(Part 01)
John Whittaker and his wife Kathy were getting divorced and as a result he moved out of the marital home.
His departure however wasn’t due to any acrimony between them, it was just that he had no particular emotional link to the place, whereas she really loved the house so he had agreed to let her buy his half and as soon as she sorted out the mortgage he bought himself a flat.
John and Kathy had no children so it was a fairly simple process to separate themselves and they managed to keep the involvement of the blood sucking lawyers in the process to an absolute minimum.
It was a very amicable split with no animosity or hatred, or lack of love for that matter.
There just wasn’t enough of that special ingredient that turned love in to breathless, heart skipping passion.
They still loved each other very much but only as friends.
While he was waiting for the money to come through from his half of the house he moved into a caravan up at the Whitecliff Hill Caravan Park overlooking Sharpington.
John Whittaker had lived in the town all his life and he loved everything about the traditional seaside resort of Sharpington-by-Sea, with its Victorian Pier, seafront hotels, crazy golf, The Palladium ballroom, the well maintained gardens, a pristine promenade, theatre and illuminations, plus all the usual things to have a great time by the seaside, as well as amusement arcades and of course the Sharpington Fun Park.
The Sharpington Fun Park was the first purpose built amusement park to open in Britain, which was a proud boast for the locals.
The Fun Park had an assortment of rides, like the Rotor and the Wild Mouse, The Cyclone and the Morehouse Galloper, all very tame compared to a 21st century roller coaster but it was still fun and still popular with visitors and locals a like.
Apart from being a fun place for the many tourists to visit and great place to live for him, Sharpington was also a popular place for retirees and boasted a number of static caravan parks so a short term let in a caravan was ideal to keep him in Sharpington until he bought his flat and it wasn’t difficult to find a vacant caravan in February.
However by the end of the third month up at Whitecliff Hill the money had finally come through from Kathy and he was able to start looking for a flat and as it turned out it was perfect timing as he managed to find a flat in Jubilee Court that had just come on the market.
It was perfectly situated and gave him a view of Jubilee Park as well as a sea view and was close to the seafront.
It was a slightly run down flat but it had everything he required though and it just needed a little TLC which he thought would give him the opportunity to stamp his mark on the place, he could just take his time because he intended to be there for a long time.
It wasn’t just a stop gap, he was in for the long haul, so a little bit of DIY didn’t bother him.
(Part 02)
He moved in to flat 43, Jubilee Court, on May the 1st and he loved the flat from moment one, despite its initial dinginess, it was on the top floor so it offered spectacular views of the town, the other advantage being that there was no noise from above and in addition there were two flats between him and the lifts and so he just had the one immediate neighbour.
The fourth floor flat, next door to John Whittaker, was occupied by the quietest neighbour he had ever known.
In fact he had been living there for three weeks before he even realised the flat next door was occupied and the only reason he discovered that it was, was because of an obnoxious delivery man, and he was at home a lot because he was a freelance AutoCAD designer and worked from home more often than not.
On Monday John had been out for a walk along the promenade as far as Hemmings Post Office and General Store where he stocked up on provisions, it wasn’t the nearest shop to Jubilee Court but as he was passing he thought why not.
He had just returned to Jubilee Court, or more precisely had just emerged from the lift on the fourth floor and discovered a sweaty heavily tattooed man arguing with a small red haired woman in her late 20s, separated by what appeared to be a brand new fridge freezer, which was so positioned that she had to peer around it to see her adversary.
“It says on the docket “doorstep delivery”” he said aggressively
“And this is the doorstep”
“But I can’t get it inside the flat on my own” she pointed out
“Doorstep delivery means Doorstep Delivery” he repeated
“Please” she begged
“Look sweetheart, you’re lucky I bought it this far” he snapped
“Now are you going to sign for it or not?”
“Do I have a choice?” she said snatching his PDA from his hand and scribbling a signature on the screen.
He then snatched it back and hurriedly turned away.
John had to quickly step aside to avoid being trampled underfoot by the sweaty geezer and his trolley.
But after the lift doors closed he asked
“Do you need a hand?”
“Pardon me?” she said
“Would you like a hand getting it inside?” he said nodding towards the fridge freezer.
“Oh” she exclaimed in surprise “yes that would be very kind, thank you”
He deposited his shopping on his own doorstep then went back to his neighbour and began manhandling the fridge freezer into her kitchen and then he helped her unpack it.
“I’m John by the way” he said “John Whitaker, I live next door”
“Faye Harry, I live here” she replied and laughed
When they had finished in the kitchen she put the kettle on while he disposed of all the packaging, it took him a couple of trips in the lift but when he returned Faye had made him a coffee and then they sat in her lounge to drink it.
(Part 03)
John returned from the bin store to find Faye had made him a coffee so they sat in her lounge to drink it.
And as they sat on the sofa he said
“I haven’t seen you out and about”
“That’s because I don’t” Faye replied
“You don’t what?” John asked a little confused
“Go out” she said
“I don’t understand” he said
“I don’t leave the flat” she confirmed
“What never?”
“No never” she confirmed
“Agoraphobia?” John asked her
“Yes” she replied enthusiastically, and her face lit up with delight because someone actually knew what was wrong with her.
“How long?” he asked
“What? Since I went out?” Faye asked
“Yes”
“Three years” she said
“Three years?” he repeated in disbelief
“Why?”
“Lots of reasons really” Faye said quietly and John just sat and waited for her to elaborate.
“I’m just scared I suppose” she said, “It’s very scary out there”
“Well if you can’t go out on your own why couldn’t you go out with someone?” he suggested “A family member or a friend”
“I have no one now” she replied sadly
“No family?” he asked
“No”
“Husband? Boyfriend?” he added
“No”
“Girlfriend then?” he ventured
“No” she said very definitely
“Ok, sorry, but you must have friends” he said
“Well I used to, but now they’re all gone, one by one they stopped coming to see me or answering the phone” she said sadly “avoiding the nutter clearly”
“Then they weren’t real friends in the first place” he offered
“I suppose not” she responded
There was a brief silence and then he asked
“How do you manage financially?”
“Well the flat was left to me by my gran, and I have an annuity from my parent’s estate, plus a small income from shares and investments, plus I earn a little money, proof reading”
He nodded in response and Faye added
“It’s only a modest income but I’m not an extravagant person”
“What about shopping?” he asked
“Home delivery” Faye replied “And they don’t mind bringing it inside”
“What about the things that can’t be delivered?” John asked
“I have a hairdresser who comes here to the flat” she said
“What about your health?”
“Well I have an exercise bike and a treadmill” she replied “so I work out regularly”
“No I mean your health, doctors, dentists, hospital visits and such like?” he asked
“Well I attend to myself” she said “The internet is very informative”
“Yes but you can’t attend to everything yourself” John pointed out
“What about prescription medications?”
“You can get anything on the Internet” Faye replied “Its mind boggling”
“Blimey” he said “you really need to go outside in the real world”
“Yes but I can’t though can I” she said and tears welled up in her eyes “I just can’t do it”
“What if I was to help you?” John suggested
“What do you mean?”
“Well what if I was to help you go outside again” he said
“You would do that for me?” she asked wiping away the tears.
(Part 04)
When John Whitaker offered to help a complete stranger to conquer her agoraphobia, it seemed to him at the time to be the most natural thing in the world to do.
The look of sheer relief on her face when he offered to help convinced him that it was absolutely the right thing for him to do.
The problem was that he had absolutely no idea how to achieve it.
When he returned to his flat he spent the rest of the day surfing the net, reading up on the subject and he read other people’s personal accounts of how they beat agoraphobia and finished his research at 2am, but at the end of it he had a plan.
So starting the next day, and continuing over the following months, he set about helping Faye to leave her flat.
It wasn’t easy by any means although it could have been if he’d taken a short cut and just given her Rohypnol and carried her outside and waited for her to come around on the beach.
But he decided that if he did that without her consent it would have been counterproductive so he decided they had to do it the hard way.
However the truth was he had no idea where to begin to help her, how to take the first step so to speak.
“So tell me how it started?” he asked her on the first morning
“What?” she said
“How did the agoraphobia start?” he replied and she totally broke down in tears.
“I’m so sorry” he said as he comforted her “I didn’t mean to upset you”
When the sobs had finally subsided and she’d dried her eyes she said in a faltering voice
“It wasn’t just one thing”
“Really?” he pressed her, sensing that she had lied.
There was a long silence as she processed his question.
“That’s not actually true” she confessed “I lost my parents when I was in my third year at University, which ultimately cost me my degree”
John didn’t respond to her confession, but instead he let her take her time to continue when she was ready.
“I stayed in my room at University for three months”
“But you came out” John said
“That was Owen” Faye said
“Owen?” he asked
“Owen Blake” she replied “my fiancé”
“Oh”
“Well he wasn’t my fiancé at the time, he was just my boyfriend”
“But he got you out?”
“Yes, Owen told me that he loved me and that he couldn’t live without me and then he proposed to me” she said flatly “and so I left the room with him”
“But?” John responded and Faye looked at him and tears welled up in her eyes again but she swallowed hard and said
“But, four years later, a month before our wedding, when he was on the stag weekend, he phoned me from Amsterdam and said the wedding was off, because he didn’t love me”
“Nice” he said
“No it was worse than that, because he went on to say he’d never loved me”
“God” John said
“So if there was a single thing, then that was it” she said and the tears came again.
(Part 05)
After Faye’s frank and honest revelation John was even more determined to help her, so he decided to contact a doctor, her doctor, or at least the surgery where she was still registered.
However it took 3 weeks to get one of the overpaid narcissists to do a home visit.
So in the meantime John sat and drank coffee together every morning and talked about her hopes.
When the Doctor finally showed up the best he could manage was to offer her a course of anti-depressants.
“I don’t want antidepressants” she shouted “I want help”
“I’m offering you help” the doctor said without looking at her
“No you’re offering me a chemical cosh” she said “I’m agoraphobic, I need proper help”
“The antidepressants will help” the Doctor insisted
“I don’t need your bloody antidepressants I can medicate myself with Pinot at £4 a bottle” she retorted
“Well if you change your mind” he snapped as he got up “make an appointment to come to the surgery”
“If I could make it to the bloody surgery I wouldn’t need your help, you pompous idiot” She shouted after him
John remained seated in the armchair and smiled as she slammed the door behind him, and that was the moment he stopped seeing her as a damsel in distress.
He liked Faye despite her phobia, she was a really feisty little redhead and quite cute to boot.
So having sought medical advice and found them sadly wanting they resorted to Faye’s cure all and read up on the subject on the internet again.
But even that was contradictory at best and was by and large unhelpful but despite this they took matters in their own hands, and formulated a plan based loosely on what they had read.
On day one, Faye just had to take one step out of her front door, count to 10 and step back again.
Although it didn’t happen on day one it actually took 3 days for her to take that first important step, which was a major breakthrough, and following that initial success she repeated the process for a week, and then for the following five days she did the same thing but counted five seconds longer each time before she stepped back inside.
So after ten days of taking a single step outside the front door, John moved her on to Phase two, which involved Faye having to walk out of her front door and take two steps and then touch the wall in front of her.
As she stood on the threshold she was very apprehensive, but when she summoned up the courage to move she achieved her goal at her very first attempt which she was so thrilled and excited about that when she stepped back through the front door she kissed him.
But it wasn’t just an excited peck on the cheek on the spur of the moment, it was full on the mouth, and was followed through with no holds barred passion, and one thing led to another and they ended up in her bed.
“Wow” John said as she collapsed on top of him.
“Oh yes that was very acceptable” she echoed and then as she cuddled up to him she added “I haven’t done that for a while”
(Part 06)
As John and Faye lay entwined in each other’s arms in the afterglow of making love he was thinking about the events that had lead them to her bed.
It hadn’t occurred to John at any stage since he’d known her, even after she told him that she hadn’t left the flat for three years, that Faye Harry hadn’t had sex.
Well it had actually been 4 years since the last time she had made love and as a result she was as horny as hell.
“Couldn’t you order that on the internet?” he asked her jokingly after she revealed the truth about her frustration.
“Oh I’m sure you can” Faye replied tartly “but I don’t do it with just anyone you know”
John took her tart reply to mean that he wasn’t just anyone which made him smile, which was great because she wasn’t just anyone to him either.
As wonderful as it was, there was an inadvertent consequence of sleeping with her, and not just that first time but all the subsequent occasions as well, because he had unintentionally given her another reason not to go outside.
