(Part 01)
Downshire is a relatively small English county but like a pocket battleship it packs a lot in, a short but beautiful coastline, a channel port, the Ancient forests of Dancingdean and Pepperstock, the craggy ridges and manmade lakes of the Pepperstock Hills National Park, the rolling hills of the Downshire Downs, the beautiful Finchbottom Vale and farm land as far as the eye can see from the Trotwood’s and the Grace’s in the south to the home of the Downshire Light infantry, Nettlefield, and their affluent neighbour’s, Roespring and Tipton in the north but our story begins slightly further south equidistant between Nettlefield and the Oxley’s, in the beautiful village of Heathervale.
When Chris Palmer moved to Nettlefield from Purplemere following a very acrimonious divorce he had sworn off women for good.
But he was a relatively good looking man who was fast approaching his 40th birthday, with a good physique and short sandy hair, greying at the temples and was possessed of piercing blue eyes, so he didn’t go unnoticed.
His reason for moving to Nettlefield in particular, over all the other places he might have chosen either in Downshire or beyond, was the Heatherlands District Health Centre.
It was a large practise that serviced a large area, covering Nettlefield itself, Oxley Green, Heathervale, Oxley Ridge and Tipton and Chris had been fortunate enough to land the job as practice manager and he also found himself a nice little flat in Nettlefield.
The senior partner, and Chris’s boss, at the Health Centre was Dr Clarisse Lowe, a tall statuesque woman who dressed in tweed, with Chestnut hair, a voluptuous figure, lovely long legs and a generous frontage, who was in her mid-forties and was just the kind of woman Chris would have fallen for in his previous life.
Clarisse had been married to Edward Lowe, who had been an eminent surgeon in Downshire, he had also been twenty years older when he married her and he had two children from his first marriage, Josie being the oldest.
The marriage was a happy one but only lasted five years because Edward died suddenly on the Tipton Twelve Trees Golf course after suffering a heart attack.
She had been a widow for 10 years when Chris arrived in her life, her widowhood had left her lonely but also afraid of risking her heart on someone who might end that loneliness
But apart from the fact that she had vowed not to risk her broken heart again she also had instigated a policy at the practise forbidding fraternisation between members of staff, so even if she were so inclined toward Chris she wouldn’t be disposed to go against her own edict.
But the heart wants what the heart wants which was why two people who despite their reluctance to expose themselves to love again and who were very definitely not looking for a relationship, let alone love, found it anyway.
And as a by-product of the loving relationship she scrapped the “No Fraternizing policy” which meant that the surgical gloves were off in regard to work place relationships.
(Part 02)
As a bi-product of the loving relationship she began with Chris, Clarisse scrapped the “No Fraternizing policy” which meant that the surgical gloves were off in regard to work place relationships which was just what the doctor ordered for a lot of the staff, but for doctors
Tony Dark and Denise Guilford it made no difference at all because they had been romantically involved for two years.
The scrapping of the relationship ban should have given them the green light to come out of the closet but the simple truth was that they rather liked the closet, they enjoyed the sneaking around.
When they were around other people at the health centre they were cold and aloof, but in private they couldn’t keep their hands off each other, so whenever an opportunity to enjoy some intimacy presented itself they grabbed it with both hands.
And from the first moment when Denise made the decision to seduce Tony it opened up a whole new world of sensual pleasure, dirty, lustful, naked pleasure.
They both loved the excitement of sneaking around and it made them very aroused and they had to indulge themselves wherever they could.
Sometimes they did it in his house, occasionally in hers, at times they met at hotels and from time to time they did it at the surgery and even on occasion in her car, but never in his as it was far too small.
So whenever an opportunity to enjoy each other’s “company” arose they grabbed it with both hands.
For example on the day of an important patient conference call with the surgical team at St Augusta’s Hospital in Nettlefield.
Tony had been looking at Denise very lustily all morning, but he had to put his lust aside for the duration of the shift, as the call with the St Augusts was particularly important.
The call was scheduled for 11am in the Video Conference room, and Tony was a few minutes late, as he had to take a phone call.
When he arrived he found Denise was already sitting at the table and looking pensive.
“Five minutes” he said from the doorway and to the staff in the vicinity he added
“Absolutely no interruptions”
“What about emergencies?” Mrs Clarke on reception shouted
“No exceptions” he replied and closed the door and turned the key.
He walked towards where Denise was sitting with all the relevant documentation in easy reach of her trembling hands and stood behind her.
“Just relax” Tony said and put his hands on her shoulders and peered down inside her gaping blouse.
“You really need to relax” he added and then without further preamble he plunged his hands inside her gaping blouse and displaced the cups of her bra with his hands.
“We haven’t got time for that” she said and pulled his hands out “we only have a few minute”
“We have 45 minutes because Dr Steadman just called to apologize because the conference call has been delayed until 11.45am” he replied
“Oh” she murmured and fed his hands back inside her bra
“Good choice Doctor” he said and bent down and kissed down into her mouth.
Tuesday 23 May 2017
Downshire Diary – (62) House Warming
(Part 01)
Neil Etherington was an average man approaching his thirtieth birthday not that he was a bad looking man, he wasn’t, but he wasn’t stunning, sexy or buff, he was strictly middling but his girlfriend
Samantha Barraclough was anything but, she was an absolute beauty three years younger, elegant, daintily petite, intelligent, funny, sexy and with a perfectly beautiful angelic voice, pure Carrington Chase educated perfection, Carrington Chase being Downshire’s version of Roedean, although those in Downshire thought it was the other way around, and it was a voice that made Charlotte Green sound common.
He pinched himself at the start of everyday, especially the ones on which he woke up beside her, just to check he wasn’t dreaming.
Because the good fortune that brought Samantha into his life was the type of thing that didn’t happen to him, and everyone who witnessed them together unanimously agreed that he was punching well above his weight.
They first encountered each other at a business meeting at the Abbottsford Regents Hotel, where she was a potential new client and he was trying to win a new account, but the meeting was unresolved as it was love at first sight.
Neil worked for a firm of architects called New Horizons whose head office was in Sharpington by Sea while Samantha Barraclough was approaching her 28th birthday and was a project consultant for the family business, Barraclough Ventures and the project that Samantha’s company was heading up was the regeneration of the former Industrial Power House of the county, Northchapel.
The love that bloomed between Samantha Barraclough and Neil Etherington in Abbottsford in June went from strength to strength
However things had not been all plain sailing since they had met, though not between the two of them they were completely simpatico.
The problems stemmed from a different quarter entirely and from those who should have been the most delighted for them, their close friends and family.
Neil and Samantha were the victims of snobbery, inverted and otherwise.
Her family thought she had set her sights to low while his nearest and dearest believed he had set his too high.
Her friends thought he was common while his thought she was a snob.
Only their closest friends Jonathon Hardman and Isabelle Decoene stuck by them.
So as a result they had found it difficult to fit inside each other’s worlds, but the couple believed that love will out and Samantha drew a line under the difficulties when she said
“If you can’t live in my world and I can’t live in yours we shall just have to make a world of our own”
If he hadn’t been in love with her already he certainly would have been after that speech.
So having overcome their initial difficulties of not being accepted in each other’s worlds and having set out to make a world of their own, they made the decision, after spending two weeks together on a narrow boat on their first holiday together, that they should move in together.
Samantha asked “In Tipton or in Brocklington?”
Her house was up in Tipton, although she was rarely in it as she spent more time living in hotels than she did her house so it had never felt like home to her, but she thought it might if she had someone to share it with but Neil had a nice cottage in Brocklington and that would also be lovely so when he replied.
“Neither”
To her question, she was taken aback.
“Neither?” she asked
“I think we should buy somewhere new, a blank canvas, somewhere that will be ours and not yours or mine” he replied and a she exclaimed
“That’s perfect”
(Part 02)
However as perfect as that solution was it didn’t solve the problem of where they should set up home.
Samantha was from Tipton in the north of the county but when she fell in love with Neil she also fell in love with the Finchbottom Vale so they considered buying a house in the area and they almost bought one in Forestdean but it fell through at the last minute.
At the time they were quite upset about it but every cloud has a silver lining because they found a place in Applesford that needed a bit of TLC but by the time they completed and took possession it was almost a year after they started courting.
Neil spent a lot of time doing up the house, he was good at DIY, and there were things they wanted to do before they moved in completely, so he had been staying in the house all week decorating and doing some repairs while Samantha was away on business.
He was up early on Friday morning which was just as well as at 8 o’clock Samantha arrived at the house dressed in joggers and a T-shirt, not her normal apparel at all, in fact he had never seen her dressed down to that degree and he was quite surprised that she actually owned a pair of joggers.
“Can I help?” he asked
“It’s me you fool” she replied
“Who’s me?”
“Your girlfriend” Samantha said
“No, no, not dressed like that you’re not” he said
“These are my working togs” she said
“And it’s no good putting on that posh voice either” he said and laughed and then he kissed her
“What are you doing here?” he asked “I wasn’t expecting you until tomorrow”
“I wrapped it up early so I could come and help” she said
“And I missed you”
“I missed you too” he said and kissed her again
“So how have you got on?” she asked
“Pretty good, the dining room and the lounge are done they just need tidying and the furniture putting back” he said “So if we do that I’ll let you take me to lunch”
“Well the sooner we get started the sooner we’ll be finished” Samantha said cheerily.
So Samantha set about dusting and hovering the lounge and dining room while Neil started carrying things in from the garage and by eleven o’clock they were almost finished, there was just one small sofa to bring in and then they were done.
So the two of them set about the task and having maneuvered it through the hall and into the lounge all that was required was to push it into place and with both of them pushing, it moved easily into position.
Which was when with the job done he said
“Thanks Sam, it would have taken ages without you”
Samantha leant back against him and he kissed the top of her head,
“Welcome to your new home” he said and she turned around and kissed him.
Neil Etherington was an average man approaching his thirtieth birthday not that he was a bad looking man, he wasn’t, but he wasn’t stunning, sexy or buff, he was strictly middling but his girlfriend
Samantha Barraclough was anything but, she was an absolute beauty three years younger, elegant, daintily petite, intelligent, funny, sexy and with a perfectly beautiful angelic voice, pure Carrington Chase educated perfection, Carrington Chase being Downshire’s version of Roedean, although those in Downshire thought it was the other way around, and it was a voice that made Charlotte Green sound common.
He pinched himself at the start of everyday, especially the ones on which he woke up beside her, just to check he wasn’t dreaming.
Because the good fortune that brought Samantha into his life was the type of thing that didn’t happen to him, and everyone who witnessed them together unanimously agreed that he was punching well above his weight.
They first encountered each other at a business meeting at the Abbottsford Regents Hotel, where she was a potential new client and he was trying to win a new account, but the meeting was unresolved as it was love at first sight.
Neil worked for a firm of architects called New Horizons whose head office was in Sharpington by Sea while Samantha Barraclough was approaching her 28th birthday and was a project consultant for the family business, Barraclough Ventures and the project that Samantha’s company was heading up was the regeneration of the former Industrial Power House of the county, Northchapel.
The love that bloomed between Samantha Barraclough and Neil Etherington in Abbottsford in June went from strength to strength
However things had not been all plain sailing since they had met, though not between the two of them they were completely simpatico.
