Chapter 5
When Edward entered the bar, he immediately saw Alice already sitting there. She was at a table by herself, reading a newspaper – The Times. The bar wasn’t busy. It was a weekday, so she wasn’t difficult to spot. She had on a fitted skirt and tight blouse, which showed off her slender figure and long legs to their best advantage. Her hair was neatly coiffured into place, and she was wearing her trademark red lipstick and scarlet nail polish. She looked absolutely stunning, Edward had to admit. Indeed he’d forgotten quite how gorgeous she was in the flesh. Perhaps he’d done that deliberately as an act of self-preservation. When he’d come to Swansea, he’d needed to forget what he was losing and start again. Now it was all coming flooding back to him. The reminder was sat before him in the room he was entering. When Alice sensed Edward approaching, she looked up. She examined him quizzically.
‘What on earth is that on your face, Edward?’ was her initial greeting to him.
They were her first words directly to him in person in over six months.
‘It’s called a beard, Alice,’ Edward replied. ‘I understand they’ve become quite fashionable again. Don’t you like it?’
‘Well, it doesn’t suit you, and you need to get rid of it,’ she told him in no uncertain terms. ‘And what on earth are you wearing? I expected you in a shirt and tie at the very least, not looking like a beatnik. You know they don’t welcome riffraff at Marriott hotels.’
Edward ignored the slight. He knew Alice, and had half expected it. She was always likely to try and put him down. It was part of her attempts to manipulate him and keep him in his place. It was a subtle control mechanism. Alice had a controlling side. It was a way of getting what she wanted, and making those around her feel inferior. She’d always been something of a social climber. She’d reached her zenith with Edward. Paul was something of a step back down, but he was certainly younger and more handsome. Even Edward wouldn’t have argued that point.
‘And how are you Alice? It’s been a while. Can I get you a drink?’ he said instead.
‘I’m all right for the moment,’ she answered.
‘I’ll just go and get one for myself then,’ Edward announced.
When he returned from the bar with his drink, he thought it best to continue to make small talk. He wanted as little awkwardness as possible, and for the conversation to be as amicable as it possibly could be in the tricky circumstances.
‘I’ve reserved us a table when we’re ready to eat,’ Alice informed him.
‘That’s excellent,’ Edward responded. ‘And how was your journey?’ he enquired.
‘It was absolutely awful. The train was far too busy. I wished I’d paid the extra for first class. It was a good job I’d reserved a seat, or I might have ended up standing. It only improved at Cardiff, when a lot of people got off,’ Alice explained.
It was true most daytime intercity trains on mainline routes were busy these days. They didn’t always have enough carriages. Even so Edward himself never used first class, even though he could easily have afforded to. He was very much a man of the people, and he travelled as one. He disliked showing off his wealth. He thought it vulgar. Of course Alice had liked people to know they were very rich when they’d been together. Edward had always known it had no relevance to their moral worth, which was what really mattered.
‘You realise you’ll have to shave that beard when you come back to Oxford,’ Alice continued.
‘But my life is here in Wales now,’ Edward stated, shaking his head at Alice’s apparent lack of awareness about his current situation.
‘Don’t be ridiculous. You need to stop all this nonsense. Don’t you realise the neighbours have started to talk. They want to know where you are. I can’t keep putting them off. It’s become very awkward,’ Alice informed him sternly.
‘Let them talk,’ Edward answered casually. ‘You seem to forget I left because you were having an affair with your work colleague.’
‘We can talk about that later. Let’s eat first,’ Alice retorted, folding her newspaper and getting up.
Edward followed her from the bar area into the restaurant, where they were seated at a table. It was all very elegant and well laid out. They could have been on a first date. If they were Edward certainly wouldn’t have been disappointed by Alice’s looks. She was now a woman of fifty, but looked much younger, nearer to forty in fact. She’d certainly looked after herself, and knew how to make the most of her natural assets. Her personality might have been more flawed and left something to be desired, however. Her looks certainly didn’t, and her beauty couldn’t be debated.
Edward by comparison looked more his real age. He made no great attempt not to, but he was comfortable in his own skin. He knew who he was as a person. Indeed he now realised he’d been living something of a lie for most of his working life. He hadn’t been true to himself. Now he was being nearer to his true self. They spent a few moments in silence, whilst they examined the menu. Alice ordered steak. Edward naturally went for the vegan option.
‘You’re not having meat, Edward?’ Alice enquired, looking somewhat perplexed and disbelieving at his choice.
‘No, I’ve given it up,’ Edward replied. ‘It’s better for my health, and it’s helping me to lose weight.’
‘But you always loved your meat,’ she reminded him. ‘What on earth has happened to you since you’ve been in Swansea?’
‘I’m a new man. I’m not the person I was six months ago,’ Edward told her, giving every impression he was happy with the choices he’d made, both in the restaurant and the recent past.
‘We’ll see about that. There will soon be an end to all this silliness when we get you away from here and back to where you should be. I’ve never heard anything so absurd as you not eating meat. That’s another thing we’ll be putting a stop to when you’re back in Oxford. You’re obviously having some kind of midlife crisis, Edward,’ Alice declared.