Although to her great credit she persevered, and although she enjoyed the love making she showed no sign of giving up, in fact the more progress she made the more vigorously she rewarded herself in the bedroom.
The steady progress and the love making that accompanied it went on for three months and by October she could walk to the lift without even pausing for breath, and by the end of the month she had made so much progress she could walk to the lift and take the lift all the way to the ground floor and even walk to the glass front doors in the lobby.
But that was where she faltered, day after day, she would pass through her front door with real purpose only for it to evaporate away at the threshold of the outside world and nothing he could say or do could make her go a step further.
Faye would cry on his shoulder all the way back up in the lift and once back in her flat a black depression would set in and so he had no option but to leave her.
It broke his heart to see her like that but he knew that trying to lift her spirits when she was that down was quite futile.
The next day however she would be a different person and would be bright, and full of new resolve which he knew would be short lived and there would soon be tears and depression again.
Seeing her in tears and depressed was all the more heart-breaking for John because he had fallen in love with her.
However he was in something of a quandary because he couldn’t tell her that he loved her, but not because he didn’t think she felt the same about him, but because Faye’s ex fiancé had once pledged his love to her in order to get her to re-enter the world and he turned out to have feet of clay.
(Part 07)
It was a gloriously sunny early December day when it all came to a head.
“Today’s the day” she said as they left her flat, hand in hand, dressed for Sharpington in winter and he squeezed her hand in response and said
“I’m with you every step of the way sweetheart”
She smiled and they progressed briskly towards the lift without a moment’s hesitation.
The ride down to the foyer was made in silence but for the rattling of the cables and Faye’s breathing, which was slow and deliberate.
When the doors opened on the ground floor the foyer was full of winter sunshine and they stepped forward, still holding hands, and quickly crossed the foyer to the door to the outside world.
As they approached the double glass doors he reached his free hand out and pushed the left hand door open and without breaking stride he stepped outside and still holding Faye’s hand he pulled her behind him.
Once he emerged into the fresh air he was thinking to himself
“So far, so good” when his progress was halted.
He looked around to see Faye half in and half out of the door hanging onto the door frame with her free hand.
“You’re nearly there darling” he said
“I can’t” she said
“Just one more step” he urged her
“I can’t do it” she repeated and let go of his hand
“Please come with me” he pleaded
“Why?” she asked
“Well there are so many places I want to take you, things I want to show you and things I want to share with you” he said
“But why?” Faye said remaining in the doorway
“Don’t you know why?” he asked her
“No” she said
He didn’t want to say it but she was giving him no alternative so he said
“Because I…..”
“No don’t say it John” she shouted
“I have too”
“No you mustn’t” Faye urged
“I must” he said
“You know I was tricked back into the world once before by a false love” Faye said “I’m scared it will happen all over again”
“I can’t not say it, because it’s true” he said “I love you”
“I love you too” she responded almost in tears “but I still don’t think I can do it”
“Then don’t” John said
“What?” she said
“I don’t care where we are as long as we’re together” he said
“You don’t ever have to come outside you can stay in there forever and I will bring the world to you”
“And you will still love me?” she asked
“Forever” he replied
“Hold my hand” she said and he reached out and took hold of her outstretched hand, and she grasped it tightly like her life depended on it.
John looked at her determined face and smiled at her and she returned it with interest.
“Ok I’m ready” she said and taking a deep breath she stepped over the threshold out into the sunshine and into his arms.
As they stood there outside Jubilee Court in the December sunshine she was laughing and then she said
“I did it”
“Yes you did”
“I love you John”
“I love you too”
“So where are you going to take me?” she asked looking up at him and smiling.
“How about a walk along the prom to begin with” he said and kissed her
“Well you really know how to show a girl a good time” she said putting her arm through his
“Hold that thought for when we get back to the flat and we need warming up”
“Oh goodie, let’s go and get chilly then” she said and squeezed his arm.
Monday, 3 April 2017
Mornington-By-Mere – (35) Doctor, Doctor
(Part 01)
Mornington-By-Mere is a small country village lying in the Finchbottom Vale nestled between the Ancient Dancingdean Forest and the rolling Pepperstock Hills.
It is a quaint picturesque village, a proper chocolate box picturesque idyll, with a Manor House, 12th Century Church, a Coaching Inn, Windmills, an Old Forge, a Schoolhouse, a River and a Mere.
But Mornington-By-Mere was not just a quaint chocolate box English Village it was the beating heart of the Finchbottom Vale and there were a number of cottages and small houses on the Purplemere road and Dulcets Lane which formed the part of Mornington Village known as Manorside and The Pottinger’s lived at number 5 Brooke Side Cottages.
Sister and brother, Kate and Gary were tree surgeons, who like their father and uncles before them, worked exclusively for the Mornington Estate which kept them busy enough tending to the health and welfare of upwards of 25 thousand trees.
On a bright Wednesday morning in May when both Kate and Gary had the day off and they set off on the short walk into the village.
Gary had a Doctor’s appointment and Kate was going to do a bit of shopping and then Gary was taking her for lunch at the Old Mill Inn for her 38th birthday.
They walked along the riverside path until they reached the Manor Bridge and then they parted company with Gary crossing the Street to the doctor’s surgery and Kate went to each of the shops in turn.
It was his first visit to the Mornington Surgery since he was a boy, when he had attended with all the usual childhood ailments but since reaching adulthood he had no need to go.
The reason for the visit that day was quite routine, he had surgery on his knee the year before, for which he had gone private, and his insurance company needed another Doctor, not connected to the hospital that performed the procedure, to sign him fit to work above ground level which was crucial for a tree surgeon.
The reception area for the Doctors, Dentist & Orthodontic Surgeries sat in an extension between the two buildings.
Because Mornington was such a small village none of the practices were open full time but Baron St George, the head of the Mornington Estate heavily subsidized all three as well as the small Chemist shop, which shared the Doctors premises.
He walked up to the desk and, Katie Parsons, the receptionist told him he would be seeing Dr Goman-Smith and directed him to the waiting room.
Although he knew the name there was no indication of age or gender, so as he sat there flicking through the array of periodicals a picture formed in his head of the unknown doctor which he pictured to be either some geriatric in a tweed suit and waistcoat or a 1970s Russian women’s hammer thrower.
(Part 02)
His name was called after about fifteen minutes and he walked down the corridor and through the open door and was greeted not by a geriatric old man, nor by a Russian hammer thrower but rather by a very attractive female Dr, who was emitting a very exotic perfume every time she moved and he made a quick appraisal, an attractive face, blue eyes, soft shoulder length brown hair, 5t 3 or 4, late thirties, nice figure, everything where it should be and equally proportioned.
“Good morning Mr. Pottinger” she said as she perused his notes “take a seat”
“Morning Doctor” He replied as he sat, then almost as soon as his bum hit the seat she said.
“Sorry, let’s have you up on the table”
He got up and proceeded to climb onto the table when she said
“Ok let’s have the trousers off first”
So he got off the table and dropped his trousers and got back on again feeling more than a little pissed, sit down, get up, get down and get up again.
As soon as he settled on the table she said
“Well I can see straight away you have full movement in the joint and you’re not favouring your other leg which is good”
Which was when he realized that the sit down, get up, get down and get up again was just to test his knee without giving him a chance to think about what he was doing.
After that she began a more detailed examination of the knee which was when he started to notice a little bit of hint of pink bra strap, a glimpse of lace edging inside her blouse, the silhouette of its contents, neat hips and the beautifully round buttocks which when he became conscious that he was getting aroused.
“You’re kidding me” he said in his head
“Is that all it takes, a whiff of expensive perfume and a glimpse of lingerie?”
His unexpected arousal made getting off the table a little more difficult than it should have been.
“I know she’s attractive but behave yourself” he instructed telepathically and also started thinking about cricket which normally worked, but he found himself thinking about women’s cricket and they were wearing pink lingerie and nothing else but their shoes, gloves, hats and pads.
“I hope she doesn’t check my blood pressure” he thought
“Well that all looks fine” She said then added “do you have any swelling?”
“Pardon” he said rather dry mouthed
“In your knee, do you ever have any swelling?”
“No, no never” he said
“Any pain or discomfort otherwise?” asked the doctor
“It aches sometimes in the damp weather”
“Sadly that happens to us all and has nothing to do with the surgery” she said and smiled
“Ok get your trousers on”
Once he was redressed and seated she looked up from her computer and asked
“So what do you do for a living?”
“I’m a tree surgeon”
“Really?” she asked and he nodded
“Well I’m very happy with the knee so I have no reservations about giving the green light to your Insurers that you are fully fit to resume climbing trees”
“That’s great, thanks doctor,” he said as he got up to leave.
“Obviously if you do develop any problems with it just come back and see me,” she added finally and smiled
“Thanks again Doctor” he said and returned her a smile and left.
Sarah continued to smile after he had left, she had noticed his arousal on the table and it amused her to think she could still have that effect on a man, and a good looking man to boot.
(Part 03)
Gary was well tanned well-toned and well-groomed but was not a tall man, measuring five foot six and a quarter, a full inch and three quarters shorter than his sister, which was something she never let him forget and always referred to him as her “little brother”.
Despite the height difference they were alike in almost every other way, blue eyes, chestnut coloured hair, broad smiles and infectious laughs.
When he left the surgery he was looking flushed after the embarrassment of his body behaving like a teenager.
However if the lovely doctor had noticed his untimely arousal she never showed any sign of it.
He consoled himself with the fact that he was unlikely to run into her again, which on one hand was a shame because she was lovely, but on the other, she was married and he didn’t do that.
What Gary was unaware of as he went off in search of the birthday girl was that Sarah Goman-Smith also lived in Manorside.
It was on Dulcets Road in Brewery House where she lived with her ex-husband Daniel.
It was a curious arrangement, they had been divorced for two years, but there was no hatred, betrayal or estrangement they just simply fell out of love.
They were still the best of friends, which they agreed that they perhaps should have stayed as such and not married in the first place.
But because they were still friends and enjoyed each other’s company and as neither of them had anyone else they decided to continue living together.
Sarah worked for the Dancingdean Health Centre in Shallowfield while Daniel worked at the Sharpington Jubilee Surgery.
She liked working for the Health Centre because she spent three days a week in Shallowfield and two in Mornington.
Gary found his sister outside Addison’s Bakery where he could see she was laughing and joking with a tall, slim man with neat black hair.
He had dark eyes and a huge toothy smile and it looked very much like Kate was flirting with him and he appeared to be flirting back.
He crossed the road and approached the laughing pair.
“Hi Kate are you ready for that lunch” he said and the man looked a little crestfallen.
“Hi Gary” she said “I just need to get some stamps from Norman’s”
“This is my brother Gary” she said and the man’s expression lifted
“Gary this is…”
“Brian” he responded and shook Gary’s hand “Pleased to meet you”
“Likewise”
“Well enjoy your lunch and the rest of your birthday” Brian said and shook her hand and it was long and lingering.
“Thank you, goodbye” she said and headed towards the Post Office & General Store to buy stamps but Gary noticed she kept glancing over her shoulder.
They sat at a table in the Old Mill Inn and he said
“He seemed nice”
“He was alright I suppose” she replied coyly
“Only alright, you were flirting with him like it was an Olympic sport”
“No I wasn’t” she retorted
“And he was flirting back” Gary said
“He was not” she said “Was he?”
He smiled and made her blush and then she changed the subject
“So how did you get on at the doctors?”
“Excellent” he replied “A clean bill of health”
“That’s great news” Kate said “They must have really put you through your paces, you looked very flushed when you came out”
“Ah there’s a very good reason for that” Gary said and then he went on to tell her all about the attractive doctor and his embarrassing arousal and she roared with laughter.
(Part 04)
It was the first Friday in June and Kate and Gary were going up to Abbottsford for a few days.
They had a big family christening on Sunday at St Dunstan’s Church when their cousins triplets were being baptized.
So it was one not to miss, but as it was at the 9.30 service and they didn’t want the hassle of traveling up on the day so they decided to put up at the Abbottsford Regents Hotel the night before.
However Gary was then given a ticket to the Downshire versus Surrey one day match at the Abbottsfield cricket ground so he suggested going on Friday and staying two nights so they would have the whole of Saturday in town so he could go to the match and Kate could go shopping at the Phoenix Shopping Centre and she jumped at the chance.
