[Eight days after Vivienne’s disastrous Birthday Party]

“Come on Betty, in you go,” said Vivienne as she opened the front door to her home.

The Spaniel ran through the open door and into the hallway and skidded to a halt on the polished wood floor in front of the kitchen door. Her tail started wagging furiously. She knew what was waiting for her on the other side when her mistress opened the door for her.

“I can see that someone is very happy to be home again aren't you Betty?”

Betty yelped as Vivienne bent down and picked up the pile of mail from the door mat. A brief scan of the envelopes told her that there wasn’t anything particularly urgent that couldn’t wait until the next day so she dumped them on the table at the side of the door.

Betty was as expected, siting patiently by the kitchen door. Her tail rhythmically beat on the floor. Normal service as far as she was concerned had resumed.

“Just a minute Betty.”

Vivienne put the mail down on the hall table and walked over to Betty. She knelt down and kissed her dog’s head.

“I know you are hungry Betty, but you will to wait a little longer.”

Vivienne opened the door and Betty dashed into the Kitchen. Her food bowl was clearly devoid of anything edible but that didn’t stop her from thoroughly investigating it. With the investigation complete, Betty resumed her habit of showing her displeasure at not having any food waiting for her by pushing her bowl around the kitchen floor.

All the hopes that Vivienne had had of returning home and collapsing in a heap disappeared down the drain but the smile on her face said that she really didn’t mind all that much.

After a slight hesitation, Vivienne opened a tin of food for Betty and then filled her water bowl. With Betty fully occupied she returned to her car and began to unload it. Her thoughts turned to the pile of washing and ironing that lay in wait.
‘That’s one downside of going away and not getting any laundry done while away’, she muttered to herself.

Two trips back and forth to the car and she was able to close the front door and shut the world out. The sights and smells of home welcomed her back. The place had been home for her while her children had grownup and would be missed when she eventually left it for pastures new.

One of the things that had immediately hit home hard while on her travels was that this place was far too big for her now that she’d retired. If truth be told, it had been too big for a long time. She needed to downsize but not to some tiny matchbox sized retirement apartment in London and of that, Vivienne had been absolutely certain since the moment her daughters had started leaving brochures around her home whenever they came to visit.

Once she’d put things away upstairs, she went down to the Kitchen. Betty was lying in her basket. The mess on the floor around her food and water bowls told her that at least one resident of the house was very happy with life.

“Oh Betty. What are we going to do eh? So many choices. So many decisions to make.”

After a sigh, she opened the fridge. There were a couple of Baking Potatoes and some Cheese. The Milk seemed to have turned solid. Other than some Tomato Puree, it was bare.

“Well Betty, it looks like I’m going to have to go shopping.”

Betty looked at her with that ‘does that mean walkies?’ look on her face.

“Sorry Betty. Later I promise.”

She looked sad and laid down in her basket again.

---

The problem with Sundays is the limited time the Supermarket is open. Vivienne only had twenty minutes to get to the nearest one and get some essentials before the 4pm closing time.

She picked up her car keys and handbag and headed for the hallway where her coat hung on a peg.

She didn’t get very far. As she approached the front door, she saw a figure approaching from the other side. Vivienne, let out an audible groan. The last thing she needed were visitors and especially a visit from her lovely but so frustrating daughters.

She opened the front door before whoever it was could ring the bell.

“Oh, hello Janice. I’m just on my way out. I need to get to the supermarket before they close.”

“Mum!” said Janice angrily.
“Where the hell have you been?”

“Away. That’s where I’ve been and now I’m back. Well I will be when I get some food in. Now if you don’t mind? I must go or they’ll be closed.”

Vivienne, didn’t wait for an answer and walked past her towards her car.

“Mum! Wait. Where have you been? We were worried about you.”

She turned and faced her daughter.

“I am perfectly able to look after myself. I am not in my grave yet. Not by a long chalk. I’ve been away and have met some really nice and interesting people. A big change from here.”

“Have you met a man? Who is he? Is he after your money?”

