The Boy I Love

by Lynda Bellingham

  ‘Thomas – Sally Thomas. Well, I am an actress and I am starting the new season at Crewe in two weeks’ time and my father has driven me up here today to try and find digs. So far it has been a bit of a disaster, but Gladys on the stage door has just suggested I might try to talk to you, as I believe you and your boyfriend are coming to join also, and have a house with a possible spare room. I would be so grateful if you might consider letting it to me.’

  ‘Well, we haven’t really got that far yet but I could talk to my bloke and my aunt, and call you back. Have you got a number?’

  Sally tried not to sound too pushy. ‘Well actually, I was wondering if there was any way I could see your place today, while I am here in Crewe, because we have to drive back to Cheltenham later today, and then I won’t be back until we start. I am just so worried about having somewhere to stay, if you can see what I mean. It is my first job and I am a bit nervous.’ Sally caught her sister making boo hoo signs and pretending to cry.

  ‘Go away!’ mouthed Sally.

  There was a pause the other end of the line and then the sound of a hand being placed over the receiver. Sally held her breath. Eventually the line cleared and a new voice came on the receiving end.

  ‘Hello, Sally? This is Susan Chambers here. I know we have talked on the phone, and corresponded, and I hope you are not having too difficult a day. Janie has just explained the situation to me and I have assured her that I think it would be quite all right for you to go and see the house. Gladys has a set of keys. Are you with anyone?’ she asked.

  ‘Yes,’ replied Sally, ‘my father and my sister Dora. That would be brilliant if we could. I mean, we can ring you later to discuss rent, et cetera, but if I could at least get an idea of the place it would help so much.’

  ‘I quite understand,’ the woman replied. ‘Call us when you have been to see the house. Good luck.’ The line went dead and Sally breathed a sigh of relief.

  She then turned to Dora with, ‘Why do you have to be such a pain! This is important to me. You are always so quick to take the mickey.’

  ‘Oh, keep your hair on, sis,’ retorted Dora, unbothered. ‘Come on, let’s get on, I am bloody starving.’ They got the keys from Gladys, and the address, and set off up the hill towards the station. It was not far, and Sally’s spirits rose as they turned into a well-maintained street with a row of Victorian houses. The latter were noticeably larger than the previous terrace, though not huge by any means.

  ‘This looks more like it,’ commented their father as he turned the key in the lock. They all stepped gingerly over the threshold, feeling like intruders.

  ‘Hope there are no squatters lurking,’ whispered Dora.

  ‘Trust you to think the worst,’ Sally whispered back.

  ‘Why are you whispering, girls?’ Their father’s voice resounded round the room and made them both jump.

  ‘Oh, Dad!’ they shouted in unison.

  He laughed and turned on the light, revealing a delightful room, simple and welcoming, with a small sofa and dining table and chairs in the corner. There was a gas fire with a new rug in front of it. Someone had cleaned it all and painted it very recently. A door led into the kitchen, which was bright and airy, containing a cooker, sink and kitchen table and chairs. Unlike the last house they had visited, this was clean and light and more spacious. In the back yard was a tub of flowers which had recently been watered.

  They moved back into the living room and went up the stairs to the landing. It was similar again to the other house but this time, thank God, the door to the bathroom revealed a reasonable-sized room with bath, basin and toilet – maybe not exactly Habitat, but perfectly decent. They examined the two bedrooms and it was obvious which one was for the lodger, although it was still larger than the last disaster, and so much more pleasant.

  ‘Oh, I could make this lovely!’ exclaimed Sally. ‘And there is more than enough room to sit in here at night. It would be great if I could get an old telly though.’ She threw a sideways glance at her father.

  ‘We will see what we can do,’ he muttered.

  ‘It’s perfect,’ agreed Dora. ‘And anyway, it’s only until I get here, then we will have our own flat.’

  ‘Oh yes, of course,’ said Sally. ‘Once you arrive, everything will be just fine and dandy, won’t it?’

  ‘Stop it, you two,’ ordered Douglas. ‘Come on, let’s go and get some lunch. It might improve your tempers.’

  ‘So what’s the plan then?’ asked Dora as they made their way down to the city centre. ‘We go and see our flat after lunch, and then go back to the stage door and ring Susan?’