Gary and Kate were not the only Mornington residents planning a weekend away, the Goman-Smiths and the Kane’s were also going to be in Abbottsford for the whole weekend though not all for the same reasons.
So when the Pottinger’s set off after work on Friday evening their fellow villagers were already there.
While they were still working among the Mornington Estate woodland, Brian Kane and Daniel Goman-Smith were both at the offices of Bramstock, Goodman, Crossfield and Bushe though quite independently.
Daniel had a meeting with one of the Solicitors, Rhonda Kane, to discuss an inheritance, while Brian was there to take his sister to lunch.
However Sarah Goman-Smith, on arriving in town took the opportunity for a spot of retail therapy in the Phoenix Centre.
She didn’t often have the time to spend shopping in places like Abbottsford, with the big name stores, so the thought of spoiling herself was very tempting so she took full advantage of the time she had and come the end of the day she had found it very therapeutic and among her many purchases were some delicious items of lingerie.
The Pottinger’s got stuck in the Friday night traffic and finally arrived at the Hotel at 9 o’clock by which time the Kane’s and the Goman-Smiths had already gone out for the evening.
Brian and Rhonda were dining at a trendy nouvelle cuisine restaurant off Castle Street called The Wooden Slipper which served high flavour, low-calorie, and substance lacking dishes, where minor celebrities are known to dine.
The food was good, if you like tiny artistic arrangements the size of a Hors d'oeuvre, on a slab of welsh slate but there wasn’t enough to live on.
So when it was time to leave they were almost hungrier than when they arrived, so they went into town and shared a kebab.
The Doctors Goman-Smith meanwhile went to The Empire Theatre to watch a revival on An Inspector Calls followed by a fish supper.
But back at the hotel, Gary and Kate ordered sandwiches from room service and got an early night.
(Part 05)
On Saturday morning everyone was up early and availed themselves of the full English breakfast but due to a miracle of timing all three couples managed to avoid each other.
Gary was ready to go far too early so left for the cricket ground on foot while the Goman-Smith’s left an hour later in a cab.
Kate who planned to spend much of the day in cultural pursuits had a measured start to the day and as she was leaving the Hotel Brian Kane was just walking into the gym with his sister Rhonda.
After a good workout he had an hours swim and she had a sauna and then she spent the rest of the day being pampered and preened, massaged, manicure, pedicure and hair in fact you name it and she had it.
Brian though had coffee and read the papers before he went out.
It was a glorious June day and there was a good crowd at the Cricket Ground and Gary Pottinger and the Goman-Smith’s were among them though due to the numbers they were oblivious to the others presence.
Downshire were in great form and won the match by sixty runs and the delighted fans disgorged onto the streets of Abbottsford in great spirits even before the tea interval.
When they got back to the Hotel Sarah went straight up to her room for a long soak while her ex-husband Daniel went for a swim.
Gary had decided to return to the Hotel on foot and stopped for a pint or two along the way and when he got back, there was a message waiting for him from Kate to say she was meeting up with a friend.
“Oh well” he said philosophically after all it wasn’t like they had any definite plans anyway.
So he showered and changed and then went out to the first fast food joint that he came to which happened to be a an Emperor Burger Bar and he ordered the biggest one he could see on the menu with fries.
It was a real treat because his sister Kate was always trying to get him to eat more healthily but in the spirit of out of sight, out of mind, he enjoyed every morsel.
And having sufficiently filled his defiant craving with reconstituted meat, saturated fats and carbohydrates he ambled his way back to the Hotel.
He was sitting at the bar at the Regents Hotel, drinking a large Gin and Tonic and doing a spot of people watching, but the bar was so empty that he exhausted that exercise in less than five minutes and so he turned his thoughts to a lovely brunette and it was just when he was preoccupied with that image in his head when a voice broke in.
“Gary Pottinger?” it asked and he turned around and the voice belonged to an attractive looking woman, pretty face, blue eyes,
soft shoulder length brown hair, 5t 3 or 4, early thirties, nice figure, everything where it should be and equally proportioned, wearing a black cocktail dress, black tights and heels, whom he didn’t recognize.
She clearly recognized him however, so he looked at her more closely and then the penny dropped.
“Dr Goman-Smith” he responded
(Part 06)
She clearly recognized him however so he looked at her more closely and then the penny dropped.
“Dr Goman-Smith” he responded
“Do you mind if I join you?” she asked.
“Not at all” he said “please” and gestured to the neighboring stool, it was ironic really that he hadn’t recognized her especially because she was the lovely brunette he was thinking of.
“Can I get you a drink?” he asked
“Thank you, yes,” she said and to the barman who had miraculously appeared he said
“White wine please”
“And for you sir?” he asked
“I’ll have the same again please”
While they waited for their drinks she asked
“How’s the knee Gary?”
“It’s very good, no problems at all Doctor”
“That’s good, now please call me Sarah, I try to play down the Doctor bit when I’m out, otherwise people have an annoying habit of telling me about their complaints”
She said and she laughed a rather delightful laugh.
That was when he noticed the wedding ring, which was to him what Kryptonite was to Superman.
He had a strict rule about fishing in another man’s pond, a rule which he had on no other occasion broken all though there had been offers.
But he thought there was nothing wrong with having a drink with a beautiful woman and indulging in some polite conversation.
So over a drink or three he explained how he ended up at the Regents Hotel after a great day at the Cricket and how he was abandoned by his sister.
“How funny” she said “I was at the Cricket as well and I was stood up by my ex-husband”
“Ex-husband?” he asked looking at the ring
“Oh that, I only wear that to keep from being hit on every five minutes by undesirables” she said and slipped the ring off and put it in her bag.
She then went on to explain about how she and Daniel had remained friends and shared the details of their rather unconventional living arrangements.
“What about you?” she asked
“Single, never married, live and work with my sister”
“So she’s a tree surgeon like you” she said
“No I’m a tree surgeon like her” he replied and he smiled
By the time they got to the fourth drink they were the only two customers left and they were getting a bit loud.
“So do you swing from trees like Tarzan?” She asked
“Not so much swing as dangle” he replied and she laughed loudly.
“It’s a living” he said and laughed too
It was shortly after that when they got the distinct impression that the barman had had enough even if they hadn’t.
The convention is that the staff are obliged to keep the bar open all the while guests are wanting a drink but in reality they had to close at some point and you could still get a drink from the night porter if you wanted a nightcap.
So they bade the long-suffering barman a good night, even though it was almost 3 am and headed, somewhat unsteadily towards their rooms.
Accompanied by raucous laughter they stumbled into the lift and finding herself unable to press the button for the floor that she actually wanted she decided to hit them all and giggled as she did it.
When they reached the third floor Sarah announced
“This is me, I am home”
He was on the fourth floor himself but the code of chivalry dictated what he must do.
“I will see you to your door dear lady” he said attempting a bow
“You are too kind Sir Knight” she responded trying to curtsy and almost fell over.
(Part 07)
Gary walked Sarah rather unsteadily to her door and once she had managed to finally use the swipe card correctly and open the door she announced.
“Nightcap” and before he had chance to decline she dragged him into the room where after some intense negotiations it was decided that coffee was the order of the day rather than the contents of the mini bar.
Sarah kicked of her shoes and threw her bag on the sofa while he made the coffee but before the kettle had boiled Sarah tottered up to him and put her arms around him.
“I’m not sure that’s a good idea” he said
“Why?” she slurred “I noticed the effect I had on you at the surgery”
“Ah, yes that was very embarrassing” he admitted turning to face her and she wrapped her arms around his neck.
“So don’t you like me then?” she asked
“Very much” he replied and put his hands on her waist.
“So kiss me then?”
Gary duly obliged and in an instant his mouth was on hers and her lips were soft, her mouth was hot and her intention was clear.
Sarah’s hands began to claw at her shirt dragging it free of his waistband with great urgency which Gary took as a sign to call things to a halt.
“Couldn’t you be struck off for snogging a patient?”
“I’ll risk it” she replied and tried to kiss him again.
“So will I” he said
“Good”
“But I think we should wait until we are both clear headed” he said
“Wow, you’re a gentleman as well” she exclaimed “And now I want you even more”
Sarah looked up at him and gave him a lopsided smile and then the alcohol finally caught up with her and she went spinny headed so Gary steered her over to the bed and lay her down.
He lay the covers over her and sat on the side of the bed and held her hand for five minutes before kissing her forehead and standing up and walking over to the desk.
It was 4 am when he got back to his room and he managed three hours sleep before he had to get up again.
But despite his late night and a shortage of sleep he had a spring in his step the next morning when he met Kate in reception.
Gary and his sister were tucking into the buffet at the christening party when Sarah woke up and tentatively lifted her head off the pillow.
“Ow” she exclaimed and lowered her head again.
As she lay there at the mercy of a throbbing head the events of the night before replayed in her head.
“Oh God, I blew it, I threw myself at him and he rejected me” she said “I’m so embarrassed”
She lay there wallowing in self-pity for the next half an hour until she felt revived enough to get up and face the day or at least the afternoon.
But as she got up she noticed a note sitting on the other pillow.
Cautiously she picked up the note and unfolded it and read the contents.
Sarah
Thanks for a fun evening.
I really enjoyed the kiss!!!
And I look forward to doing it again, after dinner on Tuesday?
7.30 At the Old Mill Inn?
Call me if your busy, my number’s on the back.
Gary x
“I didn’t blow it after all” she said and hugged her pillow
Mornington-By-Mere is a small country village lying in the Finchbottom Vale nestled between the Ancient Dancingdean Forest and the rolling Pepperstock Hills.
It is a quaint picturesque village, a proper chocolate box picturesque idyll, with a Manor House, 12th Century Church, a Coaching Inn, Windmills, an Old Forge, a Schoolhouse, a River and a Mere.
But Mornington-By-Mere was not just a quaint chocolate box English Village it was the beating heart of the Finchbottom Vale and there were a number of cottages and small houses on the Purplemere road and Dulcets Lane which formed the part of Mornington Village known as Manorside and The Pottinger’s lived at number 5 Brooke Side Cottages.
Sister and brother, Kate and Gary were tree surgeons, who like their father and uncles before them, worked exclusively for the Mornington Estate which kept them busy enough tending to the health and welfare of upwards of 25 thousand trees.
On a bright Wednesday morning in May when both Kate and Gary had the day off and they set off on the short walk into the village.
Gary had a Doctor’s appointment and Kate was going to do a bit of shopping and then Gary was taking her for lunch at the Old Mill Inn for her 38th birthday.
They walked along the riverside path until they reached the Manor Bridge and then they parted company with Gary crossing the Street to the doctor’s surgery and Kate went to each of the shops in turn.
It was his first visit to the Mornington Surgery since he was a boy, when he had attended with all the usual childhood ailments but since reaching adulthood he had no need to go.
The reason for the visit that day was quite routine, he had surgery on his knee the year before, for which he had gone private, and his insurance company needed another Doctor, not connected to the hospital that performed the procedure, to sign him fit to work above ground level which was crucial for a tree surgeon.
The reception area for the Doctors, Dentist & Orthodontic Surgeries sat in an extension between the two buildings.
Because Mornington was such a small village none of the practices were open full time but Baron St George, the head of the Mornington Estate heavily subsidized all three as well as the small Chemist shop, which shared the Doctors premises.
He walked up to the desk and, Katie Parsons, the receptionist told him he would be seeing Dr Goman-Smith and directed him to the waiting room.
Although he knew the name there was no indication of age or gender, so as he sat there flicking through the array of periodicals a picture formed in his head of the unknown doctor which he pictured to be either some geriatric in a tweed suit and waistcoat or a 1970s Russian women’s hammer thrower.
(Part 02)
His name was called after about fifteen minutes and he walked down the corridor and through the open door and was greeted not by a geriatric old man, nor by a Russian hammer thrower but rather by a very attractive female Dr, who was emitting a very exotic perfume every time she moved and he made a quick appraisal, an attractive face, blue eyes, soft shoulder length brown hair, 5t 3 or 4, late thirties, nice figure, everything where it should be and equally proportioned.
“Good morning Mr. Pottinger” she said as she perused his notes “take a seat”
“Morning Doctor” He replied as he sat, then almost as soon as his bum hit the seat she said.
“Sorry, let’s have you up on the table”
He got up and proceeded to climb onto the table when she said
“Ok let’s have the trousers off first”
So he got off the table and dropped his trousers and got back on again feeling more than a little pissed, sit down, get up, get down and get up again.
