Chapter 4

The notice had gone on the board weeks ago - the company barbeque 
would be held on the grounds on Friday, the 21st of July in the 
afternoon.

The Firm had a long-standing tradition of a 'summer do.' It had varied 
in the past from boat trips to a picnic in a park with a jazz band 
playing, but for the past several years it had been a barbeque, 
complete with spit-roast pig etc. Also laid on was entertainment - this 
year there was a live band - and drinks. Taxis would be available to 
take people home at the end. Another tradition was that people would 
make their way into the nearest town pub and continue the party 
there.

Stan was able to watch the large party tent being erected from his 
office. He told Elizabeth,

"You know, it's so much nicer here than it was at the old place. D'you 
remember the view we had then?"

Elizabeth smiled, "Yes, the Chicken Factory next door. Ugly as sin and 
smelly as well."

Elizabeth was watering Bob's plants. They joked that he was trying to 
build a hedgerow between his office and the outside world, although it 
wasn't really that bad. Bob was proud of his plants and Elizabeth liked 
them and enjoyed looking after them.

"I wish I could grow stuff," Stan grumbled. "I must have been born 
with brown fingers."

"You just don't care enough about it," Elizabeth returned, with a grin.

 "If you cared about plants as much as you cared about music, you 
could grow things. But you always forget to water them, or you put 
them in the wrong place so they get direct sunlight when they'd thrive 
on shade, or something..." she said lightly. Stan could tell she was only 
mostly joking though. He looked back out the window.

"Uh huh. Oh, look. Do you think the Health & Safety people would 
approve of the way that guy's balancing on the top of the tent?"

Elizabeth looked. She said, "I don't know... Bob? You're the Safety guy. 
What do you think?

Bob emerged from his office, glanced over and, turning away, said, "I 
think I will go and get a coffee - I really didn't see that at all!"

The three of them laughed. That was a standing joke every year when 
the tent was erected... the crew never seemed to take safety 
precautions. On the other hand, it always seemed to be the same 
people, so they assumed no accidents occurred!

"Drinks with Denise again last night?" Elizabeth asked.

"Yes, down at the Mitre as usual."

"I'm glad you two have become friends. It means I don't have to look 
at such a grouch all day."

"Yes, I was pretty bad, wasn't I? Mind you," he went on, "I'm not all 
that full of the joys of spring now."

"Yes, Stan, I know. Yesterday you hardly said a word; no one could 
get through to you. Even when Denise came around to confirm for the 
Mitre you hardly spoke."

"I know. Yesterday was Caron's birthday. She'd have been 41."

'Oh dear,' Elizabeth thought, 'I'd forgotten.'

"Stan, are you okay?" she tenderly asked.

"I... I think so. Before I went out last night I went to the cemetery, and 
laid some flowers. Caron didn't mind me going for a drink with Denise, 
so that was all right."

Elizabeth blinked. There was a lengthy pause, and she was about to 
say something, when Stan continued,

"Denise and I got on well, actually. She wants me to go on the pub 
crawl on Friday."

"Well, you always used to!" Elizabeth told him.

"Yes, I know." He paused, then went on in a slightly more quiet tone, 
"I probably will. Let's see how I feel."

Stan glanced out of the window as a movement caught his eye.

"Christ! I've not seen them do that before!"

- - - - - - - - - -

Elizabeth waited in the canteen to find Denise.

"Boo!"

"What!? Oh, Denise, you made me jump!" She continued with 
narrowed eyes: "I'll get you for that!"

"Couldn't resist. You want to grab a table? I'll get the salads."

"Sounds good."

They sat at a table together, and started on their salads. They chatted 
away for a minute or two.

"How's Harry?" Denise asked.

"Oh! That son of mine. Now he's dating a glamour model. Michelle's 
nearly young enough to be his daughter, too. I don't know how he 
does it," Elizabeth answered, affectionately. "She's certainly keeping 
him hopping, from what he tells me."

"Sounds like it! What is he, nearly 40?"

