The further adventures of Stan -18

I woke up quite late,  not having set my alarm, and I knew I wouldn't be making the boat. I caught the click of the outside door as Helen let herself out, and I gave Stan another five minutes before I made my move to the bathroom,carrying my glass of somewhat misnamed amber nectar with me. Stan appeared to have gone back to sleep, so I used the bathroom and got dressed as quietly as I could. I left him a note, saying that I had been invited to to to Montenegro with Sven for the day, and thus postponed any drama that might have taken place when we came face to face. I was sure he would find a way to fill his day with Helen.

This was our last full day in Croatia. Our flight was due to leave at mid day tomorrow, but with all the preliminaries, we would need to be ready to go in the bus with Pavo shortly after breakfast at 9 or so.

I took the local bus into Dubrovnic and then took a taxi to the Dominican Monastery – but when I got there, I couldn't get up the energy or enthusiasm to go inside. Being a nice day, I sat in a beautiful near by park, and made notes about my holiday to write up when I got back.

And then being a list maker – I started making lists of where I might like to live.  Going into the coffee shop at the Monastery I found that I also had  wifi access, so  I was able to search on property for sale in Marple. I knew my house was worth a lot of money – and that it might take some time to find a buyer for it. But I had sufficient funds if I cashed in all my investments to buy something that wasn't too high priced. I thought I would not be satisfied with a small apartment – it would have to have a garden of some sort.

My lists grew and  luckily with email on my phone, I could even start making appointments. I knew that before I could show my house, it would need to be tidied up – and that was my main excuse for
getting rid of Stan. His room had been a mess before – as my son was never tidy. So it needed a good clean and a paint job throughout, and maybe even a new carpet. The curtains needed to be cleaned, and the junk gotten rid of. I thought I could offer Stan my son's the computer – as it was somewhat out of date now anyway, and even if Jeremy came home for a visit, which was very unlikely, he would have his own tablet or whatever to use.

I searched on properties in Marple between £250-350,000. It didn't take long before I had found three houses I thought I could quite likely live in – so I emailed the agents to set up viewings. I would give
myself Thursday to recover, do some shopping and wash clothes, but I could easily do viewing on Friday or the weekend.

The first one I fancied was a bungalow in Tabley Gardens for £350,000. This was almost on the same road where I live now, but a good mile or so nearer the town centre. These houses were built on land that used to belong to All Saints Church – and it didn't half cause a fuss when the land which had a marvelous open lookout, were sold to the highest bidder. The resulting houses – and there must be 20 or so of them, have a sort of mock churchy look to them. It would be fun to see what they are like inside.

The one that was for sale has four bedrooms and a detatched garage. From the photos, it appears to have a large living room with glass doors opening into the dining room, a modern kitchen, and adequate sized bedrooms, one en suite, with a family bathroom. It says it has views – and there was a view provided on the site. There is also a patio and a small but adequate garden. I am not much of a gardener.

The second one I fancied was on Windlehurst Road – again a bungalow, with three bedrooms, all the usual sorts of things that houses have, and supposedly a view. It was built in the 1930's and costs £375,000. I didn't like this location as well, and over all, I didn't think it would suit me, but it might be worth viewing just in case I was missing something.

Then I found one that was not only cheaper, but full of attractive features. This one was a dormer bungalow in the Ley Hey Park area – just the right location – near town but also near the countryside.

It had only three bedrooms, but each had its own en suite. The picture of the kitchen was unbelievable – huge with modern appliances and wooden floors. There was a detatched garage which was even provided with heating and cooling facilities. What a waste that would be on me. But I liked the sound of this, and decided I would view it first of all.

Then I put in a price that I thought my house might fetch – about £650.000 and had a look to see what my competition would be. There were three or four houses which were about that price, but none of them had my views. This whole project was going to be just what I needed to take my mind off Stan and the confrontation with him that I knew that would be coming soon.

By mid afternoon, I had satisfied my need for peace and quiet, and returned by bus to our apartment, only to find that Stan had left a note. He was out with Helen again, and probably wouldn't be back until late. So I cooked myself an omelet, finished off the gin, and went to bed with my good
book.

Wednesday

We were to be taken to the airport again by Pavo – so I got up early to pack and get our kitchen stuff cleaned and cleared. Stan was still sound asleep, and he hadn't made any effort to get ready to leave.

So I shouted at him that he had better get a move on. He slowly came to life and said, “I'm not going.”

“What?” I said, “you have to go. Our tickets are for today. They aren't exchangeable.”

“Helen is here for another week, and she says I can share with her. She says that I might be able to change my booking for the flight.”

“I would bet money on the fact that you won't be able to. You've left it too late. The plane is due to leave in four hours.”

“Could you call them for me – or check at the airport when you get there?”

“No, I could not. You got yourself into this mess, and you can get yourself out of it. And remember you have to be out of here by 11. You can take the rest of the food and drink with you to Helen's so at least that won't be wasted. I'll make sure the bill is paid for this room – so don't go charging anything else from now on, or you will have to deal with it. I presume you know where your passport is, and that you have enough money for another week.”

“Stop fussing. You aren't my mother, you know.”

“Don't I just know it. And thank God for that fact. I've had just about all I can take from you,” and I grabbed my suitcase and rushed out of the apartment, leaving Stan with a very confused look on his face.

I hardly said a word en route to the airport, and did all the checking in without any problems. When I was asked whether my companion from the trip out was returning with me, I said, “I don't know and I don't care,” but at least they were aware that there was a problem.

When we finally were sent to the embarkation channel, I spied Sven. He had been on the lookout for me too. We only had time for a few words, but I apologised for not going to Montenegro and asked if had had a good time.

“I would have had so much a better one with you around,” he said, chivalrously.

Our seats were no where near each other on this flight, and although we might see each other at the airport in Manchester, we had made no further plans to get together again before he left to go back to America. It was nice having had his company for those few days, but I wouldn't worry too much if I never heard from him again.