In the village of Oakvale-On-Roe – (001) The Bucket List

 

The village of Oakvale-On-Roe is in the north of the relatively small English county of Downshire, situated between the old market Town of Nettlebridge, and their more affluent neighbour Roespring, and in a converted barn on Stone Bridge Lane, unimaginatively named “The Old Barn”, retired architect Matt Wiseman was expecting to spend a quiet day at home after doing some laundry.

He took early retirement soon after his fiftieth birthday when his wife Connie was first taken ill, in order to help her battle the cancer, and now five years later she was in the Waterside Hospice in Roespring and the battle was nearing its end, which was partly why he was home alone doing laundry.

His wife Connie was immensely popular and had a lot of friends, long term friends from her youth, work mates and the whole congregation from St Nicholas and as she was coming to the end of her fight many of them wanted to say goodbye, but she tired easily so her sister Ruth managed the flow, which meant Matt only went to the Hospice every other day.

He still retained a forty percent share of Chubb, Owen and Wiseman which was not inconsiderable as they had branches all over the county, he still helped out, when necessary, but those occasions had become fewer and farther between.

It was at Chubb, Owen and Wiseman where he first met Alisha Beckwith, she was an office junior in the Nettlefield office, joining straight from university, with caramel coloured skin, long dark brown hair and a smile so radiant it could rival the sun and there were definite sparks.

He was already married with children when they first met and she was engaged so although there was an attraction, despite a fifteen-year age gap, they never acted on it, but if she was feeling sad or needed a lift she always went to him for a hug and on office lunches she always sat next to him.

Now twenty years later she was married to her childhood sweetheart, Lewis, with a twelve-year-old son, Danny, and he was a soon to be widowed grandfather.

He had seen her since retiring as she had become a family friend over the years, but in the past few months it seemed like the only time they attended the same social events it was at funerals.

So, when he was interrupted during his laundry sorting by a knock on the door, he was surprised to see it was Alisha standing in his porch.

“Hello” he said brightly “This is a nice surprise, no work today”

“Hi, day off” she retorted flatly

“Danny is on a trip to Stonehenge, and Louis is in Germany for work”

Then she pushed past him with her chin set at a determined angle and walked into the lounge.

Although it was a gloriously sunny morning in late March, winter was determinedly hanging on so she stood in the middle of the room as she removed her gloves, hat, scarf and coat and discarded them on an armchair, he didn’t say anything he just waited for her then she took a deep breath.

“I’ve been to four funerals this year already, one was younger than me and one was the same age as you, so I’ve decided that life is too short and I can’t keep denying myself” she said as she looked intently at him

“So I’m going to let you do what we’ve both wanted for twenty years” and then she reached up under her sweater and unhooked her bra and he watched on as her breasts rearranged themselves beneath the wool and then she did that magical thing that girls do, pulling one arm inside her jumper, and following a brief rummage, finished by pulling her pink bra out down her other sleeve and then she stepped towards and said

“You’re on my bucket list” And then she kissed him

“Are you sure this is what you want?” Matt asked as he put his hands on her hips and breathed in her exotic perfume.

“Yes, and I’m sure it’s what you want too” she said and a moment later they were kissing again in a more intensely passionate way and his hands invaded her sweater.

It was only a matter of minutes after she had been kissing him more hotly and wetly on the mouth, when she was done, she begged

“Take me to bed”

“I didn’t know that was on the bucket list” he replied

“It’s at the top” Alisha retorted

“How long for?”

“Twenty years” she replied and blushed deeply

“Come on then” he said and led her up the wooden staircase.

 

As she lay with her head on his chest in the afterglow, he said

“So, you can tick that off your bucket list”

“Yes, I can, a big tick” she responded and giggled

“I hope you’re not disappointed”

“Absolutely not” she purred and then they both fell asleep

 

When Matt woke up, he became instantly aware of two things, firstly that the earlier spring sunshine had been replaced by sleety rain spattering on the window and secondly that Alisha had an addendum to her bucket list and he was suddenly wide awake and eager to assist her in her quest.

 

As they lay entwinned in the afterglow, his arm around her and Alisha’s head on his chest she smiled and said

“Nothing else on my bucket list will get even close to this”

“I’m glad” he said and kissed her head, but then her smile faded and she said

“But you know we can’t do this again”

“I know” he replied sadly then after a few minutes of silence he asked

“What time do you have to go?”

Alisha looked at her phone and replied

“I’ve got plenty of time for some more cuddling and a shower”

“Why don’t we shower together to save time” he suggested

“I’m not sure about your logic” she giggled “but it might be nice”

“I can help you wash” he added

“Yes, and I know what bits of me you’ll be washing most thoroughly” Alisha said

 

As Alisha suspected, the two of them showering together wasn’t a time saver as they lasted about two minutes before cleanliness gave way to lust.

Their bathroom antics meant that Alisha was in danger of being late to pick up her son, so she frantically raced around finding her discarded clothes and Matt sat on the bed as she quickly pulled up her pink underwear and then her jeggings.

Alisha sat beside him on the bed and put her socks and boots on and he stared at her exposed breasts

“Anything I can assist you with”

“No” she barked

“I’m just trying to be helpful” he said innocently

“It’s your helpfulness that made me late” she retorted “I can’t risk anymore “help”, no matter how nice it might be”

She gave him a quick kiss and picked up her sweater and shook it

“Oh God, where’s my bra gone?”

“You took it off downstairs when you were seducing me” he replied

“Oh yes I remember” she said and rushed downstairs and he followed on behind

“And it wasn’t much of a seduction I just had to show you my bra and you were mine to command”

When she was fully dressed for the outdoors, they shared a long lingering goodbye kiss by the front door and parted without speaking.

 

Despite Alisha’s statement that it couldn’t happen again, they did do it again on the evening of his wife Connie’s funeral when she appeared on his doorstep in her funerial attire with the full silk regalia beneath her black dress.

They continued to see each other periodically over the following few years, more frequently after she and Louis divorced but it wasn’t until her Son Danny joined the army, when he was eighteen, that they became a proper couple.