Downshire Diary – (32) Mother’s Day Duty

 

Clare Harwood and her mother Anna lived in the village of Clarence which was a mile or so from Purplemere.

She was 27 years old, pale skinned, strawberry blonde, five foot nothing tall and whippet thin and her mother was just an older version of her daughter.

Her Father David had died the year before and as she was an only child there was only the two of them.

 

They both worked at the Royal Downshire Hospital in Purplemere Anna was a clerical officer and Clare was a district nurse.

The two of them did a lot of things together, shopping, eating out and the theatre.

But for Mother’s Day Clare had bought a three day, all-inclusive spa break for her mum, plus one, at the Tipton Manor Hotel and Spa in the north of the county.

She booked for two because she knew her mum would never go to a place like that on her own.

But her mum insisted she wanted to go with Clare, so they could spend some quality time together doing girls stuff.

Well that wasn’t the kind of thing Clare had in mind, it wasn’t her kind of thing at all.

The younger Clare wasn’t the rest and relaxation detox kind of girl at all, she was more of a “burning the candle at both ends” and toxing her socks off kind of girl.

So it was with some trepidation that she agreed to accompany her mum.

 

In order for her to get the best possible deal Clare had booked a midweek mini break, she was a nurse after all, so money didn’t grow on trees, but the earliest she could get was at the end of April.

 

It was a long drive from Clarence, on the outskirts of Purplemere, to Tipton in the north of the county but then they had taken the decision after getting off the expressway to take the scenic route through The Pepperstock Hills National Park.

But the scenery in the Park was well worth the additional time with its stark contrasts from the extensive tract of magnificent mixed forestry to the south and east, the old Quarries reclaimed by Nature to the west to the bare, and often barren crags to the north.

However despite the scenic splendour she had witnessed when they arrived Clare was not in the best of spirits.

To her mind there were much more enjoyable ways of spending her days off than babysitting her mother.

As much as she loved her she wasn’t exactly the type of company she was interested in she would have preferred to spend her days off searching for her prince charming, god knew it was difficult enough to do without having your mother riding shotgun.

But she resolved to make the best of it and try to get her monies worth.

 

They were greeted in reception by a very attractive specimen of a man and Clare’s spirits rose.

He was over six feet tall, lean and muscular, very good looking and well groomed, he was manicured and pedicured, toned, tanned and smelt like a perfume counter.

Naturally Clare marked him down as gay.

 

Clare and Anna were greeted in reception by a very attractive specimen of a man and Clare’s spirits rose.

He was over six feet tall, lean and muscular, very good looking and well groomed, he was manicured and pedicured, toned, tanned and smelt like a perfume counter.

Naturally Clare marked him down as gay.

 

“Good morning ladies” he said with the faintest hint of a French accent.
“Good morning” they replied in unison

“We have a booking in the name of Harwood” Clare said

“Ah the Harwood sisters” he said

“You know very well we're not sisters you cheeky boy” Mrs Harwood said in a style something akin to a Carry on movie.
“You're not sisters?” he asked feigning surprise
“Mother and daughter” she said
“And which one are you Mademoiselle” he said and kissed her hand
“Cheeky” she said and blushed
Clare didn’t contribute to the converse but continued her appraisal of the man and concluded what a waste it was for him to play for the other side.

When the Oscar Wilde capers were over and done with they managed to get themselves checked in, it was while her mum was signing in that Clare caught him at the back doing some appraising of his own, of her and her mother and she began to question her initial assessment.
“When you have settled into your room I will give you a tour of the facilities” he said “Shall we say on the terrace in 30 minutes?”

“That will be fine” Clare said

“Of course with your lovely pale skin you two will need to stay in the shadows” He said.

Clare smiled and her mum blushed at the compliment.

According to his name badge his name was Claude and he was very handsome and she thought things might well be looking up if he didn’t bat for the other side.

“You can check my skin anytime” Clare said

“I’ll bare that in mind” he retorted

“You’re a terrible flirt Clare” mum said

“I know” she said, “although I think of it more as advertising”

 

They went up to their rooms and settled in and then went down stairs to find Gorgeous Claude.

However as the approached the terrace they came across him fawning over another group of women of mixed ages, ranging from 16 to 60, and they watched as he ogled and drooled over all of them and Clare felt her skin crawl and she shivered.

“Yes I know what you mean” her mum said “he’s a real lounge lizard.

So they decided to skip oily Claude’s tour and just wandered around on their own.

 

Their sojourn took them to the pool area first, they saw the Rock sauna, infra-red sauna, aroma steam room, ice fountain, drench showers, Jacuzzi, a Romanesque pool and the swimming pool as well.

After which they headed towards the sun lounge and refreshments which was when they literally bumped into Phil Grice and his uncle, Roger Greven.

 

The collision between the Harwood’s and Roger Greven and his nephew Phil Grice resulted in Clare falling into a planter and Roger lying flat on his back with Anna on top of him nose to nose.

Phil Grice was the only one left standing and unsure who he should help first.