‘But I’m not coming back,’ Edward insisted. ‘And it’s not a crisis. This is who I am now. You must accept that fact.’
‘I shall do no such thing, and you’ll do as you’re told,’ Alice continued, taking a big gulp of her drink.
She suddenly realised it was gone and she needed to order another one. She beckoned the waiter over to ask for another gin. She’d already ordered a bottle of white wine, a pleasant Sauvignon Blanc, to share with their meal, and he was just bringing it.
‘You seem to forget the small matter of your affair with Paul,’ Edward reminded her. ‘This entire situation is of your own doing, if you don’t mind me saying.’
‘Don’t be so old fashioned, Edward,’ Alice stated. ‘That was just sex. It meant nothing.’
‘It meant nothing to you perhaps. It meant something to me,’ Edward said.
‘It was just a fling,’ Alice repeated. ‘We can soon put all that behind us and start again. I’m willing to try, if you are.’
‘Are you saying it’s over with Paul?’ Edward asked.
‘It’s not really about Paul. It’s about us,’ Alice claimed. ‘But of course it’s over. Why would it be otherwise?’
What Alice wasn’t telling Edward and was keeping strictly to herself was that Paul had already set his eyes on another woman in the office, a younger one than Alice in fact, whom he was determined to get. Alice wasn’t used to being second best, and it didn’t sit comfortably with her at all. In fact she was furious. She was worried she’d made a complete fool of herself, and was now not only the source of office gossip but something of a laughing stock to boot. She was livid. So much so that the only course of action open to her seemed to be to try win her own husband back.
‘Whilst I appreciate the effort you’ve made to come here, and your offer of a reconciliation is generous, you must realise you can’t just expect to pick up where we were after over six months apart,’ Edward explained. ‘It doesn’t really work like that.’
‘I know it won’t be easy. I didn’t expect it to be,’ Alice admitted. ‘But you can’t let one silly mistake come between us.’
‘It was hardly one mistake. I presume it had been going on for months, and it would have carried on going on behind my back if I hadn’t found it,’ Edward observed.
‘Let’s not talk about that,’ Alice said, with an attempt in her voice to sound both soothing and conciliatory at the same time. ‘That’s all in the past. It’s the future that matters now.’
It hadn’t taken her that long in fact to realise she’d made a terrible mistake leaving Edward in the first place. Quite quickly she’d begun to appreciate that Paul was little more than a serial womaniser, whose main interest was adding further notches to his bedpost. Edward on the other hand was much more steady and reliable. He was an altogether better person, as well as being considerably richer. But now he was settled in Wales with a new partner, Alice would have a considerable job on her hands to prise him away from Jill and win him back for herself. That was why she planned to stick around for a while, in an effort slowly to wear him down with her charm and her beauty. She was already starting to understand it was going to be harder than she expected. Just wearing a short skirt and plying him with wine wouldn’t cut the mustard and get him to fall into bed with her. He was clearly happy in his new life. Instead she’d have to play the long game.
‘But at least we’re communicating again. That’s something and a good sign,’ Alice said.
‘But don’t expect me to change my mind,’ Edward repeated, eager to clarify his position on the matter.
‘I don’t expect you to rush into any decisions just yet. I’ll be here for a while, so we’ll have plenty of other opportunities to discuss our options and how we want to proceed,’ Alice confirmed.
‘I assumed you’d come here to discuss details of our divorce. You’ve rather taken me back with this new information,’ Edward admitted.
Just then their food arrived and was placed on the table before them.
‘Anyway enough of that for now. Let’s just enjoy our meal and have a nice time together. We can talk more the next time we meet,’ Alice suggested.
When they’d finished eating, Edward settled the bill as he always did and as Alice invariably expected him to.
‘I’ll treat you next time,’ she said, in an effort to sound generous and giving, although Edward knew it was unlikely she would do and she’d probably have forgotten by the time they met again.
Alice had now got over the shock of his appearance, and realising he hadn’t just melted into his arms at her opening gambit, was making more of an effort to get on the right side of him. After they left the table, they retired to the bar. Alice tried to persuade him to stay for more drinks. Edward was conscious of the time. He knew Jill would be expecting him home. He agreed to stay for just one. When he’d finished it, Alice touched his arm and asked if he wanted another.
‘No thank you, I really must be going,’ he said, rising to his feet.
‘Well, I expect I’ll see you tomorrow then,’ Alice speculated as he was leaving. ‘I’ll be in touch,’ she promised.
Edward gave her a light kiss on the cheek, as his parting gesture. She gave him a seductive look back, as if to suggest he could have rather more if he wanted it. Instead he departed without turning his head again. As he walked home he realised the situation had suddenly got a lot more complicated than it had been. He had been enjoying relative freedom. Now his past had suddenly caught up with him in no uncertain fashion. Jill was up waiting for him when he got in, keen to hear what had happened and how the meeting had gone. He wasn’t quite sure what to tell her, and whether to lie or be honest. He could hardly believe what had taken place himself.
‘Well, how did it go?’ Jill asked impatiently, when Edward was slow to begin. ‘Tell me everything.’
