CHERRY BLOSSOM GROVE : PART THREE

PART THREE

(Hermione’s Lounge)

(Betty and Jasper and Hermione enter lounge with suitcases)

Betty : Oh that seemed to be a long flight. Well here we are again. I’m glad to be home. How about you, Jasper?

Jasper: Yes, Betty. There’s no place like home. You can travel the whole world yet nothing can beat a cuppa in front of the fire in your own home.

Hermione : Can’t you make it up to your flat?

Betty : I thought you’d like us to come in with you for a bit, Hermione.  No one likes to arrive back to an empty room.

Hermione : No,  Mum, you’re right. I’ll put on the gas fire and we can unwind for a bit.

(Hermione goes over to the gas fire and turns it on)

Jasper : I’ll have a brandy thanks, Hermione.

Hermione : Yes, Dad. Do you want anything, Mum?

Betty : I’ll have the same as your father.

Hermione : Three brandies coming up.

(Hermione pours three brandies from the cocktail cabinet)

Betty : How do you think our men will have been, Jasper?

Jasper : They’ll have been alright.

Hermione : ‘Our men’, Mum? They are paying guests.

Betty : They are still our men. No one else wants them.

Jasper : We are doing them a great service, you know, Hermione, taking them off the streets. They could have ended up in cardboard boxes under the embankment.

Hermione : I didn’t think it was that bad. Hasn’t one of them got quite a good job?

Jasper : Maybe he has but he has nowhere to live. They don’t own property, Hermione, property’s the thing. It’s what your mother and I have as we get older to act as a cushion against inflation. The more money we need the more we’ll put up the rent. The property we own in Primrose Terrace as well as this one keeps us in the style to which we have become accustomed.

Hermione : How many rooms are let in Primrose Terrace?

Jasper : Seven.

Hermione : I suppose if you ever needed a lot of money you could just sell it.

Jasper : I don’t think that will happen, Hermione. It’s to be parrt of your inheritance.

Hermione : Would you like another brandy, Dad?

Jasper : I won’t say no, Hermione.

Betty : I need topping up too, love. Thanks.

Hermione : I think they are two nice men in the flats here, Mum, don’t you?

Betty : Yes. The student  Justin is so clever. He’s always buying books. He buys them second-hand in that bookshop in town. I say to Jasper there are so many you won’t be able to get into that room soon. He’s so good-looking too. I bet you’ve noticed, Hermione.

Hermione : Well yes, I have actually, but he’s a bit young, Mum. I think Ewan, the man that works at Barringtons, is just as handsome and well, more experienced.

Betty : Don’t you mean more mature?

Hermione : Okay, it’s the same thing.

Betty : You have a failed marriage behind you, Hermione, you don’t want to be looking for an attachment.

Jasper : Besides, factory work won’t keep you in the right sort of style, will it?

Hermione : Don’t be a snob, Dad. Maybe it’s relatively well-paid.

Jasper : No property, Hermione. Property’s the thing.

Hermione : Mmm.......he is getting older too, Ewan. I’d say he was thirty-five at least, maybe more.

Jasper : Exactly . A man who hasn’t settled down by that age is no good.

Betty : Bad news, Hermione. We have them as guests not family members.

(Hermione clears up the glasses and closes the cocktail cabinet)

Hermione : I’m tired, Mum, Dad.

Betty : You’re bound to be, love.

Hermione : I’ve got to write to that waiter tomorrow. I don’t want to leave it too long as he asked me to let him know when we arrived home.

Betty : Oh forget it. What does it mean – a waiter showing an interest in a pretty girl? He would chat up hundreds of girls, I should think.

Jasper : Your mother’s right. You best forget it. We don’t want to be messing with foreigners, certainly not when we’re back in good old England. Forget it, Hermione.

Hermione : Maybe you are right. It’s probably best to concentrate on things in hand.

Betty : Well there’s nothing in hand here, Hermione, you best go to bed. Get your rest and we’ll see you in the morning.

Jasper :  Your mum’s right, we’ve had a great holiday but you’re going to have to go back to work soon, Hermione, so get your rest. We are here if you need us.

Betty : Yes, just above as always, Hermione, just up above.

(Betty and Jasper leave the room)

(Hermione is left on her own for a minute or two during which time she opens up her suitcase and takes some things out of it)

(Ewan knocks at the door. Hermione opens it)

Ewan : I was just passing. Everything alright?

Hermione : Yes, fine. The holiday was fine.

Ewan : Good, I’m glad you had a good time. Justin and I watched the raindrops coming down the windows, taking bets on which drop would reach the bottom soonest.

Hermione : Oh it never rained in Turkey.

Ewan : No I didn’t think it would. Are Betty and Jasper alright?

Hermione : Yes.

Ewan : I haven’t seem them yet.

Hermione : They’ve gone to bed.

Ewan : Oh, I’ll see them tomorrow then.

Hermione : I was wondering if you and Justin would like to come up for an hour or two tomorrow. We could play backgammon.

Ewan : I’m not sure I know how.

Hermione : I’ll show you.

Ewan : Oh good, I’ll tell Justin then. I’m sure he would like to.

Hermione : I’ll see you then. I’m tired now, Ewan. See you about eight tomorrow.

 Ewan : Bye.

Hermione : Bye.

(Ewan leaves the room, Hermione smiles delightedly when he’s gone)

(Next day : Ewan and Justin’s kitchen)

Ewan : She wants us to play backgammon, Justin.

Justin : Backgammon? How on earth do you play that?

Ewan : No idea. She’ll probably teach us.

Justin : She hasn’t asked us up to her lounge before.

Ewan : I think she’s interested, Justin. I can tell by the way she looks at me. She’s definitely thinking of me and her as an item.

Justin : Maybe she likes me. She has asked both of us.

Ewan : I doubt it, Justin. You’re too young for her. She’s a mature woman, after me, a mature male. I don’t think she wants to be too obvious. I think that’s why she’s asked you along.

Justin : Camouflage?

Ewan : Exactly. I’m the real thing, the real prize a woman craves.

Justin : She must be a ‘cravin’ lunatic’.

Ewan : Jealous again.

Justin : No, I’m just being realistic, while you persist with your dream world.

Ewan : You’ll see – we’ll be good together.

Justin : Tamsin didn’t last long.

Ewan : Nothing’s changed about Tamsin. I still like her. I probably even like her more, though it’s difficult to compare them. Hermione is showing an interest in me that’s all, it’s not my fault.

Justin : All you had to do was say no to backgammon. I’ve got a book on backgammon. I’ll read it before tonight.

Ewan : You read about everything, Justin. Just wait and do it.

Justin : How can you do it at all if you don’t read about it.

Ewan : We’ll just pick it up as we go along.

Justin : Mmm........... maybe.

Ewan : There’s no maybe about it. Hermione will be the perfect teacher – we, her willing pupils.