After having given it some thought, it makes sense to me that Toby would rarely be around.
When they first enter the house together, and Nick asks something like, "You live *here*?" Toby makes a point of saying that his *parents* do; he's a university graduate and obviously eager to leave the nest and start his own life. (When Gerald says something mildly derogatory about Nick's hometown, now a part of his constituency, and subsequently apologizes, Nick tells him not to worry, he couldn't wait to leave it, himself; his break from home apparently occurred when he went off to college.) While it isn't all that uncommon these days for young people his age to keep on living/move back in with Mom and Dad, in the early '80s kids wanted out! (This is from my own - American - experience, and per my having taught and advised university students for decades; I could be way off the map, though, when it comes to kids in England.)
As far as their friendship goes, it's (again) been my experience that people one was close to in college tend to fall by the wayside once that common bond is removed from the picture. Perhaps Toby would have spent more time at his parents' home - or even continued to live there - to look over Cat had Nick not stepped in as the "surrogate son" (as I believe Gerald once calls him.)
reply
share