Milly Scott Pt. 01: The Artist and the Cop

Victoria took my hand, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“It’s okay; you of all people couldn’t upset me. Without you two my life would have been much more of a challenge. I don’t know why they’re like that; the local Vicar here is such a nice man.”

“Are you going to church?” Jess asked.

“No. Well, I went once almost by accident. He and I’ve spoken a few times. He regards me as one of the sheep he must tend whether we want tending or not. He’s what I think Christians should be like. I’ve donated a sketch to a project he’s started and I hope to raise a couple of hundred pounds, I’ll show you a copy later.”

Victoria looked at me with a very serious face. “How are you doing financially?”

It was typical of her. She wasn’t being nosey, she asked out of concern. “I bought this place with the proceeds of Alex’s flat. She had a large life insurance that it paid out double because it was an accidental death. There was a settlement from the car driver’s insurers as well. With that and the money from my art, I don’t have to do real work, at least for now. I’m doing okay, thanks.”

That evening we walked to the pub. I went to the bar to order our drinks and collect some menus; I smiled at Bob and asked Reg to fill his glass. He smiled at me and winked as he usually did.

I handed over the menus’ and the drinks.

“Who’s the older man at the end of the bar?”

“That’s Bob, always in here. Rarely speaks. There’s something nice about him, unthreatening. He looks shabby, but his clothes are, were, good quality. I always buy him a drink. No idea why, but it seems like the right thing to do.”

The food was good and we chatted away as we ate. Victoria got up to go to the toilet and as she walked back I saw Bob touch her arm. She stopped and they spoke for a minute or two. I raised an eyebrow when she got back to the table and she mouthed, “Later.”

We were chatting when we got back to the cottage. Victoria turned to me, “Your friend Bob asked if we were old friends and when I said yes, he said that it was good that I had friends. He described you as a lonely girl. He wishes that he was younger because he’s fallen in love with you, because you’re kind and beautiful.”

“Really, wow.” I was shocked. “Did you think it was creepy?”

“No, far from it. Definitely not at all creepy, I liked him.”

The next couple of days they were off exploring by themselves. I cooked dinner every evening and we chatted until late.

Jenny arrived late Sunday afternoon and she was a little nervous. Maybe more than a little, she was terrified. She’d decided on a dress, heels and had done her hair, a change from her usual hair band or ponytail. We chatted as I cooked and she set the table. Jess and Victoria arrived back half an hour later after their steamer cruise. They were windswept and a little damp, so after I made the introductions, they both went for showers and changed into dry clothes.

They were kind to Jenny, asked all sorts of questions, in a non threatening way. They told stories about me and also about how they met. Jenny asked about Alex and I meeting, Victoria looked at me, then at Jenny and told her about the wedding. It cleared the air nicely.

The four of us sat at the table until late that evening. When Jenny settled and realised that they were not actually going to torture her she became great company. She admitted how she wondered about me and what had become of me. Then poked fun at herself because she’d not realised that the artist whose work her uncle was selling was me.

When she left that evening she kissed my cheek and told me that she’d enjoyed meeting my friends.

Once the door was closed the conversation took a serious turn. Jess poured herself more wine and looked at me. “Really Milly. She’s potty about you and I really like her, at least after she got over the terror of meeting us for an ‘interview.’” She made little air-quotes. “She’s gorgeous as well and I bet when she lets her hair down she’s great fun.”

“Jess’s right Milly. She’s lovely. Best of all she knows your history, how you’ve grieved for Alex and, she’s still definitely interested. How do you feel about her?”

“I really, really, like her, but I can’t help feeling unfaithful somehow.” With that the conversation ended, but was not forgotten by any of us, we turned to a neutral subject for a while before turning in. In bed that night I realised that I’d been given approval. Now I needed to make up my mind about what I was going to do.

The Exhibition

A few weeks later I was headed for London again for the first time in over four years. I met with some former colleagues for a drink, but it was nearly ten years since I’d worked there and things had moved on a great deal.

A taxi collected me at the hotel and took me to the gallery. I wore the beautiful elegant calf-length dress in pale-blue silk that went well with my hair and that Jenny had helped me select. I’d dug out my highest heels and I was confident that I looked good as I stepped out of the taxi. A bit wobbly on those heels.

