Chapter 10: CHAPTER 10

CHAPTER 10

GILL was a little apprehensive when her secretary Kelly told her she was booked to have lunch with Gertie Albury again that day when she arrived at work on Thursday morning.

“And she ‘told’ me, not actually ‘asked’ me, to ensure the rest of your afternoon was free of all appointments!” Kelly spluttered in Gill’s office, “I told her you had urgent meetings in the afternoon but she wouldn’t take no for an answer before ringing off. Then, just two minutes later Gerald called me and moved your Webster meeting to Monday and said he would take this afternoon’s Amalgamated meeting himself.”

Gill had the same sinking feeling as their first lunch together, weeks earlier, but as she approached the table, in a different but similarly old established restaurant as before, she was surprised by Gertie’s cheery countenance and warm hug greeting. Gertie didn’t chitchat either, following the usual niceties, she launched straight into the object of her meeting.

“My dear goddaughter Belinda Wheatier is going to shadow you over the next month or two to help you get properly integrated into the family, Gill.”

“But —”

“Just indulge me Gill. Honestly, you have such a head start over what I had when I started, as a mere chit of a girl from the East End, that I really don’t think you will need anything like that long to get up to speed.”

“When you started as a what?”

“When I first met my future husband John Jacob Winter, Jake’s grandfather, I was working as a hat-check girl at a West End Theatre, while living with my dear Mum and Dad at Limehouse. I used to go into work for Matinees, then return home on the bus for tea and go back to the theatre for the evening shows.”

“And your future husband was just a keen theatre goer?” Gill asked.

Gill was actually bewildered why she was having this meeting; surely Jake was no longer in the picture was he? So why was Gertie trying to help Gill fit into a family that would never be hers?

“Yes,” Gertie laughed, “Johnny seemed as if he was a real theatre fan, coming in all the time. He was such a sweet man, so much like Jake. He worked his way up to Captain during the war, in the Royal Marines, had quite a few close calls he later told me. He stayed in the Regular Army after the war, as he wasn’t ready to take up his role in the bank yet, and moved over to the Royal Tank Regiment. He would stutter when nervous, but he was a very polite gentleman and was always nice to me. Some of the young men would try and get fresh and ask you out all the time, even when they had a girl with them, but I never did go out with any of them. I was only 17 at the time and was what they’d call at the time a ‘good girl’!”

“I am sure you were, Gertie,” Gill smiled, starting to relax a little. All right, she thought, I’m not sure why I’m here but Gertie is one of those people you can relax in company with and is never short of conversation starters.

Gertie laughed, “Anyway, one night, one of the drunks tried it on. Now, most plays have one interval and some plays had two intervals. If only one interval, the bar would be closed and cleaned up ready for the next day. However, if there were two intervals, the bar would remain open between the first and second interval, during which drinks were served. So, sometimes, if ticket holders didn’t like the play or if they stayed too long, the doors to the stalls would be shut and they wouldn’t be able to get back to their seats. So, some would stay in the bar and drink to excess. This particular man did, and tried to corner me in the cloakroom. I had to slap him, but to my complete surprise, he slapped me back, quite hard —”

“No!”

“Not a punch, just a slap but it really knocked me flying. I was really light then, well everybody was, as we still had food rationing! Anyway, the barman and the doorman saw what happened and came to my rescue and they bundled the scoundrel out the door, probably roughed him up a bit if I know those two!” She chuckled at the memory.

“Did the drunk hurt you?”

“No, not really, it was just a slap, which was hard enough to leave a red mark, but I simply wasn’t expecting it, so it was quite a shock. I was only a girl. I cried, more with embarrassment than anything, I think. I used to be so careful not to be compromised. Girls were more concerned about their reputations in those days. Anyway, the theatre manager and Johnny arrived at cloakroom at the same time and helped me to the manager’s office. Johnny sat me in a chair, held my hand and comforted me while an ice pack was summoned from the kitchen.”

“Johnny got there fast!”

“I found out later that he had several members of staff looking out for me. He was quite concerned at what had happened and he held my hand the whole time in that office. He was a handsome man, Johnny was, tall and slim, and always dressed immaculately in evening dress. Once or twice he came in uniform and I must say he looked very dashing. Anyway, he offered to drive me home, but I refused to allow him to do that. He insisted, and I told him I was only hit in the cheek and I could still walk and catch the bus. I was quite determined, and he could see that I was, so he changed tack and offered to walk me to the bus stop. I mean it was less than five minutes’ walk. I accepted, but only when I finished my shift. The third act was still playing and all the hats and coats had to be handed back to the right people. The manager then told me to scoot off now and take the next day off. I protested, I really couldn’t afford to lose a day’s pay and the tips, but I felt ashamed to admit to such. Johnny, bless him, picked up on that straight away and suggested to the manager that as the fault was not mine that I should be given a couple of days off with full pay and the manager instantly agreed.”

