Gran's House
by Kit
Chapter 7
Just before the exams, Stephane and I indulged in one of our sessions of 'friends with benefits' fun. Afterwards, while I was waiting for a suitable time to leave his room, we had a brief conversation. We were speaking quietly, almost in whispers, while I listened out for any sounds of our flatmates.
"I guess that neither of us will have time or energy for this during the exams," I said regretfully.
"Who knows? And there's always time after the exams."
"After Finals, there isn't much to do unless you enjoy being a party animal," I said. "I was planning on going home. Will you be staying around? "
"Erm, I hadn't decided, but like you said, there isn't much reason to stay around."
As there hadn't been any sounds from outside the room for several minutes, I opened the door slightly and peered out. There was no sign of my other flatmates, so I sneaked out and went to my room.
The exams were just as stressful as I'd expected, but I felt that I'd done reasonably well. During that time, I'd spoken with my brothers just three times, and none of those calls had lasted more than five minutes. The day after the last exam, I was so exhausted that I slept or dozed all morning. In the afternoon, remembering the promise I'd made to my brothers about visiting them, I phoned David.
"Hi, David," I said. "I realise this is short notice, but I've finished my exams and have a few days before I get the results. That covers two weekends, and I wondered if it would be okay for me to visit my brothers on one of those Sundays."
"Which weekends?"
When I gave him the dates, he asked me to hold on while he consulted with Sarah. The ensuing silence indicated that he'd muted his phone, but less than a minute later, I heard him again.
"Sarah said that's fine, and the second weekend would be better for her."
"Great! What would be a good time for me to arrive?"
"You're welcome to have lunch with us if you want. Then you can spend time with your brothers."
"That's a lovely offer. The boys are always boasting about how great Sunday lunches are at your house," I said, impressed by their generosity. "Are you sure that would be okay? I don't want to be a nuisance."
"You won't be a nuisance," he assured me. "You'll be able to see how life is for the boys, and we'll all be able to get to know you better."
"In that case, thanks a lot. I'd love to have lunch with you. What time should I arrive?"
"As you know, we eat at one o'clock on Sundays, so maybe around fifteen minutes before that would be good," he said. "Oh, and Sarah told me to ask if you had any allergies."
"Only cats," I replied without thinking.
"Your brothers told me about your sense of humour," he said jovially. "Anyway, you'll be glad to hear that we never eat cats here."
"No, I don't have any food allergies," I said, feeling embarrassed as well as grateful that he'd interpreted my misunderstanding as a deliberate joke.
"Are there any foods you don't eat? Are you vegetarian?"
"The only thing I don't eat is offal like liver and kidney. I'm not a big fan of honey or prawns or eggs or turkey or truffles, but I can eat them."
"No problems there, then," he said. "You'll be arriving by car, I presume, so feel free to come into the driveway and use the parking area in front of the house."
"Will you tell my brothers?"
"I thought that you'd want to do that," he replied, sounding very amused, "and I'm sure that the whole house will know within minutes or even seconds of your announcement."
"If it's okay with you, I'll call them after their evening meal."
"That's fine. I'll look forward to hearing the squeals of delight," he said.
As the minutes counted down until I could talk with my brothers, I began to feel more and more like an excited little boy. My original intention had been to call them at seven o'clock, but by six forty I couldn't wait any longer. When Connor appeared on screen, he told me that he'd just finished his homework and asked me to wait while he fetched his brother, who was watching TV in the living room.
I offered to call back later, but he insisted that I wait online, so I was left with a view of their bedroom wall. However, within just a couple of minutes, I heard them burst into the room and bang the door closed. Then they both appeared on screen.
"Hi, Paul!" Liam greeted me a little breathlessly.
"Hi, Liam, and hi again, Connor," I said. "Have you had a good day?"
"It's a school day," Connor replied, giving the impression that he believed that school days and 'good days' were mostly incompatible.
"I had a good day," his brother said happily. "We had singing this afternoon, and Mrs Lewis said I had a lovely voice."
"I've never heard you singing. Would you sing for me sometime?"
"I only sing in the choir," he replied, looking uncomfortable, "not on my own."
"You sometimes sing for me," Connor said.
"Yes, but when it's just me and you. When you look sad, I want to cheer you up cos you're my brother."
"Well, I'm your brother," I said, "so if I'm sad, will you sing to cheer me up?"
