Tales from the Finchbottom Vale – (25) A Very Christmas Romance

Tommy Weir’s cab arrived back at the Tipton Country Park Hotel in the North Downshire village of Tipton just as the snow began to fall again.

He paid the driver and then he and Danny walked into the plush panelled lobby of the hotel.

It had been a really nice evening out, a phenomenal meal and good company.

There were forty of them at the restaurant, colleagues from all over Europe some of them were strangers, some were close friends and some of them more so.

“Night cap?” Tommy asked

“No thanks’ mate I’m on the red eye in the morning” Danny replied.

Tommy looked at his watch and saw it was already morning.

“I’ll say goodnight then” he said and they shook hands and Danny headed for the desk.

Tom was definitely up for one, so he headed for the bar.

There were only a handful of people in there at that hour and as he caught the night porter’s eye he said “Southern Comfort please, a large one”

“Make that two” a voice said from behind him.

He recognised the voice immediately, those wonderful plummy tones were acutely familiar to him, perfect English, each vowel dripping with sexuality, so he said to the barman “Two”

Then he turned around and looked at the woman who had been the object of his lust for nine months and an unrequited love for three of those and very much requited for another three of them.

Justine Khan was his older woman, his cougar to use the modern parlance.

She was a few months on the wrong side of fifty but still beautiful in his eyes even though he was fifteen years younger.

Justine and Tommy had shared an office at Brocklington Broadcast International for over a year, and at first he loathed her, he thought she was vain, overbearing and manipulative and her opinion of him was much the same.

They even lived in the same village, Dulcet St Mary and attended the same church, St Mary of Bethany.

They sang in the same choir and sat on the same committees so there was no escape for him from the bloody woman.

 

But as the weeks changed into months his feelings for her changed with them.

Justine had an Egyptian father and an English mother which left her with a dark complexion and western features.

She was an exotic looking woman with jet black hair and large brown eyes.

Justine was a tall woman, slender and very well endowed with legs to die for.

He would surreptitiously watch her move around the office on her shapely legs, admiring the tightness of her skirt around her hips and buttocks as she bent.

And when she was sat at her desk his eyes would stray to her gaping blouse and the treasures contained within.

But it wasn’t until a grey overcast day in June, on an office beano to Epsom Downs that they showed each other in no uncertain terms how they felt, when as the Derby favourites thundered towards the finish line Justine and Tommy, away from prying eyes, kissed for the first time.

And as they kissed he unzipped her leather jacket and slipped his hands inside her shirt to caress her naked skin.

 

Over the weeks that followed that first kiss on the racecourse, so did more sensual moments of intimacy, but they were really only tasters of what the two of them truly desired.

 

They had tried on several occasions to engineer an opportunity to take their burgeoning relationship to the next level.

One such opportunity was a three day trip to visit suppliers, which they got rubber stamped by management and booked appointments and hotels and they were feeling very pleased with themselves for their lustful scheming.       

However an unseen hand dealt them a bitter blow when Justine went down with laryngitis.

Afterwards they tried to just arrange a simple dirty weekend away, Abbotsford, Abbeyvale, Applesford and even other places that didn’t begin with the letter A.

They even devised an intricate scenario for the benefit of Justine’s husband, Sammi, which he swallowed hook, line and sinker but then that failed at the eleventh hour when Tommy broke his wrist.

However even though it seemed like the fates were against them they decided they should have one last role of the dice.

 

So it was at the Brocklington Broadcast International Christmas Party weekend in Tipton that they planned to finally consummate their lust.

They had been out to a restaurant in Roespring called The Old School House and they had spent the evening sitting at the same table during the dinner, discreetly holding hands under the table, but as they left at the end of the evening they got separated and ended up in different cabs.

Tommy obviously thought that fate had interceded once again and their last chance had gone.

He supposed that it would be more devastating to him than to her because although he was single man, Justine was a married woman, which meant that for her there was some guilt involved, even if her husband Sammi was a complete waste of space.

But despite any perceived guilt Tommy was delighted to find Justine was waiting for him in the bar when he got back to the hotel.

