Part Two: Nick
Eamon is Chrissie’s younger brother. She rarely mentioned him when we got to know each other but she had shown me some photographs of the pair of them as kids. He was a teacher of English as a second language in Versailles and had planned on spending the summer with Chrissie and Peter in England. They had not seen him for two or three years and they would have a lot of catching up to do. He also wanted the time to get to know his niece Annette before she got too old to remember him.
I remember it very well and very clearly.
It was a Saturday afternoon that we met. Sally and I had finished the supermarket shopping and anyone with young children knows full well that the event is often the most taxing of the week but also the most bonding because there is a great deal of intellectual engagement with your child. It allows the parent a wonderful opportunity to teach them the benefits of compromise and offers them an out-of-the-home pedestal for discussion and debate. That’s the theory anyway. Besides, Sally knew her way around the aisles well and the only problem she had at that time was that she could not reach the higher shelves, which, from a father’s point of view, is a blessing. We’d got up earlier than usual that Saturday morning and Imogen was away. The shopping was done and we’d just finished lunch of macaroni and pesto sauce (as usual) and I had expected her to want a lie-down. But she was getting that little bit older now and did not need as much sleep. She asked if she could go next door and play with Annette for a while. I was unsure whether or not Chrissie and Peter were at home. They too had their regular Saturday morning shopping ritual. I told her that she could not go next door as they were probably busy but by that age she had learnt to manipulate me so I agreed and hoped that they would be out.
We went next door and I hadn’t noticed whether or not Peter’s car was there but I rang the doorbell and really wasn’t expecting an answer.
After a few seconds the door was opened by Eamon and Annette. I had forgotten that he was arriving that weekend and was initially a little surprised to find a stranger standing there.
He said hello and smiled. Sally and Annette were pleased to see each other and Annette pulled her into the hallway and the pair ran off to the kitchen.
“Sorry, I was expecting to see Chrissie or Peter,” I started. “I’m Nick Wallace and the little one Annette dragged in is my daughter Sally. I live next door but one.”
He smiled. “Ah, yes, Chrissie has told me about you – I gather you are now one of their drinking buddies. I’m Eamon. No doubt she has told you about me.”
We shook hands.
“She has done, though I forgot you were coming. She mentioned it the other night though that was after a couple of bottles of the new Chardonnay she seems to have fallen in love with.”
He smiled at my remarks and I remember thinking how tanned and healthy he looked.
“Well, a poor teacher like me must never refuse the offer of free board and lodging for a while.”
I laughed and he looked along the hallway where he could see the two girls at the table.
“Well, they seem happy enough. Fancy a coffee Nick? I really was just making one.”
“Ah ... uhm ... if you’re sure.”
“Yes of course, no problem. Besides I wouldn’t mind some adult company. I love kids and adore my niece. But they tend to test my patience after a few hours. Come on in.”
Eamon is about two inches taller than me, broader shouldered and at that time he had short, dark, tightly cropped hair. I would not have immediately taken him for Chrissie’s brother; if anything he reminded me of Peter even though they are not related by blood. Sometimes when he laughs now, I can see the resemblance with his sister.
It was that laugh and the rather cute smile that attracted me to him.
The girls wandered into the garden and threw a few toys around.
“I’m really glad that someone has turned up and taken Annette’s attention away from me. She’s a good kid and I love her dearly but playing Disney characters for hours on end is just a little tiring. Besides its years since I saw The Jungle Book.”
I agreed, as we sat at the kitchen table drinking coffee.
We chatted casually and surprisingly very easily for some time. Eamon has always been one of those fortunate individuals who can start a conversation with total strangers and make them feel relaxed. It’s one of his best qualities, the one I’ve always admired and envied the most. I would be surprised if anyone ever found him threatening. The opposite would be more appropriate.
Before long, he was telling me about his job and some of the antics of the students in Versailles. It sounded so remote and such a long way from my job and working environment, which was really rather boring. What makes his story telling so interesting is the fact the Eamon is very expressive with his hands and face. It was soon after our first meeting that I realised I had not laughed so much for a very long time.
We talked for about an hour while the girls played in the garden. He made up some orange squash and brought it out to them. On the way, he handed me a bottle of wine which he’d bought in one of the hypermarkets on his way over from Paris and told me to open it. He didn’t ask if I wanted any but had probably heard from Chrissie and Peter that I rarely refused a glass.
