Bach and Fourth – Wayne 22

 

[For back story go here: Story so far at 27 July 2020 and the last one.]

[Back story also found through in-links.]

Several phone calls and texts later, Wayne concluded there wasn’t really any ‘common ground’ where he and the woman who said was his mum could meet. The suggested bars and cafes either didn’t appeal to both of them or were closed or not in the right part of town. So finally they settled on a bench in a park quite a few miles away from either of their homes.

“What was she like?” asked Dave.

“Not what I was expecting,” said Wayne. “I mean she’s maybe thirty years older than me and for some reason I thought she’d be younger? A bit more, dunno, innocent?”

Wayne was there first. He watched the ducks coursing across the pond, seeking out whatever food they could find or that was thrown their way by the few kids who were around, soaking up the last of the summer sun. It was a deceptively warm day. Wayne had worried about what to wear, nothing too showy, and nothing too hot and now he was cold in his long-sleeved T.

Cassie was five minutes late. Not quite enough for Wayne to start worrying but all the same punctuality would have been nice on this occasion. She wore a long coat, light scarf and struck a confident figure. They looked at each other, smiled and nodded, said hello and sat at each end of the bench, respectful as well as distancing. Wayne mused later if they’d have done anything differently if there weren’t the pandemic threat around them. He decided probably not.

“I know Phillis from way back,” said Cassie. “We’re not family, I want to make that clear. What we arranged wasn’t because of that it was… well, it was just something that was going to work for us at that time. Because of where we were, what we were doing and what we wanted.”

“How do you mean?” asked Wayne.

“We all have dreams,” said Cassie, “and we all do things that don’t necessarily help us achieve those things.”

“Wait,” said Dave, as Wayne continued to recount the meeting. “She gave you that spiel?”

“What do you mean ‘spiel’?" said Wayne. “Why should I doubt her? And why should you interrupt when you haven’t even heard everything?"

Dave admitted he was jumping to some sort of conclusion too quickly.

“It would be easy to say I was young and foolish,” continued Cassie, “but I don’t really think I was either. I just got carried away, I thought this man – your father – was the answer to everything I needed. We got on really well, we were soulmates in lots of ways and I truly believed we could get a great life together.”

“But..?” said Wayne and later Dave too. “There’s a ‘but’ coming, right?”

“But sometimes things change and it doesn’t work out.”

The essence of the story was that Cassie and Bernard had met by chance while they were both working. It was a whirlwind romance, but one which they both wanted and actively pursued, even when their work appeared to be driving them apart or at least in different directions geographically.

"In the end it wasn't possible to stay together," she said. "We were both touring, different productions and everything but we were both on the road - on different roads and with different timetables. There wasn't even really anywhere we could set up in between."

Cassie stopped work when her pregnancy meant she couldn't continue and she came to rest at a friend's house in the same area as Phillis. They met at first at the local social club and found that while they may not have had much in common they did a share a sense of humour and the general outlook on the world. As they talked, Cassie's worries about work and life slowly shifted to a realisation that maybe they could help each other out in a more significant way.

There were no savings to support her new family. No one nearby who could give her the place or resources she felt she needed. The only way forward would be for her to work, and that meant travelling again, and she couldn't do that with a baby in tow. The decision hadn't been taken lightly - in many ways it seemed to be the least worst thing to do.

"So what does she do?" asked Dave. "What's with the touring?"

"She's a musician," smiled Wayne.

"That's amazing," said Dave.

"Classical. She's a violinist so works with orchestras and stuff - at least when they're working and everything."

Dave's face shifted a little and Wayne noticed.

"What? What is it?"

"Did she ask you for anything?"

"What do you mean?"

"Did she tell you anything else about her work?"

Wayne paused and then said slowly: "She said her work had dried up because of the pandemic and that it was hard to make ends meet at the moment and..."

Dave was already nodding.

"That's exactly what I mean," he said.

"What? Wait - you're telling me this woman is pretending to be my violin playing mother in order to..?"

Dave let the question hang there and strange as it was it brought just enough doubt for Wayne to feel the brightness of his meeting dim.