"Okay," he replied after a moment of frowning thought, "but only if there's only you and Connor there."
"Thanks," I said. "You're such a good brother that I think you deserve some news."
"I'm a good brother, too!" the older boy protested.
"Okay, the first piece of good news is that I've finished my exams, and I'm going to be able to spend more time talking with my two favourite brothers."
"Yaaayyyy!" Liam yelled, then he paused for thought and added more quietly, "But I thought we were your only brothers."
"Yes, so that means you'd be my favourite brothers even if I didn't like you so much," I teased.
"Oh," the small boy said thoughtfully, "but you do like us, don't you?"
"Of course I do," I replied, "and even if I had a hundred brothers, you two would be my favourites."
Connor, who was not so literally minded as his little brother, smiled and rolled his eyes.
"What's the second bit of news?"
"I guess that depends on whether or not you are going to be busy on the Sunday after next," I teased. "I mean, if you're going to be too busy, I could postpone my visit to see you."
"We're not busy!" Liam protested.
"You shouldn't tease us," his brother said sternly, giving me a look of disapproval.
"I'm sorry," I said with almost-genuine contrition. "I'm new at being a brother, so please forgive me when I mess up. Anyway, if it's okay with you two, David says I can visit you on that Sunday, and he even invited me for lunch."
"You'll like lunch," Liam said happily. "Sunday lunch here is the best ever!"
"That's not this Sunday, but next Sunday," the older boy said, apparently wanting some reassurance, "and you'll absolutely definitely be coming?"
"Yes, definitely, I promise," I said. "It's a brother promise."
With unsuppressed joy, Liam started jumping up and down and waving his hands while emitting little squealing sounds. Connor smiled, giving me the feeling that he'd forgiven me for teasing them. When David had mentioned squeals of delight, I hadn't taken him literally, but it seemed that his prediction had been accurate.
When Liam had calmed down, I told them that this Saturday I'd be going home and that I'd sort through the photos of their mum as a girl. Then I'd scan some of them in so that I could send them in a few days. When the younger boy asked if I could also send any pictures of me growing up, his big brother nudged him and gave him a look that implied that maybe he was being too demanding. However, I said that I'd see what I could do about it.
After the call ended, I grabbed a snack, and by that time I guessed that my godparents would have finished dinner.
"Oh, that's wonderful, Paul!" Aunt Anne exclaimed when I told her my news. "When are you coming home so you can tell me all about it?"
"I'll pack up my things tomorrow and drive home on Saturday," I replied, "but I've already told you everything."
"It's always nice to hear good news in person," she said cheerfully, "and you sometimes forget things that get revealed when we chat face to face."
My brothers' personal traits must have been rubbing off on me because I realised that I'd just rolled my eyes as I mentally translated what my godmother had said as 'You sometimes don't tell me everything, but in a face-to-face interrogation you can be persuaded to tell me more'.
"In any case," she continued, "apart from what's going on with Liam and Connor, there's a lot you have to tell us. We want to know all about your exams and what you have planned for between now and the graduation ceremony. So you must come round for dinner on Saturday."
"There'll only be a graduation if I've passed the exams," I pointed out.
"Pish! You'll pass with flying colours," she declared. "Anyway, I must dash and tell Geoffrey the exciting news. See you on Saturday!"
The call ended with me feeling exhausted, so I went to bed early.
The following morning, Friday, I woke up early feeling refreshed and full of energy. There was no sign of my flatmates while I had my breakfast of toast and tea, so I went straight back to my room and started packing. Although classes had ended for those of us taking final exams, they continued for other students, and the academic year didn't end officially for another couple of weeks. So technically, I didn't need to move out of the flat until then, but I didn't want to stay around with nothing to do.
Although there was too much to fit in my car in one trip, I decided to pack everything so that the remainder would be all ready for my second trip when I returned to collect my exam results. The most valuable items, such as my computers and TV, would, of course, go with me on my first journey home.
After a couple of hours, I heard sounds indicating that at least a couple of my flatmates were up and about. However, I was in the midst of packing some delicate items, and before I could take time to socialise a little, the flat door banged and all went quiet. A few minutes later, I went for a mid-morning tea break and found Stephane alone in the kitchen eating a late breakfast.
"Hey, Paul," he greeted me. "The kettle's just boiled."
"Thanks," I said, grabbing my mug. "I guess all the noise was Martin and Kelvin?"