"He's 39, and he'll insist on it if you ask him!" Elizabeth grinned. "My 
Kelly's 37 now, still hasn't settled down either. She's off to Amsterdam 
with some of her friends to visit my sister next week."

"Going to bring back anything... special?" Denise asked slyly.

"I really don't think so! I never brought her up that way, honest!" They 
both dissolved in giggles. Denise knew about Elizabeth's past as a 
'child of the sixties' - she'd been in her mid twenties when things were 
'happening', and had been a full part of the lifestyle. This after being a 
'Mod', before meeting her 'Rocker' future husband. Denise had told her 
that, "It sounds like something out of Quadrophenia."

Elizabeth went on, "That daughter of mine! She's such a trial. A bit 
wild, as they say, partying hard, never looked like she'd settle down. 
Kelly always liked Stan, but he was always so married. She liked 
Caron, too," Elizabeth continued. "Kelly thought they were perfect for 
one another. I caught her looking wistfully at Stan & Caron a couple of 
times, though. I think she envied that pair their close, stable 
relationship, especially when she compared it to her own life."
Elizabeth took a breath, before going on, "Sadly, when Caron died, she 
took it hard. She dumped her boyfriend and took off on another round 
of parties, with a different partner every couple of weeks. Thankfully 
I've been able to talk to her, and she's found herself a nice guy - he's 
an Estate Agent, but he's a good man."

"Well, that must be a weight off your mind," Denise said.

"Yes, it was, but I've always believed in Kelly, I always thought she'd 
come around. It even took me a long time to settle down: after I 
married George, he and I were, shall we say, adventurous in our 
relationship," she said with a wink at Denise, "so I can't really 
complain about Kelly overmuch."

Denise turned serious. "You know yesterday would have been Caron's 
birthday."

"Yes, Stan said. He visited her grave, of course."

"Yes, I know, he told me. He said he spoke to her."

"Did he say what she said?" Elizabeth asked.

"Not really, just that he'd spoken to her. I suppose that's pretty much 
what everyone does in a situation like that."

"It is. I still speak to George, after all this time, when I visit him. 
Well..." she said, a little gruffly, "Stan told me that Caron had said she 
was fine with you and him going for a drink, so I suppose you've got 
permission from her for that!"

"Good! Let's see if I can get him to really relax tomorrow - especially 
tomorrow night!"

- - - - - - - - - -

It was Friday afternoon, and not much work had been done during the 
morning - just the usual urgent items, and tidying of desks, that sort 
of thing. By half past twelve the first people started walking across the 
lawn, and by one o'clock just about everyone was in, or just outside, 
the party tent

The tent was a large affair, about 75' by 25', with two 'peaks' where 
the main support poles were. It shone brilliant white in the sunshine, 
with plastic tables and chairs set up outside and benches inside, a 
small area set aside for the band to use as a stage, and another 
cleared for dancing. Not that Stan had any intention of dancing 
himself, but he did like to watch, and he enjoyed listening to the live 
band. There was a crowd around the bar at the back, as usual manned 
by one of the directors, and food was served, buffet style, on the right 
where people were also gathering.

It was a hot, dry day, and the drinks were flowing already. These 
events were intended as mixers, to reduce the 'Us and Them' 
mentality that you get when people stick to their own departments, 
and they worked well. Stan was well used to them; his job in Quality 
meant he was used to working with all the departments, and the 
people were all colleagues he knew.

Denise, too, by nature of her job, had a similar advantage, and they 
drifted together, going from group to group, saying "Hi!" and generally 
chewing the fat.

"Hey, don't you make quite the pair?" It was Elaine, with a broad 
smile.

 "I guess we do, don't we?" replied Denise.

Stan, too, was grinning. "Just so long as people don't leap to 
conclusions, unless those conclusions include a collection, of course... " 
he ended his remark with a raised eyebrow.

Denise giggled. "You know full well that the most likely reasons for 
having a collection around here are 'Marriages, Retirements and 
Births'. We're not getting married, I'm too young to retire, and I'm 
sure as hell NOT pregnant!"

