Beware the Roasburies! Pt. 04

She let us in and we emptied her dingy room in fairly short order. It went like clockwork: most of her belongings went into my car, and the rest into Mary's. She wrote a note to 'him' and we were off.

Sandra rode with me, and we drove in convoy back to my flat. Sandra sucked in a breath when she saw the block. It was a typical 60s new build, square, and fairly featureless, but compared with where she'd been it must have looked palatial. It helped that the modest gardens were well kept and there were plenty of young trees and bushes. She looked a little overawed.

We climbed the stairs, I opened the door and we entered the hallway.

"Kitchen immediately to the right," I said. "Living room next, bathroom dead ahead, two bedrooms to the left. Yours is the first one, here."

"Nice place," said Mary. "The rooms are really large and airy."

Sandra moved forward, exclaiming over each room in turn. Then we began unloading the cars. We unloaded everything into Sandra's bedroom. It looked quite cluttered with boxes and carrier bags all over the bed and the floor but I surmised it would all fit quite snugly into the wardrobe which ran the length of one wall. She really had very little stuff of her own.

We had tea and biscuits and then Mary left, giving both Sandra and myself a hug. Then we were left alone.

"I think we'd better have another cup of tea, and try to sort ourselves out," I began. "You will want to stow your stuff as well."

She nodded, suddenly shy and nervous.

So I poured more tea and we sat in the living room.

"Let's talk round living here together," I said reclining in my armchair. "First of all, do you want to live as a lodger, doing your own thing, living in your room, because if you do, I'll need to get some more furniture for you, and a radio, or do you want to live as a flat-mate and share the common areas all the time?"

She stared at me, confused. "Graham, I don't think it's my place-"

"Sandra," I broke in, "You're wrong. This is now your place, your new home. You decide how you want to live."

"I don't contribute, I have no money."

"If you want to contribute, until you get a job, how can you do it?"

"Well, I can cook, clean (after all I was a cleaner at the hospital), wash clothes, do the shopping."

"So you can contribute. What's more you could contribute by chatting with me, by eating with me, by simply being here - you'll be company for me."

She sighed. I did not understand why.

"So I ask you again," I said. "Do you want our relationship to be lodger and landlord, or flat-mates?"

Still flushed she stared at me for a long while, as if trying to find a hidden agenda.

"Flatmates," she said decisively with a real smile this time, a smile I could get used to. It made her face ten times more beautiful.

"You know," she added, "You could have added sex into the mix but you didn't, you excluded it. Harriet said you took her out, hugged and kissed her, but never made a move on her until she made the first move. You did that for months."

She paused, then there was that devilish smile again. "She said she knew you weren't gay because you were busy with one of her friends."

"That brings me to another point," I said. "I told you I have a sometime girlfriend. Sometimes I stay the night with her, sometimes she stays the night here. If that makes you uncomfortable, and we do tend to get quite noisy, if that upsets you I'll go to her place every time."

"Harriet said you were..." Here she coloured up and stopped, then giggled.

"I was what, Sandra?" I smiled wickedly, putting her on the spot.

She shrugged then said defiantly, "OK, she said you were good in the sack. So there!" She tossed her head and looked triumphant, daring me to go further. She looked so pretty with that playful, defiant look on her face.

"Enough sex talk," I said authoritatively, for I was getting not a little aroused. I realised she was very open about sex, and she was sexy.

She relaxed; it was a real look of relief. For the first time since she had entered the flat, she really relaxed.

"That's better," I said. "Now you're settling in. You happy?"

"You've no idea," she smiled.

"Oh, I've just thought of something else," I said. "Now don't get the wrong idea, but there is only one bathroom, and the loo is in the bathroom. We are going to surprise each other - there's no lock on the bathroom door. If you want I'll go out now and buy a lock."

"I've no problem with you seeing me naked, Graham, have you a problem with me seeing you?"

"No, not at all," I said. "What about sharing the bathroom, say I'm showering and you want to pee or to wash?"

"No, I'm fine with that," she said. "Perhaps I'd draw the line at shitting. I like to do that alone."

"I understand that and yes, I feel the same way," I agreed, then I had another idea.

"Back to money."

Her face clouded immediately.

