Share Your Toys, Timothy!

"Tim, can I speak to you in private, please?"

Tim nodded and gave his final couple of instructions to the salesman he was briefing, before Sarah and Tim went into his office.

"Coffee, Sarah?"

"Uh huh."

Tim poured coffee from the jug in the office, he had insisted on this extra little facility from his first day at Monroe's, it was so much better than the coffee from the free dispenser in the customer waiting area. A privilege of being manager and appreciated by himself every single day. "Milk?"

"Mmm, please, quite milky, and three sugars."

She sat in front of the desk and Tim set the coffee down in front of her, while he placed his own cup next to hers and pulled a chair over from the wall to sit beside the clearly troubled girl.

"What's the problem, Sarah?"

"I ... I did something completely stupid and now Si won't speak to me. He hangs up when I call, he blanks me when we bump into one another and he runs off whenever I approach him. I know I cocked up badly but he is my life. I really do love him!"

She collapsed in tears and Tim pulled her to him, her head in his chest. Apparently, she explained when she had calmed down, she had got drunk at a party some weeks earlier while she was away at college and woke up naked in the morning, next to a fellow student she had only previously been on nodding acquaintance with, and decided to confess all to Simon.

The budding couple had been speaking to one another on the phone at least three times a week and Sarah was so looking forward to seeing Simon again. As soon as they met up at a restaurant on Friday night, guilt drove her to confess her lapse and Simon took it badly. He got up in the middle of her conversation and walked out on her and wouldn't speak to her since. Tim calmed her down and said he would definitely have a word with Simon tonight. Tim had wondered why he hadn't seen Simon so much down the lounge bar lately. He was clearly in love and, it seemed, so was young Sarah.

Tim called Simon during the afternoon at his supermarket and arranged to meet him for a drink in the Rose & Crown early that evening, where Tim brought up the conversation he'd had with Sarah. Simon was genuinely upset about ending his relationship with Sarah; he felt that he had put himself on the line for a girl ten years younger than himself and that had turned out so badly. Simon felt he had been foolish to think that something good and lasting could have come about from their relationship. He felt that Sarah just wasn't mature enough to be his long-term girlfriend or even more than just a girlfriend some day in the future.

Tim stressed how upset Sarah had been when he had spoken to her and could Simon see his way to at least meet with her and discuss the situation like adults at a neutral meeting place? Tim offered his house for instance, where at least they could discuss their issues out of public gaze. Once Tim had agreed to get in some beer and pizza, he got both parties to agree to meet at his place on Thursday night. Tim was having a busy week!

He had expected at least one more visit from the police over the next couple of days, but curiously there weren't any further requests to help them with their enquiries by Wednesday morning.

Tim did get a call from Sergeant Pat MacDonald, the police asset support officer, who was responsible for the police vehicles in the local force. The call came through on his personal mobile first thing on Tuesday. That was unusual because Pat normally dealt direct with Lily in the Monroe's office.

After exchanging the usual pleasantries, Pat said "Ye'll no more be havin' any problems with yon Ollie Norris."

"And why's that, Pat?" Tim asked.

"Merely that the enquiry's moved on in a different direction, while Ollie hisself wasna' actually goin' anywhere at all in any wee hurry. Ha! Ha!"

Then the call was ended with the police sergeant laughing at the other end, leaving Tim a little mystified, before he recalled the conversation he'd had with Pete the previous day. He poked his head into Lily's office, where she revealed that the unmarked vehicle assigned to Norris had been in for an unscheduled service and was due to be shipped out at Pat's particular request to another of TS Leasing's police unit clients.

"So what's Norris using instead?" Tim asked, knowing that the vehicles were usually renewed every three years and if this car was still being used, albeit by a different client, there must still be some life left in it.

Lily laughed, "He's been given 'Noddy' to drive. That'll teach the bugger to stick his nose in where it's not wanted!"