Elaine answered Denise's giggle with one of her own.

"Yup - I'm sure there's something that had to happen before that. 
Now I'm not sure, you know, but I don't think you two have gone that 
far yet, have you?"

"Not likely!" snorted Stan. "It's odd, you know. I could spend an 
evening a week going for a drink with, say, Bob, and no one would say 
a word about it. Denise could go out with Elizabeth, same thing. But 
Denise and me? Suddenly everyone assumes that because we're 
opposite genders, we have to be having sex. Hello! Just friends here!"

"But good friends, Stan," said Denise, "not 'friends with benefits', 
we're good friends."

Elaine just smiled. Stan could be a little clueless, sometimes, but he 
was a nice guy.

The three of them joined the queue for food. A little ahead of them 
was Elizabeth.

"Elizabeth, why don't you grab a table for the four of us?" Denise 
called, and Elizabeth nodded.

Soon enough the four of them were seated, tucking in to the 
barbequed suckling pig. Well, Stan did, anyway. The three ladies had 
some chicken on their plates, but mostly it was salad.

Elaine brought each of them something to drink and soon they were all 
chatting away.

Then... someone started the jokes. 

"I've got one, said Stan. "Little Mary was not the best student in 
Sunday School. Usually she slept through the class. One day the 
teacher called on her while she was napping, 'Tell me, Mary, who 
created the universe?' When Mary didn't stir, little Johnny, an altruistic 
boy seated in the chair behind her, took a pin and jabbed her in the 
rear. 'God Almighty!' shouted Mary and the teacher said, 'Very good' 
and Mary fell back to sleep."

Elizabeth, Denise and Elaine were already laughing. 
 
Stan continued, "A while later the teacher asked Mary, 'Who is our 
Lord and Savior?' But Mary didn't even stir from her slumber. Once 
again, Johnny came to the rescue and stuck her again. 'Jesus Christ!' 
shouted Mary and the teacher said, 'Very good,' and Mary fell back to 
sleep. Then the teacher asked Mary a third question, 'What did Eve say 
to Adam after she had her twenty-third child?' And again, Johnny 
jabbed her with the pin."

Denise interrupted with, "This time Mary jumped up and shouted, 'If 
you stick that in me one more time, I'll break it in half!' "

Elaine and Elizabeth broke out into peals of laughter, while Stan was 
unable to stifle his own even though Denise had stolen his punch line. 
He gathered the glasses together and asked, "Drinks all 'round?" The 
others nodded their assent through their continued giggles.

Stan stood and turned in a single action, and suddenly was staring at 
Anne's cleavage - from a range of less than six inches. They stood 
there in tableau for a long, long moment. Stan looked up to make eye 
contact after forcing himself to drag his eyes northward. Anne was 
again wearing one of her wraparound skirts, but this time had a very 
attractive - and low cut - white top.

Anne recovered first. "Oh! Sorry, please excuse me."

"No problem." Stan wondered what to do for a moment longer and 
then inspiration struck. He glanced down at Anne's empty bottle. "Can 
I get you a drink?"

Anne laughed, "Now's the time to do it. I'd heard about these things, 
but not experienced them. I missed the Christmas party, but heard all 
about it. Free drinks at a company get together?"

"So?" Stan asked, looking pointedly at the bottle of premixed vodka 
she was holding.

"I'll have a Smirnoff Black Ice, please!"

"Sit with us?"

"OK, just for a bit. I'm leaving soon."

"Oh, why's that?" asked Elizabeth, as Anne sat down and Stan went to 
get the drinks.

- - - - - - - - - -

Stan brought the drinks back to the table on a tray. Serving the 
drinks, he returned it and grabbed a chair, pulling it around to sit 
between Denise and Elizabeth.

"Thanks, Stan," said Elizabeth. "Cheers!" They all clinked.

It was awkward.

Elaine said, into the gap, "Anne's got to go home tonight, because 
she's packing - holiday next week in Tenerife. Isn't that exciting, 
Stan?"

