Mornington-By-Mere 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, 12th 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
formed the part of Mornington Village known as Manorside and Marcus Clooney
lived at number 4 Brewery Cottages with his son and daughter.
But this story takes
place away from Mornington when he was staying at the Worsted Viper Hotel in
Purplemere and was not at all happy because he had reached the age of 58 and
had acquired an unfortunate body shape, and the consequence of that was that
gravity had become his enemy and a simple mirror was now his nemesis.
In the privacy of his
own home he was able to minimise his exposure to the spiteful honesty of the
looking glass and therefore perpetuate the falsehood that he was 20 years
younger and 4 stones lighter.
He had found to his
cost however that he could control his exposure to a much lesser degree in the
wider world.
For example shops and
stores all possess a multitude of polished surfaces and shopping centres are
all bedecked with glass and mirrors, but by far the worst in his experience
were hotels, in particular the one he was staying in at that moment.
It was a nice hotel,
no question about that, in fact it was a rather grand and elegant place and the
venue for what he very much hoped would be a dirty weekend.
However the downside
to staying in an above average Hotel was the number and the positioning of
mirrors.
A whole wall in the
bathroom, a full length mirror in the hall and another monster above the
writing desk (come dressing table), but the worst by a country mile was the
bathroom.
There is nothing that
dents the confidence more than seeing your naked form as others might see you
if you were fortunate enough to reach that level of intimacy with them.
It was when Markus was
in the shower, that he caught sight of himself, and the full horror of what he
saw was not even diminished when viewed through the steam in the shower, the
water droplets on the shower door and the condensation on the mirror.
In short the image did
not leave him possessed of any self confidence in fulfilling his hopes of soon
reaching that afore mentioned level of intimacy with a not unattractive widow
of his acquaintance Rebecca Vineyard, in the room across the hall.
Marcus’s face had
stood the test of time well enough but his body had been badly abused
“I bet Rebecca looks
better in the bathroom mirror” he said out loud
He was quite
presentable for his age when dressed in his dinner suit and the accessories,
and without being conceited he was confident he could leave her satisfied, so
to speak, if he got that far but his great fear was that he would leave her
disappointed with his natural appearance.
Fellow Mornington resident
Rebecca Vineyard meanwhile, was having much the same internal discussion as she
stood before her own mirror, though even after 3 children and a hysterectomy
her body had not reached the level of decline that his had although everything
generally was a little further south than it used to be.
Finally she deemed
herself satisfied with the final look, she just hoped it would suffice for him,
for she had expectations.
However the final
presentation was only achieved with undergarments that pulled her in and held
her up and her fear was that the way she looked at that moment might well be
enough to get him into the bedroom but with everything removed she was worried
he wouldn’t go back for seconds.
After they ate dinner
they sat at the table drinking and eventually they bade the long-suffering
waiter a good night, even though it was almost 3 am, and headed, somewhat
unsteadily towards their rooms.
Accompanied by raucous
laughter they stumbled into the lift and unable to press the button for the
floor that they actually wanted they decided to hit them all.
When they reached the
first floor Rebecca announced
“This is me”
Markus was on the same
floor and said
“Would you like me to
see you to your door dear lady?” he asked and attempted a bow
“That would be very
gallant kind Sir” she responded trying to curtsy.
He walked her rather
unsteadily to her door and once she had managed to finally use the swipe card
correctly and open the door she announced.
“Come in for a
nightcap” she suggested and before he had chance to decline she dragged him
into the room where after some intense negotiations it was decided that coffee
was the order of the day.
“You can make the
coffee while I just make myself comfortable” she instructed and when she
emerged she was wearing only a nightie which left little to the imagination
“Wow” he exclaimed and
five minutes later they were in bed together and Rebecca confessed
“It’s been a long time”
“How long?” he asked
“Too long” she replied
and kissed him
The next morning at
the breakfast table they sat across from one another, Marcus wore a smug look
of satisfaction while Rebecca wore one of tiredness.
The “exhaustion”
however did not prevent her from taking him back to her bed before lunch.
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