“That was unusual then, wasn’t it?”

“Very unusual, dear, but then I didn’t know that Johnny had connections.”

“Connections? What, like the Mafia?”

“No, dear ... Or at least not quite, Johnny would have laughed at that suggestion, though.” Gertie chuckled at the thought.

“So Johnny walked you to the bus?”

“Ha! He did, and then he got on when I got on and sat down next to me. He paid the fare with a ten-shilling note. The Chippie was absolutely livid because he took all her change, even though he gave her a five-bob tip! He sat with me all the way home and then walked me through the dark streets to my parents’ house. We just talked all the way, he was such a lovely man. Of course, I thought, it would never work between us, we were from different worlds. It was much more class-conscious in the late 1940s and early 1950s than now. He was so easy to talk to though, asking me about what I did in my spare time and whether I had brothers and sisters and what they did. At first I was embarrassed because he was in full evening dress and white silk scarf, while I was in my little blue theatre uniform with white piping around the edge. To me it was obvious what we looked like, him a toff and me a hat check girl, and it made me look like a bad girl, a tart.”

“But you weren’t.”

“No dear, I wasn’t and I told him that when he asked if he could call round and see if I was all right in the morning.”

“But he didn’t take your rejection to heart, if he later became your husband?”

“No, true, but at the time I didn’t know what to make of it, because he just smiled and asked me to list my objections. So, while we stood on my front doorstep, I told him all the usual objections of class, education, clothing, appearances, and general acceptance of us as a dating couple on both sides of the family. I insisted that I wanted to work and be independent before settling down as a wife and mother. I certainly did not want to be used and told him I wouldn’t be. I told him in all seriousness that I thought he was the nicest person I had ever met, and he could be assured I would take special care of his hat and coat in future. He just laughed at my absurdity and shook my hand very formally before wishing me a goodnight and that he would see me at the theatre next time and assured me that he would be my best and most polite customer.”

“What happened next?” Gill was fascinated, letting her tea grow cold.

“My Dad had already left for work by the time I got up. Mum had heard me talk to Johnny; their bedroom was at the front of the house, you see. She checked out my slapped cheek and got the whole story out of me, which she fitted into the part of our conversation that she had overheard. Mum patted me on the back and said I had let the nice young man down very sensibly. Then there was a knock on the door.”

“So Johnny didn’t take ‘no’ for an answer?”

“Not exactly, Gill dear, no he didn’t. My Mum went to the door. Now, where we lived, if a neighbour called, they would just walk in, only the rent man and the man from the Pru bothered to knock on the door. I was making a fresh pot of tea when Mum came and told me there was a young gentlewoman, a real lady, in the front room to see me. Mum was really agitated, told me she had invited in a tall, young woman, smartly dressed, with a chauffeured car parked outside. ‘The very thing,’ she said, white as a ghost, ‘the only vehicle that wasn’t lost when it came down our street, was the corporation dustcart!’”

“Who was it?”

“Johnny’s sister, Eveline, who was sitting primly on one of the hard chairs in the front room, the best room in the house. The sofa was too soft for comfort, I remember. I think I curtsied automatically because she looked so grand, but also cool and bright, everything about her, clothing, make-up and hair, was absolutely perfect.”

“She had come to warn you off?”

“Quite the reverse, Gill dear. ‘I’m Eveline Winter, Johnny’s sister,’ she said in a voice that you normally only heard on the BBC, ‘you can call me Evie. I’m here to get you up to speed.’”

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Gertie smiled, remembering her first meeting with Eveline.

“She pulled out a tiny notebook and a fountain pen and started asking questions. She tut-tutted that we had no phone. Then she told me to get dressed, coming up the stairs with me to my little bedroom at the back of the flat and sorted out what best to wear and checked what clothes and shoes, coats and hats I had. I got the impression that she would have to start from scratch. Mum brought her up a cup of tea and took another one out for the driver. Then, once she had looked through all my clothes, Evie took me shopping.”

“And you just went with her?”

“Oh, my dear, Evie was a force of nature! We piled into this lovely car of hers and we drove up to Knightsbridge and shopped all day. We never stopped talking. It was so strange. I mean clothes rationing had only stopped the year before, so nobody from where we lived were used to clothes shopping, we all wore hand-me-downs or make do and mends. At the first store we went in she picked out three or four daywear outfits, which were wonderful and fitted perfectly. When Evie told the girl to pack them and charge them to her account, I protested and dug my heels in. She took me to the tea rooms at the department store then, sat me down and put me straight. Johnny wanted me as his girlfriend, Evie said, that he was 27, a war hero, a respectable man who had just finished his seven-year short commission in the Army, he had a secure future in the family banking business, and he had never had a serious girlfriend before me. Evie was going to make sure I was going to be his respectable girlfriend with a view to leading to a betrothal in the near future.”