The problems stemmed from a different quarter entirely and from those who should have been the most delighted for them, their close friends and family.
Neil and Samantha were the victims of snobbery, inverted and otherwise.
Her family thought she had set her sights to low while his nearest and dearest believed he had set his too high.
Her friends thought he was common while his thought she was a snob.
Only their closest friends Jonathon Hardman and Isabelle Decoene stuck by them.
So as a result they had found it difficult to fit inside each other’s worlds, but the couple believed that love will out and Samantha drew a line under the difficulties when she said
“If you can’t live in my world and I can’t live in yours we shall just have to make a world of our own”
If he hadn’t been in love with her already he certainly would have been after that speech.
So having overcome their initial difficulties of not being accepted in each other’s worlds and having set out to make a world of their own, they made the decision, after spending two weeks together on a narrow boat on their first holiday together, that they should move in together.
Samantha asked “In Tipton or in Brocklington?”
Her house was up in Tipton, although she was rarely in it as she spent more time living in hotels than she did her house so it had never felt like home to her, but she thought it might if she had someone to share it with but Neil had a nice cottage in Brocklington and that would also be lovely so when he replied.
“Neither”
To her question, she was taken aback.
“Neither?” she asked
“I think we should buy somewhere new, a blank canvas, somewhere that will be ours and not yours or mine” he replied and a she exclaimed
“That’s perfect”
(Part 02)
However as perfect as that solution was it didn’t solve the problem of where they should set up home.
Samantha was from Tipton in the north of the county but when she fell in love with Neil she also fell in love with the Finchbottom Vale so they considered buying a house in the area and they almost bought one in Forestdean but it fell through at the last minute.
At the time they were quite upset about it but every cloud has a silver lining because they found a place in Applesford that needed a bit of TLC but by the time they completed and took possession it was almost a year after they started courting.
Neil spent a lot of time doing up the house, he was good at DIY, and there were things they wanted to do before they moved in completely, so he had been staying in the house all week decorating and doing some repairs while Samantha was away on business.
He was up early on Friday morning which was just as well as at 8 o’clock Samantha arrived at the house dressed in joggers and a T-shirt, not her normal apparel at all, in fact he had never seen her dressed down to that degree and he was quite surprised that she actually owned a pair of joggers.
“Can I help?” he asked
“It’s me you fool” she replied
“Who’s me?”
“Your girlfriend” Samantha said
“No, no, not dressed like that you’re not” he said
“These are my working togs” she said
“And it’s no good putting on that posh voice either” he said and laughed and then he kissed her
“What are you doing here?” he asked “I wasn’t expecting you until tomorrow”
“I wrapped it up early so I could come and help” she said
“And I missed you”
“I missed you too” he said and kissed her again
“So how have you got on?” she asked
“Pretty good, the dining room and the lounge are done they just need tidying and the furniture putting back” he said “So if we do that I’ll let you take me to lunch”
“Well the sooner we get started the sooner we’ll be finished” Samantha said cheerily.
So Samantha set about dusting and hovering the lounge and dining room while Neil started carrying things in from the garage and by eleven o’clock they were almost finished, there was just one small sofa to bring in and then they were done.
So the two of them set about the task and having maneuvered it through the hall and into the lounge all that was required was to push it into place and with both of them pushing, it moved easily into position.
Which was when with the job done he said
“Thanks Sam, it would have taken ages without you”
Samantha leant back against him and he kissed the top of her head,
“Welcome to your new home” he said and she turned around and kissed him.
Monday 22 May 2017
Downshire Diary – (61) The Distressed Muse
(Part 01)
Downshire is a relatively small English county but like a pocket battleship it packs a lot in, a short but beautiful coastline, a channel port, the Ancient forests of Dancingdean and Pepperstock, the craggy ridges and manmade lakes of the Pepperstock Hills National Park, the rolling hills of the Downshire Downs, the beautiful Finchbottom Vale and farm land as far as the eye can see from the Trotwood’s and the Grace’s in the south to the home of the Downshire Light infantry, Nettlefield, and their affluent neighbour’s, Roespring and Tipton in the north but our story begins in the East, or more precisely, 20 miles inland from Sharpington-By-Sea, equidistant between Finchbottom and Pepperstock Green, in the sprawling village of Denmead.
Owen Carrington’s Uncle Glyn died on New Year’s Day and left him his Cottage and a small cash sum, more than enough to keep him going for a few more years.
He left it to him because he felt they were kindred spirits, he wanted to be a writer himself but his father made him get a proper job, Owen really liked him and he was a great story teller, and it was his Uncles colourful tales that helped him when he was writing his novels.
His death came as a great shock as it was sudden though not unsurprising given his health.
So that was how he found himself living in a lovely Victorian Cottage in the quaint Downshire Village of Denmead.
It was a very tranquil place though not without its distractions.
From his study he could look out through the open French windows and across the expanse of lawn to a stand of ancient woodland, there was no fence to separate garden and wood the two just merged.
And on the other side of the wood was the hub of the village, the Green Oak, everyone seemed to go there at some point, either for a drink, the restaurant or the coffee suite.
Owen’s star was definitely in the ascendency after the success of his first Romantic novel “The Maiden Muse” but the change in the fortunes of his writing career were not universally well received, his publisher liked it, his new agent loved it, the bank manager was ecstatic about it but his mother was disappointed by it because she thought it was a bit girlie.
But it wasn’t just his writing career that was climbing high, so was his love life thanks to his muse and lover, Juliana Molesworth, who had brought his writers block to an end, but his muse was in her third year at the University of Downshire where she studied English at Abbottsford.
On the last weekend of the half term break when she was at home he met up with Juliana and her parents outside the Church of Saint Jane Frances de Chantal.
After the service, they thanked the Vicar “for a marvelous sermon” and said their goodbyes before they walked the short distance to the Green Oak and had a marvelous Sunday lunch, which was so good that a constitutional was necessary to walk it off.
It was a pleasant enough afternoon for it, very sunny but with a chill wind, so they opted for the west forest which would give them the benefit of the sun but shield them from the worst of wind.
They walked the woodland for over an hour and when they reached a cross roads, the route to the Molesworth’s house lay straight ahead and the path to Owen’s house was to the left so they said their goodbyes and Juliana and he made their way back to Owens cottage where they would make love.
(Part 02)
During the periods in the afterglow when feelings and emotions were expressed, souls were bared and hearts unburdened, and Owen pledged his love to her again, and then they did some serious talking and one of the things they discussed was her work load at University.
As a result she said she wouldn’t be home again until Christmas as she needed to keep focused, and he promised to support her anyway he could.
Owen suggested she should stop the part time job at the Green Oak and as he had such a great payday from the “Maiden Muse”, he said he would pay her rent for as long as she wanted.
She didn’t want to say yes but it would take so much pressure off her so she reluctantly agreed.
They also agreed on no more Skype video calls, because she said if she saw him she would miss him even more, and it would be hard enough as it was and this time he was the one that was reluctant to agree, but he did, and likewise with phone calls.
So it would just be emails once a week, and texts for emergencies, and he said he would drop everything if she needed him.
They felt at the end of it that they had archived something and they both felt a weight had been lifted of their shoulders.
Juliana wanted to spend the night with him, as it would be the last one for a while, but she still had to pack and such and she also needed to have the same conversation with her parents.
So he took her home and the next morning he drove her back to Abbottsford.
There were tears at the Molesworth’s house and he thought there would be many more later.
But eventually they set off and luckily the traffic was really light which meant they had time to unload the car and carry the bags up to her room before he dropped her off in time for her first lecture.
As predicted there were more tears, after all they wouldn’t be seeing each other for two months and when she was composed enough to get out the car she walked straight into the building without looking back.
It was two weeks later when Owen had set about catching up with emails and such like, sorting through the mail and settling some bills.
When he opened his bank statement he was surprised to see just how well he was doing and the bank balance made very good reading.
The next afternoon he was on his way to the Post Office when he spotted Gregory Molesworth coming the other way.
“Hi Greg” he called
“Hello Owen” he said a little distracted
“Is everything ok?” he asked but Owen could tell he was not, so he added
“Have you got time for a coffee?”
They sat at a table with their steaming mugs of coffee and he said
“I’m worried about Juliana”
“Jules?” he said surprised “Why?”
“She’s cut herself off from us” he said with real concern
“Is it drugs?” Greg asked and then he put his mug to his lip but without drinking he continued
“Do you think its drugs?”
Still he didn’t drink
“I think its drugs”
He took a sip this time and pulled a face before lowering the cup and pushing it away from him.
“Of course she’s not on drugs” Owen assured him “she’s too sensible for that”
Owen looked at him earnestly
“You and Lavinia have raised her well” he said but he didn’t look reassured
“She just needs to focus for the next few weeks and then she’s over the summit”
“We miss her” Greg said “I miss her, and I caught Lavinia crying again this morning”
“I miss her too” Owen said truthfully
(Part 03)
Owen thought Greg was in a slightly better frame of mind when he left him and so was he as he finished in the Post Office but as he was leaving his phone bleated at him informing him that he had a text so he fished it out of his pocket and he saw it was from Juliana.
He selected the text icon and read the message immediately and it said
“SOS I miss you”
After a few moments he replied
“I’m on my way”
When he reached Abbottsford he parked up outside Juliana’s digs and ran up to the front door and rang the bell.
The door was opened by one of the housemates, Jasmine, and he said
“Hi Jas”
“Hello Owen” she replied “Go straight up, she’s in her room”
So he went up the stairs and straight to Juliana’s door and knocked twice.
“Come in” she called and he went in and she was wearing the lovely green summer dress she had worn on that hot summer day when they first got together.
“Hello gorgeous” he said and smiled
“Oh Owen” she said and threw herself into his arms.
“I’m so sorry Owen” she said and started to cry “but I missed you”
“Don’t cry hon” he said, but it didn’t help, she was sobbing hard on his shoulder and he could feel her tears soaking his shirt as he made encouraging noises until she eventually calmed down enough so she could explain what was wrong.
“The work is going really well” she said and forced a smile
“And I’m really confident that I’m ahead of the curve”
But then she started to cry again
“I’m sorry Owen, but I just miss everyone so much, I miss talking to mum”
“Then why didn’t you call her?” he said
“Because it was my idea” she replied “and everyone is sticking to it without a problem”
“Everyone else is missing you like crazy” he said and he told her about meeting her dad only that day and about him catching her mum crying and she burst into tears again.
Juliana had been in turmoil, she had wanted to call but was afraid of breaking their agreement, afraid of being a quitter when it was her idea, she wanted to be strong and independent.
When he had calmed her down he persuaded her to phone her mum and dad, persevering with the isolation was just making her unhappy.
If keeping focused on her studies was paramount she could still stay in Abbottsford until Christmas but she needed to phone Greg and Lavinia regularly.
She dialled the number and waited
“Hi mum it’s Jules” and then the tears flowed unrestrained
After the phone call Juliana looked across at him with a smile on her tear stained face.
“I love you” she said and walked over to him and kissed him
“I love you too” Owen responded and kissed her back.
“So why are you wearing the summer dress in November?” he asked “why do you even have it with you?”
She hugged him tightly and hid her face from him.
