Share Your Toys, Timothy!

"Sounds like she'll have the safest car on the road, Dad."

Roger laughed, "There is that.... It's certainly better than the jet-black Jag convertible she was looking at initially."

"Was that also second hand?"

"No, it was brand new."

"See, I told you that she was sensible."

"It wasn't Abbey that decided to go for her final choice, the car salesman talked her out of the Jag and persuaded her to get the sensible Mini instead."

His daughter laughed, "That sounds like a salesman from a different mould to the norm!"

"Yes, I suppose he is." Roger sounded very quiet. His smile had evaporated.

"What's wrong, Dad?" she asked, swiftly picking up his abrupt change of mood.

"I ... I think, well, Jenny hasn't said as much but I think the salesman's one of Mum's old boyfriends."

"That would've been a long time ago, Dad, 22 years plus," Mickey patted his arm, "You can't be worried about her now. This is Mum we are talking about."

"I know, Mickey, but I can't help it," he looked his daughter in the eye, "I'm not getting any younger and this guy is her age and ... well he looks pretty fit ... you'd call him 'buff'. There was a pretty big photo of him hanging up in the car showroom, posing in front of one of the Jags wearing boxing gloves and stripped to the waist."

"Daddy, you've nothing to worry about, you are Mum's one and only soul mate. She loves you and she is all about family."

"Talking about family, we now have an empty nest, and you hear so many stories about this time in a woman's life. I don't want to bring the subject up with Jenny, though, it's ... well, awkward."

Michelle laughed to relieve the tension at the table, "Yes, it is rather awkward! Mum would absolutely explode at the very thought of what you're thinking."

"I know," Roger pursed his lips, "I am in a quandary...."

There was a long pause.

"Why don't you see this salesman guy and have it out with him. Nothing too obvious, Dad. Rather than confront him on his territory, take him out for a game of golf at your club on a one on one basis. If he won't play ball you can always hit him with your driver and bury him in one of the bunkers on the back nine!"

"Thanks, Mickey, you are so collected, honey. I think I will."

Chapter 2 - Lounge Lizards Busted

Tim had told Jenny he wasn't able to attend the Jones' barbecue he had been invited to because he was initially worried about her flirting with him. He was less worried about fending her off, if that was the case, than the temptation to break one of his golden rules. Whether it was toys or women, he simply wouldn't share.

So it was to Tim's surprise that a couple of Saturday nights later he saw Abbey Jones again. Tim went into the Crystal's lounge bar and night club about 9.30pm, to meet his friends Pete and Simon, he noticed Abbey sitting at a table with a bunch of her friends.

He'd not seen her in there before, he was certain of it. She didn't see Tim at first. The place was starting to fill up and most of the tables and booths were taken, although the bar area was free.

Crystal's doesn't have bar stools as they like to discourage patrons from gathering round the bar, it probably made serving drinks easier. Pete and Simon prefer drinking standing up to sitting down, so they usually hung around the bar at least for their first few drinks and then stand at one of the circular counters around the columns holding the roof up. Tim knew the owner of the lounge club, and his girlfriend who ran the place, so certain regulars were tolerated at the bar until the place got too busy.

Tim's two friends were in their early- to mid-30s, each respectively six to three years younger than him, and both scarred by previous failed marriages. Pete had been twice bitten, and both were currently regarding themselves as confirmed bachelors. Both would mellow out with a couple of drinks and some stimulating male conversation before moving onto the dance floor in search of potential female company later. They were more often successful than not.

That change of objective by his friends was usually Tim's cue to head on home, his days of hunting females in their twenties no longer had the appeal it once had. He would head for home between midnight and one o'clock. Then get up fairly early Sunday and, after an invigorating jog or workout in his home gym, work on cleaning and polishing his classic E-type Jaguar in his garage for a couple of hours. More often than not, he'd go to his favourite sister's place for lunch and play with his adored niece Tina in the afternoon.

Tim never drank much alcohol, this bar served tea and coffee at all hours, so he usually chilled out with a couple of beers, followed by a couple of shots of espresso, then perhaps another beer before heading home.

