Going to London

[smallhobbit]

Title: Going to London
Genre: Exile
Rating: 14
Length: 1,826 words

Tom Ronstadt has to go to London to clear out his flat.  Many thanks to my beta jinxed100  for her hard work and suggestions.  And to the BBC for the characters, who I am just borrowing temporarily.

 

“Mandy wants to come to London with me,” Tom Ronstadt said.

“That’ll be nice for you,” his sister replied.

“She wants to bring the kids.  Says it would be a nice break for them.”

“Ah.  What did you say?”

“I didn’t say anything.  Is there any more toast?”

“Yes, if you put the bread in the toaster.  What are you going to tell her?”

“I haven’t decided.  There’s no way I want the kids down there.”

“But if that’s the only way she’ll come?”

“Then I’ll go without her.”

“You’ve changed your tune.  You couldn’t see enough of her last week.”

Tom got up to make the toast.  “Now that Mike’s found that flat in Church Road, she’s talking about me moving in with her.”

“Not ready for that, then?”

“Hardly and there’s more to it as well.  It’s as if she wants to continue with the same life, but with me in place of Mike.  She even asked me what sort of pension I was expecting.”

Nancy laughed, “She doesn’t know you very well then.”

“No and that’s what’s confusing me.  We seemed to be getting really close and then suddenly her attitude’s changed.  I’m just going to have to tell her that I’ve decided it would be best if I went by myself.”

#####

The following morning Tom was about to sling a bag into the back of the Lotus when he noticed his sister standing the other side of the car.  “What are you doing there?” he asked.

“I’m coming with you.”

She got into the car, throwing her bag next to her brother’s.  Reluctantly Tom started the car.

“What about Dad?”

“I told him I was going to London with you.  The home have my mobile number.”

“You can’t just leave him.”

“That’s rich coming from you.”

Tom was silent for a few minutes.  Then “Sorry,” he said.  “Are you sure he’ll be alright?”

“Yes, he’ll be fine.”

“You do realise this isn’t a pleasure trip.”

“I know.  I thought you could do with someone to look after you.”

“Hmmm.”

They drove down the motorway in silence for a while, until Tom said, “We’ll pull over at the next service station.”

“You should have gone before we left.”

He laughed, “No, I need a break.  This car makes my back ache after a while.”

“Then why did you buy it?”

“Don’t start.  It was shiny, and lovely, and looked good.  It made me look good.”

“A front.”

“Yes, a front.”

Nancy smiled, “Tell you what; I’ll buy you a doughnut at the services.  You always used to like them.”

“Still do.  And thank you.”

“What for?”

“The doughnut, and coming with me.  And not going on about what a prat I’ve been.”

#####

They reached London and Tom let them into his flat.  “The landlord’s found some tenants who are keen to move in next week, so he wants me out of here.  I’ve got a mate who’s letting me store my stuff in his garage for a couple of months and he’ll pick it up on Saturday morning, which gives me a day to get it all packed.”

Nancy looked round, “Right, well we’d better get started.”

She was packing her brother’s CDs into a box when she stopped and held one up.  “This isn’t your usual choice of music.”

“No, it’s Jane’s.”

“Which Jane?”

“The one I told you about.  We parted on rather bad terms.  I was hoping to see her while I was down here, but she’s not answering my texts.”

“Another recipient of the Tom Ronstadt school of charm?”

“You could call it that.”

Later, when they both felt they had done sufficient for one day, Nancy persuaded Tom to go out and get a pizza.  Once he had gone she keyed in the number she had copied from her brother’s phone.

“Hello,” the voice on the other end sounded friendly enough.

Nancy launched into her speech hoping she wouldn’t get cut off.  “Hi, I’m Nancy Ronstadt, Tom’s sister.”

“Well, you can tell him to go to hell.  I never want anything more to do with him.”

“I’m not surprised.  I was just phoning to say that he’s packing up his flat in London and moving back to his home town and he had some things of yours that he wanted to return before he left.”

“When’s he going back?”

“Saturday afternoon.”

“I’ll think about it.  There’s no way I’ll meet him by myself.”

“I’ve come down with him.”

“I’ll phone you.”

With that Jane rang off.

Shortly afterwards Tom returned carrying a pizza and a bottle of wine.  When they had finished eating Nancy said, “I’m going to have to get some sleep.  I’m absolutely shattered.”

“The bedroom’s yours.  I’ll sleep on the sofa.”

“Are you sure that’s okay?”

“Yes, no problem.  I’ve got some company.”  He waved the half full bottle.

Nancy fell rapidly into a deep sleep, so that when she was woken by something a few hours later, she sat up thinking that she was back at home and that her father needed her.  She then remembered that she was in her brother’s flat and lay back down before realising that she could still hear a noise.  Since she was now awake she decided to get up and investigate.

