The Avuncular And The Christmas Stocking

 

Three months had passed since Hannah Castle and I had made love in my room at the Cleddau Bridge Hotel and two days short of three months since she said she wasn’t sure we could be together.

Not that she didn’t love me or enjoy being with me, and I can say without being boastful that it wasn’t because she didn’t enjoy making love with me.

Nor did she think it was a mistake, a moment of madness or because she had drunk too much.

“I don’t regret it for a second” she said as we lay entwined beneath the duvet “I just have doubts”

Hannah just wasn’t sure if she could or should give over her heart, soul and life to a man 12 years older than herself.

I can’t say I wasn’t disappointed and I wasn’t happy about it but I wasn’t angry with her in fact I agreed with her to a point,

And I wanted her to be sure as well.

After all I had no words to convince a 29 year old woman to give her life to a man the wrong side of 40.

And nor would I have wished to use them if they were in my possession.

 

“I love you Tom but I just have to be certain sure” she said the moment before she drove away.

It was heart-breaking to watch her drive away because I had no such doubts.

For me that first night together was the blissful culmination of eight years of hope and desire.

Not just the love making but to hear my declaration of love returned in word and delicious deed.

It had been pretty much love at first sight for me, but then she was a beautiful sight to behold.

For her it was a more gradual falling and one that she desperately fought against tooth and claw whereas I simply surrendered to her.

 

Even before our chance meeting at the hotel Hannah had agreed to take a three month secondment in Milford Haven where she could be close to her sister and the twins so she suggested they take that time to think.

And in that time she would either get over me or know for certain sure I was the one.

 

While she was away I convinced myself almost on a daily basis that it was over and rightly so I thought at times.

If the worst came to the worst I consoled myself with the thought that I would always have the memory of that wonderful weekend when my love for her was finally validated.

In my darkest moments I did question if it was a moment of madness that brought Hannah to my bed.

I was glad for that madness if that’s what it was.

Though if Hannah did resolve that it was a mistake and it was over he would at least have the memory of that wonderful weekend to sustain him forever.

I prefer to think it was fate that brought us together on that wonderful weekend.

 

I would have liked to have exchanged the occasional text or email with her but Hannah had asked for total separation.

All I could do was throw myself into my work totally and fill my every waking moment with thoughts of anything and everything that wasn’t her.

Impossible of course but if in the unlikely event that I could exclude her from my thoughts I couldn’t stop her invading my dreams.

When I slept I dared to dream, so in the small hours of the sleepless night I resorted to the only thing that prevented me from being driven insane.

I wrote in a diary, I called it a dream diary, it was where I wrote every detail, every thought that filled my troubled sleep nightly,   thoughts of love for the girl of my dreams. 

The closer the end of the three months got the more intense the dreams became and evermore vivid with each passing day.

 

It was the day before Christmas Eve when I got the long awaited phone call, I took a deep breath and hit the button.

“Hello, Tom Flood” I said

“Hey Tom” she said

“Hannah?” I asked “God it’s good to hear your voice”

“Ditto” Hannah replied “Where are you?”

“I’m in London” I replied “Are you still in Milford Haven?”

“No I’m back home” she replied “When are you back?”

“Tonight” I replied

“Can we meet?” Hannah asked

“Yes” I said “Have you made a decision?”

“Yes I have” she replied

“And?” I enquired trying to keep the anxiety out of my voice

“I don’t want to say on the phone” she answered “I want to do it face to face”

“Ok” I said not knowing if that meant it would be good or bad

“Come to the house tonight” I said

“What time?” she asked

“Around seven” I replied “Let yourself in if I’m late, you know where the key is”

“Ok, I’ll see you tonight then Tommy” she said

“Ok, bye”

 

The journey out of London was an absolute mare and consequently I was late and it was nearly 8 o’clock when I drove onto the drive.

Since her phone call my stomach had been in absolute knots and arriving home late didn’t untangle it in the least.

The lights were on in the house so Hannah had let herself in I only hoped she was still there and hadn’t got tired of waiting.

As I sat in the pre-Christmas traffic I tried to ring her to warn her of my delay but my phone died.