Edward did his best to give to give an accurate account of what had been said, whilst being careful to spare Jill’s feelings on certain more intimate details. He didn’t deny Alice had come to win him back. He didn’t see any point. It was better that Jill was aware of the situation they now faced together. Jill could hardly believe her ears, and what was being told to her.
‘So that’s her little game, is it?’ she hissed angrily. ‘I might have guessed something like this would happen.’
‘Well, I’m surprised, I have to admit,’ Edward stated. ‘I’d rather assumed she was happy with Paul in Oxford, with me out the way, so they could get on with whatever they wanted to.’
‘And do you want to go back to her, Edward?’ Jill demanded to know. ‘I won’t stand in your way if you do.’
‘Of course not,’ Edward replied. ‘My life is now here in Wales with you.’
‘She sounds very determined to me,’ Jill observed. ‘She obviously plans to stay here in Swansea until she gets what she wants.
‘But it’s not what I want,’ Edward pointed out. ‘That was my old life. I don’t actually think it’s me she wants anyway. Her pride is just hurt with Paul already moving on so soon, and she doesn’t know what else to do. She was actually pretty critical of my appearance. She didn’t like my beard or my clothes.’
‘I suppose she was all dressed up,’ Jill speculated.
Edward had never seen Jill like this. She was in a state of barely disguised fury. She obviously deeply resented Alice re-entering their lives and trying to claim Edward back for herself. And who could blame her? It was a very natural instinct to attempt to repel those who threatened her newfound happiness, and send them packing.
‘Alice is always dressed immaculately. There’s no denying she’s an attractive woman,’ Edward conceded. ‘But looks aren’t everything. Flawed objects lie within pretty packaging, and Alice is deeply flawed.’
What he was saying wasn’t entirely helping.
‘What you mean is she’s more attractive than me,’ Jill said.
‘Not to me,’ Edward was quick to reassure Jill. ‘You’re both attractive women. You just have different styles. Yours is a more honest one. Alice’s is very fake in truth. A lot of her beauty is merely cosmetic. Anyone can paint their nails red and wear red lipstick. Besides it’s you that I want,’ Edward told her.
‘You’re just saying that,’ Jill said, turning away from him.
‘Well, hopefully she’ll get the message quite quickly, and be on her way back to Oxford before too long,’ Edward suggested.
Despite his best efforts, his words didn’t entirely reassure Jill. Edward had some inner concerns himself. He wondered what the next day would bring. He wondered just where Alice might pop up next. He didn’t entirely trust his own emotions. He knew in his heart it was Jill he wanted to be with not Alice. She had still reawakened certain feelings in him. To a degree she had got his pulse racing a little. Part of him had wanted to kiss her luscious lips and perhaps go upstairs with her.
Alice had been subtly attempting to seduce him. Edward wasn’t oblivious to her charms. He was just a mortal man, made of flesh and blood and bone, and the flesh could be weak. He hadn’t been tempted, because he was a person of principles. He believed in doing the right thing, and the right thing was to remain with Jill now. There was no doubt about that. Anything else would be a dereliction of his duties and a failing of his moral code. He would be betraying not only Jill, but himself. Yet, still the doubts persisted. Temptation could be a terrible thing, and Alice could be very persuasive. Edward feared things would only get worse and her efforts at seduction more intense as the days passed.
Edward and Jill didn’t make love that night. An invisible and unspoken divide had suddenly come between them. They didn’t speak further. They both just rolled over and eventually went to sleep. Edward hoped the divide would have vanished by morning. He hoped Jill would be in a better mood and everything forgotten. He hoped it had all been a bad dream. He wished Alice was back in Oxford and happy in her new life with Paul instead. He wished he hadn’t been put in the position he found himself in. He’d been happy. Everything had been going swimmingly. Now Alice had arrived to upset the apple cart. It was a distraction he didn’t need and didn’t want. The problem was Alice was a difficult woman to say no to.
Edward and Jill had told Megan she didn’t need to come in today, as they were in Swansea anyway. They’d look after the bookshop, and Megan and Daisy were in the Neath shop running that. Edward and Jill worked in relative silence or just engaged in small talk. He’d have to take her out for a meal or do something nice for her, to put things right and make it up to her, he realised. He hoped Alice wouldn’t hang around for as long as she’d threatened to. Edward hoped to get things sorted early, with her returning to Oxford and him staying where he was. He disliked the fact Alice had upset things. He disliked the fact their tranquil life had been disturbed. He also resented the fact he still found Alice attractive. He wished he didn’t.
‘Oh, I’ve decided about the invitation to the work do in London,’ Edward suddenly announced, in an effort to change the subject and get things back to a more normal setting.
‘And what did you decide?’ Jill asked.
‘I’m not going. With everything else going on, it doesn’t really feel like the right timing. I’ll have to make a speech, and it’s an added pressure I just don’t need,’ Edward explained.
‘Maybe you should go. You could take Alice. She’d be in her element,’ Jill suggested sarcastically.
‘I’ve actually already said no,’ Edward continued.
‘What did you tell them?’ Jill wondered, dropping the sarcasm from her voice.
