Downshire Diary – (41) Laundry Day

 

The Finchbottom Vale is nestled comfortably between the Ancient Dancingdean Forest to the south and the rolling Pepperstock Hills in the north, those who are lucky enough to live there think of it as the rose between two thorns.

The Vale was once a great wetland that centuries earlier stretched from Mornington in the East to Childean in the west and from Shallowfield in the south to Purplemere in the north.

But over the many centuries the vast majority had been drained for agriculture, a feat achieved largely by the efforts of famous Mornington Mills, of which only three had survived to the present day and even those were no longer functional and were in various states of repair and the leafy village of Pangmere was situated on the Finchbottom Road between Mornington and Finchbottom.

 

It was a perfect early spring morning in the village and the breeze stirred the tree tops and the birds sang to the sun.

And the birds weren’t the only early risers, Charlotte Kay was lying in bed, warm and cosy beneath the duvet, as the birds twittered in the trees and the early morning light tried to penetrate into her bed room.

As she lay there half-awake, half-dreaming, Charlotte could hear him through the bedroom wall as he stood in the shower and as she listened to the splattering and splashing, she envied every droplet of water as it ran unchecked over his naked skin.

However the root of her envy was due to the fact that she had been in love with him since she was eleven years old and now that she was almost twenty she wanted him with every fibre of her being.

The subject of her fervent want was Jonathon Ovenden, the elder brother of Charlotte’s best friend Katie, who at the tender age of 18 had, to all intents and purposes, by tragic necessity become the father of his 11 year old sister.

Their parents were killed in a tragic car crash on the Pepperstock Expressway during a snow storm and all of his hopes and dreams for the future died in the snow along with them.

His plans to study engineering at University and what that might have led to, had to be set aside in order for him to raise his little sister, so that she at least would be able to fulfil her potential.

The early years of his enforced parenthood he was almost consumed by his new responsibilities, running the home, nurturing Katie and holding down a job, a menial job and far beneath his capabilities.

But the saving grace for all his sacrifice and being weighed down by responsibility’s at such a young age was that he was a stronger person for the experience and Katie was to become everything their parents would have wished her to be, and he was proud of that result.

Giving up his own academic ambitions had allowed Katie to follow her dreams and she was now at Cambridge University with Charlotte.

 

As she lay in the cosy warmth of her bed listening to the water washing over him, images of his wet naked body filled her head and she felt aroused.

Her flesh tingled and the hairs on the back of her neck stood up and she had to start doing maths problems in her head to clear the image of him from her thoughts.

The water stopped running and the heavy foot fall told her he had stepped out of the shower and then she pictured his wet naked form as he did so, and just a thin stud wall separated her from the object of her lust and desire.

She could see in her mind’s eye each droplet of water dripping from his torso or running freely down his skin and then she had to start calculating again.

But it was to no avail she could see him in the towel now, wrapped around him as she wanted to be wrapped around him.

Charlotte was lost in those dreamy thoughts of lust when the door suddenly opened and she heard herself gasp as Jonathon walked into the room and then she held her breath as she watched him across the room, wearing just a towel.

 

The reason he walked into the room she was in wearing only a towel was because Charlotte was sleeping in the spare room which also housed the laundry basket and the reason he entered without knocking was that he didn’t know Charlotte was there.

Jonathon began picking up the laundry that had been discarded in and around the wash bin and there was always plenty of it when Katie was back from University and even more whenever Charlotte slept over.

Charlotte and Katie had been best friend since forever and over the years she had been a regular house guest.

They’d been back from University for a week and the washing had already built up and this was the first opportunity he’d had to get to grips with it because of his job.

So as it was Saturday and the girls had gone to a party the night before and had stayed over at another friend’s place he thought he should make a start on the washing.

 

As he went through the assorted jeans, T-shirts and lingerie, he began to think how quickly time had passed by and how quickly his sister and her best friend had grown up.

He smiled to himself as he remembered Katie’s first bra, which was of course a purely cosmetic device when she was only twelve.

Then as she grew she went through various stages of padded enhancements and eventually to the full cupped and underwired contraptions she wore today.

It was the same with her pants, in the early days they were childishly embellished with flowers or colourful characters, then they progressed through to practical pants and then onto more sophisticated items before progressing on to the skimpy things of lace and bows, because his little sister was a grown woman now.

 

Charlotte watched as Jonathon stood across the room in the half light, his upper body still damp from the shower, and a towel wrapped around the lower.

He was standing sorting laundry into baskets of light and dark and as he held a pair of pink knickers she recognised them as her own and blushed deeply.

Jonathon held the pink panties briefly in his hand before dropping them into the appropriate pile.

Then a red pair, then pale blue silk and followed by black lace.

