Chapter Fourteen - Catherine Collier's Car Share

Tuesday 14^th November

When Catherine came out of the railway station at Winchester, Ralph was waiting for her, as promised.  She heard the horn beep and saw him waving from the driver’s seat, just visible in the glow of the street lights.

‘Good day?’ he asked, as she got in.

‘Worse than yesterday,’ she answered.  ‘If I had started it with any lingering thoughts of working in care, I think that’s pretty much settled me against it.  I do have a certificate, though.’

‘A certificate to confirm that wild horses wouldn’t drag you to a care assistant’s job?’  He started the car.  ‘That’ll be useful!’

‘A certificate to say I’ve done the course, which I’m strongly encouraged to mention on my CV.  It’s supposed to make me more employable.’

Catherine didn’t see how.  The piece of card in her bag seemed poor reward to two long days of travelling and sitting on hard chairs under glaring fluorescent light, watching interminable PowerPoint presentations and doing excruciating role-play exercises with equally bored jobseekers.  The only good thing to come out of it had been an unexpected lift home from Ralph, who had seen her walking down from the local station the previous evening, given her a lift home and repeated his offer of transport to and from Winchester.  This time, she had accepted, giving her the benefit of a few extra minutes in bed this morning and a pleasant journey in. 

Ralph, who worked for the county council’s planning department, had chatted as much as the needs of the journey would allow.  Catherine, who had judged him to be an amiable if slightly out-of-touch fellow, had learned little to revise her opinions.  He had been married but now was not, a situation which he didn’t dwell upon but which seemed to have been his ex-wife’s decision.  He had a daughter, slightly younger than her two, who he visited on alternate weekends.  He admitted to occasionally finding himself lost for ideas to entertain her.  She had made a few suggestions, based on her daughter’s interests, which had taken them as far as the station and her train. 

Catherine, who seemed to have picked up a cold, blew her nose.  ‘At least it’ll keep Colin happy.’

‘Colin?’ asked Ralph.

‘My work coach.’

‘Sounds important!’

‘He isn’t.  He’s the bloke at the jobcentre who decides if I’m being a good girl or not.  I thought he was being reasonable and helpful, until he sent me to do this ridiculous course.’  Catherine hoped she wasn’t sounding workshy.  ‘It’s not that I’ve got anything against care work or care workers; they do a vital and undervalued job.  And it’s not that I think I’m too good for it and shouldn’t have to get my hands dirty.’

‘I’m sure nobody who’s seen you on the allotment thinks you’re afraid to get your hands dirty,’ replied Ralph.

‘You know what I mean,’ Catherine answered.  ‘I don’t want to be snobbish about it.’

‘I don’t think it’s snobbish to want a career, not just a job,’ he answered.  ‘You worked in housing earlier this year, didn’t you?  That’s what Lionel said, anyway.’

‘Yes, that’s right.’  Catherine had wondered who his source might have been.  ‘It was a short-term appointment through an agency.  I hoped it would get me back up to speed, after quite some time away.  It’s what I used to do.’

‘Before you had your family?’

‘Not that long ago.  I still worked when the girls were younger.’

Catherine hoped Ralph wouldn’t ask her why she stopped.  She couldn’t think of an uncomplicated reply.

Just as Ralph seemed about to say something, the volume on the radio jumped up and a traffic announcement warned of a breakdown and heavy congestion on the M27 eastbound.

‘I wonder if we ought to go along the old road?’ Ralph wondered aloud.  ‘I’ll need to start moving over, if so.’

‘It sounds like it’s further along than our turning,’ Catherine replied.  ‘We might as well stay where we are.’

They joined the back of stationary traffic just after passing their last potential escape route.  ‘Sorry,’ said Catherine.

‘It’s not your fault.  I didn’t have to listen to you!’

Another traffic announcement clarified the location of the problem.  Catherine called home to warn the girls she was going to be late.

‘I expect the girls will get dinner ready for you,’ said Ralph.  ‘That’ll give you a break after your rotten day.’