‘I just said we’re away. I apologised for the late reply. I said I haven’t been checking my emails regularly lately, and I’d only just seen the invitation,’ Edward said.
‘So that’s settled then,’ Jill remarked.
‘It is,’ Edward confirmed. ‘It will be Christmas here in Wales.’
‘And not in Oxford,’ Jill added.
‘Absolutely not,’ Edward confirmed.
Whilst Edward was happy with the choice he’d made it in declining the invitation, and was fully at ease with it, it had of course stirred old memories. It had reminded him of his former workplace and colleagues. It had got him thinking about old times again in a way he hadn’t for some time, just as the arrival of Alice had done. Whilst he’d been happy to end that period of his life, and even turn his back on it, there were elements of it he missed. There were colleagues he’d be happy to see again and catch up with. The time just wasn’t right. He’d just started a second business, and then Alice had shown up unexpectedly on the scene. It was just bad timing on all counts. Maybe the timing would be better the following year. Edward disliked the idea he was being a bad friend and colleague in declining as he had done. Certainly both the invitation and Alice’s sudden arrival had given him a lot to think about.
As it was relatively quiet in the shop, Edward decided to spend his time sorting out the wages for the staff he’d recently taken on. This was a new experience for him. He’d never been an employer before, and to a degree he was having to learn as he went. He’d already carried out the right to work checks, although he knew all three, Megan, Meredith and Daisy, were eligible to work in the UK. He hadn’t bothered with references or any formalities like that. Megan was Jill’s daughter, and had been willing to vouch for her reliability. Edward had seen Meredith working first hand with his own eyes, and that had been enough to convince him of her worth. And Daisy had of course been recommended by Meredith. He was paying them all well in excess of the National Minimum Wage, even Daisy. It would have been contrary to his principles to do otherwise.
Edward had issued all three with official, legally binding contracts, and registered as an employer with HMRC, His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs. He’d set up PAYE, Pay As You Earn, to deduct all necessary income tax and national insurance from each employee’s pay. He’d input the information provided by their P45s from their previous employers to ensure they were all on the correct tax code. He was also preparing Christmas payslips detailing hours worked, pay, as well as any deductions. He was anxious they should receive their wages in good time for Christmas. In future he intended to pay into their bank accounts on the last Friday of the month. He’d always be happy to issue an advance to anyone who was short and needed one.
He’d taken out Employer’s Liability Insurance, another legal requirement, and enrolled all three members of staff in a workplace pension scheme, as he was also legally required to do. To Edward it seemed like a lot of red tape, but it had to be done. It was like a full-time job in itself. As he was also taking care of the web-based side of the business, he no longer had so much time for face-to-face contact with the customers, although he liked to show his face in both shops when he could.
Jill continued to source and categorise all the new stock. She didn’t always use the new systems Edward had created, or do it as efficiently as he would have done it himself. It frustrated him a bit. It meant they weren’t making as much money as they potentially could have been. It should have been easy to see at a glance if they had any book by checking the database Edward had created. But if Jill hadn’t kept it up to date, he’d have to go and check the shelves for himself, wasting valuable time. It felt to him as if sometimes she was almost undermining his efforts to make the business a success. He loved her, but her general disorganisation and untidiness, whilst in some ways charming, could also be an irritation at times. It wasn’t deliberate. It was entirely accidental on her part. It was just the way she was and the person she was, loveable but a little chaotic. He understood that.
Edward had grown up in a business world where tiny details and inefficiencies could result in lost millions. He applied the same basic principles he’d learnt as an investment banker to the bookshops. It wasn’t in Jill’s nature to do the same. He had after all invested quite a lot in the two businesses. He wanted at least some return for his investment. At the moment his outlays were considerably more than he was getting back. That was unsustainable long term. At least initial indications were the Neath coffee shop would largely cover its costs, but it was very early days there. He just needed the Swansea one to do the same. That was why he was considering adding a food and drink element there at some point. With the sudden closure of the one they’d so liked just around the corner, there was now an opening in the market. Edward had every intention of exploiting it before too much time passed, possibly as soon as early in the new year.
In the meantime most of the Swansea trade was generated by phone and email enquiries. There was some passing trade, but it rarely led to the purchase of the rarer, higher-priced books. It was generally the cheaper stock that went to those customers who just popped in for a casual browse. There was a hardcore of regulars with more discerning tastes, who’d go for the rarities and first editions. Edward welcomed those and approved of their purchases. In all his marketing he promised to be able to source any book, and was generally true to his word. He went to a lot of trouble to get anything a customer requested, and of course charged accordingly, but always fairly. Not everyone was as proficient as he was at sourcing books in good condition on the internet, and his customers, particularly the more elderly ones, were very grateful for the service.
