Mornington-By-Mere – (36) Returning Angel

 

Twenty eight year old Matthew Burnham lives alone in the village of Mornington-By-Mere which is a small country village lying in the Finchbottom Vale nestled between the Ancient Dancingdean Forest and the rolling Pepperstock Hills.

It is a quaint picturesque village, a proper chocolate box picturesque idyll, with a Manor House, 12^th Century Church, a Coaching Inn, Windmills, an Old Forge, a Schoolhouse, a River and a Mere.

But Mornington-By-Mere is not just a quaint chocolate box English Village it is the beating heart of the Finchbottom Vale and there were a number of cottages and small houses on the Purplemere road and Dulcets Lane which form the part of Mornington Village known as Manorside where Matthew lived in a small two bedroom cottage in the row of West Gate Cottages on the banks of the River Brooke.

He had only lived there for around 9 months when he moved there from Purplemere.

Matthew made the move because the company he worked for, Bespoke Furniture, had decided to up sticks, so he decided to pick up sticks along with them because it was a well-paid job and he was good at it, and he enjoyed working with his hands.

 

On a Friday morning, at the end of November, he was staring out through the window, he wasn’t watching anything in particular in the garden, leaves blowing across the lawn, a squirrel on the bird table, that kind of thing, it was just something to do as he sipped at his coffee.

But he was soon snapped back to the moment when the phone rang and when he viewed the caller ID he could see it was his mum.

“Hi mum, what a lovely surprise” he said

“Hello Matthew, you say that every time I phone you, and you still manage to sound insincere even after all these years, and you really should be getting better at it, but you’re not are you?” she chastised

“So what have I done wrong?”

“You say that every time I phone you as well” she said “I don’t just phone you when you’ve done something wrong”

“So you want me to do something for you then instead” he said

“You make me sound awful” she chastised him and then she laughed

“So you don’t want me to do something for you?”

“Well on this occasion it just so happens that I do need a favour” she confessed

“Aha” he said triumphantly “Go on then ask away”

“Ok then I’ll get straight to the point” she said

She liked getting straight to the point and then generally waffled on for an eternity but on this occasion she did get straight to the point.

“Angela Goodwin is back in the country” She said

“You remember Angela?”

Angela was an old family friend; she was actually the daughter of his mum’s best friend Sharon.

“Yes of course I do” he replied

“Angela would like to know if you could put her up for a few days while she’s in the area” Mum continued

“She actually asked if she could stay here.” Matthew asked

“Well no, I offered on your behalf” she admitted

“She’s back from the missions for about a month, catching up with old friends before she returns to China”

“Then of course she can stay” he said

“I seem to remember you were quite taken with her when you were younger” she continued

“Yes I was, but that was a very long time ago” he agreed

“You will look after her though won’t you?” his mum said firmly

“She’s one of the angels”

“I will treat her like a princess” he said

“I would rather you treated her like a nun” Mum commanded

“Angela is a holy person”

“Message received and understood” he said obediently

“I will ring in the morning to say what train she will be on, can you meet her at Shallowfield station?”

“Yes of course”

“Well thank you Matthew” she said “I knew I could rely on you”

His family were very active in the church and it wasn’t unusual for him to put up visitors.

He was a Christian and a regular attendee but he wasn’t as active in “the good works” area of the church as he would have liked to be but housing the occasional stray was something he could do without it impacting his working life.

“I’ll call tomorrow then, bye” his mum said and then she was gone and he released a long slow exhale of breath.

“Well that’s an interesting turn of events” he said to himself “Angela Goodwin is coming to stay”

Angela was his first crush and she was going to be staying under his roof and Angela had a lot to answer for, Matthew got his first arousal thinking about her and furthermore he had his first wet dream over Angela, well not exactly over her obviously, but she was in his dream when he creamed his PJs.

 

Angela was, is, six years older than him and he was smitten with her, and she with him, from the first moment he saw her, but nothing happened, apart from a kiss, one single solitary kiss that simply blew his mind.

However Angela shied away after that moment of passion and the relationship was as a result unresolved but whenever they were together the air was always thick with sexual tension.

But she thought it would be a sin and a betrayal if they did anything about the way they felt.

He was too young to know at the time exactly what her issue was with them kissing but then he was only 16.

So he used to track her around the house like a stalker hoping to catch just a glimpse of her.

         

As a 16 year old he had wanted her with every fiber of his being, not that he would have known what to do with her one little bit, after all he was a naïve and inexperience schoolboy, a callow youth, but he still wanted her what ever that meant and  he’d always wanted her ever since.

“Well now I might finally get my chance” he said to himself and his head was full of very unchristian thoughts.

