It hadn’t escaped Adrian’s notice, had warmed him, that Lenny already had a shortened name for him, even if it was the same one Nick used.
“No problem. Who doesn’t love a road trip? Hey, do you want me to take a turn at driving at some point? I’m cool either way.”
Lenny waited until the car had stopped at a set of traffic lights before answering.
“Let’s see how I get on when we stop for a break. I enjoy driving long distances—do it all the time—so it shouldn’t be a problem. But if you could be principal navigator, temperature controller and music selection director, then I’ll be very happy.”
“Now we’re talking. But first things first. Stay on this road and follow signs for the A11. Secondly, how about some 80s music? Let’s start with bands. Pop quiz. Which would you choose out of the following? Tears for Fears, Fine Young Cannibals, Fleetwood Mac or New Order. And let me just say, the answer to this question is vital if we are going to get along over the next couple of days.”
A playful grin blossomed on Lenny’s face. After taking one hand from the steering wheel and tapping his forefinger against his lips a couple of times, he nodded once.
“No competition. All of the above.”
“Congratulations, Mr Day. That is the correct answer.”
* * * *
Heavy downpours hampered their progress. Motorway traffic frequently came to a standstill due to the relentless deluge. Adrian noticed Lenny adhering strictly to speed limits and slowing when sudden heavy torrents hit, rendering his windscreen wipers almost useless.
To keep the mood light, he chose a channel with random songs from their youth and challenged Lenny to ‘beat the intro’, by guessing the song title from the opening bars. Lenny seemed to enjoy the game, his competitive streak shining through. Occasionally he would also sing along to a song, not particularly in tune and often using unintelligible lyrics. A couple of times he caught Adrian smirking at his effort, and laughed good-naturedly. Lenny even told stories of his life at the time when one particularly memorable song climbed the music charts. Adrian had nothing to reciprocate. His few good memories of the early eighties were eclipsed by those towards the end.
Around one o’clock, rather than stopping at one of the generic motorway service stations, Lenny took them off a slip road and found a small café in Bedford, one he had frequented before. Once again Lenny made a great choice, ordering them both mugs of hot tea and the lunchtime special of steaming beef and ale pie with mashed potatoes and garden vegetables.
Before leaving the café and darting back through the rain to the car, Adrian offered to take a turn at driving, but Lenny wanted to keep going. Adrian understood, noticing him content behind the steering wheel, negotiating roads and bends and safely overtaking slower vehicles.
* * * *
Later than anticipated, Lenny brought the SUV to a smooth stop outside the brightly lit Manor Inn pub. Silvery shards of heavy rain continued to fill the headlight beams. Without a word, he killed the wipers followed by the engine and after a shared look, they grabbed their bags from the back seat and, holding them over their heads, made a dash for the front door.
With only one entrance to the pub, they stumbled straight into the heart of the toasty-warm bar. Carpeted throughout and with dark-oak-framed furniture and a blazing open fire, the place felt homely but also conspicuously empty.
"Looks like a setting from a family film," said Lenny.
"Or a horror movie," added Adrian.
Lenny snorted and moved further into the room, spotting a young girl behind the bar slowly cleaning a single beer glass. Adrian didn’t hear what was said, but after a quick exchange of words, she called out to someone through an open doorway, before telling them to take a seat.
Minutes later, a woman with a large, black, bound ledger came out from a back room and waddled over to them. She wore pink-framed glasses on a gold chain and a long grey cardigan that had seen better days and which sat over a pale pink dress.
“Hello, my loves,” she said, taking a seat at their table. “Megan Llewellyn, landlady. My husband, Roger, normally deals with bookings, but he’s in Aberystwyth tonight at the national brewery convention, see? So you got me instead. Which of you’s Mr Day?”
“That’s me. I know the booking was last minute, but please tell me everything is okay? We don’t relish the thought of driving back to Norwich in this weather.”
“Know just what you mean. Raining knives and forks out there, it is. No, well, we got your booking okay. Only there is a slight problem.”
Lenny looked to Adrian, who shrugged and waited for Mrs Llewellyn to continue.
“One of the rooms you booked, the Burton Room, named after Richard Burton—all our rooms are named after famous Welsh people, see? Anyway, this one has the king-size bed and is situated at the front of the pub, overlooking the village green. Best room in the place, my Roger says, usually the most popular during the summer months when we’re at our busiest and—”
“Mam, get on with it, will you?”
The whiny voice came from the young girl behind the bar, who had put the towel over one shoulder and now leant on the counter behind the beer taps.
“You get on with cleaning them glasses,” she called back, before meeting the eyes of Adrian and Lenny. “Honestly, kids today think they know it all. Now, where were I?”
“The Burton Room.”
“Oh, yes. So. We had a down-pipe burst overnight right outside the bedroom window and rainwater came in through the frames and the ceiling. Weather’s been like this all week, see? Whole room got flooded. Only found out when I went to get the room ready a couple of hours ago. Even the carpet will need replacing, which means the room’s not habitable. I did try to contact you via the email you used—the telephone number gave me an unobtainable signal—but I imagine you were driving at the time. We have a single room in the attic, but we’re in the middle of redecorating that one. So we only have the one available room, the Dylan Thomas, which has twin beds and an en suite bathroom. Now is that going to be okay for you? Obviously, I’ll only charge for the one room.”