Morning had turned into afternoon, and Edward and Jill were still working. They didn’t plan to stay open too late. It was their intention to pop in on Jill’s mum, Mary, in the residential home where she now lived before the end of the day. They tried to see her as often as they could, though circumstances meant they mostly had to entrust her to the capable hands of the home’s own trained staff. They couldn’t visit every day, even if they’d have liked to. And now Alice’s untimely arrival had put another spanner in the works. With Christmas fast approaching, and less than three weeks to the big day, it would only get worse. Edward had put up elegant but restrained decorations in both shops. He didn’t want anything vulgar. It went against his natural sense of good taste, which he intended to preserve at all costs. He was a man of refinement, and would continue to be so as long as he could. That afternoon he and Jill were in for an even bigger shock. Alice turned up uninvited and without prior arrangement in person at the bookshop.
‘I thought I’d find you lurking here,’ she announced, as she made her grand entrance.
She was lucky to find them, as with the Neath shop only just open, they were spending more of their time there at present. Edward had also been careful not to disclose their location. Of course there weren’t too many bookshops in the Swansea and Neath area anymore, so it probably hadn’t been that difficult to track them down, not to a determined woman like Alice. Even so it was a surprise to see her standing there. Edward had formed the impression any meetings between them would be by arrangement only. Clearly he’d been mistaken. Alice wasn’t playing by the unwritten rules. Indeed she was making her own.
Edward felt instantly uncomfortable being stuck in the same room as the two woman in his life, one standing by the door and the other sitting at her desk, sorting books and looking somewhat shocked. Alice had caught them off guard by her surprise attack. Of course she was dressed to the nines, in an effort to look her very best. She wanted to remind Edward of what he was missing, and put Jill in the shade as much as she could. Even so Edward tried to stay calm and collected and in control of the situation. He’d had to in his old job. It had been the difference between success and failure on many occasions. He’d learnt to maintain a poker face and stay cool, despite any inner turmoil and doubt he might have privately felt.
‘Alice, what a pleasant surprise,’ he welcomed his estranged wife instead, although he would have preferred to ask her to leave.
Of course he couldn’t do that. It was an awkward situation for everyone involved, and he had no wish to make it any worse than it needed to be.
‘Who’s this?’ Alice enquired, turning contemptuously towards Jill and looking down her nose at her.
‘This is Jill, my partner,’ Edward replied. ‘And this is Alice, my former wife,’ Edward introduced Alice to Jill in return.
‘Not former, we’re still married in case you’ve forgotten, Edward,’ Alice reminded him. ‘And what is this place?’ Alice continued, examining the bookshop with no attempt to hide her disdain. ‘It’s hardly somewhere fitting for a man of your standing.’
‘I like it here,’ Edward said simply. ‘As you are aware I love old books. As far as I’m concerned, I’m in my element.’
‘And you can’t possibly prefer her to me,’ Alice declared, motioning her arm dismissively in the general direction of Jill.
Alice was anxious not to refer to Jill by name. She didn’t want to give Edward’s relationship with Jill further credence by doing so. Jill, meanwhile, decided to ignore Alice and not rise to the bait she was being offered. She was determined not to give Alice the reaction she evidently wanted. Edward, however, was becoming somewhat irritated by Alice’s rudeness. He was a courteous man and expected courtesy in return. He felt on this occasion he wasn’t being afforded it. Alice was being both rude to Jill and dismissive of the bookshop she ran.
‘Perhaps you’d best just get to the point and state your business,’ Edward suggested somewhat curtly.
‘I want another meeting,’ Alice replied just as succinctly.
‘Well, you could have just rung or texted to arrange that,’ Edward stated.
‘But I wanted to see where you were hanging out, and who with,’ Alice explained.
‘Well, I hope you’re satisfied with both,’ Edward said.
‘I won’t be satisfied until you’re back in Oxford where you should be,’ Alice told him.
‘But as I told you, that’s not going to happen,’ Edward reminded her.
‘We’ll see,’ Alice said casually. ‘Anyway, where and when shall we meet?’
‘We’ve just opened a second bookshop and café, so we really are rather busy at the moment,’ Edward explained.
Even so he agreed to meet Alice again at the weekend. He felt he didn’t have much choice. It was the only way to get her out of the shop. He could tell she wasn’t going to be easily put off, or just go away, as he and Jill hoped she would. Indeed she was booked into the Marriott hotel, where she was staying, right up to Christmas, and working remotely from there until then. She only planned to return to Oxford just before December 25th, leaving it as late as Christmas Eve before getting a train back. For the next three weeks she’d be a thorn in their side.
It occurred to Edward with a degree of irony that she’d be staying roughly 21 days, the amount of time he’d initially decide to stay in Swansea, before moving in with Jill and deciding to make his stay permanent. He wondered if it was just coincidence, or was it more than that? Was it planned by Alice? Was she making some kind of point? Was she proving in some way that she could do whatever he could do? The 21 days did seem significant in some way. He’d first spent it in Swansea. Now he was mainly in Neath. Now Alice had come to Swansea too. She’d followed him and found him, and now wanted to take him back. It was as if his old life in Oxford had come to haunt him in Wales. Alice was the ultimate ghost from his past.
‘I thought I handled that rather well,’ Edward claimed when she’d finally gone.
Jill didn’t choose to agree or disagree.
‘She was nice,’ she said instead. ‘Why on earth did you marry her?’
‘For her looks, I suppose,’ Edward admitted sadly.
