Matchmaking for Babies
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#1: Matchmaking for Babies Author: EilidhLocation: Macclesfield PostPosted: Wed Apr 26, 2006 8:40 pm


February, 1955

David Russell hurried through the park on his way to a lecture. It was a cold February day, and the sky was covered by grey clouds. A biting wind blew and he pulled his coat tightly around him. He was running late, having slept in and missed the bus he should have caught. He had already missed one lecture, and was anxious not to miss another. He was walking fast, with his head down and reciting the things he was supposed to have learned for this lecture.

Natalie Mensch walked in the opposite direction through the big park, the hood of her long coat pulled up around her head. She was reading a letter from the sister next in age to her as she walked, and paid no attention to her surroundings. She was brought up short as she crashed into a young man, sending the pile of books he was carrying crashing to the ground.

“Oh, I’m dreadfully sorry!” she exclaimed, bending down to help collect them. “I didn’t…” she broke off as their eyes met and they stared at each other.

“David Russell!” she exclaimed. He nodded, looking puzzled, until she pushed her hood back and suddenly enlightenment dawned.

“Natalie Mensch!” he said, his face clearing. “I didn’t recognise you at first – you’ve had all your hair cut off!” She laughed self consciously and touched the short brown bob.

“I did it when I came to University.” She explained. “Mater and Vater were cross, but they couldn’t make me put it back!” He laughed.

“It’s so long since I’ve seen you – look, I’m late for this lecture anyway, shall we go and get a coffee somewhere and catch up?”

“That would be great.” She smiled, taking the arm he offered as they set off back the way she had come, catching up on family news as they went.

“There’s a nice place just in here.” she said, as they went down a side street. He agreed and they went in and found themselves a seat.

“It’s snowing.” she remarked, when he came back from ordering coffee and sandwiches for them both. He looked out.

“It never snows here like it did in Austria.” he said.

“Do you remember anything about it?” Natalie asked. “We were just babies when we had to leave.”

“I remember the snow.” he smiled. “Peggy and Rix and I used to play with Auntie Jo and Robin in the school holidays.”

“I’ve never been back.” She said, wistfully. “It’s strange, here I am at twenty one and I’ve not seen my own country since I was about four. I’ve been in Switzerland, of course, at St Mildred’s. Thank you.” She added to waitress who had brought their coffees. “One of these days I’m going back to the Tiernsee,” she said, watching the snow swirling outside the window.

“It would be nice.” he agreed. They talked continuously as they had their meal, which Natalie insisted on paying for half of.

“Vater gives me an allowance, I can afford to.” she explained. He insisted on walking her back to her rooms through the ever thickening snow, and as they reached a stretch of open ground she put out a gloved hand and scooped some snow from a nearby wall. Moulding it into a ball she suddenly stopped, dashed back a few yards, and then threw with perfect aim to hit him on the back of the head. Laughing, he put down his books on the clear spot and retaliated, chasing her all over the open area. She got far more hits then he did, and eventually he gave in.

“Remind me never to play cricket with you.” He said as they sat on the wall in the snow to get their breath back. She laughed merrily.

“Gisel’s the cricket genius in our family” she explained. “I had a letter from her this morning complaining that she had to play hockey at school this term. That’s what I was reading when I crashed into you.”

“I’m glad you did.” he said, honestly. “I’ve had a far nicer time with you than I would have had at my lectures. I’ll make it up tomorrow – copy the notes from someone.” They resumed their walk.

“Will you come in?” she asked. “It’s snowing harder than ever and your soaked. Come and dry off anyway. He accepted gratefully and settled himself in a chair in her tiny kitchenette while she changed out of her wet things in the other room.

“That’s better.” She said, returning in dry clothes and scrubbing her hair with a towel. Her feet were bare and she looked relaxed. “It’s not much.” She said, with an apologetic glance around.

“It’s better than where I am.” David protested. “A kitchen of your own – and two rooms! I have a bedroom-study that’s about half the size of this, and I share the rest of it with Rix. And it’s tiny.”

