(aka Bike) Part 1154 by Angharad Copyright © 2010 Angharad
All Rights Reserved. |
When I saw Stella at breakfast, it appeared the date had gone well. I took the girls to school and rushed back for all the gory details.
“So, spill the beans, Cameron,” I urged sitting with Jenny and Stella at the kitchen table with fresh cups of tea before us and more in the pot.
“I don’t know what you mean,” she feigned.
“You and Dr Gorgeous Sage, and get a move on! I have things to do.”
“Jealous are we, Cathy?”
“No, I’m content with my lot, and I’d like to see you similarly endowed.”
“Oh, trying to get rid of me, now are you?” she protested.
“Absolutely–now cut to the chase.”
“Chase? There was no chase, he behaved impeccably, we had dinner in an Italian restaurant and then went for a walk down by Gun Wharf Quay.”
“Awww, how romantic,” Jenny considered.
“What did you have to eat?”
“Tagliatelli, why?”
“With what, it’s boring by itself.”
“Oh I had bolognaise sauce, I think.”
“You think?”
“Well I was nicely distracted by my escort.”
“You go to an Italian restaurant and eat the equivalent of spag bol and blame it on the company?” I was astonished. Okay, so he’s beautiful, but for goodness sake, he’s not worth passing up a decent Italian meal, not when he’s going to be there afterwards, anyway.
“Not all of us are so dedicated to our bellies, Cathy.”
“Stella, life is about experiencing new things, even you should have been able to cope with two at once.”
“I did, I had some ice cream afterwards.”
I felt like banging my head on the table. “Well you were a cheap date.”
“Cheap date? We went Dutch.”
“A very cheap date.”
“Is he as nice as he looks?” asked Jenny.
“A perfect gentleman, but then Cathy knows this already,” Stella replied pointedly.
“I won’t disagree, he’s a very nice chap and I like to work with him on conservation issues because he’s so nice–he’s also quite bright, which makes a change.”
“What from Simon? Wait till I tell him,” gloated my sister in law.
“Actually I was meaning some of the people I’ve worked with over the years.” I said this probably more defensively than I needed to and felt myself blushing.
“Is he a good kisser?” asked Jenny relieving my embarrassment.
“How would I know?” Stella blushed.
“You’re not usually so slow off the mark,” I observed, twisting the knife a little.
“Oh and you’re such a fast mover are you? Simon waited weeks to get a kiss from you, other than a peck on the cheek.”
I didn’t want her to get into too much detail about my love life. In the early days as things were a bit different then. “I kept you abreast of the details without the use of thumbscrews.”
“True, only because you wanted advice–I was her courting coach,” Stella informed Jenny, who found it all rather funny.
“Coach? The only thing you taught me was how to use someone else’s credit card.”
“I was her retail adviser, too,” Stella beamed.
“I’m quite happy to admit that I was a relatively poor post grad student eking out a life in a student bedsit and that Simon was very generous to me–however, I found it more of an obstacle than a help.”
“Only because you’re so bloody independent. Jenny, can you believe she had this man who was crazy about her who was super-rich and she continued living in the bedsit instead of moving in with him? She only accepted the car he loaned her because her father had a stroke and she needed to go back and fore to Bristol to see him.”
“Wow,” said Jenny, “Did you know he was that wealthy?”
“Not at first, he told me he worked in a bank–how was I to know he practically owned it?”
“Cor, so you didn’t know the Camerons by reputation?”
“I didn’t know anything about them at all, and would possibly still be in ignorance if this one hadn’t literally bumped into me.”
“She bumped into you?”
“Um yes,” blushed Stella.
“She hit me off my bike.”
“Like, how did she do that?”
“She didn’t have any lights on her bike.”
“It was three o’clock in the afternoon, in July.”
“There was a terrific thunderstorm, I could barely make out the road, let alone that silly cow on a bloody bicycle with no lights–it was as dark as night.”
“One of the first things Simon told me was Stella gave women drivers a bad name.”
“He’s just a male chauvinist!” Stella said defensively.
“There’s lots I don’t agree that Simon says, but he was spot on then.”
