A Nursery Affair

At 11:33 p.m., the Blue Line Coach from the city crawled into the bus terminal at Mount Ellen. It slunk between two other dark and silent coaches, and came to a stop. The driver switched off the engine, which seemed to give a weary sigh as it died at the end of its ten-hour journey

A handful of yawning passengers alighted and stood around waiting for the luggage compartment to be opened. The driver unceremoniously hauled out the various items of luggage, dumping them on the concrete floor of the terminus. The passengers found their own baggage and moved off to waiting cars that had come to pick them up.

Last to alight from the coach was a pretty young woman carrying a tiny baby. She was in her early twenties; she now stood alone, except for the driver, with a large suitcase at her feet.

"Where can I get a taxi?" she asked.

"No taxi's 'ere, lady," the driver replied. "Last one we 'ad gave up. Not enough business."

"How can I get to the Mount Ellen Motel?"

" 'Ave ter walk, lady. Turn right outside the terminal, and its about two kilometres up the road. Gotta go now, the wife'll have me supper waiting." He slammed the luggage compartment door shut, locked it, went to the bus door and locked that, then without another glance at the young woman, he departed.

The she was now alone in the ghostly bus terminal but for the baby, which she now put into a harness so she could carry the child on her back. She seemed to sag with exhaustion, then, as if gathering her last reserve of energy, she picked up the suitcase and exited from the building.

She found herself standing in a street that extended to the left and right of the terminal entrance. It was poorly lit, and a breeze coming in from the nearby country blew pieces of paper and plastic wrapping in little whirlwinds.

She turned in the direction the driver had indicated, and began to drag herself, the baby and the suitcase along the footpath. She had only gone a dozen of so metres when she had to stop and put down the suitcase. A close observer would have seen tears of frustration and exhaustion glistening in her eyes. Making a valiant effort, she lifted the suitcase again and trudged a few more metres, then again had to stop.

The weather had been warm when they left the city, but now, out in the high country and being night, it was cold. She shivered in her unsuitable clothing, but felt unable to summon up the energy to open the suitcase in the dim street light to find something more suitable.

The baby started to whimper, so she sat down on the suitcase and taking the child from the harness, tried to comfort it. It was past the baby's feeding time, but the woman knew she must wait until they reached the motel.

She was outside a house, and suddenly the front door opened and a light shone from the interior. A cheerful voice called out; "I'll see you tomorrow, then. Goodnight." The light disappeared as the house door was shut and footsteps came along the garden path to where the woman sat on the footpath.

She began another painful attempt to walk then a voice behind her said; "Can I help you?"

The woman turned and saw a young man. The woman was far too tired and worn out to bother about being mugged, raped or robbed. So she said, "Oh would you? I really would appreciate it. I'm going to the Mount Ellen Motel"

"That case is far too heavy for you with the baby as well, let me carry it for you."

The young man hefted the suitcase onto his shoulder and proceeded in the direction of the motel. The woman walked a step behind him, struggling to keep up with him.

"Could you slow down, please, I'm so tired I can't…"

"Sorry," said the young man, "I should have realised." He reduced his pace.

Reaching the motel, he entered the reception area and pressed the desk bell. A middle-aged man made his shuffling appearance. "A lady for you, Arthur," the young man said. "And be very nice to her because she's really tired."

"Humph," said Arthur, then asked somewhat grouchily, " Mrs.Janet King?"

"Miss." Replied Janet.

There was a brief pause as both Arthur and the young man took in the baby. Then Arthur said, "I've put you in room eight. Its got a cot and a high chair, but I don't think you'll be needing the high chair with that little one."

Arthur came round the counter to reluctantly take up the suitcase, but the young man said, "It's okay, Arthur, I'll see her to her room."

With that he seized the suitcase and started off to the room followed by Janet.

Outside the door Janet inserted the key, opened the door and turned to the young man. Fumbling in her pockets, she brought out a couple of two-dollar coins that she proffered. He recoiled slightly, and in a level tone of voice said, "I don't want your money, Miss King. I just like to give a hand."

