Pans were bubbling on the booker and she frowned again, wondering for a moment if she might have walked into the wrong house by mistake. She glanced out of the window and had to hold onto the worktop. The lawn was cut and Lee was hanging out washing on the line.
Not only had he cut the lawn and started a meal, but he appeared to have done a load of washing and was now... no, this must be a dream, she thought, shaking her head.
“Hi, Mum, good day?” the boy said as he came into the kitchen.
“Yes, what’s happened?” she asked. “You had a haircut?
“So, it needed cutting. Why should anything have happened?”
She was unable to speak, so she simply pointed to the cooker, the washing line and the lawn. She felt like an idiot.
“I just thought they needed doing. If I’m going off to uni in a few weeks, I’d better get used to cooking. Tamsyn says that spaghetti bolognaise is a good one to start with.”
“Tamsyn? Has she called again?”
“No, I called her, actually. Supper will be about twenty minutes, okay?”
“Okay,” she replied, dumbly wondering how a short visit by a total stranger could have initiated such a profound change over her son.
“You like her, don’t you?” she asked.
“Who?”
“Tamsyn.”
“Yeah, I guess. I don’t really know her that well.”
“Why the haircut now? I’ve been nagging you for weeks.”
“No real reason. Tamsyn might have mentioned that I’d look better with short hair.”
“Tamsyn? What’s she got that I don’t have?” she asked with a chuckle. “No; don’t answer that!”
Laura knew just when to shut up, so she put the kettle on, and while it boiled, she slipped off her work shoes and slid her feet into her comfy slippers.
“Thank you,” she said to Lee, meaning it.
“No probs,” the lad said, stirring something in a pan.
On the following Wednesday, Mary watched as Tamsyn interacted with her clientele. She was such a friendly and polite girl, they all told her. She went out of her way to be nice to those who stayed at the guesthouse. She was in no doubt that taking on Tamsyn for the summer had been the best decision she had made.
Dan adored her, for Tamsyn was always up with the larks, cooking his breakfast. In fact, Mary found she could grab an extra half-hour in bed, as she now trusted the girl to get breakfast rolling before she needed get up. She was actually feeling less tired these days, and Jenny was able to bring the children and not feel that she had to roll her sleeves up and get stuck in.
Tamsyn saw that she was being observed so came over.
“Mary, could I have a couple of days off?”
“You’re due to have Monday off, anyway.”
“I need a couple, as I have to sort out my university place for next year, and I might have to pop up to London.”
“Really; why?”
“There’s a friend I really have to go and see.”
“How are you going to get there?”
“Train or bus, I suppose. I’ll go to Portsmouth by bus, and then, see what’s the easiest up to London.”
Mary contemplated about offering the girl her car, but then thought better of it. Insurance for a nineteen year old with no driving history was just a nightmare.
“Okay, take Monday and Tuesday. Is that all you need?”
“That’d be fine, thanks.” The girl smiled and went back to work.
On that Wednesday evening, Lee received the email from Tamsyn. He had to read it three times, and then shrugged, and copied it in the format she suggested and sent it pretending to be Igor.
Once that was done, he started to troll through the universities, as he now had to take the decision he deferred from last year. He felt guilty as he had actually wasted his gap year. He’d never get this year back, and he had done nothing with his life during this time. He blamed the accident in Germany, but he knew that was an excuse for being lazy.
He actually thought about looking for a temporary job for the summer as well, so he started to look at university courses.
There were so many to choose from. He was only really interested in computer games, and yet he knew very little about programming, game writing or design. He liked playing games, which did not necessarily correlate to designing the damn things.
The more he thought about it, he realised that if he lived and breathed computer games during his working life, it might spoil the enjoyment of recreational gaming.
So, he tried to think what else he might just be interested in sufficiently well enough to work at it full time.
It took him a couple of days, but after some careful thought, he started researching the courses and universities that offered them. Only then did he start sending those applications. He knew that with 3 A grade A levels, he was likely to get a place wherever he wanted.
It was Friday by the time he’d completed and submitted four applications, he sat back and relaxed. At least, that would get his mother off his back now. He was just looking for part-time jobs when his phone rang.
It was Tamsyn.
“Hi,” he said.
“Hi, look, I’m coming to see you on Tuesday, would it be all right if I arrived the night before and stayed the Monday night?”
She didn’t beat around the bush. Lee felt his spirit soar to a new height, but she pre-empted his next question.
“I mean, do you have a spare room?” she asked.
“Uh, yeah, of course. I’d have to check with Mum, but I don’t see why not. Why are you coming?”
“Have you had any response from the man?”
“Just an acknowledgement that he received my PM. Are you expecting more?”
“Yes, and quite soon. Look, do you have a car?”
“No, a bike. Why?”
“Bicycle or motorbike?”
“Motorbike. It’s a Suzuki GFS650 Bandit. Why?”
“Great, are you free on Tuesday?”
“Yes, of course, where do you need to be?”
“Bedford.”
“Oh.”
“How do I get to your house?”
“Where are you coming from?”
“Portsmouth.”
“Why?” he asked, confused.
“I’m heading down there on Monday to see about changing courses. I was doing media and Film studies, but now I want to do IT programming and stuff. I’ll get a bus or train to London when I’m done.”
Lee thought for a moment, looking at the applications on his desk. One was for Portsmouth.
“Um, would you like me to collect you from Portsmouth?”
“Oh, don’t do that, it’ll be too much hassle. I’ll get a bus.”
He held up his application. Suddenly, he wanted to go to Portsmouth more than anywhere else.
“I have to put in my application for Portsmouth, so why can’t I kill two birds with one stone?”
“Really? You’re not just saying that?”
“Well, I could buy a stamp and post it, in which case I’d not see you until Monday evening, and you’d have to fuck about with trains, busses and the Underground. Or I can meet you somewhere, and then, when we’re both done, I could bring you back with me.”
“That’s sweet.”
“That’s me, sweet,” he said, reddening in the privacy of his bedroom.
“Okay, where would we meet?”
“I don’t know Portsmouth. Where do you suggest?”
“Where do you have to send your application to?”
He told her.
“Okay, that’s where I’m going, so let’s meet there. I am aiming to get there at ten.”
Lee worked out that it would probably take him two hours, so that meant getting up half way through the night – at eight in the morning!
“Okay,” he said, without hesitation.
“Great, that’s really kind of you.”
“No, I just wanted to see you.”
Tamsyn said nothing as she tried to deal with her own feelings. He was a nice boy, but, well, but what? She asked herself.
“Don’t forget to ask your mum about the spare room?”
“I won’t. See you on Monday at ten?”