Decisions for Phils

This is the night. Estate agent Phil is taking Joanne out for a meal … again. He’s done this every weekend now since January. But tonight is the night – he is taking her to The Feathers and he is going to propose. Finally he is going to do it. He is. He’s been practising for weeks –   in front of his bedroom mirror, in the bath, on the toilet, in his sleep and driving clients around in the car to see properties.  He accidentally proposed to widow Tuck on Tuesday, as he was showing her round a show house on the new estate up Long Road. Unfortunately she accepted and then created quite a scene back in the office in front of Phil’s manager Jim when Phil explained it had been a slip of the tongue. Mrs Tuck wasn’t going to let it lie. 

“Trying to sell houses with sex, it’s disgusting”

“I’m sure that wasn’t Phil’s intention Mrs Tuck” offered Jim

“He proposed to me and now he’s withdrawing the offer. What if I did that on a house – you wouldn’t like that much would you.”

“No Mrs Tuck, we’re very sorry …”

 ”There are other estate agents you know … others who don’t play with an old lady’s emotions to try to make a sale”

“Yes Mrs Tuck but we hope that you will continue to use Webbs to help you find a house” 

“You’re lucky I don’t report you for unethical sales methods…” 

Anyway … Phil had put that incident behind him and was ready to ask Joanne … he knew that he would have to ask her soon or it would be all around town that he had asked widow Tuck and that would either take some explaining to Joanne or give the game away. So tonight was the night. Phil straightened his tie in the mirror, took a deep breath, whispered “Will you marry me?” to himself for one last time and picked up his car keys. 

 Teacher Phil is at home, upstairs in his ‘office’. He is planning next weeks lessons. He’s been up there all day. Pamela brought him a cheese sandwich for lunch but he hasn’t touched it. She’s waiting downstairs for him now so that she can go and get them a Chinese takeaway for dinner from the new place round the corner. But whenever she asks he says he hasn’t quite finished, won’t be long. Even Thomas had to go to bed without a story from his Dad tonight. Truth is Phil hasn’t planned a single lesson. He has spent 1 hour 48 minutes looking out of the window, 44 minutes with his head in his hands, 50 minutes asleep with his head on the table, one hour looking at photos from sixth form and uni and 40 minutes looking at his wedding photographs.  He doesn’t want to go downstairs to his wife. He doesn’t know what to say to her. He doesn’t know what to say because he doesn’t know what he is thinking, he doesn’t know what is going wrong but everything is spinning in his head and he can’t make it settle.