The work of six artists was displayed that evening, about ten or twelve pieces by each. I checked out mine and they looked good, but I nearly fainted when I saw the asking prices attached to them.

I took a glass of wine and wandered round looking at the other works and spoke to some of the other artists. Much of their work was more modern and almost all very colourful compared with my monochrome.

Guests started to arrive; they were all smartly dressed and looked like they had money. After a while Daniel, the gallery owner, asked for their attention. He introduced each of the artists and spoke a little about their work. I found it embarrassing and felt like I was a fraud in this company.

That changed when the invited guests started speaking to me. Several asked me to sign their programmes, much to my surprise. I was so distracted that I didn’t realise how well my work was selling until Daniel asked me to come to the small podium with him.

“Ladies and gentlemen, earlier I introduced you to Milly Scott and you seem to have liked her work, in fact there’s only one of her works unsold at this point. The remaining work is entitled ‘The Preacher’ it was inspired by a vicar in the Lake District who’s started an ambitious community project. Milly has kindly donated this work to the project and asked that I exhibit it this evening and to sell it, if possible, to raise funds. I’ve had three offers so far and would like to open it up to the highest bidder, an auction if you will.” I didn’t know where to look, all of these people looking at me and smiling, they were going to have an auction. That made me nervous.

It made me nervous until Daniel said, “So, I have an offer of five thousand pounds and remember there are no auction fees this evening and I am donating my fees to the cause as well. Any advance on five thousand?”

I nearly fell to my knees, Daniels assistant steadied me. Five thousand fucking pounds! Are these people crazy, for some pencil lines on a piece of paper and a nice frame. Someone handed me a glass of champagne and the bidding ended at £6200, as long as the buyer could get a kiss. I nodded, for that money he could get a hug as well! It helped that he was gorgeous, as was his wife; they came over for their prize. They were a lovely couple and I enjoyed chatting with them, in fact they invited me to join them for lunch with some friends the following day. I guess that they wanted to show me off to their friends, but a free lunch seemed like a deal to me.

All of my work had sold and I’d made quite a lot of money even after Daniel took his share, but given all of the work that he’d put in, it seemed reasonable. He was delighted and had sold lots of the other works, but no one else had ‘sold out.’ Best of all he invited me to show more work later in the year.

Alan had sent me a text message to ask how things had gone and I replied that the sketch had sold, that he would be pleased with the proceeds and that I’d speak to him on my return. I left it at that.

I went to lunch the following day in a very fancy restaurant where the food was small but beautiful. I was right, the couple who had bought the picture wanted to show me off to their six guests. It was a very nice occasion, I had fun, I felt special and enjoyed it far more than I expected to.

The Kids

I took the mid afternoon train for the two hour journey to my old home town. It gave me a chance to think about the previous evening and about Jenny. I was sure that she felt something pretty significant towards me. I tried hard to analyse my feelings for her and came to the conclusion that I was in love with her, but admitted to myself that I was scared of letting Alex go, being unfaithful and maybe not finding the thing that makes it special. Maybe a chat with Jess and Victoria would help. Being back in my old home town would also be difficult, but there was little chance of running into my parents.

The taxi dropped me off at the house and I rang the doorbell. It was opened by a young girl wearing a smart dress, no shoes, with her long blonde hair in a braid. As she smiled I saw the eyes that she had inherited from Jess. “Hi, I’m Milly and I guess that you’re Fiona. Your mum is expecting me.”

She eyed me critically before speaking, “Milly. Artist. Lake District. Yes we’re expecting you.” She stood aside to let me through the door and as she turned, yelled, “Jane, the artists here, good looking too.”

I was pretty surprised by that but I didn’t really have much time to react because another girl appeared at the end of the hallway. What stunned me was that they looked identical and were dressed the same, the only difference being that Jane was obviously two years older.

“Hi, I’m Jane. Victoria’s on the phone so I’ll show you where to put your bags, follow me.”

They both escorted me, because that is what they did, as if expecting me to steal something, to a lovely guest bedroom. I laid my suitcase and handbag down and took off my coat as they stood at the door watching.

“Nice perfume Milly. What is it?” asked Fiona.