“More coffee?” she asked, setting to work.

“Please.” he replied. “Do you need any help?”

“You could put the fire on.” she said, indicating an small electric fire in a corner beside two armchairs. He obliged, and settled himself in one of the chairs as she came over carrying the steaming mugs.

“Warm us up.” she smiled, sitting in the other chair and curling her legs up underneath her. They sipped at their coffee in companionable silence.

“How would you like to go out for dinner sometime?” David asked suddenly. She looked surprised, and he immediately regretted asking. “I’m sorry, forget I asked.”

“No,” she protested. “I was about to say that would be really nice. I’d like that. When will we go?”

“Tomorrow?” David asked, hopefully. She smiled and agreed, and they set a time and a place before he took his leave.

During the long walk back to his own rooms, David thought continuously about the following night. He didn’t know what had possessed him to ask her for dinner – other than that they had such a nice afternoon and, he admitted to himself, she was much prettier than he remembered. He began to look forward to the following night.

The next afternoon Natalie opened the doors of her small wardrobe and sat down on her bed to stare at it.

“Nothing!” she exclaimed after a while, and went to wash her hair. That done, she returned to the wardrobe and this time started removing things from it one at a time, holding each up in front of her and then discarding it as not pretty enough, not fashionable enough, too childish.

“If only there was something else!” she sighed when she had discounted the entire contents of the wardrobe. She stared around the room, looking for inspiration, when she spotted a dress hanging over the back of a chair. Her mother had given her it on her last trip home and she had forgotten all about it. It was a pretty green colour which went well with her eyes and hair, and had a skirt which fell to just below her knees.

“It’ll have to do.” she decided, picking it up. She gave a glance at the pretty watch on her wrist, and then gasped and started changing at top speed. She paused long enough to add the minimum of make up to her face before flying out of the door.

David, meanwhile, had gone to the lengths of ironing a shirt, which naturally brought comment from his cousin.

“You going out?” he asked, perching himself on the kitchen worktop. David nodded, his forehead furrowed in concentration.

“Dinner.”

“That’s not like you. Who is it? Anybody I know?” David finished what he was doing before replying.

“Mmm. Natalie Mensch.”

“Natalie? Where did you come across her?” Briefly David related the events of the previous day.

“She’s doing music.” he finished up. “Finishes this summer.”

“Same as us, then.” Rix pointed out. David nodded.

“Give it your best shot.” Rix advised his cousin’s retreating back as he vanished out the door. As she had no plans himself for that night, he settled down with an overdue essay and forgot all about David for the remainder of the night.

David himself, meanwhile, rushed to the restaurant and then found he was twenty minutes early.

“Better early than late.” he told himself firmly, finding a sheltered place outside to wait for Natalie to arrive, which she did about ten minutes later.

“Am I late?” she asked, rather breathlessly. He shook his head.

“I was early. You look…you look beautiful.” she blushed.

“It’s nothing special. Will we go and have a seat?” he agreed and they went in. Natalie was oblivious to the heads that turned as she passed, but David noticed every one and feelings of jealousy and pride struggled within him. They had a nice meal, and at the end of it he ventured to suggest,

“We should do this again?” she nodded enthusiastically.

“What about next week?” she suggested. He agreed eagerly and suggested,

“How about you come to mine next week and I’ll cook?” she raised her eyebrows sceptically. “I can cook!” he protested. She laughed.

“All right then, let me know where and I’ll come and test you!” He gave her the details and they went outside.

“How are you getting home?” he asked.

“I’ll walk.” she replied. “It’s cheaper than anything else.” They set out together and were almost halfway to her flat when she realised that he was going out his way and protested.

”It’s dark.” he said. “You can’t walk home on your own.” She argued but he remained firmly stuck to her side until they got to the door.

“Thanks for tonight.” she said, almost shyly. “I’ve had a really nice time.” She stretched upwards and kissed him on the cheek then went inside and closed the door behind her.

“You’ve invited her here for dinner? You’re an awful cook!” was Rix’s response when he heard the new plan.

