A New Lease of Life

How destiny influences people's lives.

 

 

A NEW LEASE OF LIFE

 

The estate agent had told Amyas that the house would fetch a good price if he sold it then. Even though Amyas had not been ready to sell his property so soon, he understood that the estate agent had to be right, after all he was in the business.

Where to stay while searching for a new home was one problem, the other one was where to put his belongings. That night he thought he would move into an hotel that was both discreet and not too expensive, just in case he was unable to finance it for too long. Before doing so, Amyas rang round his friends and heard all kinds of excuses for not being able to house him at that time. He should not have been surprised as he was now the only single left and still the handsomest. When they had been much younger, Amyas had been the obvious choice for boyfriend with all the girls, but what no one really knew was that he was fussy and just because he went out with someone didn’t mean, in his mind, that she was marriageable material. No, most certainly not, as the vast majority had gradually discovered. In time Amyas was the only single man going, and due to that, he wasn’t trusted either. He wasn’t understood. He was still waiting for ‘the one’.

 

Phoebe was the only one who not only sounded pleased to receive him in her home, but when he saw the look on her face, knew she had meant it. “Why have you left your place before buying another one?” she asked Amyas.

“The estate agent made me an offer I couldn’t refuse. You know that house had already been empty for quite a while when I bought it five years ago. Since it had been done up, it has increased somewhat in price, and on top of that all house prices are now much higher than five years ago. How long do you think you can put up with me?”

“You can stay as long as it takes you to find a new place. Have you any idea where you’d like to live next?” Phoebe asked Amyas.

“No, I haven’t got any idea at all. This weekend I’m going to visit my parents in their retirement home in the country. I don’t understand how they can like it so much down there, but they seem to,” Amyas said.

 

The two friends went inside Phoebe’s house and she showed him up the stairs to see the room he would occupy during his stay. The house was small, and Amyas used to tease Phoebe by saying it had been made for fairies. The ceilings were low and the walls were made of rock. The atmosphere was that of having come out of a fairy tale. The rooms were decorated in gorgeous bright colours, with cushions all over the living-room floor and sofas.

Amyas’ bedroom in Phoebe’s house was under the roof, making it difficult for him to stand up under, except for in a small part. The window was cut into the roof itself, so looking down he could see the road outside and the people who travelled along it very clearly. He could see his blue car with the black convertible roof. Amyas felt very well there, and before going downstairs he asked himself why no one else had been keen to house him during the time he would need to purchase a new dwelling.

Phoebe, who had been a long-haired blonde in her youth but was now wearing her hair in a more sophisticated cut, was in the kitchen, which was a further reflection of the house itself. The cupboards were black and the walls were a soft shade of red. Amyas had never seen a kitchen in such a bold colour scheme before. The ceiling was covered in small lights making the room something more than just a place for preparing food. Phoebe was a painter and decorator, and she and Amyas had been friends since they were teenagers. Their friendship had lasted so long because they had never broken any boundaries, each one keeping to their side of an invisible line. Phoebe and Amyas were now both in middle age and their friendship was becoming more and more important to them.

 

When Phoebe had prepared some food they sat at the kitchen table and stared at each other.

“I don’t understand why the other friends wouldn’t accommodate me while I’m homeless. Can you guess why?” Amyas asked Phoebe.

Phoebe sat eating her dinner and gave her long-time friend a studied gaze, and then she said, “You might be nearer fifty than forty but you’re still an incredibly attractive man. I guess that could be a reason.”

Amyas sat back in his chair and returned her gaze, and replied, “I never thought I was that attractive.”

“Of course you didn’t, you were used to seeing that lovely face of yours in the mirror every day of your life. I can assure you that you were the best of the bunch,” Phoebe responded, taking a sip of wine.

“Don’t tell me they think I’m dangerous. I just don’t believe it. I’ve never seduced a married woman in my life.”

Phoebe laughed, and seeing that Amyas had finished eating, she stood up and went to the freezer, from where she took out an ice-cream cake. Amyas cut the cake while Phoebe made coffee. “Phoebe, is there anyone in your life at the moment?”

“Yes, there is. His name is Royce. He lives a few doors down the road. He hasn’t been here long and we’ve only been going out for a few months. I can’t tell you where we are going - if anywhere at all.”

