Happy New Year! Thank you for all your reviews, both for this story and my Christmas one. I have had several requests to continue the latter and have been fairly easily persuaded to do so. Therefore I'm going to try and simultaneously further both over the coming weeks. Time constraints mean that I'm unlikely to be able to post more than once a week, so I'll aim to publish something each Thursday and my muse will determine which it will be each week. I don't think that 'Perk of the Job' will be particularly long, but I have some ideas as to how it might progress. Thank you in advance for your patience and apologies if you prefer one over the other and will therefore have to wait longer for updates.
Sleepily opening one eye the following Thursday morning, Sybil took the opportunity to admire the rear view of Tom's naked bottom as it disappeared out of her bedroom door. Three nights together since their evening in Swansea had proved to be as thrilling and satisfying as she had previously hoped. Giving a soft sigh of satisfaction, she stretched her legs languorously towards the foot of her bed and felt the now disgruntled evidence of Samson's nocturnal presence beside her. His heavy slumber interrupted, he exhaled deeply before jumping softly down on to the carpet and padding away. Within seconds, Sybil could hear the rhythmical click of his collar strap colliding with his food bowl in the kitchen. Audible signs of the toilet flushing from another direction were swiftly followed by the sound of hurrying footsteps. She closed her eyes once again, offering no hint that she was conscious until the duvet was pulled abruptly upwards and Tom leapt beneath.
"Jaysus, your bathroom's cold!" he muttered.
"I know, I need to get a heater…aaghh!" Sybil's drowsy speech came to a sudden halt. "Your hands are freezing!" she screeched.
"Really?" Tom's voice took a teasing air and he rolled further towards her, placing one hand after another around her body and laughing as she squirmed and protested at their chilly discomfort.
"Okay, okay…." he conceded, cupping his fingertips around his mouth and blowing until the cold had abated. "How's that?"
"Much better thanks" and she snuggled close to him, bringing her lips towards his and entwining their legs. "What's the time, anyway?"
"Ten to eight"
"So much for your resolve to get on the road before morning rush hour then?"
"Mmmm…" he kissed her again and against her groin, she felt the first stirrings of his erection. "Your bed's too comfy, that's the problem. And what's in it is too attractive."
Just as her thoughts were beginning to turn towards a reprise of the previous night's amorous activity, he abruptly curtailed his affections, rolling back on to the pillow beside her and looking thoughtfully at the ceiling. "Why is it that when you don't have sex for a long time, you almost forget about it? Not completely, but it just stops being part of your regular life and that seems quite normal and unremarkable. Then when you do…" another kiss interposed his deliberations "…when you meet someone wonderful and gorgeous and you have the opportunity to make love again, it's all you can think about and all you want to do?"
Sybil smiled, appreciative of both the sentiment and truth in his words. Fortunately her job was usually so busy and demanding that there was little opportunity for her mind to wander, but occasionally this last week, sitting in the nurses' station with a cup of tea, her distraction had been visible. 'Are you still with us Sybil?' – 'Hello! Earth to Sybil, can you hear me?'
"Well you're going to have to do without it for the next week and a bit, at least…" she giggled "…well I hope so, anyway! Until Josh goes home again."
Tom gave a nod, his hand casually caressing her hip while his mind seemed diverted. "Um…" he began, his hesitation apparent. "…what would you think about…um, well you can say no to this and it's got nothing to do with having sex by the way…would you fancy meeting up with me and Josh next week at all?" He came to a close and looked immediately apprehensive, turning his head to face hers. "Is it too soon?"
The question was wholly unexpected and Sybil could feel her heart beginning to race, although whether with excitement or anxiety, she wasn't entirely certain.
"Well you're the one who should be the judge of that, he's your son. Do you think it's too soon for him to meet me?"
Tom's look of unease hadn't faltered. "Well I wouldn't let him know the significance of it at this point to be honest, I rather meant is it too soon for you?"
"Er, I don't know…I'd like to, I think. This is all new for me, I don't really know the protocol."
"There isn't one. I don't make a habit of introducing him to girlfriends – in all honesty I haven't had many since he's been around, but he does frequently meet people who I explain are my friends. I'd prefer to just say that for the moment…" He rubbed his forehead in agitation. "…it's not that I'm trying to hide it."
