Upton Close And Personal - Part Two of Five
Part two already?! Fun fact, this was actually the first part written, and I was debating keeping it as the first part.
I really like the character from this one. She has a bit of depth to her, but I guess you'll have to wait to see that ;)
19 Upton Close – Margaret Coates-Lee
The printer wasn’t working again. Margaret stared down at it, tutting. She sipped at the last dregs of lukewarm tea from a china teacup before placing it down on the coffee table next to her mobile phone.
Margaret picked the device up, holding it at arm’s length as if it would bite her. She squinted down at the bright screen, dialling the number with a single outstretched finger.
“Hello?” She said. “Will, are you there?”
“Mum, I’m at work. Can this wait?”
She strolled over to the window, parted the net curtains, and peered out over the street.
“It’s important. I told Jill that I’d print out my famous apple crumble recipe for her, and she’ll be here any minute.”
Will sighed. “Email it then.”
“Oh dear, you know I can’t be doing with all that… all that new-fangled…”
The plaintive wail of an ambulance siren cut her off before she could even manage to complete her sentence.
“Mum? What was that?”
Margaret stood up on tiptoes, craning her neck to look. The ambulance came to a stop at the edge of the driveway, and she watched as a young paramedic stepped out. The man raised a hand to his forehead to shield his eyes from the morning sun, before gesturing to someone she couldn’t see. Then, quite suddenly, he turned towards her house and looked straight at her. She gasped, momentarily cowering behind the curtain.
“An ambulance.” She said quietly, peering out to see that the paramedic was no longer staring. “I bet Len has gone and fallen again. I keep telling him, out with his dog all the time. He needs to be more careful. One of these days I bet he’ll…”
Margaret gulped hard.
“As I live and breathe, it is Len! That dog, I bloody knew it’d be that dog that got him.”
“You say that like he’s dead.” Will said dryly.
“No, no. He’s not dead, he’s laughing with the guy loading him onto the stretcher. His poor granddaughter though. Holly, or… Or is it Molly? Bawling her eyes out. Hang on, I’ll go out there and…”
“No, Mum.” Will said firmly. “Stay here, let’s deal with the printer.”
“No... Uh. No, that’s ok. I don’t think it’ll…”
“Is the printer on, Mum?”
“I pressed the button, and it won’t…”
“Is it plugged in?”
She reached a hand behind the printer, pulling out a wire that hung from it like a tail. The plug dangled conspicuously from the end.
“Silly me. I probably should’ve checked that first.”
“Is everything ok now, then?” He replied. “Can I go?”
She plugged the printer into the wall socket with a satisfying click as the device flared into life. “Yes, but wouldn’t you like to talk about…”
“Bye, Mum.”
“Goodbye.” She said quietly, but he’d hung up before she could finish.