This particular evening Tim kept an eagle eye on Abbey's table, wondering if she had driven down to the club. He hadn't noticed her distinctive yellow car in the car park when he had arrived. He always parked in a far corner away from the crowded rows and usually noticed any interesting vehicles as he walked through to the entrance of the bar.

She had clearly been drinking for a time and was quite animated in her movements, waving her arms about and chattering away cheerfully to her companions. Tim had no idea how long she had been there but he presumed it was shortly after her parents' afternoon barbecue had finished. There were six people at her table, a couple sitting opposite her, who sat close together and occasionally kissing each other, then sat Abbey, the guy sitting next to her plying her with the drinks, and a couple of other guys sitting the other side of him who seemed to Tim to be concentrating on looking at Abbey all the time. The scene set a few alarm bells jangling in Tim's head.

The two girls got up together and walked off to the toilets. Abbey's date for the night came up to the bar next to Tim's standing group and ordered two more drinks. Tim guessed they were all students and not into buying rounds for the whole table. The lighter-coloured drink for Abbey was, Tim heard, a treble vodka and tonic, while the youth ordered a plain coke for himself.

Tim watched him closely all the way back to the table, where one of the two other guys sitting together took a small sachet out of his inside pocket and handed it to Abbey's date. He in turn extracted one tablet from that packet and dropped it into her drink, before handing the packet back.

That was it. Tim spoken briefly to Pete and Simon about what had transpired and they agreed, as he fully expected, they were more than prepared to cover his back. The trio approached the table and Tim sat down in the bench seat next to Abbey's date. There wasn't really enough room for Tim's broad butt on the bench seat in the booth, so his bum landed on the guy's left thigh and squeezed him over. The youth gave Tim a dirty look and said, "Who? -"

Tim interrupted him with, "I'm a friend of the Jones family and I want to know what you think you're up to?"

"Nothin'!" he replied quickly, rather too quickly.

"Then you don't mind if I watch you while you drink down Abbey's drink in one go then, do you?"

"Wha'd'ya mean?"

"I mean that I saw you put a tablet in Abbey's drink. If that tablet was harmless, then you won't object to drinking it, will you? Don't worry, I'll get Abbey a replacement drink when she gets back, if she still wants one."

"What tablet?" he said.

Tim leaned into him until their faces almost touched each other, the youth backed off a little. Tim reached across him and slammed his left fist into the lad's face sitting next to him, knocking him out cold. Then Tim reached across and fished out the little bag of pills from the unconscious kid's inside jacket pocket and waved them in front of Abbey's date's face.

"This tablet. Now drink that glassful, but if you spill a single drop I'll make sure you swallow your front two teeth as well, before I stuff the rest of these pills down your neck all in one swallow. Now, what'll it be Sunshine, drink, teeth, or what?"

The boy hesitated for a moment as Tim clenched his left fist again in front of his nose. The youth picked up Abbey's glass and sank the contents in one go, spluttering at the end.

"What's going on, Toby?" came an agitated female voice.

Tim turned, taking in what he expected to see, that Pete and Simon were stood behind the other two players with hands resting lightly but positively on their shoulders. Then he saw Abbey, with a tense face and hands on her hips. She turned her head towards his face as he looked up and, when she saw that Tim was smiling, recognised him and returned his smile.

"Hi Tim," she said, much more calmly now, "What are you doing here?"

"Hi Abbey," he smiled back at her, then answering a question with a question, "How's your car going?"

"It's brilliant, I absolutely love that car," Abbey grinned, "But then you knew all along that I would."

"Brought it with you tonight?"

"No, Sarah and I are having a final drinking night out before going to Uni next week," Abbey smiled sweetly, "Toby's my designated driver."

"I am afraid Toby might have to leave his car here tonight."

"Why's that, Tim?"

"Well, Rip van Winkle here," he indicated the youth slumped in the seat next to Toby, "Passed this," he waved the sachet of pills in front of the now heavy-lidded Toby, "To your friend Toby here, who slipped one of these pills into your drink. So I asked him very nicely to consume your drink for you, just to check that it was perfectly safe."

They all looked at Toby, who was fast losing consciousness, his eyelids already at half-mast.

"You bastard!" Abbey cried, reached over the table and smacked Toby round the face. He hardly felt the blow; he just slumped back against the rear cushion of the bench seat, completely out of it, his head resting on the shoulder of his unconscious pal with the busted nose.