So I sat on the drive trying to summon up the courage to go in, I was so desperate to know her answer but equally terrified of what it might be, yes or no.

“Yes” meaning she was sure and she would give all of herself to me unreservedly

Or “No” and we would never be together.

I reran the earlier conversation in my head and tried to read between the lines to find some hidden meaning or some indication as to her decision. 

I slowly opened the door and stepped in.

“Hi Hannah” I called “I’m sorry I’m late, traffic was hell”

No answer, she must have got fed up of waiting after all.

“Shit” I exclaimed and took off my coat but as I hung it on the peg in the hall I noticed an unfamiliar coat already hanging there.

“She is here” I said

But where? Where was she exactly?

I hung my coat and walked into the lounge and that’s when I knew.

I knew because I saw the black stockings hanging from the mantel anchored beneath a Christmas candle so I knew where to find her.

And stood on the mantel next to the candle was a Christmas card

I opened it and read the words

“Happy Christmas Tommy

All my love

Hannah”

Beneath her signature there appeared to be an abundance of the obligatory small x’s but on closer examination each kiss was in fact the word “Yes”

And so I had my answer and my dreams were fulfilled.

Those Memories Made on Teardrop Lake – (69) A Poor Little Rich Boy’s Christmas

 

Phil Marshall was 22 years old and an only child who lived with his parents in a huge 10 bedroom house in the village of Shallowfield on the edge of the Dancingdean Forest, and he had led a very privileged life and he was spoilt and conceited and had grown accustomed to always getting what he wanted.

 

So when the Purcell’s came to stay for the family Christmas gathering in the 1990’s and he set his cap for their eldest daughter Denise he fully expected to get his wish and sleep her.  

She was a year younger than him with flaming red shoulder length hair and a busty undulating form that made his heart race.

 

He planned on wasting no time in getting in his Cousin Denise’s bed but alas on the first night beneath the Marshall’s roof he fell asleep while he waited for the house to fall silent.

So on the second night he made sure he didn’t succumb to sleep before Denise succumbed to his lust.

It was just after 1 am when he tiptoed across the landing in a Santa Suit, full of expectation but as he slowly opened the door he was greeted by the discouraging sight of Denise cuddled beneath the duvet with the family housekeeper Josie McCalonan.

As he stood watching, Denise suddenly opened her eyes and realised he was there and said

“There’s no one in here for you Santa we’ve had out presents” and she smiled contentedly.

 

Phil closed the door and turned around to find Denise’s older sister Rachel standing by her open bedroom door and as Rachel had carried a torch for Phil for several years she said.

“If she’s not interested I wouldn’t say no to a present”

Rachel was not as pretty or busty or as sexy as her sister but she was obviously straight, she was willing and she was standing across the landing so Phil decided that she may have been second best but he knew that she would still give him a Christmas to remember.

Those Memories Made on Teardrop Lake – (60) Molly’s Secret Santa

 

In 1986, sisters Kay and Molly Webb’s parents were still living at Lakeside Villa on the southern side of the idyllic Teardrop Lake, although the girls spent most of their time in Abbottsford because both girls were nurses at the Winston Churchill Hospital.

Molly was the older of the two by three years and twenty year old Kay was still only a student.

 

Molly Webb was 5ft 6 with shoulder length blond hair and was a popular nurse at the Winston Churchill Hospital in Abbottsford and the general consensus among doctors and nurses alike was that she was drop dead gorgeous, they also knew all too well that she was aware of the fact and used it to her advantage.

Also on the staff at the Churchill was another blond nurse, more timid and less popular, who was her on/off boyfriend Patrick O’Neill.

When they first met, Pat thought he had found the one, and fell instantly in love, but for Molly it was different, she didn’t fall in love, she never had, for Molly it was all about the sex.

The other difference between them was that Patrick was monogamous, a one woman man, he had always been that way, he had never strayed, he had never even been interested in a another woman while he was in a relationship, and he was straight, whereas Molly was cut from very different cloth and swung both ways and as often as possible, and she loved men and women in equal measure.

But even with Molly’s wandering eye her and Patrick always seemed to end up back together, he for the love and Molly for the lust.

