Stories by Margery Kenyon
The Meeting
Anne was combing her hair for the - I don’t know how many times. She
was putting her lipstick on, but was it the right colour? Did it look
too bright for her age? Did she look over-dressed? Oh this was silly!
She was behaving like a seventeen year old going to meet her first
boyfriend. But, she was!
It had all started two weeks ago when her daughter Susan and son-in-law
Tony came on their weekly visit. During the conversation, Tony said that
his uncle Ray was coming home from New Zealand where he had lived for
the last 35 years. Having been widowed with no children, he had decided
to return to England and look up old friends in the area, especially a
girl called Anne Sheppard.
"His name wouldn’t be Ray Stevens, would it?" she said in a very
surprised voice.
Tony said, "Yes, it is!"
Well, it was all arranged before Anne had time to finish her cup of tea.
They were to get together outside the cinema where they used to meet
over 40 years ago. It was still there, but it was now a pub called the
Frog and something. Oh what did it matter what it was called, she was a
nervous wreck!
What did he look like; had he changed much? Had he put on weight, like
she had, or gone grey? How would she recognise him? The only thing she
knew was that they were both widowed. She had been very happily married
for 35 years to her husband, Bill who had died six years ago. They had
one daughter called Susan. Her teenage crush with Ray hadn’t lasted
long; they only went out together a few times and it just finished. He
always wanted to be with his friends and Anne with hers, but she had
never forgotten him and she still thought about him from time to time
after all these years.
Well, here she was on her way to meet him; she could see him in the
distance already waiting for her. As she approached him he put his arms
around her and said, "Anne, you have not changed a bit; you are still
lovely."
Anne said, "I cannot believe that we are meeting here after all these
years. Where has time gone? I could not believe it when my son-in -law,
your nephew Tony, told me about you. I don’t know if you recognize this
place from when it was a cinema called The Grosvenor, but it is now a
pub."
Ray answered, "Well, if it is a pub, shall we try it? I would like to
take you for a meal."
"Yes that would be nice," said Anne.
They went inside. It was hard to believe it was the cinema that they
used to enjoy going to. Ray ordered the meal and wine and they were
excellent. The conversation went on and on and before they knew it, two
hours had flown by. Anne had not enjoyed herself so much for a long
time. Ray escorted her home and asked her if they could meet again soon.
Her answer was, "Yes."
Anne had a lovely feeling that this was the start of something good.
BY Margery Kenyon