14 October 1984 Nottingham
Dear Claire,
You’ll think I’m being silly, but the basement of that West End car park felt off somehow.
We went in after the show because it was tipping down and Martin didn’t want to drive round again looking for somewhere on the street. He took the ramp down to the lower level. It smells of damp concrete and petrol down there, worse than most.
When the ticket came out I glanced at my watch. It was 10:11. The ticket said 10:14.
I thought I must have read it wrong. Martin said I probably had.
When we came back up after the show, which ran a bit late, I checked again. My watch and the barrier clock matched. The ticket time was still three minutes ahead.
It’s nothing really. Only three minutes. Still, I kept looking at my watch in the theatre as if I had missed something.
Martin said the machines are new and bound to be temperamental. He is probably right. They’ve changed all that recently.
Even so, when we left I told him to use the Ground entrance next time. I did not explain why.
It just put me off.
Remind me to park above ground when we go in again.
Love, Helen