He turned away to leave but Janet stopped him. "I'm sorry. I just wanted to show how much I appreciated your help. Perhaps we shall meet again some time, Mr. er…"

"Saunders. Derek Saunders," he replied. "If you're stopping in Mount Ellen, we're sure to meet again. The population isn't that big that we'll miss each other." He laughed.

"Well, thank you again, Derek Saunders," said Janet. "I must go in now, the baby is long overdue for her feed."

She went to shut the door but Derek stopped her. "Just a thought. Have you had anything to eat?"

"Not for hours."

"Well, there's nowhere open for you to get anything, and Arthur's probably heading for his bed now, but I live just a couple of minutes up the road, so I'll go home and bring you something back."

Before Janet could say yes or no to this, he was gone.

Tired as she was, feeding the baby was first priority. Sitting down on the edge of the bed Janet undid the front of her waist shirt, opened the maternity bra, and taking out her breast she began to feed the child.

After a few minutes, Derek arrived with the food. Knocking at the door Janet called for him to come in. He entered saying, "Mum and dad were in bed, but I found…" then stood transfixed.

It was clear he had never seen a woman breast feeding a child before, and the beauty of the sight glued him to the spot. He had not previously taken in Janet's appearance, and even now, he did not observe how attractive she was. He could not take his eyes from the child at the breast.

I…I…b. b. brought you these he stammered," holding out some paper wrapped food. This proved to be a leg of chicken, a slice of bread and cheese and an apple. "If you like, I'll make you a cup of tea or coffee. I know where all the stuff is because I sometimes work for Arthur."

"Tea, please," replied Janet.

While Derek set about tea making, Janet changed the baby to her other breast.

"What's the baby's name?" Asked Derek, longing to look at the breast-feeding, but fearing that Janet might get the wrong impression.

"Sari," replied Janet, as she concentrated on maneuvering her nipple into the baby's mouth. She was not at all concerned that he might want to watch her breastfeeding, as she shared the view that there is beauty in a mother feeding her baby.

"That's a lovely name," Derek commented, silently adding, "And you're a lovely sight feeding her."

The tea made, Derek said, "I'd better go now. Its been nice meeting you and Sari. I expect we shall see each other around if your staying in town."

"I'm taking over the plant nursery. Thank you for your help and the food. I'll keep an eye open for you."

"I'd heard that Ted was leaving the Nursery. About time too, the mess he's got it into. Goodnight."

"Goodnight," said Janet, as she began changing the baby's nappy.

Derek left, and Janet contemplated his information that the nursery was in a mess.

"That rotten swine," she thought. "He must have known the place was run down."

It was a sad chain of events that had led her to arriving in Mount Ellen. She had left school when she was seventeen, and started work in Ellis's Plant Nursery that was the head office and nursery of a chain of such nurseries across the state. A pretty young girl, she had quickly caught the eye of Joe Ellis, owner of the chain. Unusually these days for an eighteen year old and very attractive girl, she was still a virgin.

She had been flattered by the attentions of the older and rather good-looking man who was her boss. He began by buying her lunch. Flattery and odd gifts followed, but above all, he began to tell her he loved her. This was to strike at Janet's Achilles heel.

Her father an alcoholic, her mother lost in a drug induced haze most of the time, Janet craved love. She had had to battle through, trying to keep herself above her environment, until on leaving high school with no hope of going on to tertiary studies, she got the job at the nursery. To be told by what seemed to her to be a sophisticated man that he loved he, was to conquer her.

He took her virginity, and they began an ongoing sexual relationship that lasted for over two years. It ended quite literally, when she announced to him that she was pregnant. At that point, he suddenly discovered he had an overwhelming devotion to his wife and children.

"He would see her right," was his comment. He offered to pay for an abortion, which Janet roundly refused to countenance. So, Joe had paid her medical bills and other expenses. In addition, and much to his annoyance, he also had to pay for her accommodation, because on learning she was pregnant, her parents turned her out.

About two months after the baby was born, the less than loving father of the child came forward with what he referred to as, "A long term offer."

Janet lacked knowledge concerning her rights in the situation, and nobody came forward to help and advise her, so she went along with Joe's suggestion.

Many of his nurseries were run on a franchise basis. The nursery at Mount Ellen was being given up by the current franchisee. He would let Janet have the franchise without the usual initial charges, and would expect no return for the first twelve months.