One of her regular lapses to the other side was with her rich cousin Pauline Barker who was a renowned philanderer who had a big house in the village of Shallowfield, a mile or so from Teardrop Lake.

It was a mutually gratifying relationship as Pauline put it about every bit as much as Molly did and played the field for both teams.

 

Molly’s parents were going to Tipton for a friend’s wedding so she suggested to Patrick that a weekend away from Abbottsford would be a nice change of scenery which could only help their relationship, but that wasn’t all that Molly had in mind for herself.

She proposed a surprise visit to her parent’s house on the pretence of using it as a base for a weekend on the Lake, Patrick however saw through this ruse immediately and refused to go.

“You only want to go so you can sneak off at some time over the weekend to have unnatural relations with Pauline” he said

“That’s not the reason at all babe” Molly said, “The thought never crossed my mind, honestly”

A long protracted argument ensued and ended with Patrick saying

“You have to promise you won’t have sex with Pauline, or I’m not coming”

“Ok I promise” she lied

“Cross you heart” Pat insisted

“What?” Molly said “how old are you?”

“Just do it” he said

“Alright” she said and made the gesture “Cross my heart”

 

On the journey down from Abbottsford, Molly was in reflective mood as she mulled over in her mind the various scenarios that might lead to her getting what she wanted from her kissing cousin without Patrick finding out, and those reflections made her tingle as she saw the sign for Shallowfield.

Shallowfield lay on the southern edge of the Finchbottom Vale and Shallowfield’s fortunes had always relied largely upon forestry and agriculture for its survival.

In the post war years with rationing and a shortage of work a lot of people moved away, to Abbottsford, Abbeyvale and beyond and it only barely survived.

And the community around Teardrop Lake fared even worse.

Only a few of the houses around the Lake were thriving, a lot of the houses had been rented out and those that hadn’t were in a poor state of repair, some too such an extent they were little more than ruins.

But by the 70s things were beginning to change, thanks mainly to tourism and an increase in leisure time.

More importantly these people had money in their pockets.

This trend was reflected by the fact that the derelict Shallowfield Lodge, which had been inherited by a young couple from Lincolnshire, Rob and Sheryl Brown, was turned into a hotel.

Its completion formerly marked the rebirth of Teardrop Lake and by extension Shallowfield.

 

They drove through Shallowfield and turned into the lane that passed the Shallowfield Lodge Hotel and crossed the River Brooke as it flowed from the head of the lake and on towards Shallowfield, Mornington and beyond, and then the Lake was suddenly in front of them.

 

The lake was shaped like a teardrop, hence its name, and surrounded by the ancient woodland of the Dancingdean Forest.

It wasn’t a huge body of water, just over two miles long and almost a mile at its widest point.

But he thought it was simply beautiful and it had remained relatively un-spoilt which was what made it so special.

The lake was surrounded by a perimeter road which gave access to the 12 significant dwellings that surrounded the lake.

The Webb’s lived at Lakeside Villa on the southern side of the lake.

 

What neither of them realised as they drove around the perimeter road was that the weekend was going to be life changing, because it marked the time that Patrick was to draw a line under the toxic relationship that he endured with Molly and by the end of the weekend he had fallen in love with her sister Kay.

 

The next time he went to the Lake it was to see Kay and he knocked on the door and waited for a few minutes before the door was opened by a beaming Kay.

“I was hoping you’d come” she said excitedly

“You were?” he asked in amazement

“Oh yes” she replied “I’ve made us a picnic”

 

And that was that and from that moment on they were a couple and were married the following year, they lived together in Abbottsford but spent as much time as they possibly could by the lake and eventually they lived fulltime in Lakeside Villa where they raised three boys.

Her parents welcomed Patrick into the family with open arms although Molly never spoke to either of them again.

 

After Molly Webb was dumped by her on/off boyfriend she took solace in the arms of her rich cousin Pauline Barker who was a renowned philanderer who had a big house in the village of Shallowfield, a mile or so from Teardrop Lake and they lived together for three years before even Pauline grew tired of her lovers roving eye and wandering hands.