"Noddy" was an ancient panda patrol car that Pat reserved for any officer that displeased him. Couldn't happen to a nicer bloke, thought Tim with a chuckle.

~~~~~~

So it was with a lightness of spirit that Tim picked up Patty from her Mum's house and took her around the fashion boutiques searching for a suitable cocktail dress. Tim was sure Patty must have tried on every single dress on the racks; OK that was a bit of an exaggeration on his part, it only felt like she had. Anyway, she ended up with the classic little black dress that he thought she could've started out trying on in the first place. Tim took a photo of her in that sexy number on his mobile and sent it to Babs by email. Babs rang him back and appeared to be even more excited about that dress than her daughter!

Tim didn't realise until Babs mentioned it that Patty also had to have a matching handbag and shoes to go with that dress. Babs pointed out how obvious that was, in the field of formal female attire at a black tie event, and offered to chip in towards the cost.

Tim decided to swallow that cost too, knowing that both Babs or Patty were unlikely to have any spare funds, so he continued shopping until he dropped, exhausted. He always thought that it was early closing on Wednesdays, only that didn't seem to apply to the shops that uncle and niece frequented that day, apparently.

Patty was actually fun to be with for the morning and early afternoon, although she did pull Tim's leg when they shopped for the shoes by mischievously referring to him as "Uncle" with fluttering eyelashes at every opportunity throughout the episode.

Tim got so many scornful looks from the shop assistants and the shoe shop manageress that Patty had to keep looking away to prevent bursting out laughing, or even wetting herself. Tim had to confess that up until then, 3-year-old Tina was the only niece he believed he had ever got on with. He had always thought Patty was too silly for words as a child and teenager, but her short-term marriage and quick divorce had wounded her previous annoying over-confidence, which had bordered on shrill brassiness, and made her more considerate and thoughtful with the people she was with.

Actually, Tim discovered that she had a great sense of humour and her uncle found to his pleasure that she was fun to be with.

The fact that Tim demonstrated that he really had a good time with her on their little shopping expedition enabled Patty to begin to come out from the shell she had self-imposed around herself in the months since her marriage fell apart. Tim wondered if she would meet somebody suitable as a future partner at the party. Patty was quite pretty and cleaned up nice and she was certainly going to be dressed in a manner to make a good impression on the night.

~~~~~~

Thursday night turned out to be a fraught exercise in diplomacy between his friends Sarah and Simon, meeting at his house for beer and pizza, which included a frank exchange of views by all three of them. To cut a long story short, they agreed that both parties to the relationship were still in love with each other and Sarah and Simon decided they would try and work through the problems they had as far as trust issues went. Initially they would both meet up alongside Tim and a partner and they would go out on a double date on Saturday night, which was only two days away.

As it was Tim's choice of event, he booked an Italian restaurant table for four. Tim thought an Italian meal would be more romantic, followed by a movie which could be the ladies' choice, then a few drinks and rounded off with dancing, probably at Crystal's.

OK, not the most exciting night of any young lovers' lives, but this exercise was more about getting these two lovebirds together rather than Tim's own entertainment.

As for his partner in the proposed foursome, Tim considered Patty once again, and he thought he could ask her if she would accompany him the next day while they were at the Christmas party.

The only drawback he could think of was that he might have to buy Patty another complete outfit!

Chapter 4 - Party Time

Tim collected Patty from her mother's house early on Friday evening. He had his raincoat over his arm and handed a bunch of flowers to Babs to brighten up his sister's living room. Patty polished up even nicer than Tim expected, coming into the sitting room where he had waited only about 15 minutes for her, it only seemed a longer time to him.

When she arrived he considered the wait was well worth it. Her shoulder-length hair was piled up high, studded with sparkling cosmetic jewels. Patty was nicely made up by the beauty salon, quite conservatively as befitted the occasion, so she was classy rather than brassy. The little black dress fitted her to perfection, showing a subtle hint of cleavage and finished just short of her knees, her stockinged feet neatly squeezed into shiny high-heeled shoes, which made her calves look shapely. Around her neck she wore a simple thin gold necklace with a tiny heart-shaped locket.

Tim tut-tutted saying, "This wouldn't do," and paused a moment for effect.

Babs protested, "But the dress and hair are perfect!"

Patty shrieked and tottered on her new heels heading towards checking her appearance in the mirror in the downstairs bathroom. Just before she exited the living room, though, Tim announced that he had the perfect solution, pulling from his raincoat pocket a long oblong jeweller's box, which instantly caught the attention of both females.

