Outside: Part Twenty

~ beetleypete

This is the twentieth part of a fiction serial, in 724 words.

Gillian refused to admit it to herself, but she was bored. She found herself wandering around the house, stopping to look out of the windows at the outside world she could not face venturing into. At least the women next door hadn’t complained about the small pile of the bin bags at the front, which had now grown from one to four.

The blog seemed to be a non-starter. No more comments, not even rude or nasty ones. Maybe that grumpy bloke had been right about her not following anyone or commenting, but she felt more comfortable using email.

Charlotte hadn’t replied, and no truffles had shown up. Maybe it took longer to deliver chocolates than the stuff she usually ordered. Or perhaps her sister had to go back to work as an air hostess, and might bring some back from Belgium, then post them once she was in England.

As she was staring out of the window that afternoon, a large white van drove slowly past, then stopped just in view to her left. Gillian was excited. It was like one of the vans that came from Amazon. Perhaps he was going to deliver the truffles after all.

There was something about sitting in sight of the house that made Thomas excited. As he had suspected, it was a run down semi-detached on a boring estate of identical houses probably built in the late sixties. Featureless, practical, and very dull. Her house in particular made the street look shabby. Bags of rubbish accumulated close to the front door, windows not cleaned, and curtains unwashed. The wrought iron front gate had seen better days, and was barely hanging on with its one remaining hinge. Only a couple of long-dead dry plants stuck out from the top of the planters either side of the door, and you could well imagine the person that lived there was closer to ninety years of age, than thirty.

In every respect, it was perfect. As if he had written the script.

Not a good idea to hang around too long though, especially in his own legally registered vehicle. With one last look in the wing-mirror, he started the engine and drove off. The time would come soon enough.

Seeing the van leaving, Gillian felt a twinge of disappointment. It must have been delivering to a house further up the street. To cheer herself up, she made a cup of tea and opened her Mister Kipling Manor House cake. Two thick slices of that would be nice to eat while she was watching a film. While the kettle was boiling, she looked through the new films she had bought since mum died. Selecting Miss Congeniality, she carefully removed the cellophane wrapper.

Soon back out onto the main A1, Thomas kept in the left hand lane, driving sensibly at less than sixty. He was in no rush to get home, and had a lot to think about. Just the one big job to do, renewing the bannisters in a large staircase that dominated the entrance hall of a rather grand house in County Durham. But he had already turned the spindles weeks ago, so it was just a matter of installing them in the house, then adding the balustrades and end posts. To save time and driving, he had booked into a nice bed and breakfast establishment nearby, and would leave tomorrow morning, starting work that afternoon.

All being well, he would be finished in under a week, including staining the wood. Then he could take some time off.

Not too impressed with the film she had just watched, Gillian decided an early dinner was in order, and went to turn the oven on to heat up. On the box of the lasagna, it had writing that said ‘For a family of four’. But her and mum always had one each, and shared a garlic bread with it. No need to break that tradition. During the time that the oven heated, and the cooking time of fifty minutes, she chose another film to watch.

Something scary this time, as it was still early enough not to leave her with nightmares. What Lies Beneath wasn’t the sort of film mum would have been happy to watch, and Gillian smiled to herself as she pressed play.

Talking out loud, she muttered, “Sorry mum”.

33 thoughts on “Outside: Part Twenty”

    1. It made me want to make a lasagna. 🙂
      (I have met so many people in London who eat just like Gill, and live in similar houses that ‘stand out’ on nice streets. I could even show you where they used to live.)
      Best wishes, Pete.

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      1. Lol Pete. We will see. I have an idea but I am not going to voice it. By the way, I got a new Gravatar, and now I have found a way of commenting on those blogs that I couldn’t before. I am back in the land of the luving. Wooo hoooo. Xx

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  12. (1) Speaking of neighbors, Gillian should watch “Rear Window.” It has a good cast.
    (2) Bad citation: “Maybe that grumpy bloke with the wrinkly dog had been right about her blogging.”
    (3) Did you hear about the big commotion in a Belgian chocolate shop? Clients began throwing Chocolate Macadamia Nut Butter Truffles at each other. The incident became known as the Truffle Kerfuffle.
    (4) There’s a bunch of nuts living in the Amazon rain forest who gorge themselves on Brazil Nut Truffles. They’re delivered by a carrinha branca.
    (5) Gillian will come unhinged before her front gate does.
    (6) Blondie told Tuco that it’s “not a good idea to hang around too long” in a graveyard. It might get ugly.
    (7) I heard that Mr. Cellophane from Chicago married Miss Congeniality in San Antonio. I’m still trying to wrap my mind around that odd pairing.
    (8) What lies beneath Gillian’s binge eating? Maybe it’s boredom. She ought to give that some thought as she wanders around the house and stares out the windows.

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  14. Very topical isn’t it, so many people get scammed these days and more and more scammers. We really have to be careful not to give out personal information – better to be a closed book. Really enjoying this Pete.
    Angie

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