just before I passed out in the bathroom at the Halloween Ball.

“Paul, right? Come on in. Lily’s still getting ready. You know how women are.” He extended his hand, which I shook.

“Thanks, Mr Williams.”

“Oh, none of that, now. Call me Pete, please.”

“Okay. Thanks, Pete.” That felt weird.

“I knew your father from way back. Ben was a hell of a dedicated man. And a brilliant engineer. Some of the changes he’d started to make on the shop floor would have led to major efficiency savings if he’d been able to follow them through. That accident really was a tragedy in more ways than one.” He stared off into space momentarily. “I miss him. Miss our get-togethers with the gang.”

I frowned. Get-togethers with the gang? What did he mean by that?

“Daddy, are you talking about the factory again?” Lily came down the stairs looking amazing in a black knee-length skirt with pleats at the hem and a white sleeveless blouse. “Paul’s not interested. Are you, Paul?”

“It’s okay, Lils.”

“I’m sorry, sweetheart,” Pete said as Lily hugged his side. He kissed her on the top of the head, then looked at me. “You take care of my little girl, now, you hear?”

“I will, sir.”

“Pete.”

“I will, Pete.”

“Good. Back by midnight, young lady. Now, you two go have fun. Just not too much fun, if you know what I mean.”

“Daddy!”

Lily practically dragged me out of the house.

“He was just trying to embarrass you, don’t worry about it.”

“Yeah, well, he succeeded.” She composed herself and stood by the car door. “Do I look all right? I wasn’t sure what to wear. I mean, I know it’s not a real date, but we’re supposed to make it look like one in case anyone sees us, so I figured—”

“You look fantastic. Just perfect.”

She smiled. And blushed, but just a little. “Thanks. Okay, let’s go then. Are we eating before the movie or after?”

We watched the movie first—mindless in the mould of many an action movie, but fun nevertheless. Afterwards, we went to Mario’s, the pasta and pizza restaurant at the same leisure park, and spent ten minutes chatting about the film while waiting for our food.

“Did your dad have anything to do with the factory before he started working there?” I asked as we began tucking into our meals.

“I don’t know,” she said. “I suppose it’s possible. He was—well, still is, I suppose—a business consultant, which I think means businesses pay him to help them be better or more profitable, or something like that. Anyway, he had—well, has—loads of clients. The way I understand it is that he’s at Liddington’s for two years helping to sort out where they can save money. His two partners in London are still looking after their clients there, and he’ll go back when he’s finished here. I don’t know if Liddington’s was a client before or not, but I suppose it’s possible. Why’d you ask?”