A Time for Friends (36 page)

‘Aw come on, Jon, there’s no need for that! Look, I’m sorry if your feelings were hurt last night, but I never gave you any reason to think I was attracted to you,’ Leon
said defensively.

‘We snogged, often,’ Jonathan reminded him.

‘We’re gay! You’re a good kisser. Look, if I fancied you I’d have jumped your bones long before now. I came to London to party and shag and I thought you did
too.’

‘Oh! Right. Excuse me for not thinking of you as the stereotypical gay cliché.’

‘Listen, it’s OK for you. I don’t get the chance to express myself very often. I’ve a son to consider,’ Leon said sullenly.

‘Perhaps you should just grow up, Leon, and stop running away from it. You are what you are and there’s nothing wrong with what you are. And you knew I was attracted to you.
You’re not thick! But despite the fact that you didn’t feel the same, it didn’t stop you from allowing me to spend a small fortune on you last night. You knew what you had
planned. You knew all the while that you were going clubbing to pick someone up. Nice one!’

Leon flushed. ‘Sorry! I suppose I deserved that,’ he muttered. ‘Now that we’ve sorted it, there’s no need for you to go home. Can’t we just stay and do our
own thing and enjoy ourselves?’ he urged. ‘We could have a lot of fun.’

‘Oh I
am
going to stay in London and have fun,’ Jonathan said coolly. ‘Just not with you. I’m going to meet up with a “real” friend.’

‘Be like that then,’ Leon said sulkily. ‘I just want to shower and shave and change my clothes before I split.’

‘Sorry, you should have done that in your little friend’s gaff. I’m leaving now.’

‘You go then! I’ll freshen up and then leave.’

‘I don’t think so,’ Jonathan said firmly. ‘Time to go. Checkout is twelve and it’s ten to. I want to settle my bill. They were very decent not charging me for the
next two days.’ He lifted Leon’s bag and opened the door and deposited it in the hall. ‘Your room card, please?’ He held out his hand. Leon passed it to him with bad grace.
Jonathan ignored him and picked up his luggage. ‘After you,’ he said politely. Leon walked out the door and reached for his bag. Jonathan’s heart twisted as he watched him lope
down the corridor. He didn’t feel they would ever meet again and it was painful in the extreme to acknowledge that. He stayed for a moment until the other man had rounded the corner to the
lift before closing the door on his dream.

‘That’s rough. Poor Jonathan,’ Niall said sympathetically. He sounded as though he was in the next room and not halfway across the world in Dubai. ‘He
never seems to get a break in his relationships.’ Despite his accusation that Hilary spent too much time with the other man, Niall was fond of Jonathan.

She and Niall had been cool with each other for a few days after their tiff about Sue, but they were never able to hold on to a fight and he had agreed that Sue had to play her part. Music to
his wife’s ears. Besides, she would never have let him fly abroad without sorting out an argument and they had made love the night before he flew to the UAE.

‘So you don’t mind us going?’ Hilary asked, tucking the phone under her ear and filling the kettle for a cuppa. ‘I’ll be spending even more time with
Jonathan,’ she reminded him sheepishly.

‘Aahh he needs you. And it will be nice for you to have a jaunt with the girls. Perfect timing while they’re on their holidays,’ her husband said easily. ‘Text me your
room number when you get to the hotel and I’ll ring you on the landline later, OK?’

‘OK,’ Hilary agreed. ‘I’ll just give Sue a call to let her know neither you nor I are around for the next few days.’

‘Fine. Try and have some fun in London too. Talk to ya, love ya, babe!’ Niall said before hanging up.

Hilary smiled. Niall was, for the most part, laid-back and easy-going, which was why he got antsy when he had to deal with family issues. She could stay the week in London with the girls, and
spend a fortune, and he wouldn’t say boo! She was lucky with her husband in that regard. Pity Sue didn’t have his disposition. She didn’t want to phone her sister-in-law, who had
been extremely cool with her since their confrontation in Buswells. Margaret was recovering from another chest infection and was not up to doing her own shopping; she needed someone to keep an eye
on her.

Hilary dialled Sue’s number, but not surprisingly got no response. She left a message, and sent a text just to be sure. She wouldn’t put it past Sue to say she’d got no voice
message.

Hilary had booked an Aer Lingus flight leaving at 2 p.m. The girls were packed and all ready to go; she’d just pop over to the shops and get a few groceries for Margaret to keep her going,
she decided. She could get the taxi to make a detour and drop them off on the way to the airport.

