Goes Without Saying Pt 03

Chapter 13

On Friday David phoned Alex.

"D'you fancy coming round for some beer at home? Celia is out on the town, so I'm housebound."

There was a moment's pause before Alex replied. "Sorry old son, I'm out on a date. How about Saturday at the pub?"

"That would be good, but if you came to mine instead, Celia would be there and the three of us could have an evening in together. I've plenty of beer in. You never see Celia and me at the same time. It would relieve her of another boring evening in."

Another pause. "Well, actually I was sort of booked with the gang at the pub. You coming?"

David had not seen the gang since the Ozzy affair, and gave a little hum of reluctance.

Alex must have sensed it for he said, "Ozzy won't be there, and the others won't bring up your situation at home. Come on, David, you need to keep up with them."

Celia returned from her day off after lunch on Saturday, and they took the children to the park in the afternoon. David left after dinner for the pub and the group. Somewhat apprehensive of their reaction to him at first, he soon relaxed as the conversation remained firmly away from him and his situation, and he went home pleasantly inebriated.

On Sunday morning over breakfast, Celia had a suggestion.

"David, every two weeks you go to your parents on Friday night and come home on Saturday morning."

"Yes, to coincide with your day off."

"Exactly. You come home after a hard week at work and have to pack for yourself and the children for an overnight stay. How d'you feel about changing things a little?"

"In what way?"

"On weeks you go to your parents or to Gwen's parents, I would change my day off, and you could go to yours on Saturday morning and stay till Sunday evening. I would leave for my time off at the same time you go. I could get back here late Sunday evening. If you go to Wales, you could go on Friday and come back late Sunday. The weeks you're here, I would take Friday night and Saturday morning as we have been doing. How would that suit you?"

David thought for a moment, and it made good sense. He had only been going on Fridays locally to his parents because that was when Celia was off.

"Yes," he said. "That makes perfect sense."

So the following weekend he found he was free on Friday evening and phoned Alex to find he was free for a night at the pub. Tony and Greg were also there and a good time was had by all. Next morning Celia left for her day off and David packed and went to his parents'.

The following weekend he was at home and Celia left for her night and day off. Again David phoned Alex but there was no answer and the answer phone was not on. He enjoyed playing with the children and putting them to bed. Afterwards he relaxed with a couple of beers. It felt peaceful, being alone in the house with just the sleeping children.

Then the phone rang and it was Bethan Price, his mother-in-law. He briefly wondered if she were still his mother-in-law, but she was asking about the children and how he was.

"Dafydd bach," she said somewhat diffidently, "How would you like to come for the weekend next week? We miss you."

"Strangely," he replied, "I was thinking of inviting myself and the children."

"Oh, that's good," she said cheerfully. "Coming on Friday until Sunday?"

They chatted about Bethan's children, and she voiced her worries about Siân. David wondered if Siân was the reason he'd been invited.

"Three years now it is since she graduated, and no sign of any work. She's got a good degree in English and she's been taking courses in Business Administration and Keyboard skills and all she can find is that waitressing job in the hotel here. It's starting to get her down, you know. I think she's coming round to the idea that she'll have to look for work in England. There's nothing here in Wales, even in the bigger towns."

David thought. "I can ask around here, and we can chat at the weekend, how's that?"

"Oh Dai bach, that'd be brilliant. I'll not tell her; let you chat about it with her. She'll listen to you."

"I don't know about that, but I can try. I don't think she's averse to leaving Wales - she offered to stand in for Celia and even take over if Celia were to leave."

"Oh, I don't think that's likely sweetheart, I think Celia is pretty permanent."

"We'll see," David said, now certain he was invited so he could 'chat' with Siân, but wondering at Bethan's last remark.

David was right. On Saturday afternoon the proud grandparents took the children to the park, suitably wrapped against the cold. It was the last day of November and though the sun shone, there was little warmth in it.

"Siân's in the parlour," said Bethan, as they left, "I think she'd like a chat."

Siân was sitting in one the 'best' armchairs in the parlour. The parlour was the 'best' room, for special occasions and special visitors. David sat in the other chair, absently wondering why one sat 'on' dining chairs but 'in' armchairs.