‘I should be so lucky!’

Catherine couldn’t imagine any such thing happening.  In fact, she sincerely hoped they wouldn’t try.  There was almost nothing in the fridge except a just-out-of-date loaf she had rescued from the Co-op first thing, when she went round for milk, and the chicken left from the roast.  Her plan had been to make this into a casserole with some potatoes and a tin of mixed beans she had found at the back of a cupboard.  Tomorrow should be payday.  She would do a big shop on her way back from her interview and allow herself a fiver for a taxi home from Tesco.

‘Have you tried the spaghetti squash yet?’ asked Ralph.

‘Not yet.  I found a nice recipe online, but it needed a few things I haven’t got,’ she replied.

‘You don’t have to do anything fussy with them,’ Ralph suggested.  ‘They’re quite nice with a knob of butter and some grated cheddar cheese.  If you want to add fancy fillings, like pancetta or pine nuts and proper parmesan cheese, you can do, of course.  If you could do with something that’s fairly quick and tasty after a long day, and the girls haven’t done anything already, they could be just the job.  You’d have a spare half for your lunch tomorrow too.’

‘I’m not sure if I’ve got any cheese,’ Catherine answered.  She knew she didn’t.

‘I don’t mind waiting if you want to dash into Tescos.’

‘I’m doing my big shop tomorrow.  I’ll get some then.’

They shuffled forward a few yards, tail lights glowing red ahead and all around.

‘I hope you don’t mind me saying,’ Ralph said, when they had been stationary for a few moments.  ‘But all the chaps on the allotment think you’re bearing up remarkably well.’

‘Thank you.’  Catherine didn’t know what else to say.

‘We were delighted when you decided to keep the plot on, you know.  Will had done such a lot to it, it seemed only right that you should get the benefit of all his hard work.’

Catherine didn’t reply.

‘I don’t mean you haven’t done lots yourself,’ Ralph continued, guessing his mistake.  ‘You have.  Considering it’s your first season, you’ve done splendidly.’

‘Thank you.’

‘I hope it’s been a comfort to you.’

‘In a way, yes, it has.’

‘I’m glad.  He was a good chap.  We all miss him.’

Ralph, of course, would only have seen the public face of William Collier.   

‘You’ve all been very kind.  Keeping the plot neat, the flowers, helping with all those wretched potatoes!’

Ralph smiled.  ‘It’s the least we could have done.  Don’t ever be afraid to ask for help, with the allotment or anything else.’

‘That’s very kind.  Thank you.’

‘Bernie said to remind you that he’s free during the day, so if you need a lift anywhere, he can run you there.  Did you say something about an interview tomorrow?’

‘I don’t like to bother him.’  A lift to her interview the next day would have been useful but she had the money for her fares; her expenses had been refunded, as Colin had said.  ‘What I could have done with was two days of relevant work experience, instead of this course.’

‘Why send you to something you don’t want to do?’

‘You know how it is.  After you’ve been out of work for a little while, you’re expected to grab the next job that comes along, regardless of where your skills and interests lie.’

The traffic crept forward again.   Ralph turned the radio up for the news.

‘Would it help you if they slowed down the roll out of this Universal Credit thing?’ he asked, after a short item mentioning there was to be a Parliamentary debate the following day.

‘I’m not sure that it would.  I’m already getting it.’

‘Really?  I thought you would receive a widow’s pension.’

‘I do.  I get a widowed parent’s allowance, but it’s not nearly enough to live on, so  I get Universal Credit on top, to help me look after the girls and pay my rent.  That’s why I have to do what Colin tells me.’

‘I suppose he would say you can’t let people laze about on the dole,’ said Ralph.  ‘On the other hand, when you’ve got someone genuine with experience and a career plan, like you, you’d think they would trust you.  Couldn’t you have skipped this silly course and done your volunteering instead?’

‘Not without a sanction.’