Abbey said, "These tossers have ruined our evening."

"Hey!" popped up the lad sitting opposite Toby, the one who had earlier been kissing the girl Tim now knew as Sarah, "I had nothin' to do with this!"

"Only you just sat there watching Toby put the Mickey in Abbey's drink and you said absolutely nothing," Tim pointed out.

This time it was Sarah who smacked him around the ears. He got out of his seat and stood next to Sarah, looking somewhat embarrassed.

"What do we do now?" Abbey asked Tim, "We came out for a good time, have a few drinks, a meal and a lot of dances. Might be our last chance to let our hair down for a few months."

"Well, I can offer you a couple of reasonable alternatives," Tim said, "My good mates Pete and Simon here may be a bit long in the tooth for you young things, but they can dance up a storm, well, a lot better than me anyway, and we will happily keep you supplied with enough drinks to give you a nice warm buzz without losing control, while I hang around as your designated driver. Mind you, I think we could all do with some food first. Or, alternatively, if you don't think we can keep you entertained I can drive you both home now."

Abbey and Sarah looked at each other, both of them 19 or 20, a couple of beautiful baby-faced girls, deciding on whether to have an early night or a possibly less-than-exciting night on the town with a couple of tough-looking 30-somethings and a near 40-year-old chaperone. They both whispered to each other before turning to Tim and grinning, saying "OK!" in unison.

Abbey added, "We're hungry, thirsty and bursting to get in some dancing, but that's as far as we had planned on doing tonight."

"Hey," said Sarah's boyfriend, "What about me? I done nothin'."

"Push off Stewie," said Sarah, "You're an arsehole and I don't want to see you ever again!"

"But you prom-" started Stewie, until Pete pulled him up by his coat collar and hissed "Scram! And take your buddy with you!"

Simon pulled the silent fourth boy up from his chair and pushed him away. They made themselves scarce, leaving their unconscious mates slumped together.

Tim stood up and went to the bar to talk to Melanie, the head bar-girl, actually a corking 40-year-old. She was the owner's girlfriend, both long-time pals of his.

"Mel, in the booth over there are a couple of unconscious guys that need medical attention, one I flattened with a left hook, the other has taken one of these rooffies, you might want to pass them on to the paramedics so they know what he has taken. We're just off to get some food."

"Sure thing, Tim," she grinned as she took the package, as if this kind of thing happened in her bar all the time. "You coming back later? You know you're always welcome."

"Yeah," he grinned back, "Give us an hour to settle the dust, have a bite to eat and we'll be back."

"I'll keep some seats nice and warm for you, Tim."

By the time they all got their coats on and were stood outside, the ambulance was already parked out front. Billy, one of the two bouncers, saw the three old guys with the two young girls and asked, hooking his thumb towards the ambulance, "Your handiwork, Tim?" with a grin on his face.

"I'm not admitting to anything, Billy," he said, "We're just going to get something to eat and we'll be back later."

"If there's a queue when you get back, come to the front and we'll let you in."

"Thanks Billy."

It was Pete who asked the girls what they wanted to eat, offering, "Burger, Pizza, Chinese, Indian, Italian or Steak?"

Tim's first choice would have been between Italian and Steak, but the girls both said Chinese, so they headed to Chang's, just a short walk away and the best of the Chinese Restaurants in the town. Tim was quite well known in there and knew they would get a table easily, even though it was getting quite late. The meal gave the three men a chance to get to know the girls better and vice versa.

Tim asked Abbey how the barbecue had gone earlier. Sarah replied first, saying that it was boring, while Abby conceded that it was because it was mostly Mum and Dad's friends there.

Then she brightened and said, "Mum's friend Wayne brought her old MGB with him and Mum had said how disappointed she was that you couldn't be there to see it."

Tim agreed with the sentiment, he would have liked that.

"Oh," she added, "Mum passed on your Monroe's business card to Wayne so he could contact you and arrange to bring it over to the showroom. Mum loves that old car. It looks so tiny and ... old!"

Tim realised then that his fears about Jenny's motives were unfounded; she was probably just one of those people that liked to touch and tease without realising it could be interpreted as flirting.