“I have it with me because it reminds me of that day” she said into his chest “and I wear it when I’m lonely”
They stood there holding each other for about five minutes after which he made love to her like it was the first time and then they fell asleep in each other’s arms.
Downshire is a relatively small English county but like a pocket battleship it packs a lot in, a short but beautiful coastline, a channel port, the Ancient forests of Dancingdean and Pepperstock, the craggy ridges and manmade lakes of the Pepperstock Hills National Park, the rolling hills of the Downshire Downs, the beautiful Finchbottom Vale and farm land as far as the eye can see from the Trotwood’s and the Grace’s in the south to the home of the Downshire Light infantry, Nettlefield, and their affluent neighbour’s, Roespring and Tipton in the north but our story begins in the East, or more precisely, 20 miles inland from Sharpington-By-Sea, equidistant between Finchbottom and Pepperstock Green, in the sprawling village of Denmead.
Owen Carrington’s Uncle Glyn died on New Year’s Day and left him his Cottage and a small cash sum, more than enough to keep him going for a few more years.
He left it to him because he felt they were kindred spirits, he wanted to be a writer himself but his father made him get a proper job, Owen really liked him and he was a great story teller, and it was his Uncles colourful tales that helped him when he was writing his novels.
His death came as a great shock as it was sudden though not unsurprising given his health.
So that was how he found himself living in a lovely Victorian Cottage in the quaint Downshire Village of Denmead.
It was a very tranquil place though not without its distractions.
From his study he could look out through the open French windows and across the expanse of lawn to a stand of ancient woodland, there was no fence to separate garden and wood the two just merged.
And on the other side of the wood was the hub of the village, the Green Oak, everyone seemed to go there at some point, either for a drink, the restaurant or the coffee suite.
Owen’s star was definitely in the ascendency after the success of his first Romantic novel “The Maiden Muse” but the change in the fortunes of his writing career were not universally well received, his publisher liked it, his new agent loved it, the bank manager was ecstatic about it but his mother was disappointed by it because she thought it was a bit girlie.
But it wasn’t just his writing career that was climbing high, so was his love life thanks to his muse and lover, Juliana Molesworth, who had brought his writers block to an end, but his muse was in her third year at the University of Downshire where she studied English at Abbottsford.
On the last weekend of the half term break when she was at home he met up with Juliana and her parents outside the Church of Saint Jane Frances de Chantal.
After the service, they thanked the Vicar “for a marvelous sermon” and said their goodbyes before they walked the short distance to the Green Oak and had a marvelous Sunday lunch, which was so good that a constitutional was necessary to walk it off.
It was a pleasant enough afternoon for it, very sunny but with a chill wind, so they opted for the west forest which would give them the benefit of the sun but shield them from the worst of wind.
They walked the woodland for over an hour and when they reached a cross roads, the route to the Molesworth’s house lay straight ahead and the path to Owen’s house was to the left so they said their goodbyes and Juliana and he made their way back to Owens cottage where they would make love.
(Part 02)
During the periods in the afterglow when feelings and emotions were expressed, souls were bared and hearts unburdened, and Owen pledged his love to her again, and then they did some serious talking and one of the things they discussed was her work load at University.
As a result she said she wouldn’t be home again until Christmas as she needed to keep focused, and he promised to support her anyway he could.
Owen suggested she should stop the part time job at the Green Oak and as he had such a great payday from the “Maiden Muse”, he said he would pay her rent for as long as she wanted.
She didn’t want to say yes but it would take so much pressure off her so she reluctantly agreed.
They also agreed on no more Skype video calls, because she said if she saw him she would miss him even more, and it would be hard enough as it was and this time he was the one that was reluctant to agree, but he did, and likewise with phone calls.
So it would just be emails once a week, and texts for emergencies, and he said he would drop everything if she needed him.
They felt at the end of it that they had archived something and they both felt a weight had been lifted of their shoulders.
Juliana wanted to spend the night with him, as it would be the last one for a while, but she still had to pack and such and she also needed to have the same conversation with her parents.
So he took her home and the next morning he drove her back to Abbottsford.
There were tears at the Molesworth’s house and he thought there would be many more later.
But eventually they set off and luckily the traffic was really light which meant they had time to unload the car and carry the bags up to her room before he dropped her off in time for her first lecture.
As predicted there were more tears, after all they wouldn’t be seeing each other for two months and when she was composed enough to get out the car she walked straight into the building without looking back.
It was two weeks later when Owen had set about catching up with emails and such like, sorting through the mail and settling some bills.
When he opened his bank statement he was surprised to see just how well he was doing and the bank balance made very good reading.
The next afternoon he was on his way to the Post Office when he spotted Gregory Molesworth coming the other way.
“Hi Greg” he called
“Hello Owen” he said a little distracted
“Is everything ok?” he asked but Owen could tell he was not, so he added
“Have you got time for a coffee?”
They sat at a table with their steaming mugs of coffee and he said
“I’m worried about Juliana”
“Jules?” he said surprised “Why?”
“She’s cut herself off from us” he said with real concern
“Is it drugs?” Greg asked and then he put his mug to his lip but without drinking he continued
“Do you think its drugs?”
Still he didn’t drink
“I think its drugs”
He took a sip this time and pulled a face before lowering the cup and pushing it away from him.
“Of course she’s not on drugs” Owen assured him “she’s too sensible for that”
Owen looked at him earnestly
“You and Lavinia have raised her well” he said but he didn’t look reassured
“She just needs to focus for the next few weeks and then she’s over the summit”
“We miss her” Greg said “I miss her, and I caught Lavinia crying again this morning”
“I miss her too” Owen said truthfully
(Part 03)
Owen thought Greg was in a slightly better frame of mind when he left him and so was he as he finished in the Post Office but as he was leaving his phone bleated at him informing him that he had a text so he fished it out of his pocket and he saw it was from Juliana.
He selected the text icon and read the message immediately and it said
“SOS I miss you”
After a few moments he replied
“I’m on my way”
When he reached Abbottsford he parked up outside Juliana’s digs and ran up to the front door and rang the bell.
The door was opened by one of the housemates, Jasmine, and he said
“Hi Jas”
“Hello Owen” she replied “Go straight up, she’s in her room”
So he went up the stairs and straight to Juliana’s door and knocked twice.
“Come in” she called and he went in and she was wearing the lovely green summer dress she had worn on that hot summer day when they first got together.
“Hello gorgeous” he said and smiled
“Oh Owen” she said and threw herself into his arms.
“I’m so sorry Owen” she said and started to cry “but I missed you”
“Don’t cry hon” he said, but it didn’t help, she was sobbing hard on his shoulder and he could feel her tears soaking his shirt as he made encouraging noises until she eventually calmed down enough so she could explain what was wrong.
“The work is going really well” she said and forced a smile
“And I’m really confident that I’m ahead of the curve”
But then she started to cry again
“I’m sorry Owen, but I just miss everyone so much, I miss talking to mum”
“Then why didn’t you call her?” he said
“Because it was my idea” she replied “and everyone is sticking to it without a problem”
“Everyone else is missing you like crazy” he said and he told her about meeting her dad only that day and about him catching her mum crying and she burst into tears again.
Juliana had been in turmoil, she had wanted to call but was afraid of breaking their agreement, afraid of being a quitter when it was her idea, she wanted to be strong and independent.
When he had calmed her down he persuaded her to phone her mum and dad, persevering with the isolation was just making her unhappy.
If keeping focused on her studies was paramount she could still stay in Abbottsford until Christmas but she needed to phone Greg and Lavinia regularly.
She dialled the number and waited
“Hi mum it’s Jules” and then the tears flowed unrestrained
After the phone call Juliana looked across at him with a smile on her tear stained face.
“I love you” she said and walked over to him and kissed him
“I love you too” Owen responded and kissed her back.
“So why are you wearing the summer dress in November?” he asked “why do you even have it with you?”
She hugged him tightly and hid her face from him.
“I have it with me because it reminds me of that day” she said into his chest “and I wear it when I’m lonely”
They stood there holding each other for about five minutes after which he made love to her like it was the first time and then they fell asleep in each other’s arms.
Downshire Diary – (60) A Christmas Tradition
(Part 01)
Downshire is a relatively small English county but like a pocket battleship it packs a lot in, a short but beautiful coastline, a channel port, the Ancient forests of Dancingdean and Pepperstock, the craggy ridges and manmade lakes of the Pepperstock Hills National Park, the rolling hills of the Downshire Downs, the beautiful Finchbottom Vale and farm land as far as the eye can see from the Trotwood’s and the Grace’s in the south to the home of the Downshire Light infantry, Nettlefield, and their affluent neighbour’s, Roespring and Tipton but our story begins considerably further south in the former industrial power house of Northchapel where the Hayward clan were gathered for Christmas, with the exception of Christina Hayhoe but plans were afoot in that regard.
Principally the plan involved one member of the family driving to collect the absentee and Jack Hayward thought he had drawn the short straw when he had to drive from the family home in Northchapel to pick up his 2nd cousin Christina Hayhoe from the village of Roespring in the far northeastern corner of the county on December 23rd.
However it was the long standing family tradition for the clan to gather together at Christmas in the ancestral home and even though everyone thought Cousin Christina was a pain in the arse she had to be got and that year it was his turn.
Although they were the same age, 35ish, were both single and shared a great grandfather, they had nothing in common whatsoever because he was an outgoing, personable and fun loving guy, whereas Christina was a dried up old witch, in the opinion of most in the family at any rate.
Jack on the other hand had always felt a bit sorry for her and had always tried to engage with her.
Christina lived alone in a big house, which she once shared with her deceased brother and parents, she didn’t socialize, she had never had a boyfriend as far as anyone in the family was aware or even a girlfriend for that matter and it was true that apart from the annual sojourn to Northchapel for Christmas she was a bit of a recluse.
She wasn’t really liked within the family in fact she was barely tolerated, but in the spirit of the season she had to be included.
But the truth of the matter was they didn’t really know her and made little or no attempt to rectify that situation, so no one knew what went on behind the façade that she presented to the world.
As he left Northchapel it started to snow, just lightly in the wind at first but it didn’t stay light, and the snow that had fallen ten days earlier was still evident on the ground so the fresh fall quickly settled.
He wasn’t keen on driving in the snow, and he didn’t like driving to Roespring either, doing it in the snow just made it worse so he drove very cautiously.
It was apparent that the snow was coming from the direction he was heading because as he was driving between the Oakham’s and Nettlefield the snow on the road was getting significantly deeper so he went even more cautiously until he finally arrived in Roespring.
(Part 02)
Jack parked the car on the drive and knocked on the door and when Christina opened it she looked the same as usual with her fine brunette hair scraped back off her face giving her a severe “Croydon facelift” appearance.
She also wore the familiar black pinafore dress over a grey blouse and black wooly tights.
There was a polite though monosyllabic exchange of words on his arrival but he urged haste on the basis of the weather and she quickly locked her front door while Jack put her case in the car.
“I’m not sure how long it’s going to take to get to Northchapel in this mess” he said as they set off
“I like the snow” she remarked
“Me too” he agreed “but not for driving in”
The road back to the Expressway was impassable so they tried the cross country road to the Oakham’s, however they only got as far as Millmoor and they had to turn back.
There was another route that involved taking a very circuitous route but the likelihood that it was anymore passable was severely in question.