Those two were close friends with each other and often socialised together, occasionally even going on double dates. Kelvin, a tall, slim Black guy from South London, towered over the much shorter bespectacled Martin, who had sandy-ginger hair and a strong Liverpool accent. I'd occasionally seen their girlfriends, and bearing in mind the differences between Kevin and Martin, I'd been surprised that both girls looked very much alike.
"Yeah, you just missed them. They're taking Lisa and Cindy for a romantic weekend in York," he replied, putting air quotes around the word 'romantic'.
"Ah," I said. "By 'romantic', you mean fucking like bunnies?"
We both laughed, and I realised that although the girls' names were familiar, I couldn't remember which of them was with which flatmate. That gave rise to an amusing thought.
"They seem to do everything together," I said. "Do you think they have foursomes?"
"Mmm, possibly," he replied thoughtfully, apparently taking my words seriously. "But probably not. I don't think Martin is the adventurous type."
"What are your plans for today?" I asked as I stirred the tea bag in my mug.
"Packing. I'm going home on Sunday."
"I'll be packing, too. I'm driving home tomorrow."
When I said that, the realisation hit me that this was the end of my three years at university and that from now on my life would be very different. All the people and places I knew here would be left behind forever. My happiness at finishing my exams had begun to fade, and although I wasn't sad, I was feeling a little melancholy. It reminded me of how I felt after my last exams at school.
Stephane sighed, picked up his breakfast dishes and went to rinse them in the sink. I guessed that he was having similar thoughts and similar feelings to my own.
"I'd better get back to work," he said eventually, moving off toward his room.
"Yeah, me, too," I replied and carried my mug toward my own room.
Before either of us had moved more than a few steps, he stopped and turned to me.
"Hey, d'you want to grab some lunch together later?"
"Yeah, that'd be great."
Back in my room, my melancholy increased as I realised that I'd miss Stephane, and not just because of the physical pleasures. Although our relationship hadn't been romantic, I had a strong affection for him, and I felt that our intimacies had created a bond between us. I wondered if he felt the same.
At lunchtime we went out to a nearby student pub and had sandwich baguettes, washed down with a pint of beer. Our conversation was wide-ranging but not deep, and it included a few rude jokes about our flatmates. He informed me that his father would be hiring a Transit van and driving up on the following day. Then he'd be staying overnight at a hotel before driving back on Sunday with Stephane and his baggage.
Back in the flat, we returned to our packing, and by four o'clock I'd finished, so I went to see if Stephane needed any help. He thanked me for the offer and told me that he didn't need help because he was more than three-quarters done and still had another full day to finish off. So, while he did a bit more, I went and made us both some coffee.
After our coffee break, I went back to my room and realised that with everything packed away, I had no computers, no TV and not even any books to keep me entertained. Although I still had my phone, it was too early to call my brothers, as they wouldn't even have started their evening meal yet. There was a TV that belonged to Kelvin in the living area, but I felt a little sweaty and sticky from my exertions, so I decided to have a shower.
Having finished my leisurely shower, I returned to my room wearing only a towel wrapped around my waist. Normally, I'd wear shorts and maybe my dressing gown, but I knew that there was only Stephane and myself in the flat. Apparently, he'd had enough packing for the day and was sitting on the sofa, so I had to pass close to him as I went through the living room.
"I could hear you in the shower," he said without trying to hide the fact that he was staring at me. "After all that work, I need a shower, too."
He got up and headed to his room, and I went and dressed in the clean clothes that I hadn't packed away. After that, I sat on my bed and did a little surfing and playing on my phone, but I soon started to get bored. Fortunately, before the boredom became too great, there was a tapping on my half-open door, and a clean, freshly dressed Stephane appeared in the doorway.
"I don't much like your new decor," he quipped.
"It's not as bad as yours," I retorted and smiled.
For a couple of seconds he stood silently in the doorway, looking uncomfortable.
"This will be the last night ever when we both sleep in this flat," he said eventually.
"Yeah," I said and sighed.
"Do you remember our first night?" he said a little hesitantly and quickly added, " Not the first night we moved in, but the other first night, the one with pizza and beer."
"Oh, yeah. How could I forget that?" I replied and grinned broadly.
"As this is the last night, do you want to share a pizza and beer?" The glint in his eye and his general look of horniness made it obvious what he was thinking.
"Oh, yeah!" I replied enthusiastically.
