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“You must be Laars Ulrich; how nice to meet you.” The young man nervously returned the smile, handing her the flowers at the same time.
“Good afternoon Mrs. Flowers, it is really kind of you to have me for the whole of the Christmas vacation.”
“Nonsense dear, we will be glad of the company and there will be plenty of room once the politicians have gone.”
“You have guests coming? Matt said that he thought that there was nothing planned.”
“It’s all been arranged at the last minute. Something to do with the Maratusse crisis I think. I do not understand these things myself, but my husband Max will be able to tell you who is coming. Now let’s all have a nice cup of tea before you unpack.”
“So how many are coming tomorrow, Dad and what’s going on?”
“I’ve got the fax here, Matt; Treddar Jones, the Foreign Secretary, is running this one, so he will be here with Sir David Judd, Lyndsay Strong, Nancy Benson, Kerry Bateman and Vikki Southgate. They will all be staying overnight tomorrow. The Prime Minister is going to come for the dinner, accompanied by a couple of detectives, but he will not be staying.”
“I know all the others, but who is Vikki Southgate; I have never heard of her?”
“She is his new researcher, but not for much longer I suspect, unless she bucks her ideas up”
“What do you mean, Dad?”
“Didn’t you hear the BBC’s ‘The World Tonight’ programme yesterday?” Max’s voice changed as he continued in a mocking tone. “Aren’t you supposed to listen to it as part of your course? The old boy took a real roasting from Gerald Jackson; he is the Shadow Foreign Secretary in case you had not caught up with that yet. That followed a bruising across the despatch box in the afternoon. Anyway, Jones was on poor form and appeared to be all at sea, literally that is. He even spoke of ‘the situation in the South Atlantic’, not in the Indian Ocean where Maratusse is located. He referred to Sir Kirwongi Battan-Surlan as the First Minister of Maratusse, although Ingano Nam holds that post. Sir Kirwongi is the Governor of Maratusse. The Daily Express says that sources in Downing Street suggested that the Foreign Secretary had been badly briefed by one of his researchers, with the finger being pointed at the new incumbent, Vikki Southgate.”
“Sorry Dad, we had our end of term party yesterday. Did you record it for me by any fluke?”
“Luckily for you son, I did, so you can catch up over the holiday; not this weekend mind, because I could do with your help with the politicians. Your sister is going to wait at table; would you like to do some fetching and carrying as well?”
Matt shifted uneasily in his chair. “That’s going to be a bit of a problem, Dad. I promised Jane that I would do some baby-sitting with her tonight and then take her to Skipton for Christmas shopping tomorrow. Can you get somebody else?”
Max Flower’s expression portrayed some annoyance. Jessica Flowers was about to intercede to keep the peace, but held back when she heard a voice from behind her.
“Perhaps I can help instead, sir? I have done hotel work in the long vacations in Oslo so I am quite used to it.”
“Well, that is very kind of you, Laars. Yes please, and I am sure that you can use the twenty quid that Matt would have earned.”
“Please, Mr. Flowers, I do not want you to pay me for doing it. Let me do it as my way of thanking you for all this kind hospitality that you and Mrs. Flowers are giving me over Christmas.”
“Tish-tosh, my boy; I am delighted that you can help us out, but would not hear of you doing it for nothing. I have not yet met a student who could not do with the money.”
Laars smiled an embarrassed smile, but said nothing.
Matt intervened, the relief showing in his voice. “Well that sorts that out then; thanks for bailing me out of that one, Laars. I’ll buy you a drink for that. In fact, Jane and I were planning a quick one at the Pig and Bells before we left, so why don’t you come too.”
“Give the poor lad a chance to settle in before you drag him out again, Matt; you have not even let him get his bags out of the car. I have made up the spare bed in your room for him for this weekend. We will be able to expand into the main house after the politicians have gone.”
“Sorry, Mum. Come on Laars; let’s get your clobber out of the car.”
As the two of them were carrying bags towards the house a girl in her late teens came out. She held her arms out, called out to Matt and ran straight towards him. Matt put down the bags just in time to grab hold of her and swing her around in greeting.
“Jenny, how are you? I didn’t know that you were in; why did you not join us for tea?”
Matt put her down facing Laars. He looked at the vision that had just been placed in from of him. She was a slim brunette about one metre, sixty tall with ivory-white skin. She had no makeup on and her hair was tied back in a pony-tail. She was wearing a pink pinafore over a dark tee-shirt and faded blue jeans. Even dressed for work, Laars found her very attractive.
Matt introduced her. “Laars, this is my twin sister, Jenny”
She gave him a big smile and walked towards him with her hand outstretched. Laars took her hand, replying, “I am very pleased to meet you, Jenny”
“And, I you, Laars. Matt when you told me that you were bringing a friend home for the vacation, you did not say that he was a hunk.”
“That’s funny, because Matt did not say that he had a glamorous twin sister either. We can all see who got the looks on behalf of the twins.”“Yes, but I got the brains to make up for it, didn’t I, sis?” Matt replied, then added, to avoid appearing un-gallant, “Why would I tell any of my randy mates that I had a gorgeous sister? That’s why we keep her locked away below stairs, away from the young master.” Matt distorted his body to impersonate a butler of the gothic style portrayed in old black and white horror films.
“Very funny Matt”, she replied, blushing, “but since it’s nearly Christmas, can I come to the pub with you… please?”