She opened the lounge door and went in.  The empty wine bottle was lying on the floor and a glass half full of whisky was on a small table next to a bottle.  Her brother was sitting on the settee hugging his knees to his chest, clearly distressed.

She went over and sat down next to him on the settee.  Putting her arms around him she said, “Tom, what’s the matter?”

“Everything.  I thought I’d show him how good I was.  I’d have a posh flat which I’d got by myself.  I’d have a great job due to my hard work.  He half killed me and I was going to show him he couldn’t treat me like that.  I was going to come home and prove to him what a successful journalist I was and how much I’d achieved whilst he’d remained a poxy journalist on a regional paper.

“Only it didn’t happen.  This flat is all for show and most of it I don’t even own.  I drank and took drugs to try to make me feel good, but they didn’t.  And then, when I came home, I learnt that I should never have had to leave.  If only he’d told me.  So much wasted time.”

Nancy held her brother close and gently rubbed his back.  He put his head on her shoulder and mumbled, “And now you’ll think I’m an even greater loser than before.”

She hushed him and slowly rocked him in her arms.  Gradually his sobbing ceased and his breathing slowed and she realised he had fallen asleep.  Carefully she extricated herself and laid him down on the settee, with his head on a cushion.  She fetched a couple of blankets from the bedroom and covered him up, before gently kissing him and returning to her bed.

#####

They spent the next day alternately furiously packing and laughing at some of Tom’s more bizarre purchases.  It wasn’t until late in the afternoon that Nancy received a text saying: “Garden Café near to Queen’s Head.  11.30. Tomorrow.”  She quickly texted back “Okay, Nancy.”

“What was that?” Tom asked.

“Just one of those ‘we can help you after your accident’ text things,” Nancy replied.

“Thought it might be your dentist.”

“No, thank goodness.  I’ve got all I want from him.”  They both laughed and resumed packing the final boxes.

“Do you reckon we’ll have time to go out for a coffee before we head back tomorrow?”  Nancy asked when they had finished.

“Yes, if you like.”

“I saw a café that looked as if it had some nice cakes when I went out to get the bread this morning.  I think it was called the Garden Café.  Maybe we could go there?”

“Yeah, sure.  Would you have liked to go out for dinner tonight?”

“No, thank you.  To be honest I’m feeling pretty tired again.”

Tom looked at his sister.  “Oh, I’m really sorry.  I should have thought; we’ve been so busy today and I wrecked your sleep last night.”  He went over and gave her a hug.  “Can I do something to make it up to you?”

“Yes,” Nancy smiled.  “Go and get us some fish and chips and don’t drink too much tonight.”

#####

Tom’s friend Steve arrived promptly on the Saturday morning and he and Tom packed the van with most of Tom’s possessions.  There didn’t seem to be much to reflect eighteen years in London and Nancy felt sad as she realised just how much of her brother’s life had been lived at a superficial level. 

Once Steve had left Tom and Nancy set off for the Garden Café.  Nancy had secreted Jane’s CD in her handbag, together with another she thought might well be hers.  They found a table in one corner and ordered coffee and cake.  Nancy glanced at her watch: twenty-five minutes past eleven.  Turning to her brother she started to discuss plans for the nursery, knowing that he would insist that he should paint the bedroom blue whereas she felt yellow more appropriate.

 Consequently, Tom failed to notice Jane until she was standing by the table.  When he did see her, he smiled up at her and started to offer her a seat.

Jane just glared at him and practically spat out, “If I’d known what a loser you would turn out to be I’d never have gone anywhere near you.”  

She stretched out and hit him hard on the side of his face.  Tom gasped.

“You bastard,” she said.  “If I never see you again it will be too soon.”  With that she turned and strode out of the café.

Nancy felt dreadful.  She had hoped that seeing Jane again would be a bright spot in what had been a difficult couple of days.  Instead of which she had just made everything worse.  They finished their coffee in silence.  Tom motioned to the waitress for the bill and opened his wallet to pay, only to discover that he didn’t have enough cash left.

“It’s okay,” said Nancy.  “I’ll pay; you paid for the fish and chips last night.”

They walked back to the flat.  It wasn’t until they were inside that Nancy summoned up the courage to say “I’m so sorry, Tom.  If I’d known ...”  She stopped, aware that she had started to cry.

Tom put his arms round his sister.  “It’s alright.  You weren’t to know.  It was my fault for getting involved with her in the first place.”

They hugged each other.  After a couple of minutes Tom said quietly, “I’d best get the key back to the landlord.”

“And then we can go home.”

“Home sounds good to me.”