“I’m not that bad.” David protested.

“You’re terrible.” His cousin insisted. “What you cook is barely edible for us, never mind a guest. You must have been out of your mind!” and with that he left the room and went to write a long and involved letter to his twin sister telling her all about it.

The following week David rushed home after his last lecture of the day and set to work in the kitchen, confident that he could produce something they could eat. By the time Natalie arrived that particular illusion had vanished and he was struggling, Rix leaning against the kitchen wall and laughing at him. I addition he had managed to spill sauce down the front of his clothes and he was coming very close to losing his temper. When the doorbell rang he swore loudly and stormed through to answer it, ignoring his cousins teasing behind him.

“You look a bit harassed.” Natalie said as he helped her out of her coat. She had elected to dress casually that night and was wearing a loose blouse and trousers. “And a bit – spilled on.” she added, taking him in.

“The dinner’s not exactly a success.” He said, hoping honesty would rescue him. She laughed.

“How did I guess? You go and put some clean clothes on and then we’ll go and see what we can do with it. I’ll go and see Rix in the meantime.” By the time he returned to the kitchen, having struggled to find something clean to put on she was sitting at the table chatting cheerfully to Rix and drinking a large mug of tea. He noticed she was barefoot again, her shoes sitting in a corner of the kitchen. Rix tactfully made himself scarce when David returned and they were left in the kitchen alone while she did her best to produce something edible from the chaos and he followed her instructions.

“There you go.” she said eventually, as they surveyed a table which contained a poor relation of the extravagant dinner David had planned.

“Thanks. I tried to make it really nice for you.” he said looking down at the dark eyes below his own.

“It’s fine.” she smiled. “You tried.” She was very close to him and on impulse he bent his head and kissed her. She hesitated for a second then returned the kiss. Pulling away eventually, he looked at her rather apprehensively, but she just smiled and pushed him towards the table.

“You invite me to dinner, I have to rescue it, and then you let it get cold before we eat it?” she said, and laughing they sat down together.

They had a nice meal and then retired to the tiny sitting room where they searched through David and Rix’s combined music collection and then sat together on the sofa. She curled up close to him and he rather nervously put his arm around her shoulders, relaxing slightly when she put her hand up and interlinked her fingers with his. They sat quietly for the rest of the evening, enjoying the music and each others company.

At the end of the night he insisted on paying for a taxi to take her home, and she eventually accepted. He plucked up his courage to kiss her again before she left and this time she didn’t hesitate.

Rix, under the impression that Natalie had gone, arrived in the hall to quiz him and drew back hastily when he observed the scene – not entirely unusual in their hallway except that David was involved in it. Realising that this was going to be at least reasonably serious for his cousin, he slipped back upstairs and remained there until he heard the door bag and the car pull away.

September 1955

David and Natalie wandered hand in hand through the park where they had first met six months before. It was late evening and the September Sun was making long shadows on the grass.

“We have to go home soon.” Natalie sighed. Both had finished their courses and had passed well. They had stayed in London for as long as they possibly could, knowing that once they returned home they would see very little of each other, if anything at all. David nodded. She looked at him anxiously. He had seemed rather preoccupied for the last week or more, and refused to answer any questions about it.

“Let’s sit down.” he suggested. They settled themselves on a bench overlooking a small lake. “You know,” he continued. “Auntie Jo once suggested to your Mother that we should get married?” Natalie raised her eyebrows. “It’s true!” David insisted. “When we were babies, she said Mum and your Mother should make sure we got married when we grew up.” Natalie laughed.

“I can just imagine her matchmaking for two babies like that.” she said.

“Would you like to?” David asked, almost shyly. She looked at him for a few seconds, robbed of her breath. “I have a practice – I’m going to be a GP.” he gabbled. “I’ll be able to give you things and we’ll be able to get a house and if you just say yes…” She leant forward and put a finger on his lips.

“I’d love to.” she replied. “Oh, David!” He let out a whoop and leapt to his feet, picking her up and swinging her round in his arms to the amusement of an elderly couple who were strolling along the path, before kissing her soundly.

