Terry Goes To Town

Terry reluctantly put on his jacket. It was another blistering day and he’d been lounging around in his shorts for at least a week now, only venturing out of the house to tend his veggie garden or jump in the pool. He needed to go to town though, and thought he should at least make an effort to look human again, hell, he’d even shaved off the beard he’d been sporting for a while.

Making sure the house was secure, he jumped into the car and headed off down the drive. He wasn’t too far from the town and had run there and back as part of his fitness routine many times. He was on his way to the bank though, and didn’t want to arrive hot and sweaty; what would Roberta think about him if he dripped onto her counter?

Where did that come from, he wondered Shaking his head and sighing; he was soon on the outskirts of town. He pulled up just down the road from the bank, parked, and headed towards the park. He needed a moment or two to get his thoughts in order.

He sat on a park bench for a couple of minutes until the hair on the back of his neck bristled…he was being watched. Stretching slowly, he looked around until he spotted someone. He smiled grimly to himself; old man Jessup after some more dirt to spread about the place. He stood up and made a show of brushing himself down and buttoning his jacket. As he crossed the road towards the bank, he glared at Jessup causing him to retreat back into his shop. "You’ve not lost your touch, Tezza," he thought.

Crossing over the threshold he almost gasped at the difference in temperature. Inside, the bank was cool and shady. Although Max had designed it to look like an old-fashioned bank, he hadn’t stinted on the mod cons inside. There was a state of the art reverse air heating/cooling system installed. Terry unbuttoned his jacket as he walked towards the counter. Seeing Max sitting there he stopped for a second. Max looked up to see Terry looking round the empty bank.

"Hello, Terry; what a pleasant surprise."

"G’Day, Max. You all alone today?"

"Yeah, Bobbie asked for the day off…business matters."

"She’s not leaving is she?" Terry frowned.

Max noticed the look and tried not to smile. "Nothing like that, Terry. I’m going to share her from now on. She passed her vet finals and is starting up a surgery here in town. Until she gets enough clients to keep her busy full time she’ll still be here three days a week."

Max couldn’t hold back the grin any longer when he saw the relief flash across his friends face. "So. Did you have business with me today, or did you just want to eye up my staff?"

Terry blushed, then smiled somewhat shyly. "Um, business actually, mate, but I have to admit that you’re not quite so easy on the eyes."

Max looked over at the large clock on the wall. It was almost 2:00pm, time to close up for the day. "Do me a favour, Ter. Could you shut the doors and lock them for me? Then we can deal with your business without being interrupted, and go over to Andy’s for a bite after, if you’re hungry."

"Okie dokie," Terry replied, going over to the heavy wooden doors and closing them. He pushed home the brass bolts and turned the two ornate keys to secure the entrance, then without waiting to be asked, he bolted all the windows and watched as Max pressed a concealed button to bring up the metal shutters.

"I do love all your security, Max," he smiled, walking back to the counter. Max got up and they both went up to his office. Terry sat in the chair in front of the desk as Max headed to the kitchen to make some tea. When he returned Terry grinned. "You can tell you’re on your own, mate…no pastries, just plain old biccies."

Max smiled as he offered Terry the plate, noting that he took four. "You not eating at home, Terry?"

Once again blushed. "You noticed. Sorry, Max. I just don’t feel there’s much point these days. The meal at Andy’s sounds more than good though."

"Right, down to business then and we can go eat."

"I’m not too sure you can help or not, I know it’s just a small town bank, but I think I want a safety deposit box. Did you have any installed when the bank was built?"

Max leaned back in his chair and smiled smugly. "As a matter of fact I did. I wasn’t going to, but realised that The Glen might just have some wealthy residents who might not want a safe on their property. I didn’t have many installed, but I’ve got some empty. Would you want a standard or large size?"

"Oh, standard, I think. I want to put the deeds to the house in there, and as soon as I get it updated, my will. I’ve also got two passports," he paused as Max stared at him after that remark. "One is a diplomatic issue. As I’m not doing so much overseas work I don’t think I need that one in the house, so that will go in as well."

"Right, do you have any of that with you now?"

"No, mate. I thought it best to check before bringing them all down."

"Alright, we can do the paperwork now and I’ll give you one of the keys. I’ll show you the boxes so that you can see how secure they are."

Fifteen minutes later Terry was standing watch on Max as he set the alarm system and locked up the back exit. They headed off towards the middle of town on their way to Andy’s and a good meal.