11. He had come to support

With the SatNav fully charged, I chose the shortest route back to Eastleigh. This route was 11 miles shorter than the one we used to go to the Monastery. As I turned onto the road there was a bold notice beside the road, “Drive with Care, High Risk of Accidents!”

I drove with utmost care, choosing to slow down rather than to drive at the designated speed suggested. Some corners were marked to be negotiated at 50mph. I slowed to 40mph. How could they honestly think 50mph was a safe speed when one couldn’t see more than 80 metres ahead? Thank goodness for the cruise control. I could set it then concentrate on driving, never needing to look at the instrument panel. For me, as the driver, there was no opportunity to look at or enjoy the scenery, except that which was directly in front of me.

Vũ sat in front beside me while Carol fell asleep on a back seat. It seemed all my Asian friends who sat in the back fell asleep wherever I took them.

The road the SatNav suggested, took us directly, in a straight line across the country, unlike the dog’s leg it had indicated as being the most Eco-friendly route to the Monastery earlier in the day.

So in spite of most roads being narrow farm roads, it only took us an hour to return home.

None of us felt like eating supper. We had gorged ourselves for lunch. We unpacked the car then I took them home. Back to studying for us all, however, concentrating on driving had exhausted me and I needed a short nap before I could begin my studying.

On Thursday I attended my music lesson with Nicola, did shopping, topped up the car with the diesel we had used. Later in the afternoon, I returned the loan car and collected mine. What a pleasure it was to drive my reliable old car again. Although it has a larger engine it was designed along the lines of the Formula One racing cars of the 1980s. My own car wasn’t as zippy around town as the new 220B Mercedes had been. Driving the 220B, I felt out of touch with the road, as if I was in a cocoon, in an airline cockpit, shrouded from any outside influences. I wondered if an astronaut felt as I did within their space shuttle, in their space station or in spacesuits while on space walks.

There were still cold days ahead. Carol and Vũ enjoyed my car’s new heating system each time I took them home late, after our Friday evening meals. Vũ never complained that he had been cold in the car as Carol had, but her complaints had unwittingly benefited us all.

Once I had got to know Carol for a few months, I asked her if I could to park outside their house instead of taking the bus to the lunchtime concerts. This proved convenient as I didn’t have to spend four-and-a-half hours traveling by bus each Monday and Friday.

Most Mondays and Fridays she would attend the concerts with me and Vũ. He would go back to his studies immediately but Carol and I would wait to introduce me to the performers, many of whom were her friends. We would slip into the Greenroom where they warmed up and changed in and out of their performance costumes. However, before they changed back into their street clothes, we would take group photos, with the star performer featuring in every shot.

The Greenroom had a grand piano for the performers to use for practicing. The room was well sound proofed. This allowed the performers to warm up before taking to the stage. We never interrupted them during the sound checks before the concerts, this time was sacrosanct. Though occasionally they would ask their best friends to accompany them into the Greenroom to help calm their nerves. At the end of concerts, they would often be given bunches of flowers, like Ken had done for his lady friend, Frances, whom he had come to support in her final exam.