Page 4 of The Best of Times
It must be wonderful to be so powerful.
“Are you heading home for Christmas?” Madeline asked, seemingly oblivious to her effect.
“Yes. And the wedding, of course.”
“How could I forget?” Madeline replied. “The Crescent is awash with it all, apparently. I’ve been filming in Detroit and called in on Josh Winterton. He’s moved out here for a while. He’s seeing a drag queen now. He finally gave that deadbeat ex-husband of his the heave-ho.”
It was strange hearing all these names being mentioned by someone other than his grandmother.
“Yes. Granny keeps me up to date.”
Madeline accepted the glass of fizz proffered by the still flustered waiter. The light from the bubbles danced in her eyes. Her beauty was truly astounding. He might not bat for the same team as the waiter but he could understand his predicament. Earlier in the year, Ryan Reynolds had been filming at the library. He’d requested a personal tour. Aron had obliged and found himself blabbering on for over an hour.
“Oh, I’m sure she does,” Madeline replied. “What do you make of it all? The royal wedding, I mean. Were you surprised?”
Aron gratefully received the second drink from the waiter. It appeared Madeline intended to get straight to the heart of the matter and he still had forty-five minutes until take-off. He would have to tread very carefully. Anything he said could be used against him in one of Madeline and Granny’s famous interactions. Generally, Madeline could hold her own but he suspected she was always on the lookout for a choice nugget of information to store away.
“If she’s happy, then I am,” he replied carefully.
“Ugh,” Madeline replied. “That’s a very beige response, Aron. I expected better from you.”
He shook his head helplessly. “What do you want me to say? They spend every waking minute together as it is. Honestly, when we bubbled with him in the pandemic, you would think they hadn’t seen each other in years. He was only a few doors down.”
Madeline took a sip of her drink. “And they had illicit dog walks with Parkin.”
“What?”
“Didn’t you know? At five o’clock in the morning they’d accidentally meet in the gardens while Parkin did his business,” Madeline proudly declared. “That dog must have terrible constipation. They’d sit on the bench for an hour at a time.”
She’d shocked Aron. Then his grandmother had rarely done things any other way than her own. The Professor wouldn’t dare refuse. He was signing up to being her stooge for the rest of his life. Although, Aron suspected the Professor thoroughly enjoyed this role.
“Well I never,” he said, taking a swig of his drink. “And poor Parkin an accessory. God, you don’t think she’s going to have him as ring bearer, do you?”
Parkin was Mrs Wimpole’s Yorkshire terrier and constant companion.
“I wouldn’t put anything past her. I’m still amazed she invited me.”
“She quite likes you. Deep down.”
This time it was Madeline who roared with amusement. “Very, very deep down. Jeez.”
As a child, he’d spent a lot of time within this community. Even living with his grandparents for a time when things weren’t easy at home. It had been two years since he’d last set foot on the cobbles.
“We’ve missed you,” Madeline said. “You bring a bit of class to the place. Not like my son or Alexander.”
Aron quite liked being described as classy. He had never been anyone other than himself. A fact he was inordinately proud of.
“Yeah, I’m looking forward to being home,” he replied. “Seems ages since lockdown.”
“Your grandmother tells me you’ve done well here.”
He could well imagine Granny bragging away about him. He hoped to goodness she hadn’t embellished too much.
“Not bad,” he replied. “There’s always something going on at the library. I’ve met some amazing writers.”
“You always did have your nose stuck in a book.”
“Quite.”