"I assume this is what your mother was talking about last week?" said David with a grin.

"Yes. I can't live the rest of my life as a waitress, and I've looked for jobs all over Wales, even Cardiff and Swansea, but I'm not even getting interviews." She stopped and looked at him expectantly. Again he remarked upon her similarity to Gwen. She was a very pretty girl.

"So you're thinking of looking further afield," said David. "You won't be the first. If you're not getting interviews, perhaps we need to look at your application technique and your CV?"

"Would you?" she asked, reaching for a briefcase by her chair.

"I see you're ahead of me," said David with a laugh. "Shall we go where there's a table?"

She took him to her bedroom, where there was a table, empty except for a laptop, and two chairs.

Still ahead of me," he said. She blushed, and he thought she looked superb.

He read her CV. It was pretty sparse.

"Your degree is in English, you gained a 2:1. What did the course cover? What was the subject of your dissertation? As an employer I'd want to know. Did you do any work experience when you were still in high school?"

"Yes, but-"

"It's the different tasks they gave you on work experience that's relevant to your application: it shows how adaptable you are. Vacation jobs? You cared for Evan and Bethan, that can go down. Details of the tasks undertaken in whatever you did, shows you can assess and categorise the elements of a job. You've put down, 'waitressing'. More detail: what tasks do you undertake?

"Again, your keyboard and business courses. What did they cover? Which software packages are you familiar with? Are you getting the idea? It's not just the jobs you did, but what skills you used in those jobs. Variety."

They worked on her CV, and then on her letter of application. After an hour she looked dazed and happy.

"Dai, Cariad, I can see why you're a CEO. No one ever explained it like that - why I need to put all this extra stuff in."

David sat back and she leaned across and kissed his lips, and his neck. "Thanks so much," she whispered.

"You're very welcome, sweetheart," he said, still shivering from her sensuous kisses. "Now one other thing. There are three vacancies coming up in our offices. They are all largely administrative, some phone work, filing, answering letters, email work. Here's a printout of the advert for those posts. What I think you do have is a considerable facility for English composition, spelling and grammatical accuracy. Can you do something for me?"

"Anything, Dai," she said with shining eyes.

He delved in his pocket and took out a pen drive. "On this drive there are two pieces of writing. They contain a broad cross section of grammatical and syntactical mistakes people make in writing English. There are also some fairly abstruse words and some malapropisms,,," he looked at her inquisitively to see if she understood.

"I've read 'The Rivals'," she said with a grin. He smiled.

"You've got a printer, I see," he said. "I'll leave you to it. Can you produce as nearly perfectly corrected copies as you can, print them off and bring them to me. I'll go and make some tea."

He made the tea, brewed it, poured it and brought it to her, to find her totally absorbed in the job she was doing. He left her to it. An hour later she appeared with two A4 sheets of printed paper. She handed them to him and he settled to read them.

He was amazed. Each piece was perfect, but more than that, in some parts she had re-crafted the sentence constructions to clarify the meaning, and re-paragraphed one of the pieces as well. Each was a work of art.

"Siân, you must add to your application letter that you have a talent for proofreading and editing text, and that you would gladly submit to any test to prove your assertion. These two pieces are not simply perfectly corrected, but actually improved. Some of those words-"

"That's what on-line dictionaries are for," she laughed.

"Siân, if you were to apply to us for a job, you understand I can have nothing to do with any part of the application process; there is a department for that. But download those two pieces from the pen-drive, OK? You understand?" He gazed at her significantly.

She understood. He could see she was highly intelligent and capable, and wondered if she would apply. "Thank you so much," she said. "I've learned a lot this afternoon."

He drove home with the thanks of his in-laws ringing in his ears. He wondered again if she would take the hint and apply.

Celia was at home when he arrived and took the sleeping Bethan off to bed while David did the same with Evan.

"Good weekend?" Celia asked when they settled for a whisky nightcap.

David told her about his stay in Wales and about the talk he had with Siân, his assessment of her abilities and his hope she would apply for a post.

"If she applies and gets the job, where will she live?" Celia's question was pointed.