"No, you're right. It's too soon to tell him, of course it is. It's very early days for us, no matter how enthusiastic we are at the moment. We're not teenagers any more, we're realistic and we need to get a lot further down the line before you even consider having that kind of a conversation with him."
Tom's look of relief was instantly apparent. "Thank you for being so understanding."
"Well I'm off work next Thursday if that's any good?"
"It sounds great. I was thinking of taking him to Cardiff Bay. He'll enjoy watching the boats and there's supposed to be a kids' science museum nearby. What do you think?"
"Yes, Techniquest, I haven't been but I've heard it's very good. I've earmarked it for a possible visit when Mary next comes down with George." She grinned. "I'll consider this my recce! And I could buy you both a pizza or something afterwards, how does that sound?"
"Wonderful…" he wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close once again. "I think you're wonderful…"
"Prove it" Sybil whispered with deliberate provocation, her hand moving slowly under the duvet.
And Tom did his very best to oblige.
ooOoo
She could see them beside the railings, high above the water. Hands tightly held, both were peering through the parallel bars at an object out of sight and Sybil was aware of Tom speaking – his lips moving, a wide smile on his face as he glanced sideways at his son. She stood observing for a few seconds while Josh pointed with animation, pulling at his father's hand, his feet moving swiftly on the spot as if performing a fleeting dance.
"Hello!" she called out brightly behind them and each swung around at the sound of her voice, one with an expression of delight, the other offering only a curious gaze.
"Hi!" Tom leant forward with a wide smile, but closing in for a chaste kiss to the cheek, she could spot the tension within his expression of welcome.
"You must be Josh!" she said brightly, hearing the over-embellishment within her voice in her effort to portray nothing more than a friendly association.
He didn't reply, but squirmed on the spot, pulling at Tom's hand, glancing up for reassurance.
"This is my friend, Sybil who lives here in Cardiff, Josh. I used to go to school with her a long, long time ago. She thought she'd like to come along to the museum today."
"Is that okay?" she asked, offering a cautious smile. "Do you mind me coming with you and your Daddy? I've never been there either."
Josh smiled shyly "I don't mind" he said and his face turned around towards Tom again, who nodded approvingly and swung their hands back and forth in an exaggerated motion.
"Grand, well let's wander that way now, shall we? Then maybe we'll take a boat trip around the harbour after lunch." Tom indicated for Sybil to fall in alongside them, but as they commenced, Josh twisted his head behind them with a curious stare.
"Where's your child?" he asked and Sybil was momentarily bewildered by the question.
"Um, sorry?"
Tom swiftly attempted to explain. "Sybil hasn't got a child, Josh" and he turned in her direction to further clarify. "We met up with one of my colleagues and her little boy in the park yesterday, I think he automatically presumed that you'd have one too."
Josh appeared unsatisfied with this clarification and stopped in his tracks, looking quizzically again at Sybil.
"But why are you going to a children's museum when you don't have a child?"
"Ah…" Sybil crouched down beside him and attempted an exaggerated whisper in his ear. "I'm going to let you into a secret. I really, really want to see the museum and I'm not sure if they'll let me in on my own. So your Daddy said I could tag along and enjoy it with you, is that okay?"
Her explanation appeared to placate him; Josh gave it brief consideration and then nodded solemnly.
"I won't tell" he replied, leading Tom and Sybil to exchange simultaneous smiles. Falling back into line, they commenced their walk before Josh added in a serious tone.
"If anyone asks, you can pretend that you're my Mammy if you like."
For a fraction of a beat, Sybil froze in her tracks, before hastily trying to conceal her sense of unease with a confident stride. Although she understood that Josh was only colluding in her game of subterfuge, the implication within his innocently posed declaration felt somehow significant and she couldn't bring herself to look at the expression on Tom's face.
Entering the museum, Josh immediately raced away from them eagerly, coming to an abrupt stop at the first exhibit. Enticed by promises of buttons to press and levers to pull, his hands waved wildly in the air with excitement and he began to lean firmly against a young girl who was already in action, an unsubtle attempt to move her out of the way so that he could take part.
