When Andorra Pett met Cy.
Part Two.
Last week, I gave you the first part of the true story about how Andi and her trusty sidekick, Cy, first met.
All you had to go on before now were a couple of cryptic comments about a boozy lunch by the river while they were both at college. That wasn’t enough for one fan, who asked me for more details. It seemed like a good idea to flesh the story out. I started to do that last week.
If you missed it, you can find it here.
Now, read on.
When Andi met Cy. Part two.
With Maisie behind me, I pushed the door open. The pub was crowded.
Cy and his friend had a table in the corner and were chatting to the people sitting around them. Cy saw me and waved us over.
“Take a seat,” he said. “Red or white?”
“White,” I said. He looked at Maisie, she nodded. He waved at the bar. “Service,” he shouted. “More wine for over here, please, we’ll have another, and a bottle of white for these two. A couple of glasses as well.” A minute later, it arrived. The girl smiled at Cy as she put the bottles down. “Here you are,” she winked. Cy thanked her, and she strolled away, beaming like she had just met a rock star.
“How do you do that?” I asked him. “They always ignore me in pubs like this.” And that was when I was standing right in front of them, dying of thirst.
“I know,” said Daniel. “It makes me cringe, too, but he just gets away with it. They all fall over him.”
“You’re gay,” said Maisie. Cy’s eyebrows rose.
“She’s quick,” he said. “It took Andorra longer than that to work it out.”
“No, it didn’t,” I said.
“Whatever,” Cy laughed. He took a swig of his wine. “Cheers,” he said. “Oh, yeah, where are my manners. This is Daniel. Daniel, Andorra, the art and design student I told you about.”
What?
“Pleased to meet you, Andorra?” Daniel said. “Don’t worry, he only told me your name.”
“Call me Andi,” I said, liking him instantly. “This is Maisie Duncan. We’ve known each other forever. Maisie, Cy from college and his boyfriend, Daniel.”
We all said hello and drank more wine. It was time to find out a bit more about Cy’s friend.
“So, what are you doing, Daniel?” I asked.
“Me,” he said. “I work for a company called OLC.”
“I’ve heard of them,” said Maisie. “They’re the farms in space, aren’t they?”
“That’s us,” he said. “We’ve got four at the moment, and we’re looking to put one in the space station that’s being built to mine Saturn’s rings. Of course, that one won’t be ours, but we’ll run it for them. The platform will be jointly owned by a mining company and a university. The staff are going to need feeding, and they don’t have the expertise to do it themselves, or the ships to carry it.”
That was impressive, even I’d heard of OLC. They had been going for quite a few years now, taking food production out into space, leaving the land for people, and also, it cut down on the methane pollution. I wasn’t really interested, though Daniel was clearly excited by it. You could tell by the way his eyes shone as he spoke.
“Have you been into space, Daniel?” I asked him.
“Not yet,” he said. “I’m working in the ground support team, but I’d like to hitch a round-trip up there on a transport. We can do that, instead of taking one of the guided tours. How about you, Andi? Do you fancy going to one of the OLC farms for a look around?”
The idea of being in space, especially way out there orbiting Saturn, wasn’t high on my list of priorities. It might be the future, but it didn’t feel like it was mine. And cows in space, that just felt wrong, on so many levels.
“Not really,” I said, “I think I’d miss home too much.”
“Too right,” said Cy. “It must be awful, relying on a thin bit of metal to keep you alive.”
There was a moment’s silence. Daniel looked annoyed. I got the feeling this was a point of contention between them.
Cy poured more wine. “What are you doing, Maisie?” he asked.
“Health and social care at college,” she said.
“Why’s that?” said Cy. “Do you want to help people or just see lots of naked men?” He leaned forward, as if expecting a confidential and juicy reply.
“Or women,” said Daniel. “Pardon his gender typing.”
“Very original,” Maisie said. “I think I’ve seen that on a t-shirt. I’m doing it because I want to be a nurse.”
“I notice you’re not denying the motive, though,” Cy said, grinning.
Maisie shook her head. “Naked bodies will be a bonus, as long as they’re not too ill. So far, it’s all classroom stuff, and a bit boring.”
“I couldn’t do all that medical stuff,” said Daniel, “I wouldn’t mind the caring bit, but wounds and bodily fluids,” he shuddered.
“What are you doing at college, Cy?” asked Maisie. “Art and design like Andi?”
He shook his head, “Not me, tailoring and pattern-cutting. I want to make clothes for the stars.”
“He wants an excuse to measure inside legs, more like,” muttered Daniel. Cy punched his shoulder, “He knows me so well,” he said.
“I’ll tell you what, Andi,” said Daniel. “You should team up with Cy. Design, make and sell your own range of clothes. Set up a fashion label.”
Where did that come from? I had no such ambitions. I certainly hadn’t thought three years ahead. Then I remembered something I wanted to ask Cy.
“How did you know about the convent?”
“Never you mind,” he replied.
“But you said you’d tell me if I came in here for a drink.”
He shrugged. “I lied.” He topped my glass up and Maisie’s. “But I will tell you this. My dad met your father once, in Andorra, as it happens. Dad had been robbed, and your dad helped him get sorted out and get home.”
My father had been the Ambassador in Andorra. It was where I’d got my name from, same as him being in Argentina was the reason for my sister being called Argentia. I hadn’t told him, I hadn’t told anyone. I didn’t want people to think I was a posh bird.
“And you think that’s to do with me?”
“Well, it’s not much of a stretch, is it?” he said. “I mean, he was called Pett, and my Dad met him in Andorra. You’re called Andorra Pett. It sort of adds up, doesn’t it?”
“Fair enough,” I said. “You’re right. But how do you know about the convent?”
“Oh, that was just gossip. After all, you don’t look or act like a convent girl.”
“Convent girls,” said Maisie. “We were there together. And my dad worked with Andorra’s dad. He was on his staff.”
“Attaché,” I said.
“Bless you,” said Cy, as quick as you like. Daniel roared with laughter.
After that, it all got a bit confusing. There was wine and talk and more wine. When Maisie and I finally left, it seemed that Cy was just getting into his stride. Daniel was gazing blankly at the empty bottles on the table and shaking his head.
“Do you have to go?” he asked.
“I do,” I said. “Sorry and all that, but I have things I need to do.”
“So do I,” said Maisie, “But it was lovely meeting you both.”
“We’ll have to do this again,” Cy said, as we both got unsteadily to our feet. “See you on Monday, Andorra Pett.”
“That man’s lethal, he can drink wine like it’s water,” said Maisie as we held each other upright and moved down the road towards where she thought the tube station was.
“It was a good afternoon, though, wasn’t it?” I said. I was having trouble remembering half of what we had talked about.
“It was a great way to spend a Saturday,” she agreed. “And your mate Cy, he’s a lovely man.”
“He’s not my mate,” I said, “I see him at college, he’s always surrounded by people who aren’t as socially awkward as I am.”
“Well, he likes you,” she said. Her eyes shone. “You can tell.”
She paused for a second as gravity threatened to overwhelm us. We rocked for a while, as the road gently gyrated under us.
“He’s spoken for,” I said, “and definitely not my type.”
“I know all about that,” she said. “But, would you do it? You sounded interested,” she added.
I didn’t have a clue what she was on about. “Do what?”
“The clothes shop, with Cy, would you do it?”
I thought about it, or tried to, as everything settled back into place. I shook my head. “Not if it meant working with him, can you imagine the business lunches? I don’t think my liver could stand it.”
Of course, we all know what happened next.
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