I told them the name and pulled the bottle from my handbag and handed it to them. After they each had a quick spray, Jane handed it back to me, “Maybe a little too mature for us, but it’s nice. I like your lipstick too. What is it?” I simply handed it over.

They both studied it, but didn’t speak to each other. Fiona looked at me, “I like this, quality product, good colour.”

“I doubt if you’re supposed to wear it. But if you’d like to test it you can, as long as you promise to wipe it off before we all get caught.” The two of them giggled and went to the mirror, fighting over who got to go first.

Fiona looked at Jane admiring her lip gloss and said, “It looks good. It suits you. It feels nice on me.” She nodded in my direction before continuing, “This one’s a good candidate, should we keep her?”

Jane looked very serious as she responded, “May be keep this one under the bed.” Before I could work out just what a strange world I’d entered Victoria walked through the door and gave me a hug. “Hi Milly, good to see you.”

She turned to Fiona and Jane, “She’s just walked through the door and you already have her lip gloss and scent on. No, you cannot keep her under the bed or anywhere else, scram.” They giggled as they ran off.

“What was that about?”

“They like to watch documentaries on TV and the latest favourite is FBI’s most wanted or something like that. They’re fascinated by some monster who abducted women and kept them prisoner. They thought it might be a good idea to do the same and have even added duct tape and rope to the shopping list.”

“I see they don’t act their age.”

“No they don’t and that worries me. What are they going to be like? Come and let’s get a coffee or some wine.”

When we reached the kitchen the two girls were already there. Jane asked, “Milly can I get you a drink. Wine?”

“Yes please,” I replied.

“Day wine or night wine?”

“What?”

Victoria laughed, “They heard some comedian refer to white wine as day wine and red as night wine. They thought it was hilarious.”

I stifled a giggle, “Day wine, please Jane.”

Victoria just shook her head, “Same for me please and then homework time.”

Fiona grumbled and muttered to her sister, “We’d better do the home work; I don’t want to be beaten again like last night.”

Did I hear that right I asked myself?

As they left the room Victoria turned to me, “They like you or they wouldn’t joke like that. Anyway we didn’t beat them last night. It was the night before.” I nearly dropped my glass until I saw her laughing.

Jess arrived home and we both got a hug, although mine was not as good as the one that Victoria got. She was brought up-to date on the behaviour of Jane and Fiona and went to say hello to them.

When she came back ten minutes later she said, “They like you Milly.”

I replied, “I’m pleased. But how are they with people that they don’t like?”

“They would say ‘hello’ and disappear. Did you get your lipstick back?”

“No, I don’t think I did.”

“Sorry, I’ll get it later. They have a habit of this. A little light-fingered with make-up. I’m also missing a lip gloss and mascara; they will be in their stash box.”

“Do you let them wear make-up?”

“No, not really, but they ‘collect’ things.”

I offered to help Jess with dinner, she smiled and turned to Victoria, “You. Go and do something useful, make us some money or something.” She turned back to me. “Vic likes cooking with me, but it sometimes gets distracting and, well, we all go hungry. For food I mean.”

We chatted as we chopped and stirred. I noticed that Jane and Fiona had reappeared and were sitting at the kitchen table with books although Fiona kept looking up, watching me. It was almost as if she was trying to work out if I would fit under her bed.

“Is that homework?” I asked.

“Yes, arithmetic for both of us, geography for me and English for Jane.”

“Do you need a hand?” I thought it might be nice until I saw the look on their faces, then they turned to each other.

Fiona shook her head, “Maybe she’s not as smart as I thought.” She turned back to me, “What would be the point? We ‘re supposed to learn, not like some of the others in my class thick as.....”

Jess jumped in, “Fiona, stop, no swearing.”

“Sorry. Some of my classmates get their folks to do their homework. They get great marks, but then in class they are just thick as shit. Sorry.” I know that as an adult I shouldn’t laugh, but I did. The way she spoke was wonderful.

When they finished they swapped exercise books and appeared to check each other’s work. “Are you checking each other?”

Jane looked at me, “Yes, Fiona’s smarter than she looks.” The blow to the back of Jane’s head must have hurt, but they both laughed. Fiona pulled out an atlas and started searching through the pages.

Jane looked up at me, “You used to be a secretary. Want to check my English?” Jess looked surprised, but I went over and looked. She seemed to have all the right answers.

