Pt. 01: Rudiments

Rudiments

1

Richard would be leaving again in the morning. He had been making the overseas trips for most of the eight years of their marriage, but seeing him go never got any easier, leaving Kate with the usual emotions of loss and guilt. Of course she would miss him but she had also come to enjoy the freedom. The trip was only due to last four days, which was about average, and after all that was what paid for the very comfortable lifestyle they enjoyed.

Flying to the Far East had become common: it's where most of their new products were manufactured. Kate knew little of how the business worked but had always been supportive and had put in a lot of time and effort during the early years.

Fifteen years earlier Richard and two university friends set up the company, to produce security and surveillance equipment. The modern world seemed to have an ever increasing need for such products and sales grew year on year. With two of the products from their range becoming worldwide sellers, the three partners quickly became quite wealthy. Kate was proud of Richard as both of those products relied upon Richard's specialist area within the company—complex electronics and software innovation.

What made the latest trip different was that Richard would have a lot to consider. Kate had spent many an hour reflecting on the possible consequences of her proposal, and eventually she knew that she would have to open up to him; that seemed to be the only option. She figured that the long journey would give him plenty of time to consider her proposition.

There was no doubt that they had a very happy marriage: they loved each other, but Kate's need for something extra had always been with her, niggling away at her. And then, out of the blue, it seemed that a solution could be available.

Richard was a considerate husband, a passionate lover and her best friend, and there could be found the source of Kate's guilt: she knew that it was no longer enough.

Maybe she was being unreasonable, she was luckier than most. Three years earlier when the business really took off and they no longer had to rely on her lawyers' salary she was able to make a big change in her life. Her passion for art took her on a new path and she opened a small art gallery. It gave her more time to meet up with her friends, go to the gym, visit galleries and see shows. Even to her, wanting more seemed unreasonable.

For Kate, it was the other side of their relationship which had always been the problem area, always there lurking under the surface and bothering her. In the past, she'd attempted to give it a higher profile and encourage Richard to make it a bigger part of their lives and he'd tried, he really had, but he'd treated it more as a game and not the serious life style choice which she had in mind. As his initial enthusiasm dwindled she'd be left disappointed once more and 'normal life' returned. It skulked away, back under the surface, but never too far. But, she had made her decision, she had to act—it was make or break. She was all prepared, well, all except for the courage.

2

It was still dark when Richard left for the office: planning to use the extra time to prepare for his upcoming trip. Kate joined him for a light breakfast before facing her punishing fitness routine.

A half hour run would have been enough for most people; Kate followed hers with a strenuous workout in their home gym. She wasn't addicted to exercise but was conscious that, at the age of 42, she needed to spend some time looking after her body. Exercise wasn't an onerous chore to her, she enjoyed it. Never having had children and following a regular workout routine had helped to keep her breasts firm, buttocks tight and thighs toned. Her slim waist and fairly consistent weight meant that she still looked good wearing tight fitting clothes.

Walking out into the bright sunshine when exiting the dim underground station at London Bridge, made Kate realise how much she loved summer in the city. The streets were busy as she made her way through the office workers and baseball capped tourists. The short walk to the gallery was interrupted by a shrill ringing from her phone. The screen told her it was Helen calling.

"Hi Helen, is everything OK?"

"Kate, where are you?"

"Just leaving the tube station, I said I'd be in late this morning, remember?"

"Oh yes, that's fine." Helen had no issue with what time Kate arrived. "It's just that these electricians are about to leave."

"Have they finished, is it all working?"

"Err...no," she said, unsure of what reaction to expect.

"Right, don't let them leave; I'll be there in a minute." She pressed end call and quickened her pace.

