He looks at the figure written down and then up at me. He cocks his head.
‘The community donated this much to a trivia club?’
I shake my head. ‘We’re not just a trivia club; we’re way more than that.’
‘Yeah, we make jam too,’ Ethel shouts unhelpfully.
‘I mean, we do a lot of charity work as well,’ I add, rolling my eyes. ‘Which I think is probably more in need right now than ever before. Look, people care.’
Beside me, Franny nudges me, ever so subtly.
‘Oh,’ I say hurriedly, ‘and of course Granny Franny is pretty well known around here. She’s kind of a big deal, so that helped draw in donations too.’ Franny puffs up self-importantly and a rumble starts behind me from Molly, so I quickly add, ‘Er, as areallthe wonderful women atFU. Especially those members here today. Molly here –’ I turn to gesture at the ladies on the sofa – ‘she worked in the local post office for forty-five years. Everyone knows her. Ethel there was a volunteer with Amnesty International when she was younger, and travelled all over the world helping with humanitarian crises. She’s a hero in the community. Annabel has volunteered in the local homeless shelter for half her life. She’s the reason we started doing our charity work in the first place. These women matter and they can’t be thrown out onto the street like they don’t. It’s not right.’ I take a deep breath and look Mr Canid dead in the eye. ‘Last week I saw young people working alongside pensioners, all for a common cause, and it was wonderful. They loved it. It expanded horizons on both sides of the age divide. There was so much connection, so much excitement and interest. I feel like we can learn so much from each other...’ I falter, knowing I’ve crossed over from normal levels of enthusiasm to Tom Cruise jumping up and down on Oprah Winfrey’s sofa.
But I keep going anyway. ‘I want this to be our chance to expand theFUgroup, open it up to younger members. I want us to include more of the community again – and Molly won’t stop us this time.’ I pause to pointedly ignore Molly’s harrumph. ‘I want us to get out there and help each other. I want to give the club a makeover, to get the youth and the elderly to spend time together. If you shut us down now, we can’t do any of that. It would all be a waste. All those connections made will fade and people will forget how important this was – how important itis.’
Mr Canid has been listening carefully, watching my face as I talk. He sighs now and looks down at the figures on the scrap of paper again.
There is a long, tense silence and everyone holds their breath.
‘OK,’ he says at last, resignation in his voice. ‘I think there might be something we can do. You’re very convincing, Ms Fox, very passionate! I’d offer you a job on the council if you’d take it.’ He smiles. He isn’t serious, but I still feel the warmth of the compliment.
‘It’s clear people around here care about your club, and I don’t want this new park to get in the way of such a wonderful thing—’
Molly interrupts from behind me. ‘Wait, young man, did you just say... park?’
He nods slowly.
I turn to see Molly’s eyes have both started watering. ‘You mean... you mean, you want to turn the youth club building back into... fields?’
Molly, Ethel, Annabel and Franny all look at each other.
He smiles. ‘Well, I mean, it’s a park, not a field,’ he says. ‘But yes, we at the council feel that too much land has been overtaken by unnecessary and derelict buildings in the area. We’d like to see a bit more of what we used to have around here – more open spaces – don’t you think?’
The women behind me are close to tears. If they were thirty years younger, they’d no doubt be trying to have sex with Mr Canid on his desk right now.
Actually, I’m surprised Franny isn’t.
‘Anyway, you were saying... ?’ I prompt him.
‘Well,’ he smiles again, ‘how about if we build you a new youth club, in the park? We can make it bigger and nicer, with better amenities. That place you’re in at the moment is a mess and practically falling down. We can make the new building your official Fuddy-Duddies United headquarters, and you can use it to work on this idea of yours to expand the charity and youth-centric side of things.’
Is this really happening?
He hands me back the piece of paper. ‘I’m really impressed with your fundraising efforts, Ms Fox, but you can keep the money. Invest it in the club.’ He looks thoughtful. ‘Maybe we could even work together on it? I’d like to talk to you more about that – bringing the young and old together. It sounds intriguing. I’ve been looking for something like that as a charity project to work on. It could even be a nationwide campaign. Would you be willing to work with me on this? I might actually really offer you a job, Ms Fox.’
We smile at each other and the group cheers behind me, talking excitedly among themselves.
Mr Canid leans across the desk to me. ‘Ms Fox, I’m sorry we’ve had issues over the phone. I know I’ve been difficult. I’ve been told I have very badBRV.’
Oh God, what on earth is that? Is it some kind of medical condition that I should know about? Maybe we could donate some of the funds we’ve raised towards helpingBRV?
‘Bitchy Resting Voice,’ he adds, and then he barks out a laugh.
I beam and put out my hand to shake his. He looks at it.
‘Oh,’ he says, and I swear he sounds a little disappointed. ‘Are we finished then? I should’ve dragged this meeting out a bit longer, shouldn’t I?’
He is twinkling at me. Twinkling as he slowly shakes my hand. He isFLIRTING WITH ME.
