Sally stared at herself in the mirror. That was weird, she thought, her mind running over the events of the previous evening. She could not quite decide whether Colin’s intentions had been purposely chaste or whether he really was just a shy person at heart.
“Can you just tilt your head forward a bit please?” the stylist asked. Sally complied obediently. Anything to avoid having a pointless conversation about nothing with the girl cutting her hair. She focused intensely on her magazine hoping this would deter any proposed banter. It seemed to work and her mind wandered again.
Colin’s mum provided the missing link regarding his ears. They were an exact replica, slightly square with pointy earlobes. When she complimented her on the dinner – which actually was delicious, she loved sausage casserole and sprouts – the blessed woman blushed and her ears turned beetroot red. Sally had had to stifle a giggle, the similarity was bordering on comical.
After leaving Matt in the pub last night, she made sure they were well out of earshot before asking Colin the most obvious question. “Why?” she queried, as they walked towards his car.
“Oh, well, I just thought you might like some company,” he replied.
Sally left it at that and made a conscious decision to relax and enjoy the rest of the evening, regardless of what might lie ahead. She felt strangely safe in Colin’s company, despite her earlier reservations and, in hindsight, rather catty comments about him behind his back. It proved to be the right option.
Colin’s mother Enid lived quite nearby, it turned out. Only some ten minute’s drive away in Chiswick. She had an accelerated running commentary on the way there, filling her in on relevant details that Colin deemed necessary to tide her over for the evening in his mother’s company.
“Mother is quite set in her ways,” was his opening line.
“Really? How so?” Sally queried.
“Well, she believes in Queen and country and the divine right of the royal family, for one.”
“Don’t we all?" Sally remarked sarcastically.
“No, no, I mean she really believes that we should all still subscribe to the model that made the British Empire great.”
“And is that a bad thing?”
“I guess not, but I should warn you that she has certain ideas about how things should be and how this country is going to the dogs. Sorry, bad pun, not intended.”
Sally ignored the poor choice of analogy. “Don’t tell me,” she turned to look at him as he negotiated the streets of West London, “She reads the Daily Mail?”
“Of course, what else?” A smile twitched across his features. He could pass for cute, she thought, even with that shock of ginger hair. Another feature she was to discover he shared with his mother.
As it turned out, the dinner was a pleasant event. Colin’s mother was devoted to her son’s well-being. She took great joy in telling Sally the usual childhood anecdotes that accompany such occasions, and was rather coy when asking Sally about her own background. Sally was cautious in revealing too much, but not to a degree that would come across as rude.
“How would you like it dried?” The shrill voice of the stylist drew Sally out of her stupor. “Straight would be nice, yeah?” Sally nodded. It would revert to curly again as soon as she ventured out into the rain, so why not get value for money, she thought, and have them make the effort to endow some glamour on her. For once she quite fancied a more sophisticated look than the usual tousle effect.
She was sure her revelations to Colin and his mum had not been too shocking. Sally tried to recall what she told them. She worked in the City for a technology company, specialising in the financial services sector. She did not elaborate on what exactly this entailed, just left it suitably vague. They nodded and did not ask questions, so she had reckoned that information sufficed.
Her desire to help others had led to taking up the occasional evening work at the volunteer centre that Colin was running. Again, she made no mention of the Sparkie debacle and her falling out with Keira being behind this rash decision to offer her services to what was in all truth a less-than-savoury endeavour.
And she was separated, but not divorced. Colin’s mother seemed upset by this, far more than might have otherwise been deemed necessary, but Sally put it down to her age and living by Daily Mail standards. Colin however was intrigued and intent on asking more probing questions as he drove her home.
“Can you just tilt your head forward a bit please?” the stylist asked. Sally complied obediently. Anything to avoid having a pointless conversation about nothing with the girl cutting her hair. She focused intensely on her magazine hoping this would deter any proposed banter. It seemed to work and her mind wandered again.
Colin’s mum provided the missing link regarding his ears. They were an exact replica, slightly square with pointy earlobes. When she complimented her on the dinner – which actually was delicious, she loved sausage casserole and sprouts – the blessed woman blushed and her ears turned beetroot red. Sally had had to stifle a giggle, the similarity was bordering on comical.
After leaving Matt in the pub last night, she made sure they were well out of earshot before asking Colin the most obvious question. “Why?” she queried, as they walked towards his car.
“Oh, well, I just thought you might like some company,” he replied.
Sally left it at that and made a conscious decision to relax and enjoy the rest of the evening, regardless of what might lie ahead. She felt strangely safe in Colin’s company, despite her earlier reservations and, in hindsight, rather catty comments about him behind his back. It proved to be the right option.
Colin’s mother Enid lived quite nearby, it turned out. Only some ten minute’s drive away in Chiswick. She had an accelerated running commentary on the way there, filling her in on relevant details that Colin deemed necessary to tide her over for the evening in his mother’s company.
“Mother is quite set in her ways,” was his opening line.
“Really? How so?” Sally queried.
“Well, she believes in Queen and country and the divine right of the royal family, for one.”
“Don’t we all?" Sally remarked sarcastically.
“No, no, I mean she really believes that we should all still subscribe to the model that made the British Empire great.”
“And is that a bad thing?”
“I guess not, but I should warn you that she has certain ideas about how things should be and how this country is going to the dogs. Sorry, bad pun, not intended.”
Sally ignored the poor choice of analogy. “Don’t tell me,” she turned to look at him as he negotiated the streets of West London, “She reads the Daily Mail?”
“Of course, what else?” A smile twitched across his features. He could pass for cute, she thought, even with that shock of ginger hair. Another feature she was to discover he shared with his mother.
As it turned out, the dinner was a pleasant event. Colin’s mother was devoted to her son’s well-being. She took great joy in telling Sally the usual childhood anecdotes that accompany such occasions, and was rather coy when asking Sally about her own background. Sally was cautious in revealing too much, but not to a degree that would come across as rude.
“How would you like it dried?” The shrill voice of the stylist drew Sally out of her stupor. “Straight would be nice, yeah?” Sally nodded. It would revert to curly again as soon as she ventured out into the rain, so why not get value for money, she thought, and have them make the effort to endow some glamour on her. For once she quite fancied a more sophisticated look than the usual tousle effect.
She was sure her revelations to Colin and his mum had not been too shocking. Sally tried to recall what she told them. She worked in the City for a technology company, specialising in the financial services sector. She did not elaborate on what exactly this entailed, just left it suitably vague. They nodded and did not ask questions, so she had reckoned that information sufficed.
Her desire to help others had led to taking up the occasional evening work at the volunteer centre that Colin was running. Again, she made no mention of the Sparkie debacle and her falling out with Keira being behind this rash decision to offer her services to what was in all truth a less-than-savoury endeavour.
And she was separated, but not divorced. Colin’s mother seemed upset by this, far more than might have otherwise been deemed necessary, but Sally put it down to her age and living by Daily Mail standards. Colin however was intrigued and intent on asking more probing questions as he drove her home.