Winning Victoria

Winning Victoria
An immediate flash of light on the sitting-room ceiling caused Victoria
Palmer to glance up. Someone was pulling in her driveway. She went
speedily to the window and looked out without parting the lace
curtains. Then, she shook her head. Patrick! Patrick in his blue
convertible, well, it had to be confronted.

She quickly pulled her hair back and tied it. She got out the hoover,
plugged it in and switched it on. Then he sounded the doorbell - ding,
dong, ding, dong, ding, and dong! Patrick all right, the salesman's
ring a bottle of wine and a box of chocolates. Well he was in for a
shock.

"Vic, my darling Patrick's here - are you prepared for a day of
pleasure and amusement? My God, girl, what are you up to, hoovering?
Nobody hoovers on a Sunday."

"So good of you to ring in advance, Patrick."

"Well yeah, I was going to do that, but I figured why waste time on the
telephone. He placed the gifts on the coffee table and widened his
arms. "Come into these loving arms, my darling."

Victoria continued hoovering.

"What's the matter woman, have I caught my Victoria at a bad
time?"

"Firstly I am not your Victoria, and if you except to stop by every now
and then without even having the decency to ring, you can just turn
yourself around again, get back in your snazzy blue convertible and
drive on. Get that rubbish off my coffee table, I'm cleaning in here!"
She ran the hoover into his highly polished shoes forcing Patrick to
hobble backwards clumsily.

"You do realise how long I have waited for this Sunday Victoria?"

Victoria shut off the hoover. They gazed at one another hesitantly, for
the first time.

"I understand, I couldn't wait either, so, the two of us couldn't wait,
that's the sad part about it. I-m twenty-six-years old, you must be,
what, thirty-four? Thirty-four years old and still a pharmaceuticals
sales rap, a lass in every GP's surgery, got it all figured out
right?"

"What's wrong with you Victoria?"

"My birthday came on a Thursday. Where were you? I got blind drunk all
by myself right here in this hellhole. Where were you on that Thursday
Patrick?"

Patrick didn't have the nerve to answer, since he wasn't absolutely
certain which Thursday Victoria's birthday was.

"What it comes down to, Patrick, is - well, I went away right after my
birthday, that's what!"

"What do you mean 'away'?"

"I went to a refuge house. You meditate, contemplate and study the
bible. There was a principal there - Father Bob. He's come in my room
each morning and chat about where I'm going in my life."

"That sounds like rehabilitation Vic?"

"Who knows? Still it's done me the world of good, I tell you. I gave up
my career at the Highway's Department that was one of the problems. I
was the only female in an office of thirty-eight men. I'm working for
the tabloids at the moment - "Kara's Art Page."

Patrick experienced a rush of dizziness. "Do you mind if I sit down
Victoria?"

Victoria undone her hair and unplugged the hoover. "Go ahead."

"Somehow I can't see you meditating, or working for the tabloids for
that matter."

"Kara Richards writes the column. I assist her. Were in three tabloids,
Kara reckons we should syndicate in the near future."

The vision of Patrick sitting on the sofa with his wine in one hand and
the chocolates in another was more than Victoria could take.

"Can I get you something Patrick?"

"Fancy opening the wine?"

"No alcohol's out - that's another one of my troubles. How about a nice
cup of tea?"

Patrick glanced at her helplessly. "I'll have a tea."

"I have jasmine, orange and lemon."

"I thought you had tea?"

"It is tea, it's herbal tea. Don't look at me like that, it's excellent
for you."

"I'll pass on the tea Victoria?"

"How about I get dressed, we'll take a stroll in the park. It's a
lovely afternoon."

Patrick still sat there clutching the wine and chocolates. Usually he
would have accompanied Victoria into the bedroom and fooled around
while she slipped into her clothes, but he didn't dare today.

Victoria appeared out of her bedroom fully clothed, "Ready
Patrick?"

Patrick had practically dozed off on the sofa. He stroked the arm of it
and remembered the afternoon he and Victoria had gone out to buy this
particular sofa - when was it, six or seven years ago. Had some
fantastic times on it too.

