Chapter 12

We all had a short nap to aid recovery from our exertions of the afternoon, and at around half past six, we woke the twins from their embrace.

Everybody quickly dashed into and through a bath, one after another as if we were small children again, and we got dressed to go out for the Student Special at the curry house. It was only available early in the evening for thirty pence a head, after which the price went up as other more affluent customers arrived, which is why we hadn't bothered turning up too late the night before. 30p was a reasonable expenditure on a meal for us, 50p was the equivalent of three pints of beer, and therefore heading towards the 'luxury' scale.

We strolled round the corner in the early evening sunlight, and were welcomed to the restaurant like old friends and ushered to a big table. The girls insisted that Adrian and I took the middle chairs on each side, with Sheila and Sian flanking me.

"I think Uncle Kenneth's tenner would stretch to a pint of lager each - would that be okay? And some poppadoms to start with?"

The drinks arrived quickly, and we drank to the twins' health. We demolished the basket of big crisps, and Sian said she would order another portion of poppadoms with the curry, as those had gone down so well.

"Sian, what do they mean by 'Meat Curry'?"

"We assume that it's mainly chicken, together with any leftovers of other meat dishes. We don't ask, though! There's nothing wrong with it, although I've heard that there's a huge vat of it simmering away and they just tip another pan full in when it starts getting low. It's also not too hot; so it's a popular option. The vegetable curry is very tasty too, but I think we need the protein!"

We went for six meat curries with rice, and were served almost immediately.

We had great fun passing the little extras like the chutneys, grated coconut, sultanas and sliced banana around. It was a treat for all of us, but I think the twins especially enjoyed the simplicity of it all, eating a meal as part of a group of young friends sharing a good time together. It was probably something they hadn't done a lot of, given the old-fashioned formality that their parents seemed to practice.

The meal eaten, the staff thanked, and the bill paid, I suggested a pint of beer at the pub.

"You might as well have a couple of tales of student debauchery that you can actually tell your parents about, and Sian's female flatmates drinking pints of beer is a fairly harmless one!"

"Don't you drink pints yourself, Sian?"

"Of course I do! I had one with the curry, and I'm going to have another now, but as far as Aunt Pamela should know, I don't drink pints - Mum keeps giving me quite enough grief on the subject of unladylike behaviour, and I could do without another lecture on the subject!"

We made Sheila have a pint as well; she struggled a bit as she wasn't yet used to the volume, but Adrian gallantly came to her rescue and helped her empty her glass.

"Don't worry, it will come! I had to work really hard to actually like the taste of beer, but I do enjoy it now, when Jon actually bothers to take me out for a drink!"

"Sorry darling, I'll try to do better!"

On the way back from the Wyndham Arms, I had an idea, and I stopped everybody on the pavement to tell them about it.

"I think we'll do a little bit of role play when we get back to the front door. Sheila, I'm going to be walking you home after meeting you for a drink, and you want to invite me upstairs to have your wicked way with me, but I'm going to be as shy with you as I was with Sian. Adrian, you'll be walking Vee home, but you'll need to kiss her goodnight in a way that gets you invited up."

The girls giggled.

We all walked on and got to the gate, where Sheila and I stopped. The others gathered round to watch.

"Thanks, Sheila, I really enjoyed meeting up for that drink - I'll see you in our lecture tomorrow."

"Would you like a cup of tea, Jon?"

"No, I'm alright, thanks. I'd better be off home. It's getting late."

She moved closer to me.

"Oh well, thanks again for bringing me home. Night-night!"

She brought her lips up to mine and gave me a light but slightly prolonged kiss.

"Good night, then, Sheila."

"Mmmm, Jon, that was a very nice kiss. Could I have another before you go, please?"

She kissed me again, this time more passionately, and she put her arms up around my neck to keep me there until she had finished.

"Are you quite sure that you haven't got time to come up for a cup of tea? I'm going to be making one anyway for me and my flatmate, and we normally have a slice of toast as well?"

"Errr, thank you, that would be nice, I'd love one."

She kissed me again in triumph.

"Good, it will be nice to have a bit of company."

"Okay, Sheila, that was well done - you were forward but not brazen, and I wasn't scared off. You can continue seducing me over a cup of tea, to see if you can get me to stay. Now we'll see if Adrian can get a cup of tea out of Vee."

We stood back so Adrian and Vee could act their parts in front of the gateway.

"This is where I live, Adrian, thank you very much for seeing me home."

"All part of the door-to-door service! I'll see you in."

They walked up the path to the door.

"Thanks, Vee, that was a lovely evening. I really enjoyed it. Could we go out again soon?"

"Yes, Adrian, I'd like that."

"Is there anything you'd especially like to do? I've heard that the jazz club is good."

"That would be very nice. I'll look forward to that. Good night."

Before Vee could get her key out, Adrian moved closer to her and kissed her. He was a little too enthusiastic, and she instinctively recoiled. He realised his mistake, and stood back.

"Goodnight, Vee, thanks again, see you soon."

He walked back down the path.

"Bugger! I'm really sorry, Vee, I didn't mean to startle you like that!"

"That's okay, Adrian, it was just a bit sudden!"

"You'll have to go more slowly, Adrian! Have another go, with Julie, but this time try holding her hand as you walk; see if you can get some physical contact going, so that she isn't as surprised by the kiss when it comes. Girls have an advantage here, in that they can initiate a kiss and we men can't!"

Adrian and Julie moved a little further down the road; he took her hand, and they walked up to the gate.

"Thank you for coming out with me tonight, Julie, I had a lovely time, you are such a beautiful girl, and I'd love to take you out again."

"Thank you Adrian, I enjoyed it too. And thank you for walking me home. Goodnight!"

As Adrian was still holding her hand, he found it simple to engineer a kiss. This time he gave her a light peck on the lips.

"I'll just see you safely inside."

They walked up the path, still holding hands.

"Goodnight, Julie, sleep well."

He kissed her again, this time with a little more passion. Julie forgot herself and returned the kiss. Then she remembered her role.

"Would you like a cup of tea before you go home, Adrian?"

"Yes please, Julie, that would be very nice. Remind me and I'll bring your rubbish back down with me, because it's dustbin day tomorrow."

"Oh very smooth, Adrian, hinting that she's still got a choice! Let's see how you get on over a cup of tea."

Vee opened the door and we all trooped in.

We all had a pee and a wash, and met up in the kitchen. Sian passed out the mugs of tea.

"Okay, Sheila, try to get me to stay over!"

"Jon, do you mind if we go into the sitting room? My flatmate sleeps next door, and I don't want to risk waking her by chatting. I hadn't realised that she would have gone to bed already."

She led me into the sitting room, ushered me to the sofa, and then sat down next to me, turning her body so she could see me. Politeness made me turn to face her also. We sipped our tea nervously, me because I was pretending to be shy, she because she was trying to work out how best to play this.

"Jon, I really enjoyed going out with you tonight, I had a lovely time. Would you like to do it again sometime?"

"Thanks, Sheila, I had a great time too. Would you like to go out for a drink again, or do something else?"

"There are some quite good films coming up, if you can believe the trailers - perhaps the cinema one evening?"

"That would be fun. I'll see what is coming up at the jazz club, if you'd like that as well."

"Oh yes, I love live music! Can you dance?"

"No, I've never really tried, like everyone I had compulsory dance lessons from Mum, but I haven't done any for years."