 

Molly continued to work at the Winston Churchill Hospital in Abbottsford after breaking up with Pauline, because it suited her on many levels.

Because being at a large Hospital she came into contact with a lot of potential partners both male and female.

Like when she was doing a rotation on paediatrics and she met paediatric registrar Polly Jones for the first time

Polly was a tall willowy brunette, 32 years old, stunningly attractive, with short brown hair and hazel eyes.

But sadly for Molly she was also happily married to an oncologist. 

Although she was resigned to the fact she was not going to get in the lovely doctors knickers Molly made no secret of the fact to Dr Jones that she fancied her and flirted outrageously with her.

 

So when Christmas came around and she drew Polly’s name in the Secret Santa she bought her some really slutty underwear, which although she accepted she would never see Polly in them, just thought of her wearing the slutty scanties turned her on while she was barely halfway through wrapping them.     

 

When the big day came she watched Polly carefully as she took the present from under the tree and carefully opened it at the nurse’s station and then blushed scarlet when she saw the contents.

Molly was so thrilled at the Doctors reaction to the sinful selection that she almost forgot to open her own gift.

 

When Molly finally opened the small Secret Santa present she was more than a little disappointed. 

It was a three day, all-inclusive spa break for one, at the Dancingdean Spa Hotel, and although it was an expensive gift, far more than she had spent on the lustful lingerie, it wasn’t really her kind of thing at all.

Molly was in no way the rest and relaxation detox kind of girl.

She liked burning the candle at both ends and toxing her socks off or preferably someone else’s.

In fact if it hadn’t been for the fact that her girlfriend Samantha was so miffed about her going off for a weekend without her she would have given the voucher to someone else.

It was perhaps childish and in the realms of cutting off her nose to spite her face but she thought it was worth it just to see the look on Samantha’s sulky face as she left.

 

By the time she arrived at the Spa however she had resolved to make the best of it and try to get her Secret Santa their monies worth and when she was greeted in reception by a very attractive specimen of a man, her spirits rose.

He was over six feet tall, lean and muscular, very good looking, and she just hoped he wasn’t gay.

 

When she was settled into her room she went on a tour of the facilities to see if she could find something “interesting” to do.

As it was a cold winter day she decided to stay inside and began with refreshments.

Which was when she got the first surprise of the weekend, when she saw, already sitting in the cafeteria wrapped in a pristine white towelling robe, Doctor Polly Jones.

“What kept you?” the smiling Doctor asked and Molly was speechless.

“I didn’t expect to see you here” she said

“I love coming here” Polly said “But I hate coming alone”

“So why me? And not your husband” Molly asked

“This is not his kind of thing at all” she replied “and you’re a good laugh so I thought we’d have fun”

“You could have had fun with a male friend” she said

“No way” she said “I’ve never cheated on Derek with another man”

“You love him?” Molly asked

“Very much so” she replied “What about you and Samantha?”

“What love you mean?”

“Yes, do you love Samantha?” Polly asked

“No, Samantha is just my fall back until something better comes along” she replied

“I see” she said “and what about your sex mad cousin?”

“We’re just sex buddies” she replied and laughed

The conversation moved on then to discuss the range of what was on offer, from fitness classes, the gym, rock sauna, infra-red sauna, aroma steam room, ice fountain, drench showers, Jacuzzi, a Romanesque pool, reflexology, facials, scalp massage, hand massage, Manicure and Pedicure, in the end they settled on a massage followed by a sauna.

 

The massage was wonderful and Molly was feeling very relaxed as she sat in the sauna room.

“I think it’s time for some of that “Fun” I was talking about” Polly said after she joined her in the sauna a few minutes later, and as she locked the door she turned towards Molly, she got her second surprise of the day when she slipped off her robe and stood in front of Molly completely naked.

“I thought you were happily married” Molly said

“I am”

“And you said you’ve never been unfaithful to Derek” Molly pointed out

“I haven’t” Polly replied “Not with a man”

Now Molly wasn’t a shy girl by any stretch of the imagination but even she was a little shocked and surprised by Polly’s boldness, as the doctor gently kissed her open mouth.

And Molly thought to herself

“Someone better has come along”