Not just another Summer - 9. Cat, cake & naked tea

And this is the override button, if the alarm goes off you can press this and enter the code, again.”

“Right.”

Vince peered down at me, “Are you sure?”

“Yes, Vince. I am not as dense as I look and besides, the prospect of having to phone you in Puerto del Sol, or wherever it is you are going in Spain, is enough to concentrate anyone’s mind.”

Vince nodded. We were in the utility room which lay behind the garage, though as with everything to do with the house, it was on a grand scale. I had had friends with studio flats that were scarcely bigger.

“You’ll be OK?”

“I am a big boy, Vince; you and Freddie are away for less than a week and my friend Bas arrives on Wednesday.”

“And you will sleep in the house?”

“When Bas arrives, I will. I’m not rattling around on my own.”

“The cleaner, Hortensia, comes on Tuesdays.”

“I know, it’s on your list.” Vince had provided me with an A4 sheet of emergency instructions.

He just nodded, “She’ll put bedding and that in the guest rooms. You’re sure.”

“Vince, I am not bloody sleeping in my old room. Thank you.”

“There’s just one more thing.”

I sighed, but there couldn’t be much more, could there?

Vince walked over to the far end of the utility room where a door led to the garden. A door with what looked like a cat flap. And there were two bowls on the floor. Except for a glance into the utility room when I’d first arrived this Summer, I’m not sure I had been in this space since I was in my teens.

“Is that a cat flap?”

“You’ll need to feed Moggie. Just put stuff out each morning and she’ll come and get it in her own time.”

“Moggie? Don’t tell me, you’ve got a cat!”

He stared at me, “Why not?”

I shrugged, “Fair enough, I suppose. Just not what I’d imagined.”

“In fact, she rather adopted us.”

“At your old place?”

“No, here. She was around a lot when we were moving in. Hortensia started feeding her. Hortensia was coming by daily then, helping to sort the place out.”

“Where was she living? The cat. Before she adopted you.”

“I don’t know. She was a bit skinny. You might not see her, she’s still a bit shy.”

“OK, by me. Look, should I be worried about disease and all that?”

“Hortensia and her husband managed to coax her into a carrier and took her to the vet to be checked out and get her jabs. So, you can relax.”

“I can’t imagine she is going to be climbing onto my knee.”

He laughed, “She won’t come into the house. If I sit outside with a coffee, then she will come and say hello.”

I shook my head, “You and a cat.”

“You and I are both a bit different.”

“I am beginning to get my head around that.”

We’d left the utility room, with no sign of the Moggie, then Vince came to an abrupt halt in the garden.

“I’m going to do it, you know. You’re right, I need to relax a bit more.”

“You mean naked tea?”

“Yes. I can’t quite believe that I’ve agreed.”

“I am a little surprised. I thought that you would do what you used to do usually.”

His brow wrinkled, “What?”

“Oh, come on. If there was ever anything you did not like, you would agree to it but stick to the letter not the spirit.”

“Huh.” His expression was almost comical. “I wasn’t.”

“You were.”

He stopped again and I braced myself for more argument, but we’d moved on to something else arising from his holiday.

“You’re not going to use the Daimler, are you?”

“Not if I can help it. It is about 20 years older and twice the size of anything I have ever driven.”

“How about my car?”

I shrugged, “Well, I am not keen on the colour.”

His eyes opened wide then he realised that I was joking and smiled, “You’re welcome to use it whilst we’re away.”

“Thanks. Do you need it now?”

“As in this morning? No. Why?”

“I have something to get in town. The car would help, and I thought a test run might be in order. Whilst you are still around.”

Vince shrugged, “Good idea.” Then he strode into the kitchen to show me where the keys were kept.

---

Half an hour later, I was approaching town in Vince’s Renault when I realised that I had no idea where to park. I had not asked Vince, and his instructions, though copious, had not run to that. I headed towards the Arts Centre and found a car park. I was going careful, perhaps excessively so, but it was a bit unnerving, borrowing Vince’s car; I was worried about having a prang.

Treasures was just off West Street, not far from the Arts Centre. When I walked in, it was clear that Matt was on duty, he towered over the other staff and the customers queuing. It was busy, understandably so, and the smell of fresh bread and baking filled the relatively small space with tempting aromas. Who knew that Coningham needed an artisan baker? But it seemed that it did.

But it was cake that I was interested in. I dutifully queued and did not pull rank by approaching Matt directly, but he saw me and made sure that it was he who served me.

“You never said you were coming.”

“Last minute decision. I am doing tea for Vince and Freddie, this afternoon, so I need cake.”

Matt looked worried, “Will it go on the bike?”

“Secret weapon”, I grinned. “Vince’s car.”

“Wow. You’ve borrowed it, then.”

“Yes. So, cake, for a 15-year-old and a 37-year-old. Right?”

I came away with a selection of individual tarts, including one with chocolate inside and cream on the top that seemed to have Freddie’s name written on it.

“I’ve got my break in half an hour; do you fancy a coffee?”

“Sure. Where?”

