AN: The song further down the chapter is These Days by Nico.

Part 2: A Fish Named Herbert

"… peach, canned peach, those little yoghurt tubs with sliced peach and syrup," the man was saying before taking his third beer to his lips.

"Say peach one more time."

"Peach," he grinned.

Edith laughed for no reason and noted her head was lighter than usual.

"Have you always wanted to run a peach factory?" Edith asked. The older man frowned, thinking about it for a moment.

"It's a family business," he answered with a shrug, though Edith noticed something passing across his face and when he gazed down at his drink she knew he was lost in his thoughts.

The two of them were sitting on the floor of the kitchen, Edith leaning against the fridge, and the man against the counter with empty bottles of beer, a bowl of grapes, a cheese platter and a bowl of crisps between them, having made quite a little party for themselves. They had been engaged in conversation for some time about all sorts of things. At one stage they even discussed some of the other guests.

"… He was the last batter and here we all were just waiting for this amazing thing to happen because you know, it's Moslely. Everything was leading up to this moment. Anyway, he totally missed and the ball hit the stumps and then - and then…" Edith had bursted out laughing then as she remembered and started to reenact the scene to him.

"You see him dramatically falling to his knees and as he bent over to cover his face with his hands, his - his wig slipped off… and everyone just… died."

Edith was in hysterics, the man laughed even more because of Edith. Her laugh would resound and then reduce into silent fits. She would wrap her arms around her middle like she was stopping her ribs from breaking. The man found her to be very amusing.

Now the conversation had steered to a more personal topic and it was his turn to ask Edith about her life.

"So what about you?" he continued in curiosity. "What do you do or what do you want to do? You're erm… still in school?"

"No, no. I graduated last year."

"So that would make you…"

"Nineteen."

"I see… any future plans? College? Apprenticeship? Part-Time Job?"

"Well I'm taking a gap year because I don't really know what to do yet."

Edith sighed. The truth was she really didn't want to talk about it. Her parents and grandma Violet were always harassing her about colleges, courses and applying for scholarships. For a while she thought about being a writer but when asked what kind of writer to which she would reply, "writing novels," - well the reaction was as not unusual for Edith.

"Fiction?" Granny spat out after having choked on her tea, throwing questioning looks at her mother and father who would move in their seat uncomfortably with their downcast eyes like a pair of berated children denying it was ever their fault.

Heated arguments would ensue leaving her sulking for the rest of the day.

"Yeah… I don't know," she finally let out in a breath, sounding a little aggravated and quickly smiled apologetically after realising she might have offended him. She suddenly felt the need to continue because after all he had answered her every question. She didn't know where to start though, and knew that if she did it would instigate a fairly long vent about the unending battle of approval that her life was.

To her surprise he didn't trouble her on the subject unlike everyone else who made her try to think about it like Mrs Hughes for example.

"Well dear, what are you good at? What do you like to do?" her tender, motherly voice would say - as if they all give a damn, Edith seethed. As if I don't know the answers to those questions - it's my bloody life! No one seemed to understand that she just didn't want to talk about it! As if talking about it ever changed anything -

"We don't have to talk about it if you don't want to," the man said as if reading her thoughts.

Edith just looked at him. He was smiling kindly as he so often did and she noticed how her shoulders relaxed - she didn't even know they had been so tense. At that moment she found a true appreciation and gratefulness for this man who barely knew her and she hand't felt that about anyone in a long time.

"Do you want to see my fish?" Edith suddenly blurted out.

...

Blue eyes magnified and warped as he peered inside the round tank. His faced was a mixed expression of disgust and curiosity.

"What is it?"

"A mexican walking fish," she said rather fondly. "Do you want to touch it?"

He looked at her incredulously as well as amused.

"No. I think I'll pass…"

Edith left him as she rummaged around her collection of albums in her bookshelf before pulling one out and inserting it into the CD player.

"What a funny little thing!" the man continued, completely in awe. She found it quite amusing to see the grown man, almost two metres tall, towering over the tank, eyes fixed on the yellow creature in the bowl swimming around a miniature boot.

"What's his - or her name?" he asked, looking over his shoulder, seeing Edith moving over to sit on the bed.

Quickly glancing around for a chair and finding none, he moved towards the adjacent wall and leaned against it. It wouldn't do for him to share a mattress with a teenager in case anyone happened to walk past the doorway and leap into assumptions. A vision of Robert with his hunting rifle at the doorway materialised in the back of his mind.

"Apparently it's too young to tell," Edith replied, letting herself fall on the bed as she stared at the ceiling.