Amyas felt lonelier than ever. If Phoebe had found someone permanent, then what would happen to him? He said, “I’m happy for you, and hope that it’ll last. You deserve to have some luck, for a change.”

   The rest of the evening was spent catching up with gossip about their old friends whom they were still in contact with, and looking at old photographs.

 

The following day, Amyas drove down to his parents’ house where they had retired to many years ago. He was always surprised at how easily they had made the transition from town to country. He rang the doorbell and his father, with his bent-over frame, opened it for him. The elderly gentleman always looked so happy to see him, that Amyas felt a lump come into his throat. Once upon a time Philip had been as tall as Amyas, but time had taken its toll, and now the lovely tall man had a stoop. “Sandra, come and see who’s come,” Philip called to his wife.

Amyas was surprised how his mother always fell for his father’s words. Who on earth was going to be calling on them, if it weren’t him?

“Hello, Mother, how are you?” Amyas bent down and kissed his mother on her cheeks.

Sandra looked up at her tall son, who had always been the apple of her eye. Now that he was showing the first grey hairs, she was beginning to worry if he would ever find a wife, or at least a permanent partner. She looked behind him as if there could be a woman hidden there. No, there wasn’t.

“I’m staying at Phoebe’s house till I find another place to live.”

“What on earth made you sell your house before finding another one?” Philip asked him.

“The estate agent, who sold me the house when it was in need of good refurbishing, informed me that he could get me a fantastic price for it, and at the moment he’s out looking for a new one for me. I have to admit, he’s made me some money.”

“Money isn’t everything. I thought you liked that house. You had it done up so nicely. I really don’t understand you at all, sometimes,” Sandra said to her son as she set the table for lunch.

Amyas was dreading the moment when his parents would ask him about a lady friend, that normally took place when there was a lull in his father’s reminiscences about his long-past youth, when to all intents he had been a bit of an adventurer before meeting Sandra, who had been his one and only love.

“Darling, you know we’d love to see you with a wife, not only for you, but for us too. We’re worried that, when we’re no longer here, you’ll be on your own,” declared Sandra.

Amyas had heard this petition so many times, that he wasn’t sure what to say or do to make his parents happy. He had been out with several girls in his time, but had somehow or other made a hash of things. Now he knew they were getting desperate on his behalf. He managed to dodge the most punishing remarks about his being a stuffy old bachelor, over the rest of the weekend.

He helped his father prune the trees in the back garden, and rake up the fallen leaves. His mother made him cakes to take back to Phoebe’s house. He made no mention of the fact that she had a gentleman friend, otherwise it would have been worse for him.

 

Phoebe greeted Amyas when he returned after his weekend with his parents with the news that Royce needed help with the decorating of his house. “Will you help him, as he is always busy with all his projects, and has no idea of how to put paint to match the paper.”

Amyas said to Phoebe, as if seeing her with new eyes, “What projects does Royce have in mind?”

“He designs furniture for a department store and for private customers. When he isn’t at his drawing-board, he’s visiting furniture fairs with samples to present to clients old and new. That’s why he has no time for home decorating, and as professional people are so expensive, I took it upon myself to ask you. Of course if you have something else you’d rather do, just say so.”

Amyas said, “I don’t understand this at all. If he’s into furniture design, then he must have a pretty good notion of what he’d like in his house.”

Phoebe swallowed, and continued, “It’s my idea to decorate his house.”

Amyas realized that Phoebe had to be up to something, “What is going on here?”

“There’s nothing going on here, but I’d like to get closer to him.”

“And you think that by decorating his house that’ll bring you two together?” Amyas asked Phoebe.

“Yes, I think so. Well to be quite honest, I didn’t come up with any other ideas. Will you decorate his house?” Phoebe gazed at him imploringly.

“No, Phoebe. I’m not going to have anything to do with your machinations. Why don’t you behave more naturally, if he likes you, then he does. Don’t push things. It’s a bad idea. Anyway, he might have another girl friend or an ex-wife somewhere. You said yourself he hasn’t lived here long, so what do you really know about him?”

“I fancy him, and that’s enough for starters,” Phoebe said, rather peeved with Amyas’ response.