“It looks like we’ll have to stay at yours and try again in the morning” he said
“Ok” she responded and looked out of the window and smiled
When they got back to the house he couldn’t get the car all the way up the slope of the driveway so he had to leave it where he came to a stop.
It was only ten yards from the car to the front door but the snow was calf deep so by the time they reached the sanctuary of her house the snow had got into their footwear and Christina’s thick woolly tights were wet through.
“Make yourself at home” she said and ran upstairs
Jack took off his coat and wet shoes and walked into the lounge and took out his phone.
“Where are you?” His sister Karen asked crossly “we were getting worried”
“I’m at Christina’s” he replied
“What still?”
“Yes, the roads are blocked so I’m staying here for the night and we’ll try again in the morning”
“So you’re spending the night with Cruella?” Karen said and laughed
“I hope you’re going to behave yourself”
“Very funny” he retorted
“Good luck” Karen said
Just then he heard Christina descending the stairs so he said
“I’ll see you tomorrow”
Christina walked into the room and she had lost the “Croydon facelift” look as her hair had been shaken out and was tumbling onto her shoulders.
She had also lost the black pinafore dress, the grey blouse and black wooly tights, instead she had on a full length pink fluffy dressing gown, pink socks and pink bunny slippers, an altogether more frivolous version of Christina than he had ever seen before.
In her arms she was carrying some clothes.
“It’s only joggers and socks” she said “they were Clive’s, he was about your size”
Clive was her brother, who died in the same car accident that took her parents.
“Thanks” he said still reeling from the softer pinker Christina.
But despite the fluffy exterior she was still the same monosyllabic woman as before.
At least that was the case until she opened the first of several bottles of wine and then she didn’t stop talking.
(Part 03)
Christina was still the same monosyllabic woman as before at least that was the case until she opened the first of several bottles of wine and then she didn’t stop talking.
Due to the snowy weather, which was showing no sign of abating, he was a captive audience as she sat and drank wine and as she did so she slowly revealed herself.
After Christina opened the third bottle of wine she proceeded to reveal more and more about herself with every drink, but the more she drank the more she tended to ramble and she spoke a lot about time and sands running through her fingers and choices and not knowing, but he couldn’t really follow her train of thought very easily as the alcohol had taken its toll, so before she could open a fourth bottle of wine he took the initiative and decided to steer her up to her room.
Once they reached her bedroom door he had to wedge her against the door jamb while he opened the door, unfortunately as the door swung open she fell into the room.
Dave instinctively reached out and grabbed her in an effort to prevent her from hurting herself but he unfortunately overreached and fell to the floor before she did and landed on his back just in time for Christina to land on top of him.
“If you wanted to kiss me all you had to do was ask” she slurred before planting an almost Labrador like kiss on his mouth.
“I’m too much of a gentleman” he said after extricating himself from her embrace and struggled to his feet and helped Christina to do the same before steering her into the bedroom.
“But you’re not a gentleman” she said as he plopped her onto the bed “so there’s nothing stopping you”
And she grabbed him by the lapels and planted another kiss on his mouth, much more controlled and unhurried than the first one and he started to reciprocate.
He had noticed before that despite the façade she presented to the world Christina was actually an attractive woman, but until the day he hadn’t realised quite how lovely she was and beneath her stern exterior she was a warm open person, with an altogether pleasant demeanour.
She was not the person that he and the family all thought she was, she was not the persona she projected to the world.
Christina began unbuttoning her dressing gown and her kissing became more intense and she snorted through her nose.
Jack couldn’t believe he was in Cousin Christina’s bedroom, kissing her while she was undressing herself, and enjoying it.
He thought his sister Karen would have laughed her socks off if she’d known he was snogging the “dried up old witch” and enjoying it.
But as he held her in his arms it didn’t feel to him like he was holding a witch, she was too warm, soft and tender, but he had to call a halt to proceedings before things went too far.
(Part 04)
Christina began unbuttoning her dressing gown and her kissing became more intense and she snorted through her nose.
Jack couldn’t believe he was in Cousin Christina’s bedroom, kissing her while she was undressing herself, and enjoying it.
He thought his sister Karen would have laughed her socks off if she’d known he was snogging the “dried up old witch” and enjoying it.
But as he held her in his arms it didn’t feel to him like he was holding a witch, she was too warm, soft and tender, but he had to call a halt to proceedings before things went too far.
As soon as his lips left hers she sighed and said
“I thought this day would never come”
And then she kissed him again.
After a few minutes, and only due to his strength of character he stopped again, it would have been the easiest thing in the world to take advantage of her, but she wasn’t worldly and wouldn’t have been fare so he broke away.
“No don’t stop” she exclaimed
“I think we should” he said “before we go too far”
“But I want to go too far” she said
“I thought you liked me”
“I do that’s why we have to stop” he said
“That doesn’t make any sense” Christina said “you just don’t want me”
Christina got up and went into the bathroom and while he waited for her to come back he paused to gaze out of the bedroom window and the snow was still falling fast and then he sat on the edge of Christina’s bed until she trudged forlornly back towards him.
“Why are you still here?” she asked bluntly
“Because I want to make sure you’re alright” he replied and he stood up and held her and she gave a rather smug self-satisfied sigh as he cuddled her.
“Did you really not want to stop?” she asked
“I really didn’t want to,” he replied “and I enjoyed kissing you”
“When can we do it again then?” she asked with her head on his chest.
“Tomorrow” he replied “if you still want to”
“Why wouldn’t I still want to?” she asked
“You may feel differently in the cold light of day” he pointed out “Without any wine”
“I won’t” she assured him
“How can you be so sure?” he asked
“Because…”
“Because?” he queried
“Because I’ve always wanted you” she replied as she looked up at him
“In which case we can do it all day” he said and kissed her
“But we have to drive to Northchapel tomorrow” she pointed out
“It’s still snowing so we won’t be going anywhere tomorrow”
“What about the Family Christmas Tradition?” she asked
“I suppose we’re just going to start our own tradition” he said
Christina lifted her head from his chest and looked at him coyly and said
“Then I hope it snows until twelfth night”
That Christmas the roads to Roespring were impassable until the day after Boxing Day and by the time they finally reached Northchapel Jack and Christina were very much a couple and the rest of the clan had long since dispersed for another year so they got straight back in the car and returned to Christina’s house and they stayed there, just the two of them, until the New Year.
Downshire is a relatively small English county but like a pocket battleship it packs a lot in, a short but beautiful coastline, a channel port, the Ancient forests of Dancingdean and Pepperstock, the craggy ridges and manmade lakes of the Pepperstock Hills National Park, the rolling hills of the Downshire Downs, the beautiful Finchbottom Vale and farm land as far as the eye can see from the Trotwood’s and the Grace’s in the south to the home of the Downshire Light infantry, Nettlefield, and their affluent neighbour’s, Roespring and Tipton but our story begins considerably further south in the former industrial power house of Northchapel where the Hayward clan were gathered for Christmas, with the exception of Christina Hayhoe but plans were afoot in that regard.
Principally the plan involved one member of the family driving to collect the absentee and Jack Hayward thought he had drawn the short straw when he had to drive from the family home in Northchapel to pick up his 2nd cousin Christina Hayhoe from the village of Roespring in the far northeastern corner of the county on December 23rd.
However it was the long standing family tradition for the clan to gather together at Christmas in the ancestral home and even though everyone thought Cousin Christina was a pain in the arse she had to be got and that year it was his turn.
Although they were the same age, 35ish, were both single and shared a great grandfather, they had nothing in common whatsoever because he was an outgoing, personable and fun loving guy, whereas Christina was a dried up old witch, in the opinion of most in the family at any rate.
Jack on the other hand had always felt a bit sorry for her and had always tried to engage with her.
Christina lived alone in a big house, which she once shared with her deceased brother and parents, she didn’t socialize, she had never had a boyfriend as far as anyone in the family was aware or even a girlfriend for that matter and it was true that apart from the annual sojourn to Northchapel for Christmas she was a bit of a recluse.
She wasn’t really liked within the family in fact she was barely tolerated, but in the spirit of the season she had to be included.
But the truth of the matter was they didn’t really know her and made little or no attempt to rectify that situation, so no one knew what went on behind the façade that she presented to the world.
As he left Northchapel it started to snow, just lightly in the wind at first but it didn’t stay light, and the snow that had fallen ten days earlier was still evident on the ground so the fresh fall quickly settled.
He wasn’t keen on driving in the snow, and he didn’t like driving to Roespring either, doing it in the snow just made it worse so he drove very cautiously.
It was apparent that the snow was coming from the direction he was heading because as he was driving between the Oakham’s and Nettlefield the snow on the road was getting significantly deeper so he went even more cautiously until he finally arrived in Roespring.
(Part 02)
Jack parked the car on the drive and knocked on the door and when Christina opened it she looked the same as usual with her fine brunette hair scraped back off her face giving her a severe “Croydon facelift” appearance.
She also wore the familiar black pinafore dress over a grey blouse and black wooly tights.
There was a polite though monosyllabic exchange of words on his arrival but he urged haste on the basis of the weather and she quickly locked her front door while Jack put her case in the car.
“I’m not sure how long it’s going to take to get to Northchapel in this mess” he said as they set off
“I like the snow” she remarked
“Me too” he agreed “but not for driving in”
The road back to the Expressway was impassable so they tried the cross country road to the Oakham’s, however they only got as far as Millmoor and they had to turn back.
There was another route that involved taking a very circuitous route but the likelihood that it was anymore passable was severely in question.
“It looks like we’ll have to stay at yours and try again in the morning” he said
“Ok” she responded and looked out of the window and smiled
When they got back to the house he couldn’t get the car all the way up the slope of the driveway so he had to leave it where he came to a stop.
It was only ten yards from the car to the front door but the snow was calf deep so by the time they reached the sanctuary of her house the snow had got into their footwear and Christina’s thick woolly tights were wet through.
“Make yourself at home” she said and ran upstairs
Jack took off his coat and wet shoes and walked into the lounge and took out his phone.
“Where are you?” His sister Karen asked crossly “we were getting worried”
“I’m at Christina’s” he replied
“What still?”
“Yes, the roads are blocked so I’m staying here for the night and we’ll try again in the morning”
“So you’re spending the night with Cruella?” Karen said and laughed
“I hope you’re going to behave yourself”
“Very funny” he retorted
“Good luck” Karen said
Just then he heard Christina descending the stairs so he said
“I’ll see you tomorrow”
Christina walked into the room and she had lost the “Croydon facelift” look as her hair had been shaken out and was tumbling onto her shoulders.
She had also lost the black pinafore dress, the grey blouse and black wooly tights, instead she had on a full length pink fluffy dressing gown, pink socks and pink bunny slippers, an altogether more frivolous version of Christina than he had ever seen before.
In her arms she was carrying some clothes.
“It’s only joggers and socks” she said “they were Clive’s, he was about your size”
Clive was her brother, who died in the same car accident that took her parents.
“Thanks” he said still reeling from the softer pinker Christina.
But despite the fluffy exterior she was still the same monosyllabic woman as before.
At least that was the case until she opened the first of several bottles of wine and then she didn’t stop talking.