 

His Mum phoned again on Saturday morning as promised, but as it turned out he didn’t need to meet Angela’s train at Shallowfield station after all.

In fact she didn’t even catch the train, the Christian fraternity had rallied round, as they do, and a rather frumpy middle-aged woman called Lily Mumford delivered her to his door in her Morris Minor.

 

Mathew invited them in and the rather frosty Ms. Mumford cast an unsatisfactory and critical eye over everything before coldly taking her leave.

He had suspected that there would be a distinct awkwardness between him and Angela after all the years that had passed because of the unresolved sexual tension that had surrounded them, but he was pleasantly surprised.

He got the distinct impression that she was just as surprised as he was and she seemed equally as relaxed as he.

Angela was still every bit as pretty as he remembered, a few more lines on her pretty face perhaps, and she wore her hair shorter, but she had lost none of her beauty or allure.

She didn’t seem as tall as she had the last time he saw her, but that was merely his memory playing tricks on him because she was 5ft 3 as she always was.

He couldn’t really ascertain her physical dimensions, to see if they had altered in anyway because of the loose and shapeless clothes she was wearing, but his extremely vivid imagination filled in the blanks.

 

They spent the rest of the day just talking, catching up and reminiscing.

Their paths had been very different since they last met, hers had been one of pious devotion in the missions and had taken her to the other side of the world while his could best be summed up as cautious and unadventurous.

But despite the differences the years had just seemed to have melted away.

 

“Its very kind of you to put me up Matthew” she said “Thank you”

“No problem at all” he said honestly “Are you hungry?”

“Yes I am rather” she replied

“Well let me give you a quick tour, which won’t take long, and I’ll show you where everything is, settle you in to your room and while you’re freshening up I’ll cook us something” Matthew suggested.

“That would be really lovely” Angela said with conviction.

“Thank you again”

After he took her up he found himself behaving like his 16 year former self sneaking around trying to catch her in intimate moments and get a glimpse of forbidden flesh.
But he failed miserably, so he went back downstairs to the kitchen.

 

After they had eaten, they sat and talked some more until after about an hour Angela was suddenly overcome with tiredness and had to excuse herself.

“I’m so sorry” she said “But my body clock is all over the place at the moment”

Matthew had to admit he was quite tired himself and the only traveling he had done recently was to Sharpington and back, so he decide to turn in as well.

 

Inconveniently Matthew had to get up for a pee at about 3.00am and as he was just getting back into his bed he thought he heard a noise downstairs so he slipped on his bathrobe and cautiously crept down the stairs.

He could definitely hear someone in the kitchen, so he gingerly crept to the kitchen door, which was slightly ajar, and then he breathed a sigh of relief.  

The source of the noise was Angela, who was standing by the counter making herself a hot drink and she was wearing blue and white-stripped pajamas several sizes too big, the old fashioned ones with a drawstring around the waist.

So he still couldn’t ascertain her physical dimensions because of the loose fitting PJ’s.

 

The sight of her standing in his kitchen in her pajamas was such a delight to see and all the deep seated and unfulfilled feelings of love and lust overwhelmed him and he couldn’t take his eyes off her.

How often he had dreamed of her over the years in just such a pose of domesticity around his house.

And there she was in his kitchen in the wee small hours wearing old fashioned pajamas.

Matt stood in the hall spying through the crack in the door for a long time because he knew that if he went into the kitchen right at that moment he wouldn’t be able to stop himself from consuming her with his eyes.

But he couldn’t stay out in the hall indefinitely and he couldn’t sneak back upstairs in case she spotted him and he would have to explain why he hadn’t wanted to go in the kitchen.

So he took a deep breath and pushed open the door.

“Hey Angela” he said “can’t sleep eh”

“No” she replied, “like I said before my body clock is all askew”

The way she looked up at him was cuteness personified so he focused his eyes on the cupboards behind her head, and thought to himself

“I must not look at her, I must not look at her”

“I thought a hot drink might help” she continued as she checked the milk boiling on the hob.

Matthew wanted to look at her so badly, and as she turned back towards him he finally gave in and stared at her beautiful face, but he must have stared more intently than he imagined because she suddenly looked directly at him and she couldn’t help but notice he was looking at her with acute longing and she blushed a brilliant red.

“Oh” she exclaimed in surprised 

“I’m so sorry” he said, apologizing for staring at her.

“I thought you would have gotten over your crush after twelve years” she said pouring hot milk into her mug

“It was never a crush” Matt said

“Of course it was” she said forcefully.

“I really am sorry but I can’t help it” Matt said feebly

“Well you need to learn” she snapped and bustled past him and went out the door.

