Monday June 23rd
Phewee Musky. First Day with both of us at work together.
Interesting to say the least.
We worked through lunchtime (that is our plan for the whole
month) so that we could leave at 4.30pm and have a relaxing time before Laura
went off to Dominic’s, waitressing. She has decided that she wants to do both
jobs until we fly out to Australia to earn even more dosh. She is a bit
obsessed with paying her way and not running up a huge amount of debt while she
does her degree. Not being willing to compromise on this, I have just sat back
and let her do what she wants. The amount of tips she gets in a week adds up to
quite a tidy little sum, which is off the books and therefore tax free (not
that she earns enough to pay tax anyway). It usually more than doubles the
money she gets paid by Dom.
This plan seems to have worked tonight. She waltzed off
bright and breezy down the hill with the promise of me coming down to collect
her at the end of the evening in the car. I sat and began to read my way through
all my Sarah Paretsky novels during this month’s empty evenings. I have all
except the latest one, which isn’t out in paperback yet. I can sort of picture
myself as Victoria Iphigenia Warshawski, she is feisty and independent and
often ends up in trouble by letting herself getting involved in stuff she
shouldn’t, or by letting her mouth run away with her.
I managed a third of the first novel this evening before I
zoomed off in the car to collect her from work. I didn’t stop for a chat with
Dom, as I sometimes do, because we can end up staying another hour there just
chewing the fat.
Our animal passion over the weekend hasn’t been extinguished
although we are being more restrained than we were. We obviously made love
before we slept but nothing extreme or unusual.
Tuesday June 24th
We went down to the pool as normal, after Callie’s dog walk,
and did our 100 lengths in roughly the same time as we normally take. I did
wonder if by the end of the week we’d be as bright eyed and bushy tailed as we
were today.
Sarah, who was back at her desk, was cheerful when we saw
her and teased Laura about how I had been pining for her to return from
Cumbria. She appeared to be surprised but she knew how much I had missed her
during those nine days. It wasn’t a nine day’s wonder; it was nine days of woe!
We arrived at work about half an hour early in order to give
ourselves a 30 minute lunch break as yesterday’s abstinence wasn’t good for our
appetites. It still means we can zoom off at 4.30 though. I do love the flexibility
we get with our hours at work. I expect it is quite uncommon for the majority
of us to be allowed to fit our hours in during the times that the offices are
open. I wonder if it causes resentment in the people who can’t be flexible with
their working practice in the company?
As usual we departed on time and had a leisurely, if
somewhat earlier evening meal. I drove Laura down to Dominic’s and, as the
evening was lovely, I took Callie up to Rocher Edge and we strolled in the less
frequented area of the Peak District for a couple of hours. I didn’t meet
another soul on my walk although I did see several parked cars at the end of
Duke’s Road (which leads up to Derwent Edge).
We’d arranged that I would walk down and collect Laura this
evening and we’d walk through Coumes Brook wood back up to our house. It would
mean that I didn’t need to take Callie out for her last walk. We encountered a
gang of youths in the wood behind the doctor’s surgery, which was a little
intimidating at first but Callie barked at them when she saw them (I had her on
the lead and I think they’d startled her). They ran up the valley towards the
small dam, screaming and screeching like a set of kindergarten girls! We
branched off up the new steps long before the dam wall loomed into view and
came out half way up our lane. It seems a lot easier going that way home but I
don’t fancy the idea of running the gauntlet of unknown youths to take that
route more often. If I was alone and without Callie I definitely wouldn’t go
that way.
Mmmm…. Me as V.I. Warshawski? Obviously not. Although she is
fictional and is usually armed with a Smith & Wesson .38!
We shared a shower before retiring a nice way to get clean
and be dirty at the same time.
Wednesday June 26th.
The swimming this morning was a bit different, there seemed
to be far more people than usual. Sarah explained that there had been a
promotion in yesterday’s local papers (both the morning and evening ones) which
gave new customers a special deal if they attended four session or early
swimming in the next fortnight. I asked her jokingly if we were eligible and
she told us we definitely were but as we had already had season passes it
seemed a bit pointless. She did say that was the only thing which the Centre
manager was concerned about, how to reconcile the season pass holders. They
have come up with a deal where we get a card stamped with the dates we attended
during the promotion and those will be added on when our pass runs out before
buying a new one. I thought that sounded rather too sensible to be a council
decision. It really is!