As soon as he settled on the table she said
“Well I can see straight away you have full movement in the joint and you’re not favouring your other leg which is good”
Which was when he realized that the sit down, get up, get down and get up again was just to test his knee without giving him a chance to think about what he was doing.
After that she began a more detailed examination of the knee which was when he started to notice a little bit of hint of pink bra strap, a glimpse of lace edging inside her blouse, the silhouette of its contents, neat hips and the beautifully round buttocks which when he became conscious that he was getting aroused.
“You’re kidding me” he said in his head
“Is that all it takes, a whiff of expensive perfume and a glimpse of lingerie?”
His unexpected arousal made getting off the table a little more difficult than it should have been.
“I know she’s attractive but behave yourself” he instructed telepathically and also started thinking about cricket which normally worked, but he found himself thinking about women’s cricket and they were wearing pink lingerie and nothing else but their shoes, gloves, hats and pads.
“I hope she doesn’t check my blood pressure” he thought
“Well that all looks fine” She said then added “do you have any swelling?”
“Pardon” he said rather dry mouthed
“In your knee, do you ever have any swelling?”
“No, no never” he said
“Any pain or discomfort otherwise?” asked the doctor
“It aches sometimes in the damp weather”
“Sadly that happens to us all and has nothing to do with the surgery” she said and smiled
“Ok get your trousers on”
Once he was redressed and seated she looked up from her computer and asked
“So what do you do for a living?”
“I’m a tree surgeon”
“Really?” she asked and he nodded
“Well I’m very happy with the knee so I have no reservations about giving the green light to your Insurers that you are fully fit to resume climbing trees”
“That’s great, thanks doctor,” he said as he got up to leave.
“Obviously if you do develop any problems with it just come back and see me,” she added finally and smiled
“Thanks again Doctor” he said and returned her a smile and left.
Sarah continued to smile after he had left, she had noticed his arousal on the table and it amused her to think she could still have that effect on a man, and a good looking man to boot.
(Part 03)
Gary was well tanned well-toned and well-groomed but was not a tall man, measuring five foot six and a quarter, a full inch and three quarters shorter than his sister, which was something she never let him forget and always referred to him as her “little brother”.
Despite the height difference they were alike in almost every other way, blue eyes, chestnut coloured hair, broad smiles and infectious laughs.
When he left the surgery he was looking flushed after the embarrassment of his body behaving like a teenager.
However if the lovely doctor had noticed his untimely arousal she never showed any sign of it.
He consoled himself with the fact that he was unlikely to run into her again, which on one hand was a shame because she was lovely, but on the other, she was married and he didn’t do that.
What Gary was unaware of as he went off in search of the birthday girl was that Sarah Goman-Smith also lived in Manorside.
It was on Dulcets Road in Brewery House where she lived with her ex-husband Daniel.
It was a curious arrangement, they had been divorced for two years, but there was no hatred, betrayal or estrangement they just simply fell out of love.
They were still the best of friends, which they agreed that they perhaps should have stayed as such and not married in the first place.
But because they were still friends and enjoyed each other’s company and as neither of them had anyone else they decided to continue living together.
Sarah worked for the Dancingdean Health Centre in Shallowfield while Daniel worked at the Sharpington Jubilee Surgery.
She liked working for the Health Centre because she spent three days a week in Shallowfield and two in Mornington.
Gary found his sister outside Addison’s Bakery where he could see she was laughing and joking with a tall, slim man with neat black hair.
He had dark eyes and a huge toothy smile and it looked very much like Kate was flirting with him and he appeared to be flirting back.
He crossed the road and approached the laughing pair.
“Hi Kate are you ready for that lunch” he said and the man looked a little crestfallen.
“Hi Gary” she said “I just need to get some stamps from Norman’s”
“This is my brother Gary” she said and the man’s expression lifted
“Gary this is…”
“Brian” he responded and shook Gary’s hand “Pleased to meet you”
“Likewise”
“Well enjoy your lunch and the rest of your birthday” Brian said and shook her hand and it was long and lingering.
“Thank you, goodbye” she said and headed towards the Post Office & General Store to buy stamps but Gary noticed she kept glancing over her shoulder.
They sat at a table in the Old Mill Inn and he said
“He seemed nice”
“He was alright I suppose” she replied coyly
“Only alright, you were flirting with him like it was an Olympic sport”
“No I wasn’t” she retorted
“And he was flirting back” Gary said
“He was not” she said “Was he?”
He smiled and made her blush and then she changed the subject
“So how did you get on at the doctors?”
“Excellent” he replied “A clean bill of health”
“That’s great news” Kate said “They must have really put you through your paces, you looked very flushed when you came out”
“Ah there’s a very good reason for that” Gary said and then he went on to tell her all about the attractive doctor and his embarrassing arousal and she roared with laughter.
(Part 04)
It was the first Friday in June and Kate and Gary were going up to Abbottsford for a few days.
They had a big family christening on Sunday at St Dunstan’s Church when their cousins triplets were being baptized.
So it was one not to miss, but as it was at the 9.30 service and they didn’t want the hassle of traveling up on the day so they decided to put up at the Abbottsford Regents Hotel the night before.
However Gary was then given a ticket to the Downshire versus Surrey one day match at the Abbottsfield cricket ground so he suggested going on Friday and staying two nights so they would have the whole of Saturday in town so he could go to the match and Kate could go shopping at the Phoenix Shopping Centre and she jumped at the chance.
Gary and Kate were not the only Mornington residents planning a weekend away, the Goman-Smiths and the Kane’s were also going to be in Abbottsford for the whole weekend though not all for the same reasons.
So when the Pottinger’s set off after work on Friday evening their fellow villagers were already there.
While they were still working among the Mornington Estate woodland, Brian Kane and Daniel Goman-Smith were both at the offices of Bramstock, Goodman, Crossfield and Bushe though quite independently.
Daniel had a meeting with one of the Solicitors, Rhonda Kane, to discuss an inheritance, while Brian was there to take his sister to lunch.
However Sarah Goman-Smith, on arriving in town took the opportunity for a spot of retail therapy in the Phoenix Centre.
She didn’t often have the time to spend shopping in places like Abbottsford, with the big name stores, so the thought of spoiling herself was very tempting so she took full advantage of the time she had and come the end of the day she had found it very therapeutic and among her many purchases were some delicious items of lingerie.
The Pottinger’s got stuck in the Friday night traffic and finally arrived at the Hotel at 9 o’clock by which time the Kane’s and the Goman-Smiths had already gone out for the evening.
Brian and Rhonda were dining at a trendy nouvelle cuisine restaurant off Castle Street called The Wooden Slipper which served high flavour, low-calorie, and substance lacking dishes, where minor celebrities are known to dine.
The food was good, if you like tiny artistic arrangements the size of a Hors d'oeuvre, on a slab of welsh slate but there wasn’t enough to live on.
So when it was time to leave they were almost hungrier than when they arrived, so they went into town and shared a kebab.
The Doctors Goman-Smith meanwhile went to The Empire Theatre to watch a revival on An Inspector Calls followed by a fish supper.
But back at the hotel, Gary and Kate ordered sandwiches from room service and got an early night.
(Part 05)
On Saturday morning everyone was up early and availed themselves of the full English breakfast but due to a miracle of timing all three couples managed to avoid each other.
Gary was ready to go far too early so left for the cricket ground on foot while the Goman-Smith’s left an hour later in a cab.
Kate who planned to spend much of the day in cultural pursuits had a measured start to the day and as she was leaving the Hotel Brian Kane was just walking into the gym with his sister Rhonda.
After a good workout he had an hours swim and she had a sauna and then she spent the rest of the day being pampered and preened, massaged, manicure, pedicure and hair in fact you name it and she had it.
Brian though had coffee and read the papers before he went out.
It was a glorious June day and there was a good crowd at the Cricket Ground and Gary Pottinger and the Goman-Smith’s were among them though due to the numbers they were oblivious to the others presence.
Downshire were in great form and won the match by sixty runs and the delighted fans disgorged onto the streets of Abbottsford in great spirits even before the tea interval.
When they got back to the Hotel Sarah went straight up to her room for a long soak while her ex-husband Daniel went for a swim.
Gary had decided to return to the Hotel on foot and stopped for a pint or two along the way and when he got back, there was a message waiting for him from Kate to say she was meeting up with a friend.
“Oh well” he said philosophically after all it wasn’t like they had any definite plans anyway.
So he showered and changed and then went out to the first fast food joint that he came to which happened to be a an Emperor Burger Bar and he ordered the biggest one he could see on the menu with fries.
It was a real treat because his sister Kate was always trying to get him to eat more healthily but in the spirit of out of sight, out of mind, he enjoyed every morsel.
And having sufficiently filled his defiant craving with reconstituted meat, saturated fats and carbohydrates he ambled his way back to the Hotel.
He was sitting at the bar at the Regents Hotel, drinking a large Gin and Tonic and doing a spot of people watching, but the bar was so empty that he exhausted that exercise in less than five minutes and so he turned his thoughts to a lovely brunette and it was just when he was preoccupied with that image in his head when a voice broke in.
“Gary Pottinger?” it asked and he turned around and the voice belonged to an attractive looking woman, pretty face, blue eyes,
soft shoulder length brown hair, 5t 3 or 4, early thirties, nice figure, everything where it should be and equally proportioned, wearing a black cocktail dress, black tights and heels, whom he didn’t recognize.
She clearly recognized him however, so he looked at her more closely and then the penny dropped.
“Dr Goman-Smith” he responded
(Part 06)
She clearly recognized him however so he looked at her more closely and then the penny dropped.
“Dr Goman-Smith” he responded
“Do you mind if I join you?” she asked.
“Not at all” he said “please” and gestured to the neighboring stool, it was ironic really that he hadn’t recognized her especially because she was the lovely brunette he was thinking of.
“Can I get you a drink?” he asked
“Thank you, yes,” she said and to the barman who had miraculously appeared he said
“White wine please”
“And for you sir?” he asked
“I’ll have the same again please”
While they waited for their drinks she asked
“How’s the knee Gary?”
“It’s very good, no problems at all Doctor”
“That’s good, now please call me Sarah, I try to play down the Doctor bit when I’m out, otherwise people have an annoying habit of telling me about their complaints”
She said and she laughed a rather delightful laugh.
That was when he noticed the wedding ring, which was to him what Kryptonite was to Superman.
He had a strict rule about fishing in another man’s pond, a rule which he had on no other occasion broken all though there had been offers.
But he thought there was nothing wrong with having a drink with a beautiful woman and indulging in some polite conversation.
So over a drink or three he explained how he ended up at the Regents Hotel after a great day at the Cricket and how he was abandoned by his sister.
“How funny” she said “I was at the Cricket as well and I was stood up by my ex-husband”
“Ex-husband?” he asked looking at the ring
“Oh that, I only wear that to keep from being hit on every five minutes by undesirables” she said and slipped the ring off and put it in her bag.
She then went on to explain about how she and Daniel had remained friends and shared the details of their rather unconventional living arrangements.
“What about you?” she asked
“Single, never married, live and work with my sister”
“So she’s a tree surgeon like you” she said
“No I’m a tree surgeon like her” he replied and he smiled
By the time they got to the fourth drink they were the only two customers left and they were getting a bit loud.
“So do you swing from trees like Tarzan?” She asked
“Not so much swing as dangle” he replied and she laughed loudly.
“It’s a living” he said and laughed too
It was shortly after that when they got the distinct impression that the barman had had enough even if they hadn’t.
The convention is that the staff are obliged to keep the bar open all the while guests are wanting a drink but in reality they had to close at some point and you could still get a drink from the night porter if you wanted a nightcap.
So they bade the long-suffering barman a good night, even though it was almost 3 am and headed, somewhat unsteadily towards their rooms.
Accompanied by raucous laughter they stumbled into the lift and finding herself unable to press the button for the floor that she actually wanted she decided to hit them all and giggled as she did it.
When they reached the third floor Sarah announced
“This is me, I am home”
He was on the fourth floor himself but the code of chivalry dictated what he must do.
“I will see you to your door dear lady” he said attempting a bow
“You are too kind Sir Knight” she responded trying to curtsy and almost fell over.
(Part 07)
Gary walked Sarah rather unsteadily to her door and once she had managed to finally use the swipe card correctly and open the door she announced.