He nodded, smiled and disappeared from view, so I followed him out into the living room. It was still not yet six o'clock, and I wasn't hungry, so I thought we could talk for a while before getting pizza.
"You still have my email and phone number, right?" I asked as I sat next to him on the sofa. "I still have yours."
"Yeah, but we won't need them anymore after tonight."
"Don't you want to stay in touch?" I asked, a little shocked by his response.
"Look, Paul," he said gently. "We'll be living hundreds of miles apart. I don't know about you, but I've no idea what I'll be doing in the future. Mum suggested I might want to spend some time in France. And have you ever tried keeping a long-distance friendship going when you both have busy lives?"
I remembered how I'd gradually lost touch with Philip, and from the way he spoke, it was clear that he'd also experienced the failure of such a friendship.
"Yeah," I admitted sadly, "it happened with my best friend from school."
"And we're not even best friends. Just friends with no-strings benefits," he said, obviously trying not to show emotion.
"But they're great benefits," I pointed out, trying to lighten the mood.
"Yes, they are," he agreed with a smile. After a brief pause, and with a more serious expression, he added, "I've been thinking about this a lot, and I'd rather things end quickly on a happy note than gradually suffer the death of a thousand cuts."
"But…" I began but couldn't think of any words to continue with.
"Think of it like this," he said, putting his hand on mine and looking into my eyes. "A cherry blossom is very beautiful, but it lasts for only a very short time. When it falls, it will probably break into pieces if you try to catch it. When the blossom is on the ground, it will quickly get dirty and trampled. Instead of being beautiful, it will be ugly.
"We should enjoy beauty while it lasts. We should make the most of what we have while we have it. I think what we had was beautiful while it lasted. We should enjoy it now, not watch it slip through our fingers and get trampled by time."
"Sounds like you've been preparing that little speech for a while," I said. "And I never thought you were a philosopher."
"I study history. Philosophers are part of history. And like I said, I've been thinking about it a lot."
At the time, it never occurred to me to wonder why he'd been thinking about it a lot when I'd only been thinking about it for a few hours. In any case, although his words might have made sense to my logical mind, they weren't compatible with my emotions.
"Okay, maybe we could compromise," I suggested.
"Surely any sort of compromise wouldn't be a clean break," he said, frowning and apparently assuming that I'd misunderstood him.
"What I meant was we can have a clean break and not try to stay in touch but keep our contact details just in case of an emergency or something," I said.
Even to me, the words sounded pathetic. He frowned and thought about it for a while, then sighed and agreed.
"I'll need to pick up the rest of my stuff, so I was thinking of doing that on the day that the results come out. And I'll be coming back for graduation," I said. "So maybe we can meet up again then."
"I'm not travelling for hours and hundreds of miles just for exam results when I can get them by email," he replied. "And I'm certainly not going to travel all that way just for a couple of hours of a boring graduation ceremony."
The idea that this was going to be our last time together hit me like a blow in the stomach.
"Another thing," I said when I'd recovered enough to speak, "we may not be able to keep the cherry blossom, but surely we can take a photo to remind us of its beauty. Can I take some photos of you and of the two of us?"
"No nudes!" he said and laughed, then he blushed a little and added, "And I'm not a beautiful cherry blossom."
"No nudes," I agreed, "and beauty is in the eye of the beholder."
We took several photos of each other with different poses and facial expressions, as well as a few selfies of us together. We went back to sitting on the sofa, and Stephane asked me when I wanted to get pizza. By that time, it was a little after seven o'clock, and I thought I should phone my brothers, just in case they called me later when I might be busy.
"I should call my brothers first," I said.
"Brothers? I didn't know you had brothers."
"Technically half-brothers, and three months ago, I didn't know about them, either," I said.
His expression of puzzlement was so comical that I almost laughed out loud, but instead, I controlled myself and promised to explain things later. He began to stand up, presumably to move away and give me some privacy to make the call, but on an impulse, I grabbed his arm and pulled him back down. When I called Liam and Connor, it took them longer than I expected to answer, and when they did, they seemed to be scrambling for the phone.
"Paul!" Connor exclaimed, then with an accusatory stare, he continued, "We tried to get you a few minutes ago, but you didn't answer."
"We were worried," Liam added, frowning.
"I wasn't worried," the older boy said.
