17
Brian was first to arrive for lunch – after David – the next day and was horrified to see that David had placed a new pair of shoes on the table next to his dinner tray. He opened his mouth to say something but was beaten to it by Helen who gasped and shouted at David to get his shoes of the table. “Don’t you know it is bad luck to place new shoes on the table?” she shrieked.
David looked a little confused as he looked around. Clearly somebody had boobed by putting their shoes on a table but why was everybody looking at him?
“I think she’s talking to you.” Said Brian and, after a moment, David realised that the excitement had been caused by his own shoebox. “Oh that’s not new shoes,” he said, “I just have a few bits and pieces I want to show to you both in a moment, that’s all.”
Helen glared as she sat down. For Helen to have drawn the attention that her shriek had just caused was not just out of character, she found the whole business of being in the glare of attention too embarrassing. She chose, therefore, to glare very hard at David.
Had David looked up from his soup he might have noticed.
Realising, as David started into his second dessert, that her glaring efforts were entirely being wasted on him, Helen turned towards Brian. “Did you find somewhere nice to stay Brian?”
David looked up surprised, “Have you moved or something?” he asked.
“I let my rooms go when I went off to Barcelona. Seemed little point in paying rent when I wasn’t going to be here, did there?” Turning to Helen he said, “Yes thanks, a small place on the main drag ‘bout half a mile from here.”
“What’s it like?”
“Fine thanks,” said Brian. “It’s handy for all the things that matter. Furniture’s adequate and the rents okay. What more can a man ask?”
Helen wasn’t at all sure what more a man could ask and she wasn’t at all convinced that fine was description enough to help her get an idea of how, or where, Brian was staying. She was just thinking that through and might even have asked more if David hadn’t, at that precise moment, knocked her cup of water over.
As the water glass went over, David made a grab for it, missed, but in missing gave the glass an extra push in Helen’s direction.
The added push was enough to send refrigerated water down Helen’s neck and front. The ice-cold water rushed into places that normally only warm shower water rushed and the effect made Helen gasp as she pushed her chair back hurriedly.
Behind her a startled “OY!!” coincided with her chair colliding with a chair behind her and involuntarily Helen replied “Sorry.” and “David!!!”
Brian reached for one of Helen’s paper towels and was within a fraction of a second of dabbing her shirt front dry when he suddenly realised where he was and what he was about to do. Colouring to a delightful pink he swerved his hand to catch water as it spread toward the edge of the table.
Helen caught Brian’s change of mind and his change of colour and felt a rush of warmth for him which turned to a quiet chuckle before extending into a really delicious giggling fit which Brian found totally infectious.
David, and the indignant gentleman from the neighbouring table were left to glare at each other while Brian and Helen giggled and laughed like naughty children.
“When you’re ready,” said David, “I’ll show you what’s in the box” to which Brian and Helen went into guffaws of laughter.