Ten-Finger Exercises

Meeting Frederick

Wren met them at the door, and Margot was beaming.

“So, this is Frederick,” said Wren.

“So, this is Wren,” said Frederick, and they both laughed.

“If you’ll excuse me a moment, I was just on my way to the kitchen. Help yourself to a glass of something, Margot will show you, and then head on out to the garden. I’ll join you in a few minutes.”

Frederick is handsome, thought Wren, and very nicely dressed. Tall and thin, he looked elegant in the nicely tailored suit, the immaculate white shirt and navy silk foulard tie.

“Did Margot make you dress up like that to impress us?” Wren teased as she returned.

Margot made a face. “No, I told him to come casual, but he said…”

“I didn’t have time to change. I had a presentation to do in the city.”

“And what kind of a presentation would that be, if you don’t mind my asking?”

“The one today was for a new line of pasta sauces.”

“So, you’re in advertising!”

“Yes, didn’t Margot tell you? She told me everything about you.”

Wren peered at Margot, and Margot gave a little shrug.

“Do you work in the city every day?” she asked.

“No, not usually. I do a lot of my work at home. And you? You aren’t in every day either, are you?”

“I only work part time, and that suits me more and more.”

“How’s that?”

“It gives me time to write.”

“So, you write too. Margot told me that Rupert is a poet, but I didn’t know you were a writer.”

“She blogs,” Margot said.

“Well, that’s writing,” Wren protested. “And I do other things too, but maybe you didn’t know that.”

“What other things do you do?” asked Frederick.

“I’ve written poetry for years, and I’m trying to learn to write fiction. “

“Tell me more,” he said.

“Right now, I’d better go be seeing about dinner.”

“Good. Then he can pay attention to me again,” said Margot.

...

“What I’d like to hear about, if you don’t mind, is your job at the hospital,” Frederick continued later.

“I can tell you what it was like, but I work for hospice now.”

“Maybe a little bit of both, then. I need some background about people in traumas and people who are dying.”

“Frederick, that sounds gruesome,” said Margot. “I’m not a bit interested in that.”

“It will be very helpful to me, Margot, and I’ll, uh, try my best to amuse you later.”

...