In addition, he gave her, what to Janet seemed a substantial sum of money; "Just to get you started." In fact, it was little more than small change to Joe, so he congratulated himself on getting rid of an embarrassment at little cost.

Janet saw this cash "pay out" for what it was, "Hush money."

Ted, the current franchisee, would also, "See her right," he said. She supposed he meant that Ted would be around for a while to show her the ropes.

Next morning Janet, after she had showered, breakfasted and seen to the baby, slipped Sari into the harness and set off for the nursery.

Following the directions Arthur had given her she arrived at a rather dilapidated looking site, with a peeling painted sign that announced "Ted's Arbor."

Entering the "Arbor," Janet found amid the weed-choked plants, a rusting corrugated iron shed with a notice stating, "Sales and Office." Around the door were poor quality garden statues, birdbaths and other somewhat ugly garden ornaments.

Stepping inside the shed, there were equally poor quality gardening tools, past use-by date packets of seeds, gardening calendars and mysterious containers of fertilisers.

Overseeing this scene, and seated on a high stool behind a counter, sat a pale, sick looking man.

"Ted Willis?" queried Janet.

"S'me," replied the cadaverous man.

"I'm Janet King."

"Ah. The bird…lady that's takin' over from me."

He extended a scrawny hand. Janet took it and felt the cold, moist palm, and shuddered.

"S'pose you'd like to 'ave a look at the place," said Ted with all the enthusiasm of a dead duck. "Bit on the young side for this, ain't yer, baby an all?"

Janet made no reply to this.

The rest of the day was spent inspecting the dilapidated property, examining the stock, and going over the books which looked a lot less optimistic than the ones she had been shown at head office.

A few customers came in looking for plants that mostly Ted did not have. He treated all in egalitarian fashion, which meant a sort of casual rudeness.

By closing time, which for Ted was about 4 p.m., he announced, "I'll be 'ere termorrer, ter show yer the rest of the ropes, then I'm off fer good."

"But I thought you were supposed to be staying around for at least a couple of weeks," protested Janet.

"Na, told the boss months ago when I'd be packin' it in. I finish termorrer."

Janet thought unpleasant thoughts about her erstwhile lover. "He knew all along the state this place is in, and that Ted would not be around to help me. Bastard!"

Getting back to the motel she had a little cry, but then rallied, fed the baby and herself, and determined she would "get that place going or die trying."

Part of the next day was spent making local banking arrangements, familiarising her self with the town centre, and making a start on seeking some longer-term accommodation. An agent who had a furnished cottage on his books that was available on a six months lease provided the latter.

So, the battle with the nursery began. She bought a cot that she installed in the shed, where the baby slept part of the day and a pram with which Janet trundled the baby around the paths as she worked.

Each day Janet ended up exhausted. Not only were their weeds to be eradicated, there was the poor quality stock that she sold off at less than cost prices, and new stock to be bought in. In addition, the fences and watering system were in a ruinous condition.

After a fortnight, it was clear to her that she could not cope on her own. She put an advertisement in the local newspaper, "Seeking young man to work in plant nursery."

Despite the high youth unemployment in the district, she only got six responses. Three were disposed of briskly. To her question, "Do you like plants," she got answers like, "Not much." "Bit sissy ain't they?" "Dunno."

The fourth to arrive was Derek. His previous kindness to Janet gave him an unfair advantage over the following two candidates. All three showed promise, but Derek won the day.

His presence in the nursery began to make a marked difference to the place very quickly. Apart from his general cheerfulness, Derek only needed to be told or shown something once, and he grasped it. He went out of his way to relieve Janet of the heavy tasks, but always in an unobtrusive way.

She was surprised at his knowledge of plants, until he explained that at high school they had had a teacher who was very keen on the subject of horticulture. He went out of his way to foster any interest the students might show, and even spent his free time in the school gardens with them. Hence, Derek was excited when he saw the advertisement offering work at the nursery, and exhilarated when he got the job.

Derek demonstrated more skills than horticultural ones. He repaired the fences, got the watering system going and made an excellent and courteous salesman. He and Janet began to make real inroads on the work to be done, and they seemed less like employer and employee and more like partners. They planned together, with Janet taking full cognizance of Derek's suggestions.