  ‘“Our flat”’ – what are you like?’ said Sally. ‘Well, yes, OK, let’s do that. Agreed, Dad?’

  ‘Absolutely,’ responded Douglas. ‘Now for heaven’s sake, let’s get something to eat!’

  The town centre offered them very little. There was a market square around which clung the usual suspects – Woolworths, Smiths and Boots. There was hardly a soul in sight, and not a café or restaurant to be seen. They finally found a pub up a narrow alley which boasted Sunday lunch for £1.50. Douglas went to the bar while the girls found a table. It was quite busy, and there was a darts match going on in the corner which was attracting great speculation from the regulars. A few gave the threesome a sideways glance, and a nod and a smile.

  ‘Natives seem friendly enough,’ commented Dora as she smiled back.

  They ordered roast beef and Yorkshire pudding and settled back to watch the action. The landlady arrived a few minutes later with their order.

  ‘Hey up, chuck, here’s yer dinners.’ They were confronted with the biggest Yorkshire puddings they had ever seen in their lives.

  ‘Oh my goodness, that is huge!’ gasped Sally. ‘How on earth am I going to eat all that?’

  ‘Aye, we like ’em big up here,’ said the landlady proudly. ‘That’s fuel, that is. You get that little lot down yer, and you’ll keep goin’ all day. Enjoy.’

  Dora was in fits of laughter as she tried to tackle the basin of batter atop her pile of beef.

  ‘It’s a like a Desperate Dan cowpat!’ she squealed, as gravy oozed over the side of her plate. ‘Oh help! It’s going everywhere.’ She managed to shove a forkful into her mouth, and was rendered speechless for the next five minutes as she worked her way through her plateful. All three of them had to concentrate hard to achieve inroads into their meals.

  Finally Douglas wiped his chin and said, ‘Well, I have to say that was delicious. I have never tasted Yorkshire pudding like that in my life, and the beef just melts in your mouth.’

  ‘Absolutely,’ agreed Sally. ‘I won’t go hungry up here, will I? Even if I can only afford one meal a week, this is all I need.’

  They finished their food, complimented the chef and promised to come again. They had instructions from the landlady on how to reach the flat and set off. It was now two o’clock and Douglas was hoping to get away by four. They walked back up the hill, passing their car and the theatre. There was no sign of Gladys.

  ‘Maybe she is having a nap inside,’ said Sally. ‘Let’s hope she doesn’t shut up shop before we get back.’

  As they approached the road to the station there were a few more signs of life. A couple with a push-chair were wending their way towards the park to the right of the station entrance. A group of kids were kicking a football around, and there was a family eating hamburgers on a bench. The sounds of the station came wafting across on the breeze and Sally remembered her arrival, that hot day in July, for her audition.

  ‘The station is enormous, you know,’ she remarked to no one in particular. ‘It is very beautiful in an iron kind of way.’

  Dora snorted. ‘What does that mean, an iron kind of way?’

  ‘Well, it is an amazing building almost like a cathedral, with huge iron girders like arches above the lines. It is quite famous, isn’t it, Dad?’ Sally turned to her father.

  ‘Oh yes. It is a famous Victorian construction and when the
railways were being built, Crewe was very much at the centre of it all. Everybody changed trains at Crewe. Now come on, girls, let’s get a move on. I reckon it is this road on the left.’ Douglas strode off towards a block of shops on the corner of a square at the side of the station.

  Sure enough, they arrived at the door of number 7, Ridgeway Road. Next door was a shop selling all things to do with needlework.

  ‘Oh, this could be handy for you, Dora,’ said Sally.

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘Well, you will be needing supplies for your job in the wardrobe, won’t you?’

  Dora didn’t look very convinced. ‘I suppose so,’ she said.

  There were half a dozen shops in the parade – a newsagent’s, a little tearoom at the end, an insurance office and what looked like a travel agent, and a shop selling second-hand clothes.

  The door opened to the turn of the key and they made their way to the upstairs flat, having picked up the usual pile of junk mail from inside the door.

  ‘Is someone living here at the moment?’ asked Dora.