‘It couldn’t have been for anything else,’ Jill speculated.
‘Alice can be very persuasive, but her personality is certainly flawed,’ Edward agreed. ‘I suppose I was flattered by her interest.’
‘Anyway let’s close up,’ Jill suggested. ‘We’ve had enough excitement for one day. I’ll go and see my mother. You can take the dog for a walk.’
It was a good suggestion, and it helped to diffuse the air of tension for the time being. That evening neither of them said much about Alice. They needed a break from the stress it was causing both of them. They wanted to get back to how things had been, before she’d turned up unexpectedly on their doorstep. Only a week earlier they’d been contemplating the opening of their new business in Neath. Alice had rather put a dampener on that. She’d somewhat spoilt the excitement of its launch.
On the plus side, people were coming through the doors, more than they expected at this early stage, and it was making money from the off. Meredith was comparatively rushed off her feet and needed Daisy’s help or Edward’s most days. That was an encouraging sign. He hadn’t really expected it to take off until spring and summer. It was winter, and it was already doing well and more than paying for itself. The Swansea bookshop, which wasn’t serving coffee and food as yet, but might in the future, was quiet by comparison. Of course that quite suited Megan, as it meant she could get on with her art, whilst covering the shop for Edward and Jill at the same time.
As it had been a somewhat difficult week, Edward wanted to do something special for Jill to make it up to her as best he could. She’d been very tolerant of the situation, not only letting Edward meet Alice at the hotel where she was staying, but not reacting when she’d turned up at the Swansea shop with every intention of stirring things up. Jill hadn’t reacted either when Alice had started throwing insults in her direction. She’d kept calm. She’d maintained her cool remarkably well, considering the circumstances and the level of provocation. So when they got up that Friday morning, Edward announced they weren’t going to work.
‘I’m sure Megan can cope by herself in Swansea, and Meredith has Daisy to help her in Neath,’ Edward announced.
‘So what are we doing instead?’ Jill wondered.
‘We’re going to Cardiff,’ Edward told her. ‘I’m going to treat you to some new clothes, or whatever else you’d like, and when we come back we’re eating out. We can go to the restaurant of your choice.’
‘Well, if you’re paying,’ Jill agreed, looking rather pleased with Edward’s suggestion.
‘I am,’ Edward confirmed. ‘And we’re going by train, so we don’t have to worry about parking.’
Edward disliked the fact that Alice had poured scorn on Jill’s appearance. He wanted to treat her to some of the finer things in life of the quality he felt she deserved. That was his reason for taking her to Cardiff, or one of them. Edward texted Meredith to say he wasn’t coming in that day, but Daisy would be. Jill texted Megan to tell her the same. When they were ready, they set off for the station. Trains went every half hour or so, so if they missed one it wouldn’t be long before another was leaving. Edward wanted to get there at a reasonable time to make the most of the day. They set off about 9.30am, after eating breakfast, and arrived in time to catch a train at 10.22. It pulled into Cardiff Central at 11.15, giving them ample time to do everything they wanted without having to rush.
Whilst many shoppers would have headed straight for the impressive and imposing department store, John Lewis & Partners, or some of the generic shops of the St David’s Centre, Jill preferred to shop in the independent boutiques and vintage stores of Cardiff’s famous arcades. From the station they wandered at a leisurely pace up St Mary Street to reach them. As they walked it brought memories flooding back to Edward. As a student some forty years or more earlier he and Angela had often come shopping in Cardiff on a Saturday. St Mary Street and Queen Street had been at the heart of the shopping area then. The focus had now shifted more towards the expanded St David’s Centre. That wasn’t how Edward remembered it best. Instead he recalled St Mary Street being dominated by Howells, a branch of House of Fraser. It had closed its doors for the last time in March 2023.
Edward also recalled the massive independent department store David Morgan, located on The Hayes, which had closed in January 2005. Morgan Arcade, however, still existed and ran from St Mary Street to The Hayes, as did Royal Arcade, both of which Edward and Jill visited. They were crammed with thriving independent businesses of all kinds, as was Castle Arcade on the other side of St Mary Street. All three were buzzing with cafés and specialist clothes shops to suit all tastes. Here Jill found a number of items she liked, which Edward was only too happy to buy for her. She didn’t generally have a lot of money to spend on herself. Edward on the other hand did, and it gave him pleasure to help her refresh her slightly tired wardrobe. Indeed it gave him more pleasure than if he was spending it on himself.
Edward was delighted to find Spillers Records, where he’d purchased many a vinyl record as a student, was still open, although it had moved location since the 1980s. Edward remembered it being on The Hayes. Now it was located in Morgan Arcade. Recognised as the world’s oldest record shop, Edward was thrilled just to find it still operating at all. It had been threatened with closure in the mid-2000s, when CD sales had been at their peak. Now vinyl had made a comeback, Spillers was flourishing again. It gave Edward reason for optimism. Not every change was a negative one, he reflected. Some gave him renewed hope for our town and city centres.