"No doubt she'll work something out," David said, aware that he was being defensive, and why: it struck him that the obvious place was living with him: there was a spare bedroom. He knew he feared Celia's reaction.

"You have a good weekend?" he asked her, as a diversion from that conversation, and with a hope that after the account of his own weekend, she might be more forthcoming but he was disappointed.

"Yes, thanks, very nice," she said with a smile, which said she knew what he wanted, and he wasn't going to get it! She said no more.

Both were aware that they were fencing round each other, and both felt an urge to come clean, but somehow neither could do it. Both felt uncomfortable.

Lying in bed, David let his thoughts wander. Would Siân apply? Would she expect to live with him? How would Celia take it? He tried to imagine the shared household, and fell asleep in the process. It was the first night he had not said 'Good Night' to Gwen, but since he was already asleep, he was not aware of it.

For the next three weeks David stayed at home at the weekend. It was nearing Christmas and his parents were busy with preparations. Celia took each Saturday to Sunday afternoon as her time off.

David had got into the habit of inviting Alex over when Celia was away, but either he was not at home, or he had another engagement. David thought he could not blame Alex, weekends had always been his relaxation time, usually with a woman in his bed on Friday or Saturday nights, sometimes both, sometimes even the same woman!

The beginning of the week before Christmas, Celia asked him about his plans for the festive time. He suddenly realised that he did not know, and said he would get back to her when he'd made some phone calls.

The next evening, they sat down with diaries.

"Our offices shut down over Christmas," said David. "We work until the 24th, then the place shuts until Monday the 5th of January. The powers that be have noted the beginnings of a recession and decided to save on heating and lighting by staying closed on Friday 2nd."

"So what are your plans?" she asked, pen at the ready.

"Wednesday the 24th, I pack up and go to my parents' place until Saturday the 27th. From there I travel to Wales until Monday the 29th, when I return and prepare the house for the Welsh to arrive on the 31st, New Year's Eve. Friday the 2nd January, the Welsh return home, leaving me to clear up over the weekend ready for Monday the 5th." David sat back and relaxed with a smile.

"So you don't need me from Christmas Eve until the Weekend after New Year?" she asked. David nodded.

"When do you want me that weekend?" she asked. "Saturday or Sunday?"

"Either," said David. "Whatever suits you. If you want an extra day, come on Sunday."

"My, you're a good employer!" she said with a half smile. "I'll see how things go."

"You going to your parents?" David felt entitled to ask, after all it was the sort of thing people did ask at that time.

"Hmm," she said with a frown. "I'll have to be there for Christmas Day, but I don't think I can stand to stay longer than Boxing Day. Then I'll be off visiting friends.

David remembered that Celia was always at loggerheads with her mother and remembered some of the rows he witnessed when they had visited them together. Mother and daughter simply antagonised each other. He ruefully remembered that he used to calculate in advance how long after they arrived that the first annoyed words would be exchanged. The shortest was thirty minutes and the distance record was a day and a half!

"Yes," he agreed. "You'll be lucky to survive much beyond Boxing Day." He wondered whom else she would visit, but dare not ask. "You know you can stop off here, and even stay while I'm away, don't you? After all, you do live here!"

"Yes, you're right, I do, don't I? Thanks David, but I think you'll have a full house over New Year. I'll use my flat then, and I'll clear some drawers in my room so they can use it."

"Thanks, that's very thoughtful of you. I think my own parents may stay over New Year's Eve as well, rather than drive home."

The exchange of information was effectively done, and while the discussion was warmer than he had expected, David was aware of a distance that seemed to have grown between them, occasioned by the no-go areas of conversation, and the questions that could not be asked.

Her reaction to his conversation with Alex some weeks before, seemed to have shifted them away from easy friendship and into a more distant and less comfortable relationship. He felt a sense of loss and a desire for that earlier time.

Again he wondered if she was seeing someone and whether it would eventually lead to her departure. He dreaded the prospect, but did not wonder whether it was his concern for his son and daughter that provoked the fear, or something else.

