Fifty Years On

'Gillian Newbury,' Elizabeth said.

George frowned. 'Gillian Newbury?'

'Yes. You remember her.'

'No.'

'Scottish lass.'

George frowned again, but then he smiled. 'Oh, yes. Gillian of the ginger minge.'

Elizabeth laughed. 'She was definitely a redhead. But I can't verify that her carpet matched her drapes.'

'I'm pretty sure that it did. Or am I getting her mixed up with someone else?'

'It's your story,' Elizabeth said.

'You're the one telling it.'

'She wrote a book. Did you know?'

'No, I didn't. Good?'

'Don't know. I saw it in the library. It was in the gardening section. There was a display.'

'In the gardening section? Are you sure it was the same Gillian Newbury?'

'There was a photograph. She was older of course. But, yes, it was certainly her.'

'A gardening book?'

'Roses.'

'Oh? I didn't realise that she was into roses.'

'Perhaps she wasn't. Back in the day.'

'Well... that was quite a while ago now,' George said.

'Forty years? No. Must be fifty years.'

'I suppose it must be.'

'She married that chap who was the sales manager for some seed company. Perhaps that's how she got interested in gardening. I seem to remember they moved to Bristol.'

'Did they?'

'I think so.'

'Your memory's better than mine.'

'You're the one who remembered her as having a ginger whatsit.'

George laughed. 'Ginger. Yes. And not just ginger. Bright ginger. Marigold orange. Is that what I mean? Marigold?'

'I didn't realise that you and she....'

'Just a couple of times,' George said. 'And anyway, I think that pretty much everyone did everyone back then, didn't they? At some point.'

'Did they?'

'You were there.'

'Not really,' Elizabeth said. 'I wasn't a part of that gang until pretty much the end.'

'You and Toby?'

'Toby. Yes. It was Toby who introduced me to you lot. He was a friend of Douglas.'

'That's right. And then you and Douglas were a bit of an item for a while there.'

'Mmm... not really. Well... not for long. A few weeks maybe. That's all. But then Douglas decided that he was gay. Except being gay was illegal back then. So I was his cover. Douglas had the hots for Pete.'

'Did they ever...?'

'I've no idea,' Elizabeth said. 'I thought that it was better not to know.'

'Gina and Rosemary were pretty open about it.'

'Gina and Rosemary. Yes. But I think it was different for women. At least that's the way I remember it.'

'Did you...?'

'Did I what?'

'Did you ever... tip the velvet?'

'Wouldn't you like to know?'

'You and Rosemary were pretty tight for a while there,' George said. 'I just thought... perhaps....'

'Well, you know what thought thought,' Elizabeth said.

George laughed.

For a moment or two they both focussed on what they were doing and said nothing. Then George said that perhaps they needed 'a touch more of the slippery stuff'.

'One of the penalties of old age,' Elizabeth said. And she handed him the tube and, with the fingers of her free hand, she helpfully spread her cunt lips. 'We might need a touch more for your arsehole too.'

George handed the lube tube back to Elizabeth who put a dab of lube on the end of her finger and returned her finger whence it had been.

'Oh, yes. That's better,' George said.

Elizabeth laughed.

'You know, we may well be the only ones left out of the original gang,' George said.

Elizabeth nodded. 'That's a sobering thought, isn't it? Mind you, I think the plan back then was always to live fast and die young.'

'Except you and I didn't die young, did we?

'No. We just went straight past our three score years and ten, and then kept on going.'

'So,' George said, 'are we any closer to a decision? Are we going to let that young couple come and put on a bit of a show for us?'

'I don't know. What do you think?'

'It might be fun.'

'You know there are video channels showing such things,' Elizabeth said.

'Hardly the same as live, is it?'