The short walk along Borough High Street only took a few minutes before Kate reached the gallery. She loved the shop they had leased to set up the business. The unspoilt Victorian frontage still had its original mouldings around the windows, although less detailed than they were due to the slow build-up of paint applied over many years. The windows themselves had that distorting effect, unique to old, impure glass, produced many years before modern manufacturing methods made it possible to produce large flawless sheets devoid of character. The gallery stood on a corner plot providing a large window area for the display of artwork. Right on the very corner was a beautiful curved piece of glass held between two round mouldings, each eight feet tall. Kate hoped the glass never got broken: a replacement would not only be hugely expensive but would be a modern soulless copy. A narrow, creaky staircase led to two other rooms on the first floor, mostly used to house the exhibition stands and assorted accessories. Thankfully, both rooms still retained the Victorian fittings and cast iron fireplaces, and one, facing onto a side street, had original balcony doors and iron railings.

As she opened the door the old brass bell signalled her arrival. Helen rose from the desk in the corner and, in her ever graceful manner almost glided across the space to greet Kate with a kiss to both cheeks.

"Hi, sorry I was longer than I thought," Kate said, "I was held up at Mr. Ferguson's."

"I don't suppose he's done the frames has he?"

"Some, I'll fill you in after we sort out these electrical geniuses."

Helen gave an understanding nod before calling to the back room. "Harry, Kate's here." She had seen them scuttle away when they saw Kate about to enter.

The squat, balding figure of Harry appeared round the door closely followed by his apprentice, Keith, whose sole purpose in life seemed to be to agree with Harry at all times and carry the tools on an enormous leather belt around his waist. "Good Morning Kate."

"Morning Harry, Keith. I don't want to be rude but yes, it would be a good morning if you were no longer here. This job was supposed to be finished yesterday. Why wasn't it?"

"Ah well, we're waiting for a new switch-box see, and then it'll only take an hour."

"Well get the switch box and fit it then." Kate said, as though it was obvious.

"We've got it ordered but it hasn't come in yet, the lad 'ere phoned Gus this morning to check, says it should be 'ere tomorrow."

"And Gus is the only London supplier of these switch-boxes is he?" Kate's sarcasm showed.

"Well...no...obviously not, but we always get our stuff from Gus see, 'ave done for years."

"I see. Do you remember signing our contract for this job Harry?"

"Yeah."

"Did you read it first?"

"Well...not all of it, I trusted you." Harry was getting a little apprehensive and unsure of where the conversation was going.

"Well, let me give you a brief summary. A contract is an agreement of terms and conditions between two parties, which both are obligated to fulfil. If either party fails to fulfil the terms there are consequences. The terms here state that if you fail to complete this job on time you'll only be paid for the materials which you've so far supplied, the remainder will be forfeited, to be used by me, to pay for another contractor to complete the job."

"Yes but..."

"No buts Harry. You have the choice to leave now and forfeit your fee or you can risk upsetting Gus, go to another supplier, and be back here within the hour to complete this job. What will it be?"

The two workers looked at each other, and realised they had no real choice. Harry moved toward the door snapping at the unfortunate Keith.

"Come on lad, let's try Wallace's."

"Oh Kate, you were cruel to them," chided Helen. "But at least we should be ready for the opening."

"I know, I hope I haven't upset him too much"

"Upset him? You've probably just made his day-being spoken to in a stern way by a strong woman, I bet he can't wait to get back."

"Helen, behave yourself."

"OK, where are we?" Helen said, picking up her note pad from the immaculately tidy desk. "Oh yes, Elizabeth came in to see you, said it was nothing I could help with. She's gone to get some bits and pieces and will call back in a while." Kate felt relieved that she would be returning, she had to see her before Richard went away.

"So what about the frames, has old Mr. Ferguson done them?"

"He's done half and they're OK." The questioning look on Helen's face forced her to continue to defend Mr. Ferguson's work. "They are Helen, honestly."

They had used the old man since the gallery opened but had noticed a decline in the standard of his offerings since his assistant had unexpectedly left earlier in the year.

"He showed me what he'd done so far and they looked good. I was later than I'd planned to be because he insisted that I go upstairs to have a cup of tea with him and his wife-she's virtually bedridden now you know. Oh Helen they're both so lovely; we couldn't tell him we were going to take our business elsewhere. Besides it looks like we won't have to. He was very apologetic but said that he was thinking of retiring by Christmas and moving down to his sisters near Brighton."