He hadn’t taken into account that she would want it as bad as he did.

They sat in the corner of the bar and finished their drink.

“Another?” he asked

“I don’t think so” Justine said sharply and stood up, took his hand and dragged him to his feet.

“Let’s have the next one in my room” she said and led him by the hand through the plush reception area, with its brass fittings and oak wood paneling and green leather upholstery, up to the reception desk and collected their room keys.

With the key cards in hand Justine hurried him along the corridor and her wonderful plummy tones accompanied him all the way down the corridor until they finally arrived at their destination which was Justine’s room where they stood in the corridor and kissed.

 

At first it was the usual semi controlled kissing they had done so many times before but it quickly became hot and passionate as his hand sought out her breast, which was when she broke away and opened the door.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” he asked

“God yes” Justine replied and pulled him into the room.

 

Once inside the room he was eager to get started again and immediately tried to get inside her clothes.

Justine however put a stop to things and said

“Not so fast, I want everything to be just so”

“Sorry” he responded not quite sure what “just so” was.

But he needn’t have worried as it seemed that she wanted to amongst other things get the lighting right.

She was conscious of the age difference between them and didn’t want him to be disappointed with what she had to offer, because as a much younger man she thought he would have been more used to firmer flesh.

He wasn’t concerned with that what he felt for her had gone way beyond simple physical attraction so she really didn’t have to worry.

 

While she set the scene he was sent into the bathroom and while he was in there he thought it prudent to relieve himself while he had the opportunity.

However such a natural function normally simply rendered, is much more complicated when you are seriously aroused.

It necessitates adopting the posture of a ski jumper and even then it’s not always successful.

When he left the bathroom he found the room lighting very subdued and Justine wearing only a smile and a pair of white lace knickers showing in stark contrast against the gorgeous dark flesh.

“Are you disappointed?” She asked

“You’re even more gorgeous than I had hoped” he replied.

Justine had one arm draped across her breasts

“Good answer” she said as she walked towards him and lowered her arm at the last second and he got his first long lingering look at her large round breast that he had only previously dreamed of and then she was in his arms and began undressing him.

 

As they lay entwined in the afterglow, still breathing hard from their exertions.

Justine rested her head on his chest and sighed as he reflected that making love with her was everything he had hoped it would be and more and then they drifted off into a sweet post coital sleep.

 

After a short sleep he was awoken by Justine tenderly kissing his neck as her hand strove to awaken the rest of him and when all of him was fully awake they made love again.

 

The next day when the rest of their colleagues returned to their homes or in some cases their home countries Justine and Tommy put into effect their plan to stay on for another night and repeated the joyful pleasure of each other again and again.

 

Tommy would have gladly continued their unions well into the New Year but alas before the protracted Christmas break Justine dropped a bombshell on him when she took him to one side and to his great surprise ended the affair.

“But I love you” he said

“And I love you” Justine concurred

“Then why?” Tommy asked

“It has to end, not because I don’t love you” she said “But because despite everything I still love my husband, and I can’t cheat on him anymore”

  

He didn’t take the news well and for the week between Justine dropping her bombshell and the office closing for Christmas he barely spoke a word to her and when the office closed for the Christmas break he left without saying goodbye, it was just too painful for him.

On Christmas Eve he spent the day laying on the sofa watching sentimental movies and eating comfort food.

However come the evening he snapped out of his torpor and walked through the snow to church.

As usual St Mary of Bethany was well attended for Midnight Mass, despite the bitter cold and everyone in attendance thoroughly enjoyed the service.

After the mass was over everyone gathered at the rear of the church and shared the peace which was when he saw her.

Tommy tried to get to the door but Justine anticipated his move and intercepted him.

“Happy Christmas Tommy” she said and then hugged him.

“I miss you” she whispered

“Me too” he replied as he hugged her.

After the hug Justine turned to leave and Tommy said

“Happy Christmas Justine”

She smiled and went home, to her husband and he went home alone.

         

Christmas morning began with a frosty glaze decorating the rooftops and lightly dusting the evergreens and then as the bells rang out to celebrate the birth of the Lord the joyous faithful arrived under a clear blue sky and the winter sun glistened on the layer of frost coating the previous day’s snow.

