Brassington is a large
sprawling village nestled in the wooded hills on the southern edge of the
Dancingdean Forest in the south east corner of Downshire and in one of a row of
terraced Victorian Cottages lived Craig Hooper, a Detective Sgt in the Downshire
Constabulary, and he lived next door to divorcee sisters Chrissy Holdack and
Carol Hutchins.
They were all in their
mid to late thirties and with no romantic attachments, so they got on very
well.
But when Chrissy and
Craig got together on Christmas Jumper Day, Carol decided things had to change
in her life.
She had been
deflecting the attentions of Ashwin Soman for several months, and she really
liked him, but she had put him off because she didn’t want to upset the
comfortable domestic dynamic between her and Chrissy.
But that wasn’t an
issue now as her friend and next-door neighbour Craig had already done that, but
not just a Christmas indiscretion, it was something serious, so with them “loved
up” Carol realised that she didn’t need to live her life on the side lines and
was ready to get in the game.
Ashwin was the 40-year-old
widowed, owner and manager of the Stephenson’s corner shop, and was very highly
regarded in Brassington, by villagers and customers alike.
One of those customers was of course Carol Hutchins who he knew very well but would have liked very much
to have known her better.
She was five feet eight with thick corn coloured curls tumbling down
onto her shoulders and startling blue eyes, with a lovely figure, curvaceous
and perfectly proportioned.
But every time he
suggested doing something she was always busy, so he just admired her from
a distance.
But then one day when divorcee Carol went into the shop to buy her
newspaper, as she did most days, she was different.
“Good morning Ash”
“Hello Carol” he said, “The usual?”
“Yes please” she replied “And a favour”
“Oh ok” he said, “How
can I help?”
“Well I’m going to the Carol Concert tomorrow” she said “and I was
wondering…. Hoping, you might be free to…. Accompany me”
“I would be delighted” he said “I would like that very much”
“Excellent” she said “Thank you so much”
“Well done Carol” she said to herself on the way back to the cottage
“You played a blinder there, part one complete”
She would put parts two and three into operation after the carol
concert.
Ashwin was in a much more positive
frame of mind regarding his affections for Carol than he had been for many
months.
He put it down to
Christmas magic, he liked Christmas and he liked Christmas Carols although he
was not a Christian, in fact he wasn’t, anything.
Ashwin was of Indian descent,
although he was born in Downshire, and he was raised as a Hindu, but had not
practiced his faith, in fact he lost his faith when his wife Preeta died.
He loved his wife very
much but after five years he had accepted it was time to move on, and Carol was
the one he’d set his heart on.
Because Ashwin and
Carol lived at opposite ends of the Village they met on the day outside the
Pub, and after a drink at the Timberman’s they walked across the green to St
Anthony's.
It was while they sat
and had their drinks that Carol finalised part two of her plan in her head.
It was a marvellous
service of hymns, carols, recitations and bible readings, and they sang some of
her favourite carols and she was uplifted at the end of it and felt a little
guilty considering what she had planned.
As they stepped
outside she stumbled, and Ashwin had to reach out and prevent her from falling.
“Are you ok?” he asked
with concern
“I think so” she
replied and then winced
“What is it?”
“I’ve twisted my
ankle” Carole said
“Can you put your
weight on it?”
“I’ll try” she said
and then winced again “no”
“Do you want to sit?”
“No, I’ll be alright
if I can lean on you” she said
“Ok” he responded and
supported her weight
“Is that better?”
“Much” she replied
“Could I be a burden and ask you to walk me home”
“I will happily see you to your door” he said happily, and he walked her
slowly to her cottage and once there she opened the door and asked.
“Do you want to come in for a coffee” and before he had chance to
decline she dragged him across the threshold into the hall and closed the door
behind him and went about thanking him for his gallantry, and part three was
complete.
Carol and Ashwin lay
silently in the afterglow in her bed and after a few minutes she turned her
head to look at him.
“My goodness you take
gallantry to a whole new level” she said from beneath the duvet.
“Well we Hindu’s take gallantry
very seriously” he said, and she giggled and then she added
“I don’t make a habit
of this”
“Nor do I” Aswin said
“And this isn’t something I envisaged when you asked me to go to the Carol
Concert”
He reached out and put
his arm around her and she lay her head on his chest.
“Regrets?” she asked
“None” he confirmed
“Nor me” she whispered
and kissed his skin “I have often dreamed of this”
“Me too” he said “But
it wasn’t as I imagined”
“I’m sorry if it wasn’t as good as you
dreamed” she said
“I’ve only ever been
with… I had only ever been with my ex-husband”
“It was every bit as I
dreamed it would be” he reassured her
“I just never imagined
it would ever happen”
She hugged him tightly
and then he confessed
“I’m no expert in such
matter” he confessed “and there’s been no one since Preeta, but I thought we
did good”
“Me too” she said, and
he felt her sighing breath on his chest
They lay entwined
beneath the duvet and after about 5 minutes Ashwin broke the silence.
“I suppose I should
go” he said “before Chrissy gets home”
“I don’t want you to
go” she said
“It won’t be forever”
he reassured her “There’s always tomorrow”
“I know” she said “But
I thought you might show me some more gallantry”
“Your wish is my
command my lady” he said and pulled her closer to him.
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