Chapter 15
With lots of other things to think about and my time now fully accounted for, I set aside the embarrassment I’d felt over how I’d let slip to Erik that I’d gone out of my way to avoid him, and with the email to Mr Fuller sent and no reply having been received, I forgot all about his unexpected job offer, too.
I was up early the next morning and looking forward to my first Thursday session as a befriender at Cavell Care Home.
It was unlike anything I’d undertaken before, and Grandad George had been right in his prediction because there was something exciting about that.
The opportunity also made me feel good about myself.
I wasn’t only taking the role on to fill some time; I was also doing it for the benefit of other people.
Lovely Mabel initially and more residents in the future.
The future…
It struck me as I made my first coffee of the day that the assumption I could now acknowledge I’d arrived with – that I had chiefly moved to Nightingale Square to please my kind father and take the time he insisted I needed to rest while between jobs – was fading further into the background.
At just over a couple of weeks in I was feeling safe, settled, occupied and happy to simply go with the flow, for a while longer at least, and there was something very comforting about that.
Beth was waiting for me in the care home reception, and having signed in, in a different capacity to usual, she gave me a lanyard with my name and volunteer status and walked me to the office to meet Sandra, the home’s manager.
She didn’t strike me as someone who would be very hands on with the residents, but then I supposed her role was nothing like those of the carers who worked intimately with everyone on a twenty-four-hour basis.
‘Don’t mind her,’ Beth whispered, as we walked back down the corridor away from Sandra’s office, ‘she’s not best known for her people skills.’
‘I could tell,’ I grimaced. ‘Though I can’t imagine she has the easiest of jobs, balancing budgets, allocating funds and so on.’
‘You’re right,’ Beth agreed as we squeezed into her office, which was the size of a broom cupboard. ‘Funds are always tight, but on that note, you can claim expenses as a volunteer for your travel to and from here. I meant to tell you on Monday but forgot.’
‘Don’t worry about that. I won’t be expecting you to work out how much shoe leather I get through on the walk to and from the square.’
‘Well, if the weather turns bad and you need to drive, do make a note of your mileage and I can compensate you for that.’
If the weather turned bad, I’d still be walking because I didn’t fancy having to face the convoluted trip around the ring road. Once had been enough.
‘Thanks, Beth,’ I said, nonetheless.
‘Now, let’s go through the safeguarding and I’ll show you what’s currently on the activities schedule, then you can go and see how Mabel’s feeling today.’
We found Mabel in the currently quiet day room, and she was delighted to see me. When I explained that I would be coming in on a weekly basis from then on for a cuppa and a chat she was even more thrilled.
‘Beth has just shown me the activities schedule,’ I told her. ‘And I noticed there’s tai chi happening first thing in the morning a few times a week. I’ve never tried it myself, but I do wonder what it’s like.’
‘I’ve been doing that,’ Mabel confided. I had hoped she would. ‘I’ve only just started and I’m not very good at it but it’s relaxing and very peaceful.’
‘That sounds right up my street. I’ve never been one for exercise classes or going to the gym.’
Mabel put a hand over her mouth to stifle a laugh. I didn’t think the image of me exercising was that hilarious, but I was pleased to see her looking happy.
‘I’m not laughing at you, Skylar,’ she explained. ‘Your mention of exercise classes just reminded me of something.’
‘Well, you have to tell me what it is,’ I said. ‘Come on, share the joke.’
She looked at me and smiled.
‘You probably won’t have heard of this,’ she began, ‘but back in the eighties, keeping fit with Jane Fonda in her leotards and legwarmers was all the rage. There was a local weekly class offering something like she did and a couple of friends and I used to go along.’
She shook her head at the memory which had obviously amused her.
‘Did you get fit?’
‘Hardly,’ she grinned. ‘We used to pick up fish and chips on the way home every week as a reward for our huffing and puffing.’
‘Oh Mabel!’ I laughed.
Her admission made me think about Erik stopping at Blossom’s on the way back from the gym. He still hadn’t elaborated on what he’d been thinking about while he was working out, but I bet it wasn’t leotards and leg warmers!
‘And we certainly never looked like Jane Fonda. Not before or after the months of going along!’ Mabel giggled. ‘I was already in my forties and never going to be the size ten I’d aspired to be in my twenties, but it was good fun.’
‘I’ve heard of Jane Fonda,’ I said, and unlocked my phone, ‘but not her exercise classes.’