(Part 03)
Christina was still the same monosyllabic woman as before at least that was the case until she opened the first of several bottles of wine and then she didn’t stop talking.
Due to the snowy weather, which was showing no sign of abating, he was a captive audience as she sat and drank wine and as she did so she slowly revealed herself.
After Christina opened the third bottle of wine she proceeded to reveal more and more about herself with every drink, but the more she drank the more she tended to ramble and she spoke a lot about time and sands running through her fingers and choices and not knowing, but he couldn’t really follow her train of thought very easily as the alcohol had taken its toll, so before she could open a fourth bottle of wine he took the initiative and decided to steer her up to her room.
Once they reached her bedroom door he had to wedge her against the door jamb while he opened the door, unfortunately as the door swung open she fell into the room.
Dave instinctively reached out and grabbed her in an effort to prevent her from hurting herself but he unfortunately overreached and fell to the floor before she did and landed on his back just in time for Christina to land on top of him.
“If you wanted to kiss me all you had to do was ask” she slurred before planting an almost Labrador like kiss on his mouth.
“I’m too much of a gentleman” he said after extricating himself from her embrace and struggled to his feet and helped Christina to do the same before steering her into the bedroom.
“But you’re not a gentleman” she said as he plopped her onto the bed “so there’s nothing stopping you”
And she grabbed him by the lapels and planted another kiss on his mouth, much more controlled and unhurried than the first one and he started to reciprocate.
He had noticed before that despite the façade she presented to the world Christina was actually an attractive woman, but until the day he hadn’t realised quite how lovely she was and beneath her stern exterior she was a warm open person, with an altogether pleasant demeanour.
She was not the person that he and the family all thought she was, she was not the persona she projected to the world.
Christina began unbuttoning her dressing gown and her kissing became more intense and she snorted through her nose.
Jack couldn’t believe he was in Cousin Christina’s bedroom, kissing her while she was undressing herself, and enjoying it.
He thought his sister Karen would have laughed her socks off if she’d known he was snogging the “dried up old witch” and enjoying it.
But as he held her in his arms it didn’t feel to him like he was holding a witch, she was too warm, soft and tender, but he had to call a halt to proceedings before things went too far.
(Part 04)
Christina began unbuttoning her dressing gown and her kissing became more intense and she snorted through her nose.
Jack couldn’t believe he was in Cousin Christina’s bedroom, kissing her while she was undressing herself, and enjoying it.
He thought his sister Karen would have laughed her socks off if she’d known he was snogging the “dried up old witch” and enjoying it.
But as he held her in his arms it didn’t feel to him like he was holding a witch, she was too warm, soft and tender, but he had to call a halt to proceedings before things went too far.
As soon as his lips left hers she sighed and said
“I thought this day would never come”
And then she kissed him again.
After a few minutes, and only due to his strength of character he stopped again, it would have been the easiest thing in the world to take advantage of her, but she wasn’t worldly and wouldn’t have been fare so he broke away.
“No don’t stop” she exclaimed
“I think we should” he said “before we go too far”
“But I want to go too far” she said
“I thought you liked me”
“I do that’s why we have to stop” he said
“That doesn’t make any sense” Christina said “you just don’t want me”
Christina got up and went into the bathroom and while he waited for her to come back he paused to gaze out of the bedroom window and the snow was still falling fast and then he sat on the edge of Christina’s bed until she trudged forlornly back towards him.
“Why are you still here?” she asked bluntly
“Because I want to make sure you’re alright” he replied and he stood up and held her and she gave a rather smug self-satisfied sigh as he cuddled her.
“Did you really not want to stop?” she asked
“I really didn’t want to,” he replied “and I enjoyed kissing you”
“When can we do it again then?” she asked with her head on his chest.
“Tomorrow” he replied “if you still want to”
“Why wouldn’t I still want to?” she asked
“You may feel differently in the cold light of day” he pointed out “Without any wine”
“I won’t” she assured him
“How can you be so sure?” he asked
“Because…”
“Because?” he queried
“Because I’ve always wanted you” she replied as she looked up at him
“In which case we can do it all day” he said and kissed her
“But we have to drive to Northchapel tomorrow” she pointed out
“It’s still snowing so we won’t be going anywhere tomorrow”
“What about the Family Christmas Tradition?” she asked
“I suppose we’re just going to start our own tradition” he said
Christina lifted her head from his chest and looked at him coyly and said
“Then I hope it snows until twelfth night”
That Christmas the roads to Roespring were impassable until the day after Boxing Day and by the time they finally reached Northchapel Jack and Christina were very much a couple and the rest of the clan had long since dispersed for another year so they got straight back in the car and returned to Christina’s house and they stayed there, just the two of them, until the New Year.
Downshire Diary – (59) Heatherlands – Doctor in Clover
(Part 01)
Downshire is a relatively small English county but like a pocket battleship it packs a lot in, a short but beautiful coastline, a channel port, the Ancient forests of Dancingdean and Pepperstock, the craggy ridges and manmade lakes of the Pepperstock Hills National Park, the rolling hills of the Downshire Downs, the beautiful Finchbottom Vale and farm land as far as the eye can see from the Trotwood’s and the Grace’s in the south to the home of the Downshire Light infantry, Nettlefield, and their affluent neighbour’s, Roespring and Tipton in the north but our story begins slightly further south equidistant between Nettlefield and the Oxley’s, in the beautiful village of Heathervale.
When Chris Palmer moved to Nettlefield from Purplemere following a very acrimonious divorce he had sworn off women for good.
But he was a relatively good looking man who was fast approaching his 40th birthday, with a good physique and short sandy hair, greying at the temples and was possessed of piercing blue eyes, so he didn’t go unnoticed.
His reason for moving to Nettlefield in particular, over all the other places he might have chosen either in Downshire or beyond, was the Heatherlands District Health Centre.
It was a large practise that serviced a large area, covering Nettlefield itself, Oxley Green, Heathervale, Oxley Ridge and Tipton and Chris had been fortunate enough to land the job as practice manager and he also found himself a nice little flat in Nettlefield.
The senior partner, and Chris’s boss, at the Health Centre was Dr Clarisse Lowe, a tall statuesque woman who dressed in tweed, with Chestnut hair, a voluptuous figure, lovely long legs and a generous frontage, who was in her mid-forties and was just the kind of woman Chris would have fallen for in his previous life.
Clarisse had been married to Edward Lowe, who had been an eminent surgeon in Downshire, he had also been twenty years older when he married her and he had two children from his first marriage, Josie being the oldest.
The marriage was a happy one but only lasted five years because Edward died suddenly on the Tipton Twelve Trees Golf course after suffering a heart attack.
She had been a widow for 10 years when Chris arrived in her life, her widowhood had left her lonely but also afraid of risking her heart on someone who might end that loneliness
But apart from the fact that she had vowed not to risk her broken heart again she also had instigated a policy at the practise forbidding fraternisation between members of staff, so even if she were so inclined toward Chris she wouldn’t be disposed to go against her own edict.
But the heart wants what the heart wants which was why two people who despite their reluctance to expose themselves to love again and who were very definitely not looking for a relationship, let alone love, found it anyway.
And as a by-product of the loving relationship she scrapped the “No Fraternizing policy” which meant that the surgical gloves were off in regard to work place relationships.
(Part 02)
As a bi-product of the loving relationship she began with Chris, Clarisse scrapped the “No Fraternizing policy” which meant that the surgical gloves were off in regard to work place relationships which was just what the doctor ordered for a lot of the staff, but for doctors
Tony Dark and Denise Guilford it made no difference at all because they had been romantically involved for two years.
The scrapping of the relationship ban should have given them the green light to come out of the closet but the simple truth was that they rather liked the closet, they enjoyed the sneaking around.
When they were around other people at the health centre they were cold and aloof, but in private they couldn’t keep their hands off each other, so whenever an opportunity to enjoy some intimacy presented itself they grabbed it with both hands.
And from the first moment when Denise made the decision to seduce Tony it opened up a whole new world of sensual pleasure, dirty, lustful, naked pleasure.
They both loved the excitement of sneaking around and it made them very aroused and they had to indulge themselves wherever they could.
Sometimes they did it in his house, occasionally in hers, at times they met at hotels and from time to time they did it at the surgery and even on occasion in her car, but never in his as it was far too small.
One evening they found themselves alone at the Health Centre and decided to indulge in a “private consultation” in his office,
The normal plots and plans made it all the more exciting, but that excitement didn’t diminish when an unexpected opportunity presented itself.
As all the other staff appeared to have left for the day they went into his office and closed the door and she immediately walked over to him and kissed him.
“This is a nice surprise” he said
“Yes but we don’t know how much time we have” she replied “So less talk and more action”
After the event Tony was sitting at his desk, naked from the waist down, and was watching Denise redressing herself by the door and she was just buttoning her blouse when the door opened and Nurse Josie Minter appeared and asked
“Hi Tony, have you seen Dr Guilford?”
“Not since this afternoon” he lied “Was it something important?”
“No nothing that won’t keep until tomorrow” she said “but if you see her can you tell her I had to go on a home visit at Mrs Cooper’s”
“Sure thing” he said “See you tomorrow”
And then the door closed and Denise began unbuttoning her blouse again.
Sunday 21 May 2017
Downshire Diary – (58) Their First Holiday
(Part 01)
Neil Etherington was an average man approaching his thirtieth birthday not that he was a bad looking man, he wasn’t, but he wasn’t stunning, sexy or buff, he was strictly middling but his girlfriend
Samantha Barraclough was anything but, she was an absolute beauty three years younger, elegant, daintily petite, intelligent, funny, sexy and with a perfectly beautiful angelic voice, pure Carrington Chase educated perfection, Carrington Chase being Downshire’s version of Roedean, although those in Downshire thought it was the other way around, and it was a voice that made Charlotte Green sound common.
He pinched himself at the start of everyday, especially the ones on which he woke up beside her, just to check he wasn’t dreaming.
Because the good fortune that brought Samantha into his life was the type of thing that didn’t happen to him, and everyone who witnessed them together unanimously agreed that he was punching well above his weight.
They first encountered each other at a business meeting at the Abbottsford Regents Hotel, where she was a potential new client and he was trying to win a new account, but the meeting was unresolved as it was love at first sight.
Neil worked for a firm of architects called New Horizons whose head office was in Sharpington by Sea while Samantha Barraclough was approaching her 28th birthday and was a project consultant for the family business, Barraclough Ventures and the project that Samantha’s company was heading up was the regeneration of the former Industrial Power House of the county, Northchapel.
The love that bloomed between Samantha Barraclough and Neil Etherington in Abbottsford in June went from strength to strength
However things had not been all plain sailing since they had met, though not between the two of them they were completely simpatico.
The problems stemmed from a different quarter entirely and from those who should have been the most delighted for them, their close friends and family.
Neil and Samantha were the victims of snobbery, inverted and otherwise.
Her family thought she had set her sights to low while his nearest and dearest believed he had set his too high.
Her friends thought he was common while his thought she was a snob.
Only their closest friends Jonathon Hardman and Isabelle Decoene stuck by them.
So as a result they had found it difficult to fit inside each other’s worlds, but the couple believed that love will out and Samantha drew a line under the difficulties when she said
“If you can’t live in my world and I can’t live in yours we shall just have to make a world of our own”
If he hadn’t been in love with her already he certainly would have been after that speech
As part of “making a world of their own” and to increase the time they got to spend with each other they decided to plan a holiday together.