“Nightcap” and before he had chance to decline she dragged him into the room where after some intense negotiations it was decided that coffee was the order of the day rather than the contents of the mini bar.
Sarah kicked of her shoes and threw her bag on the sofa while he made the coffee but before the kettle had boiled Sarah tottered up to him and put her arms around him.
“I’m not sure that’s a good idea” he said
“Why?” she slurred “I noticed the effect I had on you at the surgery”
“Ah, yes that was very embarrassing” he admitted turning to face her and she wrapped her arms around his neck.
“So don’t you like me then?” she asked
“Very much” he replied and put his hands on her waist.
“So kiss me then?”
Gary duly obliged and in an instant his mouth was on hers and her lips were soft, her mouth was hot and her intention was clear.
Sarah’s hands began to claw at her shirt dragging it free of his waistband with great urgency which Gary took as a sign to call things to a halt.
“Couldn’t you be struck off for snogging a patient?”
“I’ll risk it” she replied and tried to kiss him again.
“So will I” he said
“Good”
“But I think we should wait until we are both clear headed” he said
“Wow, you’re a gentleman as well” she exclaimed “And now I want you even more”
Sarah looked up at him and gave him a lopsided smile and then the alcohol finally caught up with her and she went spinny headed so Gary steered her over to the bed and lay her down.
He lay the covers over her and sat on the side of the bed and held her hand for five minutes before kissing her forehead and standing up and walking over to the desk.
It was 4 am when he got back to his room and he managed three hours sleep before he had to get up again.
But despite his late night and a shortage of sleep he had a spring in his step the next morning when he met Kate in reception.
Gary and his sister were tucking into the buffet at the christening party when Sarah woke up and tentatively lifted her head off the pillow.
“Ow” she exclaimed and lowered her head again.
As she lay there at the mercy of a throbbing head the events of the night before replayed in her head.
“Oh God, I blew it, I threw myself at him and he rejected me” she said “I’m so embarrassed”
She lay there wallowing in self-pity for the next half an hour until she felt revived enough to get up and face the day or at least the afternoon.
But as she got up she noticed a note sitting on the other pillow.
Cautiously she picked up the note and unfolded it and read the contents.
Sarah
Thanks for a fun evening.
I really enjoyed the kiss!!!
And I look forward to doing it again, after dinner on Tuesday?
7.30 At the Old Mill Inn?
Call me if your busy, my number’s on the back.
Gary x
“I didn’t blow it after all” she said and hugged her pillow
Downshire Diary – (35) An Unexpected Visitor
(Part 01)
Clare Harwood and her mother Anna lived in the village of Clarence which was a mile or so from Purplemere.
She was 27 years old, pale skinned, strawberry blonde, five foot nothing tall and whippet thin and her mother was just an older version of her daughter.
Her Father David had died the year before and as she was an only child there was only the two of them.
They both worked at the Royal Downshire Hospital in Purplemere Anna was a clerical officer and Clare was a district nurse.
She looked much younger than her 27 years and her pale skin was always flushed pink like she was freshly scrubbed and the one thing she loved even more than her job was to flirt and she was a first class at it.
Yet she never did anything more than that and she really enjoyed flirting, and that was as far as it ever went until the time that her pig of a boyfriend, who she had suspected was shagging her best friend, confessed it to her one night and from that moment on she became something of a party girl.
And what a party girl she became, a real “burning the candle at both ends” and toxing her socks off kind of party girl.
But that all changed when for Mother’s Day, Clare had bought a three day, all-inclusive spa break for her mum, plus one, at the Tipton Manor Hotel and Spa in the north of the county.
She booked for two because she knew her mum would never go to a place like that on her own.
But her mum insisted she wanted to go with Clare, so they could spend some quality time together doing girls stuff.
Well that wasn’t the kind of thing Clare had in mind, it wasn’t her kind of thing at all.
So it was with some trepidation that she agreed to accompany her mum but while she was there she met and fell in love with Phil Grice.
As a district nurse she had a number of regular home visit, terminally ill or housebound patients which kept her very busy but she had a few days off.
But despite having the time off she was still having a very busy week and by the time she returned to the District Nursing office she would probably relish the change of pace.
She had spent the week at home in the house she shared with her mum doing chores.
It had now been six weeks since she had first kissed Phil, a kiss that had changed her life, but it was also three weeks since she had seen him as he was away in America working on an Art installation.
Since meeting Phil she had curbed her partying but her thoughts kept wandering to Phil and his strong hands.
Which was why when she was told she had to take some leave she had decided to spring clean the house from top to bottom to keep herself occupied.
She had dusted, vacuumed, washed, mopped and polished, and bedding was washed as was every curtain.
So by Friday lunchtime the whole house was gleaming and as she admired her handiwork she was wearing a smug look of satisfaction.
(Part 02)
After Clare had dusted, vacuumed, washed, mopped and polished, and bedding was washed as was every curtain.
So by Friday lunchtime the whole house was gleaming and as she admired her handiwork she was wearing a smug look of satisfaction.
She had just put the kettle on when there was a knock at the door and when she opened the door a man of about her age was standing there.
“Can I help?” she said
“Clare!” the man said
“Yes that’s me” she said
“It’s Gary” he said, slightly put out that he had to give his name. “From Purplemere High School”
“Oh Gary” Clare said “I didn’t recognise you”
“Apparently so” Gary said
Gary was her first boyfriend and her first sexual partner.
“Come in” she said amused at his annoyance
They were sitting at the kitchen table drinking coffee when she asked
“How did you find me?”
“I got your address from your friend Karen” he said
“Why?” she asked
“Well I knew I was going to be in the area and I thought I would look you up”
He replied unconvincingly
“You never were a very good liar” she said
“Ok I’ve been thinking about you a lot recently” he confessed
“Karen told me you were still single”
“Oh yes” Clare said suspiciously and cleared the cups to the sink.
“I think we should get back together” he said
“What?” she said turning around in surprise
“We were good together” Gary said
“We were just kids” she said “And we haven’t seen each other for ten years, we’re strangers”
“Never strangers” he said
“And you’re married aren’t you” she said
“Separated” he corrected her “permanently separated”
“Well I’m sorry to hear that” she said “But…”
“She betrayed me” he said with affront
“So you want to get back at her by going out with me” she said
“No Clare” he replied “You’ve always been the one”
And he leant in and kissed her and she pushed him away.
“What are you doing?” she said angrily
“You always said I was a good kisser”
“Well it was pleasant enough” she said “At the time”
“Only pleasant?” Gary responded
“I’m afraid so” she replied
“So what about us getting back together?” Gary asked
“No” Clare replied
“You always were a slut” he said harshly
“And you were always dull” she replied and opened the front door and after he went through it she slammed it behind him.
She was still angry five minutes after she had thrown Gary out and was still livid when there was another knock.
“Bloody hell Gary can’t you take a hint?” she said as she opened the door and then her mouth fell open when she saw Phil standing there and after a few moments she launched herself into his arms.
“I thought you weren’t back for another week” she said when he was in the house.
“I finished earlier than I thought” he said “and I was in a hurry to get home to see you”
“Why didn’t you let me know” she said
“I wanted it to be a surprise” Phil said with a smile “and I see that it was”
Clare suddenly realised she was wearing her house work clothes and she screeched when she looked in the mirror
“Oh god I look at absolute fright” she said and rushed out of the room
Clare returned an hour later looking more appropriately dressed to receive the man she loved and Phil was so pleased with what he saw that she had to dress again an hour later before he took her out for dinner.
Clare Harwood and her mother Anna lived in the village of Clarence which was a mile or so from Purplemere.
She was 27 years old, pale skinned, strawberry blonde, five foot nothing tall and whippet thin and her mother was just an older version of her daughter.
Her Father David had died the year before and as she was an only child there was only the two of them.
They both worked at the Royal Downshire Hospital in Purplemere Anna was a clerical officer and Clare was a district nurse.
She looked much younger than her 27 years and her pale skin was always flushed pink like she was freshly scrubbed and the one thing she loved even more than her job was to flirt and she was a first class at it.
Yet she never did anything more than that and she really enjoyed flirting, and that was as far as it ever went until the time that her pig of a boyfriend, who she had suspected was shagging her best friend, confessed it to her one night and from that moment on she became something of a party girl.
And what a party girl she became, a real “burning the candle at both ends” and toxing her socks off kind of party girl.
But that all changed when for Mother’s Day, Clare had bought a three day, all-inclusive spa break for her mum, plus one, at the Tipton Manor Hotel and Spa in the north of the county.
She booked for two because she knew her mum would never go to a place like that on her own.
But her mum insisted she wanted to go with Clare, so they could spend some quality time together doing girls stuff.
Well that wasn’t the kind of thing Clare had in mind, it wasn’t her kind of thing at all.
So it was with some trepidation that she agreed to accompany her mum but while she was there she met and fell in love with Phil Grice.
As a district nurse she had a number of regular home visit, terminally ill or housebound patients which kept her very busy but she had a few days off.
But despite having the time off she was still having a very busy week and by the time she returned to the District Nursing office she would probably relish the change of pace.
She had spent the week at home in the house she shared with her mum doing chores.
It had now been six weeks since she had first kissed Phil, a kiss that had changed her life, but it was also three weeks since she had seen him as he was away in America working on an Art installation.
Since meeting Phil she had curbed her partying but her thoughts kept wandering to Phil and his strong hands.
Which was why when she was told she had to take some leave she had decided to spring clean the house from top to bottom to keep herself occupied.
She had dusted, vacuumed, washed, mopped and polished, and bedding was washed as was every curtain.
So by Friday lunchtime the whole house was gleaming and as she admired her handiwork she was wearing a smug look of satisfaction.
(Part 02)
After Clare had dusted, vacuumed, washed, mopped and polished, and bedding was washed as was every curtain.
So by Friday lunchtime the whole house was gleaming and as she admired her handiwork she was wearing a smug look of satisfaction.
She had just put the kettle on when there was a knock at the door and when she opened the door a man of about her age was standing there.
“Can I help?” she said
“Clare!” the man said
“Yes that’s me” she said
“It’s Gary” he said, slightly put out that he had to give his name. “From Purplemere High School”
“Oh Gary” Clare said “I didn’t recognise you”
“Apparently so” Gary said
Gary was her first boyfriend and her first sexual partner.
“Come in” she said amused at his annoyance
They were sitting at the kitchen table drinking coffee when she asked
“How did you find me?”
“I got your address from your friend Karen” he said
“Why?” she asked
“Well I knew I was going to be in the area and I thought I would look you up”
He replied unconvincingly
“You never were a very good liar” she said
“Ok I’ve been thinking about you a lot recently” he confessed
“Karen told me you were still single”
“Oh yes” Clare said suspiciously and cleared the cups to the sink.
“I think we should get back together” he said
“What?” she said turning around in surprise
“We were good together” Gary said
“We were just kids” she said “And we haven’t seen each other for ten years, we’re strangers”
“Never strangers” he said
“And you’re married aren’t you” she said
“Separated” he corrected her “permanently separated”
“Well I’m sorry to hear that” she said “But…”
“She betrayed me” he said with affront
“So you want to get back at her by going out with me” she said
“No Clare” he replied “You’ve always been the one”
And he leant in and kissed her and she pushed him away.
“What are you doing?” she said angrily
“You always said I was a good kisser”
“Well it was pleasant enough” she said “At the time”
“Only pleasant?” Gary responded
“I’m afraid so” she replied
“So what about us getting back together?” Gary asked
“No” Clare replied
“You always were a slut” he said harshly
“And you were always dull” she replied and opened the front door and after he went through it she slammed it behind him.
She was still angry five minutes after she had thrown Gary out and was still livid when there was another knock.
“Bloody hell Gary can’t you take a hint?” she said as she opened the door and then her mouth fell open when she saw Phil standing there and after a few moments she launched herself into his arms.
“I thought you weren’t back for another week” she said when he was in the house.
“I finished earlier than I thought” he said “and I was in a hurry to get home to see you”
“Why didn’t you let me know” she said
“I wanted it to be a surprise” Phil said with a smile “and I see that it was”
Clare suddenly realised she was wearing her house work clothes and she screeched when she looked in the mirror
“Oh god I look at absolute fright” she said and rushed out of the room
Clare returned an hour later looking more appropriately dressed to receive the man she loved and Phil was so pleased with what he saw that she had to dress again an hour later before he took her out for dinner.
