Page 69 of Mercury Rising
“What do you suppose is going on over there?” Nick asked.
“Oh, I’d say young love is blossoming.”
Nick turned to him with a raised eyebrow. “With a little help from a friend by any chance?”
Mercury clutched his chest. “I would never interfere in other people’s lives. You should know me better than that by now.”
Nick chuckled. “So that’s a yes then?”
“It’s a perhaps.”
Nick moved a little closer to Mercury. Their hips pressed together. “They’ve been destined for each other ever since they started here. Good work giving them that push.”
“Just a little of the Mercury Morrison pizzazz. Let me know where else you need it.”
Nick picked up his mug from the table. “How about in here?”
“Bloody hell,” Mercury said, grabbing it. “You are a hard taskmaster.”
That evening, Madeline had gone out to a party for something forgettable. Mercury was bored. His text to Nick remained unread. He wasn’t worried, Nick had said he had plans for stocktaking the kitchen after they closed up. For once, Mercury was glad of his current ankle jewellery. Yet, even doing such a boring task wouldn’t be so bad. If he did it with Nick.
God, you’ve got it bad, Morrison. You’re sounding like a very dated pop song.
He wandered through into the conservatory to find Gwen scrubbing at the windows as though she’d seen the face of the devil himself in them. It was late for her to still be working.
“Gwen,” Mercury said. “What are you doing here?”
She stopped and wiped her brow with the back of her hand. “Didn’t your mother tell you? I’m doing afternoons and evenings on a Wednesday for the foreseeable future. My Bill has got acounselling client. They can only do five o’clock. He wants the place to himself.”
She beamed.
“Well done, Bill,” Mercury said. “Is it his first session tonight?”
“No, they’ve been going a couple of weeks now. I went to bingo until we sussed if it was going to be long term. Thankfully, they’re getting on like a house on fire and Bill really thinks he can help him.”
Mercury hugged Gwen. “That’s absolutely brilliant.”
“Thanks.”
“Please send him my love.”
“I will. He thinks very highly of you.”
Bill and Gwen had often helped out with babysitting duties when Mercury had been little. He adored Bill, who told stories with the best voices.
They were fast approaching their silver wedding anniversary. An event Madeline had grand plans for.
“Gwen, when did you know Bill was the one?”
She looked intrigued. “And why would you want to know that?”
“I asked first.”
“Fair enough,” she said, perching on the end of the chaise longue. “Let me see, I first clapped eyes on him probably thirty years ago. I was a raver in those days.”
Mercury gasped. Gwen was in her mid-fifties and still attractive. She favoured quite a sensible haircut and he’d rarely seen her out of jogging trousers. The image of her dancing around in a field with a whistle and glow sticks was a difficult one to conjure up.
“Is it that hard to imagine?” she said laughing. “I do scrub up quite well, you know. When I put some effort in.”