The run up to Christmas Eve was typically hectic: buying a tree, decorating the same, cleaning the house and putting up the cards, as well as wrapping presents.

Both Celia and he enjoyed the time and the growing excitement of Evan who was counting how many 'sleeps' there would be before the great day. David was well aware that this was the first Christmas without Gwen, and wondered from time to time how he would cope.

It was while out by himself shopping for family gifts, that he saw a diamond necklace and earring set. The chain was gold and the diamonds were good quality. It was an impulse buy, and made quite a dent in his credit card, but he reasoned Celia deserved it. She always gave more than she needed to, and provided such a secure and loving environment for the children, and he had to admit, for him himself, though he wondered about the loving part in his case. His appreciation of her needed adequate expression.

When he returned home slightly early on Christmas Eve, he found that Celia had packed for the children, and had laid out what she thought he would need by his suitcase on the bed. On the other side of the suitcase there was a carrier bag containing three parcels, one present for each of them. He felt a wash of warmth for her at her thoughtfulness.

He went back downstairs with her carefully wrapped present and entered the living room with the present held behind him.

"Thank you for packing for us, and for your presents. You didn't need to, you know."

"David, I'm perfectly well aware of that. It's Christmas or had you forgotten? We try to do nice things at Christmas, you know!" There was an edge to her comment, even though it was said with a quizzical smile. She added, "Not to be opened until tomorrow!"

At this he held out her present. "This is for you. Happy Christmas. Oh, and it's not to be opened until tomorrow either!"

She took it from him, realising it had to be a jewellery box. "Oh, David, you shouldn't have!"

"And I'm aware of that as well. As you say, it's Christmas. You're very good to me, and you do far more than you need to."

At this he received a shock. Celia threw her arms round his neck and kissed him gently, on his lips, hugging him to her.

"Thank you," she said, and he saw tears welling in her eyes. That was more of a shock than the embrace or the kiss. His heart went out to her, but he could not say anything, he dared not in case he said the wrong thing. Instead he kissed her and hugged her to him in his turn, then found words.

"I do appreciate everything you've done over the past months so very much, I know I've not been easy to live with. I'm so very grateful to you."

She said nothing but he heard a sniff and they parted and simultaneously became aware of a small boy gazing at them.

Simultaneously they smiled at him. He smiled, nodded and went back to his toys.

Celia turned swiftly and went upstairs to retrieve her case while David stood, shocked at the feelings that swept over him. Deep affection for her, comfort from her warm body against his, the sense of the first tingle of arousal, the shape of her body provoking memories of their years together, and along with that nostalgia, a longing for all he had lost, and this time not only Gwen, but also arising from the coolness between him and Celia. He wondered what Celia was feeling.

She came back into the living room, where he still stood.

"I'm off now," she said, and seemed back to her normal self. "See you after New Year." She bent and hugged each of the children and with a little wave to him, was gone. He felt disappointed he'd not got another kiss!

He went upstairs and packed what she'd laid out, then brought down the bags. Apart from Celia's presents there were no others, David having taken them to his parents' beforehand.

"Come on kids!" he invited. "Time to go to Grandma's."

-

Chapter 14

Christmas was comfortable with David's parents, taking him back to a time before he left home, Christmases with brother Tom and sister Ruth. Of course the house was full to bursting with Tom, Teresa and Patrick their son, and of course Ruth.

There was little time for reflection, but in odd moments, David thought of Gwen, and missed her anew at that family time. He noted that Evan seemed to have forgotten Gwen in the excitement and the crowd. He knew it was to be expected, but it hurt him all the same.

His father caught his mood on one occasion.

"Missing her?" his father said gently.

David could not resist the temptation, and it was a testament to the progress he had made through his bereavement.

"Goes without saying, Dad," he said with a grin.

"Something else that goes that way," the older man said. "Evan doesn't need to be reminded. He'll remember in his own time."

David realised he was right and admired his father's perception. He surmised that children live in the present and in the love of their carers, and he knew Evan was comfortable having Gwen in heaven looking after him through Celia. Bethan of course had no memory of her mother at all. To all intents and purposes, Celia was her 'mother'. David had never managed to work out how he felt about that.