When he and Angela had visited Cardiff as students, they’d often had their lunch in The Louis on St Mary Street, where they’d enjoyed traditional fare like omelettes, fish and chips, pies and roasts, all probably served with peas, which Edward still liked. Going to The Louis had been an act of nostalgia in itself. It had been a popular eating place for both his father and grandparents, when they’d lived in Cardiff many years earlier. Edward was saddened to find it closed. Checking on his phone, he found it had closed suddenly in February 2017.
Edward and Jill struggled to find a vegan café in the city centre for her. Most of those they found on Tripadvisor were outside the centre and a bit too far to walk to. Instead they found an independent café in one of the arcades, which catered for both vegetarians and vegans, and ate there. Afterwards they had a look in Cardiff Market, before continuing to the end of St Mary Street, where Cardiff Castle came impressively into sight. They walked down Duke Street, before turning left into North Street, examining the castle’s striking outside walls as they went. They sat for a while holding hands on a bench in Bute Park, behind the castle, before continuing to Cathays Park and the National Museum of Wales, now the National Museum Cardiff, which they had a leisurely look around.
On their way back they wandered past the shops of Queen Street and the St David Centre, which had been extended significantly since first opening in March 1982. It was very different to how Edward remembered it, and had greatly increased in size over the years since. Though in truth it housed the kind of generic shops, which didn’t interest him so greatly. Like Jill he generally preferred the independent ones of the arcades and the market.
By late afternoon they found themselves tiring. They decided to stop at a rum bar they’d noticed in Castle Arcade. It was called Rum & Fizz. It wasn’t cheap, but it had beautiful décor and was a lovely place just to sit and relax for a moment. Edward had a pineapple rum, whereas Jill chose one flavoured with banana. They’d had a lovely afternoon. For the time being they’d forgotten all about Alice. They’d left the worry of her behind in Swansea. They were in another city, and thoughts of her had vanished from their heads almost completely, at least temporarily.
‘It’s been amazing,’ Jill told Edward. ‘We must do this again.’
‘Indeed we must,’ Edward agreed.
‘It’s been so nice to get some new clothes,’ Jill continued.
‘I’m glad you’re pleased,’ Edward said.
He genuinely was. He was happy to have been able to lighten Jill’s mood. When they’d finished their drinks, they meandered their way back to the railway station. It was busy, both with commuters going home from work and partygoers arriving for a night out. They started early in Cardiff, just as they did in Wind Street in Swansea. Edward and Jill got on a train that was leaving at 5.44pm. It arrived at their destination just after 6.40. They decided to go straight for their evening meal, rather than go home first, as it was getting late.
They went to one of their favourite restaurants, La Braseria, at the end of Wind Street, tucked away from the rowdy drinkers. It wasn’t exclusively vegetarian, but they did a nice asparagus starter, and choice of succulent aubergine or tempting stuffed pepper as the main course. Edward and Jill ordered one of each, which they washed down with a generous quantity of wine. They got a taxi home, and when they got in Edward opened another bottle of wine. They were both feeling slightly tipsy, and they collapsed in each other’s arms on the sofa in front of the television. The frostiness of the previous couple of days since Alice’s arrival had dissipated, and when they went up to bed they made love.
Edward hadn’t forgotten he was working in the Neath shop the following day, whilst Jill was planning to spend the day in the Swansea one. They’d promised both Meredith and Megan well deserved days off. Meredith particularly had worked tirelessly all week. She needed a rest. At least Edward had Daisy to help him. He was confident he could manage and not let standards slip. More new customers were certain to come in, and he very much wanted to impress them.
In the evening he was seeing Alice again. It was best not to think about it too much. He wasn’t quite sure how it would go. It was their second scheduled meeting in Swansea. He didn’t really count her impromptu visit to the bookshop. That had just been excruciatingly awkward. Edward couldn’t cancel. He’d given his word, and he was a man of his word. It was a complication he didn’t need though. One woman in his life was enough. He didn’t need another one, even if it was his estranged wife and she was exceedingly attractive. At least today had been a special one. He and Jill had enjoyed a wonderful time together in Cardiff. It had helped clear the air between them, and reinvigorate their love for each other.
Edward got up early and left for Neath straight after breakfast, whilst Jill got ready to go downstairs and open the Swansea bookshop. She wasn’t planning to stay open late if hardly anyone came in. She told Edward she might even call it a day once she’d responded to any emails and answerphone messages, and go and take Beti their labrador for a walk, or see her mother instead. Edward was expecting a much busier day by comparison, as he had coffees and food to serve, as well as books to sell.
He was taking the train. He found it easier. Generally he preferred to keep the car for leisure purposes, unless there was stock to transport, or domestic items for the café or home upstairs. Swansea Train Station was about a twenty-minute walk from where they lived in King Edward Road, but it was best to allow half an hour in case there were unexpected delays. Edward liked to be punctual and not rushed. He wasn’t the type to want to miss a train. His walk took him down Brynmor Road, where some of their favourite local pubs were located, and along St Helen’s Road, which was much more multicultural than it had been in Edward’s day. It now offered all kinds of ethnic and continental eating choices that hadn’t been there in the 1980s.
