Stuart had been in and out of the Flat for the past few days visiting his girlfriend and stuff. He had also learned that Tony and Amy had decided to become "just good friends", possibly with benefits. When he got the phone call from Peter that morning it was a huge shock. Tony was an annoying little bollix but he was allright really and did not deserve to lose his father. Stuart tidied up made sure there were a few beers in the fridge and waited for Tony to get home. Stuart was adamant he would mention nothing until Tony did.
Tony arrived home that night as usual and told Stuart his father had died, Stuart asked if there was anything he could do and Tony said no. So Stuart offered him a beer and sat on his arse. It was at this point Tony started to chat. Tony sr was around 68 and married to a Finnish woman, this was the mother of Tony. She had passed away recently, within the last couple of years. After she had passed Tony sr went back to Indonesia for a holiday. It was here he had met his new wife a 28year old lapdancer from Indonesia, 40years his junior.. She moved in with Tony sr. back in Finland and basically set up home. So much so that one evening Tony went to see his Dad who was out as he was leaving the house his stepmother asked for his keys, she told him “It was her house now and she did not want him having keys to her house”. Stuart felt that Tony was very matter of fact about the whole thing and quite distant, However later that night when Vicky arrived home Tony bawled his eyes out telling her the same stuff. Now Tony may just have been more aloof we Stuart as the death had not registered yet, but...
Tony had learned of the passing of his father purely by coincidence. He had called home to ask his father why he had not filled in some details on an insurance form. The step mother told Tony his father was unavailable, Tony had had enough and told her it was expensive to call Finland so go get my father now, to which she replied well actually your father passed away two days ago.
Tony went into work, Apple, that morning and told them all that had happened, They were great told him to take as much time as needed and gave him a loan of €1000 his workmates, including Amy, whom Tony was now seeing again as "She helped him with the grief", were also very good, they clubbed together another €1500. Tony booked his flight home the earliest flight being Friday the same day of his father was being buried. So Tony would not even get back to Indonesia in time for the funeral. Tony obviously hated his step mother and told Stuart and Vicky he was going to Indonesia to "Put his size 5 shoe up her arse!!"
When Tony had left things had returned to normal for Stuart and Vicky. In fact one evening in high spirits, they sat gossiping, “What if the lap dancer was a Black Widow and had bumped off Tony sr. with some little blue pills?”. While in bad taste this was completely harmless as neither of them actually thought this or were that concerned, In fact if all was above board Stuart was of the feeling that Tony Sr. probably died a very happy man. So with this in mind the two of them settled back into the daily grind which was life. During this time Vicky had applied, been accepted and started a specialist course, this meant her work was now divided between being in college and being on placement, this varied on a week to week basis. Stuart however was still ‘inbetween jobs’ and had decided to follow Vicky’s lead and apply to college. So things were ticking along nicely.
A week later there was still no sign of Tony, Tony had told Stuart and Vicky he’d be back the following Friday. This did not raise too much concern with the lads as they were fairly easy going anyway. Saturday also came and went uneventfully. Then by Sunday Stuart was curious but not concerned, then late on Sunday night Tony arrived back at the flat. Jet-lagged and exhausted he basically said hello to Stuart and hit the sack, understandably. Tony basically took the whole week to recover from his travels, coming home every night complaining of how tired he was and how much he was looking forward to the weekend as he could chill with a few beers on the couch watching some DVDs. Stuart told him he thought this was an excellent idea. Tony never told Stuart any details about his trip to Indonesia except to say everything was sorted, which was enough for Stuart as he wasn’t very good with these situations. However he did tell Vicky that he had hired a lawyer to sort out his Dad’s estate and had also contacted the Finnish Embassy and requested the Lap Dancer be refused entry back into Finland. A request, Tony told Vicky, which had been carried out without delay.
