Page 73 of Weekends with the Sunshine Gardening Society
‘Doomben?’
‘Eagle Farm. Want my tip for this weekend?’
‘Maybe.’ Shirl now appears to be chewing gum, and added to the other information presented to Elizabeth this morning it’s all becoming too much for her to process.
‘I didn’t see a Shirley on the patient list,’ she says, hoping to put herself on solid ground by working out what Shirl is doing here, apart from chatting to Olive.
‘Fit as a fiddle, Lizzie.’ Another wink. ‘Don’t need the doc. Just here to pick up my fella for lunch.’
Now this is really more than Elizabeth can handle: Shirl is Doctor Lopes’s girlfriend? Olive never said anything about him seeing someone, and given the predilection for gossip Elizabeth thought she would. Elizabeth’s mind whirls as she tries to remember if she’s ever said anything about him while she’s been around Shirl, and if so why didn’t Shirl say something?
‘Bob Simpson,’ Shirl says, looking amused. Clearly Elizabeth’s confusion is showing on her face.
‘Oh.’ Elizabeth exhales.
The door to Doctor Simpson’s room opens and his smile is bright. ‘There’s my girl,’ he says. ‘Won’t be long. Just writing up some notes.’
With a wave he closes the door again and Shirl stands there looking pleased.
‘Good sort, isn’t he?’ she says, and Elizabeth hopes it’s a rhetorical question because she has no intention of answering it. Although Shirl probably wants some kind of response.
‘Where are … where are you going for lunch?’ she says.
‘My place.’Chew chew.‘It’s not too far. He likes it there.’
There’s a glint in her eye that makes Elizabeth blush.
‘Anyway, Ol, I should tell you that Lizzie’s a bit of a star on the gardening side of things.’
Olive now rotates fully towards Elizabeth. ‘Is she?’
‘Oh, I’m not,’ Elizabeth interjects, because how could someone be a star at the sort of thing they’re doing?
‘She’s a demon on the weeds. No one better at getting them out by the root. It’s almost like she’s got super-sensitive fingertips.’
Right as Shirl says the last part Doctor Lopes’s door opens and Elizabeth is sure he’s heard it, which is mortifying.
‘I thought I knew that voice, Shirley,’ he says, coming over and kissing her hello. ‘Lovely to see you. Does Bob know you’re here?’
‘He does.’ Shirl looks to be appraising Doctor Lopes, and Elizabeth wonders how well she knowshim. ‘You’ve lost some weight, Marco. Better put it back on. Girls like muscles.’
Elizabeth squeaks with surprise and hopes no one heard her.
Thankfully Doctor Simpson’s door opens once more, and this time he comes to the front of the reception desk and greets Shirl with a kiss on the lips.
‘Come on, chook,’ he says, tapping her on the derrière. ‘Limited time.’
‘I’ve got my orders,’ Shirl says, quite gleefully. ‘See you on Saturday, Lizzie. Ta-ta, Ol – I’ll call you about that tip. Marco, eat something.’
And with that Cyclone Shirl is gone and Elizabeth is left in her wake, trying to understand how these two parts of her life could so profoundly intersect. No doubt it’s because she lives in a fairly small community, but still … She had no idea how anonymous she was in Brisbane until now.
‘She’s a hoot, that Shirl,’ Olive says, rolling some paper into the typewriter. Then she peers over the desk at the patient they all seem to have forgotten in the waiting room. ‘Doctor Lopes won’t be long, Mrs Graves.’
Elizabeth’s stomach gurgles again and this time she’s sure it was loud enough for Olive to hear.
‘You choof off to lunch, love,’ Olive says. ‘It’s almost time anyway.’
Elizabeth heads to the kitchen and takes her sandwich out of the fridge, although at first she’s too enervated by the flurry of activity and revelation to eat. Then she feels sad that she doesn’t have anyone to recount it all to later. If Jon were alive he’d have sat and listened to her, and laughed. But if Jon were alive she wouldn’t even be here. She wouldn’t be in this job; she wouldn’t be in the gardening society.