“It looks good to me.”

Jane thanked me and asked a question. “The teacher read us a poem about daffodils the other day and said that the guy who wrote it lived in the Lake District. Is that near your house?”

“‘I wandered lonely as a cloud, That floats on high o’er vales and hills, When all at once I saw a crowd, A host, of golden daffodils; Beside the lake, beneath the trees, Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.’ It’s by William Wordsworth, but I can’t remember all of it. His house is not far away from where I live. If you visit I could take you there.”

Fiona looked up all alert, “Next weekend?”

Again I laughed and Jess smiled as she said, “Fiona, stop it. You can’t go next weekend and you haven’t been invited.”

“It sounded like an invite to me. Jess you can be quite horrible at times and now I’m going to my room to prepare for this evenings beating.” She turned and walked away winking at me as she did so.

“Is it like this every day?”

“Mostly, but it’s worse tonight because you’re here. They would never normally do homework in here and I’m stunned that Jane let you see hers. Just don’t offer them anything or show them anything or you will lose whatever you show them. They will accept what you offer. Like the Lake District. That is going to be a problem and we may have to take them.”

I was still laughing, “I’m sorry, they’re adorable and I’d love to have them for a few days. You could stick them on the bus to Penrith, or a train, and I’d meet them.”

Then from the doorway I heard Fiona yell, “Jane we’re going to the Lake District.”

“See what I mean. They’d try to steal a hill or something,” said Jess laughing and shaking her head again.

Over dinner we talked about the exhibition and my relationship with Jenny. There were lots of questions and challenges from both Jess and Victoria, but by the end of the evening I felt much happier about things. I still had no firm idea how things would work out, but they’d helped enormously.

Jane and Fiona listened intently to the conversation without speaking, but it was clear that they were taking it all in. As we were clearing up Victoria asked me if I had plans for the next day.

“I was going to do some shopping; there are few things that I need.”

“I’m taking these two swimming and then martial arts lessons, but I have to do some work at some point. It’s a pain but has to be done.”

“I could take them for their lessons....”

Fiona was almost out of her seat with excitement, “Then we could go shopping with Milly.”

Jess smiled and warned me, “I told you, there’s every chance that you could live to regret this.”

After a little discussion it was settled, I would borrow a car, take the girls and we’d all go shopping. I was actually excited about the prospect; I thought they were wonderful.

I’d been in bed for ten minutes and although I had my book open I was thinking back over the evening and laughing at the girls antics. I heard a gentle knock at the door and called, “Come in.”

Jane and Fiona appeared at the door. “Are you okay? Do you need anything?” asked Jane.

“I’m fine and I don’t need anything thank you. Shouldn’t you be in bed?”

“We thought you might be lonely and need a cuddle,” said a sad looking Fiona.

“A cuddle would be nice.” The words were barely said when the two of them swooped onto the bed and were under the duvet.

“Whoa there. What’s this?”

“A cuddle. Come on. We can all sleep like this and you won’t be lonely.”

I was sniggering so hard when the door opened again. Jess.

“I bloody knew it. You two leave Milly alone and back to bed now!”

Fiona peered up at Jess and said, “Milly was lonely.”

I was stunned, “I never said any such thing, but they’re cute.”

“Girls. Bed. Now.” They skulked away as Jess apologised and again I tried not to laugh.

I’d intended to read while they were swimming, but I gave up and just watched them. Jane was a marvellous swimmer. She scorched up and down the pool almost without effort and her strokes looked lazy, but were actually very efficient. Fiona on the other hand would have been more effective if she didn’t strive so hard to keep up with her sister.

I took them to their martial-arts class, I had no idea what form of martial art they were doing but I learned one important thing -- do not pick a fight with these two. As I watched and sipped a cup of poor machine coffee I pondered what it would have been like to have kids and even thought for a moment whether I kidnap one or both of these two.

After a pizza lunch we managed to find the things that I was looking for; a rain coat, new dress, shoes and some underwear. Fiona and Jane were very quick to offer their opinions on my selections and were discerning. As we were leaving one of the department stores they stopped to admire a dress on a mannequin. It was clear they were interested in it and there was a conversation that I didn’t fully understand, but I guessed what they were thinking.