Part One / Part Three
Part Two - Mrs Upton
Humming a tune to herself, Mrs Upton got out her favourite mug from the cupboard and put a tea bag in it. The kettle began to vibrate loudly as it neared boiling point. "A nice cuppa tea. A nice cuppa for me." she smiled as she poured the boiling water over the tea bag and watched the water infuse inside the cup and turn a soft golden brown. "Now for a splash of milk. Voila! A perfect cup of tea."
With tea made, Mrs Upton shuffled out of the small galley kitchen and made her way to her seat by the window. It was her favourite nook inside the house. She had all her comforts close at hand. Her latest book was sitting waiting for her as she sat down on her Chatworth recliner along with her golden nibbed fountain pen.
She placed her cup down on the small coffee table and wondered again why it hadn't been named a tea table. "Ah well, those be the mysteries of life." she mused as she picked up her pen and looked down the road towards Number 10. She waited.
As if on cue, the warm yellow door opened and a man with a mass of dark curls holding an armful of books left the house. He clicked his car key, and with some difficulty managed to open the back door of his car, where he placed his books on the back seat. As he reemerged from the car, he looked up at the sky and then darted back inside the house.
The yellow door stood open. While Mrs Upton watched, a blue silver Persian cat sauntered from the house, making its way leisurely to the young man's car. It casually sat on the pavement and took a moment to look up and across the street towards Mrs Upton. She chuckled softly to herself. "Good morning, Mr Pickles," she nodded and then watched as he stretched and slowly manoeuvred himself to sit between the two parked cars.
"Very good!" Mrs Upton chimed, feeling the wonder of the moment fully. "Now, my Peggy. Now," she said, as she watched the house opposite her.
A young woman emerged from Number 5. She was casually dressed in a white sweater top and jeans. Mrs Upton watched as the young woman stood taking in the busyness of the London street. Peggy closed her eyes holding her face towards the sun before looking and spotting Mrs Upton. The two women waved at each other and as Mrs Upton caught Peggy's eye she flicked her own briefly towards Mr Pickles and adopted a microexpression of concern.
Watching, Mrs Upton saw Peggy turn her attention towards Mr Pickles and then the young man who was exiting his house. "That's it, Peggy. Time for you to save that cat."
As if Peggy had heard Mrs Upton's words, she dashed towards Mr Pickles and snatched him up from where he sat.
Mrs Upton leaned towards her coffee table and picked up her cup of tea, putting it towards her lips. "Oh, darn! It's gone cold," she grumbled. "Well, it'll just have to wait. I'm not going to miss the best part."
She continued watching the young couple and a dreamy expression crossed her face as she imagined their conversation. She pictured the blush spreading over Peggy's face, even though the young woman had her back to her. She chuckled as she saw Peggy sneeze remembering the words she then spoke. "Ah, yes, that awkwardness did always try to get the better of you." Mrs Upton said.
Before long the couple broke from their conversation and Michael, for Mrs Upton knew the young man's name, gestured towards his house. The young couple left the scene on the road and made their way back to Michael's house and through the yellow door.
Mrs Upton picked up her book and began writing again. She listened carefully for the little voice of inspiration and before long she had written a few more pages. As she was writing, she heard the creak of the catflap in her kitchen. "I'm in here, Mr Pickles," she called.
The blue silver Persian cat ambled over to Mrs Upton. headbutted her leg and then curled his tail around it. Mrs Upton looked up briefly from her writing and smiled at him. "You did good, boy. Very good. Thank you," she said stroking his arching back. She then put her book back down on the table finishing with her reminisces for the day.
Cover Image created in Canva by moi using micheile dot com on Unsplash.