"Josh!" Tom scolded sharply and Sybil caught a brief glimpse of another side of parenthood – the public schooling of manners and fairness, wrapped up with the vocal reprimand expected by strangers when a child did not conform within appropriate boundaries. "You wait your turn please, no pushing." The girl's mother gave a tight-lipped smile in acknowledgement and Tom made a futile attempt to persuade Josh elsewhere for a short while. Finally his patience was rewarded and he jabbed at a button, beaming with delight as a truck then moved along the track before them. His curiosity complete, he bounded over to the next table and Sybil and Tom moved in unison behind him, but no sooner had they come to a halt, he was diverted elsewhere and so the pattern continued. They each made efforts to focus his attention on a particular item, explaining in more detail how it worked and trying to apply it to something tangible in the outside world. However, the enormity of so many interesting displays was too fascinating and Josh would simply nod with distraction before running along to the next.
"He has the attention span of a goldfish." Tom whispered with a grin. "Unless he's watching TV of course, at which point he can sit with infinite rapt concentration!"
They made their way to the museum's higher level where Sybil immediately spotted the image of a piano displayed on the floor. Tentatively stretching her leg, she poked at one of the keys with the toe of her boot and gave an instinctive chortle of pleasure on hearing its audible note.
"Listen, Josh!" she exclaimed, screwing up her face in an effort to remember the consequence of childhood piano lessons and poking at another two notes. Josh's attention finally held, she hesitantly began picking out the notes for 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star' and then enraptured by her own success, moved on to 'Mary, Mary Quite Contrary'.
"Always our favourite at home!" she exclaimed with a throaty laugh, raising distant memories of her once indignant sister.
Josh leapt forward from his silent observation beside Tom, no longer able to contain his excitement and in doing so, landed simultaneously on two keys, causing the adults to automatically wince. With animated delight, he lifted himself once again into the air and presented two more contrasting notes. Sybil stepped back as he ran up and down the keyboard with glee, before coming to a halt and turning to face her.
"Can you teach me please?" he asked and with a nod, she gently moved him alongside her, an octave apart.
"Just follow what I do" she explained and played three notes with her right foot, which he immediately copied. Cautiously and with an occasional error thrown into the mix, they plotted the tune for 'Twinkle Twinkle' again and Sybil felt uplifted at the boy's evident delight.
Tom stood to one side, arms crossed, his approval unmistakable.
"It's like the scene from 'Big'" he observed and Sybil nodded with a smile, the same thought having already crossed her mind.
"What's big?" Josh asked, unable to resist a final series of bunny hops along the keyboard before he succumbed to the pressure of a queue of curious observers awaiting their turn.
Tom took his hand as they walked away. "It's a film about a boy who wakes up one morning and he's turned into a grown up and has to learn what to do. But he teaches all the adults to remember how to play and have fun again. And he plays on a big piano on the floor, just like this one. You're probably a bit young for it at the moment but we'll watch it together in a couple of years, it's good fun."
"Can we watch it today?"
"No" Tom replied in a patient tone, only the fleeting, accompanying eye roll providing indication of a familiarity with frequently repeated explanations. "I just said, in a couple of years, when you're a bit older. We'll find something else fun to watch later today when we go home."
Sybil was smiling at the boy when he turned his head towards her. "And would you like to come and watch 'Big' with us too, Sybil?"
Startled, she wasn't certain how to answer. "Um…" She didn't want to make any presumptions about the future, nor commit a promise to a child that she may be unable to keep.
Glancing awkwardly in Tom's direction, she watched him smile and gently shake his head.
"His concept of time isn't too good at the moment." he whispered. "A couple of years could be a couple of days in his mind. Don't panic, he's not plotting our future!"
Josh's attention was finally held by the water-play area downstairs, a myriad of trenches and waterfalls, fountains and squirters, which had him squealing in simultaneous delight with other children. The plastic apron provided by the museum was soon hanging off his shoulders and after a handful of half-hearted attempts at restoration, was soon abandoned for the sheer elation of being soaked.
"My colleague yesterday advised bringing a spare set of clothes." Tom said with a smile, tipping his head in the direction of his rucksack and pointing towards a couple of recently vacated seats nearby. "Come on let's sit, I think we might be here for a while."
Sybil rested her elbows on her knees, cupping her hand around her chin while she watched.
"He's a lovely little boy" she observed and turned her head marginally to see the anticipated expression of parental pride.
"Thank you. He seems to like you."