Obviously there were certain stipulations, it had to be for at least two weeks, they had to go somewhere they were unlikely to run into any of their friends and ideally it had to be somewhere or something they had never been or done before and Neil left it to Sam to make the arrangements because he knew she would come up trumps.
Samantha gave him no indication of what she had planned, where they were going or what they were doing but Neil didn’t mind in the slightest as long as he was with her.
(Part 02)
It was a pleasant morning as Neil Etherington stood waiting outside his Brocklington cottage for Samantha to arrive and he looked at the sky and hoped it would stay fine.
It was warmer than it had been over the previous week, with the skies a mainly blue expanse, broken only by the occasional passing cloud of fluffy white.
And it was when he was surveying the sky that she appeared in typical Samantha style on time to the minute and was looking as lovely as the weather, and she was immaculately turned out as usual.
She was wearing a large peaked white cap with her blonde hair scraped into a ponytail sticking out the back.
The rest of her outfit was all matching, predominately white with jade trim, Polo shirt, short flared skirt and ankle socks.
Her ensemble was then finished off with white pumps.
“Neil darling” she said as she launched herself at him for a kiss.
“I’m a bit excited”
“Good I like it when you’re excited” he said and she gave him a look
“You look really gorgeous”
“I look gorgeous do I?” she said and kissed him
“God yes” he replied
“That’s just goes to show what wonderful taste you have” She said smugly
Samantha opened the boot so he could throw his bag in and as she rearranged the boot to accommodate it he got a lingering look at the girl he loved so much and as she was bent over he gave her a playful slap.
“You can stop that Neil” she chastised “you can spank me when we get there”
“Well the sooner we get going then the better” he retorted
“Get in the car then” she snapped
“So you want to be punished then” he said
“Just get in the car,” she ordered and smiled, so he did what she said and got in the car and buckled up tight as he knew it was going to be a white-knuckle ride.
Samantha raced out of the side road and headed off away from the village and they sped off across the Vale.
He had no idea where they were headed and every time he thought he knew, she sped past the turning.
It was when they were on the main Abbottsford road when he had convinced himself that that was their destination when Samantha indicated left and turned off into the country where she race along narrow lanes that he was unfamiliar with and they drove for about 45 nerve-jangling minutes until she suddenly turned off into a little car park by the canal and came sharply to a halt.
“We have arrived,” she said
“Where are we?” he asked genuinely not knowing where the hell they were.
Where they were precisely was in a carpark beside The Downshire Navigation, part of the canal network which ran between Nettlefield in the north, down through Millmoor and the Oakhams to Northchapel, Abbeyvale and then to its most southerly point, Abbottsford, where it again headed north, this time to Childean, Purplemere and Finchbottom where it joined the River Finch.
(Part 03)
Where they were precisely was in a carpark beside The Downshire Navigation, part of the canal network which ran between Nettlefield in the north, down through Millmoor and the Oakhams to Northchapel, Abbeyvale and then to its most southerly point, Abbottsford, where it again headed north, this time to Childean, Purplemere and Finchbottom where it joined the River Finch.
“Come on” she instructed and got out the car and opened the boot.
“But where are we?” he asked again
“Shut up and grab the bags” she retorted, and again he did as he was told but they only went about 20 yards along the canal bank before she climbed aboard a narrow boat.
“Hey what are you doing?” he said with alarm and looking around to see if anyone was looking.
“Don’t panic” Samantha said mockingly as she picked up a plant pot and recovered a key that was hidden underneath it.
“This is our boat, come on” she said brandishing the key like a trophy.
“Oh, ok” he said and climbed aboard.
By the time he’d climbed down the companionway with the bags and closed the hatch behind him Samantha was already unpacking the bags that she carried aboard.
“I think I should say right from the outset, as this is our first holiday together, that on this trip I am the captain so don’t get any ideas” she said and laughed
“So what am I then, your first mate?” He asked
“No you’re the cabin boy” she replied and completely disitergrated into laughter at her clever joke
“Well I have just one thing to say to you” he said
“Whats that?” she asked between giggles
“Mutiny” he said and propelled her along the cabin to the sleeping compartment with her giggling all the way.
The barge was moored on a stretch of cut between Abbottsford and Applesford, the latter being a quaint country village, which would at a later date have great significance in their lives.
And for the next week they poodled along the canal enjoying eachother and the stunning downshire scenery, by which time they had reached the Northeast corner of the Finchbottom Vale where they turned around and headed back the way they came.
On the journey back to Applesford Samantha said
“I’ve really enjoyed our holiday”
“Me too”
“I’ve enjoyed being with you all the time” Sam said
“It’s been great hasn’t it?” he agreed
“I wish we could be together all the time” she mused
“You as well?” He asked
“You mean that’s what you want?” She queried and he nodded
“So you want us to live together?”
“I do” he said
“In Tipton or in Brocklington?” she asked
Her house was up in Tipton, although she was rarely in it as she spent more time living in hotels than she did her house so it had never felt like home to her, but she thought it might if she had someone to share it with but Neil had a nice cottage in Brocklington and that would also be lovely so when he replied.
“Neither”
To her question, she was taken aback.
“Neither?” she asked
“I think we should buy somewhere new, a blank canvas, somewhere that will be ours and not yours or mine” he replied and a she exclaimed
“That’s perfect, that’s brilliant, why didn’t I think of that” she said and she hugged him tightly and said
“You’re perfect and I really love you”
Neil Etherington was an average man approaching his thirtieth birthday not that he was a bad looking man, he wasn’t, but he wasn’t stunning, sexy or buff, he was strictly middling but his girlfriend
Samantha Barraclough was anything but, she was an absolute beauty three years younger, elegant, daintily petite, intelligent, funny, sexy and with a perfectly beautiful angelic voice, pure Carrington Chase educated perfection, Carrington Chase being Downshire’s version of Roedean, although those in Downshire thought it was the other way around, and it was a voice that made Charlotte Green sound common.
He pinched himself at the start of everyday, especially the ones on which he woke up beside her, just to check he wasn’t dreaming.
Because the good fortune that brought Samantha into his life was the type of thing that didn’t happen to him, and everyone who witnessed them together unanimously agreed that he was punching well above his weight.
They first encountered each other at a business meeting at the Abbottsford Regents Hotel, where she was a potential new client and he was trying to win a new account, but the meeting was unresolved as it was love at first sight.
Neil worked for a firm of architects called New Horizons whose head office was in Sharpington by Sea while Samantha Barraclough was approaching her 28th birthday and was a project consultant for the family business, Barraclough Ventures and the project that Samantha’s company was heading up was the regeneration of the former Industrial Power House of the county, Northchapel.
The love that bloomed between Samantha Barraclough and Neil Etherington in Abbottsford in June went from strength to strength
However things had not been all plain sailing since they had met, though not between the two of them they were completely simpatico.
The problems stemmed from a different quarter entirely and from those who should have been the most delighted for them, their close friends and family.
Neil and Samantha were the victims of snobbery, inverted and otherwise.
Her family thought she had set her sights to low while his nearest and dearest believed he had set his too high.
Her friends thought he was common while his thought she was a snob.
Only their closest friends Jonathon Hardman and Isabelle Decoene stuck by them.
So as a result they had found it difficult to fit inside each other’s worlds, but the couple believed that love will out and Samantha drew a line under the difficulties when she said
“If you can’t live in my world and I can’t live in yours we shall just have to make a world of our own”
If he hadn’t been in love with her already he certainly would have been after that speech
As part of “making a world of their own” and to increase the time they got to spend with each other they decided to plan a holiday together.
Obviously there were certain stipulations, it had to be for at least two weeks, they had to go somewhere they were unlikely to run into any of their friends and ideally it had to be somewhere or something they had never been or done before and Neil left it to Sam to make the arrangements because he knew she would come up trumps.
Samantha gave him no indication of what she had planned, where they were going or what they were doing but Neil didn’t mind in the slightest as long as he was with her.
(Part 02)
It was a pleasant morning as Neil Etherington stood waiting outside his Brocklington cottage for Samantha to arrive and he looked at the sky and hoped it would stay fine.
It was warmer than it had been over the previous week, with the skies a mainly blue expanse, broken only by the occasional passing cloud of fluffy white.
And it was when he was surveying the sky that she appeared in typical Samantha style on time to the minute and was looking as lovely as the weather, and she was immaculately turned out as usual.
She was wearing a large peaked white cap with her blonde hair scraped into a ponytail sticking out the back.
The rest of her outfit was all matching, predominately white with jade trim, Polo shirt, short flared skirt and ankle socks.
Her ensemble was then finished off with white pumps.
“Neil darling” she said as she launched herself at him for a kiss.
“I’m a bit excited”
“Good I like it when you’re excited” he said and she gave him a look
“You look really gorgeous”
“I look gorgeous do I?” she said and kissed him
“God yes” he replied
“That’s just goes to show what wonderful taste you have” She said smugly
Samantha opened the boot so he could throw his bag in and as she rearranged the boot to accommodate it he got a lingering look at the girl he loved so much and as she was bent over he gave her a playful slap.
“You can stop that Neil” she chastised “you can spank me when we get there”
“Well the sooner we get going then the better” he retorted
“Get in the car then” she snapped
“So you want to be punished then” he said
“Just get in the car,” she ordered and smiled, so he did what she said and got in the car and buckled up tight as he knew it was going to be a white-knuckle ride.
Samantha raced out of the side road and headed off away from the village and they sped off across the Vale.
He had no idea where they were headed and every time he thought he knew, she sped past the turning.
It was when they were on the main Abbottsford road when he had convinced himself that that was their destination when Samantha indicated left and turned off into the country where she race along narrow lanes that he was unfamiliar with and they drove for about 45 nerve-jangling minutes until she suddenly turned off into a little car park by the canal and came sharply to a halt.
“We have arrived,” she said
“Where are we?” he asked genuinely not knowing where the hell they were.
Where they were precisely was in a carpark beside The Downshire Navigation, part of the canal network which ran between Nettlefield in the north, down through Millmoor and the Oakhams to Northchapel, Abbeyvale and then to its most southerly point, Abbottsford, where it again headed north, this time to Childean, Purplemere and Finchbottom where it joined the River Finch.
(Part 03)
Where they were precisely was in a carpark beside The Downshire Navigation, part of the canal network which ran between Nettlefield in the north, down through Millmoor and the Oakhams to Northchapel, Abbeyvale and then to its most southerly point, Abbottsford, where it again headed north, this time to Childean, Purplemere and Finchbottom where it joined the River Finch.
“Come on” she instructed and got out the car and opened the boot.
“But where are we?” he asked again
“Shut up and grab the bags” she retorted, and again he did as he was told but they only went about 20 yards along the canal bank before she climbed aboard a narrow boat.
“Hey what are you doing?” he said with alarm and looking around to see if anyone was looking.
“Don’t panic” Samantha said mockingly as she picked up a plant pot and recovered a key that was hidden underneath it.
“This is our boat, come on” she said brandishing the key like a trophy.
“Oh, ok” he said and climbed aboard.
By the time he’d climbed down the companionway with the bags and closed the hatch behind him Samantha was already unpacking the bags that she carried aboard.
