Bernice and Ashley the Untold Stories
11/06/00
Bernice stood by the till on the Woolpack putting it’s contents into money bags as Ashley locked the doors.
"you know" she said as he came and sat on one of the stools on the other side and looked at her "I had another Spanish lesson this afternoon"
"Did you ?" Ashley said smiling "You must be getting quite fluent by now"
"Carlos says I’m a natural"
"I don’t doubt it for a minute"
"Anyhow the reason I mention it is that to help us learn better he said we needed to feel Spanish , so he brought a tape of Spanish music and had me and Kathy dance with him as we recited the phrases"
"Well" Ashley said laughing "That must have been a fun way to spend the afternoon. I’d have loved to have been a fly on the wall. Or maybe I wouldn’t. Do I have competition ?"
"You mean Carlos ?"
"No I mean Kathy" Ashley said playfully "Of course Carlos !"
"Never" Bernice said closing the drawer and leaning over the bar kissing him. "Now will we have a night cap or head straight up ?"
"Lets go up" Ashley said smiling "I want you all to myself for a while , if we go in the back for a drink I’ll have to share you with Alan and Dianne. I want to hear all about your day and maybe you can tell me some of this Spanish you’re learning"
They headed out back and after depositing the takings Bernice popped her head round the door of the back room.
"We’re away to bed" she said to Alan and Dianne who sat glued to something on the television
"Night love" Dianne said without turning around "I’ll not be far behind you"
"Night" Alan echoed as Bernice closed the door and headed to her bedroom where she found Ashley staring out of the window.
"What are you looking at Ash ?" She asked
"Just the village. I was thinking how peaceful it looks at this time of night" Ashley replied as she stood behind him resting her head on his shoulder as he put his arm around her.
"Yeah. Who would think to look at this place that in the last few months we’ve had a bus crash , demonstrations and public meetings with people being arrested , teenage runaways , mothers leaving their families for blokes less than half their age , cat fighting over control of the diner , though don’t tell my mother I called it that , and three villagers going head to head for the local council"
"And us of course" Ashley say with the sort of laugh that is more resigned that amused
"Yeah. I mean if you drove through it now you’d almost be fooled into thinking it would be boring here"
"Quite" Ashley replied "The night hides everything"
Twenty minutes later they were in bed and Bernice was in the throws of describing her Spanish lesson.
"So every time he wanted us to say something he’d dance with us. it was so much fun I don’t think I’ve seen Kathy laugh so much in ages !"
"That’ll have done her good"
"Oh and wait till you hear !" Bernice continued laughing so much that she could hardly speak "mum told me that other day she had this new phrase for me , she’d remembered it from a few years back , she picked up some bloke and he whispered in her ear apparently. So she taught me it , then I told Carlos today expecting him to translate it as something really lovely or romantic but you’ll never guess what he said it meant"
"Am I going to want to hear this ?" Ashley asked already laughing
"Oh Yes"
"Go on then Surprise me !"
"It meant . you have incredibly fat ankles"
"No !" Ashley said staring at Bernice "Oh dear. Did you tell Dianne ?"
"Too right I did !" She’d done nothing but brag about this hunky Spaniard who’d found her irresistible , of course I told her"
"And how did she take it ?"
"You know mum. She had a few choice descriptive words for him then she thought it was quite funny"
"Anyway" Ashley said changing the subject "I had no idea you enjoyed dancing so much"
"I do, it’s like Carlos said today , it sort of takes you over"
"Yeah I suppose it does"
"Maybe some day you’ll dance with me" Bernice said sleepily as she rolled over switching off the light.
Ashley put his arms around her and they both fell asleep thinking about how wonderful it would be to dance together.
*****************
The next morning Bernice and Ashley sat at the table eating breakfast when Dianne came in still in her dressing gown. Ashley caught Bernice’s eye and winked then turned his attention to Dianne.
"That’s a very fetching dressing gown" he said
"Thanks Ashley !" Dianne said beaming. Then noticed he was staring "What is it ?" she asked
"Oh I was just thinking , your ankles aren’t fat at all"
Bernice nearly choked on her coffee as Dianne came over and batted Ashley around the head.
"I’m telling you Bernice" She said "He’s getting far too sure of himself , it’s making him cheeky ! It’s time you pulled him into line"
"Oh I’m staying out of it !" Bernice replied "You to can fight it out I’m off to open the door for the delivery"
When she was gone Dianne joined Ashley at the table setting her coffee where Bernice’s had been
"Dianne" Ashley said smiling
"I’m not speaking to you Ashley Thomas" she replied turning her head and looking at the other side of the room
"I’m sorry , I was only joking , please forgive me I need you help"
"Why ?" Dianne asked , suddenly forgetting the insult as her curiosity took over
"I want to plan a surprise for Bernice. At the vicarage tonight , but I need you to make sure that she doesn’t go over there before 8 tonight"
"How am I supposed to do that ? She’s supposed to be having the afternoon off and working tonight"
"Please !" Ashley said looking sheepishly at Dianne
"Oh all right ! Leave it with me" Dianne said just as Bernice came in
"The bloody Brewery !" She said shaking her head "The deliveries are never on time"
"I’ve got more bad news" Dianne said glancing at Ashley "Kathy’s just off the phone she needs me to work this afternoon instead of tonight so would you mind if we swapped and you take tonight off instead ?"
