Chapter 57

After I had peed, I grabbed Maggie's dressing gown and went down stairs. She was no longer stark naked either, she had found a nightshirt from somewhere; it was plain white with a rainbow motif and the hem came down to just below her bum. I thought the rainbow design was rather bold of her.

She was standing at the stove, stirring a saucepan full of porridge. I came up behind her, kissed her on the neck and tapped her bum.

'Anything I can do Maggie?'

'Oh yes, be dear and empty the washer for me, we don't want the clothes to get creased, they'll be dry now, I'll just have to run an iron over them.'

'I can do that Maggie.' I took the clothes basket, ironing board and iron from the utility cupboard and dragged the dry clothes in to the basket. And then I set the ironing board up.

I caught Maggie smiling at me as she stirred the porridge.

I smiled back. 'What?'

'Oh, it's just you looking so at home with things, it's nice.'

I realised that I wasn't doing myself any favours, appearing to settle down to a life of domestic harmony already with her.

'I'm just doing some ironing Maggie, I'm not moving in.'

Maggie looked rather crestfallen and turned back to the stove.

'Leave it for now, have your porridge.' Maggie put two bowls on the table along with a couple of glasses of fruit juice

'Can you get the honey out of the cupboard for me please?' I took the honey out, took a couple of spoons from the drawer and set them on the table. Maggie smiled over her shoulder. 'Won't be long sweetie.' Good as her word, the porridge arrived quickly, and Maggie tipped the thick gooey paste in to the bowls. I spooned a large dollop of honey in to each one.

Before I had even taken a mouthful, Maggie asked. 'Fancy going shopping later, I might treat myself to some new shoes. Is there anything you want?' I glanced up at the clock, it was just gone eight o'clock. I was supposed to be meeting with the "mystery woman" at twelve.

'Er no not really. But I don't think I'll be able to go shopping. I'm meeting someone at twelve.' Maggie looked across at me, with just a hint of suspicion in her eyes. 'Oh who's that?'

I didn't want to go in to detail, I knew any mention of the note and secret meeting would cause much concern and discussion, not to say distrust.

I had to lie to her. 'Oh just a friend from college.' I knew that the next question would be about the gender of this friend, so, before she could ask, I said, 'John, he's in my class at college. We're just going to hang out, you know, teenager stuff.' The instant I said it, I realised how hurtful it must have sounded. I'd rather spend time with someone my own age, and a BOY as well. Poor Maggie must have felt really rejected. I had to do some damage limitation. I reached across and held her hand. 'Don't worry Maggie, It's nothing like that, he doesn't fancy me or anything. He just wants to be friends that's all. We arranged it days ago, I just forgot. I'm sorry Maggie.'

Maggie managed a half smile. 'Is there something wrong with him? He doesn't fancy you?'

'John? Good Lord no. He's not like that, he's just a friend, one of those bookish types. He's really clever and he offered to go over some English Literature stuff. You know we've got exams coming up next month?'

Maggie seemed appeased by my lies, although the bit about the exams was true enough.

'Oh well, another time perhaps. What time are you meeting him?'

'About twelvish, I'll pop round his place for an hour or so, see if we can get the hang of Beowulf before the exams.'

'Beowulf? Is that a vampire story?'

I laughed. 'No, it's the earliest known Anglo-Saxon poem, about a thousand years old. It's about monsters and a dragon. Sounds exciting but it does drag on a bit.' Maggie didn't spot my little pun, drag-on, and so didn't even smile.

'Sounds like you know all about it already.'

'Trust me Maggie, very few people know all about it. So, I'll shoot off home soon, so that I can change clothes, thanks for washing my stuff by the way. I'll iron it in a minute.'