Page 23 of Wish You Were Here
It takes just over an hour to drive from Clapham to Marlow with a quick pit-stop at Beaconsfield Services for a coffee. I finally pull up to my childhood home, and immediately I feel a good ten years younger. There is always something strange about going home because I am approaching thirty, I’m an asset manager at a top company in the city, and for all intents and purposes, I am a proper adult. However, five minutes back at home and all semblance of adulthood vanishes and I am just my parents' youngest child and my sister's little brother.
My parents’ house is a three-bed detached property on the edge of town. There is a gravel driveway out front, a garage on the side of the house and at the back is a large garden. Inside, it’s just my parents’ house. There have been some modernisations over the years, and recently, according to Dad, Mum has been on a bit of a decluttering drive. When I walk up to the front-door, Ialready know it will be open, and when I push it, it opens and I walk inside.
‘Hello?’ I say, walking into the hallway.
‘In the kitchen, Ben!’ says Dad.
I walk past the first of two reception rooms, the downstairs loo, which has recently been decorated, and now has some lovely floral wallpaper, new tile flooring and a grey vanity unit with gold taps that’s pretty jazzy for my parents. I walk into the kitchen to find Mum, Dad, Poppy and Hugh, and they’re standing around the kitchen island. Something is clearly afoot.
‘Get him a glass!’ says Mum excitedly.
‘Hi, Mum. Get me a glass of what?’
‘Champagne!’ says Poppy, passing me a glass.
‘Is this for Mum’s birthday? Happy birthday, Mum.’
‘Thank you, love,’ says Mum. ‘But this isn’t about me. Pops has news!’
We all look towards Poppy and Hugh, and then they say in unison like a well-rehearsed double-act.
‘We’re pregnant!’
As soon as they say the word ‘pregnant’ – with Hugh doing jazz hands – it’s absolute chaos. Mum is crying, Dad is shaking Hugh’s hand, I’m hugging Poppy and we are all so happy. I didn’t even know that Poppy and Hugh were trying, and from Mum’s response, I’m not sure she did either. It’s fantastic news, but at the back of my mind, it’s also another reminder that I am almost thirty, and I am so far behind my sister. Admittedly, Poppy is two years older than me, but I still need to meet the right person, date them for a while, move in together, get engaged, get married, buy a house, start trying for a baby and then I’ll be where Poppy and Hugh are right now. I am no expert, but I imagine all of that will take about ten years, by which time I will be forty. A thoroughly depressing thought, and one whichputs a dampener on my spirits, post chat with Saskia, and now with the news I am soon going to be a fun uncle – or funkle.
10
Saskia
Jess and I are at Mrs Macquarie's Chair, which is at the end of the walk we’ve just taken from Circular Quay where we met and got a coffee. This is one of my favourite walks in Sydney, and on a beautiful morning like this, it’s perfect. I needed to talk to someone about Ben and my singing career, and she has news about a house. We spent the first half of the walk discussing my FaceTime with Ben, and I couldn’t stop blabbing about how great it was.
‘It was crazy how easily we connected, Jess.’
‘Even on FaceTime?’
‘Yeah. He’s also way hotter in real life. It kills me that we live so far apart.’
‘You think if he lived here or if you lived there, that you’d be dating?’
‘Too right, but we don’t. So, as much as I like him, there’s nothing we can do about it. I definitely can’t go there. He could come here, I suppose, but for what? It has no future. So, we’re just going to be mates.’
‘Mates with FaceTime benefits?’
‘Not those sorts of benefits, Jess! We aren’t you and Aaron.’
‘Yet,’ says Jess with a tantalising grin.
‘It’s actually good to have a bloke I can talk to about stuff.’
‘What, I’m not cutting it anymore?’
‘You know what I mean. Plus, you’re not a bloke.’
‘Got it. It’s good to have a bloke as a mate, but to clarify, if he was here, you’d defo jump his bones?’
‘Probably. Okay, fine, defo, but he’s not, so it’s just mates.’
‘Like me and Az when I’m on my period.’