 

He decided on the pretty young one in the planter, who was left like an upturned beetle, with her legs waving about, which was what he noticed, her lovely legs, she was also giggling which he liked to.

“I’m terribly sorry”

He said and took her hands and pulled her to her feet, it took little effort as she was a tiny little thing and he was over six feet tall.  

She was still giggling and was unable to respond and when she saw her mum lying on top of a strange man her giggles turned to belly laughs. 

 

All four of them were laughing by the time everyone was on their feet again and between the laughter everyone expressed their apologies for their clumsiness.

 

In between giggles Clare kept giving appraising glances at the good looking man who had pulled her to her feet and she liked what she saw, to the point that she though he put Claude in the shade.

He was six feet two inches, athletically built with short sandy hair, blue eyes and a close cropped beard.

And while she was looking at him he was sneaking glances at her, he had been very impressed with her legs when she was in the planter but now she was stood up on them they rather paled into insignificance compared to the rest of her.

 

When the laughter had subsided her mum said

“We were headed to the sun lounge for a coffee, perhaps you would join us”

The two men agreed and Clare thought “Nice one mum”

 

When they were seated in the lounge and the drinks were ordered the introductions were made.

Roger Greven, who walked with a stick, was a year older than Anna and Phil Grice was the same age as Clare.

Roger was there for aqua therapy to rebuild his muscles after shattering his pelvis following a fall from his horse, and his nephew Phil was there because Roger hadn’t been passed fit to drive.

“Are you from Tipton?” Clare asked

“No we are from Sharping St Mary in the Finchbottom Vale” Phil replied

“Really?” Clare exclaimed “we’re from Clarence”

“So we are practically neighbour” Anna said to Roger

They stayed in the lounge for over half an hour in which time Anna and Clare discovered that Roger was widowed and Phil was single.

Unfortunately before they could glean any further information one of the therapist staff approached the table and informed Roger that it was time for his session.

So they parted company with expressions that they hoped they would run into each other again during their stay.

 

After they had gone Clare and Anna looked at each other and said in unison

“Well they were nice”

 

During the remainder of their first day and all of the next, despite their best efforts, they didn’t see Roger or his nephew.

But they had a great time using the facilities and enjoyed the full range of what was on offer, fitness classes, gym, rock sauna, infra-red sauna, aroma steam room, ice fountain, drench showers, Jacuzzi, a Romanesque pool, Reflexology, Raki, facials, scalp massage, hand massage, Manicure and Pedicure you name it they had it.

But by the end of the second day Clare was getting increasingly frustrated that she hadn’t even had a glimpse of the lovely Phil.

After her and her mum had dinner together Anna went off to bed as she said she was exhausted and Clare went off to the Gym to try and relieve some of her sexual tension.

After an hour she realised it wasn’t working so she decided to have a swim before turning in.

While she was swimming Clare noticed she was not alone, and wondered what it was that brought them to pool.

She swam another two lengths and then got out but as she reached the entrance to the changing rooms her companion spoke.

“I see you managed to not bump into anyone” Phil said as he exited the pool.

“Yes” she replied “That’s because there was no one around”

“Ah that would explain it” Phil said

“I did try to bump into you again, but I could find you” Clare said flirtatiously have you been avoiding me”

“No” he replied “I just haven’t been here, I was only here to drop Uncle Roger off, and then I had to leave for an appointment”

“For what?” Clare asked nosily, hoping it wasn’t an assignation

“I had to see a client about a commission” he replied “I’m an artist”

“So when did you get back?”

“About 20 minutes ago, I was a bit stiff after the drive so I thought a swim might relax me before bed” he replied

“And did it work?”

“Not really” he replied

“What you need is a massage” Clare said

“Unfortunately there are no masseurs around at this time of night” he said regretfully

“I’ll do you if you like” she offered hoping he would take it the right way. “I’m a nurse and I have healing hands”

“Ok” he agreed

So she led him into a cubicle and said

“Lie down on the table while I find the oil”

Phil complied with her instruction and climbed onto the table and lay face down on the towel she had prepared.

When she had found the oil she turned around to see him lying on the table like a delicious buffet.

She applied the oil and began to rub it into his muscular shoulders

“That feels nice” he said and for the next 15 minutes she continued her massaging caresses of his sculpted body.

Although it was relaxing Phil it was unfortunately having the opposite effect on her so she slapped his buttock and said

“That’s you done”

“Wow that’s what I call a relaxation massage” he replied

“That was bloody marvelous”

“I told you I had healing hands” she said and he sat himself up and swung his legs around so he was sat facing her

“Do you have anything more to show me from your repertoire?”

“Well I do but I don’t think this is the time or the place for it” she replied provocatively

“But I do think this is the time and the place for a kiss though”

She continued and stepped in close to him

“But I’ve never kissed a man with a beard before”

“Nor have I” Phil retorted and kissed her.

 

Clare and her mum had to go home after lunch the next day but they spent lunchtime with Phil and his Uncle and when they left Clare and Phil found a secluded corner to share a goodbye kiss which would have to sustain them until the weekend when they were meeting up again.