At the end of the first year, Janet received a notice informing her of the financial return the owner, Joe Ellis, would expect over the next twelve months. The nursery was now in good order, and customers who had been alienated in the past, began to return. After spending a considerable amount of her original capital ("Hush money"), Janet was beginning to make a small profit.

In the second year of Janet's occupancy, Derek erected a new and spacious sales centre and office with minimum outside help, and even painted a new sign over the front entrance to the nursery that read, "Janet's Plant Place."

Derek had begun work with her at a very low wage, but now Janet was able to offer him a considerable increase. In addition, a course in horticulture on a one day a week basis was being offered in the neighbouring town. Janet paid for Derek to attend this.

A special task Derek undertook was one that Janet did not pay for. With the comment, "Just to get some of the pressure off you," he would take Sari with him in her pram to where he was working. Janet was deeply touched when on several occasions she had overheard Derek talking to Sari as he worked, not caring that his only answers were gurgles and squeals. As time passed there grew up a strong bond of love between Sari and Drek, as Sari came to call him, once she began to speak.

"Strange," thought Janet. "Joe Ellis has never once asked about Sari, or for that matter has not even contacted me personally. Yet here is a young man who gives more than I ever pay him to do, and even cares for my daughter." She pondered this, weeping a little over some vague feeling that somehow she had failed to gain, or had lost, something she longed for. What it was she was never quite able to focus.

Derek was almost as reticent in talking about his life outside the nursery as Janet was in talking about her past. She knew that he lived at home with his parents, but what he did with his leisure time she did not know, and was too reticent to ask. She had noted that he paid a number of visits to houses round the town, but had no idea why. "Perhaps he's got a lot of girls that he…" She did not want to think of Derek like that. She did not know why, but she pushed the thought away.

One of the reasons why a number of males came to make purchases from the nursery was Janet herself. Their thoughts generally boiled down to this; "Wouldn't mind getting on to that and screwing it." So, Janet had to fend off advances from ardent would-be lovers on a fairly regular basis. On the other hand, female clients seemed to pay particular attention to "That charming young man."

Janet had been deeply hurt by Joe Ellis. It had embittered her to the point that she had determined she would have no further intimate relationships with a man. Her love was poured out on Sari, and her other energies went to the nursery – or so she told herself.

As the bond between Derek and Sari grew, and with it, Janet's trust in Derek, he started to take Sari out for walks after work, including visits to see his parents. They of course petted Sari as if she were their grandchild, and receiving such love, Sari was growing to be a lovely child.

By the beginning of the third year of her taking over the franchise, the business was thriving. Janet had continued to take out six-month leases on the cottage, but now she made an offer that was accepted, so the cottage was now hers.

In all this Janet had the honesty to acknowledge that much of its success had derived from Derek's work, and she thought it time for another pay rise.

One day after the nursery had closed, Janet and Derek were going over the stock in the office, so Janet took the moment to announce his pay increase.

Derek appeared embarrassed. "Look," he said, "I'd better tell you now. I'm leaving at the end of the month."

Janet was dumbfounded. For a moment, she could say nothing, then burst out, "Why?"

"I just think it's time a moved on. You're well set-up now, and a month should give you time to find someone else, and for me to show him or her the ropes."

"Derek, I don't want anyone else. Have I done something to upset you? Please, tell me."

"It's nothing you've done, I just think its time to go."

Janet felt anger rising. She turned away from Derek saying, "Very well, if that's what you want to do. I'll finish the stock taking, you can go."

Derek left, and there now began a dark time for both of them.

Janet determined that when Derek left, she would try to carry on by her self. This was to somehow punish Derek, but in fact, she was only being spiteful to herself. Another man was hurting her. She felt betrayed. Yet there was something more, something she would not – dare not – acknowledge.

Her manner towards Derek changed from warm companionship to a brisk and business-like attitude. Then one day, while shopping in the town, Janet met Derek's mother. They had conversed on several occasions, usually about Derek whom his mother obviously adored. On this occasion, Mrs.Saunders was clearly upset.