  ‘Yes, I think so, but Gladys said they are away for the weekend so hopefully we won’t find anyone at home. That would be embarrassing, wouldn’t it?’

  At the top of the stairs was another door which had a Yale lock. Douglas started to open it.

  ‘Maybe we had better knock first, just to be sure there is no one here?’ Sally said anxiously.

  ‘Good idea,’ answered her father and he knocked briskly. After a couple of minutes he opened the door and popped his head in, calling out, ‘Is there anyone at home?’

  Dora had a fit of the giggles and Sally sighed with impatience.

  ‘Oh, do come on, Dora, you are being pathetic. What’s the matter with you?’

  ‘It’s like Goldilocks and the Three Bears,’ the girl laughed. ‘We three bears are back from the picnic and someone’s been sleeping in our beds!’ This set her off again. Sighing, Sally left her to it and followed her father along a corridor to the end where he was already opening doors and examining cupboards.

  The room at the end was the living room – a huge room with one side all windows. The view left a bit to be desired though, as it overlooked the shunting yards at the back of the station, however, it held a certain quaint interest. The furniture was old and a bit shabby, but clean. There was carpet on the floor which could do with a bit of Shake n’ Vac, and some new curtains wouldn’t go amiss, thought Sally. However, in the main, there was a nice atmosphere, and it was lovely and light and airy.

  Dora had arrived in the room and announced, ‘This is lovely, sis! We can do things with this.’

  The girls left their father investigating the meter in the corner of the room and went to find the bedrooms, which were in a row off the long corridor. The first bedroom was like the front room, a large, airy space with a huge double bed and big walnut wardrobe. The curtains were in need of attention and the rug at the bottom of the bed was faded and bedraggled, but there was nothing that couldn’t be fixed. The second room was only slightly smaller; it too had a double bed and a wardrobe and chest of drawers. Both rooms overlooked small gardens leading to the next row of houses in the road beyond. It was very quiet.

  ‘This is great, isn’t it, Dora?’ said Sally. ‘It will suit us perfectly.’

  Their father joined them and agreed it was a find. ‘We need to make sure you can afford it though, Sally,’ he warned. ‘Come and see the kitchen and bathroom and then we must go.’

  The bathroom was a big room as well, functional rather than fashionable, but so what? The kitchen was very 1960s, with lots of Formica-topped cupboards and plastic handles, but all perfectly clean. There was a cooker and even a washing machine!

  They locked up and set off back to the theatre, Sally desperately trying to work out how much it would all cost.

  ‘Listen, don’t fret, we will sort it all out,’ Douglas reassured her.

  They arrived back at the stage door just before four o’clock, and were relieved to find Gladys back in her corner, no doubt refreshed from her nap.

  ‘Any luck?’ she enquired as Sally handed her back the keys.

  ‘Oh, Gladys, the flat was perfect. I love it. I just wish I could move in straight away. But the other little house is lovely too, and I would definitely like to rent a room there with Janie. Is it OK to use your phone again and call Susan so I can confirm things before I leave?’

  ‘Course you can, dearie. There you go. Have you still got the number? That’s it then, get to it. Now would you two like a cuppa while you wait?’ She turned to Douglas and Dora in the doorway.

  ‘Ooh, yes please,’ said Dora. ‘I could really do with a cuppa. Thank you, Gladys.’

  Sally dialled the number and waited, crossing her fingers.

  ‘Hello, Nantwich 7451.’

  Sally recognized Susan’s voice. ‘Susan? It’s Sally Thomas here, from the theatre.’

  ‘Oh yes, hello again. How did it go?’ Susan asked.

  ‘Oh, it’s perfect,’ said Sally. ‘I would so love to take a room if it’s possible. Is Janie still up for it?’

  ‘Yes, I know they both decided they would have to have an extra person to share the rent. Now do you know the terms?’

  ‘No, I know nothing at all.’ Sally held her breath for the umpteenth time that day.

  Giles’s PA gave Sally all the details.

  Sally signalled to her father to come and see what she was writing down. He did a few calculations and nodded his approval. Sally turned back to the phone.

  ‘Hello, Susan? Are you still there? That would be fine. Do you want a deposit? I can send you a cheque if you like.’

