The Daily Dormouse. (aka Bike, est. 2007) Part 2473 by Angharad Copyright© 2014 Angharad All Rights Reserved.

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Somehow I got them all home though was sick of being pestered by them to explain why Daddy stormed off and I was crying. Stella cornered me and asked what was going on. So I told her. “He criticised me because Trish caught a girl from her school shoplifting, saying that because I have occasionally had contacts with less than honest people, the girls have picked it up from me, catching them, that is.”

“And what did you say back?” Stella knew me too well.

“I simply said I’d prefer that they did that than follow the banks who stole from their clients. He took umbrage and strode off.”

“He doesn’t usually run off when someone tells him the truth, if he did, you’d never have met him.”

“Eh?”

“The banks have always robbed their clients, how else would they make the mega bucks to pay for Dad and Si’s bonuses, let alone ours for doing nothing.”

“Speak for yourself. I do at least one report per year for the bank.”

“For your salary, that doesn’t sound exactly exacting.”

“What d’you do for yours?” I threw back at her.

“Absolutely nothing. One of the delicious things about being a family owned business is you can write your own rules. About a hundred and fifty years ago, it was decided by my ancestors that the wife and children of the owners of the bank should receive a payment which would be the equivalent of one hundred pounds in those days. It was only applicable to the wife and children of the main owner, in other words, the chairman. By today’s standards that’s hundreds of thousands. Nowadays payable mainly in shares. As the wife of one of the children, you are considered a child of the family and get them too.”

“Isn’t that wasteful?”

“I don’t think so, and as it’s a tradition enshrined in the articles of the bank, despite efforts to change it, the other shareholders have always failed because the family owns about sixty per cent of the shares.”

“What’s to stop you or me selling them to someone else?”

“Read the small print, you have to give the bank the first option on buying them. The other thing is you’d pay loads in Capital Gains Tax.”

“I wasn’t thinking of selling them. What about our children?”

“You going to sell them?”

“The children?” I asked and she nodded. “No, I wondered about if they get any shares.”

“Not until the chair passes to their parents, otherwise you’d have bankruptcy long ago—especially if they all had families like you. No, it was considered that some sort of survival of the line of inheritance was required.”

“What happens if the chairman only has daughters?”

“Like you, you mean?”

“Essentially, I suppose.”

“They’re expected to marry someone who could be trained as chairman.”

“Isn’t that a bit risky, they might marry someone who’s a real maverick but waits until he inherits to show it?”

“It’s happened, they dealt with it.”

“What happened?”

“He was killed in a duel.”

“Nice family I married into,” I said sarcastically.

“I told you ages ago we were all a bit inbred and strange.”

“So your family have had the bank for a hundred and fifty years?”

“More like three hundred but it has grown a bit in the last twenty years since Dad took over from Granddad. Just as well, he died the following year and Dad was able to begin to modernise or we would have gone bust.”

“What about Simon?”

“Oh he’ll inherit, all right.”

“No, what do I do about him, now?”

“Oh that, let me speak to him.” She picked up her mobile and speed dialled Simon. Shooing me away she started to talk to him but I couldn’t hear what was said. Perhaps it was just as well, who knows what they say to each other in private. I went off and poured boiling water on teabags and then poured some of that into a cup and added milk. I heard Stella coming and poured her a cup as well.

“He’s coming home but he requires your unconditional surrender, and sex every other night.”

“Okay.”

“I told him you’d never accept—what? You can’t give in that easily.”

“I was in the wrong.”

“Yeah, but you don’t just capitulate, you negotiate and eventually he gives in if you let him have sex just once.”

“How would you know—you didn’t, you know, did you?”

“Didn’t what? Good lord, no. I’m talking from a hypothetical point of view applied to men in general.”

“Oh, I’m glad to hear it, for a moment I thought...”

“Look, we may be Scots and enjoy oor porrage, but incest, nah even with salt on would be unacceptable.”

“I’m Scots too, remember.”

“So how come ye canna hae yer porrage wi’ salt nae sugar?”

“I don’t like salty porridge.”

“Och ye dinna ken whit ye’re missin’.”

“Neither do you, you have honey on yours.”

“Damn, you know too much, I really do have a sister, don’t I?”

“I thought you were going to say, that I knew too much so you’d have to kill me.”

“No, who’d babysit for me if I ever manage to find a bloke who doesn’t fancy you more?” I blushed and spluttered and was going to apologise. “Look, I might only be a dumb nurse but I do know which way is up. I know you’ve never set out to attract them and they see that as a challenge sometimes, but when they get to know you, they see what a truly wonderful woman you are. Me—I’m a throwback to a prehistoric age, where I expect to club them on the noggin and drag them back to my cave and ravish them.”

“I thought they were supposed to do that to you.”

“Oh that’s where I’m going wrong.” She really was mad as a hatter.

Simon arrived and it went very quiet. I smiled at him but he scowled back at me. Stella made a discretionary withdrawal, pulling the kitchen door behind her.

“I’m sorry for what I said and I withdraw it unconditionally.”

Still scowling he nodded.

“Would you like some tea?” I offered and when he again nodded, I rose and made it and poured out two cups. We stood on opposite sides of the kitchen him scowling and me blushing as we drank our tea.

Finally he finished his and put his mug down noisily which made me jump. “After what you said, I went away and walked and thought. You hurt me, even though I suppose I had asked for it in some ways.” I went to say something and he shushed me. “I wondered if this, being alone would be how it felt if we split up.” I could feel tears running down my face. “If it was, I didn’t want it. You might be the most beautiful woman in the world but you are possibly the most challenging as well.”

“I’m sorry,” I sobbed.

“Sorry?” he repeated.

“Yes, I really am.”

“I guess you are. However, I want you to promise me one thing, if we stay together.”

“Anything, I love you so much.”

“Anything?”

I nodded too choked to speak.

“Okay, but I’ll still go for one thing.”

I nodded, tears dripping on the kitchen floor.

“Promise me one thing...”

I nodded.

“Don’t you ever change, I love you just the way you are...oof.” The latter was caused by me throwing myself on to him and nearly hugging him to death. We kissed and hugged and hugged and kissed, both of us crying.

I heard the door open and Trish walked in, then retreated, “Nah, we can’t have any they’re having sex in the kitchen...” she said as the door closed. I snotted all over Simon’s shirt.