“I’ve travelled with Stella and she seemed quite a good driver.” As Jenny voiced this opinion, Stella beamed at me.
“Make sure your life insurance is paid up if you do.”
“That’s a gross overstatement of risk,” Stella huffed.
“Fine, but I’ll stand by it.” I drew my line in the sand.
“Okay, you’re entitled to your opinion, even if it’s wrong,” Stella pronounced imperiously and Jenny snorted tea everywhere. “Just remember, if I hadn’t bumped you off your bike, you’d still be living in a bedsit and Simon would possibly be with someone else, not to mention all these waifs and strays you’ve acquired.”
“I’m not disputing all that, Stella. In fact, I wouldn’t have known you either, and that’s been one of the most important experiences in my life. You’ve taught me so much, like a big sister.”
“Do you mean that, or are you softening me up for the coup de grâce?”
“Stella, I mean it, you’ve been like a big sister to me ever since we met.”
“Awww, that is so sweet, Cathy, it would bring a tear to a glass eye.”
Jenny snorted another cup of tea everywhere and Stella winked at me. After she’d cleaned up, Jenny asked, “Have you no brothers or sisters, Cathy?”
“No, apart from a very strange Aunt and Uncle, I have no close family at all, hence my delight at having Stella as a sister, albeit with homicidal tendencies in cars.”
“That’s a downright lie–I demand a recount: especially on who has got through the more cars in those three or four years, c’mon, let’s count them.”
The bitch–I needed to qualify this statement. “How many have I caused to be damaged? None.”
“Ha, you had a Mercedes totalled on the motorway because of where you left it.”
“Stella, that wasn’t my fault, the road was blocked by a multiple accident.”
“Is that where you saved the baby?” asked Jenny.
“How d’you know about that?”
“I did a search for you on the internet and saw you’d had quite a chequered career, most of it saving lives or places. You were a regular boy scout.”
“I’ve been a lot of things, but not a boy scout.”
“I saw the BBC interview about changing over.”
“Oh, I hope you don’t think I tried to mislead you?” I was hot and bothered to the degree that I was astonished I couldn’t actually smell burning.
“No, you’re under no obligation to divulge such secrets–I’d never have guessed, and I suspect you made the right choice. I don’t see how you could ever have been a boy, let alone a scout.”
I blushed and felt the sweat running down my back.
“She was on the verge of transitioning sometime in the next hundred years,” joked Stella, “I pushed her into it, and apart from Puddin’, is my most important achievement, making two unhappy souls contented through each other.”
“When did Simon learn about your little secret?”
“Quite some time later, I wanted to tell him, she wouldn’t let me,” I pointed at Stella.
“He seemed oblivious of it, so why complicate the issue?”
“Complicate? Stella it was already complicated. Technically, he’d fallen in love with someone whose birth registration said, male.
“Oh yes, seeing as you were born in Scotland, you could have changed your birth certificate ages ago.” Stella smiled.
“What d’you mean?”
“Scottish law was different to English, you could have changed it earlier.”
“Now you tell me,” I gasped.
“Well, better late than never–what’s for lunch, I’m starving.”
Comments
Potted history, - One Woman's view.
Hi Angie.
Nice to get a recount occasionally; it helps to keep us on track. Just wondering where this one's going.
Oooh the tension! usually a post like thisun' is setting the scene for the next act. Suppose I'll just have to wait.
Still lovin it.
Love and hugs,
OXOXOX
Bev.
Winding each other up
Phew! I get breathless just reading it.
S.
Interestink...
Is it actually easier to change one's BC if you're born in Scotland? I know I can do it out in CA, but I actually have to GO there to do it, and have a judge and lawyer and a whole pile of paperwork... And convince the judge to do it, without appeal. It's a mess...
Quite an interesting chat there. And Jenny's little "bombshell" that she did a background check on her employer. Quite a smart lady, if you ask me. But, you didn't. Guess I'm just an opinionated girl and have been known to shove my foot in my mouth and chew on it vigorously on more than one occasion.