‘I’ve heard of those.  I thought they were for giving a nudge to characters who aren’t trying hard enough to find work.’

Catherine explained that wasn’t always the case.  ‘Colin, my work coach, actually threatened me with one if I didn’t go on this course,’ she said. 

‘That’s diabolical!  You’ve got children to support.’

‘That doesn’t stop you being sanctioned, although they say it’s my money they stop, not theirs.  I looked up the consequences, to see if I could afford to risk it.  I would have been fined ten pounds a day, for four weeks, I think.’

‘Almost three hundred pounds for missing a course!’ Ralph was incredulous.  They’d never get away with doing that to us.  The union would be up in arms.’

Catherine remembered having the support of a union.  Claimants weren’t so fortunate.

‘The same can happen if I don’t apply for the number of jobs I’m supposed to, or if I don’t spend enough time looking, or if I don’t apply for something Colin tells me I should.’  Catherine explained.  ‘I bet I’ll have lots of lovely care assistant jobs in my inbox when I get in tonight.’

‘And you’ll have to apply for them?’

‘Oh, yes.  It’s a definite sanction if I don’t.  He sent me two yesterday.’

‘You were training all day yesterday.’

‘I’m expected to spend at least thirty-five hours each week looking for work.  I’m not sure that they count the hours on the course towards that.’

‘That would be jolly unsporting!’

Catherine laughed.  That Ralph expected her to be treated sportingly by her work coach was further evidence of how cosy his life must be.

‘This Colin fellow seems a nasty piece of work to me,’ he added.  ‘Can you ask for someone else to deal with?’

‘He isn’t really.  He’s probably got targets to meet and his boss giving him a hard time.’

‘He shouldn’t be bullying you, targets or not.  He does know what you’ve been through, doesn’t he?’

‘He does.’  Catherine didn’t have the heart to tell Ralph that Colin probably had a better insight into that than he did.  She had been very frank with him during her first interview.

The traffic nudged forward again.  Ralph indicated and tried to edge into inside lane, where he could access the long slip-road off of the motorway.  Nobody seemed willing to let him move over.

‘Come on, you miserable devils!’ he sighed.

‘You’ll have to be more assertive,’ Catherine said, a little impatiently.  ‘If you start to move across, someone will have to let you out.  We’re only going slowly.’

‘As long as you’re quite sure.  I didn’t want to do anything rash with you on board.’

Of course, he wouldn’t.  Poor Ralph was again trying to be extra thoughtful.  He was, although he couldn’t know it, trying much too hard.  She didn’t need any more sympathy on Will’s account.   

Ralph manoeuvred across as Catherine had suggested, and not at all rashly.  Once on the slip-road, they made better progress, but Catherine was still going to be late home. 

‘Actually, Ralph,’ Catherine said, as they came over the railway bridge just up the road from the allotments.  ‘If you wouldn’t mind, I would like to pop into the Co-op for some cheese, just in case I haven’t got any.  I think I might try your roasted squashes tonight.’

‘That’s no trouble at all,’ he said.  ‘I really wouldn’t have minded waiting while you did your main shop, if you had wanted.  I would have been quite happy listening to The Archers and Front Row.’

Catherine was sure he would have been.  She was genuinely grateful for his kindness and well-meaning offers of assistance.

‘In fact, unless you have other plans, perhaps you would like to join us for dinner?’ she added, after a moment’s hesitation.  ‘After all, I’m going to have four cooked squash halves and only three mouths to feed, and I shall be out all day tomorrow.  You can make sure I prepare and cook them properly.’

‘I say, how very generous of you,’ Ralph replied, seeming to overlook the fact that he had gifted her the vegetables in the first place.  ‘I would be delighted.  You will let me do the decent thing and buy something for afters, won’t you – and perhaps a bottle of something?’

‘Just a sweet, if you don’t mind.  We don’t drink during the week.’

Ralph arriving for a meal with a bottle of wine would cause an absolute scandal with the girls.  Catherine would get more than enough trouble from them as it was.