"Don't get too excited," Tim said, "These are borrowed only and I will collect them from you tomorrow to take them back to the jewellers, but they are yours to wear for tonight."

He opened the box to reveal a beautiful gold and diamond necklace and matching diamond earrings. The squeals of delight from both his sibling and niece were a pleasure to him and, once they had been donned, Babs insisted she take lots of photos of Patty on her own and then Patty and Tim together.

Old man Macari, proprietor of the classy jewellers of the same name, buys a new top-spec Jaguar from Tim every two years without fail; he loaned the jewels to his friend on request as a favour.

Tim's own classic 1963 E-Type Jag, painted in British racing green, had been polished to perfection in the body shop earlier in the day and Tim drove Patty to the party in style. The hotel had a large car park and he made an effort to park it well away from both entrance and exit in a corner where it would remain unnoticed, or as little as such a vehicle could be. He had already dropped Patty off at the entrance to the venue before parking and after he caught up with her he held the girl's hand as they went through to the party.

Tim and Patty were welcomed by the senior partners of the company and their wives and husbands as they were announced and shook hands with them. Of course Roger and Jennie were there at the end of the line and Patty and Tim were greeted with hugs and kisses, which drew a good deal of attention to them from the other senior partners as well as many of the guests. Nobody else present appeared to know either of the new arrivals from Adam and Eve. A youngish couple standing just behind Roger and Jennie were introduced to them next by Roger as "Our son Geoffrey and his wife Lesley, Geoff is also a partner and will be kicking me out in a few years, and the lovely Lesley is mother to our first two grandchildren".

Geoffrey was hewn from the same towering redwood that his father came from, built like a rugby forward, with broken nose and slightly cauliflower ears to match. He appeared to be Tim's age he thought, or maybe a couple of years younger. His face cracked into a wide grin and he pumped Tim's hand vigorously and slapped him silly on the back and shoulders. Once he had finished shaking Roger's guest's teeth loose, he grabbed little Patty and gave her a bear hug.

"Call me Geoff, won't you guys," he insisted with a booming voice, "Mum and Pop filled us in on what you did for Abbey, so any time either of you need anything, just call us."

Lesley, was a little more refined than her larger-than-life husband. She smiled very sweetly and pulled Tim into a cuddle, saying quietly in his ear that although Pop only mentioned his involvement just the day before, Abbey had confided in her, way back in October, and Lesley had been looking forward to thanking Tim personally ever since.

Lesley greeted Patty just as affectionally, saying any member of Tim's family should consider themselves her dearest friend. She was so complimentary about Patty's dress, hair, make-up, shoes and, of course, she absolutely loved the necklace. Patty was made to feel so relaxed and confident in her appearance that they spoke at length, and Lesley pulled her to one side to continue their chat while Geoff rolled his eyes at Tim with a grin and returned to press the flesh of more guests coming through. Tim stood quietly to one side, happy to see Patty enjoying herself.

Tim and Patty made quite an attractive couple, despite their disparity in age and relationship as uncle and niece, as they stepped across the dance floor, directed to a large reserved table by the far side that Lesley had pointed them towards. There at the table was the beautiful Abbey, accompanied by a fresh-faced beau, who she introduced as Fraser Findlay. Once more, the couple were welcomed with affectionate hugs and kisses by Abbey, which included Patty, who was swiftly informed how wonderful her dishy uncle was. Tim realised from the looks his niece was giving him that Patty was now regarding her formerly boring old uncle in a new light. Meanwhile Tim was getting more and more embarrassed, and you probably know by now that he doesn't embarrass easily. He was certain that his sister Babs would be ringing him in the morning to grill him for more info.

The boy Fraser was a little non-plussed by the open showing of affection to Tim by his date for the evening, but Tim gave his hand a good firm shake and engaged him deeply in conversation while Abbey and Patty became better acquainted. From what Tim could overhear they were now discussing the jewellery Patty was wearing that he had borrowed for the evening.