Sunday, 2 April 2017
Tales from the Finchbottom Vale – (34) The Shopkeepers Heart
(Part 01)
Sabr Hemmings was petite and had beautiful strawberry blonde hair and at 27 years old she was running the family business.
The name Sabr was an Arabic word for the Islamic virtue of "patience", although neither Belinda nor her husband were Arabs or Islamists, she read it in a book when she was expecting her daughter and fell in love with the name.
Her mother, Belinda, was now seriously ill, so her father was preoccupied with looking after her and her younger brother Carl was at University.
The Hemmings family had run the Post Office and General Store at the southern end of Sharpington since the 1930’s after a family rift.
Sabr’s grandfather had been one of the sons in “Hemmings and Son’s Funeral Directors” but he had a falling out with his father about the suitability of the girl he planned to marry, he left and the two never spoke again.
Sharpington-by-Sea is a traditional seaside resort complete with a Victorian Pier, seafront hotels, crazy golf, The Palladium ballroom, well maintained gardens, promenade, theatre and illuminations, all the usual things to have a great time by the seaside, as well as amusement arcades and of course the Sharpington Fun Park.
Which was the first purpose built amusement park to open in Britain, which had an assortment of rides, like the Rotor and the Wild Mouse, The Cyclone and the Morehouse Galloper, all very tame compared to a 21st century roller coaster but was still great fun.
It was also a popular resort for retirees and boasted a number of static caravan parks.
Despite the fact that she was raised as a Christian by practising Christian parents who were always, and indeed still were very active in their church Sabr had never been a particularly spiritual person, though not an unchristian person.
She did however believe in a power greater than herself and she was not uncomfortable in calling that power God.
The church however had always been a different matter and she had in fact always been quite dismissive about those interfering Christian do-gooders, doing good works and muttering on about their relationship with God.
She had never had a relationship with God other than the fact that she knew without a doubt that he existed.
But other than the mutual acceptance that the other did in fact exist they pretty much left it at that.
She had not been a regular visitor to His house since she was sixteen when she was given the option to follow her own path, her parents thought optimistically that she would choose to continue on the path they had led her along but they were to be disappointed.
So her interactions with the church were restricted to hatches, matches and dispatches and the odd Christmas carol service, that was of course until her mother was diagnosed with cancer.
She wasn’t sure what prompted her to attend St Lucy’s church again on that bitter cold day in February, it may have been to mourn her dear Grandmother who died the month before, and it might have been the despair she felt after her mother’s diagnosis or perhaps she just needed to reset her compass.
Whatever the reason was it reawakened something in her and every week after that she would find herself standing at the back of St Lucy’s yodelling out “how great thou art” or some other heart felt rendition.
The news of her redemption somehow reached her Aunty Claire’s ears and she became a little less of a pariah.
Which was just as well because it was Aunty Claire who managed the Post Office side of the business and allowed her to run the shop.
(Part 02)
By the time May came around she was a regular attendee at St Lucy’s and divined great strength from her time there.
She had decided that she would put all of her energies into the shop and take all the burdens upon herself to allow her father to concentrate on looking after her mum.
Of course she needed help in the shop and she had a small group of part timers she knew she could trust but she was always looking for fresh blood.
But most of the youngsters were drawn towards the bright lights of the arcades and the Fun Park so she had to put in longer and longer shifts herself when she was shorthanded so she had little time for anything else.
So the last thing she needed was another distraction which on one day in the middle of May came in the form of Adam Jones.
Her eyes were drawn to him the moment he entered the shop, he was tall and slim with thick black curly hair just long enough to cover his collar, with brown eyes and a toothy smile which lit up the whole shop.
Adam was a couple of years older that Sabr and he was Detective Constable in Sharpington, and if shop keeping was the Hemmings family business then for the Jones’s it was policing, his father was a Chief Superintendent in Abbottsford, his uncle was an Inspector in Northchapel and his brother was a Sgt in Mornington.
He was in the shop for about ten minutes and she caught him sneaking a look in her direction a few times and when he eventually went to the counter with a basket full he said abruptly
“St Lucy’s”
“Excuse me?” Sabr said
“I’ve been trying to recall where I had seen you before” he explained
“It’s St Lucy’s”
“Yes that’s right” she said realizing why he had kept looking at her.
“I’m Adam” he said “It’s a pleasure to meet a fellow congregant”
“Indeed” she agreed “I’m Sabr”
“Sabr, that’s a corker of a name” he said and she smiled with pride
“Thank you” she said and went on to explain where it came from.
“Well it’s a beautiful name” he said as he picked up his bags “I’ll see you Sunday perhaps”
“Perhaps” she agreed
“Good bye”
He didn’t normally shop at Hemmings because he had a flat in Jubilee Court which gave him a view of Jubilee Park as well as a sea view, it was also situated at the opposite end of the seafront.
He just happened to be on a call up at the Potters Lane caravan park so he decided to pop in as he was passing, he thought he would definitely shop there again though.
Sabr was a little flushed after her left, he had definitely been flirting with her and she rather enjoyed it, but then she chastised herself
“You don’t have time for that nonsense”
Nonetheless she looked for him at church on Sunday and was disappointed when she was unsuccessful.
(Part 03)
After failing to locate Adam at St Lucy’s on the following Sunday and initially being dissapointed by the fact she decided that in the end that it was definitely for the best.
Of course she was unaware of the reason Adam had been conspicuous by his absence.
He had been seconded to Tipton where there had been a child abduction and they needed to draw extra resoursees from all over Downshire.
But Sabr wasn’t aware of that so as May drifted seemlessly into June she put him out of her mind.
The shop had been very busy and one of her regular staff was on holiday for two weeks so she was really stretched and she was feeling the pressure.
But then David Goodman walked in and he always cheered her up, he was a retired teacher and he had taught Sabr so he knew her well.
He always flirted outrageously with her mum and she would always flirt back.
They had known each other for years, when she was still Belinda Church and she had been a bridesmaid at his wedding.
But alas she was ill so there would be no flirting.
Instead he enquired about Belinda and Sabr put on a brave face.
She got the impression he was about to say something when Gwen Quinton-Smith walked through the door.
She was a rather plain looking woman just the wrong side of 60, quite small and slim and choosing to dress in the twin set and tweed style.
She was very flustered, though she often was, so they waited until she eventually regained her composure and then David raised the question of full time or part time work for a girl called Wendy Corney with the two of them at the same time.
Gwen said that she would ask around the ladies at the Women’s Institute but in the mean time she did have some odd jobs about the house that needed doing.
Sabr also promised to give Wendy a few hours in the shop while her mum was ill and she could start the same day.
She wouldn’t under normal circumstances just employ anyone but if David Goodman thought she was ok then that was good enough for her because he was an exceptionally good judge of character and if the girl worked out she would be a God send.
It was about forty minutes later when she looked out the window and could see David giving a skinny tomboy a pep talk and the girl with short mousy blonde hair which made her look like a shaggy dog hung on his every word.
She could make out what he was saying but she stood up straight and gave him a wonky smile in response.
Then she heard the girl say
“What if she doesn’t like me?”
Just before they walked into the shop
“Sabr! This is Wendy” he said
“Hello Wendy” Sabr said
“Hi” she replied trembling
“Don’t look so worried” Sabr said “I won’t bite”
She was very impressed with the girl, she was a hard worker and as keen as mustard and she was a quick learner.
At the end of her shift Sabr said
“You did well Wendy”
“Thanks” Wendy said “I enjoyed it”
“Good, Same time Thursday then”
(Part 04)
As the weeks passed she increased Wendy’s hours, so by the middle of July she was doing two full days a week and virtually every evening.
Which was the only good news for her, as her mum’s health was deteriorating and she still hadn’t seen Adam again.
But because Wendy had learned so fast and was such a willing worker she fell able to take a couple of hours off and go swimming.
She loved to swim but not in the sea, fortunately she was not alone in that preference and there was a wonderful pool in Sharpington which had a retractable roof so it was an indoor pool when the weather was cold and a Lido when it wasn’t.
It was a very modern facility with modern unisex changing rooms with two long rows of cubicles’ flanked by lockers.
She didn’t altogether like the idea that when she was in a cubicle drying her bits there was some pervert in the next cubicle drying his, but she thought it was a small price to pay.
She had a lovely swim and was enjoying it so much she almost forgot the time.
So she was in a cubicle getting dressed, with only her shorts left to put on and she could suddenly hear a familiar voice nearby and it was right outside her cubicle door.
“I’m ready this end” the voice said
It took a moment or two to get her shorts on and then she opened the door and found Adam was right there wearing a pair of black speedos and clutching a towel.
“Hello” she said, her eyes scanning every inch of his muscular body
“Oh Sabr” he said not quite knowing what to do
“I didn’t know you came here,” he said
“Yes whenever I can” she replied still casting an appreciative eye over his well-toned figure.
She blushed when he noticed her looking, and trying to cover her embarrassment and failing she said
“I’d better get going”
“Don’t come out” he said forcefully and she recoiled and then she could hear a commotion a little way away and then he pushed her gently back into the cubicle.
“What’s going on?” she asked with concern
But before he could answer she could hear naked feet running on the tiled floor and then Adam stepped back out the door and body checked a man into the opposite wall and then knock him down on to the floor.
“Stay still” he shouted “You’re under arrest”
He then proceeded to read him his rights while a uniformed officer handcuffed the man.
As two officers lifted the man to his feet Adam turned around and walked towards her and said
“I’m sorry I didn’t mean to be sharp with you, but I didn’t want you to get hurt”
“Erm well um” she babbled
“Sit down” he suggested “you’re obviously shaken up”
“Who was that?” she asked when she had composed herself
“A very unpleasant man” he replied
“What did he do?”
“He is the man behind the Tipton child abduction” he said in a hushed tone
“Bastard” Sabr said
“Did he do things to the boy?” she asked dreading the answer
“No” he replied “his plan was to auction him to the highest bidder so that they could abuse him”
“Is that why you haven’t been to church?” Sabr asked
“Yes, I was seconded to a task force to find the boy and those responsible” he said
“Adam!” someone called
“I have to go, are you alright now?”
“Yes I’m fine” she replied “See you Sunday?”
“I hope so” he said and then he was gone
(Part 05)
It was the morning of the first Saturday of July and furthermore the gods had delivered to the folk of Sharpington a very hot day, the hottest day of the year so far in fact.
Sabr didn’t appreciate that fact she was more concerned with her mum who had had a very bad night.
Thanks to Wendy she had plenty of cover in the shop so she went for a walk along the promenade to clear her head.
She walked towards the attractions and then turned right and decided to take a stroll along the pier.
She stopped when she reached the end and stood at the rail and gazed out to sea.
“Do you come here often?” David Goodman asked and they both laughed.
“Who’s running the shop this morning if you’re here?” he asked her
“My Dad and Wendy” she said
“How is Wendy doing?”
“Very well, she’s a very hard worker; I have to force her to go home”
That was because she didn’t have much of a home to go to, but she was a hard worker.
“And your mum?”
“Not good I’m afraid” she replied sadly
“I’m sorry to hear that” David said and she turned towards him and broke down and he held her and comforted her for the next ten minutes.
They sat down on the bench at the end of the pier and she unburdened herself on him and David listened intently and when she had finished he simply said
“You don’t need me to tell you what to do, you already know”
Afterwards David walked her back to the shop, she thanked him and gave him a hug and then went back to work.
The next day Sabr was up bright and early and spent longer than usual in the bathroom and was among the first congregants to arrive at St Lucy’s which proved to be a mistake.
Because the moment she stopped moving she had time to think and it was all negative.
When she first met Adam she told herself
“You don’t have time for that nonsense”
But then after talking to David Goodman on the pier he convinced her that life was too short to not take the chances that life offered.
And she took all of that on board and decided she should throw caution to the wind which was why she got up early that morning and preened, perfumed and powdered herself to make the best of herself so that she might seize the moment.
But sitting alone in the church her resolve was fast melting away.
“Hello Sabr” he said, “you look lovely”
“Oh hello Adam” she replied a little flustered.
“You’re early” he said
“So are you” she pointed out
“I’m always here at this time” he said “when I’m not working”
“Oh, sorry”
“I’m glad” he said
“Excuse me?”
“I’m glad you’re early” Adam said and she blushed terribly which made him smile.
“You’re not working today then” she said changing the subject.
“No” he said “What about you?”
“I’m free all day” she said hopefully
“How about lunch then?”
