Saturday Morning May 8th Week Minus 6
Harry's Saturday post mortem started more abruptly than normal. He quickly assessed the hangover as moderate and then immediately focused on the fact that he was not in his own bed. The bed was empty but...Then his sleep addled brain began to work. He had stayed over at his mothers! It was late when he arrived and after dinner and a few drinks, he had decided to crash there and go home in the morning. Now he thought about it he could hear the familiar sounds of the house and his mother moving around in the kitchen.
What was it that she had said to him last night? Even after the whiskies he felt sure he should remember. Oh yes, his mum had asked how Nikki was. He had given a non specific and purposely vague answer and his mother had immediately asked him if Nikki was seeing someone. He had muttered something like,
'Yes, but that he wasn't sure how serious things were' and then from his recalling he'd found himself under his mother's spotlight, as if being cross examined for some heinous crime. She had claimed that she knew instantly that he was lying, or that he had women trouble because his lisp was more pronounced. Apparently his mother had used this method for years. He wasn't even sure if he did have a lisp.
So he had told her the whole truth, about Nikki and Henry meeting at a conference in Switzerland, about how happy Nikki sometimes seemed and how sometimes she didn't. How long it had been going on, how compared to a lot of the men she had met, this one didn't seem too bad and how he had to divide his time between the two countries. His mother had sat and listened surprisingly calmly and when his tale had finished she had just two things to say.
"I hope you haven't missed your chance, darling, because it's plain to me that you care for that girl."
and secondly
"are you really sure about the overseas job? Because to me, he sounds married."
The recollection made Harry feel as sick as he had the night before when his mother had first said it. If his mother was right, he was sick with worry for Nikki and what this would do to her, sick with anticipation of her finding out. Sick with concern for his friend, knowing he couldn't be the one to tell her and sick with fear that he might not have missed his chance with her after all. He threw on yesterday's clothes and headed for the kitchen in search of coffee.
"Hello darling, did you sleep well?" his mother asked.
"Hm, er, yes, thanks," he replied worrying whether he was lisping again. Did it really get worse when he was lying? Surely if it did Nikki would have figured it out too? He ran his fingers through his unruly and unbrushed hair causing his mother to laugh.
"I'm glad you don't have to go straight to the office Harry, you look like a scarecrow!"
"Yes, thanks Mum, I love you too." Harry mumbled, fumbling with the coffee machine.
"Oh, Harry, you know I don't really like to interfere but I found this, it was my mother's and she had wanted it passed on to her granddaughter, but well, there isn't, wasn't well you're not, anyway..I hope you're not too late." and after possibly the most random speech his mother had ever given to him, pressed a small box into his hand and then hurriedly left the kitchen, shouting on her way out,
"I'm meeting Kitty in town, must dash, just shut the door behind you." and with that she was gone.
Harry slowly looked at the red box, opened it gently to reveal an antique gold ring set with three large diamonds diagonally across the band, with a leaf like flourish of gold around the edges to create a perfect oval. No wonder his mum had disappeared so quickly. She knew he would be horrified or mortified. How dare she think she could manipulate him? Was she that desperate for grandchildren? He thought about leaving the ring on the kitchen table but there was no point in making her angry too. He stood staring at the ring until the hissing of the coffee machine broke his reverie. Could Henry be married? Poor Nikki. He slipped the ring into his pocket and decided it was time to spend some time with his computer.