"No, listen, while you're at home you said you'd go shopping for us."

"Home," she said wistfully, and drifted a little, then shook herself, "Well, yes, of course I will do the shopping."

"So we need to set up joint housekeeping money. I keep cash in my wallet, but you can't keep coming to me for handouts when we need to shop; we'll need to keep an amount in the flat for you to use. I have a cash book I use to keep count of my own spending. We could use that."

"You'd trust me? Graham you don't know me."

"Sandra we live together. Of course I trust you. In any case you can only spend what I put in, so I don't see a problem."

She smiled at me again, a warm smile. She got up from the sofa, came over to me, sat on the arm of my chair, bent over and kissed me on my lips.

"Thank you," she said. "I can't believe the change that's happened to me."

"You'll get used to it," I laughed. "Wait till we have our first row."

She shook her head. It was clear she thought that would never happen.

I went to the pot on the mantlepiece and retrieved the spare keys to the flat, one for the flat door and one for the door to the block. I presented them to her. She stared at them and her eyes filled with tears.

"What?" I wondered out loud. Once again she was puzzling me.

"I'm being stupid," she sniffed. "I'm so happy!"

I took her in my arms and hugged her, and that brought on some sobbing. Women!

"I'd better unpack," she said, with another sniff.

"Good idea. I'm going shopping," I said. "I suggest you go right through the flat, including my bedroom, and look in all the cupboards and drawers. Then you'll know where everything is."

I thought it best to leave her to gather herself together, but when I returned after two hours, I found her room untouched, and Colette sitting in the living room with Sandra, having a cup of tea. On the sideboard there was a big bouquet of flowers in my favourite vase.

"You told Zena that Sandy was coming today," Colette said with a smile.

Sandra was looking somewhat dazed. "She brought those lovely flowers," she almost whispered. Then she smiled wickedly, "She's been telling me more about you."

"I'd better make a start feeling guilty already."

Both women nodded with grins on their faces.

It was the beginning of a hectic weekend for Sandra, and by implication for me. Colette invited us out for dinner. Sandra looked a little worried, and I did not understand why, but Colette patted her arm and told her everything would be fine.

I walked down the stairs with Colette.

"Interesting talk with her," she said. "The girl left home under a cloud - didn't say why. She's had a really bad time - homeless on the streets for a long time. It eventually became too much to bear and she saw an advert for a cleaning job in Bolton hospital. She got the job but had nowhere to live. So one of the porters offered her a room and she was back in the same situation she'd been before.

"He took her money as part rent and her body for the rest. Graham, she's got very little in the way of clothes or even shoes. We are the same size, near enough. I'm going to bring her a frock to wear tonight, but we'll all have to chip in and get her a new wardrobe. I'll talk to Zena and Harriet."

Colette was as good as her word, and brought a suitable dress for Sandra, nothing too extreme but good quality and an even better fit. I've no idea how she did it. Sandra was completely at a loss. She looked superb in the dress and I told her so. More embarrassment!

We had a good evening and Colette came back with us to the flat.

"I won't stay over," she said over a coffee. "Let Sandy get settled."

"It's all right for you to stay," Sandra asserted. "I know about your 'arrangements'."

"Another night, perhaps," Colette said with a smile. "You get settled."

It was after midnight when Colette left, and Sandra looked dead on her feet.

"Get yourself off to bed," I said. "You look all in."

"Yes," she said with a yawn, "I still can't believe it. It isn't a dream is it?"

"No," I said. "It's real enough. You're getting the break you deserve. I hope you'll be getting a lot of pleasure and happiness in the next few weeks. After what you've been through, you need a few weeks to rest and recuperate."

"Colette is wonderful," she said.

"True," I said. "Now get yourself off to bed."

She stood, came to where I sat on my chair, sat on the arm once more, put an arm round me and kissed me on the mouth.

I definitely could get used to this, I thought.

"I don't know what to say," she said, looking down at me from her perch.

"You just said it all," I said, and she laughed.

"Good night," she said and kissed me again, and this time when I kissed back, she chuckled.

She stood and left the living room. I waited while she used the bathroom and retired to her room before doing the same. I noticed she left her door ajar, and I did the same. Lights out.

