October
Since Archie
Paddick first met Josephine Bell, on a fateful day when she stole his heart,
his life had been so different to the safe and comfortable existence he had
known before and he felt energized and fresh, which was just as well because in
the months that followed, they had been exceedingly busy as they had decided to
move in together.
They spent
evenings packing up her flat in Pipershaven and slowly moved her stuff either
into storage or into his house in Pepperstock Green which was to become theirs.
Then on the
weekends there was decorating, gardening and car booting and all of the above
had to be achieved while keeping busy in their respective jobs, he as an
electrician and her as a Nail Technician.
So it was with
some relief that he received and accepted an invitation from his best friend
Barry to attend a games night at his place on Saturday night a week into
October.
They had been
best mates since junior school, Barry, Stevie, Kevin,
Neville and him, and their friendship endured, and survived all the ups and
downs of childhood and adolescence.
It survived
sexual awakenings and the continual distraction of women thereafter, higher
education, marriages, mortgages, divorces and redundancies.
Women had come
and gone over the years, but the friendship had survived, their friendship
endured in spite of everything, and part of that friendship were the Games
Nights.
Games nights
consisted of a takeaway followed by board games or cards, the food and game
decided by consensus.
“You know what
that means?” Jo asked
“Yes, a weekend
off” Archie replied
“I have to meet
your best friends” she said gloomily
“I know” he
replied “They’re all dying to meet you”
Then he
continued
“And the other
halves are anxious to meet the girl who has won my heart”
“Oh Great” Jo
said despondently
He failed to
pick up on her lack of enthusiasm but as they got closer to the night Josephine
seemed to be getting more and more withdrawn.
On Saturday
morning they lay under the duvet cuddling, she was very quiet, which wasn’t
like her at all, he was a bit worried about her as she seemed a bit down.
“What’s wrong
sweetheart?” he asked
“Nothing” she
replied
“Well, I know
that’s not true” he persisted “So what’s wrong?”
“I’m scared”
she admitted
He wasn’t sure
he’d heard her correctly, she was such a confident gregarious girl, and being
scared didn’t fit her at all.
“Scared?” he
asked
“Yes” she
responded and rolled over and hugged him, burying her face in his neck and then
she started crying.
“What are you
scared about?” he asked
“Meeting your
friends” she sobbed “Your best friends”
It seemed she
was really worried about making a good impression in front of his oldest and
best friends.
“They are going
to love you just like I do” he assured her
“Really?” Jo
asked
“Well not quite
like I do obviously” he said, and she lifted her face from his neck and smiled.
Archie did feel
for Jo when he took the time to think of what he was putting her through, it
was a daunting prospect meeting his lifelong friends.
He didn’t have
to go through that with her best friend as that was his sister Marion.
So, they spent
the next hour cuddling up under the duvet as he went through his friends and
their respective partners one by one and the best ways to make a good
impression on them.
His mate Barry
was something of a figure of fun within their group, a fact to which he seemed
completely oblivious.
They had known
him since school, and they had always teased him.
He was the type
of kid who had a new hobby every week and this habit followed him into
adulthood.
He also thought
himself a whizz at DIY and he fancied himself as a bit of an engineer, but the
one thing he could do without fail which endeared him to them was that he could
take a joke.
His wife Eve
did not have a sense of humour, at all and she was the vainest woman walking
God’s green earth and the only thing that she loved as much as her own looks
was for someone else to compliment her on them.
Stevie fancied
himself as a bit of a ladies’ man and liked to flirt, Carol his second wife
knew he was all sausage, and no sizzle so quite enjoyed watching him flirt
before he crashed and burned.
Kevin and his
childhood sweetheart Cindi were foodies so if you got them chatting on the
subject of food you were in.
Neville and his
third or fourth partner Terri were ultra-competitive so if they won, whatever
the game might be, they were happy.
After he had
finished putting flesh on the bones of those expected to be present, she seemed
more at ease.
“I love you
Arch” she said
“That’s handy”
he replied “because I love you too”
Jo smiled and
kissed him tenderly and they made love.
No comments:
Post a Comment