"I think I told you that I'm going home tomorrow," I said, and both boys nodded, "so today I had to pack my things, and one of those things was my laptop. I know I should have warned you. Sorry."
"Okay," Liam said, quickly forgiving me. "Who's that?"
"This is my friend, Stephane," I said, moving the phone so that they could get a better view of him and he could see the screen better. "He's one of the guys who've been sharing the flat with me. Stephane, these are my brothers. Connor is the big one, and Liam is the smaller one."
"Hi, Liam and Connor," Stephane greeted them with a smile and a little wave of his hand.
"Hi, Stephane," both boys said almost in unison, their pronunciation not quite right.
"I've not heard that name before," Liam said.
"It's French," Stephane said.
"You're French?" the older boy asked.
"Half. My mum's French, and my dad's English."
"So can you speak French?" Connor asked.
"Yes, I speak it as easily as I speak English."
"Cool!" the older boy said, clearly impressed.
"Anyway," I said, turning the phone back so that my brothers could see me better, "this is my last night at university, and when I get home I'll be scanning in the photos you wanted. I should be able to send them to you before I come to visit."
"So you're still coming?" Connor asked.
"Of course I am. I promised."
"A brother-promise," the younger boy confirmed.
"So, brothers, how was school today?" I said, mostly as a genuine question but partly as a tease that would get Connor to roll his eyes at me. My expectations were fulfilled when not only did he roll his eyes, but he also gave a derisory snort.
"It's school," he said contemptuously. "The only good thing about Friday school is that it's two days before I have to go again."
"I had swimming practice," Liam announced, then a little sadly he added, "I'm not very good."
"You're still little, and you've not been doing it long," the older boy said supportively.
"You don't need to be particularly good. You just need to be good enough to avoid drowning," I said. "If you want, we can all go swimming together over the summer so you can get some practice."
"That sounds like fun," Connor commented, but his little brother didn't look very enthusiastic about the idea.
"Just think, Liam, if your swimming improves by practising with me and Connor, you won't need to practise at school anymore," I pointed out.
"Oh, yeah!" he replied, obviously pleased with that idea.
"Have you had any more problems with Mike?" I asked after a brief pause.
"Nah," the older boy said. "Since the fight, he's left us alone."
"That's good. What are you planning to do tonight?"
"Dunno," Connor said. "Prob'ly play on the computer or watch TV."
"What're you doing tonight?" Liam asked.
"Stephane and I are going to get a pizza and then sit around watching TV and chatting."
"Stephane must be a special friend, then," Connor observed.
"Erm, what do you mean?" I asked, a little flustered, glancing sideways to see Stephane trying unsuccessfully to suppress a mischievous grin.
"He must be special, not just an ordinary friend, if you're spending all of your last night at uni with him."
"Yes, I s'pose he is," I said, wondering if my blush was as obvious as it felt. "Anyway, I'm starving, so we'll go and get the pizza now."
"Call us tomorrow when you get home," Connor said.
"Okay," I said. "But it could be any time between lunchtime and teatime."
After a general round of 'goodbyes' in which Stephane was included, the call ended.
"So," Stephane said to me, "tell me everything!"
I ordered our pizza, and we went to collect it because we also wanted to buy some beer. By the time that I'd told him 'everything', we were starting to eat the pizza. Stephane seemed to be entranced by the tale, frequently asking questions, occasionally making complimentary comments about my brothers, and finally complaining that I'd not told him about them before.
"It's a pity we never really talked," he said. "Hearing you talk about your brothers and seeing how you interact with them made me see you as a totally different person."
"Different in what way?" I asked.
"It's probably better not to say," he replied evasively.
"You know, it's cruel to tease me by mentioning it and then refusing to say more. And anyway, what is there to lose? This is our last night."
"If you're angry with me, you might not let me have my wicked way with your body tonight," he joked.
"There's no chance of that because I want to have my wicked way with you, too."
"Okay," he said slowly, "until I knew how much you cared for your brothers, I always thought you were aloof and generally uncaring. I thought that someone as good-looking as you must just be using me to get your jollies."
"Wait a minute," I protested. "If I recall correctly, you were the one who seduced me."
"Yes, but you didn't seem at all reluctant," he pointed out.
"How did you know that I'd be interested? Weren't you taking a big risk?"
"After sharing the flat with you for so long, I knew that you wouldn't be angry. The worst that could happen would be that you'd reject the idea and we'd both be embarrassed. That might've made things uncomfortable, but with only a few weeks of term left, it was worth the risk."