Soon afterwards, his sister and brother-in-law appeared, laden with plastic bags; they soon helped us to finish off the bottle. They suggested that Sally and I stay for dinner but Maggie’s parents had planned on coming over that evening and I declined. Besides, I knew that Sally would be tired and was due for her afternoon nap so we left. I said that we would drop over on Sunday.
It turned out that Maggie’s parents could not make it that evening, much to the disappointment of Sally. They didn’t call me until 6 p.m. but I felt it was too late to take up the dinner invitation. I’m sure that it would not have been a problem with Chrissie but it was not in my nature to change plans at the last minute. Instead, I spent a lovely evening playing games with my daughter and kept her up far too late, but I did wonder about Eamon and how his stories would be entertaining the others.
I should make it quite clear here that I had no sexual desire for Eamon but he had made an impression on me because he was so easy to listen to and talk with. I found him appealing. Sitting in the kitchen with him that day allowed me to forget the usual topics of conversation which dominated my life in those days. There was no talk of children or schools, au pairs or mortgages, or being a perfect father. Not a mention of the lack of choice on kiddies’ menus in restaurants, potty training, teething troubles or the stigma of being a single parent. We talked of travel and holidays and films that I had not seen, and music and France. It was a great escape for me and it reminded me that there were many things in my brain that I’d stored in the recesses of my memory and it was time to give them an airing.
The following morning there was a knock on the front door. It was Eamon and Annette and I was pleased to see them.
“Hi. What are you up to this wonderful day?” he asked.
“Oh, nothing very much,” I replied. “I was going to drop around to your place later so the girls could play.”
“Good. Then how about a walk over Hampstead Heath? I told Chrissie she could have some time to herself today and Peter wants to do some gardening. How about it?”
I didn’t even answer as Sally did that for me. Within the hour we were on our way.
It was a beautiful day and I found it so rewarding and relaxing. Eamon is an excellent listener and though I got rather carried away talking about the problems of being a single father in the society we live in, he seemed to understand it all so well. He pointed out the importance of spending as much time as possible with children in their formative years and agreed that I was right in putting my foot down when Maggie’s parents tried to split us up. He spoke as if he had first-hand experience of bringing up a child. We talked of many things. He spoke passionately about French politics and of his childhood with Chrissie. For some reason, he didn’t get on too well
with Peter but hadn’t really got to know him yet. However, he was working on it.
The girls had a marvellous time and played hide and seek. They took great delight in watching Eamon and I run up and down the hills.
Then something quite wonderful happened.
Something so special in Sally’s life that we’ll always remember it and I’ll always be grateful to Eamon for.
The day had started quite sunny with a cool breeze but there were some rain clouds about and they moved directly in front of the sun. It started spitting as we stood on top of the hill closest to Kenwood House and got heavier as the four of us ran towards the shelter of the trees. The rain then poured down so heavily for a few minutes that we all got soaked through. Then the clouds parted and within moments the sun was beating down again and, to Sally’s amazement, the sky was filled with a brilliant, sharp rainbow. I remember it so well – it was such a brilliant myriad of intense colours. It was perfect and you could pick every single colour out with accuracy.
Sally’s eyes opened wide and her jaw fell open as she looked up at the multi-coloured sky.
“Daddy ... what is it?” she asked without taking her eyes away for a second.
I will never forget the sight of my daughter standing there with such innocent wonderment on her face at such a magical sight. I wished Maggie was with me.
“It’s a rainbow, darling,” I told her and put my arm around her shoulder.
“Come on, let’s chase it!” Eamon shouted.
Without thinking, the four of us took flight and ran down the hill at full speed, chasing what we could never reach and slipping all over the still-wet grass.
“Where does it go, Daddy? Where does it go?” she shouted.
“To a pot of gold,” Eamon called back. “Hurry up before it goes.”
We charged along at full speed and Sally had the most glorious smile I had ever seen.
It was not long before the rainbow faded and the four of us fell onto our backs into the wet grass.
We were exhausted
It was simply a magical event for Sally and to share the moment with her made me feel so proud.
As the two of us had our evening meal, I thought about the day out and the rainbow. I had only known Eamon for two days then and we had talked about many personal things, yet he had not mentioned anything about romance in his life. I didn’t think that a young man as good looking as him would be without a girlfriend. When we got back to the flat, I invited him and Annette in for a drink but he declined and said that he had to go to Bournemouth that evening for a few days to see some friends. I presumed he was off to see someone special and I thought how lucky they would be to be spending time in his company.