 

As luck would have it, Amyas was unable to do anything about decorating Royce’s place at that precise moment. After losing his rather lucrative post in a finance company, Amyas had gone into the business of buying up rather tatty looking old flats and houses, then doing them up and reselling them for a profit. He had started by refurbishing the first house he had lived in and then selling it, and had, since then, bought and sold many more.

The estate agent rang him telling him about a property, new on the market, that needed smartening up before being sold, or for him to live in. Amyas went to see the said house, and thought it was taking on rather a lot for him alone. Even when done, he wouldn’t want to live in such a large house alone.

 

For reasons he could never explain, he told Phoebe he would help with Royce’s place.

 

A couple of days later, Phoebe and Amyas walked the short distance to Royce’s house. Amyas noticed that Phoebe didn’t possess a key to the property. That meant they were more friends than lovers, he thought. Phoebe knocked on the front door, which Royce opened.

“Hello, Phoebe. I assume this is Amyas, isn’t it?”

Amyas and Phoebe walked through the front door into a square-shaped hallway.

“What is it you want decorating?” Amyas asked, feeling out of place.

“What actually needs to be done is painting. The walls must have different colours, the existing ones are just not me. I am unable to do it myself, so I asked Phoebe if she knew of anybody, and she came up with your name.” Royce said directly.

“Aren’t you into furniture? If so, how is it you don’t know how to paint your house?” Amyas asked Royce.

“I’ve taken on so much work, that until now I haven’t even had time to work out what really needs to be done. And as Phoebe said that you renovate old flats and houses it occurred to me to ask for your expert advice,” Royce said, looking Amyas carefully in the face.

“Phoebe and I will take a walk round the house to find out the sources of light in each room. Then we should be able to draft a plan of colours to make the most of the house. Are you married or do you have a partner, as this can influence a colour scheme?” asked Amyas.

Royce simply answered, “I’m single, and without a fixed person in my life, so you choose the colours. Is that OK with you?”

“Yes, thank you very much,” Amyas said wondering what Phoebe was making of Royce’s last remark.

“Just one last thing, how many people live in this house?”

“I’m the only incumbent for now, but it’s possible my sister and her son will come and stay here. Why do you want to know?”

“I want to know if there’s any room I have to paint in a particular colour. That’s all.”

“You do what you like. Don’t pay any attention to whether or not a child or woman is going to sleep in a special room. It won’t be permanent, I hope,” Royce finished.

 

As he was busy with Royce’s house, Amyas didn’t pay much attention to the sale of his house. Phoebe was a great help in choosing the colours and changing everything else that had to be renovated. Royce had decided to let Amyas loose in his house, and was quite relaxed and happy knowing that Phoebe was involved too.

 

Two weeks after the renovation began, Josette and her son entered the house. They had arrived on a Sunday evening when Amyas was at his parents’ house, and Royce and Phoebe were dining at her house. Royce left Phoebe to return for what he thought would be a good night’s sleep.

He opened his front door to find the hall full of suitcases, and his sister could be heard banging around in the kitchen with pots and pans. His nephew, Simeon, was sitting in the living-room, which was in a state of redecorating, listening to music.

“Josette, what are you doing here? The house is still in the decorating stage, and I’d like to get some furniture.”

“The contract ran out on my flat, and so I decided to get here earlier than I had originally thought. Is there a problem?”

Royce was in a quandary, he didn’t want to put Josette out on the street, but he saw that the situation was untenable during the decorating, and he had also come to the conclusion that he rather liked Phoebe and he was afraid that with Josette and Simeon in the vicinity his opportunity with her might be scuttled.

“How long are you thinking of staying?”

“Not long. Only till we find another place. Are there any around here?”

“For rent, I don’t think so. I suppose you could always look around, and take Simeon with you when you do. Neither of you can stay in the house with the decorating going on. You’ll get in the way.”

Josette stood in awe of her brother, and yet at the same time she was selfish enough to turn a deaf ear to his entreaties.

 

The following day Amyas and Phoebe arrived at Royce’s house to get down to work, only to find that Josette was still in bed, and Simeon was outside on his bicycle in his pyjamas. Phoebe rang up Royce. “There’s a problem. Your sister and her son are in residence and we can’t get on with the work. What to do?”