  ‘Yes, that’s a good idea. Send a month’s rent in advance, and address it to me at the theatre, and I will post you a receipt. You have got my number, and if you need to ask any further questions you can ring me. I know you and Janie will get on well, and Pete is very easygoing. I am so pleased things have worked out and I look forward to meeting you on the twelfth of September.’

  Sally put the phone down and did a little dance for joy. ‘Oh, that is great! I am so relieved I have found somewhere. Thanks so much, Dad. You are a star!’ She hugged her father and they went into the alleyway to find Dora and Gladys demolishing a large packet of chocolate digestives.

  ‘We’re so grateful, Gladys, for all your help. Just one last thing and we will leave you in peace. How do I secure the other flat for October?’

  ‘Oh, you can leave all that with me, dearie,’ said Gladys comfortably. ‘Miss Morris is an old friend. I will talk to her and explain everything, and she’ll be in touch.’

  ‘How do you know she’ll approve of me?’ asked Sally.

  ‘Oh, she’d love you, dearie. Well brought-up girl like you.’ This last comment elicited a snort of derision from Dora, who was stilled by a black look from her sister.

  ‘Well, if you are sure, that would be fantastic. I can’t thank you enough. I will make it up to you, I promise,’ Sally added.

  ‘And I will be here in October to help you as well,’ added Dora self-importantly. ‘I will make sure you and me eat cake all day long, Gladys.’

  ‘Goodness me, pet, that won’t do me any good at all. But bless you for thinking of me. So you had better all get going now. I have to shut up shop and get home to cook my Ronnie’s tea.’

  ‘Yes, of course. We are so sorry to keep you. Take care, and we will see you in a couple of weeks.’ Sally gave the large woman a big hug and they left her at the stage door waving the biscuits at them by way of farewell.

  They climbed into the car as the sun was beginning to dip behind the rooftops, casting long shadows on the cobbled street.

  ‘I like it up here,’ announced Dora from the back seat. ‘What it lacks in boutiques it makes up for in heart, don’t you think?’

  ‘Oh yes,’ agreed Sally. ‘It seems so friendly that I’m really looking forward to moving here. And quite frankly I won’t have any time or money for boutiques. It’s going
to be really tough doing a new play every two weeks, as well as learning the lines and doing all the stage management stuff they are going to throw at me.’

  ‘Well, it is what you wanted,’ said Douglas, ‘and you will give it your best shot, Sally, you always do. Now let’s get home to your mother and a second Sunday dinner!’

  Chapter 7

  The days flew by as Sally gathered herself and her belongings together. Dora was fantastic and made it her mission to provide her sister with even more clothes, to create the most comprehensive wardrobe she could find. Sally gained several more pairs of trousers, one pair of which was velvet, two jackets, three shirts and two pairs of court shoes.

  ‘God, I will never wear these!’ Sally shrieked as she wobbled round the shoe shop.

  ‘You may not, but lots of characters in your plays will, dopey,’ replied Dora. ‘Just think of all those young ladies who need rescuing in those Agatha Christie dramas.’

  ‘You are so right,’ Sally said. ‘I suppose I was thinking more along the lines of Shakespeare and Chekov. But of course, we will be doing farces and thrillers, won’t we?’ She sighed and handed the shoes to the assistant, saying, ‘Thank you, I’ll take these.’

  Dora also excelled in the sewing department and she made Sally two beautiful evening dresses using patterns similar to the dresses they had seen in the vintage shop. The girls had decided to go back to Jackie and return the dresses they had originally bought, and use the money to buy some costume jewellery. Dora had promised that she would liaise with Jackie once she was working at Crewe and knew a bit more about the budgets and what might be required. Sally ended up with a black satin sheath dress that made her look really slim and very sexy!

  ‘Oh my, look at you,’ said her mother admiringly. ‘This is a new Sally I am seeing here.’

  ‘Oh Mum – don’t, please, it is embarrassing and not me at all.’ Sally wriggled uncomfortably and got a slap on the leg from Dora.

  ‘Keep still or you will get a pin in your bum. Don’t be so daft, Sally – you are an actress. This is half the fun, being able to dress up and be something you are not. So just shut up!’