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.
She looked much
younger than her 27 years and her pale skin was always flushed pink like she
was freshly scrubbed and the one thing she loved even more than her job was to
flirt and she was a first class at it.
Yet she never did
anything more than that and she really enjoyed flirting, and that was as far as
it ever went until the time that her pig of a boyfriend, who she had suspected
was shagging her best friend, confessed it to her one night and from that
moment on she became something of a party girl.
And what a party girl
she became, a real “burning the candle at both ends” and toxing her socks off
kind of party girl.
But that all changed
when 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.
So it was with some
trepidation that she agreed to accompany her mum but while she was there she met
and fell in love with Phil Grice.
As a district nurse she
had a number of regular home visit, terminally ill or housebound patients which
kept her very busy but she had a few days off.
But despite having the
time off she was still having a very busy week and by the time she returned to
the District Nursing office she would probably relish the change of pace.
She had spent the week
at home in the house she shared with her mum doing chores.
It had now been six
weeks since she had first kissed Phil, a kiss that had changed her life, but it
was also three weeks since she had seen him as he was away in America working
on an Art installation.
Since meeting Phil she
had curbed her partying but her thoughts kept wandering to Phil and his strong
hands.
Which was why when she
was told she had to take some leave she had decided to spring clean the house
from top to bottom to keep herself occupied.
She had dusted, vacuumed,
washed, mopped and polished, and bedding was washed as was every curtain.
So by Friday lunchtime
the whole house was gleaming and as she admired her handiwork she was wearing a
smug look of satisfaction.
After Clare had
dusted, vacuumed, washed, mopped and polished, and bedding was washed as was
every curtain.
So by Friday lunchtime
the whole house was gleaming and as she admired her handiwork she was wearing a
smug look of satisfaction.
She had just put the
kettle on when there was a knock at the door and when she opened the door a man
of about her age was standing there.
“Can I help?” she said
“Clare!” the man said
“Yes that’s me” she
said
“It’s Gary” he said, slightly
put out that he had to give his name. “From Purplemere High School”
“Oh Gary” Clare said “I
didn’t recognise you”
“Apparently so” Gary
said
Gary was her first
boyfriend and her first sexual partner.
“Come in” she said amused at his annoyance
They were sitting at
the kitchen table drinking coffee when she asked
“How did you find me?”
“I got your address
from your friend Karen” he said
“Why?” she asked
“Well I knew I was
going to be in the area and I thought I would look you up”
He replied unconvincingly
“You never were a very
good liar” she said
“Ok I’ve been thinking
about you a lot recently” he confessed
“Karen told me you
were still single”
“Oh yes” Clare said suspiciously
and cleared the cups to the sink.
“I think we should get
back together” he said
“What?” she said
turning around in surprise
“We were good
together” Gary said
“We were just kids”
she said “And we haven’t seen each other for ten years, we’re strangers”
“Never strangers” he
said
“And you’re married
aren’t you” she said
“Separated” he
corrected her “permanently separated”
“Well I’m sorry to
hear that” she said “But…”
“She betrayed me” he
said with affront
“So you want to get
back at her by going out with me” she said
“No Clare” he replied
“You’ve always been the one”
And he leant in and
kissed her and she pushed him away.
“What are you doing?”
she said angrily
“You always said I was
a good kisser”
“Well it was pleasant
enough” she said “At the time”
“Only pleasant?” Gary
responded
“I’m afraid so” she
replied
“So what about us getting
back together?” Gary asked
“No” Clare replied
“You always were a
slut” he said harshly
“And you were always
dull” she replied and opened the front door and after he went through it she
slammed it behind him.
She was still angry
five minutes after she had thrown Gary out and was still livid when there was
another knock.
“Bloody hell Gary
can’t you take a hint?” she said as she opened the door and then her mouth fell
open when she saw Phil standing there and after a few moments she launched herself
into his arms.
“I thought you weren’t
back for another week” she said when he was in the house.
“I finished earlier
than I thought” he said “and I was in a hurry to get home to see you”
“Why didn’t you let me
know” she said
“I wanted it to be a
surprise” Phil said with a smile “and I see that it was”
Clare suddenly
realised she was wearing her house work clothes and she screeched when she
looked in the mirror
“Oh god I look at absolute
fright” she said and rushed out of the room
Clare returned an hour
later looking more appropriately dressed to receive the man she loved and Phil
was so pleased with what he saw that she had to dress again an hour later
before he took her out for dinner.
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