“You have to ask Vater.” she said, when they ahd both recovered themselves a little. “He’s very traditional.” David nodded.

“I expected that. We go home tomorrow, so I’ll find out from Dad when he’s not at the San and come and speak to him.

The next week saw him marching purposefully up the path to the house in the Black Mountains where the Mensch’s lived. From the upstairs window Natalie saw him coming and waved, smiling encouragingly. David suddenly realised that he was more apprehensive about speaking to Gottfried than he was about asking Natalie in the first place and swallowed nervously before knocking.

Gisela Mensch answered the door and she looked surprised to see him.

“Have you a message for Gottfried?” she asked, assuming he had come from his father.

“In a way.” he replied nervously. There was a noise from the top of the stairs and Gisela glanced sharply upwards to see Natalie crouched on the landing peering anxiously through the banisters. She raised her eyebrows, but contented herself with

”Are you twenty one or two, young lady?” before going to find her husband.

In the end, David found himself in Gottfried’s study while that man stood facing him and Gisela sat in an armchair to one side,

“Well?” Gottfried asked, with just a trace of a German accent. “What is it you want?”

“Please, I would like to marry your daughter.” David said, going straight to the point. He had spent a long time thinking it through and had eventually decided that there was no point in beating around the bush. Gottfried raised his eyebrows.

“And does she want to marry you?” he demanded.

“Yes, that is, I think so…” David stammered.

“Gottfried, do not tease him!” Gisela said. “I remember well the day you came to see father.” Gottfried relaxed and laughed.

“Well, if Natalie is agreeable then I don’t see why not.” he said. “Though your Auntie Jo will laugh!” David nodded, trying hard to stop the grin spreading across his face. Gottfried went suddenly to the door, opened it and called out sharply.

“Natalie!” she arrived within seconds, looking anxious.

“Are you agreeable to this young man’s wishes?” he asked, looking stern. Natalie looked from her father to David, who was grinning widely, and gave a shriek of delight, throwing herself on both of them in turn.

February 1956
The tiny Catholic Church in Armiford was packed to overflowing. David stood at the front with Rix beside him, looking pale. There was no sign of Natalie and he was beginning to worry.

“Calm down.” his cousin hissed from behind him. “And try not to look like you’re at your funeral instead of you wedding!” David managed a weak smile. His parents sat side by side in the front row, with Sybil, Josette, Ailie, Kevin and Kester. By turning slightly, he could see the rest of his family almost filling half of the church, all who had been able to come. How would it look if he were humiliated in front of them all?

“You’re doing it again.” Rix said in his ear. There was the sound of a car engine outside and Gisela rushed in with her sons, taking the seat opposite the Russell’s. She gave David an encouraging smile and he felt his heart lift as the organ sounded and Natalie appeared at the Church door on her fathers arm, her sisters behind her. Her dress fell in folds around her – it was perfectly simple and the subject of many a battle between Gisela and Natalie. David felt himself smile as she approached him and the service began.

He remembered very little of it – the next thing he knew they were signing the register and walking hand and hand out of the church to the village hall where Gisela had arranged, to the delight of her daughter and several of the guests – a traditional Austrian wedding reception. As he danced around the room, Natalie in his arms, listening to her teasing him about dancing a Schulplatter he knew that he had made the right decision about how he wanted to spend the rest of his life.

March 1956
Natalie Mensch – for the last week Natalie Russell – sat on the veranda of the Kron Prinz Karl and gazed out with delighted eyes over her birthplace.

“I can’t believe you remembered what I said that very first time I met you in London!” she exclaimed.

“I remembered.” her new husband smiled.

“You couldn’t have picked a better place for our honeymoon.” she said. “Thank you.” He moved over to put his arm around her and they sat together, watching the sun go down over the Tiernsee.

 


#2:  Author: patmacLocation: Yorkshire England PostPosted: Wed Apr 26, 2006 10:52 pm


Aaahhh! That was lovely. Thank you Eilidh!

 




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