It was a most glorious Christmas morning and Tommy’s spirits were high.

Much higher than they had been for over a week.

He met Justine outside St Mary’s which raised his spirits even higher and he kissed her on each cheek in the sunshine before they went inside to join the rest of the congregation.

It was an excellent service with the Vicar at his very best.

 

Afterwards it took some while for the Church to empty as everyone wanted to share their best wishes with the Vicar and he was clearly getting over come with all the attention.

After he left the church and said his goodbyes he smiled at Justine and watched her walk away and then he spent the rest of the day missing her.

 

In the days preceding Christmas, Tommy had been inundated with invitations to share Christmas dinner and as usual he was quite overwhelmed by people’s kindness.

 

In the end he accepted his next door neighbour’s, the Daly’s,  invitation and enjoyed a wonderful Christmas lunch with Victoria and Owen, where he ate too much, drank too much and left just before he over stayed his welcome and returned home very late that evening.

And although he was full of spirits from the Daly’s drinks cabinet his spirits were quiet low as he was alone.

And all that night his dreams were full of Justine and she was saying

“We have to end it”

“But I love you” he said

“And I love you” Justine concurred “But I can’t cheat on him anymore”

 

On Boxing Day he spent much of the day in the Cross Keys and when he eventually got himself home it was dark.

He went in and switched the lights on and he had been home for about half an hour before he fell asleep in his armchair and was woken about an hour later by a loud banging on the front door.

So he dragged himself up from his comfortable chair and dragged himself to the door and opened it.

“Hello Tommy” Justine said

“Hi” he said groggily, not really believing it was her.

“Can I come in?” she asked with a shiver

“Of course, sorry, come in” he said

She pulled off her gloves and stuffed them in her pocket before slipping her boots off and then handed him her hat, coat and scarf.

Justine sat down on the sofa as far from his chair as it was possible to get and perched herself on the edge of the seat nervously.

She wasn’t glammed up like usual, there were no designer clothes, no silk blouse, no tailored skirt or expensive patterned tights and overpriced shoes.

She had wellingtons on her feet when she stepped in the house and as she sat on his sofa she had Tigger socks on her feet and wore loose fitting trousers and a baggy sweater.

“Do you love me?” she said suddenly

“You know that I do” he replied

“Yes but do you really love me, or is it just an infatuation?” She asked

“Do you love me, warts and all, and not just in a sympathetically lit hotel room, or when I’m dressed up to the nines, would you love me looking like this?”

“I love you with all my heart” he replied

“But only enough to have an affair with me” she said coldly

“That was all that was on offer” he pointed out

“But you would be content to continue with that though wouldn’t you?” she asked

“Only if it was that or nothing” he said

“I thought so” she retorted

“No you don’t understand, I want us to be together” he said “All the time, not just when we can connive and scheme for a stolen hour together or a dirty weekend”

“What do you mean?” Justine asked

“I want you to leave Sammi and be with me”

“Do you really mean that?” she asked with tears welling up in her eyes “You’re not just saying it, to get me into bed?”

“No of course not” he said and knelt beside her and held her hands.

“What about the age difference?” she asked “I was fifteen years of age when you were born, you are a young man” 

“You say that like its news to me” she replied “I know you’re 15 years older me and I don’t care”

Tommy put his arms around her and just held her for the next five minutes.

“You may not still think that when you hear what I have to tell you” she said as she straightened up and looked at his face.

“Nothing you could possibly say could change the way I feel” he said confidently

“Don’t be so sure” Justine retorted

“I mean what I say” Tommy reiterated and then he watched the woman he loved take a deep breath before she spoke.

“I have left him” she said and his face immediately betrayed his true feelings for her and she gasped when she saw the look of joy on his face.

“You really do love me, for me” she said

 

By New Year’s Day everyone in the village knew they were a couple and they were a cause célèbre for a while but once Sammi had moved away and her house was sold things settled down and by the following Christmas no one gave them a second thought, which suited them down to the ground.

The Christmas after that they celebrated as a married couple.