I lay awake for a while, thinking things over. First I was surprised at her easy way with me, kissing and hugging. We got on fine so far, but there is always a honeymoon period in every shared flat.

Then I thought about her past. All right, the bastard had physically abused her, but worse, he had taken advantage of her dependent status effectively to rape her. She must have been destitute, and that provoked the memory of what Colette had said: she had left home. I wondered why.

Sunday 20 December 1970

I am a fairly light sleeper, and with the bedroom door being ajar, the soft sounds of someone moving about in the flat awoke me. It was eight thirty, and I wondered for a second who it was. Then I remembered. Sandra was in the kitchen. I remained where I was, and eventually she appeared at my door, looking to see if I was awake. When she saw me she smiled and brought in a mug of tea.

"Good morning," she said. She was wearing well worn flannelette pyjamas, and looked wonderful, with her hair awry and no make up. Mind you, she hadn't been wearing makeup the previous day.

"Good morning," I said. "I see you are very civilised, and drink tea first thing."

"Colette told me you like tea first and coffee mid-morning." She smiled as she placed the mug on the bedside cupboard.

"Thanks," I said. "I could get used to this."

"I hope you will," she said curtseying prettily, and gave a short laugh as she left the room.

She was still in her pyjamas when I had showered, shaved and dressed.

"I'm off out now," I said. "Got to get to church by ten."

"Oh," she said, "You go to church on Sundays?"

"I go to ring the bells for church," I said, "then I usually stay on for the service."

"Oh, OK," she said. "See you later."

On returning, when I opened the flat door, there was the smell of fresh coffee and did I detect pastry? I did.

Sandra emerged from the kitchen in sweater and jeans, and her face lit up as she saw me. She was so pretty when she smiled, and her face had softened from the care-worn state it was in when we first met. She was gorgeous. Her red cheek had gone. I wondered about the other bruises.

"Croissants and Coffee," she said. "Kitchen or living room?"

"Always living room on Sunday," I said. "How did you know about the croissants? Don't tell me-"

"Colette!" we both said at once and laughed.

It was so easy being with Sandra, there seemed to be no awkwardness any more, as if she'd always been there. She'd made me tea in the morning and then breakfast as if she'd always done it.

We ate together at the living room dining table, casting occasional glances at each other, grinning and smiling when we caught each other's eyes. I felt a warm glow and a sense of pride that this beautiful young woman who'd had such a bad time, should now seem so happy. It came to me that it was as if I'd known her for a long time, we were so much at ease with each other.

There was little time to talk about it with her, as Harriet and Kieran called as we finished the meal, and stayed until one, when they went back to Harriet's place. Kieran was distant with me, and I surmised that he knew Harriet and I had been intimate and didn't like it. Not my problem, I never tried to hold on to Harriet, and in fact I remembered suggesting she tried again with him. They would have to sort that out between them.

"They're not quite right with each other," said Sandra after they had gone. "What's the story?"

So I told her and she nodded.

"He's kicking himself that he broke it off and she ended in your bed: he's very jealous. And she's not at all sure that he's ready to settle down, or even that she wants to any more."

That was some insight after seeing the couple for just over an hour.

"Harriet wanted to talk to me alone, probably about you," she said.

"She never said anything," I replied. "How d'you know?"

"I just do," she said smugly. "I think she'll find a way for us to chat - alone - without you!"

"You're welcome to talk with her as much as you like," I said. "Don't mind me!" I affected a huff, but she just laughed. She was extremely perceptive and I admired that in her.

We went out for lunch to a small café, after a walk round the area so she could get her bearings and see where the shops were; the talk was all about the area.

No sooner were we back home, than Zena arrived.

"I called by about an hour ago, but you were out," she told me, then saw Sandra. She looked surprised, then covered it quickly, but I saw it and wondered why - she knew Sandra was coming.

"Sandra!" she said going to her and pulling her into a hug and a kiss on both cheeks. "I'm Zena."

There is a moment when any male realises that the two women in front of him want to talk about women's things or interests and do not want him around, and in any case what they find interesting will usually be boring. I immediately got that feeling and took evasive action.

