Ralph: Breaking free - 2. Lunch-boxes and packages

"So, what's in the tuckbox today?" Ralph smiled at Beth as she unwrapped her lunch.

Despite the fact that he lived over the shop, so to speak, Ralph tried to take his lunch with his co-workers. Their workspace was a large open-plan room with desks for Ralph and his co-workers, Beth and Ivor, plus a small relaxation area at the front. There was a tiny kitchen at the back with a table just big enough for the three of them. Ivor, who did most of the actual website building and maintenance, was a lanky, tall streak of nothing who seemed to go from one girl-friend to another. Beth, who handled PR and marketing, was petite and slim with her dark hair in a short bob, and she was in a settled relationship with another woman, Carine.

Beth wiggled her eyebrows, "Tofu tikka teriyaki."

Ivor exploded, "That sounds so gross."

Beth pretended to consider, "Not really. It's fusion and Carine and I are into fusion. In a big way. Mix it up." She smiled as she dug in. As a couple, Carine and Beth seemed to delight in confounding expectations, including experimenting in crazy ways with their cooking.

Ralph shook his head, and turned to Ivor, "I suppose you’re having cheese sandwiches again."

Ivor grinned, "It's Monday, so it's cheese. With piccalilli."

Beth rolled her eyes, "Tuesday's ham, Wednesday's egg mayo. Ivor, get a life."

"Stop giving him grief, the guy likes regularity."

It was an old argument, and one that they enjoyed having. Ivor's love for order and regularity came out in his wonderfully coded websites, whilst Beth's designs and marketing ideas were full of flair. Ralph, well, he just knew how to bring people together and how to do a bit of everything.

Cocking her head on one side, Beth looked at Ralph, "And what's in your tuckbox today, Boss man?"

"Your spicy lentil thing, I made it yesterday as a treat for the twins."

"Special occasion?"

"Not really. They had to go to birthday party on Saturday."

Ivor shook his head, "And that's a problem?"

"It is if you’re a lively nine-year-old and have to spend two hours keeping your party dress clean and tidy so that the photographs look nice."

"No mud-wrestling then."

Ralph gave a mock grimace, "Do not mention mud-wrestling, it might catch on with them and then where would we be? At least spending the afternoon on the climbing frames in the park is relatively harmless. And the party food was boring, and the sausages were all meat."

"So, the girls were not best pleased?" Beth smiled, "I can fully sympathise, been there done that. Some people's idea of vegetarian food sucks."

"Well, the spicy lentils helped. I am definitely going to have to pick your brains for more recipe ideas."

Beth laughed, "Not up to doing all that vegetarian cooking?"

Ralph shook his head, "Not up to doing cooking, full stop. My skills are rather basic, and when Therese and I first split up, I was working away, so entertaining the twins was done at restaurants."

Beth's eyes twinkled, "Then you came to Parborough, met us lovely folk and started this wonderful company."

"And Therese decided she trusted you to look after her precious girls."

"To be fair to Therese, Ivor, she didn't so much object as not know how to deal with the girls’ nervousness at sleeping in a strange place."

"Even if it was your house."

"My new, strange house. Still, they love it, now."

Ivor smiled, "Face it. They love it because you let them be the tomboys that they are."

Ralph rolled his eyes, "Oh don't. Please don't use the T word. Ever. Therese would be mortified."

Beth, who favoured an androgynous mode of dress herself, with a large use of t-shirts and loose-cut jeans, glared at him, "And what's wrong with a tomboy."

Ralph sighed, "Ever since the scans, when we found out it was twin girls, Therese was planning everything in detail. Her daughters would be the perfect little ladies."

"Her daughters?"

"Dolls more like."

"She assumed I'd go along with it and had the ideal image of them in her head."

"Hence the party frocks on Saturday."

Ralph gave a pained grin, "Made them look like Alice in Wonderland, you can imagine how well that went down."

The three laughed as they tidied up the kitchen, then got back to work. Monday was admin day, so each prioritised administration above the rest of their work. Which meant that Ralph did not get around to reviewing a potential new contract until late in the day. The details had been taken by Beth; the three of them were flexible enough to be able to cover for the others if needed. Beth had done an excellent job, it was a swimming costume company, an old family firm, Iverson’s, whose existing website looked like something out of the ark. It made Ralph chuckle, but then he started exploring the new ranges that the company planned to add.

"Beth, did Iverson's explain what the rationale behind their new ranges was?"

Beth pulled a face, "Not really. I spoked to the CEO, Maurice, who seems to be the driving force behind the revamp. He said it was easier to explain face to face, but that he was bringing in a new designer and looking to widen their market, with ranges for gay men and that."

Ivor, who had been earwigging, laughed, "So, gay men wear different swimming gear?"

Beth returned his laughter, "You bet. Smaller, more revealing and preferably with your bits highlighted."

Ivor stared at her, "You been paying attention?"

Beth rolled her eyes, "Carine's brother's gay, and very fond of showing off his body. Believe me, we've seen plenty of photos."

Ralph turned his laptop round, "Well, have a look at these. It's the website for the shop that the designer currently works for. A gay lifestyle store."

Ivor pulled a face, "What's a ‘gay lifestyle store’ when it’s at home?"

Ralph waggled his head, "Evidently it involves selling guys posing pouches and swimming gear that hides nothing."

The photos, though they were cleverly posed, did indeed make it clear quite how much would be on show.

Beth laughed, "Wow. Quite something. Are they giving us samples?"

Ralph shook his head, "Not on my life. This guy Maurice says that he has lots of ideas and wants to discuss them, including about marketing the new site."

Beth pulled a face, "Hold your horses, let's get this thing started before we worry about marketing. You don't need me; everything should be in your more than capable hands."

Ralph's company, WebIdeal, had come about because he'd taken a contracting job to be near Therese and the girls, and met Ivor who was working for the same firm. Ivor was by far the more gifted coder and web designer of the two, but they had hit it off. A post-work pub moan about the way the firm they were working for did business had turned into a fully-fledged business-plan from Ralph and before he knew it, he and Ivor were working in a crappy rented office in Parborough. It quickly became apparent that they had to expand their offering, and soon Beth came on board, someone to handle the post-sale aspects, which included marketing and PR ideas for the new websites, as well as discussing changes and improvements. The three meshed well and coped easily with the rather hot-house atmosphere of working in the ground-floor of what was essentially Ralph's house.

Ralph hosted a once-a-month lunch upstairs in the flat, and they shared lunch times together. That was as far as it went, they were colleagues who were friendly; both Ivor and Beth knew that they could comment on any aspect of the business. And to cap it all, the odd time they'd met the twins, things had gone well. They had created websites for a variety of people and organisations, but Iverson's was new. And it was potentially a big contract.

Beth stared at him, "This a problem?"

Ivor laughed, "He's only jealous."

"More like spending the next few weeks, months looking at..." Ralph waggled his head and the other two laughed.

---

"You comfortable with the Iverson's job? You know, all those bits and bobs."

It was the end of the day, Ivor was in the toilet and Beth had noticed Ralph being thoughtful, at least he hoped it was only that and that he hadn't given anything away. He gave a wobble of his head, "I'll live, they're only pictures, thanks."

He'd never seen so many men's bits and bobs in such close detail, and there'd be more. He pretended they didn't remind him of those months when he'd been 17. Since then, there had been other guys, something he wasn't proud of, but always hurriedly in the dark, never clearly and brightly lit like these scantily clad guys. Like seeing Gordon's dick in the changing rooms and when they’d had sex together.

Shit. He really needed to forget all about this.