Charlotte watched as he handled her knickers one pair after another and she got more and more embarrassed.

And as Jonathon was methodically sorting through the mountain of dirty washing he had no idea she was laying there in the gloom because she and Katie were supposed to be sleeping over at Karen’s house in Shallowfield, some 20 miles away.

Had he known she was there he would not have entered the room especially wearing nothing but a towel, he would have been too self-conscious.

 

Jonathon had known Charlotte since she was an awkward clumsy eleven year old girl who seemed to spend her entire time either falling over or picking herself up and showing off her floral knickers in the process.

But she was a young woman now and Charlotte was a far cry from the klutzy eleven year old in the flowered briefs, she had grown up to become a swan, a socially awkward swan, but a swan nonetheless.

He could never tell her that though, nor could he tell his sister Katie how he felt about her.

 

Jonathon fished out the last item from the bottom of the bin, a pair of yellow knickers with white bows.

“They’re mine” she said in her head “Oh God how embarrassing”

Jonathon smiled and dropped them in the appropriate pile and turned to leave the room when Charlotte let out a sigh.

“Who’s that?” he asked startled “Is that you Charlotte?”

Charlotte bit hard on her lip after her sigh.

“Yes” she replied through clenched teeth

He walked to the window and opened one curtain, spilling gentle spring light into the room.

The sunlight fell across the rumpled screwed up duvet and a shapeless bulge beneath it.

“I thought you and Katie were staying over at Karen’s” Jonathon said

“Katie did, but I didn’t fancy it” she lied “I have a paper to finish”

She didn’t fancy staying the night at Katie’s because she fancied Jonathon and she wanted to spend some time with him on her own, she knew that on Saturday he would be in all day on his own so she made an excuse to Katie and went home.

Charlotte had no other plan than to be in the house with him on her own, she had no idea what to do about her crush.

She wasn’t even sure she should do anything if she did know, what if he rejected her, or what if he didn’t reject her but Katie got angry.

It was not inconceivable that she could lose them both and she may never be in close proximity to him ever again.

 

As he stood there looking at her he knew she had lied about the paper, he could always tell when she fibbed, he just wasn’t sure why, he hoped she hadn’t had a falling out with Katie.

He wouldn’t be able to bear it if they stopped being friends and he wouldn’t see Charlotte again.

Charlotte looked up at him and smiled and despite his fear he felt a passion welling up in him, a passion he had suppressed over the last two years which he dare not have hoped to have acted upon until that moment.

 

The very appealing sight of Charlotte laying beneath the duvet with the spring sunshine spilling through the curtain he decided that he should seize the day.

“Well as you can see it’s a lovely morning” he said “so get yourself up and showered and I’ll make us some breakfast”

“Ok I have time for a quick breakfast before I start on my paper” she replied indifferently

“Oh that’s a shame” he replied “I thought I might take you out for a pub lunch once I’ve done the laundry, but if your too busy we could do it another time”

“Well I’m sure if I crack on I could have it finished by lunchtime” she said coolly

“Good” he said and scooped up one of the of washing baskets

“Time to get on then”

 

Charlotte showered while Jonathon made poached eggs on toast and after he had put the first load of washing on they sat in the kitchen and enjoyed an unhurried breakfast.

“So what is the paper on?” he asked as he drained his coffee cup

“What?” she gasped

“What is the paper that you need to complete” he clarified

“Finite Mathematics and Applied Calculus” she replied

“Really?” he asked and smiled because he was pretty sure that was actually an A level text.

“Well I’d better get on” She said heading towards the door

“Charlotte?” he called after her

“Yes” she replied looking like a startled rabbit

“It was a really nice surprise to see you this morning” he told her

 

He got the chores done that he wanted to do and then he got changed and then knocked on her door.

“Come in”

Jonathon opened the door

“Its…” he began but couldn’t finish because she looked so stunning in a yellow dress with white dots.

Obviously she hadn’t spent a moment on Finite Mathematics and Applied Calculus and she had spent the entire time since breakfast making the best of herself.

When he saw how gorgeous she had made herself it reinforced his belief that he had a chance with her.

 

She had gone to all that trouble because even with her limited experience with the opposite sex she knew when he said

“It was a really nice surprise to see you this morning”

That he liked her as well, which just left the fly in the ointment, Katie.

How would she ever explain to Katie?

“It’s time to go” he said at the second attempt “you look great”

 

So they left Pangmere and he drove her to Dulcet-on-Brooke where they ate lunch at The Waterside Inn.

But there were awkward silences as the two of them battled with the internal struggle on whether to take a chance, expose themselves and risk rejection even if the reward could be their hearts desire.