The weekend arrived, Vicky had gone away with the girls as she was starting her first week of college on Monday and Stuart being the boozehound he is treated Friday night as any other by going out late afternoon picking up the papers and sitting in his local pub supping pints of Guinness till the evening. When Stuart arrived home around 10pm he noticed Tony wasn’t around and thought it a little strange that someone so tired would be out this late on a Friday night but as Tony had made a few new friends at Apple, Stuart surmised they’d talked him into ‘hitting the town’, maybe to take his mind off things?. Stuart went to bed and heard Tony get home around 2am. However, at 8am the next morning Stuart was awakened by the sound of the washing machine on spin dry, which meant it had been on for an hour already. If that wasn’t enough the next hour was a constant barrage of doors slamming (they were fitted with springs), the water pump being switched on and off intermittently, the vacuum cleaner and the dishwasher. While Stuart really appreciated Tony tidying up he did not appreciate being woken up at 8am on a Saturday morning especially hungover, but decided to let it slide. Tony then went out early morning to meet Amy and go do some sightseeing in the city centre. Stuart was glad of this as it meant he had the place to himself for the day. Which he spent watching/listening to sport and drinking beer. Stuart went to bed early enough, as he had been woken early, and briefly woke up about midnight when Tony came home but crashed straight back out. Only to be woken at 9am by the sound of crashing plates, slamming doors, giggling and the extractor fan in the kitchen. Tony was making Amy a Sunday breakfast but she hadn’t stayed the night, It was later that Stuart found out Amy had moved in around the corner and Tony had invited her over for breakfast. Stuart thought “Who the fuck invites and cooks breakfast for someone at 9am on a Sunday morning??” Stuart tried to go back to sleep and was so glad when they left about 11am. Stuart was still a bit pissed off with the weekends shenanigans that he decided to go over to his girlfriend’s just to get away from Tony for a bit. Stuart got home late that evening slightly drunk and Tony was already in bed. Vicky had arrived back and was basically in the horrors after a weekend solid partying with the girls. They both said goodnight and basically passed out. Tony who didn’t start work till 9am decided that 5am would be a good time to get up and make as much noise as possible having a shower for an hour, cue the slamming doors and water pump. Stuart being a bit drunk slept through all this but Vicky who was in the horrors and starting her first day of college was not so understanding. She got up to get a glass of water and slammed her door on the way back “just to let him know she had been woken”.
Stuart who knew nothing of this received a phone call from Tony later that afternoon asking if all was ok in the house as he’d heard a door slam, Stuart said he knew nothing about it but was sure all was ok. Just as he put the phone down Vicky arrived home. She told Stuart about the comings and goings at 5am “What sort of a man showers for an hour, then visits the bathroom another 10times?” Stuart related the goings on of the weekend to her and then offered to have a word with Tony. They both agreed that due to his Dad he was probably under some pressure and maybe they were just too accustomed to having the place to themselves and as such were maybe being 'hyper-sensitive'. Stuart did state if it happened again he was going to have words...
Dubz, I have a question about the story. Was Tony's Indonesian step-mother in Finland illegally? I just wondered how Tony could request that she not be let back into the country. There would have to be a reason to keep her out.
Seriously, this should be a t.v. show! I can't wait to find out what happens next.
Yeah! Dubz, you know what would make these 10 times cooler then they already are... over dramatic teasers...
NEXT TIME ON THE CURIOUS CASE...
EVIL STEP MOTHERS
SLAMMING DOORS
BEER
SPORTS ON TV
AND A FINALE THAT YOU WILL HAVE YOU TALKING!!
lol
Also in the deep announcer voice it should say, "The most dramatic episode of Curious Case EVER. Trust us, you don't want to miss the last five minutes."
Dubz, I have a question about the story. Was Tony's Indonesian step-mother in Finland illegally? I just wondered how Tony could request that she not be let back into the country. There would have to be a reason to keep her out.
That is a point we shall return later in the story but if you re-read it there is a little hint...
However he did tell Vicky that he had hired a lawyer to sort out his Dad’s estate and had also contacted the Finnish Embassy and requested the Lap Dancer be refused entry back into Finland. A request, Tony told Vicky, which had been carried out without delay.