“I’d like that” Sabr said
So after the service Adam drove her to Dulcet-on-Brooke where they ate lunch at The Waterside Inn and they weren’t the only couple from Sharpington sharing an intimate meal together.
Sabr had taken a chance, exposed herself, risked rejection and got her reward and they spent a warm summer afternoon in the beer garden on the banks of the River Brooke.
Sabr Hemmings was petite and had beautiful strawberry blonde hair and at 27 years old she was running the family business.
The name Sabr was an Arabic word for the Islamic virtue of "patience", although neither Belinda nor her husband were Arabs or Islamists, she read it in a book when she was expecting her daughter and fell in love with the name.
Her mother, Belinda, was now seriously ill, so her father was preoccupied with looking after her and her younger brother Carl was at University.
The Hemmings family had run the Post Office and General Store at the southern end of Sharpington since the 1930’s after a family rift.
Sabr’s grandfather had been one of the sons in “Hemmings and Son’s Funeral Directors” but he had a falling out with his father about the suitability of the girl he planned to marry, he left and the two never spoke again.
Sharpington-by-Sea is a traditional seaside resort complete with a Victorian Pier, seafront hotels, crazy golf, The Palladium ballroom, well maintained gardens, promenade, theatre and illuminations, all the usual things to have a great time by the seaside, as well as amusement arcades and of course the Sharpington Fun Park.
Which was the first purpose built amusement park to open in Britain, which had an assortment of rides, like the Rotor and the Wild Mouse, The Cyclone and the Morehouse Galloper, all very tame compared to a 21st century roller coaster but was still great fun.
It was also a popular resort for retirees and boasted a number of static caravan parks.
Despite the fact that she was raised as a Christian by practising Christian parents who were always, and indeed still were very active in their church Sabr had never been a particularly spiritual person, though not an unchristian person.
She did however believe in a power greater than herself and she was not uncomfortable in calling that power God.
The church however had always been a different matter and she had in fact always been quite dismissive about those interfering Christian do-gooders, doing good works and muttering on about their relationship with God.
She had never had a relationship with God other than the fact that she knew without a doubt that he existed.
But other than the mutual acceptance that the other did in fact exist they pretty much left it at that.
She had not been a regular visitor to His house since she was sixteen when she was given the option to follow her own path, her parents thought optimistically that she would choose to continue on the path they had led her along but they were to be disappointed.
So her interactions with the church were restricted to hatches, matches and dispatches and the odd Christmas carol service, that was of course until her mother was diagnosed with cancer.
She wasn’t sure what prompted her to attend St Lucy’s church again on that bitter cold day in February, it may have been to mourn her dear Grandmother who died the month before, and it might have been the despair she felt after her mother’s diagnosis or perhaps she just needed to reset her compass.
Whatever the reason was it reawakened something in her and every week after that she would find herself standing at the back of St Lucy’s yodelling out “how great thou art” or some other heart felt rendition.
The news of her redemption somehow reached her Aunty Claire’s ears and she became a little less of a pariah.
Which was just as well because it was Aunty Claire who managed the Post Office side of the business and allowed her to run the shop.
(Part 02)
By the time May came around she was a regular attendee at St Lucy’s and divined great strength from her time there.
She had decided that she would put all of her energies into the shop and take all the burdens upon herself to allow her father to concentrate on looking after her mum.
Of course she needed help in the shop and she had a small group of part timers she knew she could trust but she was always looking for fresh blood.
But most of the youngsters were drawn towards the bright lights of the arcades and the Fun Park so she had to put in longer and longer shifts herself when she was shorthanded so she had little time for anything else.
So the last thing she needed was another distraction which on one day in the middle of May came in the form of Adam Jones.
Her eyes were drawn to him the moment he entered the shop, he was tall and slim with thick black curly hair just long enough to cover his collar, with brown eyes and a toothy smile which lit up the whole shop.
Adam was a couple of years older that Sabr and he was Detective Constable in Sharpington, and if shop keeping was the Hemmings family business then for the Jones’s it was policing, his father was a Chief Superintendent in Abbottsford, his uncle was an Inspector in Northchapel and his brother was a Sgt in Mornington.
He was in the shop for about ten minutes and she caught him sneaking a look in her direction a few times and when he eventually went to the counter with a basket full he said abruptly
“St Lucy’s”
“Excuse me?” Sabr said
“I’ve been trying to recall where I had seen you before” he explained
“It’s St Lucy’s”
“Yes that’s right” she said realizing why he had kept looking at her.
“I’m Adam” he said “It’s a pleasure to meet a fellow congregant”
“Indeed” she agreed “I’m Sabr”
“Sabr, that’s a corker of a name” he said and she smiled with pride
“Thank you” she said and went on to explain where it came from.
“Well it’s a beautiful name” he said as he picked up his bags “I’ll see you Sunday perhaps”
“Perhaps” she agreed
“Good bye”
He didn’t normally shop at Hemmings because he had a flat in Jubilee Court which gave him a view of Jubilee Park as well as a sea view, it was also situated at the opposite end of the seafront.
He just happened to be on a call up at the Potters Lane caravan park so he decided to pop in as he was passing, he thought he would definitely shop there again though.
Sabr was a little flushed after her left, he had definitely been flirting with her and she rather enjoyed it, but then she chastised herself
“You don’t have time for that nonsense”
Nonetheless she looked for him at church on Sunday and was disappointed when she was unsuccessful.
(Part 03)
After failing to locate Adam at St Lucy’s on the following Sunday and initially being dissapointed by the fact she decided that in the end that it was definitely for the best.
Of course she was unaware of the reason Adam had been conspicuous by his absence.
He had been seconded to Tipton where there had been a child abduction and they needed to draw extra resoursees from all over Downshire.
But Sabr wasn’t aware of that so as May drifted seemlessly into June she put him out of her mind.
The shop had been very busy and one of her regular staff was on holiday for two weeks so she was really stretched and she was feeling the pressure.
But then David Goodman walked in and he always cheered her up, he was a retired teacher and he had taught Sabr so he knew her well.
He always flirted outrageously with her mum and she would always flirt back.
They had known each other for years, when she was still Belinda Church and she had been a bridesmaid at his wedding.
But alas she was ill so there would be no flirting.
Instead he enquired about Belinda and Sabr put on a brave face.
She got the impression he was about to say something when Gwen Quinton-Smith walked through the door.
She was a rather plain looking woman just the wrong side of 60, quite small and slim and choosing to dress in the twin set and tweed style.
She was very flustered, though she often was, so they waited until she eventually regained her composure and then David raised the question of full time or part time work for a girl called Wendy Corney with the two of them at the same time.
Gwen said that she would ask around the ladies at the Women’s Institute but in the mean time she did have some odd jobs about the house that needed doing.
Sabr also promised to give Wendy a few hours in the shop while her mum was ill and she could start the same day.
She wouldn’t under normal circumstances just employ anyone but if David Goodman thought she was ok then that was good enough for her because he was an exceptionally good judge of character and if the girl worked out she would be a God send.
It was about forty minutes later when she looked out the window and could see David giving a skinny tomboy a pep talk and the girl with short mousy blonde hair which made her look like a shaggy dog hung on his every word.
She could make out what he was saying but she stood up straight and gave him a wonky smile in response.
Then she heard the girl say
“What if she doesn’t like me?”
Just before they walked into the shop
“Sabr! This is Wendy” he said
“Hello Wendy” Sabr said
“Hi” she replied trembling
“Don’t look so worried” Sabr said “I won’t bite”
She was very impressed with the girl, she was a hard worker and as keen as mustard and she was a quick learner.
At the end of her shift Sabr said
“You did well Wendy”
“Thanks” Wendy said “I enjoyed it”
“Good, Same time Thursday then”
(Part 04)
As the weeks passed she increased Wendy’s hours, so by the middle of July she was doing two full days a week and virtually every evening.
Which was the only good news for her, as her mum’s health was deteriorating and she still hadn’t seen Adam again.
But because Wendy had learned so fast and was such a willing worker she fell able to take a couple of hours off and go swimming.
She loved to swim but not in the sea, fortunately she was not alone in that preference and there was a wonderful pool in Sharpington which had a retractable roof so it was an indoor pool when the weather was cold and a Lido when it wasn’t.
It was a very modern facility with modern unisex changing rooms with two long rows of cubicles’ flanked by lockers.
She didn’t altogether like the idea that when she was in a cubicle drying her bits there was some pervert in the next cubicle drying his, but she thought it was a small price to pay.
She had a lovely swim and was enjoying it so much she almost forgot the time.
So she was in a cubicle getting dressed, with only her shorts left to put on and she could suddenly hear a familiar voice nearby and it was right outside her cubicle door.
“I’m ready this end” the voice said
It took a moment or two to get her shorts on and then she opened the door and found Adam was right there wearing a pair of black speedos and clutching a towel.
“Hello” she said, her eyes scanning every inch of his muscular body
“Oh Sabr” he said not quite knowing what to do
“I didn’t know you came here,” he said
“Yes whenever I can” she replied still casting an appreciative eye over his well-toned figure.
She blushed when he noticed her looking, and trying to cover her embarrassment and failing she said
“I’d better get going”
“Don’t come out” he said forcefully and she recoiled and then she could hear a commotion a little way away and then he pushed her gently back into the cubicle.
“What’s going on?” she asked with concern
But before he could answer she could hear naked feet running on the tiled floor and then Adam stepped back out the door and body checked a man into the opposite wall and then knock him down on to the floor.
“Stay still” he shouted “You’re under arrest”
He then proceeded to read him his rights while a uniformed officer handcuffed the man.
As two officers lifted the man to his feet Adam turned around and walked towards her and said
“I’m sorry I didn’t mean to be sharp with you, but I didn’t want you to get hurt”
“Erm well um” she babbled
“Sit down” he suggested “you’re obviously shaken up”
“Who was that?” she asked when she had composed herself
“A very unpleasant man” he replied
“What did he do?”
“He is the man behind the Tipton child abduction” he said in a hushed tone
“Bastard” Sabr said
“Did he do things to the boy?” she asked dreading the answer
“No” he replied “his plan was to auction him to the highest bidder so that they could abuse him”
“Is that why you haven’t been to church?” Sabr asked
“Yes, I was seconded to a task force to find the boy and those responsible” he said
“Adam!” someone called
“I have to go, are you alright now?”
“Yes I’m fine” she replied “See you Sunday?”
“I hope so” he said and then he was gone
(Part 05)
It was the morning of the first Saturday of July and furthermore the gods had delivered to the folk of Sharpington a very hot day, the hottest day of the year so far in fact.
Sabr didn’t appreciate that fact she was more concerned with her mum who had had a very bad night.
Thanks to Wendy she had plenty of cover in the shop so she went for a walk along the promenade to clear her head.
She walked towards the attractions and then turned right and decided to take a stroll along the pier.
She stopped when she reached the end and stood at the rail and gazed out to sea.
“Do you come here often?” David Goodman asked and they both laughed.
“Who’s running the shop this morning if you’re here?” he asked her
“My Dad and Wendy” she said
“How is Wendy doing?”
“Very well, she’s a very hard worker; I have to force her to go home”
That was because she didn’t have much of a home to go to, but she was a hard worker.
“And your mum?”
“Not good I’m afraid” she replied sadly
“I’m sorry to hear that” David said and she turned towards him and broke down and he held her and comforted her for the next ten minutes.
They sat down on the bench at the end of the pier and she unburdened herself on him and David listened intently and when she had finished he simply said
“You don’t need me to tell you what to do, you already know”
Afterwards David walked her back to the shop, she thanked him and gave him a hug and then went back to work.
The next day Sabr was up bright and early and spent longer than usual in the bathroom and was among the first congregants to arrive at St Lucy’s which proved to be a mistake.
Because the moment she stopped moving she had time to think and it was all negative.
When she first met Adam she told herself
“You don’t have time for that nonsense”
But then after talking to David Goodman on the pier he convinced her that life was too short to not take the chances that life offered.
And she took all of that on board and decided she should throw caution to the wind which was why she got up early that morning and preened, perfumed and powdered herself to make the best of herself so that she might seize the moment.
But sitting alone in the church her resolve was fast melting away.
“Hello Sabr” he said, “you look lovely”
“Oh hello Adam” she replied a little flustered.
“You’re early” he said
“So are you” she pointed out
“I’m always here at this time” he said “when I’m not working”
“Oh, sorry”
“I’m glad” he said
“Excuse me?”