Cathy DOES have a poor record on cars... I wonder if Simon'd better buy a dealership... Might be less expensive than keeping buying new cars. :-)
Thanks,
Anne
Must be no problems, after
Must be no problems, after all, all those blokes wearing tartan skirts and all, not much of a stretch, ya see? LOL
CaroL
CaroL
It's not that easy in CA, Annette
If you've gone to court for a name change, it is easy to change the name on the California Birth Certificate.
But, for many years, since it became possible to change the gender on a California Birth certificate, you must have a doctor certify that you have had irreversible surgery, though that can be just an orchiectomy, while hearsay says even breast implants have been used.
Until May 2009, you could get a name change AND temporary ( 5 year, gender change on a DRIVER'S LICENSE , but not the Birth certificate), but even that would revert after 5 years with no surgery.
Now, strangely, you can get the temporary 5 year gender change on the DRIVER'S LICENSE, but not the name change on the license without going to court and making it a full legal name change. ( I got burned on that one last year, I was 2 months too late. I'm not ready to go to court yet.
(Thanks, Dubya Bush and the Patriot act! The law change was passed while Dubya was in office. It just didn't go into effect until we were rid of him. )
Holly
It's nice to be important, but it's more important to be nice.
Holly
I know it's not that easy...
I was just making it sound doable. As I was born in CA, I've paid attention... My "permanent" gender marker on my DL is already changed. I have to go to court to change my name - which would then apply to my DL and such...
The comment about CA & BC, was that for a while, CA required you to be a RESIDENT to get your marker changed (implying I'd have to move back for at least six months...). There was a bill (passed by the CA legislature & Veto'd by Arnold.) that removed the residency requirement. His rationalle for the veto was that the bill wasn't needed. (Someone had appealed a judges rejection due to not meeting the residency rule, and the appeal said the residency rule was void.) So, you need a lawyer to show the judge the appeal ruling... So, he will be willing to grant the BC change (the medical requirement is still there)... Sadly, Judges can still reject it based on residency - forcing you to appeal and it gets messy, expensive. (It might be less expensive to move to CA...) And so on...
It's not an option any time soon - for me - I don't think. *sighs*. But, it's nice to know that the option to correct my BC is there.
Anne
Love it!
A great repartee. Had me laughing. I also so liked how you condensed Cathy's history. I believe Stella won, as she avoided Kissing and Telling.
Hugs,
Trish Ann
~There is no reality, only perception~
Hugs,
Trish Ann
~There is no reality, only perception~
Me too!
Just what Trish Ann said.
Cathy and Jenny don't seem to have realised that by changing the subject, we're still no wiser as to what happened between Stella and Dr Gorgeous.
Thanks A+B: this was a really enjoyable Bikesode.
Procrastinating Strategies
Bike Resources
Bike Resources
Bike pt 1154
Those girls had fun, but Stella's bit of news sure did surprise Cathy. But would it hve been as easy as she claims?
May Your Light Forever Shine
May Your Light Forever Shine
A Trip Down Memory Lane
I loved the trip down Memory Lane for Cathy and Stella. It was funny how each of them told the story from their perspective. It was also great to see Jenny revealing what she knew about Cathy and how it didn't even matter to her at all.
Video Quote on a "Bear Hunt"
Note: This video features the needlessly cruel slaughter of a pet bear in a toy "hunt" for bullies
Note: This is the aftermath of the legal case against the killer, but features several short reprises of the bear-killing
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Cheers,
Puddin'
A tender heart is an asset to an editor: it helps us be ruthless in a tactful way.
--- The Chicago Manual of Style
Oh my, This definitely
Oh my, This definitely proves that the two women are indeed sisters and do like to wind each other up once in awhile. They do love each other as close as natural sisters can, and support each other as needs arise. It would be so funny to see poor Simon hit from both sides at the same time by Stella and Cathy; plus he has no allies in Trish, Livvie, Meems, Billie, and Julie. He, Tom and Danny need to "run for the hills" when all the females in the house get started on them. :) Jan
Loved the comments on
who's gone through the most cars. True, Cathy is very hard on cars. Great conversation between the sisters.
Don't you just love
these episodes where Cathy and Stella are trying to take points off each other, And now they have Jenny who managed to almost floor Cathy, Welcome to the gang Jenny, I think you will fit in well...
Kirri