“I think I should say right from the outset, as this is our first holiday together, that on this trip I am the captain so don’t get any ideas” she said and laughed
“So what am I then, your first mate?” He asked
“No you’re the cabin boy” she replied and completely disitergrated into laughter at her clever joke
“Well I have just one thing to say to you” he said
“Whats that?” she asked between giggles
“Mutiny” he said and propelled her along the cabin to the sleeping compartment with her giggling all the way.
The barge was moored on a stretch of cut between Abbottsford and Applesford, the latter being a quaint country village, which would at a later date have great significance in their lives.
And for the next week they poodled along the canal enjoying eachother and the stunning downshire scenery, by which time they had reached the Northeast corner of the Finchbottom Vale where they turned around and headed back the way they came.
On the journey back to Applesford Samantha said
“I’ve really enjoyed our holiday”
“Me too”
“I’ve enjoyed being with you all the time” Sam said
“It’s been great hasn’t it?” he agreed
“I wish we could be together all the time” she mused
“You as well?” He asked
“You mean that’s what you want?” She queried and he nodded
“So you want us to live together?”
“I do” he said
“In Tipton or in Brocklington?” she asked
Her house was up in Tipton, although she was rarely in it as she spent more time living in hotels than she did her house so it had never felt like home to her, but she thought it might if she had someone to share it with but Neil had a nice cottage in Brocklington and that would also be lovely so when he replied.
“Neither”
To her question, she was taken aback.
“Neither?” she asked
“I think we should buy somewhere new, a blank canvas, somewhere that will be ours and not yours or mine” he replied and a she exclaimed
“That’s perfect, that’s brilliant, why didn’t I think of that” she said and she hugged him tightly and said
“You’re perfect and I really love you”
Downshire Diary – (57) The Distraught Muse
(Part 01)
Downshire is a relatively small English county but like a pocket battleship it packs a lot in, a short but beautiful coastline, a channel port, the Ancient forests of Dancingdean and Pepperstock, the craggy ridges and manmade lakes of the Pepperstock Hills National Park, the rolling hills of the Downshire Downs, the beautiful Finchbottom Vale and farm land as far as the eye can see from the Trotwood’s and the Grace’s in the south to the home of the Downshire Light infantry, Nettlefield, and their affluent neighbour’s, Roespring and Tipton in the north, but our story begins in the East, or more precisely, 20 miles inland from Sharpington-By-Sea, equidistant between Finchbottom and Pepperstock Green, in the sprawling village of Denmead.
Owen Carrington’s Uncle Glyn died on New Year’s Day and left him his Cottage and a small cash sum, more than enough to keep him going for a few more years.
He left it to him because he felt they were kindred spirits, he wanted to be a writer himself but his father made him get a proper job, Owen really liked him and he was a great story teller, and it was his Uncles colourful tales that helped him when he was writing his novels.
His death came as a great shock as it was sudden though not unsurprising given his life health.
So that was how he found himself living in a lovely Victorian Cottage in the quaint Downshire Village of Denmead.
It was a very tranquil place though not without its distractions.
From his study he could look out through the open French windows and across the expanse of lawn to a stand of ancient woodland, there was no fence to separate garden and wood the two just merged.
And on the other side of the wood was the hub of the village, the Green Oak, everyone seemed to go there at some point, either for a drink, the restaurant or the coffee suite.
Owen’s star was definitely in the ascendency after the success of his first Romantic novel “The Maiden Muse” but the change in the fortunes of his writing career were not universally well received, his publisher liked it, his new agent loved it, the bank manager was ecstatic about it but his mother was disappointed by it because she thought it was a bit girlie.
But it wasn’t just his writing career that was climbing high, so was his love life thanks to his muse and lover, Juliana Molesworth, who had brought his writers block to an end, and since she had become his muse he had become a writer of bodice ripping romances which had proved to be an occupation which suited him very well indeed.
And it suited him in many ways, but the main benefit was that he was able to work at home, so he had no tedious commute every day and his working day was flexible to the point that some days he didn’t write at all.
This afforded him the opportunity of playing a round of Golf during the working week when most people had their noses to the grindstone or even taking a day out to go fishing.
(Part 02)
But all the normally enjoyable pastimes that would ordinarily keep him entertained didn’t distract him for the time Juliana was away at University, but he poured all his love and longing into his second novel instead.
However as much as the time may have dragged, the time of his lonely exile did come to an end.
Juliana she returned from Abbottsford on Friday night with her parents as Owen was in Nettlefield at his publishers.
He spent Friday night in the Prince Royal Hotel hoping to relax and catch his breath, after all the frenetic activity of the day not to mention a long boozy lunch and the associated meetings and he was completely knackered and he was understandably looking forward to a good night’s sleep before Juliana’s return from University.
However there is a well-known saying about “the best laid plans”.
Things began to go wrong at about 2 am when the people in the room next door got drunk and started to trash the place.
Then after the night manager had dealt with the disturbance he just drifted off to sleep when a crack of thunder almost blew him out of bed and then the storm rumbled round for hours after that, making sleep nearly impossible, he would just doze off and then Boom, then things would calm down again and then Boom.
He gave up eventually because after the 9th or 10th time the fire alarm went off so he went downstairs and checked out and set off on the drive to Denmead.
When he got back to the village and went to his bed but he’d not been asleep more than an hour when he was woken from his slumber, not this time by drunks, thunder claps or fire alarms but by the persistent ringing of his mobile phone.
He reached a hand out from beneath the duvet and grabbed the phone
“Hello” he said sleepily and he was snapped awake by the sound of unrestrained tears coming from a distraught Juliana.
Once he had calmed her down sufficiently that she could speak and having determined no one had died he quickly washed and dressed and went out into the rainy morning and trudged the relatively short distance to her house.
She was still in tears when he arrived; though much calmer.
Her parents were both out at Stephenson’s Supermarket where they worked so she had to unload it all on him.
It took him about half an hour of soothing words to get her to the point where she could tell him what was wrong without bursting into tears again.
Ruth was returning to the University at Roehampton at the weekend in time for her final year although her first lecture was still two weeks away.
Juliana had worked her socks off all summer at the Green Oak pub in order to earn enough to enable her not to need to get another job in Abbottsford.
She already had a little job in the University Library, which although it didn’t pay well it fitted in perfectly with her studies, but she didn’t want to have to take another job as well.
She had calculated that with all the shifts she had done, on top of her future earnings from the library added to the meagre savings she had left from the previous year, she had sufficient to meet her needs and leave her enough to treat herself to a new laptop, her old one being on its last legs.
But when she had gone to the pub first thing that morning to pick up her wages she found that she had been under paid by the sum of £300.
(Part 03)
Juliana had worked her socks off all summer at the Green Oak pub in order to earn enough to enable her not to need to get another job in Abbottsford.
She already had a little job in the University Library, which although it didn’t pay well it fitted in perfectly with her studies, but she didn’t want to have to take another job as well.
She had calculated that with all the shifts she had done, on top of her future earnings from the library added to the meagre savings she had left from the previous year, she had sufficient to meet her needs and leave her enough to treat herself to a new laptop, her old one being on its last legs.
But when she had gone to the pub first thing that morning to pick up her wages she found that she had been under paid by the sum of £300.
Furthermore, even though it was the landlord’s mistake, he and his wife were on holiday and the manager was unable to make reparation until they returned.
All of this meant that after all the other out goings she wasn’t going to have enough to fund her new laptop until she was home next.
She really wanted that particular laptop but she said that she would just have to get something cheaper and gave a weak smile.
Owen managed to persuade her not to settle for less than she really wanted and just soldier on with what she had for a couple more months and as every cloud had a silver lining by the time she was ready to buy it would be at an even better price.
Juliana punched him for his sunny optimism but seemed happier with life.
He then offered to go into town with her and keep her company while she did her other shopping.
She gave him a hug and a kiss and said
“No that’s ok, I’m meeting mum for lunch”
When he left her at the door she was altogether happier, he on the other hand was less so.
In the meantime he walked briskly, through the now pouring rain, to the cottage and got in the car and drove into Finchbottom, he knew he could get there and back before Juliana returned to the village.
The reason for his sojourn was to purchase her a new laptop, printer and accessories so she would have them to take with her when she returned to University after the weekend.
Her parents would have done the same thing if they could have afforded it, but they couldn’t, they were nice hard working people and had no great wealth but considered themselves rich beyond measure because of what they did have.
The last thing he wanted to do was to step on their toes and steal their limelight so he planned that they would present it as a joint gift.
They were all going out for a meal that evening at the Leathern Bottle in Finchbottom but they were meeting first at the Molesworth’s so they could present it to her before they left for the restaurant.
He drove back to the village, and when he got indoors he called her dad Greg, he span him a line about getting it at a knock down price through a friend who used his staff discount.
Owen thought he wanted to believe him more than actually believing him but he was pleased his daughter was getting her laptop.
He repeatedly insisted on paying something towards it and Owen repeatedly declined his offer and in the end they compromised.
He would let Owen pay for the gift if he let him and Lavinia take Juliana back to University on Monday morning and they verbally shook on the deal.
He knew Juliana wouldn’t mind as they had already discussed the possibility.
Her parents struggled at times to reconcile themselves with the changing nature of their relationship, Greg in particular was feeling more than a little redundant.
It was undoubtedly the way of the world but it was hard for a father to take in and Juliana and he had no intention of exacerbating the situation.
(Part 04)
That evening he drove through the rain with the gifts in black sacks to keep them dry, and he arrived at the Molesworth household at the allotted time and was met by Greg who was standing by the open garage door.
This allowed them to smuggle Juliana’s gift into the house unseen through the internal door.
Lavinia was in the kitchen and indicated the coast was clear so he stepped in and placed the packages onto the counter.
As soon as his hands were free Lavinia kissed his cheek and hugged him tightly.
“Thank you Owen” she said, filling up, although he wasn’t sure what exactly she was thanking him for.
Was it for buying the laptop or letting them take Juliana to Abbottsford or for making their daughter happy.
It could have been any or all of the above.
He patted her on the back and she released her grip and turned away to wipe her eyes and Owen did the manly thing and shook hands with Greg.
A few minutes later Juliana came into the kitchen, looking as lovely as ever, to find the three of them standing in close order on one side of the room.
“Hello darling” she said as she walked over and kissed him
“I didn’t know you were here, I didn’t hear the doorbell”
Then she realised something was amiss
“Why are you all huddled over here?” she said suspiciously and tried to peer behind them.
“Well there is something we want to do before we leave for the restaurant” Gregory said falteringly
“Owen? Would you like to do the honours?”
“No Greg you have the floor, the honour is yours” he replied rather pompously.
“Well we know how disappointed you were this morning and also because we think you deserve it” her dad said proudly
“So we got you this as a going away present”
And with military precision and not unlike the red sea, they parted to reveal the brightly wrapped parcels.
“What’s all this?” she said
“Open them and you’ll find out” Owen said
So she set about the task and as she ripped off the paper her eyes widened with delight and she smiled broadly
“You shouldn’t have,” she said with a frown that lasted a Nano second and then she was smiling again.
