"In their flat, which is a mirror image, the Parrys have converted the small fourth bedroom into an ensuite. They thought about doing that for this one too. I advised against it because there was no guarantee they would get their money back. Their business is sound and thriving because they are the only old-fashioned ironmonger's shop in Swansea, and they undercut the large DIY stores."
"OK, Mrs Simpson. I have to consult my employers at the beginning of next week, but that property could be suitable. What others have you got? Commercial shop fronts with accommodation?"
She had three more but much larger than I would need and more expensive for rates and running costs. The Parrys' place seemed like a bargain.
Mrs Simpson gave me the keys. I promised to return them before the agents shut at five pm.
I took Blodwen to a restaurant for lunch. Over the meal we discussed the Parrys' shop but decided we really needed to look around before I recommended it to my employers. But the low purchase price made me think. I had sold my flat in London at a London price. It still had a mortgage but thanks to parental help with the deposit and paying as much as I could each month, I had owned seventy per cent of it. That capital would be enough to buy the Parry's shop outright and pay for improvements to the living quarters.
Blodwen was startled that I had so much capital. As a teacher, even a qualified teacher, her pay wasn't fantastic -- good for Aberystwyth or even Swansea but a fraction of what I had been earning in London and even less now I would be a branch manager. She was renting a flat in Aberystwyth, living in it during term times and returning to her parents in school holidays.
+++
That evening I sent a long email to my employers in London with scanned copies of the details of the Parrys' property. I suggested that I could buy it myself if they would pay for the office/shop adaptations.
Blodwen gave me and her parents more Welsh lessons that evening. After the evening meal her parents were in the kitchen washing up. Blodwen taught me to say 'I love you' in Welsh. Every time I got it right, she repeated it before kissing me. That was a great way to learn Welsh.
That night I dreamed about Blodwen. I wanted to go further than we had gone but in her parents' house that was difficult. My car, a two-seater sports model was impossible because Blodwen and I are so large. Making love in the car would be impractical.
The next morning Blodwen and I walked around Swansea again, this time looking at tourist attractions, museums etc. I could see that Swansea was trying to improve itself, but the empty shop fronts showed that it still had some way to go.
We had lunch in a restaurant. I had an email from my employers. Not only did they accept my idea of buying the property myself, but they offered me a reduced rate mortgage of 40% of the valuation or asking price. They had set a budget of twenty thousand pounds for the changes to the business area. My available money meant that I would have enough capital for improvements to the living area.
We went back to the estate agents.
"Mrs Simpson, my employers have approved my proposed purchase. I would like the Parry's property at their asking price. My company's solicitors will act for me, and they are covering all my legal costs. Until then, if anyone else is interested, will you please let me know?"
"Will it be company owned, Mr Hughes?"
"No. I will be buying it, myself, Mrs Simpson, with financial help from my employers. I will be living above the shop."
"OK. I will ring the Parrys now."
She used a speaker phone. Mr Parry seemed delighted. I asked whether I and Blodwen could come to see them this afternoon. He agreed.
We went to see Mr Parry.
"Huw?" My Parry said. "I am very pleased you are buying it now. We were getting worried. The council is proposing to double the business rates on unoccupied commercial premises from next financial year. Most empty premises are owned by companies. The change is to encourage them to lower their fees for leases or rents. But it would have made next door a financial burden on us. Now it is being sold that it is a relief."
"I notice that you have shutters that close off the
shop front at night. Do you need them?"
"This shop, and next door, have a recessed doorway. Until I put the shutters on, drunks used to urinate in it and some homeless people would try to sleep among the piss."
"OK, Mr Parry, thank you. I will probably make a continuous flat frontage, but shutters would be a good idea. Do you know who installed your shutters?"
"Yes. They are mainly general builders. They do shop fitting and they do shutters as well. I forgot -- they are based up in the valleys and most of them speak Welsh. How's your Welsh now, Huw?"
"I can say a few sentences such as 'I don't speak much Welsh' but I am learning'."
I had said all that in Welsh.
"That's amazing, boyo, for just a couple of days."
"I have a good teacher. If she is still around, she can talk to the shop fitters or maybe by then I could. But although I or Blodwen will speak to them, I will need to wait until the purchase is completed and after I have spoken to the council before the work can start."
+++
The purchase was completed with a month. Blodwen had agreed in Welsh, what needed to be done with the builders.
It took me months until I had cleared all the works with the council. Because the shop was outside the conservation area, I didn't need planning permission only to do the work according to the building regulations. But correspondence with the council was very slow.
Blodwen had ended her summer holiday and returned to Aberystwyth while I was still corresponding with the council. While she was away, I and her parents had enrolled in an evening class for Welsh beginners. By the time she returned at Christmas all three of us had a reasonable competence and practised at home.
Blodwen was teasing me. We couldn't do much in her parents' home. It was too small with thin walls. We could do even less in my sports car. Until my flat was habitable Blodwen would only kiss and cuddle me. She also insisted that any verbal love making had to be in Welsh -- not covered by the evening class. I was frustrated and Blodwen knew I was.
The council had asked, but not required me, to make my new shutters decorative with a mural as they had done for empty boarded up shops within the city centre. The local Art college could do that for a stupidly low sum. I agreed with Mr Parry that his shutters could be painted as well and I would pay.
I had started my branch business from my bedroom in the Owens' house. I had a business telephone and fibre broadband. By the middle of March, I had twenty business customers and for none of them had I had to use my improving Welsh. I had planned to open the shop on a Monday morning early in April with some of my London bosses present but for the preceding April 1st I had arranged a party in the shop for the Owens (and Blodwen) the Parrys, some of the council staff who had helped, and the shop fitters who had done a brilliant job.
I had employed a local catering company to provide the food and drinks. The event was a great success. Mr Parry, despite his claim of not being musical, had played the piano and everyone sang in Welsh and English, getting ruder as the evening progressed.
When everyone had left except the Owens and Parrys, I got down on my knee in front of Blodwen and asked her, in fluent Welsh, to marry me. The others cheered as Blodwen accepted my proposal in Welsh.
Then she said, in English:
"Huw? I've been mean to you. Today is April Fool's Day. I would have accepted your proposal even if you couldn't speak a word of Welsh. But, because you love me, you have tried hard, and you are much more fluent in Welsh than I had expected. That shows your dedication and how much you want me. But I am glad I am marrying a Welsh-speaking April Fool, who is a fool only because of his love."
That evening in my new King size bed in my refurbished apartment Blodwen showed me the physical love she had been withholding all these months.
On the Monday, it was the official opening of my insurance branch office. I had leafletted the town with the announcement in English and Welsh. I had recruited one of Blodwen's teacher training friends, Cerys, who was a qualified music teacher. After her first year as a trainee, the school had decided they couldn't afford a music teacher, so she had bene unemployed. She had accepted a post starting in September so was willing to work for me, as a Welsh-speaking assistant until the start of the Autumn term.
I had made a production of the opening. Several of my London bosses had come to Swansea. A local catering company had provided nibbles with an emphasis of Welsh products and drink, including Welsh made whisky and a variety of Welsh beers. As Cerys was a music teacher, I had acquired a good quality upright piano. She accompanied the Swansea male voice choir as they sang many traditional Welsh songs.
I had intended that the choir would sing outside but it is Wales. Early in April, it rained, of course, so we were very crowded in the shop front. After the Male voice choir had performed, Blodwen and I performed one of Joseph Parry's most famous Welsh Duets: Hywel a Blodwen, in which the tenor declares his love for Blodwen.