Sarah seemed a bright girl, so what she had seen in the now-rejected low-life Stewie, Tim really didn't know. She seemed to latch onto Simon, who was a nice guy and probably the better looking of Tim's two friends. He had married when he was far too young; probably about Sarah's age and they had a baby girl before he was 21. Young Sammy Bailey was 10 and a cute kid, still living with her mum, who had remarried following the relatively non-acrimonious divorce. Simon was manager of one of the smaller but very busy supermarkets in the high street and Sammy stayed with him every other weekend. This was one of his free Saturday nights when he could go out and let his hair down. He had become a bit of a pussy hound admittedly, since his divorce three years previously, but he knew when to behave himself and he wasn't about to cross Tim, especially after his friend had already punched one person's lights out tonight.

Also, while the girls went off to the toilets at the restaurant Tim had made it very clear to the two guys that tonight's expenses were on him and that they were to be on their very best behaviour throughout. They both agreed readily, saying that they knew as soon as he'd pointed out the date drug that they were going to be white knights for the evening and show the girls a good, albeit innocent time. As Pete said, they were only kids.

As Simon and Sarah seemed to be getting on all right together, Pete and Abbey gravitated towards one another once the group returned to the Crystal's lounge and the dance floor. Tim stayed drinking alternate hot coffees and iced water, while the other guys happily got a nice buzz on with beer and shots at his expense. The boys certainly drank more than they were used to, but never allowed their behaviour to stray from the rigid guidelines he had held them to. Mel waved away Tim's credit card but she kept a tab behind the bar for him and he eventually settled up when he called in mid-week. The total made his eyes water a little, but he could afford it; he had no one else to spend his money on and he found he was left with a nice warm self-righteous glow about his role in the evening's proceedings.

Pete was a very good mechanic at the Jaguar garage, originally working with Tim at Mac's. He wasn't as good a dancer as Simon showed himself to be, or as fit as he should have been and soon cried off to sit a few dances out. Abbey was up for more dancing and had already turned down a couple of advances from youths of her own age, so Tim felt more than a little obligated to dance with her.

But before he asked her, she had already decided to drag him up to the floor anyway, rather than wait all night for him to ask. Tim wasn't too bad at dancing, as he was quite light on his feet, but he naturally tended to avoid the activity by choice. Tim still went to his boxing gym once a week and did a lot of skipping and roadwork. It was just that he felt very self-conscious on the dance floor and Abbey certainly had all the moves. He'd been watching her for the last hour or so, her sinuous movements reminding him so much of her mother. It was no wonder that Pete had to sit out the last couple of dances.

Tim and Abbey started dancing a couple of slow numbers, as the night was drawing towards an end, which Tim thought went OK. Then a couple of fast ones challenged him a little and Abbey was killing herself laughing as he tried to mirror her moves and failed miserably. He didn't mind though, she had her fun and he was pleased that he had something to do with preventing her from having what almost certainly could have been a nightmare experience for the young girl.

Tim was angry with her boyfriend Toby and felt he had got off rather lightly in the circumstances. It was that immature youth's own loss that he wasn't prepared to take the time and trouble to woo this girl who turned out to be an absolute delight to be with. When she showed off her rhythmic athleticism, while they danced, it was a show Tim felt was just for him. Not that he had any designs at all in her direction, he was twice her age after all, but the display still did wonders for his dormant ego.

It was much to Tim's regret that he had pretty well been untouched by love. He chatted up a lot of ladies and loved them all a little at least, or quite a lot in some cases, but never loved any woman quite enough to commit the rest of his life to. He enjoyed socialising and had led an admittedly playboy existence for most of his adult life until comparatively recently. He worked hard and long hours so he felt he had earned the right to play hard out of hours. He had money to spend, so he had given his women friends a good time. The only thing he had been unable to give them was his eternal love.

A couple of years or so back he found he had passed his mid-thirties without a personal lasting relationship to show for it. Now he was 38 and to him it seemed like he was fast approaching the milestone of 40. He had lots of casual girlfriends but had no special partner to share his life with. Family surrounded him. He had any number of nieces and nephews, most of whom he couldn't stand. The exception was niece Tina, who really grew on him as her lovely and charming personality developed, and Tim began to desire a family of his very own.