After the roundabout he joined The Kingsway and then headed up the High Street to the train station. He’d timed it well. A train calling at Neath on its journey eastwards was leaving shortly. Edward bought himself a return ticket. He didn’t need to wait on the platform. The train to London was already standing there waiting for passengers to board, and was due to depart on time. The journey itself took a little over ten minutes only. He’d barely got on, before he was getting off again.
When Edward emerged at Neath Station, there was a distinct chill in the air. The December skies overhead were grey and heavy. It looked like it might rain later in the day. If it had been a little colder, there could have been the chance of snow, but Edward knew it rarely snowed in South Wales. It had only snowed once or twice during his years at university there, and those occasions had invariably occurred after Christmas and early in the new year. There would be no snow today, he thought. There might be a spot of rain, but he hoped it would hold off until he was going home, although he’d be heading out again soon afterwards to meet Alice.
His new shop, Coffee & Books, was located only a short distance from the train station. There was more than one way of getting there. One way was to go straight down Alfred Street to Victoria Gardens. Edward preferred the slightly more scenic way, along Green Street and then turning right into Queen Street. That way he passed more shops, before reaching the end of Queen Street and crossing the elegant Victoria Gardens, the far side of which his own shop was located.
Edward had beaten Daisy there. That had been his intention, so he could get things ready and most of the preparation done. Meredith was opening early on weekdays to catch some of the work trade, as people rushed to their jobs in shops, offices and other business premises. But she was packing up at 3pm, at least for food and drink orders for the time being. The bookshop was open a little longer, whilst she cleared everything away in the kitchen. They were opening a bit later on Saturdays at around 10am and closing at 4pm.
Their opening hours were far from set in stone at present. Edward and Meredith were being flexible and keeping an open mind about them. They wanted to find out what worked best, before they started advertising fixed hours that they then had to commit to. With Jill the hours in the Swansea bookshop had always been very laissez-faire, depending on her mood and what else she had on. Edward knew he couldn’t operate a coffee shop on the same basis, though long term he might need to take on more staff to cover both the early shift and the late one, he realised.
Daisy arrived about ten minutes before they were due to open. Edward had got most of the groundwork sorted by then, and they were ready for their first customers of the day. Daisy was just in her early twenties like Megan, but Edward found her to be dedicated and conscientious. She seemed to know more about the food preparation side than he did himself, despite his completing all his online food hygiene certificates. Meredith had recommended her personally, and it appeared her recommendation hadn’t been misplaced. Edward enjoyed working with Daisy and getting to know her better. Quite quickly he came to appreciate he could leave most of the food orders to her. He was happier with the drinks. He’d practised at length on the new coffee machine, and of course he could offer any advice needed on the books.
Luckily, it wasn’t a particularly busy day, and not like some of those Meredith had to contend with earlier in the week. Business was just steady and gently ticking over. It allowed Edward to chat to the customers, where he was of course in his element. It also meant he could forget about Alice to a degree, or at least put her out of his mind until later. Instead he chatted at his leisure about food, drink and books, and what had inspired him to come to the town. He did have one or two enquiries from more serious book collectors that he promised to follow up. It would be his pleasure to do so. After about 2.30pm it got rather quieter. The lunchtime trade had seemingly ended, and they were just getting the odd request for coffee and cake.
‘Thank you, you’ve been a lot of help today,’ Edward told Daisy. ‘But you can head off now. Don’t worry, I won’t dock it from your wages.’
‘It’s been fun,’ Daisy announced. ‘Are you sure there’s nothing else I can do before I leave?’
‘Honestly, it’s fine. It’s almost done anyway,’ Edward assured her.
Edward took his time completing the final finishing touches. He wanted it to look immaculate for the following week. He wanted it literally sparkling with cleanliness. As far as he could see it was. As he prepared to switch off the lights and lock up, he admired his handiwork. He’d done a good job, he thought to himself. He could be very proud of his efforts. It would be a pity to throw it all away by going back to Alice. He’d worked far too hard to contemplate something stupid like that. The upstairs rooms were also very cosy. He couldn’t wait to stay in them again. In some ways he preferred them to the ones they lived at in Swansea. He possibly would have chosen to make Neath their main base, if it had been his choice alone. He was aware Jill probably wouldn’t want that. In the meantime it was fun doing what they were doing and varying where they were staying. It meant they’d never get bored.
It was starting to go dark when Edward got outside and began to make his way back to the railway station. As he walked, his thoughts started to turn to Alice. He’d managed to force her out of his mind for a bit. Now she’d returned with a vengeance. He wondered what she’d want this time. He wondered how he might put her off. She was a wily one. She knew how to get what she wanted. She wouldn’t be easily deflected from her intentions, whatever they were. She wasn’t in a habit of taking no for an answer. Unfortunately this time she’d have to. Edward was with Jill now. He’d made his choice and started a new life. Alice had forced that choice on him, by starting an affair with a work colleague. There was no going back as far as Edward was concerned, even if the affair was now over. Somehow he suspected Alice wouldn’t see it quite like that. She’d make it altogether more complicated, if she really was serious about forcing him to return to Oxford. Edward was similarly determined not to go, and to remain here in Wales.
