Calling Time by Adrian Cousins

Author:Adrian Cousins [Cousins, Adrian]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-10-31T04:00:00+00:00

22

American Beauty

My daughters, oblivious to Jenny and my arrival as we stealthily stepped through the back door, continued their conversation. With their backs to us, we hovered on the doormat for a moment, Jenny up on tiptoes as she peeked over my shoulder.

The portable TV, although on low volume, skipped through a plethora of ads for must-haves in this era, none of which would stand the test of time. The Graham Taylor ‘Do I not like orange’ advert for the Yellow Pages drowned out the noise of the back door’s squeaky hinges. As I’d taken the lead, I waited in position to listen in on their conversation and see how far Jess had progressed with convincing Beth to join our rather exclusive club.

The newest member, the man Jenny and I just met, waited as instructed in the garden whilst we laid the groundwork to prepare for introducing him to Jess. Although she’d briefly seen him last night, this would be upping the stakes. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted him casually lolling on the swing seat, smoking another cigarette.

Although in 1976, smoking was the norm, in fact, you were considered a bit of a strange one if you didn’t partake, I mused that if he continued to smoke at the rate to which he’d demonstrated thus far, my double was nailed on to suffer a myriad of cancers before he reached my age.

“What did Dad say about my job in the future? I was some marketing executive, I think you said?” Beth probed Jess as they remained perched on the bar stools at the breakfast bar. Beth hooked her blonde hair around her left ear as she leaned towards Jess.

“Uh-huh, that’s what Dad said. You apparently held down some sort of high-flying job and lived a few doors down from here.” Jess wagged her finger towards the fridge, which, along with the wall it stood against, was positioned in the general direction Jess indicated to where Beth’s house would have been situated further along Winchmore Drive.

“And I didn’t have any children, no husband, and was a super-bitch?”

“Oh, well, yes to the first two,” she chuckled. “As for being a super-bitch, remember what I told you about you and Dad being close friends? So you can’t have been that bad.”

Beth shifted closer still, causing the back legs of the stool to tip up. “Dad didn’t say him and me … you know?” Beth jauntily nudged her head upwards. “When we were close friends?” With one elbow on the breakfast bar, she raised her hands and performed air quotes around the two words ‘close friends’ before continuing. “We didn’t get it on? We weren’t doing it?” Beth sniggered, then grimaced. “I mean far out, but can you imagine me and Dad being lovers in a different life? Gag fest or what!”

“No … he just said you were close. Dad mentioned something about him being the loner and you being the wild kid from the children’s home. I remember him saying that because you were both different from the other kids in school, you got on well together.

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