Tim turned back to Abbey's date. Fraser was a tall, gangly, pasty-faced lad. Like Abbey, he was also in his first year at Newcastle University, only he was studying for a degree in mechanical engineering. A native of Scotland, he quietly confessed to Tim that he had only been out on a couple of dates with Abbey, and was quite surprised when she invited him down to stay with her family for Christmas at short notice. Tim tried to make him feel comfortable by getting him to talk about himself. In so doing Tim was able to get Fraser to reveal a good deal without appearing to grill him too much. After a few minutes' talk the Scot calmed down and visibly relaxed whereupon Tim found they were getting on quite well. Tim thought he was a nice sensible lad, not exactly handsome, but when he filled out his frame fully in a few years' time he would probably look all right. Who was he to be critical, Tim thought: I'm no oil painting am I? Despite that shortcoming, he supposed, he did more or less get by.

Tim glanced over at Abbey and Patty, seeing how well they were getting on together, with only a couple of years' difference in age between them. They were now surveying other partygoers and commenting on dresses and hairstyles, giggling at the comments each were contributing to the conversation. Fraser and Tim listened for a moment before exchanging looks and grinning. There was wine on the table, but Tim preferred a beer, so apparently did Fraser, so they made their apologies to the ladies and found their way to the bar. The girls appeared to be happy with the wine supplied on the table, Abbey pouring Patty a glassful as the men folk left them to it.

It was a free bar, which was a relief to Fraser, somewhat. He admitted that he had been due to work in a supermarket local to his mother's house over the Christmas but had to abandon his plans when he got the call from Abbey to come and stay with her over Christmas. He paid for his flight down on credit card and would have to budget very carefully until he could get some casual work at Easter.

Tim made a quick decision, after all Fraser had already told him that he had a widowed mother and younger siblings at home, and like Tim was from a working class family. Tim slipped him three hundred quid in fifties, twenties and a ten, all he had spare in his wallet at the time.

Half the total was contained in an envelope that Tim had only received earlier in the evening on his way out of his house to pick up Patty. It was part of an irregular payment from his brother Jeff, who Tim had helped financially to get his HGV licence a year or so earlier. Jeff's job as a forklift driver was under threat and he initially asked Tim to pay for the lessons. Tim wasn't happy with the way he asked but agreed to loan him the money to pay back when he could. Jeff did a lot of unsanctioned deliveries, which paid in cash, and passed on what he could spare from his beer money to pay Tim's loan off eventually. This had only been the second repayment in two years, so Tim wasn't sure if the debt would ever be paid off. He was reluctant to release Jeff from his obligation because he felt his young brother needed the lesson of meeting the responsibility of his debts.

Jeff had looked at Tim's E-Type covetously when he dropped off the envelope. Normally it was kept in the garage out of sight, but it stood gleaming in the lamplight ready to collect Patty from their sister Bab's house. Of course Jeff had never been allowed to drive it and in the ten years since Tim bought it for about eight grand, he'd only seen it a couple of times and even then before it had been fully restored. Jeff whistled and asked how much it was worth. No way was Tim going to tell him that he had been offered sixty grand for it the previous year, so he had told Jeff that the value was between twelve and fifteen. He explained that although more than half of the car was original, there were too many modern additional parts or refinements which devalued it in the eyes of the serious collectors who had the big bucks to spend. Jeff might be his brother, who owed him big time for funding his elevation to his new career, but Tim wouldn't put it past him to break in and take that car if he thought he could get away with it.

Fraser tried to refuse the money that Tim offered him as a free gift. Tim wanted to help the lad, so he changed tack.

"Fraser, consider this a loan instead. If you are still with Abbey in the summer and want to stay down here to be near her during the break, I could arrange a summer job for you, either at the car dealers where I can take the loan out of your wages or you could work at a number of other possibilities if you're happier doing a different kind of work experience. If you are no longer together as a couple, then I am happy to write it off to experience."

He went on to point out to Fraser that he understood how difficult it was for a young man with limited means courting a girl from a rich family. Abbey didn't have the same financial restrictions that were everyday constraints for people the likes of Fraser and himself when Tim was his age. The lad shook Tim's hand solemnly, saying he wanted his business card and he undertook to pay him back eventually, whatever the state of his relationship with Abbey. Tim was happy to agree, he felt Fraser was a good kid, appreciating his willingness to pay his own way in life, in sharp contrast to his reluctant brother Jeff, and Tim reckoned he probably had a friend for life in Fraser.