Parcel for you...Part 35

 

There was a fresh quietude in the house with Annie gone, despite spending much of her time at her father’s house during the final weeks of her visit. Vanessa concluded that it was because she was going abroad again, to another continent, it meant that the silence was deeper, the gap between them long and unfathomable. It was just like the other times, her daughter like a satellite somewhere else in the world, stars and seas separating them. She’d get used to it of course and focus on the fact that Annie was doing exactly what she wanted. 

 

Vanessa tentatively entered her bedroom, observed the crumbs on the carpet, the unmade bed and crumpled dressing gown which smelled of that musky perfume, notes of patchouli and sage, a pile of lifeless tickets in the bin, remnants of thousands of miles of worldly public transport; trains, rickshaws, yaks. She made a half-hearted attempt to make the room look neater but instantly regretted it and tried to put back how it was. There was always the thought at the back of her mind that Annie wouldn’t return. After a deep sigh, she left, resigned to tackle the room at a later date.

 

Annie had sent her a message from the airport, ‘Hi Mum, it has been amazing being at home again, meeting Spencer and finding myself warming to a robotic stepfather of sorts (laughing emoji). You mustn’t be so self-conscious about being married to him, you chose it so embrace it. Please stop worrying about what people think and enjoy your relationship, treat him like a man rather than a machine. He’s funny and great to have around and could really help you unlock yourself.’

 

She ended the message with, ‘Getting on the plane now. Miss you already, wish me luck with the alpacas. I hope they like me. Message you when I’m there xx’

 

Vanessa felt a deep sense of peace from this communication and that there had been a positive shift in her relationships generally, less friction with her daughter and a more grown up, equal bond between them. It was so typical of Annie to add some level of bossiness to the message. What had been meant by, unlock yourself? Vanessa felt that she sort of knew but couldn’t put it into words or identify any particular factors which must be unlocked or perhaps she didn’t really want to face up to her own unlocked potential. In real tangible terms, it was Spencer who was dangerously prone to unlocking new levels for himself, as if excelling in some computer game in the land of humans. 

 

Her daughter had shown a little vulnerability too by confessing to worries about being liked by alpacas. Vanessa wondered if in fact this was code for having concerns about being accepted by the new people she would meet, other travellers, locals, whoever crossed her path.

 

Something had changed with herself and Spencer too. They weren’t necessarily closer but she was comfortably resigned to the fact that he was here to stay now. Through Annie’s casual meddling, she had introduced him to her mother, they had all laughed together and had some semblance of normal family conversations, they’d been to a festival. She accepted that even if he wasn’t quite what she’d been expecting, he was in her life to teach her things about herself.

 

Her thoughts returned to Steve and Lorenzo. It occurred to her that the name Lorenzo might have been chosen because he had spoken in Portuguese when Steve first removed him from the box and plugged him in, something Spencer had also done. She recalled the moment she unboxed her new husband, the ridiculousness of it and began smiling to herself. Worries in relation to the increasing and possibly sinister amount of power Spencer may or may not have, now seemed like an exaggeration, based on paranoia. 

 

It almost felt as if there were two opposing assumptions which ran consecutively through Vanessa’s consciousness. One was that Spencer was some sort of spy which she was manipulated into buying and existed for the purposes of gathering information, either on her or the world around her. The other, more plausible one, was that Spencer was simply there to serve her as a customer of Cybermates Worldwide and he was fitted with the most sophisticated software available for her own satisfaction. Steve, supposedly a very successful businessman, according to himself, surely wouldn’t jeopardise his own security by bringing a threatening robot into his life, into his perfect home.

 

She felt a need to invest time alone with her husband and was now determined to feel less self-conscious about being seen in public with him. Her birthday was coming up so she arranged that they go away together for one night in a country hotel, not too far away, in Wales. Some of the things Steve had said about getting out and about with Lorenzo, rang in her head and she had a sense of them both missing out on something. 

 

Spencer was seated on a bench in the garden, blinking in the autumn sunshine. He looked so gentle and inoffensive, no angry frown lines, his complexion was as smooth as a peach, no twitches or annoying sniffing, his body calm, still and welcoming. 

 

Vanessa opened the back door and called out to him. ‘Spencer, I’ve arranged for us to go on a micro-holiday for my birthday.’

 

He spun around to face her. ‘A micro-holiday, not a proper holiday then?’

 

‘It will be a proper holiday but just one night away. I don’t feel confident about taking you away for longer in case you malfunction and I can’t take care of you properly.’

 

‘Okay,’ Spencer nodded his head slowly, ‘but I must get you a birthday present, a surprise.’

 

‘No,’ Vanessa wasn’t keen to give Spencer any access to finances yet and was loath to infantilise him by giving him small amounts of cash like pocket money, ‘All I want is for you to do some reading and watch a few videos before hand, a bit of studying.’

 

‘Yes! I can do that with my eyes shut. What do you want me to study?’

 

She put her feet into her garden shoes and went and sat next to him on the bench. ‘I would like you to learn how to be more of a typical man. I don’t want to change any of your settings, not now that you are settled here, it’s too risky. I love who you are and the kind of person you are becoming but you could just be a bit more of a regular husband.’

 

‘I thought that wasn’t what you wanted, a regular husband and that’s why you ordered one like me.’

 

Vanessa paused for a moment to think. ‘That’s sort of true Spencer but my reasons for avoiding a real husband were partly about avoiding the negative effects of baggage.’

 

‘Baggage? I’ll need something to put my clothes into and my cartridges.’

 

‘No. I don’t mean suitcases, I’m talking about having a past and how it causes complications as you go through life, you carry things and it damages your future relationships. You’re like a clean slate and I know that anything you learn in regard to being a man, good or bad, will be from being with me and also from your studies. You don’t have a past life or any type of agenda.’

 

‘I don’t plan to learn bad things, not intentionally but how will I know?’

 

‘I get the feeling you have some sort of erm…some sort of inbuilt moral compass..’

 

‘Where is it we’re going? A satnav would be the best way to find it.’

 

Vanessa laughed. ‘I don’t know if you’re winding me up or not, Spencer.’ She studied his face but his expression was blank. ‘I mean you seem to know about what’s good and bad.’

 

‘I do have a sense of that, yes. There is no possibility of me being a serial killer or engaging in violence or theft. You know statistically the majority of those crimes are committed by men so perhaps that makes me less of a man.’

 

Vanessa shook her head. ‘No, not true. It’s just a very small percentage of men who do these things. I don’t want you to be perfect though. Most people can be annoying, especially on holiday, that’s when people have arguments.’

 

‘Oh,’ Spencer looked shocked, ‘Do you want us to have an argument?’

 

‘I don’t think so but when we’re out and about in public, you don’t have to be the perfect husband, it sort of makes you a bit eccentric.’

 

‘Oh, I think that’s good isn’t it?’

 

‘I suppose so but maybe you could also be, I don’t know, grumpy or we could have a fake argument, one without emotion.’ 

 

‘I will manage that but for you it might be a challenge.’