This is the seventeenth part of a fiction serial, in 754 words.
My thanks to Sue Judd for the use of her photo.
Having made up my mind not to chase around trying to find out where Gregg had gone, I went into work. Yes, I had to deal with my husband at some stage, but meanwhile we still had to salvage what we could from the sale of the Hall. Lady Branscombe’s lawyers had told dad that they could sell everything with no reserve, so I headed in for a meeting with dad to discuss that insanity.
Dad shrugged. “I told them, Alicia. This decision could cost her well over a million pounds, not to mention the commission we would lose. But what does she care? They have already instructed a local estate agent to sell the Hall, and all the surrounding land. She has already inerited whatever was left to Julian, plus Julian’s Chelsea apartment that she intends to keep for visits to London. Besides, she has the house in France, and a huge sum of money left to her in her late husband’s will”.
As frustrating as it was to someone like me who really cared about Art, I knew dad was right. If we didn’t act on the instructions, she would just use an auction house from elsewhere, probably in London. We couldn’t hold her to a contract signed by Julian, not without a costly legal battle. We sat around for a couple of hours arranging dates for the forthcoming sales, with dad relying on me to arrange the items in suitable groups of the same period or style.
Local rumour had it that the tenant farmers on the Branscombe Estate were to be offered favourable terms to buy the land they already farmed. A group that ran private clinics was very interested in buying the building for use as a trendy alcohol and drug rehab centre for rich people, but they didn’t want to pay for any more of the land than that part immediately surrounding the building. That left a huge amount of non-farmed land with no apparent buyer. Builders were not interested, as planning permission for new homes would be hard to achieve in such a rural area.
All we could do was to arrange our auctions, and wait to see what else happened.
It was almost five in the afternoon when Gregg phoned the office at work. He had been in a fight in a pub in Gloucester last night, knocked unconscious, and taken to hospital. There was no lasting damage, but he had lost the day’s pay with the building company, and now needed collecting. At least he hadn’t been arrested, that was something. I told him to get a taxi home, and I would pay for it when he got there.
Then I slipped away without mentioning anything to my dad.
To say he was contrite was an understatement. But on that occasion, I stuck to my guns. I carefully explained to him that I could not live with his anger, his Diazepam addiction, or his constant alcohol binges. I made it clear that our brief marriage would end up in divorce if he continued. Yes, I appreciated what had happened to him in The Falklands, but he needed to get help, some proper counselling. I was happy to pay for that privately, but only if he agreed to attend every session. In the short term, I suggested he take time off from work and go and talk to his family in Essex. I was sure they had no idea what I had been going through, and I insisted that he tell them every detail.
Talking to you now, I appreciate you will be wondering why I gave him so many chances, I really do. But you have to take into account that at the time, I genuinely loved him and fancied him too. At least I was sure I did back then. And I felt sorry for him. Who wouldn’t? He had been through a terrible time in that war, and it had changed his personality. I couldn’t blame him, as it wasn’t his fault. I hoped his dad would make him see sense.
Gregg paid for his own train ticket, and I drove him to the station. I could hardly bring myself to kiss him goodbye, but I did. When he got back to Basildon, he rang me to say he was home safe and sound. I was quite cold on the phone, and ended the call quickly.
At the time, I wasn’t to know that I wouldn’t hear from him again for almost a month.
Almost a month? Yikes!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Back with his mum, being spoiled.
Best wishes, Pete.
LikeLiked by 1 person
(1) “Having made up my mind…” is something we’re going to hear a lot more frequently from A.I. personalities.
(2) A manor in Gloucester. A flat in London. A house in France. What about Lady Branscombe’s ranch in New Mexico? Or her bungalow in the Seychelles? Or her inflatable habitat on Mars?
(3) Alicia should buy Branscomble Hall and rename it the White House. Alicia White, the first lady, could then meet with dignitaries from around the world, thereby elevating her social status!
(4) Alicia stuck to her guns. Has no one accused her of stealing them from Branscombe Hall’s left wing armoury? They were supposed to be auctioned off!
(5) Overheard:
Alicia(!): “Talking to you now, I appreciate you will be wondering why I gave him so many chances, I really do.”
Travis(?): “You talking to me? You talking to me? Then who the hell else are you talking to? You talking to me? Well, I’m the only one here!”
(6) Gregg paid for his own train ticket. When other travelers begged him to pay for their train ticket, too, he threatened to run them out of town on a rail.
(7) Alicia was quite cold on the phone, and ended the call quickly. As she exited the phone box, chilled to the bone, she slipped on a patch of ice… Fortunately, she fell to the side, and was spared injury by a fresh mound of snow.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I enjoyed the Taxi Driver segment, David. š
Best wishes, Pete.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Gregg putting some distance between them might be better for Alicia.
LikeLiked by 1 person
She needs a break from his antics, to reassess her situation.
Best wishes, Pete.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Indeed.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Good luck to her. Warmest regards, Ed
LikeLiked by 1 person
She is going to need it, Ed.
Best wishes, Pete.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Could it be another twist in the offing??
LikeLiked by 1 person
That is always a possibility, Liz.
Best wishes, Pete.
LikeLiked by 1 person
There you go again Pete, unexpected twists and turns! Clearly she’s telling the story from the future but why? Hugs, C
LikeLiked by 1 person
You will find out why, Cheryl.
Best wishes, Pete. x
LikeLike
Yes, all will be revealed……meanwhile other than the fact I don’t like or trust Gregg….I am very confused………:)
LikeLiked by 1 person
Sorry to confuse you, Janet. Anything specific?
Best wishes, Pete.
LikeLiked by 1 person
In rehab for a month or up to some criminal venture to steal from the Estate?
LikeLiked by 1 person
He has a lot of issues, Geoff, but I don’t think he has criminal intent.
I could be wrong of course. š
Best wishes, Pete.
LikeLike
It would be difficult for you to be wrong about your serials!š
LikeLiked by 2 people
āHow she felt at the time ā is telling. ā¦.?
LikeLiked by 1 person
I think at the beginning of the serial we are actually 26 years in the future of what we’ve been reading about, and again at the last paragraph in this episode. I think.
LikeLiked by 3 people
Very perspicacious of you, Fraggle
LikeLiked by 2 people
Yes, she is telling the story in the past tense. Well done for remembering episode one! š
Best wishes, Pete.
LikeLiked by 2 people
It has stuck with me from the beginning that we were looking back in time.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It is indeed, Sue.
Best wishes, Pete.
LikeLiked by 1 person
š
LikeLike
Sounds like things changed, as she is saying how she felt āat the timeāā¦.
LikeLiked by 1 person
She is telling her story in the past tense, Beth.
Best wishes, Pete.
LikeLiked by 1 person
yes, so that’s why I’m thinking that things must have changed for her over time
LikeLiked by 1 person
So Alicia is telling this as a story…to who? Being interviewed by the police? Psychiatrist? Hm. She was going back presumably to Branscombe Hall…to visit Gregg?….
LikeLiked by 2 people
All will be revealed, Carolyn! You just have to wait… š
Best wishes, Pete.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Things can turn on a dime in just an instant.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Such is life, Dorothy. š
Best wishes, Pete.
LikeLike
Now what sort of trouble has Gregg gotten himself into?
LikeLiked by 2 people
We will soon find out, Jeanne. š
Best wishes, Pete.
LikeLiked by 1 person