The crassness of her words made Vivienne laugh.

“I did meet several men. As for my money, most of them had far more than I’ll ever have but they were all very happily married. It wasn’t the sort of sordid trip you might have imagined it to be.”

For once Janice emulated a drowning fish so Vivienne took advantage of her daughters temporary silence.

“I really must go but I have to say that the Lake District is very nice at this time of year. You really must take your family up there. Isn’t Barbados a little passé these days?”

Vivienne felt pleased at the little dig about Janice’s preferred holiday destination as well as giving her a lot of disinformation about where she’d been. She made it to her car without further interruption and drove off having resisted looking back at Janice. She hoped that her little ‘diversion’ would keep her and her other daughter Suzanne quiet for a while but somehow, she doubted it. That was just the end of ‘round 1’.

---

“Hello Betty!” she called out upon her return. There had been no sign of Janice outside her home and as far as she could see her car was nowhere to be seen. It became clear that Janice had gone but, Vivienne’s gut feeling told her that this wouldn’t be the case for very long.

“I have dinner for you and for me. Let me get these things packed away and we can relax.”

Betty returned her a little yelp and settled down in her basket once more.

Once all the groceries were put away, Vivienne made herself a cup of tea and opened a small cake that she’d bought at the shops. The silence that settled over the house apart from the gentle sound of Betty snoring, calmed Vivienne down. She felt good to be home but deep down, Vivienne knew that this could well to be the calm before the storm.

She looked at the clock. 4:50 on a Sunday afternoon. She guesstimated that she had until seven before the storm that would be when both of her daughters descended on her home in search of answers. They’d be demanding where she’d been, who she’d seen and then it would switch to something like ‘how could I be so stupid/gullible?’. She’d endured their version of the infamous ‘Spanish Inquisition’ ten years earlier when she’d taken off and walked from Sandbanks (near Poole in Dorset) to West Bay (near Bridport) without telling them. Her only communication to them had been a postcard from Osmington Mills which as far as her daughters were concerned might as well have been on the moon.

“Well, stuff them”, thought Vivienne. She’d had a great time away and free of having to return to work that would be always nagging her after the first couple of days. It had been strange at first but in the end very refreshing and to have someone to share it with made a real difference.

Travelling around with Maxine had been a total change. To be with someone who was really interested in her thoughts and opinions without trying to score political points was a nice change. If you added to the fact that Maxine was a woman of the world and business but also a genuinely nice person to boot, the past week would be a week to remember for a long time.

Vivienne debated cooking herself a meal but she decided that some cheese and biscuits with some of the chutney that she’d bought at the farmers market the previous day plus a glass of wine bought at the Vineyard in Devon would do just fine.

As she ate the excellent cheese, she wondered what exactly she’d end up telling the combined might of her daughters in a few hours. Would she dare tell them the truth or could she get away with being slightly circumspect if not downright devious?

In the end, Vivienne decided to be circumspect with what information she gave her daughters. They’d be told the truth at the right time and this was not it, not by a long chalk. Jacques was at the moment work in progress and they didn’t need to know about him unril she was good and ready. Naturally, they wouldn’t like it but that was to be expected. Ever since she’d told them that she was going to be taking early retirement they’d made the collective decision that they were in charge of Vivienne’s life from then on but had neglected to ask her if that was what she wanted. Or… as it became clear later on, they were more interested in the equity that she had tied up in her home. For some reason they were under the impression that Vivienne still had a mortgage of around fifty thousand left to pay. They were wrong, so wrong. She’d paid that off several years before but for some reason she’d neglected to tell her dear daughters. Their questions relating to the outstanding balance on this mysterious mortgage had told her loud and clear that they were being driven more by money than love for their mother. They really took after their father in that respect.