"Good…" She avoided any further eye-contact. The implications felt too stark and pertinent and her emotions were equally divided between elation and fear. Instead she changed the subject.
"I'm going to give the boat trip after lunch a miss if you don't mind?"
"Oh…" She heard the self-doubt in his tone and was quick to reassure that her decision had no bearing on their relationship, nor the tentative one created today with his son.
"I'm just not very good with boats. You know, since my cousins died?"
"Oh God, of course!" He sounded immediately remorseful. "I didn't think."
"No, it's silly really. To be honest, I've never been all that good on water, I've always been easily sea-sick. But since their accident, I can't help but feel a bit anxious as well."
"Well that's understandable." A long pause led to another cautious implication. "I guess that rules you out of taking a trip over to Ireland one day?"
Sybil sat back slowly up beside him, chewing her lower lip thoughtfully. "I would go" she said and turned to face him, knowing as she did so that their conversation was founded on more than the tentative concept of a short break away. "I have been on a ferry since. I won't let my anxiety completely prevent me from going places. I might need to stand outside on deck, but I would do it."
His gentle exhalation of breath disclosed the significance of her reply and they exchanged a smile of mutual comprehension.
"It's just pleasure trips really…" she added "…they don't give me much pleasure!"
"Fair enough" and he reached out to give her hand a brief squeeze, their first physical contact since the earlier chaste kiss of greeting.
"And as I told you, I've arranged to visit a friend at half three so I'd be pushing it for time, anyway."
"Yes of course. Is it a friend from work?"
"No." Her reply was unintentionally abrupt, but she was never entirely certain how to explain her connection with Eleri without sounding egotistically benevolent.
"Uh, okay" and she watched him raise his eyebrows before glancing away.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to sound rude."
"I was being nosy."
"No you weren't. I met her through a befriending scheme, but we've become genuine friends now, so the visit gives me as much pleasure as her."
"So what, it started as a charity thing?"
Sybil nodded.
"So, she's elderly is she?"
"Yes, eighty-three"
"And how often do you visit her?"
"Once a week. Sometimes I give her a call a few days later, if I'm going shopping and just ask if she needs anything and then I drop it by. But I've made a commitment to visit once a week. Unless I'm away on holiday or something, then someone else steps in."
Tom exhaled loudly and she spotted the admiration in his expression. "Don't…" she warned.
"Don't what?" he replied indignantly.
"Give me that look of awe. It's a very small commitment and as I said, I enjoy her company so there's absolutely no sense of obligation. Other people do far, far more."
"I don't. I give money in tins and all that, but I don't put myself out in any way. You deserve a bit of awe."
Sybil twisted a lock of hair around her finger, watching Josh's exhilarated animation with a boy around his own age. "Well you've got rather a lot on your plate with Josh and your respective locations. It was actually one of my colleagues who spurred me into action. She's got three children, a full time job, is Treasurer of her kids' PTFA and was involved with this scheme as well. And I looked at her and felt ashamed of myself. All that youthful determination to do make the world a better place and what was I doing? Working, socialising, lying on the sofa and watching a lot of TV. And with my background and everything that's been handed to me on a plate, I was embarrassed. I did absolutely nothing for anyone outside of my friends and family, except sign the odd petition, so I asked if I could get involved. I felt it was time that I looked out for someone apart from myself."
"Your entire job is looking out for people." He reminded and Sybil shrugged.
"And I get paid for it."
"Well I think it's highly admirable."
She squirmed beneath his scrutiny. "Don't…"
"You don't like compliments much, do you?" he said with a curious smile, but the discussion was suddenly curtailed by the arrival of a drenched but jubilant Josh, who stood beaming before them.
"Have you had enough?" Tom asked and Josh gave a nod.
"I've got a new friend called Ben, Daddy but he's going home now." He raised his arm towards a young boy, who enthusiastically waved back as he was led away by his parents and Sybil marvelled at the ease of young friendship – instant cohesion and fun without any distress caused by its abrupt conclusion.
Josh smiled contentedly at them both for a moment and then unexpectedly began to bounce on the spot. "Come on, come on, come on…." he said in a robotic manner, his gaze rapidly alternating between the two of them in anticipation, until Tom took his hand with a grin.
"Right, come on then - let's go and get a pizza."