Meanwhile Simeon was charging down the road on his bicycle, not looking where he was going. Amyas ran after him to try and get him back inside the house. Simeon pedalled faster and faster, thinking it was great fun. Amyas was joined by Phoebe and they attracted the attention of a lot of passers-by, who were rather confused at seeing the boy still in his night clothes on a bicycle being chased by two middle-aged adults. They caught up with the boy, who was furious at being stopped by what he considered odd people. Amyas went up to him and said, “What do you think you’re doing, riding around in your pyjamas? Get indoors and go and see your mother.”

Simeon was angry with his captors, and complained to his mother, “Mummy they made me come inside when I was cycling.”

Josette turned an angry face to Amyas and Phoebe, and said, “I don’t know who you are or what you’re doing in my brother’s house, but you had no right to force my son inside the house when he was enjoying himself.”

Amyas stepped forward and said, “Phoebe, who is Royce’s friend, and I are renovating Royce’s house. It might be a good idea if we rang Royce to hear what he has to say.”

Phoebe rang Royce and told him about the altercation, and his nephew’s bad behaviour. Royce wasn’t happy at all being called away from a meeting to answer the call. He asked to speak to Josette.

“Do you think that you might be able to keep Simeon under control till I get home. I don’t think I can have all this upheaval in my life. We’ll speak when I get home. OK?”

Josette said, “All right then, I’ll keep out of their way till you get home.” Josette went off to see Simeon.

 

The rest of the day was spent in trying to dodge Simeon’s catapult and other dangerous toys and his idea of fun, which was to place balls on the stairs in the hope that either Amyas or Phoebe would go flying down the stairs. Phoebe made a list of the bad things Simeon did to show Royce later.

 

When Royce came home after a long day at work trying to sell his designs, he wasn’t much in the mood for Simeon and Josette, and the complaints. “I wish you had waited a bit before coming here. Can’t you see the house is in a state of renovation with everything all over the place?”

Josette was offended by Royce’s words “What was I supposed to do? The contract was up on our place, and I had nowhere else to go.”

Royce gave Josette a knowing look. “You and Simeon were made to leave, weren’t you? It’s all right, you don’t need to tell me any tales, not after the misbehaviour this morning. Both Amyas and Phoebe told me that they were unable to do the work they wanted to do, because of Simeon.”

 

Royce went to see Phoebe and Amyas that evening, and said that Josette and Simeon would be there for a while, till they found a new place to live.

 

When Amyas and Phoebe were alone in her house, it was lovely and peaceful. Amyas said, “Do you think you can marry Royce with a sister like Josette?”

Phoebe sat thinking for a minute, and then, “I’ve been giving it some thought.”

“If you ask me, the affection is from you and precious little comes from him. What you need is someone nice - like me for instance.”

Phoebe’s mouth fell open as she stared at Amyas, “What are you trying to say?”

“What I’m trying to say is that if you want to get married, why not marry me?”

Neither of them said a word. There was no need. They both knew each other inside and out. Amyas could only see storms ahead if Phoebe married Royce, as his sister Josette and her son would always be there, somewhere in the picture. It would be a case of marrying the three of them. Anything that Phoebe did would be considered bad from the outset. Amyas felt he wanted to get Phoebe as far away as possible from Royce and his problematic sister.

Phoebe and Amyas sat in silence for some time, and then she said to him, “Yes. Why not get married, after all we’re two loose ends, so why not tie the knot. We’re not going anywhere by ourselves, and we get on marvellously well.”

 

Amyas received a phone call from his mother informing him that his father’s health was not what it was, and that he had become weakened since his son’s last visit. Amyas and Phoebe drove down to see his parents, and his mother opened the door to them. Philip was in the sitting-room watching something on the television. Amyas saw how his father had aged in a short time.

His father asked Amyas, “Who’s the young lady?”

“Phoebe. My wife to be.”

 

Philip felt better already, and called Sandra to tell her the better than good news.

Philip declared to the young couple, “This house is yours. If you like, you can both live here and keep us company.”

Amyas looked at Pheobe for her answer. “Perfect,” she said, with a smile of joy.

Sandra couldn’t help herself, “You’ve made my dream come true. Do you need any help with the wedding arrangements?”

Philip added, “You’ve just given me a new lease of life!”