Gregory and Lavinia were hugging as they watched their daughter’s joy, no doubt remembering long passed moments from her childhood, then Juliana hugged and kissed her parents and when she turned to Owen he was expecting the same treatment but instead she poked him, hard.
“As for you” she said sternly and poked him again “all that tosh you spouted this morning, “every cloud has a silver lining””
Another poke
“And all the time”
Poke
“You were planning this”
Another poke, and Owen nodded
“Pretty much” he confirmed and then he got his hug and kiss
“I love you,” she said
“Steady” he said you’ll make me blush
“I love you too”
That kind of set the tone for the rest of the evening and they had a lovely time.
Midway through the evening while her mum was in the loo and Greg had gone in search of the wine waiter he took the opportunity to tell her that her mum and dad would be taking her back to University and why he thought it was a good idea.
She leant over and kissed him on the lips
“I really do love you Owen Carrington,” she said
“And I really do love you too” he replied just at that moment her parents returned to the table and the moment was gone and it was such a great evening that he didn’t think of it again.
Downshire is a relatively small English county but like a pocket battleship it packs a lot in, a short but beautiful coastline, a channel port, the Ancient forests of Dancingdean and Pepperstock, the craggy ridges and manmade lakes of the Pepperstock Hills National Park, the rolling hills of the Downshire Downs, the beautiful Finchbottom Vale and farm land as far as the eye can see from the Trotwood’s and the Grace’s in the south to the home of the Downshire Light infantry, Nettlefield, and their affluent neighbour’s, Roespring and Tipton in the north, but our story begins in the East, or more precisely, 20 miles inland from Sharpington-By-Sea, equidistant between Finchbottom and Pepperstock Green, in the sprawling village of Denmead.
Owen Carrington’s Uncle Glyn died on New Year’s Day and left him his Cottage and a small cash sum, more than enough to keep him going for a few more years.
He left it to him because he felt they were kindred spirits, he wanted to be a writer himself but his father made him get a proper job, Owen really liked him and he was a great story teller, and it was his Uncles colourful tales that helped him when he was writing his novels.
His death came as a great shock as it was sudden though not unsurprising given his life health.
So that was how he found himself living in a lovely Victorian Cottage in the quaint Downshire Village of Denmead.
It was a very tranquil place though not without its distractions.
From his study he could look out through the open French windows and across the expanse of lawn to a stand of ancient woodland, there was no fence to separate garden and wood the two just merged.
And on the other side of the wood was the hub of the village, the Green Oak, everyone seemed to go there at some point, either for a drink, the restaurant or the coffee suite.
Owen’s star was definitely in the ascendency after the success of his first Romantic novel “The Maiden Muse” but the change in the fortunes of his writing career were not universally well received, his publisher liked it, his new agent loved it, the bank manager was ecstatic about it but his mother was disappointed by it because she thought it was a bit girlie.
But it wasn’t just his writing career that was climbing high, so was his love life thanks to his muse and lover, Juliana Molesworth, who had brought his writers block to an end, and since she had become his muse he had become a writer of bodice ripping romances which had proved to be an occupation which suited him very well indeed.
And it suited him in many ways, but the main benefit was that he was able to work at home, so he had no tedious commute every day and his working day was flexible to the point that some days he didn’t write at all.
This afforded him the opportunity of playing a round of Golf during the working week when most people had their noses to the grindstone or even taking a day out to go fishing.
(Part 02)
But all the normally enjoyable pastimes that would ordinarily keep him entertained didn’t distract him for the time Juliana was away at University, but he poured all his love and longing into his second novel instead.
However as much as the time may have dragged, the time of his lonely exile did come to an end.
Juliana she returned from Abbottsford on Friday night with her parents as Owen was in Nettlefield at his publishers.
He spent Friday night in the Prince Royal Hotel hoping to relax and catch his breath, after all the frenetic activity of the day not to mention a long boozy lunch and the associated meetings and he was completely knackered and he was understandably looking forward to a good night’s sleep before Juliana’s return from University.
However there is a well-known saying about “the best laid plans”.
Things began to go wrong at about 2 am when the people in the room next door got drunk and started to trash the place.
Then after the night manager had dealt with the disturbance he just drifted off to sleep when a crack of thunder almost blew him out of bed and then the storm rumbled round for hours after that, making sleep nearly impossible, he would just doze off and then Boom, then things would calm down again and then Boom.
He gave up eventually because after the 9th or 10th time the fire alarm went off so he went downstairs and checked out and set off on the drive to Denmead.
When he got back to the village and went to his bed but he’d not been asleep more than an hour when he was woken from his slumber, not this time by drunks, thunder claps or fire alarms but by the persistent ringing of his mobile phone.
He reached a hand out from beneath the duvet and grabbed the phone
“Hello” he said sleepily and he was snapped awake by the sound of unrestrained tears coming from a distraught Juliana.
Once he had calmed her down sufficiently that she could speak and having determined no one had died he quickly washed and dressed and went out into the rainy morning and trudged the relatively short distance to her house.
She was still in tears when he arrived; though much calmer.
Her parents were both out at Stephenson’s Supermarket where they worked so she had to unload it all on him.
It took him about half an hour of soothing words to get her to the point where she could tell him what was wrong without bursting into tears again.
Ruth was returning to the University at Roehampton at the weekend in time for her final year although her first lecture was still two weeks away.
Juliana had worked her socks off all summer at the Green Oak pub in order to earn enough to enable her not to need to get another job in Abbottsford.
She already had a little job in the University Library, which although it didn’t pay well it fitted in perfectly with her studies, but she didn’t want to have to take another job as well.
She had calculated that with all the shifts she had done, on top of her future earnings from the library added to the meagre savings she had left from the previous year, she had sufficient to meet her needs and leave her enough to treat herself to a new laptop, her old one being on its last legs.
But when she had gone to the pub first thing that morning to pick up her wages she found that she had been under paid by the sum of £300.
(Part 03)
Juliana had worked her socks off all summer at the Green Oak pub in order to earn enough to enable her not to need to get another job in Abbottsford.
She already had a little job in the University Library, which although it didn’t pay well it fitted in perfectly with her studies, but she didn’t want to have to take another job as well.
She had calculated that with all the shifts she had done, on top of her future earnings from the library added to the meagre savings she had left from the previous year, she had sufficient to meet her needs and leave her enough to treat herself to a new laptop, her old one being on its last legs.
But when she had gone to the pub first thing that morning to pick up her wages she found that she had been under paid by the sum of £300.
Furthermore, even though it was the landlord’s mistake, he and his wife were on holiday and the manager was unable to make reparation until they returned.
All of this meant that after all the other out goings she wasn’t going to have enough to fund her new laptop until she was home next.
She really wanted that particular laptop but she said that she would just have to get something cheaper and gave a weak smile.
Owen managed to persuade her not to settle for less than she really wanted and just soldier on with what she had for a couple more months and as every cloud had a silver lining by the time she was ready to buy it would be at an even better price.
Juliana punched him for his sunny optimism but seemed happier with life.
He then offered to go into town with her and keep her company while she did her other shopping.
She gave him a hug and a kiss and said
“No that’s ok, I’m meeting mum for lunch”
When he left her at the door she was altogether happier, he on the other hand was less so.
In the meantime he walked briskly, through the now pouring rain, to the cottage and got in the car and drove into Finchbottom, he knew he could get there and back before Juliana returned to the village.
The reason for his sojourn was to purchase her a new laptop, printer and accessories so she would have them to take with her when she returned to University after the weekend.
Her parents would have done the same thing if they could have afforded it, but they couldn’t, they were nice hard working people and had no great wealth but considered themselves rich beyond measure because of what they did have.
The last thing he wanted to do was to step on their toes and steal their limelight so he planned that they would present it as a joint gift.
They were all going out for a meal that evening at the Leathern Bottle in Finchbottom but they were meeting first at the Molesworth’s so they could present it to her before they left for the restaurant.
He drove back to the village, and when he got indoors he called her dad Greg, he span him a line about getting it at a knock down price through a friend who used his staff discount.
Owen thought he wanted to believe him more than actually believing him but he was pleased his daughter was getting her laptop.
He repeatedly insisted on paying something towards it and Owen repeatedly declined his offer and in the end they compromised.
He would let Owen pay for the gift if he let him and Lavinia take Juliana back to University on Monday morning and they verbally shook on the deal.
He knew Juliana wouldn’t mind as they had already discussed the possibility.
Her parents struggled at times to reconcile themselves with the changing nature of their relationship, Greg in particular was feeling more than a little redundant.
It was undoubtedly the way of the world but it was hard for a father to take in and Juliana and he had no intention of exacerbating the situation.
(Part 04)
That evening he drove through the rain with the gifts in black sacks to keep them dry, and he arrived at the Molesworth household at the allotted time and was met by Greg who was standing by the open garage door.
This allowed them to smuggle Juliana’s gift into the house unseen through the internal door.
Lavinia was in the kitchen and indicated the coast was clear so he stepped in and placed the packages onto the counter.
As soon as his hands were free Lavinia kissed his cheek and hugged him tightly.
“Thank you Owen” she said, filling up, although he wasn’t sure what exactly she was thanking him for.
Was it for buying the laptop or letting them take Juliana to Abbottsford or for making their daughter happy.
It could have been any or all of the above.
He patted her on the back and she released her grip and turned away to wipe her eyes and Owen did the manly thing and shook hands with Greg.
A few minutes later Juliana came into the kitchen, looking as lovely as ever, to find the three of them standing in close order on one side of the room.
“Hello darling” she said as she walked over and kissed him
“I didn’t know you were here, I didn’t hear the doorbell”
Then she realised something was amiss
“Why are you all huddled over here?” she said suspiciously and tried to peer behind them.
“Well there is something we want to do before we leave for the restaurant” Gregory said falteringly
“Owen? Would you like to do the honours?”
“No Greg you have the floor, the honour is yours” he replied rather pompously.
“Well we know how disappointed you were this morning and also because we think you deserve it” her dad said proudly
“So we got you this as a going away present”
And with military precision and not unlike the red sea, they parted to reveal the brightly wrapped parcels.
“What’s all this?” she said
“Open them and you’ll find out” Owen said
So she set about the task and as she ripped off the paper her eyes widened with delight and she smiled broadly
“You shouldn’t have,” she said with a frown that lasted a Nano second and then she was smiling again.
Gregory and Lavinia were hugging as they watched their daughter’s joy, no doubt remembering long passed moments from her childhood, then Juliana hugged and kissed her parents and when she turned to Owen he was expecting the same treatment but instead she poked him, hard.
“As for you” she said sternly and poked him again “all that tosh you spouted this morning, “every cloud has a silver lining””
Another poke
“And all the time”
Poke
“You were planning this”
Another poke, and Owen nodded
“Pretty much” he confirmed and then he got his hug and kiss
“I love you,” she said
“Steady” he said you’ll make me blush
“I love you too”
That kind of set the tone for the rest of the evening and they had a lovely time.
Midway through the evening while her mum was in the loo and Greg had gone in search of the wine waiter he took the opportunity to tell her that her mum and dad would be taking her back to University and why he thought it was a good idea.
She leant over and kissed him on the lips
“I really do love you Owen Carrington,” she said
“And I really do love you too” he replied just at that moment her parents returned to the table and the moment was gone and it was such a great evening that he didn’t think of it again.
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