A quick search online had us both in fits as we giggled over the brightly coloured exercise outfits that left little to the imagination and then watched a couple of clips of the classes themselves.
‘No wonder you needed a chippy tea after that!’ I exclaimed.
‘Exactly,’ Mabel said and wiped the happy tears from her eyes. ‘We never would have made it home without something to sustain us after all that jigging about.’
The morning whizzed by in a similar vein and I set off back to the square having also spent a few minutes talking to Grandad George and telling him that he’d been right about Rafe’s reaction to what I was doing.
‘And how are the plans for the party coming along?’ he asked.
‘Very well. I’m going to pick some bits and pieces up at the weekend and then it will just be the setting up and celebrating.’
‘A doddle compared to what you’ve been used to, then?’
‘It is,’ I agreed, ‘but I can appreciate how hard it would be for anyone else to do extras like this when they’re so busy with other things.’
‘Lucky for the neighbours in Nightingale Square that you aren’t busy then, hey?’
I agreed with that, too.
I had a real spring in my step as I signed out and walked the increasingly familiar route home.
I felt so happy to see Mabel’s mood so vastly improved because of something as simple as a conversation and a couple of hours reminiscing.
She’d said she was going to stick to the tai chi and would enjoy fish and chips on a Saturday at the care home even more now she’d remembered the workouts with her old friends.
‘How did you get on?’ Rafe asked me after I found him in the kitchen with Plato curled up on his lap.
He’d found a fabulous sofa on a local selling site and had it delivered and deposited in front of the previously empty wall on the far side of the kitchen. I’d always had a hankering for a sofa in a kitchen and loved it.
‘Absolutely brilliant,’ I told him, as I spotted Socrates prowling about the garden. ‘The resident I was with today had the funniest tale to tell. Do you know who Jane Fonda is?’
‘Of course,’ he nodded. ‘She’s an American actress and activist, but to be honest, I’m more familiar with her through her fitness regimes and videos. Well, DVDs now, I suppose. Everyone was doing her classes back in the eighties!’
‘Even you?’
‘I decline to comment,’ he laughed, which obviously meant yes. ‘I’ve probably still got the leg warmers somewhere…’ he then added, which confirmed my assumption and gave me an image amusing enough to rival Mabel’s!
‘Well, don’t rush to dig them out,’ I smiled. ‘What shall we have for lunch?’
I was inclined to suggest fish and chips but as there was loads of Grow-Well salad in the fridge I went for that instead.
Having messaged Erik the next day to check the location of the garden centre he’d recommended for us to visit on Saturday, I looked the details of it up online and found it was family run, which I loved, and a few miles out of the city, which I wasn’t so keen on.
He’d offered to take us, but I had a feeling that my desire to drive was going to further diminish if I didn’t get behind the wheel soon and that wouldn’t be a good thing, even though it would be easier than battling my demons.
Consequently, I said we’d take my car as it needed a run but that he’d have to bear with me feeling jittery as I wasn’t used to city roads.
I was ready early Saturday morning and tried not to keep tuning in to the distant drone of traffic which I’d never focused on before.
‘All set?’ Erik smiled, but then his face dropped. ‘What’s up? You look pale. I know you said you were feeling a bit nervous, but if you’re not well—’
I put up a hand to stop him.
‘Other than feeling like my stomach’s going to drop through the floor, I’m perfectly healthy,’ I attempted to joke, but it was completely true.
‘Listen,’ he said. ‘You’re going to be fine. I’ve got every faith in you. You’ve negotiated narrow, winding, hilly Yorkshire roads for years, so you can handle the flat of Norfolk.’
‘It’s more about the volume of traffic than the terrain.’
‘Slow moving traffic for the most part,’ Erik said bracingly. ‘And I’m a brilliant passenger. I’ll support you every mile. And my insurance covers me to drive any car, so I promise we’ll just stop, and I’ll get behind the wheel if you really have problems.’
With his kind words and assurance, I began to feel better.
‘And I have got my satnav,’ I told him as I unlocked the car.
‘Honestly, Skylar,’ he said as he climbed in and adjusted the seat to accommodate his long legs, ‘you’ve got this.’
With his kindness and encouragement ringing in my ears, we set off.
I didn’t much enjoy the first part of the short journey, but once we were out of the city, the rest was easy driving.
My hands were nonetheless a little shaky as I pulled into a parking space, but as I turned the engine off, I began to feel euphoric.
‘You did it!’ Erik grinned, once we’d climbed out.