The two of them sat down ready for a long conversation, while I left for the kitchen to make Zena some coffee and Sandra and me some tea. Then I wondered if Sandra was a coffee person, and on asking, was assured she was more tea-oriented. I made their drinks and then went to my bedroom and did some thinking and some planning about what to do with the possible action at Bolton General, making some notes ready for the coming week. I could hear them talking and there was no let up - yakety, yakety, yak!

After an hour and a half Zena came looking for me. She embraced me from behind, her luscious breasts pressing against my back as I sat at my desk. Yes, I had a desk in my bedroom because that window looked out through trees over some school playing fields with more trees beyond. It also faced north, which meant that the appearance of the sun did not inconvenience me. With Zena's two points of interest pressing on me, I almost regretted not bedding her as well as the other two.

"You OK, sweetie?" she asked.

"Fine," I said, snuggling my head against her ample chest.

"How did you find her?" she laughed. "I'm surprised you'd want reminding. I don't believe it!"

"Ugh?" I asked, puzzled.

"That photo you used to have in the living room. Surely you can see it?"

"What the hell are you talking about Zena? What photo?"

"That one of Penny," she said with some exasperation. "Surely you can see it?"

"I'm sorry Zena, but you've lost me here. What-"

"Graham my darling, you couldn't have found anyone more like Penny to share your flat with if you'd tried. Sandy is so like her."

"In your over-active imagination!" The I had an epiphany. "It's just because she's got green eyes, isn't it?" I said patiently. "Lots of women have green eyes. She's nothing like Penny."

"You've been put off by her blonde hair. Take a good look at her. Surely you can see it? You've chosen to live with someone the image of your dumping girlfriend!"

"Sorry," I said. "I just don't see it. For goodness' sake, I of all people would have noticed."

"OK, forget it. It doesn't really matter. Sandra definitely needs someone like you. She's been through hell, but she's come through without getting bitter. You've no idea how grateful she is to you. You could have her in your bed whenever you want, you know. She'd be more than willing."

"Interesting," I said. "She was so poor she shacked up with some bastard who had her in his bed as part payment."

"I know, she told me."

"So you'll see why the last thing I'm going to do is take her to bed."

"Last thing? How many things before?" she asked mischievously. "It would be nice to know when your arrangement with Colette will be ending."

"Who said it would be ending?" I reposted.

"If I know you it will be ending," she said with some meaning. "Anyway, it's time for me to be going."

She went back to Sandra, the two hugged and kissed, and then I saw her to the door.

We kissed goodbye, and she smiled an 'I know things you don't' smile. I cocked an eyebrow. No point in having a talent for single raised eyebrowing if you never use it!

"By the way," she asked, "Chester. Is that where the Roasburies live?"

"Yes, why?"

"Where exactly?"

"Well, not in Chester - a little village called Rowton." I said with feeling - I'd never have found it without Penny's directions and I never wanted to find it ever again!

"Oh. See you tomorrow," she said with a shrug, and clattered down the stairs.

I returned to the living room.

"Where did you go?" Sandra asked me. "Did we drive you out?"

"I know when Zena wants to cross-question a witness," I said smiling. "You would both be more comfortable without me there. Girls share things that they never share with boys."

She sat in silence, and I could see she was trying to work it out. I gave me a chance to look carefully at her. Like Penny? Nah! Different height, different body shape. OK, green eyes, but was that all. I resolved to find the photo if I hadn't thrown it out, and have a good look at it.

"Look," I said. "It seems to me you've made three new friends, who happen to be my friends as well. That's good. Sometimes they'll want to be with me, sometimes with you, sometimes both of us together. That's fine."

Everything's happening so quickly," she said. "It's hard to adjust, but I've never been happier."

"This is your first full day," I said. "I think we need to give you room to breathe and get used to being here. So no more inquisitions, let's just live for a few days. You need to recuperate from what's gone before. Let's just relax a little, eh?"

She looked relieved, than her face clouded.

"I've learned quite a lot about you," she said and I could have sworn there was a look of adoration in her eyes, more like wishful thinking on my part, "but you know very little about me."

"There's time," I said. "I know enough of you to be happy you're with me. Tomorrow I have to go to work. You'll have all day to do your own thing. Explore every corner of the flat, do what you want."