February
New to the
village was writer Steve Eaton, who moved to the village for a new start after
he and his long term girlfriend split up acrimoniously, he chose Pepperstock
Green because he had never heard of it, and if it was unfamiliar to him it
would certainly be to her, and that suited him very well indeed as he never
wanted to run into her again unless it was in a car and he was driving.
He kept very
much to himself for the first year and diverted himself by burying himself in
his work and poured all his bile and anger into his novel.
He never went
out and everything he needed he ordered online and had delivered to the
cottage.
When the book
was nearly completed, he relaxed a little and allowed himself a few solitary
walks around the village and its environs but restricted his constitutionals to
early morning before the rest of the village were awake.
He kept that up
for another couple of months and then he was ready to re-join the world and put
in an appearance at St Agatha’s and caused something of a stir, as he had been
much talked about since his arrival in the village, admittedly as much for his reclusiveness
as his reputation as a writer.
Following a few
appearances at St Agatha’s and a couple at the Black Wolf he thought it time to
make his intentions known by showing that the village was to be part of his
long term future, a visit to Richmond’s General Store well and truly ticked
that box when he went in and ordered his papers and magazines to be delivered,
after that were some more grown up destinations.
It was his
first visit to the Dentalcare surgery, but he wasn’t there as a patient on that
occasion, he wanted to register with them and his next port of call after them
was the Doctors.
He should have
done it when he first arrived in the village almost 18 months earlier, but he
wasn’t in the right frame of mind for that at the time.
His plan was to
register so that they could get his records from Abbottsford well before his
first appointment.
The reason for
that was that his history wasn’t quite as routine as the average patient.
When he was 18
he was involved in a serious car accident that left the driver dead and he
required major surgery on a smashed jaw, and fractures on his cheekbone and eye
socket.
There were
several orthopedic surgeries and another for orthodontic implants, so he was
not a run of the mill patient.
On arriving at
the surgery, he was informed that his appointment was with Practice Manager Amy
Jellicoe, and the name was vaguely familiar, but he didn’t know why, so he sat
down and grabbed the top magazine off the stack and turned the page, and it was
a full-page advert for a healthy breakfast cereal, featuring a girl in her
underwear.
Next page was
an advert for toothpaste with a girl in skimpy nightie, the next page was a
double page spread for mascara with several near naked girls in matching
underwear.
He threw the
magazine back down where he got it and sat back, and found himself trying to
picture who Amy Jellicoe was, but found instead he was thinking about underwear
models in skimpy dental nurse outfits.
His name was
called after about ten minutes and he walked down the corridor and through the
open door and was greeted by a very attractive woman exuding a very exotic
perfume, and he again had the same vague sense of familiarity.
She had a
pretty face, blue eyes, soft shoulder length brown hair, 5t 6 or 7, early
thirties, nice figure, everything where it should be, and perfectly
proportioned, with neat hips and a beautifully round derriere.
“Good morning
Mr. Eaton” she said as she perused the form he had filled in the day before
“Please take a seat”
“Morning” he
replied as he sat “Thank you”
“So, I see you
were previously a patient at Smithson’s in Abbottsford” “That’s right” he
replied
“My first job
after leaving school was at Smithson’s” she said and smiled before she
continued to peruse his form and he was again struck with the feeling that he
knew her, and that smile, and then he was distracted by the appearance of a
little bit of pale pink bra strap, and a glimpse of lace edging inside her
sweater, as she leant forward, and then his head was full of images of her in
her scanties advertising dental floss.
In an effort to
get his mind back on tackling where he knew her from he started thinking about
cricket, that normally worked to purge his mind of lewd thoughts, but then it
was women’s cricket and they were all naked save for their shoes, gloves, hats
and pads, but then she came to his rescue, she had put the forms down and
asked.
“Did you live
in Abbottsford for long?”
“Erm, yes, born
and raised” he replied “until I moved here”
“Oh” and then
there was a long pause before she added
“But you didn’t
always live at Pine Ridge” she stated
“No, I’m
from….” He began
“Castleside?”
She said and smiled broadly “You’re Stevie”
“I am…” he said
hesitantly “and you’re little Amy”
“I haven’t been
called “Little Amy” for a very long time”
“It was very
apt at the time” he said “That or little sis but I seem to remember you didn’t
like that”
“That was
because I didn’t want to be you sister” she pointed out but instantly regretted
her frankness and changed the subject
“I’m a bit
confused by something, where did the Eaton come from?”
“It was after
we moved away, which was because my parents were divorcing, and after the
divorce my mum went back to her maiden name and changed mine at the same time”
“Was that
before the accident?” she asked
“Yes, not long
before though” he replied
“I heard you
had been hurt, when I was in sixth form, but I didn’t know how badly” she said
“I did try to find out more details, but I couldn’t be too pushy”
“In case your
friends found out about your crush?” he asked
“Something like
that” she admitted coyly and then resumed reading his notes and when she
finished she said
“Well that all
looks fine, do you have any discomfort from your jaw?”
“Occasionally
in the cold weather” he replied “But mostly no”
“Sadly, that
happens to us up here, you’ll have to get used to Pepperstock Winters if you’re
going to stick around” she said and smiled
“Well, that is
definitely my plan” he added
“I’m very happy
to hear that” she said, and her cheeks flushed, and she shuffled her papers and
added
“Well, that’s
all good, if you go to reception they can now book you your first appointment”
“That’s great,
thanks” he said as he got up to leave
“So, is that
the official bit done now?”
“Yes, unless
you have any questions” she said
“I do as it
happens, in a manner of speaking” he replied
“Oh? To do with
an appointment?”
“Again, in a
manner of speaking” he replied enigmatically
“I don’t
understand” she said
“Well, my
question would be in regard to an appointment with you for dinner” he said
“Oh, I see, um
well yes that would be very nice” she replied
“Obviously you
will have to choose the where, and the when” he said “But anytime is good for
me”
“The Kissing
Angel in Pipershaven is very good” she suggested “And would tonight be too
soon?”
“That would be
perfect” Steve said
They were both
feeling very pleased with themselves as her office door closed but Steve was a
little more so, at his handling of the discourse and his taking advantage of
the situation
“I couldn’t
have written that any better” he thought to himself as he headed to reception
with a spring in his step.
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