Charity Begins at Home, Chapter 7 – Last Thing On My Mind

Lorna looked across at Richard, dozing in a deckchair on the seafront at Scarborough, with his straw boater tipped across his face. She smiled at the image of the typical Englishman at the seaside; all he really needed was his trouser legs rolled up to his knees and a white handkerchief knotted at each corner on his head! It was an unexpectedly warm May day and they had come out for the day to take advantage of the weather; who knows when they would get another warm spell?

Their friendship had progressed smoothly after the initial problems and they now saw each other two or three times a week, for afternoon tea or a walk along the rugged Yorkshire coastline, sometimes for Sunday lunch out in an old pub, either in a coastal town or out on the moors. They always seemed to find something to talk about, even sometimes disagreeing about matters of current affairs or politics, although Lorna had laid down strict ground rules of no politics, no religion and no sport!! She had had nearly twenty years of heated discussions or downright arguments about those subjects and did not intend to go through that again.

This relationship was just what she needed, an intelligent man with a good sense of humour, who didn’t “pounce” on her and seemed happy to be just good friends, with the occasional hug and chaste kiss. She didn’t question whether or not it was sufficient for Richard; he had never pushed for more from her and she was not going to offer. He had only been a widower for a short while, after all. Some of the men she had met through dating sites had expected sex on the first or second dates but then they had been predators, using the dating sites for their own gratification and not really to find a genuine friend or life partner.

Richard was enjoying the sunshine and the soft murmurings of the other people around him, as well as the sound of the sea and the seagulls. He really appreciated these trips out with Lorna, she was such restful company and he felt that he could really be himself with her, not having to be chatty if he didn’t want to be or having to make a good impression all of the time. If that was being selfish, then he was glad to be selfish! He was wondering whether or not to broach what had been going round in his mind for the last few days, but he didn’t want to potentially spoil a lovely day out. He fancied going abroad on holiday for a week or two and was hoping that Lorna would accompany him but was concerned that she might read too much into his suggestion.

They both started speaking at the same time. “No, you first”, Richard said.

“I was wondering if you would be interested in a weekend in London some time? There are some really good offers on the Internet and we could get rooms with bed, breakfast and one evening meal for silly money”, said Lorna.

Richard laughed “I was going to ask if you’d like to go abroad for a week or two but didn’t know how you’d take the suggestion. I didn’t want you to think that I was assuming too much in our friendship”.

They both laughed and were then quiet for a while. “Well”, said Lorna, “It would be nice to have a foreign holiday; I haven’t been abroad for some time, in fact I’d have to check my passport to see whether or not it’s still valid. But it would have to be separate rooms – I never have liked sharing a room, even when I was married – and now I have to get up several times a night and it’s embarrassing”. (Hope that wasn’t too much information, she thought to herself!) “Where were you thinking of going?”

“Oh, possibly Portugal or Italy but not in the summer holidays; I would wait until all the schools were back, September time is usually good.” Lorna thought about it – what would happen if they discovered that they really didn’t get on away from their own environment? Her idea of a long weekend in London was more sensible at the moment but she did admit that she liked the sound of an autumn break in Italy.

“Why don’t we try out one of the London weekends – perhaps take in a show as well – then we will find out if it works for us, before spending a lot of money on a foreign holiday and perhaps falling out”, Lorna suggested gently. “I hope you don’t mind me being blunt, Richard, but I’m not looking for a sexual relationship, I value my privacy and will have to have my own room, regardless of the fact that it would be far cheaper to share a twin room. If that works out well and we want to go ahead with a trip abroad, then we can organise it.”

Richard wasn’t too happy with the suggestion but was too polite to say so and agreed that Lorna would book them a weekend away in London, taking the train to save on the long drive and having to find parking when they got there. He chose to ignore her remark about not wanting a sexual relationship; he had not given that a thought until she mentioned it, now it was on his mind all of the time!

Lorna logged off the web site in exasperation – all of the weekends she had looked at cost almost as much as a week in Italy, if she included either the rail fare or a theatre trip and had two separate rooms. £208 for two nights away was the cheapest she had come up with and she didn’t think that Richard would agree to that. Perhaps she needed to think again; what would be so bad about sharing a twin-bedded room for just two nights? It might put him off the foreign holiday idea if she snored or woke him up each time she went to the bathroom in the middle of the night! She would look again in the morning; she was too tired and dispirited now.

Settled comfortably in their reserved seats on the fast train to London, they smiled at each other as they drank their Starbuck’s latte. To Lorna’s surprise, he had been quite equable about the cost of £260 each for the weekend in London by train, with a dinner the first night and a matinee theatre trip on the Saturday. She read her magazine and dozed off for a while, then the train was pulling into Kings Cross – so much faster than when she had travelled by train as a girl.

She was not so happy when they reached the hotel; there seemed to be a problem with their reservation and there was only one room booked for the two of them. “No, I booked two rooms for single occupancy, as it shows on my confirmation email here”, Lorna said. “I’m really sorry, Madam, but we are fully booked and you can either cancel this reservation or take the room we have reserved for you”. Lorna was really angry but what could she do? They had their theatre tickets (unless that had been done incorrectly as well) and they had reserved seats on the train back on Sunday, which could not be changed.

They took the pass card and went up to their room, only to find that it was not even a twin-bedded room but with a huge King size bed! She could have wept with anger and frustration and was ready to lash out at anyone who crossed her. Luckily, Richard had sensed her mood and had kept quiet so far, or he would have had the wrong side of her tongue, even though it was she who had made the reservation! She checked her confirmation email again and it definitely stated two rooms for single occupancy, so she would be having words with the booking agents when they got home.

Dinner was good and they chatted easily but the shadow of the double bed hung over them all evening – both of them were concerned about how they were going to play it. In the end, Lorna was her usual frank self and said “Look, Richard, we will have to put up with it for two nights and I apologise now if I disturb you with getting up in the night and if I snore.” Richard sighed with relief, “I thought you were going to make me sleep on the floor”, he said with a smile. “I might yet, if you fidget or steal all the duvet!”, she responded.

Getting ready for bed was easier than she had anticipated. Richard insisted that she used the bathroom first and he promised to close his eyes when she came back into the bedroom (she had not packed a dressing gown, assuming her own en-suite room). That done, she chose her favourite side of the bed and waited for him to return from the bathroom. She had to suppress a smile at his sleeping shorts – very modern for a 67 year old! He climbed into bed, said goodnight and turned off the light.

They both lay there, rigid, flat on their backs, afraid to turn over and disturb the other. Lorna’s sense of humour kicked in and she started giggling. “We are so stupid; we are adults, after all.” Richard laughed, “Indeed, it’s just strange to be in bed with a woman who’s not my wife and not be expected to “perform”.”

For the next two hours, they shared stories of their married lives. Lorna told him of her control freak of a husband and why she eventually left him. Richard told her of his bad treatment of Eleanor and how they had reconciled at the end. It was easy to talk frankly when it was dark and they were lying next to each other in comfort. At the end of their long talk, they both said goodnight, turned over and fell fast asleep.

On the train home, they agreed that the weekend had been great fun, less expensive than expected – having to pay for only one room – and a holiday abroad together would be a great idea. “By the way”, said Richard, “You did warn me about getting up several times in the night, but you didn’t tell me that you snored like a trooper!”. “You didn’t tell me that you talk in your sleep and your toenails need cutting!”, retorted Lorna. Then they burst out laughing at the shocked faces of their fellow passengers and passed the rest of the journey in full accord.

To be continued …….

Chapter 8

Written by Laura Wickham