Bernice looked at Ashley "I don’t mind" he said getting into Dianne’s plan "I’ve already upset your mother once today I’m not doing that again"
"I should think not !" Dianne replied
"Ok Mother" Bernice said as there was a banging at the door and the delivery man could be heard shouting at the top of his voice.
When Bernice had gone to let him in Ashley stood up "I’d better get going too" he said
"Bye" Dianne said smiling "I’ll look forward to hearing all about this surprise in the morning"
"Yeah , thanks Dianne" Ashley replied and then he was gone as well leaving Dianne shaking her head at the complications of young love.
*****************
Ashley spent the better part of the afternoon organizing and moving furniture in the sitting room. At 6 he spotted Carlos heading home , giving him a few minutes to get in he went across to see him. He knocked on the door of the cottage , after a few minutes Marlon answered.
"Ashley !" he said "What’s up ? you know I don’t fancy your chances tonight , I just left the Woolie about 20 minutes ago and Bernice is on the war path. Dianne was supposed to be back to let her get away but she’s gone AWOL."
"Oh it’ll be Ok" Ashley answered feeling a slight pang of guilt ‘I was looking for Carlos is he in ?"
"Yeah come in"
Ashley followed him inside as he went up stairs , looking around he couldn’t help but be grateful that his days of living with groups of men had ended in University , the place had that uncomfortable never seen a duster look about it and surprisingly for a house with two chefs there was a pile of dishes in the sink he was sure were very close to growing mold .
"Hi Ashley , what can I do for you ?" Carlos asked as he came down
"Well" Ashley answered "Bernice was saying that you two were dancing yesterday"
"Yeah , but I swear it was completely innocent" Carlos answered laughing
"Better watch yourself Carlos" Marlon piped up from the kitchen "Ashley’s got a mean left hook !"
"No …. I know that" Ashley said smiling uncomfortably "I was wondering if you might be able to lend me the tape?"
"Sure" Carlos replied disappearing upstairs
‘So then Ashley. Dancing. I wouldn’t have thought you were into dancing" Marlon said looking backward over his shoulder as he rooted around in the fridge.
"I can dance , I just like to very often"
"Anything to make her happy eh ?
"Something like that" Ashley replied , smiling as Carlos returned and handed him three tapes
"Any one of those should do it" He replied
Ashley thanked him and headed back to the vicarage to make the final arrangements.
******************
At five to eight Ashley looked around at the room , everything was perfect. He mad a mental note to thank Dianne and do something nice to make up for the fact that she was probably at that very moment getting an ear full from Bernice. Just then he heard her key in the door and with a final glance around went to meet her at the door.
"Hi" he said as she closed it behind her
"You are not going to believe my mother !" Bernice said dropping her bag by the door and putting her hands on her hips. "She only decided to nip into town for a little late night shopping ! She only got back at a quarter to eight , nearly two hours I might add after she was supposed to let me away !"
Ashley didn’t reply just watched as she shouted , she was so beautiful when she was cross.
"Well I can tell you I didn’t let her get away with it I’ve made her promise to open up for me in the morning so I can have a lie in"
Finally Ashley put his finger on her lips to stop her. "You may want to apologize when you hear when I have to say"
"Why ?"
"Well she kept you there because I asked her too , she even changed her shift at the diner so that you could be here tonight"
"I don’t understand" Bernice said as Ashley took her by the hand and lead her to the sitting room
"Close your eyes" he said resting his hand on the door handle. When she had closed them he opened the door and reaching in and pressing play in the stereo the room was filled with the sound of Spanish music. "OK open them"
Bernice opened her eyes and gasped at what she say , the furniture had been moved and in one corner of the room was a little table set with a checked table cloth and candles and wine with more candles dotted around the room for extra atmosphere.
"Oh Ash , it’s beautiful !" She said
"Well just because I wont learn the language doesn’t mean I won’t help you to. I thought maybe we could have a traditional Spanish meal with some Spanish music and se if it helped your grasp of the phrases any"
Bernice thought she might cry as he took her over to the table and pulling out her chair instructed her to sit down while he went and got the first course. After three traditional Spanish dishes and a bottle of red wine they were both completely immersed in atmosphere and all thought’s of the village outside the walls of the house were gone.
"This has been perfect !" Bernice said holding Ashley’s hand across the table "You are wonderful you do realise that don’t you ?"
"I can think of something that would make it even more perfect’ Ashley replied standing up
"What"
He stretched out his hand ‘Will you dance with me ?’ he asked
Bernice took his hand and melted into his arms as they slowly made their way around the floor of the room totally taken over by the music , the candle light and their love for each other.