“There’s a coffee cart, just by the junction between West Street and the High Street.”

“OK. See you there in half an hour.”

I dashed to the car to put the box of cakes away safely. The food had made my heart lurch, I would need to work out what to feed Bas when he arrived. Breakfast, for a start. I would need to do some proper shopping.

Bas was one of my oldest friends. We’d met in our last year at Uni and ended up having a brief fling after Uni. This had flared brightly then fizzled out quickly, but we’d stayed friends. He’d studied music but like many musicians had soon found he needed a more mundane job to supplement his income. Temping had led him into the marketing department of a large publisher, and he had made a career of that, though music remained important to him.

Usually, I visited him in London though he had come up to Norwich a couple of times when we had even managed a few concerts. He was going to find Coningham culturally deprived, I am sure.

“Hi, were you waiting long?” Matt strode up.

“Not at all. I was wool-gathering.”

The coffee cart was just that, but the young woman serving seemed to know what she was doing.

Matt smiled at me nervously, “I enjoyed last night, thanks for the meal.”

“My pleasure. It was fun, and thank you for being understanding and…”

“Off-loading all my shit onto you.”

“That’s what friends are for.”

“Is the tea this afternoon a special one? You know, buying cake.”

“Not really. Freddie often pops in for tea, which is nice. It breaks up my afternoon.”

“And shows he’s willing to chat.”

“Precisely. Vince said that he would join us this afternoon, and I won’t see them during the week as they are going on holiday.”

“Nice.”

“I am not so sure about that. They go every year to some sort of Spanish resort, a holiday complex that has lots of activities for children and young people, and parents can safely abandon the children and go off on their own.”

“And your brother…”

“Reads or goes exploring the local area, whilst Freddie will be exploring water sports and things, I assume.”

“Well, if he’s happy.”

“I think that’s Vince’s view.”

“And your mate’s coming to stay?”

“On Wednesday, yes. Look, would you like to come for a meal on Friday. Whilst Bas is staying, we’re going to be living in the main house, and Bas is a decent cook.”

“You wouldn’t prefer…”

“Hey. Bas and I had a fling just after Uni. It didn’t last long. That’s all there is to it. We are friends, and he enjoys meeting new folk.”

“If you’re sure, then.”

“And you will get to see Philpott Towers.”

“I thought it was called The Grange?”

“Sorry, stupid joke that we have. The place is way bigger than the homes of my friends’ parents so making a joke of it seemed far better.”

“Fair enough. And thanks, that’ll be great.”

“I’ll be back at the shop on Wednesday to get supplies for when Bas comes.”

He grinned.

---

When Vince and Freddie came over mid-afternoon, they were both only wearing shorts. Whereas with 15-year-old Freddie, the look suited him, Vince gave off the aura of having forgotten to get dressed. Vince quickly pushed his shorts down and folded them. Freddie stared at his Dad, whilst Vince shook his head.

“I’m sure I’ll regret this, but P…, people assure me that I’m simply being uptight.” He looked at Freddie enquiringly, “So, what do you think? Are we having tea like this or is it too weird?”

Freddie gave a nervous smile, “It’s weird in a good way. Let’s have tea. Uncle Gray has bought cake.”

Freddie shrugged out of his shorts, and we assembled tea and cake. It was nice enough to sit outside, but I rather thought that might be a step too far for Vince, though the rear garden was entirely private.

At first, Vince tried to pretend that we weren’t naked. But curiosity finally got the better of Freddie. I remember Vince once proudly proclaiming that he was bringing Freddie up to feel he could ask his Father anything. I wondered whether that plan was intended to include the present situation.

“Dad, when did you start to get real hairy. I just wondered whether I…”

Amazingly Vince laughed. “I don’t think you have anything to worry about, I was hairy when I was your age. Luckily there was already a boy at school nicknamed Wolfie, so I missed out on that one. I was one of the hairiest in the class, however, but didn’t develop the full magnificence till I was at Uni.”

“Uncle Gray says he’s not naturally very hairy. Was Grandad?”

Vince looked over at me, “Ideas?”

I shook my head, “Dad’s chest certainly was as hairy as yours, I think.”

“Well, I’m pretty sure Dad’s torso, front and back, was pretty much like mine, but I never saw the rest.”

“Didn’t you, like, go to the beach?”

“It wasn’t unknown, but Dad stayed dressed.”

I smiled, “Light cotton trousers and short sleeved shirt. Always insisted they were properly pressed.”

“Drove Mum mad. So, to answer the question, Freddie. I think so but can’t tell whether he was hairy all over, like me. That OK?”

“Thanks, Dad.”

“And are you having any problems shaving?”

Freddie went a bit red and looked down, “No, its fine and well, kind of fun.”

He clammed up, probably aware that he was verging on giving away the secret that he had a boyfriend, someone to have fun shaving with.

We concentrated on cake, and chatted about the holiday, Bas’ visit, normal family things. We were hardly going to get naked together regularly, but I enjoyed that fact that we could do it. That Vince had relaxed far enough to do so at least once. And having done it once, who knew.