I thanked him for the day out and said that I hoped to see him again when he returned.
“That’s okay. It was fun, wasn’t it?” he asked.
As I put Sally to bed that night, she asked me what exactly a rainbow was.
That was a difficult one but I made up some old story about knights and maidens and castles and kings. I then confused her as I mentioned leprechauns.
“Can we chase rainbows again, Daddy?” she asked.
“I hope so, darling. I sincerely hope so.”
The following week at work was uneventful but, as usual, very hectic. I still had a number of projects to finish but in my new role as supervisor, it was difficult to concentrate with interruptions every few minutes. I was more relaxed than usual. The evenings were warm or mild and I took Sally for a walk each night in the park. It had a small, convenient free mini zoo and she adored watching the fallow deer and rabbits, and feeding the squirrels. In between the visits, she was drawing pictures of rainbows and four people running down a hill chasing one.
During the week, I found myself thinking of Eamon a few times though no more so than I would think about anybody else. Though we both had very different lives, I felt we shared so much in common and I was looking forward to seeing him again. We were both about the same age and, unlike with most new people I met, I wouldn’t have to go through the formality of explaining why I was a single parent and tell them about Maggie. While I would then usually get loads of sympathy, I was long past that. With Eamon that wasn’t necessary. Chrissie and Peter had obviously told him about Sally and I, and what he did not know, he asked affectionately and tactfully.
Saturday arrived at last but then there was never any possibility of a lie-in with Sally. She’d be on my bed the moment she opened her eyes but I didn’t mind. I always wanted her to be with me and, besides, it was easier for me to relax and not have to get fully dressed.
Imogen came shopping with us which was carried out in the usual regimental style that Sally insisted on. She sat in the trolley and directed us with hand signals and shouted, “Wrong, Daddy, wrong!” if I turned the opposite way. I often did it on purpose and pretended not to hear. After we had finished, Imogen prepared lunch, macaroni as usual, before going out to visit her friends. Our agreement was that the weekends were hers to do whatever she wanted especially as I demanded or rather expected so much of her during the week. She was often around on a Saturday or Sunday which was a great help. No doubt a number of the neighbours and shop-keepers presumed we were a couple and that was not a problem.
Chrissie, Annette and Eamon dropped around in the afternoon. I was pleased to see them but, more so, to see my new buddy. He looked well and had clearly spent a few days in the sun. His beaming, innocent smile was brighter than usual. He shook my hand and said he was pleased to see me again.
British men, in my opinion, tend only to shake hands in a business context. European men (I don’t include British males in that category) always shake hands or kiss each other on all meetings. I prefer the latter. It helps to break down barriers.
Chrissie and I used the Saturday afternoon play sessions as an excuse to share a bottle of wine and there was no difference just because Eamon was there. Most people got together in the evenings to have a drink but having a young child means that convention sometimes goes out the window and you take the company of your friends whenever there’s a quiet moment. Eamon was very knowledgeable about the various regions and grape types and insisted he could tell one from the other. We put him to the test as I had a bottle of Chardonnay in the fridge from Australia and, sure enough, he guessed it.
The girls were getting bored in the garden and returned to the kitchen just as Chrissie was suggesting we all go on a picnic the following day. They leaped at the idea but I had already intended to use the time to finish some urgent time-planning work which I’d brought home. When I said this, the disappointment oozed from Sally’s face and I was guilty of causing it. However, I agreed that she could go while I got on with my work.
“But Daddy, we can chase rainbows again!” she exclaimed.
I sighed.
“I don’t think there’ll be any rainbows tomorrow, darling. But Annette and you will have a good time anyway.”
The smile returned.
Soon afterward they left and I kissed Chrissie and Annette, who said they would pick Sally up the following morning at 11 a.m. Eamon said nothing.
Sally was still excited but she slept for a couple of hours while I showered and prepared dinner. I was sorry that I had not agreed to go but the work I had brought home needed attention. In my new role, it was necessary for me to arrange cover in my department while a number of staff had to be released for training. I must admit that I have never been very good at people management, probably because I never enjoyed asking them to do what they didn’t want to do. I was beginning to realise that the role in my working life was not what I wanted either and again the thought of becoming a police officer seemed more appealing.
Later that evening I made a start on it but really could not and did not want to concentrate. I was sorry that my day was not to be spent with my daughter and sorry that I would not be seeing Eamon.