“So Johnny was serious about you and determined to marry you?”

“Yes, and Evie assured me that Johnny was not a fly by night player, that he seriously wanted to get to know me but, if I was going to be at ease meeting his family and friends, that I would need some help to make me more comfortable in polite society. He had listened to what I had said on our doorstep and acted on it immediately, he was a military man, used to taking control and adapting strategies to overcome obstacles.”

“I think you must follow his example!”

Gertie laughed, “You are right! Evie was a recently married woman with no children yet. She had plenty of time on her hands and therefore, she would take me under her wing as her project, she said, introduce me to people and places, guide me in what to wear, and how to speak. But mainly, she said, we are going to have such a lot of fun! And we did. That first afternoon, after accepting my fate, I came home with a new hairdo and several bags of clothes, shoes, another shopping trip planned for the next day and a dinner date for the following evening with Johnny, Evie, her husband, and my Mum and Dad!”

“Was that a shock for your parents?”

“They had a bigger shock before that! When I was dropped off, the telephone company had fitted a telephone in the front room and gangs of workers were still digging holes in the pavement to put in three telegraph poles to run the wire all the way from the main road!”

“So you were the first ones in the street to get a telephone?”

“Yes. Evie had arranged it while I was trying on the clothes. Apparently she got onto the big white chief at the telephone company and made it happen. I’ve done the same thing myself dozens of times since.”

“I know, my secretary got a bee in her ear from my boss!”

“Gerry, he’s such a sweetheart. I like your secretary Kelly, by the way, she was polite but firm, but she never stood a chance, dear. Anyway, within five minutes of the telephone workmen leaving, Evie rang me on the telephone to make sure everything worked all right, reminded me she would be round immediately after breakfast and to relax and enjoy the ride. She was like a sister to me, Gill, she taught me so much. I really miss her. You’ll love her granddaughter Belinda, though, she’s just like her.”

“But, Gertie, Jake and I are not together any more.”

“Oh, ... have you given up on him already, dear?”

“No, of course not, but he hasn’t spoken to me once since Monday evening and I can’t get him on his phone. We didn’t have an argument as such, I think he just feels I let him down.”

“Mmm, I see. Tell me, Gill, do you love Jake?”

“Yes, yes I do, but —”

“Belinda will be in touch then, and she will show you how to make sure Jake’s properly trained in how to treat the woman he loves. Johnny and Jake are so similar in so many ways, great organisers but unintentionally thoughtless at times, bless them!”

“What happened to Johnny, Aunt Gertie?” Gill asked softly.

“Korea, he was called up as a reservist in 1953 and died in a burning tank, just like Jake’s mother did years later. Johnny never even had the chance to see and hold his twins.”

“Twins?”

“Jonty and Mary. Of course, I never told you about poor Jonty.”

“No, what happened to him?”

“He grew up to be a little wild, being without a father. He was wilful even. Mary was also rebellious, which was why she fell for Colin, who was an Army sergeant that she met at a dance.”

“But she loved Colin, didn’t she?”

Gill couldn’t believe that Jake could have come from anything other than a happy union.

“Oh, absolutely, they were both head over heels in love, right from the outset. And Colin was so down to earth, relaxed in any kind of company, with a wicked sense of humour. Oh, we were all in love with Colin, he was so full of love for Mary, Jake and life. He was perfect for Mary.”

“But Jonty was not so fortunate in love?”

“No, John, as he was christened, was a mixed up young man, uncertain in his … gender, at a time when such leanings were illegal. He drank to excess, took drugs and lost his way. Losing his twin Mary, who was the only person who understood him, finished him off and he died a couple of years after we lost Mary and Colin.”

“How tragic, so Jake really is your only close family?”

“Yes, dear, but maybe you could do something about that in the near future?”

“That all depends on Jake, Gertie.”

---

At the weekend Belinda got in touch and Gill agreed to join her for lunch on Wednesday, even though she explained to her that it was a pointless exercise, there was nothing happening between Jake and herself any more. Belinda insisted, however, pointing out that she owed that much to both Gertie and Jake.

Gill had never had anything but working lunches in years, until Gertie changed things. Gill wondered what would come of it, when everything looked stuck in limbo. Still no word from Jake, so the situation appeared hopeless.

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