‘It’s a pity we’re going to London because of something sad.’ Sophie lifted the two bags of shopping from the checkout counter and followed Hilary to the exit.

‘We’ll try and make the most of it, and we’ll do our best to cheer Jonathan up,’ Hilary promised.

‘It’s
ages
since we had a girls’ adventure!’ Sophie observed.

Hilary felt a dart of guilt. Sophie was right. She needed to start spending more time with her daughters before they flew the nest. Millie would be going to college in the autumn. She could
hardly believe how the years had flown by. ‘Let’s try and have a few jaunts this summer when Millie has finished her exams. How about a spa day sooner rather than later?’

‘Nice,’ Sophie approved and Hilary smiled. She would
definitely
organize that in the near future. There was a tangible air of excitement as they all piled into the taxi a
while later. The unexpectedness of the trip added to the gaiety. This was what life was all about, Hilary thought as she listened to the girls discuss what they intended to buy in the duty free.
Although it was far from trips to London and duty-free sprees she’d been brought up to, she thought in amusement. They took it all so much for granted.

‘Hello, Gran,’ she said cheerfully, when Margaret opened the door to her knock ten minutes later.

‘Good gracious, I wasn’t expecting visitors,’ her mother-in-law said, flustered.

‘We’re not visitors, Gran,’ Millie declared, bending down to give her grandmother a kiss.

‘It’s a flying visit, Gran, cos we’re actually going to be flying in about an hour and a half,’ Sophie grinned. ‘We’re going to London on a surprise visit.
The taxi’s waiting for us at the gate.’

‘Oh that’s exciting, Sophie,’ Margaret said brightly, kissing them all.

‘I just wanted to drop in a few bits and pieces to tide you over until we get back on Saturday, Mrs H. I’ll pop them in the fridge.’ Hilary took the bags from Sophie and walked
into the kitchen and began to unpack the shopping.

‘That’s very kind of you, dear. Very kind. Now how much do I owe you?’ Margaret followed Hilary into the kitchen.

‘I’ll put the receipt on the counter and you can give it to me on Saturday,’ Hilary said, packing away the cartons of Ambrosia creamed rice that her mother-in-law was
particularly partial to. Margaret was scrupulous about paying her bills and Hilary always took the money, not because she was mean about money but to respect her mother-in-law’s dignity and
independence.

‘I’m very grateful for all you do for me, Hilary. You’re so thoughtful. I know you’re so busy and I take up so much of your time,’ Margaret said and Hilary turned
to look at her and saw that her lip was trembling.

‘Mrs H! What’s wrong?’ she exclaimed in dismay, putting her arms around the elderly lady as Sophie and Millie looked at their grandmother in alarm.

‘Nothing, dear. I’m just a terrible old nuisance and it bothers me that you have to do so much for me when you’re so busy yourself,’ Margaret said tremulously. ‘And
I know Niall and Sue are very busy too—’

‘Now, Mrs H, you listen to me, we are
never
too busy for you,’ Hilary said firmly.

‘But you can’t all be taking time off to bring me to appointments and the like. I’m going to start going by myself from now on. Other people have to, so can I,’ Margaret
said shakily. Hilary’s lips tightened.
Sue
! She must have said something to her mother about bringing her to the warfarin clinic.

She could have kicked herself. She should have known that Sue would pull a stunt like this. The selfish madam. When she got back from London she was going to give that one a piece of her mind,
she vowed furiously, trying to hide her anger from Margaret.

‘Don’t be worrying about your appointments; we’ll sort something out,’ she said kindly. ‘Now why don’t I make you a quick cuppa to have with one of the scones
I got for you, and I bought you the latest
Hello
! You can keep it for me and I’ll get it off you when I get back.’ She gave her mother-in-law another hug. She knew the meter
was running in the taxi but to hell with it. She wanted to make sure Margaret felt cherished and reassured before she left. ‘Millie, butter a scone for your gran while I make the tea,’
she instructed.

‘Gran, you are never to call yourself a nuisance again,’ Sophie said sternly. ‘You’re our gran and we love you
very
much.’

‘We certainly do, Gran,’ Millie assured her, adding an extra-large spoon of strawberry jam to the scone, just the way Margaret liked it. ‘And I’m going to get you
something nice from London.’

‘Now don’t go spending your money on me,’ warned her grandmother, recovering her composure and enjoying the cuddle Sophie gave her. ‘Thank you, dear, that was just what I
needed.’