"Certainly is," said Stan.

"It's just a quick, cheap break before the chip comes back. I won't 
have any time afterwards, and I couldn't book it before in case there 
was a problem, or God forbid, the damn thing came back early! Just a 
longer weekend, really, I come back to work on Wednesday. So I've 
got to get home reasonably early. My flight's at five in the morning 
and I have to get to the airport."

"Whereabouts in Tenerife?" Denise asked. "I've always wanted to go, 
but never got there."

"Puerto de la Cruz. It's in the north of the island."

"The advantage of the Canaries is that they're nice any time of year. 
Just make sure you take plenty of sun-tan lotion, Anne, with that fair 
hair of yours, I expect you burn easily." Elizabeth said.

Denise laughed, "She'll burn easily? I've had to stay in the shade 
virtually all afternoon! Besides, I don't really tan, so much as my 
freckles grow closer!"

The four ladies laughed. Stan's smile was, he knew, a bit forced, but 
he didn't think anyone had noticed. The conversation turned to what 
he thought of as 'feminine gossip' and he zoned out.

Elizabeth, sitting on his right, leaned closer to him. "Are you all right, 
Stan?" she quietly asked.

"Our honeymoon was in Puerto de la Cruz."

"Oh, I'm sorry," she said so softly Stan almost didn't hear.

In a more normal voice, Elizabeth asked Elaine if she'd be going on the 
pub crawl afterwards.

"Sure am! I'll be meeting Susan in the King's Keys, are you coming?

"Is that who you were with the other night?" asked Denise, and Elaine 
nodded. "We've been together almost a month now, and it's looking 
good so far. We'll just have to see how it goes."

Stan mentally shook himself, and said, "Well, best of luck, Elaine. We 
know you're a catch!"

- - - - - - - - - -

The cabs started arriving to take people away, and Anne wished 
everyone a good night. After she'd left, Elizabeth said her good-byes 
too, with a wink at Denise and Stan.

Elaine grabbed a cab. "You coming with?" she asked, and Stan nodded 
at the same time as Denise.

At the Keys, Elaine quickly found Susan and introduced her to Stan 
and Denise. They were relatively early, so they were able to find a 
booth.

Susan was a quiet, short, dark haired girl with a pretty face partially 
hidden behind some seriously thick glasses, but it quickly became 
apparent that she was the centre of the two girls' relationship. Elaine 
got her drinks and food, and was quite content to wait on her hand 
and foot. Quite content - she had a happy smile on her face all 
evening, even beyond her usual upbeat self. For her part, Susan held 
Elaine's hand as much as possible. In fact the two were almost 
inseparable, and clearly infatuated with one another.

Denise told Stan, when the other pair had gone to the bathroom, "Ah! 
Young love, you just can't beat it!"

Stan had to agree.

The four of them had a great evening. Elaine and Susan made their 
farewells shortly before midnight, saying they were off to a club. 
Denise tried to get Stan to go too, but he was having none of it, 
saying, "I'm too old to be clubbing - I'll look ridiculous!" and wouldn't 
be moved. Denise pouted, but knew when she was beaten.

So the two friends got a taxi home. They reached Denise's house first.

"I've had a good evening, Stan. Thanks for coming out."

"I had a good time, too, Denise. I always used to, as you and Elizabeth 
have reminded me. Good night, and see you Monday."

"Sure," she said, and leaned forward to kiss him.

Stan evaded, taking it on the cheek. Denise pulled back, looking at 
him, considering. "You know, Stan, sooner or later you're going to 
have to get over it. You might as well make a start now."

Hearing his favourite practical advice paraphrased in that fashion 
made Stan stop and think, and before he knew it Denise had quickly 
touched her lips to his.

"Good night, Stan."

Stan barely had the presence of mind to say "G'night". Denise walked 
off to her house, and, turned to wave in her open doorway. Stan 
waved back, and the cab took him home.

- - - - - - - - - -