"Kate you're too soft. We're supposed to be running a business here," then added, "but don't ever change," and gave her a big hug.

The clanging of the bell alerted Kate to Elizabeth's return. "Elizabeth, hi, thanks for calling back, sorry I missed you."

"No problem I had a couple of errands to run"

"Helen, will you be OK with things here for a little while if I pop out with Elizabeth?"

"Sure, I've got things to do anyway and Laurel and Hardy should be back with that elusive switch-box soon."

"Thanks, are we still on for lunch?"

"You bet, and Melissa said she can join us, see you later."

3

Kate and Elizabeth left Helen to look after the gallery, before heading round the corner to their favourite coffee shop.

"Has Helen always worked for you at the gallery?"

"Yes, but we'd been friends for years before that. I finished at the law firm three years ago and decided to have a go with the gallery. Helen was working as a P.A. for an executive at an advertising company in the City. She wasn't very happy there and felt she needed a change. I needed somebody to work with me and could offer the same sort of money she was already getting so she left and here we are."

"So you're not partners?"

"No, Helen wanted it all official: employer and employee, but it doesn't work like that. I do the more creative bit with visiting artists and choosing work for exhibitions and so on while Helen puts her P.A. skills to use with the organising, bills, invoices, manning the gallery, day to day stuff like that. I'm there most of the time anyway but free to come and go as I please. I don't mind Helen having time off whenever she wants it but she rarely does, she's very conscientious."

"It all sounds like a friendly set-up, you must enjoy it."

"It works out well and we do have a good time, yes. If it's quiet we'll go for a coffee or early lunch and put in extra time before exhibition openings and artist promotion days."

On entering the coffee shop Kate chose some free seats in a quiet corner where they could talk without fear of being overheard. While Elizabeth went to order their coffees Kate reflected on their conversation the week before. Initially, she'd been reluctant to divulge her secrets and share the things that she hoped would become real, things that so far she'd not been able to experience. She'd been put at ease by hearing Elizabeth tell her of her own experiences. Kate couldn't believe that she'd been sitting there discussing such things with a real person, somebody she knew, and not just reading an anonymous person's experiences on a website.

She looked over to Elizabeth, waiting at the counter. Kate would assume her to be a year or two older than herself but obviously looked after her figure and skin. She seemed happy and confident. She was obviously successful as an artist and, as far as Kate knew, happily married. What made Kate so excited though was that she was looking at someone who lived her life the way that Kate has so far only dreamed about. Elizabeth had not just wished for it like herself, she'd gone ahead, taken the plunge, and actually done it. What's more, she may also have the contacts who could enable Kate to do the same thing, and realise her own dreams.

Elizabeth returned from the counter and sat opposite Kate.

"I thought I'd hear back from you. Before I met Robin I went through exactly the same thing you are now. I thought what I wanted was impossible to achieve, a dream, and destined to remain that way. Thankfully it all changed and I don't regret what I did one little bit. I felt so free; like this great cloud had dispersed. I saw a new future and I was desperate to experience it."

"But has it had an effect on your marriage, your home life or your career?"

"Well yes, as with anything there are affects, but mostly positive, and I would hope that others see me as I feel I am, a confident, happy woman. I'm very happy with my artwork, it's my creative outlet, something I'm in control of, and in all other ways, apart from the obvious, it's the same with the rest of my life."

"So you do still feel in control of things, you don't feel...I don't know how to put it...downtrodden?"

"Of course not, far from it. Robin doesn't abuse me in any way, I'm my own person in all other aspects of my life and neither of us would want it any other way. And that brings us to your other consideration—Richard, and his views on this."

"I know, and I'm sure that he'll be okay with it," Kate said, then added as an afterthought, "maybe not as keen as me though," at which they both giggled.

Elizabeth continued. "It's a big step for both of you and how to approach it is the important thing, but your marriage seems very strong and I am sure he'll be more willing than you think."

