The beautiful Downshire village of Clerembeax St Giles was situated to
the west of Abbeyvale located between Grace Hill and Bushy Down and on the
outskirts was the Clerembeax Palace Hotel and Spa
and it was the location of a Halloween
Ball, which was primarily a fancy-dress affair and late in the evening Kelvin
Templar was sat in the Hotels lounge bar, dressed as Julius Caesar, and wishing
he had chosen a less cumbersome costume, when she walked in.
He didn’t recognise
her at first, in her flapper dress, and he had to do a bit of double take, but she
was still as beautiful as ever, but her lustrous brown hair that once flowed in
waves over her narrow shoulders was now cut in a bob, it was his ex-wife Paula.
Kelvin and Paula
Templar were married for fifteen years and had been divorced for five.
They were nicknamed the
Saints by her grandfather as a nod towards the popular TV series from the 60’s
“The Saint” in which the main character was called Simon Templar.
She looked so different from the
last time he’d seen her five years earlier when her eyes were red and her
cheeks tearstained.
There was no double
take for Paula, she recognised him instantly and she beamed a broad smile at
him and he
realized as she walked towards him in a powder blue flapper dress, that he was
still in love with her.
“Kelvin” she said “What a surprise”
She wasn’t tall but
even in her high heeled shoes she had to stand on tip toes and he had to stoop
so they could embrace properly.
“Trust you to pick such am impractical costume” she said
“It seemed like a good idea at the time” he said and laughed
“Would you like a drink?”
“I’d love one” she replied and tried unsuccessfully to get her bum on
the stool.
“Here let me give you a hand shorty” Kelvin said offering his hand which
she accepted
“Thanks Julius” she retorted
“What brings you here?” she asked “it’s not really your kind of thing is
it”
“Rugby club” he replied and then asked, “and you?”
“I’m here with my sister Celia”
He couldn’t believe how releived he was to hear that she wasn’t there
with another man, but he couldn’t hide that relief in his expression and demeanor
and it didn’t go unnoticed by her, and his reaction pleased her.
“Really?”
“Yes, she just broke up with Carl, again” she elaborated and raised her
eyebrows
“You look lovely by the way” he said
“Thank you” she responded a little self consciously
As they sat at the bar and drank they talked about the old days and the
people they both knew and how both their lives and careers were going.
However what Kelvin really wanted was to talk about was, her, the
personal stuff, what she had been up to in her life over the five years, since
he broke them.
“So, what about you?” he asked
“What do you mean?”
“Well Celia is here because of a break up, so what about you?” he
repeated
“Oh, I see, well there’s no one for me to break up with” she replied,
“and is there a significant other in your life?”
“Do you really think I would be dressed like this if there was” he said and
laughed
“Good point” she agreed
“Do you want another?” he asked as he drained his glass
“I’d rather have a dance” she replied, “if you think you can manage to
dance in that outfit?”
“I’ll give it a go”
“Letting you go was the worst thing I ever did” he said “it’s my
greatest regret”
“Mine too” she whispered in reply
It was stupid pride that ended their marriage, which he had never been
able to forgive himself for, it all began when she told him one day that she
had been offered a job in Manchester, a promotion, with more money than he was
earning and a more prestigious job in several ways.
She was thrilled with the offer and just wanted to share her news with
him, it was never her intention to take the job, she just wanted him to
celebrate the news with her, but instead he poured scorn on it and behaved
childishly and as a result he lost her.
“I’m sorry” he said and then he kissed her
“I’ve missed your kiss” she said when their lips parted
“But what does this mean?”
“It means I’ve missed it too and I want you back” he replied “I want you
to forgive me and take me back”
“Truly?”
“Yes”
“It’s what I’ve dreamed of” she said and kissed him again
After the kiss and the song had finished Paula took his hand and said
“Come on General you’ve pulled”
And then she walked him off the dance floor and they walked hand in hand
to the door of her room where they kissed again.
The kissing continued once they had crossed the threshold into her room late on Thursday night, or more precisely early Friday
Morning and they grew in passionate intensity until Kelvin began to make
inroads into her clothing and she called
a halt
“No, I’ll do it
myself”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, now turn your
back,” she said
“Why?” he asked
“So, I can get
undressed”
“But I’ve already seen
everything”
“That was when we were
married” she corrected him
“This is different, it’s
been five years”
“Ok” he said and
turned his back to her
“And no peeking” she
said
“Ok”
He thought it was
rather cute that even after the fifteen years of married intimacy she wanted to
preserve her modesty, she had never been shy in the bedroom when they were
together.
“You can look now” she
said and when he turned around she was divested of the powder blue flapper
dress and was ensconced beneath the covers.
“Oh, have you left
anything for me” he asked
“Well you’d better get
under here and find out” she said
Later that same morning
as they lay beneath the duvet he asked
“Why didn’t you want
me to undress you last night?”
“Because it wasn’t all
me under that dress” Paula said
“There were garments
and devices to make me look my best”
“You look perfect to
me right now” he said as he peeked beneath the covers
“Then you had better take
me right now”
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