"But I hope it's a male because I've already named it Herbert."

He smiled at that, and lowered himself once again, now on his knees to watch Herbert, the frilly lizard crossed eel, slash, mutant fish resting on the pebbles.

"Mary won't even look at it," she said. "I know he's a bit weird, but I like him."

"Oh look, it's smiling," the man piped up.

Edith chuckled.

"That's just his face."

"I know," he laughed. "Still… it's a nice thought."

For quite sometime they were silent. A comfortable silence, Edith contemplated as the record played softly in the background.

I've been out walking

I don't do too much talking

These days, these days.

These days I seem to think a lot

About the things that I forgot to do

And all the times I had the chance to.

"They say the saddest people smile the most," Edith said in wonder, words slipping out of her mouth before she could stop it.

"Sorry, I don't know why I said that," she muttered. He looked up and regarded her for a moment, lying there with her arms sprawled beside her. He smiled to himself.

"I would be if I was trapped in a tank," he said jokingly. She then sprang up from the bed with a scandalised expression.

"He's not trapped! He has plenty of room... he loves it!" she exclaimed.

"Does he?" he smirked rather boyishly.

"Your not one of those extreme animal activists are you…?"

He laughed.

"I'll get him a bigger tank when he gets older!"

"He knows I take very good care of him," she added smugly but in good spirit.

"I'm only kidding," he said, smiling from ear to ear. "And I know you do - no doubt he's in very good hands."

She grabbed a pillow and threw it at him and they laughed some more.

I've stopped my rambling,

I don't do too much gambling

These days, these days.

These days I seem to think about

How all the changes came about my ways

And I wonder if I'll see another highway.

They had been talking about all sorts of topics and it didn't matter if she had little knowledge or no interest in it, she found herself being curious and responsive all the same, because he was. It was nice for a change just to talk to someone. Really talk to someone. Talking in Edith's world was only a matter of speaking and hearing. She found however, talking with this man, was a completely different story. Regardless of whether or not they had a lot or few in common, it was the mutual sense of open mindedness and the eager interest between them that drove the conversation along very comfortably.

So comfortably that it was all too soon when it was time to leave.

The party had come to its inevitable close and they said their farewells and escorted the guests.

Outside, near the front gate was Edith. After having assisted Granny into Aunt Rosamund's car, she now stood before the man in the horrid hawaiian shirt, a whole head taller than her.

"Well it was nice meeting you -" Edith started, her eyes widening as she realised she never asked.

"Anthony," he told her craning his neck to speak as levelly as he could to her.

"Oh my god, I can't believe we spent -" it suddenly registered in Edith's mind - a whole day together...

"- and we didn't even bother with the introductions," he finished for her. She sighed, and grinned up at him offering her hand.

"I'm Edith," she said as he took her small hand inside his warm larger one and shook it.

"I know."

She looked at him a little puzzled and he continued, "your father talks about you and your sisters a lot... I had a feeling you would be Edith."

Whatever had her father been telling Anthony? She wondered slightly alarmed.

"And is it true? What he said?"

"Perhaps," he teased with a mischievous twinkle in his blue eyes. But his voice was kind and his smile kinder. And as he looked at her, Edith realised she didn't care what her father said, because she decided Anthony was nice and he would only think of her as he knew her.

"Anthony!"

It was Robert. He slapped the man on his shoulder and turned to his daughter to say, "Oh Edith - go and help your mama put away the food."

He turned to Anthony again.

"I barely saw you - I almost forgot you were here!"

Why can't Mary do it. Edith thought, glaring at her father before she obliged. Mary and Matthew were whispering in each other's ears as she passed them just before the steps and Edith couldn't help but roll her eyes in annoyance.

She could hear Anthony and her father's conversation behind her.

"I hope you enjoyed yourself."

"I did. Very much, thank you."

"I'm really glad you came tonight - I know it's been hard for you - "

"Robert- Robert," he said stopping the man from going any further which sparked curiosity in Edith. What did her father mean by that? she wondered. But that thought quickly left her when he said the next thing.

"I'm glad I did. It was good. Trust me… I -"

Edith looked back then and found Anthony looking at her.

"… I had a wonderful time."

...

That night in her bedroom, on a table beside her, Herbert calmly rested amongst the pebbles wrapped around the miniature boot ornament in the middle of the bowl.

"What are you smiling about?" Edith asked the creature, grinning to herself.

It had been a good day. She hardly enjoyed these occasions but this one was different. She had been happy. She was happy.

Indeed, there was a lot to smile about.

AN: The first chapter was an introduction of some of the characters and now we're finally getting into it!