He rose from the sofa and placed the wine back and chocolates back on
the coffee table. "You look terrific old girl - it's Ok for me to say
that, isn't it?"

They walked out into a fine spring day. A high blue sky with a
collection of shepherd's sheep clouds herding their way across the
western sky.

"We can take my car Victoria."

"It's too nice a day to drive. It's a walking kind of day Patrick.
Walking and talking kind of day you can come back and collect your car
later."

Even Patrick had to agree it was a wonderful day for walking. They
strolled into the Mountain Zoo just as the seals had awakened
themselves after their lunch nap. With strident yaps and plenty of
flipper slapping they had drawn an audience of spectators.

"Look at them," Patrick remarked. "They don't ask for a lot, do they? A
little love, an opportunity to show off and somebody to take care of
them."

"Come over here on this bench, Patrick. Do you realise what you just
said?"

Patrick sat down and removed his cap. He glanced at Victoria
plaintively. "Victoria - now what'd I do?"

"You just described yourself to a 'T', that's what"! That's what I have
been telling you. You have the intelligence and as much maturity as one
of them seals over there. Well, perhaps that's all right with you but
I'm not like that anymore - I've altered Patrick. I'm not your fancy
woman anymore, and nobody else's neither."

"Aw Victoria, I never thought you was my fancy woman. You were the high
point, you were the reason I stopped off in this city."

Victoria Palmer glanced quickly at Patrick. "Poor Patrick, she thought.
Would he ever be anything more that a travelling man? Perhaps I was too
forceful. He isn't the best lover - not by half he isn't, but he's the
man I yearned for every time. I never mentioned that to Father Bob.
Never mentioned to Patrick neither.

They sat in silence, shoulder to shoulder on the bench next to the
seals. Patrick adored Victoria but the attraction of being free and
easy on the road had been, (up until now at least) fascinating. He
thought about the news he had kept hidden - a secure job at a
pharmaceutical company. It was appealing, but the call of the road,
even the thrill of meeting Victoria every month had stopped him from
considering it. The thought of Victoria full time - Victoria as a wife!
Somebody to cherish, to arrive home to each night! He turned to gaze at
her sitting alongside him. Look at her, he thought. Sitting straight
and dignified! Is she the lady you'd build a house around? Rear
children with? Children!! Come on, be practical, what kind of parent
would I be?

"You know Vic," he began," this was going to be the final swing."

"What are you trying to say, Patrick?"

"Brain thinks I should come in from the road. That's what we call it,
'the road', like we are performer's or something. Brain's the main
sales rep. I have many miles on me Vic. You're right Vic, you're right;
I am like them seals over there. But this was going to be the final
swing. On the way back I was going to stop here." He paused and shifted
a little closer to Victoria before retrieving a piece of paper from his
inside pocket. He opened it carefully and handed it to Victoria.

"What's this, Patrick?" She inquired.

"My birth certificate, you have one? You need a birth certificate to
get wed."

She made a mental calculation. "Says here you're 35?"

"What difference does it make? The point is when Brian gave me the
news; my first thought was of you. It's difficult for a guy to say he
loves someone - especially a road guy. But to put it plain and blunt
like I always have with you Vic, I love you enough to want to marry
you. I'm awfully set in my ways and I have got some habits I don't know
if I can break or not but I'll work damn hard to make you love
me."

It was a fumbled proposal but it was good enough for Victoria Palmer.
Patrick was not the man she would have settled for when she was
younger, but as she grew elder she began to notice her own failings
also, and was intelligent enough to realise that marriages are not held
together by perfection. There are advantages and downfalls, just as
long as the faults work together.

"Are you asking me to marry you Patrick?"

"I don't know, I've never asked anybody before, but I suppose that's
what I'm doing Vic, what do you say?"

"Well, if you're sure?" She turned her face away. "I have been around
the block a few times myself, Patrick. I've been alone for so long and
I'm a little set in my ways. Perhaps we both have a lot to learn. It
would be a good idea if we start afresh."

"What are you saying, Vic?"

"There's a lot we have got to discuss - shall we stop at the Indian
take-away? I know you like Indian food?"