"Well I'll soon find out. Richard's away tomorrow for a few days so we're going out tonight for a meal at our favourite Italian restaurant. I'm going to broach the subject then—definitely."

"Great, good luck and let me know how it goes. I'll be waiting to hear."

The two said their goodbyes, kissed and left the café. Kate returned to the gallery to find the electricians nearing the completion of their task. By half past one Harry and Keith had finished the work, tested the new lighting, cleaned up their mess and left. Helen was up to date with her list of jobs and Kate was hungry. Maybe it was turning out to be a good day after all.

"Shall we close up and go to lunch, Helen?"

"I thought you'd never ask, come on."

Lunch with Helen and Melissa turned out to be as enjoyable as ever. Kate ate very little, which may have been for sensible reasons, as she was going out later with Richard or it may have been because her stomach was a little fluttery due to the uncertainty of how things would turn out during the evening. Helen never had a lot to eat or drink during the day; like Kate she saw going to lunch as a social event rather than an opportunity to gorge herself. Melissa on the other hand could eat for England. Fortunately for her, at the age of only 26, she had the metabolism to cope and never seemed to put on weight.

They both loved Melissa; everybody loved Melissa. Her bubbly personality and endless ability to see the positive side of everything made her good company. She loved to share the gossip about the latest victims from her never ending stream of boyfriends, and get into long discussion of the traits which made them unsuitable. The conversation never got depressing though as the next one was usually lined up ready for the slaughter.

4

The warm summer evening confirmed their decision to walk to the restaurant. Richard had returned from work early, so they had plenty of time. They had made the journey numerous times, it was their favourite place for Italian food.

As usual they strolled along hand in hand, taking in the sights and sounds of the city as it closed down for another day. During the winter months they would have taken the car and been there in five minutes but the twenty minute walk that night seemed to go just as fast to Kate. Her mind whirled, considering the various starting points she might use for the conversation she needed to have, or was it a confession she knew she had to make.

There had to be a reaction of some sort, it could be one of hurt or curiosity, or maybe Richard would just be repelled by her lack of inhibition and reckless suggestions. She would know by the time they left.

One of the two regular waiters showed them to a small round table in the far corner, next to the window. After exchanging pleasantries they ordered a bottle of House Red wine and glanced at the menus. It wasn't really necessary, they always chose their favourite pasta dish and placed the order as soon as the waiter returned with their wine.

Richard wanted to tell her about his trip and what it could mean for future business if it proved to be a success. He even tried to explain the working of the new product. Kate doubted she would have totally understood on a normal night but she went through the process of listening and nodding in what she thought were the correct places. Fortunately there were no questions which tested her attention.

By the time Richard had finished the food had arrived. The pasta and sauce smelled and looked delicious, coupled with the rich, full bodied red wine they savoured every mouthful. The portions were not oversized, as found in many restaurants, so their hunger was satisfied without feeling uncomfortably full.

It didn't take long for the waiter to reappear and take away the plates. After declining the offer of desert they were left alone to enjoy the rest of the wine.

"You seem rather distracted this evening darling, is everything okay at the gallery," Richard asked. "Did the electrics get finished?"

Kate relayed the day's events with Harry and Keith, using the shortest version she thought she could get away with, one which wouldn't provoke too many questions.

"Actually Richard, there's something that I want to talk to you about." To Richard that phrase usually meant that he'd done something she wasn't happy with, she wanted to buy something very expensive—and knew he wouldn't agree that it was necessary—or she had a confession. He assumed it would be the most common of the options.

"Oh yes, what have I done?"

"Don't be silly, you haven't done anything." She put her hand on his.

"It's just rather awkward where to start. You see...well, I..." Her hesitancy made him curious as to where she was heading but he knew that she'd get to the point when she was ready; he just had to be patient. Kate started again. "It's awkward for me and difficult to put into words. It's about us and our relationship." Richard's eyes widened rapidly and his jaw dropped. "Oh, no darling it's nothing like that," she assured him, realising how that must have sounded. "There's no problem with us, between us, I love you and always will."