‘We’ll be home Saturday and we’d love you to come to lunch on Sunday to tell you all about our trip. I’ll come and collect you,’ Hilary invited, carrying the tray
into Margaret’s sitting room and placing it on the side table beside her armchair. She waited until Margaret was settled with her magazine and bent down and kissed her. ‘You are very,
very dear to us. Don’t forget that now. I’ll ring you tonight,’ she said.

‘I’ll look forward to it, Hilary.’ Margaret patted her cheek and Hilary thought how sad it was that she didn’t have a warm relationship with her only daughter.

‘It’s horrible being old, isn’t it?’ Millie reflected as they drove away from her grandmother’s house.

‘Some people have better experiences of old age than others,’ Hilary said grimly, wishing she could have ten minutes alone with Sue. ‘Anyway forget about being old for the time
being. We’re on a girls’ jolly, so let’s have fun. We’ll have to lift Jonathan’s spirits for sure, so we need to be in tiptop form.’ She smiled at her daughters
and put thoughts of Sue aside. She would deal with her when she got home.

Jonathan gazed out the window of his fifth-floor hotel room at the green, almost rural vista spread out before him. It was hard to believe he was in the middle of a bustling
metropolis. The gilt-edged gates of Kensington Palace bathed in the midday sun brought back memories of massed banks of flowers laid in tribute to the beautiful, tragic princess who had lived
there. The blue of the Round Pond between blossom-sprigged branches giving a vivid splash of colour to the green palette of the park. The elegance of the dome of the Albert Hall and the skyline of
south London in the distance a reminder that he was in one of the world’s greatest cities. Below him, Londoners and tourists strolled, skated, jogged and strode along the pathways, or sat and
relaxed under the warming sun on the grassy emerald swards of the spring-dressed park. They all seemed so carefree, untroubled even. Not like him: sad, dispirited, and entirely disenchanted with
life.

He could pull the heavy drapes on the sunlight, whose bright gaiety seemed like an affront to his desolation, and go for a snooze on the inviting bed, he supposed. He hadn’t slept the
previous night and Hilary wouldn’t arrive until late afternoon. He had a sinus headache to boot and his eyes and cheeks ached. He needed to take something for it or it would only get worse.
He remembered going to a Boots beside M&S the last time he had stayed in the Royal Garden; he might as well go and stock up on his meds, he decided, and then go for a nap.

The noise of the High Street jarred as he emerged through the revolving doors in the foyer, and was asked by a courteous doorman if he required a taxi. He decline politely and walked down the
marble steps and turned right, wincing at the roar of the heavy traffic and the fast-paced gaits of the other pedestrians. His head throbbed. He wanted to get back to the peace of his room
fast.

I just don’t fancy you that way.
It was the casual utterance of those heart-piercing words, in so public an arena, that seemed so cruel. Leon had given no thought to the effect
his admission might have on Jonathan, and that hurt almost as much as the words themselves. He must have known Jonathan had feelings for him despite his protestations that he thought they were just
friends. It was painfully obvious now that Leon had used Jonathan, enjoying the meals out, the visits to the cinema and theatre that Jonathan had, more often than not, paid for when Leon would
admit that he was broke because of his maintenance and mortgage expenses.

Jonathan crossed Kensington Church Street, and in spite of his misery, the sight of the flamboyant array of multihued blooms at the flower stall beside the impressive architectural elegance of
St Mary Abbots momentarily banished his misery. He loved tulips and he decided to buy Hilary a bunch as a little token of his deep gratitude that she would fly to London to support him in his hour
of need.

The arcade housing Boots was thronged with commuters heading in and out of the tube station and as he passed Marks’ Food Hall and Pret A Manger, he realized that he was actually a touch
peckish. That was perhaps why his headache was worse than normal. He hadn’t eaten, apart from a cup of coffee in the Franklin. He bought Sinutabs and a packet of Nytol and some Rescue Remedy
and crossed over to Pret. He grabbed a BLT and a Coke and paid for it and had his snack and a Sinutab sitting at one of the window seats staring unseeingly out at the busy concourse.

Nancy would be disappointed for him when he told her that Leon was not ‘the one’. He wondered what Hannah would say. One of the sayings of Florence Scovel Shinn, a teacher of
metaphysics, came to mind.
No man is my friend. No man is my enemy. Every man is my teacher. The Game of Life and How to Play It,
the book she had written, had given him much food for
thought over the years since Hannah had gifted it to him.