They spent a pleasant couple of hours of a warm summer afternoon in the beer garden on the banks of the River Brooke but had resolved nothing by the end of it.

But it was really the fear of upsetting Katie that played heavily on both their minds.

 

Jonathon and Charlotte ambled disconsolately away from the pub garden with the burning issues unresolved but despite that neither of them wanted to call a halt to their first outing together so Jonathon blurted out

“Let’s go into Sharpington”

And Charlotte had no hesitation in saying

“Oh yes what a lovely idea”

 

Sharpington-by-Sea is a traditional seaside resort complete with a Victorian Pier, seafront hotels, crazy golf, The Palladium ballroom, well maintained gardens, promenade, theatre and illuminations, all the usual things to have a great time by the seaside, as well as amusement arcades and of course the Sharpington Fun Park.

Which was the first purpose built amusement park to open in Britain, which had an assortment of rides, like the Rotor and the Wild Mouse, The Cyclone and the Morehouse Galloper, all very tame compared to a 21st century roller coaster but was still great fun.

 

They managed to park at the Southern end of the promenade.

“We’re a bit away from the action but we can get the bus down to the pier” he suggested

“Would you mind if we walked?” Charlotte asked “I’m in no hurry to get back”

“Nor am I” he said “and it’s such a beautiful day”

They walked along the promenade with a gentle breeze blowing off the sea and reminisced about the times he brought her and Katie to the seaside when they were little and they both talked about the places in the town that held special memories for them.

The Ghost Train in the Fun Park, Sharpington Day Parades, Halloween Fright Nights, Firework displays, Candy Floss, sand castles and paddling in the sea.

“Can we go and paddle now?” she asked

“Why not” he replied and they spent the next hour on the water’s edge, splashing in the waves, and they were so totally absorbed in what they were doing that they didn’t realize how far down the beach they had gone and when they looked up they were close to the pier.

They looked at each other and then the pier and then each other again

“Ice cream” they said in unison and raced up the beach towards the steps.

Whenever they went to Sharpington on day trips they always went to the Bizzoni’s Ice Cream Parlour on the Pier.

With his longer stride he could have easily beaten her but he held back to give her a chance and when they were 10 yards from their objective they were neck and neck but one more stride and Charlotte went head first into the sand.

“Oh God are you ok?” he asked and pulled her to her feet but she couldn’t answer because she was laughing so much.

Jonathon used his handkerchief to brush the sand off her laughing face and when he had finished she stopped laughing and they had their first kiss at the bottom of the steps by the Pier.

 

It was not a short kiss it was long and simmering after all it had been a long time coming and when it was over they smiled at each other and he asked

“Do you still want that ice cream?”

“Of course” she replied “it wasn’t that good a kiss”

The moment she finished speaking she ran squealing up the stairs, she paused at the top, briefly to claim victory in the race but set off again towards the pier when she realized how close behind her he was.

 

After ice cream they walked to the end of the pier where they kissed again as the day drew to a close and the most perfect day was made more so by another perfect kiss and then they walked hand in hand back towards the car.

 

They were about fifty yards from the car park and totally absorbed by each other that they hadn’t noticed Katie Overton pull up to the kerb and park, nor did they notice her exit the car and lean against the side of the car with her arms folded while she waited for them to reach her.

In fact they would have missed her altogether had she not yelled

“Oi”

They both turned around and looked in the direction of the call and then froze when they saw Katie standing with her arms folded and wearing a face like thunder.

“Shit” he exclaimed

“Oh God” Charlotte thought

“So what all this then?” she asked crossly as she walked towards them

“Well er…” he began

“It’s kind of…” Charlotte added

“It looks to me like you two are an item” Katie said only a yard away from them and then her face cracked and she hugged them both

“It’s about bloody time” Katie added and the three of them stood on the promenade in a group hug which expressed a warm hearted beginning to their love.

 

It turned out not to be a flash in the pan or a silly crush and they had many more trips to Sharpington over the next three years, for Ice creams at Bizzoni’s, chip suppers from Cod’s Plaice and kiss me quick hats.

But the most significant visit was three years after they had that first kiss.

 

They parked at the southern end of the promenade and walked along the beach paddling in the waves and as they reached the steps up to the Pier, Charlotte said wistfully

“This is where it all began”

“Yes it was” he agreed “But that was three years ago”

“Yes but it was a beautiful day” she mused “the most special day”

“It was but…” he began

“But what?” she asked with alarm

“I think I can do better this time” he said

“Really?” she said “I don’t think so, I don’t think you could ever top that day”

“Well I disagree” he said and knelt down in the sand and she went pale “Charlotte Kay will you marry me?”

When she regained the ability to speak Charlotte said yes and then he kissed her and another perfect day was made more so by another perfect kiss.