She smiled to herself when she remembered the reason why she’d not told them that she’d paid off her Mortgage. Around the time, Suzanne was looking for finance to set up her Café. Vivienne had felt it far too risky a venture and had initially declined. Suzanne had wanted to borrow twenty thousand from her mother at zero percent interest. In return, Vivienne had offered her five grand at 5% but she declined the very generous offer. She’d found some financing from somewhere and was making a go of it but it was never really as busy as the eight or nine other Coffee Shops within half a mile. Her recent conversion to veganism was fine with some but most people which included Vivienne, preferred normal milk with their tea not almond or soya substitute. Still, if she made it work in the long term without help from the bank of Mum then great.

The chiming of the clock in the front room brought her thoughts back to the here and now. Vivienne had to work out in words what was that she was not going to tell her daughters. Naturally, she didn’t want to tell them a barefaced lie. Her daughters were not that stupid, which meant that she had to tell them enough to hopefully satisfy their demands at the present time.

As Vivienne cleared away the remains of the cheese and biscuits, she worked out how she’d approach their grilling. A phrase from somewhere she knew not where came to mind and it seemed very apt for her present situation.

“Telling the truth is very liberating but we all love a mystery and a bit of a mystery is good for the soul.”

Vivienne knew one thing for certain and that was that she was most certainly not going to tell them about Jacques. That would be the mystery part as well as continuing the lie that she’d been to the lake district. She’d tell them about meeting a businesswoman and visiting some food producers but it was Jacques that would have to remain ‘top secret’.

The moment they found about him they would immediately jump to totally the wrong conclusions. They would only find out about him when the time was right and this was not the right time. If her relationship with him in the end amounted to nothing then they really didn’t need to know about him. But she’d felt something every time they’d met during her time in Devon. The fact that he was around ten years her junior did not matter to her one little bit and what had surprised her, was that it didn’t matter to him either.

---

Vivienne was absentmindedly watching and old ‘Ealing Comedy’ on TV with Betty dozing gently on her lap when her visitors arrived.

Betty leapt off Vivienne’s lap and went to greet the front door. She’d never really gotten used to the polished wood floor of the hallway. As Vivienne followed Betty, she did wonder if she actually enjoyed sliding along the floor? It brought a brief smiled to Vivienne’s face as she opened the door. It was but a brief diversion from the task ahead.

Janice and Suzanne had looks that could kill on their faces as they marched in. Not even a trace of ‘Hello Mum. How are you?’.

Vivienne closed the door behind them and went into the front room. They’d headed for the kitchen and had made it all the way there before they realised that she wasn’t following them. Strike one for the Mother.

She’d sat down and let Betty sit beside her with her head lying on her legs by the time they came into the room.

They sat down and stared at their mother.

“Well?” asked Suzanne.

“Well what?” replied Vivienne know full well what they were on about.

“What have you to say for yourself? Disappearing off like that without a word about where you were going.”

She managed a little smile.

“As I didn’t have a clue about where I was going how could I let you know in advance?”

“Why didn’t you answer your phone? We called dozens of times while you were away.”

“I know you called. At first, I was driving so I could not answer. If you don’t know, it is against the law. Then I just put it on silent. After a bit, I just switched it off entirely. I had other things to do other than calling you five times a day.”

“Why?” asked Janice.

“Why what?”

“Why did you run off like that?”

Vivienne sighed.
“I thought I made myself perfectly clear that I was not happy with you two. I don’t want you trying to organise me let alone my life. I might be retired but I am far from either senile or about to start pushing up the daisies. Isn’t that good enough for you? Oh, and as I said, trying to make me wear something that is at least a decade old and from a charity shop and in a colour that you both know I hate was really beyond the pale.”

Suzanne looked at Janice who nodded her head.

“Where did you go then? We were worried about you.”

“Bollocks you were.”

“Mother!” exclaimed Janice.

“Where did you go then?” repeated Suzanne.

“I ended up in Cumbria. I met someone who was very nice to me. Very nice indeed.”

“Who is he and what does he want? I hope it isn’t money?” demanded Suzanne.

Vivienne had been expecting that sort of question. She smiled before replying.