Work de bonne heure again. I am not quite sure what Laura is
doing in reprographics but she certainly seems to be kept busy and today she
arrived in Archives for lunch absolutely covered in gruft. I lent her my lab
coat for the afternoon but the damage was already done. She was a bit
distressed that her gorgeous lilac sweater had got so messed up but I have some
wonder woollen washing solution at home which I promised would clean it up
without damaging it. The offending article is drying on the wooden airer in the
cellar as I type.
The afternoon was interesting as Christopher came down to
Archives claiming to just have hallucinated. I asked him what the heck he was
talking about and he told me he thought he’d seen Laura. I explained that his
eyes weren’t faulty and then gave him the lowdown on what she was doing here. He
was incredulous about one thing, “You’re going to Australia, again!?”
I had to remind him I was half Australian and I missed my
sister. He thought I must be getting paid too much. I told him he was an idiot.
I said he’d better head back up to accounts or he might start hallucinating
being whacked round the back of the head by an archivist wielding an ancient
tome. He said I wouldn’t dare. So I dared!
He tried to grab the book and we ended in an undignified
struggle - cum tug-of-war with it. He managed to wrench it from my grasp by
twisting it round like a steering wheel and then once he’d got it, he simply
handed it back to me. As I clutched it to my bosom ready to protect it with my
life he leaned over, kissed me on the cheek and vanished back up to Accounts.
Why are men so stupid about stuff? Luckily there was only
one other member of ARR in the room at the time and she had her back to us as
we were behaving like children, so I don’t think she saw what he’d done. About
a minute after I had sat down I got a text from the aforementioned accountant
with the word “SORRY” in capital letters. I sent back, “You Will Be!” I left it
at that.
I told all to Laura when she appeared at 4.30 ready to head
for the hills and as I did so Ann piped up (she was the other person in the
room), “They were behaving like a pair of kids. Vic whacked him with her book
and then they had a wrestling match with it. He somehow grabbed it from her and
I thought he was going to whack her with it but he sort of stopped, looked
sheepish and handed it back to her. It’s a good job Briggers wan’t in the room
she wouldn’t have been amused.”
I thought to myself if Briggers had been in the room we
wouldn’t have done it in the first place but I kept schtum. I showed Laura the
text and my reply and she said I should forget it. He was just being his
typical silly self. I am so pleased she knows all about Christopher and his
puppyish lovesickness. It makes dealing with him a whole lot easier.
We had another leisurely meal and this time I walked down to
Dom’s with my girl. I went home the same way we’d gone last night but there was
no sign of the teenagers. I suppose it was way too early for them to be
lurking. I was all set to be a rufty tufty fearless girl and there was no-one
to be rufty tufty against. Ah well.
Thursday June 26th.
It really has been a bit of a non-week so far. I suppose the
routine of work just takes over your lives and you switch into auto-pilot. That
is how it has seemed so far.
The special offer had the pool just as full this morning as
yesterday, more’s the pity. We still splashed about for our 100 lengths each
and then wound our way westwards for breakfast and to get ready for work.
The sweater had cleaned up really well and before we drove
off I also found out my number 2 lab coat for Laura to take and put either in
her locker or leave in mine. Once again we departed to our respective
departments and worked as diligently as we could (well, I know I did and I am
sure Laura’s work ethic is similar to mine) until lunchtime. We scoffed our
sangers in the Archives Department and had a bet on whether I would see
Christopher again this afternoon. (I bet he wouldn’t appear – and I won!)
Back home, at just before five, I discovered I had mis-set
the oven timer and our meat wasn’t cooked. We decided that we’d get a Chinese
from the village (it opens at 5pm) and we’d eat the steamed chicken tomorrow
instead. We had chicken from the Chinese which could be considered a bit
foolish but it extremely tasty and quick.
Laura walked to the restaurant and I continued my book,
getting well over half way through it before whizzing down, en voiture, to
collect her from work. She declined the walk with Callie and me saying she felt
a bit tired and she’d be waiting with a surprise instead.
My surprise was to find a fast asleep young mathematician,
holding a black and gold sex toy. I gently took it from her grasp and put it on
my bedside table. I decided I would use it to wake her in the morning, which
would be an even more unexpected surprise! Obviously my Friday morning’s wakeup
call will be in the next blog entry!
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