Talk to Me Now I'm Older

This is part 51 of “A Couple of Tenors Short”.  As we have now moved into the second half-century of instalments, I thought it best to re-vamp the ‘Story so Far’ section to see if I could make it easier to understand. Not that I would encourage people to stake short cuts, I would still prefer people start from Part One, but I thought a better recap would help the occasional readers.

So, the recap is now updated and any thoughts or observations you may have about it would be most appreciated.

Finding quiz questions related to the part number is getting quite hard, still I managed one for today and here is the answer.

OK, the quiz question out of the way, here is my mantra. This is a serial. Any new-joiners should start with the opener known as Part One.   

The troublesome recap has now settled into its new home. You can find the recap here!

Now read on...

After a fitful sleep, Jones awoke to find that Pippa was already up. He turned to check the alarm clock. It was not yet six am. The sound of the shower running let him know where Pippa was. Jones lifted himself up to a sitting position.

He had a dull headache, his neck was stiff and he still felt tired. He rolled his head a few times, wincing at the sharp jolt of pain as the stiff muscle objected to exercise. Jones winced as he stretched his legs and arms.

Pippa was only wearing a towel when she entered the bedroom. Jones stopped stretching and watched her as she slowly came across to the bed, crawled up to him on all fours and kissed him slowly.

“Morning sleepy head.” Pippa purred.

“Morning.” Jones reached out and pulled Pippa in for a second kiss. “That towel really suits you.”

Pippa laughed. “Well don’t get any ideas, lover. I have to get into work early. Do you feel better after a night’s sleep?”

“I’m not sure those pills you gave me were organic.” Jones grumbled and flexed his complaining muscles again. “I feel rather stiff.”

“Stiff, eh?” Pippa raised her eyebrows and pulled off the towel. “I think I have just the cure for that.”

The cure delayed Pippa in her attempt to get to her office early. The idea that they save time by showering together afterwards, delayed her further.

Eventually, they left the house together, sharing a long, lingering kiss on the doorstep before jumping into their cars and heading to work.

Once in the Datsun and heading North towards the river, Jones attempted a whistled tune. It sounded like the a gale attacking a loose window pane.

“Preep-poo-proop?” The Datsun cut in.

“Yes, OK, but she instigated it.” Jones gripped the steering wheel a little harder and drove a little faster.

“Proop”

“I know, I have to tell her, but what can I say?” Jones accelerated as hard as the Datsun would allow overtaking a stationery llama cart, and causing a group of youths in boaters to scurry to the safety of the pavement.

“Pree Proop?”

Jones scowled and slammed his hand against the steering wheel.

“Yeah, and that will convince her I’m mad. She’ll throw me out on my ear in a flash.” Jones paused as he negotiated a roundabout thronging with people purchasing breakfast at the sausage stand at its centre. “Sorry, love. I know you think we’re married, but I don’t ever remember courting you and marrying you. This ring appeared on my finger on Monday and when I got home, my house had changed from a two up two down semi into an art deco mansion. So rather than finding out what was going on, I thought I might as well enjoy a husband’s perks and...”

“Poop Poo-Preep?” The Datsun queried.

“He’s not a real priest, besides I’m not religious.” Jones glared at the business card poking out of the dashboard. “What good will he do?”

“Proo-proop peep preep-poop” The Datsun responded.

Jones swore under his breath and viscously poked the power button on the radio. The car filled with the voices of the breakfast show presenters previewing the Light Entertainment Championships. Having seen his stations entry, Jones couldn’t help feeling that the event was being hyped in such a way as to set a ridiculous level of expectation.

His finger hovered above the power off button, but he couldn’t bring himself to turn it off. The presenters were gushing enthusiasm over the news that there were going to be large TV screens in parks across the country screening the event live.

Jones wanted to swear under his breath again, but with his jaw dropped so far, he had to content himself with shaking his head in disbelief.