"I wouldn't be brave enough to do that," I said, "but I'm glad you were."
After we'd finished eating and had drunk two beers each, he leaned over and whispered in my ear.
"So, Paul," he said theatrically, "your place or mine?"
"Your place is the convention," I said playfully, "but how about being adventurous and going to mine?"
He nodded his agreement, so I took his hand and led him to my room.
Usually, a couple of hours after the start of one of our encounters, I would be listening out for the presence of our flatmates and trying to determine a safe time to get back to my own room. However, that night, I was already in my own room, and there were no flatmates around. I wanted to make the most of our time, so when I felt Stephane getting out of bed, I grabbed his arm.
"There's no need for you to go," I said.
"There is if you don't want a wet bed," he replied. "I'll be back in a minute."
Feeling foolish, I released his arm and relaxed. When he returned, I pulled him into an embrace and pressed my head to his chest. Of course, I knew that everything he'd said had been correct. Our homes were a long distance apart, we didn't know our future plans, and a clean break would ultimately be less painful.
Even more significant was that this was not, and was never intended to be, a romantic relationship. And yet I didn't want whatever it was we had to end just yet. For a brief moment, I toyed with the idea of staying for an extra night in the flat, but then his dad would be in town. Aside from that, I didn't want to seem clingy or appear to be going against the spirit of our no-strings agreement.
By the time we got up, we'd been in bed for almost eleven hours and probably sleeping or dozing for about half that time. Getting out of the same bed, bodies sweetly aching from the night before, and having breakfast together while half-dressed was something I'd not experienced since Mai Li had broken up with me. I' d forgotten how pleasant and relaxing such a morning could be.
Because of our imminent departure, we'd been deliberately allowing food stocks to run low, so toast with no butter and just a scraping of jam was all that was available for breakfast. Fortunately, there was plenty of tea. After eating, we sat there, and I soon began to feel a little uncomfortable, maybe because I was reluctant to say goodbye. Eventually, I told him that I was going to go and finish getting dressed.
"Aren't you going to shower first?"
"There's no point," I said. "I'm only going to get sweaty carrying things out to my car."
In truth, the main reason for not showering was I wanted to keep his scent on me for as long as possible.
"Okay, I'll go and put on more clothes and give you a hand moving your stuff."
Having brought my car round to the front of the building and filled it up with my most important baggage, we went back up to the flat to ensure that nothing essential had been left behind.
"Thanks for your help," I said, "and for… everything. I hope that you and your dad have a good journey home and that your future turns out as you want."
After those embarrassingly clumsy words, I leaned in and gave him a hug. That made me feel even worse because I'd never been completely comfortable with hugging, and I had no idea why I'd done it. My actions may have taken him by surprise because it took him a couple of seconds to respond.
"I hope you don't mind, but I won't come out to wave you off," he said. "I think it would feel weird waving at your car and watching it disappearing into the distance."
He was obviously embarrassed, but I didn't know if it was because of the hug or because of what he'd just said, or maybe both.
"It's okay. I understand," I said and paused to pluck up courage before continuing. "And I completely understand how you feel about cherry blossoms, so I won't try to contact you. But if you ever want to contact me for any reason, please do. I don't care so much about clean breaks, and if a slower break hurts a bit more, then that's okay with me."
That wasn't something I'd planned to say, but it just seemed to flow out, and after that almost nonsensical rambling, I felt really awful and embarrassed. Looking at his expression, it appeared that I'd also embarrassed him, so I was anxious to leave as quickly as possible.
We said our final goodbyes, I gave a pathetic little wave, and went to my car.
Authors deserve your feedback. It's the only payment they get. If you go to the top of the page you will find the author's name. Click that and you can email the author easily.* Please take a few moments, if you liked the story, to say so.
[For those who use webmail, or whose regular email client opens when they want to use webmail instead: Please right click the author's name. A menu will open in which you can copy the email address (it goes directly to your clipboard without having the courtesy of mentioning that to you) to paste into your webmail system (Hotmail, Gmail, Yahoo etc). Each browser is subtly different, each Webmail system is different, or we'd give fuller instructions here. We trust you to know how to use your own system. Note: If the email address pastes or arrives with %40 in the middle, replace that weird set of characters with an @ sign.]
* Some browsers may require a right click instead
