The Clerembeax Palace Hotel and Spa – Friendship Day

 

The beautiful Downshire village of Clerembeax St Giles was situated to the west of Abbeyvale located between Grace Hill and Bushy Down and on the outskirts was the Clerembeax Palace Hotel and Spa which had become very important to the lives of those living in the village community with St Giles’ Church at its hub.

It was a busy village with all the usual amenities you would expect, in addition to St Giles’ Church there was a village Hall, and primary school of the same name.

There was also the Trinity Methodists Church, two pubs, Étienne of Normandy and the Saracen and Stephenson’s General store which included an off-license, newsagents and Post Office.

 

The General Store was run by Ilyas Patel, although it was his young wife Anjuli and her Aunt Shula who did all the work, along with a few additional staff.

One of the shops regular customers was David Cross, who was a Taxi Driver, and he didn’t like Ilyas, he was a surly old goat, old enough to be Anjuli’s father in fact he was old enough to be David’s father, at a push, who spent most of his time sat on his arse watching cricket.

 

He thought his wife and her Aunt were both lovely though, Anjuli was ten years younger than him, and her aunt was ten years older.

They were both tall and slim with thick black hair with big almost black eyes and huge toothy smiles, which lit up the whole shop if not the village.

David and Anjuli had become good friends since she arrived in the village, in fact he was the one who picked them up from Abbeyvale Station, and on the journey, he discovered that they shared a love of Agatha Christie books, and they had had many conversations on the subject since.

But although Ilyas always gave him a wary look he held no feelings for Anjuli other than those of an Avuncular and a friend.

 

Anjuli was from a very poor family so to be married into the Patel family, even to a disgusting old man was desirable for her family, if not for her, but she tolerated her lot and made the best of it and on the plus side, as a husband he made few demands on her in the marital bed, and she and her sister in law Shula had become very close friends.

She too had been married to an older man, but he had died very soon after the marriage and as a young widow she was of considerably less worth than an unwed young woman, so her lot was to be a skivvy with no status in the household, not that Anjuli ever saw her that way, and that was clear to everyone.

 

On one occasion David called in at Stephenson’s at the end of his shift but instead of being greeted by Anjuli’s warm smile,

Shelley Prangnell was on the till and she was wearing an uncharacteristic frown

“Hello Shelley, are you ok?” he asked

“Yes thanks Mr. Cross” she answered, and her expression changed and there was a hint of the smile that generally played about her lips.

After he left the shop he headed to the Saracen for a pint before he went home, and it was when he was in the pub that he heard the news that Ilyas Patel had collapsed in the shop.

It happened shortly after lunch and luckily Dr Marshall was actually passing by the shop on the way to the surgery when it happened, and then attended to him and stayed with him until the ambulance arrived.

 

The next day David had a fare to St Bernadette’s Convent Hospital in Abbeyvale, and as he did the last time Ilyas was in hospital, he went up to the ward to be a shoulder to cry on, but on that occasion, he overheard one of the nurses make a comment about him not even waiting until her husband was cold, Anjuli sneered at the suggestion and her Aunt pointed out his presence was in the capacity of an Avuncular and a friend.

But upon his arrival on the ward he detected she looked a little anxious, especially as the judgmental nurse was on the ward.

“Hello David” she said nervously “What brings you here?”

“The same thing as always” he replied

“I’m here for you, and Shula, as your faithful friend in a time of need”

“Thank God” They replied in unison and hugged him.