“During my trip, I spent a little under one hundred pounds during the whole time I was away and the person who was so nice to me is also a multi-millionaire and they didn’t want any money from me. There were interested in me for my opinion and my company and most certainly not my money!”

“Don’t give me that!” said Janice.
“I can see a glint in your eyes.”

I glared at her before answering.
“The glint was because they are a very nice and honest person. They are making something of their life and are not beholden to anyone. We visited a number of places and I offered my thoughts on them. For that I had a room in a very nice Hotel and excellent company during my stay. Oh, and that person is very close to your age and has made something of themselves by sheer hard work. They do not owe anyone a penny and was recently at a wedding of a Billionaire. That good enough for you?”

“Who is he then?” demanded Suzanne.

“It isn’t a ‘he’, it is a ‘she’ and before you even think that I’ve become a lesbian, my I remind you that I am old enough to be her mother and that she is recently widowed. Beyond that is for me to know. If I told you who she is then you’d immediately get the wrong end of the stick and jump to all sorts of conclusions but don’t let me stop you doing that as it is clear that is all you are interested in.”

This defiance on Vivienne’s part had the desired effect at least temporarily.

“Changing the subject, things are going to change around here from now on.”

“Eh? What do you mean?” asked Janice.

“What I mean is that I am most certainly not going to tolerate what happened on the morning of my birthday.”

“What do you mean?” asked Suzanne.

“Don’t you know? You really don’t know do you? I thought I’d made myself perfectly clear during my little rant at the party.”

They looked at each other with blank faces.

“The pair of you turned up with my grandchildren and marched in and took over the place. Not one of you said ‘Hello Mum’ or even ‘Happy Birthday’. You then plonked them down in front of the TV and started making them breakfast. Did anyone think to ask me first? No, you didn’t.”

“Then tonight, you just marched in without waiting to be asked. I know that you grew up here but this is not your home any longer. It is mine and mine alone.”

Her daughters looked rather guilty. Strike two for the Mother.

“Is it any wonder that I sounded off at you that afternoon. It seemed to me that you had deliberately conspired together that once I’d retired, I was to then be mollycoddled and as soon as possible, put out to pasture in a retirement complex. That my dear daughters, is most certainly not going to happen this side of me popping my clogs.”

“But Mum?” remarked Janice.

“No ‘But Mum’. This is my very own personal BREXIT moment. I am taking back control. I am going to do things my way from now on. If I want to sell up and move then that will be my decision. If I want to shave off all my hair and join the Hari Krishna people on Oxford Street, then it will be my decision. If I want to get another job then that will also be my decision. I may have retired but I am not in my dotage. Not by a long chalk. That means my dear Daughters, back off, show your mother some respect and let me enjoy my retirement as I see fit.”

“Now if you don’t mind, I need to walk Betty before it gets dark. I’ve had a long day and I was up pretty early this morning and what with the long drive back down to London, I’m feeling a bit bushed.”

Vivienne got up and walked out of the front room. She opened the front door and stood there making with her arms crossed making perfectly clear that they should leave.

Her daughter left the house but not before giving her a glare as if to say, ‘you have not heard the last of this’.

‘Bring it on’ is what Vivienne would say if asked. Where she’d been, what she’d seen and the people she’d met in the past week had given her a totally new perspective on things and her life in general.

Vivienne shut the door behind her daughter with a deliberate ‘thud’ and immediately dashed upstairs where from the small bedroom that was next to hers, she could see the pair of them arguing and gesticulating. There was a lot of pointing back towards the house. It was obvious to her that they were blaming her for everything.

She left them too it and went to get ready to take Betty out for her evening walk.

By the time Vivienne opened the front door with Betty on her lead, her daughters had given up arguing and had left. She breathed a sigh of relief but she knew that it was only a temporary ceasefire.

“Let’s go Betty. Round two to me I think!”

She looked up at her mistress wagging her tail. Her eyes looked happy.

“Thank you for your support Betty.”

She then knelt down and gave her a hug. Betty licked her face in return.

[to be continued]