“Oh bugger” he said and sat down at the kitchen table “I’ve blown it”

 

It was 4.00am and Matt was still sitting at the kitchen table having drunk two mugs of Milo made with boiled milk and he was very wide awake and cursing his behaviour.

“Why couldn’t you just look away” he said to himself “This is going to make the atmosphere very strained for the next two days”

As he sat at the kitchen table it was apparent that Angela still couldn’t sleep either as he could clearly hear her in the shower.

Matt put his head in his hands and he couldn’t believe what had happened, he couldn’t believe what he had done, he couldn’t believe he had been so stupid.

“You are a total idiot” he said lifting his head from his hands momentarily.

Which was when the kitchen door opened and as he looked up Angela walked in still wearing the blue and white stripped pajamas.

She was biting her lip and kept looking at the floor, he smiled at her and she gave a weak smile back and then despite everything that had already happened he looked at her and what was supposed to be a quick glance became more prolonged as his gaze lingered and to his great surprise she held his gaze and although Angela blushed a vivid scarlet she made no attempt to look away, in fact she continued to look at him as she walked towards him and she sat at the table next to him and said

“I’ve never gotten over you either” and then she leant towards him and kissed him.

Matt couldn’t recall the exact number of times, as a young man he had imagined that long awaited second kiss and as it was happening and it was every bit as sensual as he imagined it would be.

Angela’s arms enveloped him as her embrace became more urgent and she slid off her chair and on his lap.

 

It was early Sunday afternoon when Matthew awoke and Angela was still asleep in bed beside him.

He leant over and kissed her neck and as she stirred he cuddled up behind her and then he dozed off again pressed up close behind her and when he woke again her shoulders were shaking,

“Are you crying” he asked

“Yes” she sobbed

“Why?” he asked “what’s wrong?”

“We did a terrible thing” she replied

“I thought we did a wonderful thing”

“But it was a sinful” she sobbed

“We did something we’ve wanted to do for 12 years” he pointed out “it’s not like we rushed blindly into it”

“I know but I still feel guilty” Angela said “the guilt of falling from grace”

“But it was born of love” he assured her “An enduring love, a love that was meant to be”

“Do you truly love me?” she asked as she turned to face him

“Did I not make you feel loved?”

“Every second” Angela replied “But will I be forgiven?”

“Listen Angel, you have spent your whole life denying yourself,  a life spent helping others, putting others first, do you really think God would punish you, a good person, a godly person, for one time in your good sweet life, putting your own feelings first”

Angela held him tightly and kissed his neck in the dark and then they made love again.

 

After making love for the second time on that momentous Sunday, Matthew and Angela drifted off to asleep again.

When they eventually awoke and they emerged from his bedroom they went downstairs and he cooked them a fried breakfast, although technically it wasn’t really breakfast but Matt called it that because he didn’t know what else to call a fry up at 4 o’clock in the afternoon.

Whatever the proper name for it was, they devoured it heartily and after their repast Angela said she wanted them to attend the evening service at St Winifred’s.

Matt agreed so Angela went up to have a bath while he cleared up in the kitchen.

 

Matthew was sitting downstairs in the lounge wearing his Sunday best when Angela walked in wearing her best “Sunday go to Meeting” outfit and he thought she looked lovely.

“What do you think” she asked “Do I look suitably chaste like a Christian Missionary should or more like a fallen woman with a satisfied look on her face?”

“Oh I think you look like a Christian Missionary with a satisfied look on her face” he replied

“That will have to suffice then” she said with a smile.

 

He had never attended the Sunday Evening service at St Winifred’s before so he wasn’t sure what to expect but when they walked in there was a surprisingly large congregation.

Matthew rather enjoyed it, there was no sermonizing it was all songs and psalms.

Reverend Cockcroft asked Angela if she would do a reading and give a brief testimony about her Missionary work, she agreed and held the congregation captivated and at the end of the service the collection plate went around and was greeted with generosity and was pledged to the Mission.

However just because the service had concluded it wasn’t the end of the evening as it took her more than half an hour to leave because everyone wanted to talk to her.  

Once they got back to his house Angela was on cloud nine and having reconnected with God at St Winifred’s she reconnected with the love of her life.

 

The next morning they rose early, and it was time for a difficult conversation.

Angela was only in the UK until the end of December and she had a fairly hectic schedule taking her all-round the country giving talks to raise awareness and hopefully some much needed funds but as much as she loved Matthew she couldn’t stay with him.

“I can’t let people down” she sobbed

“I know angel” he said

“I’d like to see you again before I leave for the missions” she said

“You’d better” he said and kissed her before a tearful farewell.

 

In preparation of the early arrival of the redoubtable Ms Mumford who was collecting Angela in her Morris Minor at 8 o’clock and whisking her away from him and his heart almost broke as the car drove away.