“I’m glad you’re early” Adam said and she blushed terribly which made him smile.
“You’re not working today then” she said changing the subject.
“No” he said “What about you?”
“I’m free all day” she said hopefully
“How about lunch then?”
“I’d like that” Sabr said
So after the service Adam drove her to Dulcet-on-Brooke where they ate lunch at The Waterside Inn and they weren’t the only couple from Sharpington sharing an intimate meal together.
Sabr had taken a chance, exposed herself, risked rejection and got her reward and they spent a warm summer afternoon in the beer garden on the banks of the River Brooke.
Mornington-By-Mere – (34) Lancelot and the Palfrey’s
(Part 01)
In the seventies Mornington-By-Mere was a busy little village and thriving with Valentine St George as the Baron in residence.
Throughout its history the Village of Mornington was largely dependent on agriculture for its survival but RAF Mornington as a fully operational front line bomber station brought additional prosperity.
However the farms of the Vale were still crucial to the health of the welfare of the inhabitants.
One such farm was Windmill Farm run by the Hall family and had been for six generations but the next generation was in doubt as Lance, the sole heir of the Hall family had doubts about his future and in particular at the age of 18 he couldn’t see himself as a farmer.
It was that doubt which shaped his thinking for the next four years and his interactions with the Palfrey girls of nearby Meadow Lea Farm in the Dulcets.
The Dulcets were a collection of villages and hamlets such as Dulcet Meadow, Dulcet St Mary, Dulcet Green and the nearest one to Meadow Lea, Dulcet-on-Brooke.
The narrative of Lance Hall and the Palfrey girls is not intended to be a boastful tale of conquest and at the time he was not proud to have done what he eventually did and the eventual outcome was not even the intended one, in fact in the four year period of Lance’s life that this story covers, the thought never once crossed his mind that it might happen and it certainly wasn’t desired, it just happened but he never regretted the final outcome and indeed thanked God for it.
It was 1975 when it all began and Lance Hall was just 18 years old when he met Helen Palfrey for the first time.
It was a cold grey Monday morning, so grey and dismal it was clear rain wasn’t far away.
He was visiting a friend in Shallowfield that morning and he had just stepped off the bus when the girl in front of him dropped her umbrella.
Lance bent down and picked it up and when he stood up again she had turned around and he was staring into the eyes of an angel whose brunette hair framed the classical beauty of her face.
“Thank you” She said and smiled and he was instantly smitten.
But as taken with her as he was, he was completely struck dumb and all he could do was return her smile and hand her the umbrella and that would probably have been that, had it not been for the fact that she was visiting the same friend that he was.
Although he had never met her before it turned out that they were both members of the Finchbottom Vale Young Farmers Association.
The reason they both happened to be meeting Yvonne Bird in Shallowfield that day was to sign up for some part time work to earn some extra money and in Helen’s case it was to swell her coffers before she started University.
(Part 02)
Over the next few months they became very close friends but sadly no more than that.
It turned out that they had several mutual friends and they kind of fell into a sociable group of a dozen or more friends who would go out either in one big group or smaller ones and go bowling, barn dancing or to the seaside at Sharpington or any number of things, the pub quite often.
And all of these many and varied social activities they participated in, but try as he may he never made any inroads into her heart.
Another bi-product of Lance and Helen socialising in the same group was his introduction to the Palfrey family and their farm.
Windmill Farm in Mornington was the larger of the two, which had at its center the large farmhouse, parts of which dated back six centuries.
It had been added to over the years to accommodate the growing Hall clan until it was now comprised of six upstairs bedrooms and an equal number of rooms on the ground floor.
There was also milking sheds, barns, hen houses, assorted out buildings and a farm cottage.
Meadow Lea Farm on the other hand was smaller and less diverse in nature but it had been around every bit as long and the Palfreys had worked the land to great effect.
Helen’s widowed father, Richard was a quiet kindly man who seldom spoke, while her uncle, Donald on the other hand never shut up and had a dry wit and if you were in the right frame of mind he could be hysterically funny.
If on the other hand you were not in the mood for it then he was just bloody annoying.
He was an accountant by profession which is a humourless occupation at the best of times which is why he over compensated.
Margot, her Aunt was a real battle-axe who had a face that could warp wood.
She was a Theatre Sister at the Winston Churchill Hospital in Abbottsford where he suspected she probably did unpleasant things to patients probably while they were unconscious.
Her Aunt and Uncle had moved to the Meadow Lea after her mother was diagnosed with terminal cancer and much to her annoyance they never went home again.
Helens eldest sibling was Ken who was twenty one years old and was a farmer like his father, while he inherited his uncle’s liking for being a wit he sadly he didn’t possess any but he was a good farmer.
Then came the three sisters, Helen aged 18, Martha 16 and 15 year old Katie and considering the fact they were sisters they couldn’t have been more different from each other personality and appearance wise.
They all had something around the eyes that bound them as kin, provided they were all together in a small room and you could compare them closely.
In a crowd however you would never have picked them out as siblings and furthermore they had absolutely nothing in common other than the same parentage and their shared beauty and of course an unbreakable love for each other.
(Part 03)
Helen was the oldest of the Palfrey girls at 18, the same age as Lance and was the tallest by several inches and she was blessed with stunning legs, in fact legs so stunning that they had never been surpassed in his eyes.
She had long brunette hair that fell over her slender shoulders she was also very slim, a size 12 in old money, God alone knows what the modern equivalent is.
She was not overly endowed in the bust department but he always thought she was perfectly in proportion.
Helen was also keenly intelligent and delightfully funny with the dirtiest laugh he had ever heard.
But despite all of that she didn’t have a clue how gorgeous she was and as a result she had a succession of failed relationships with unsuitable men who used her, abused her and then dumped her and managed to leave her thinking she deserved it.
Lance would never have treated her that way because he loved her and he would have cherished her if he’d had the opportunity.
One of her wider social group was Helen’s sister Martha, she was the middle one of the three and was a few months short of 17.
She was brunette as well but she didn’t suffer from Helen’s lack of self-confidence in fact her problem was that she thought she was very attractive.
In fact Martha actually thought she was more attractive than she really was.
She used to borrow her sister Helen’s clothes which didn’t fit her.
Martha actually thought that if she squeezed her size 14 arse into her sister’s size 12 knickers that she actually had a size 12 arse.
Only she knew why she did it, because she was attractive in her own right, just not as attractive as her sisters.
Perhaps she envied Helen’s slim figure and so tried to be her, but she was on a hiding to nothing because she was very definitely not Helen.
Katie was the youngest at 15 and she was Blonde and full of self-confidence but she could afford to be as she had everything, a delicious figure, a bubbly personality and an infectious sense of fun.
Oh yes Katie was funny and sexy and furthermore she had a crush on Lance, and he was as flattered as hell and had he been 3 years younger and not in love with Helen he would have snapped her up in a heartbeat.
As the months went by and Helen went from one disastrous, ill-considered boyfriend to the next, he sat on the side-lines watching then one day when she had just picked herself up from yet another car crash of a relationship Lance decided he should just ask her out and be done with it.
That decision proved to be a colossal mistake.
He wasn’t her type apparently.
“No I guess I’m not” he said “that’s because I’m not an asshole that treats you like shit”
After that exchange they didn’t talk for three months.
(Part 04)
When Helen and Lance finally began talking again he found that nothing had changed
He was still desperately in love with her but she still just wanted them to be friends.
That was the moment it dawned on him that it was never going to happen for them, and he thought he should have walked away there and then but he didn’t.
Instead he asked out her sister Martha who was then 17.
There’s no doubt that initially he went out with Martha because it was a way for him to be close to Helen but at the same time he could still have a life.
It was a dangerous enterprise to undertake on several levels and perhaps the most hazardous was the fact that with Martha’s facial features she had the most chance of ending up looking like her hatchet faced Aunt which was a scary thought.
That summer Martha gave him her virginity in a tent in Sharpinghead not perhaps the most romantic of ways but it seemed to him as good a place as any at the time.
Two months later they were engaged and Helen left for University.
Everything seemed to be working out for the best Lance loved Martha even though she wasn’t her sister and they were planning their future together and Helen was getting on with her life and working hard towards her degree and still going out with bastards.
But every time Helen came home from University the wound would open up again and she filled his every waking thought.
One Christmas when she was home he was making love to Martha in her bedroom and he actually imagined it was Helen so he broke up with her on New Year’s Eve.
The New Year began with Martha in tears in one room and Helen demanding to know what the hell was going on in another.
“Why are you breaking up with her?” she demanded for the third time. “She really loves you”
“Because I’m in love with someone else” he finally replied
“Who?” she asked
“You really have to ask” Lance replied
She looked blankly for a moment and then it dawned on her
“You can’t still be in love with me”
“Well I am” he retorted and then she sat down and lit a cigarette
“I thought you’d gotten over me” she said
“Oh yes you would think so wouldn’t you” he snapped
“Well you should have” she barked “I’ve given you no encouragement”
“Yes I should have” he said “then I wouldn’t see your face when I’m making love to Martha”
Lance left then and went home before she could respond.
Two days later he received a letter with a hand written envelope, in a familiar hand smelling of her perfume.
Helen had written him a letter, and his heart soared, and it took him half an hour to work up the courage to open it and another thirty seconds to throw it in the bin.
Three hand written pages in her elegant hand, extolling the virtues of her younger sister and begging him to change his mind.
Three long hand written pages and not one word of love for him.
He resolved then and there to break the chain that bound him to her and run for the hills.
After a week he had almost gone a whole day without having a drink but his determination was strong.
Until one cold wet night when there was a knock on the door and Martha stood there soaked to the skin and crying and he was trapped again.
For the next year or so everything seemed to have settled down mainly because Helen and Lance largely avoided each other.
In addition to his work on the farm he was working a lot of extra hours trying to stash some money in the savings for their impending nuptials and Helen was busy working on her dissertation and Lance thought perhaps he had finally turned a corner.
Which is why he lowered his guard, and from Easter of that year onwards Helen and he were back on speaking terms again.
And as there had been no repeat of picturing of her siblings face while making love he was in a positive frame of mind.
(Part 05)
Martha had been lured away from farming by her Uncle into the world of accountancy and had been working for a big Aerospace Company in Finchbottom for over a year, they probably employed a fifth of the town’s available workforce at the time and she earned good money.
But better than that they had a huge sports and social club, and better still it was heavily subsidised.
That summer, there was a big fancy dress party and Martha got them tickets and she had a spare one which without asking him first, she gave to Helen who was back from University, having graduated with a first.
Lance was cross when he first found out, but Martha was so proud of her sister for graduating he relented.
Also Martha said she needed cheering up because she had just broken up with her latest waster of a boyfriend.
The latest pig, in a long line of pigs, so no surprise there.
On the night of the party it was a warm dry night and as the Palfreys Farm was only about a mile from the railway station, and the social club was a similar distance away at the other end, they decided to walk to and from the station, in costume.
Lance went to the Palfreys in his street clothes and changed in Martha’s bedroom.
Martha was dressed as a flapper in a dress she’d made herself and she looked really hot and Lance went as a Roman, wearing sandals and a toga.
Helen though was dressed as a toddler, in a smock top and a nappy, which showed off her gorgeous long legs to great effect, and her brunette hair was tied up in little bunches and she had a dummy on a ribbon around her neck.
For the walk to the club she wore a long wrap around skirt to protect her modesty.
When they got there they found the fancy dress party was already in full swing and was very well attended so much so that the hall was packed.
Lance noticed he was not the only Roman at the forum by long way and Martha was not the only Flapper, Helen however was unique as always.
With the heavily subsidised bar the drink was flowing freely and the crowd were exuberant in the extreme, some were so exuberant that they could barely stand.
As the evening wore on much alcohol was consumed and overall it was a very enjoyable night out indeed and Lance felt at last that he was able to enjoy being in Helen’s company without the old feelings coming to the fore.
Martha was close to having had one Bacardi and coke too many but insisted she was fine.
“Have a dance with Helen, I need a pee” she said and tottered off to the ladies.
“Great idea” Helen said and grabbed his hand and dragged him off to the middle of the dance floor just as Fleetwood Mac’s, Albatross began.
She stopped and turned around to face him and wrapped her skinny arms around his neck and then inexplicably she kissed him.
(Part 06)
When Helen kissed him out of the blue it was not a sisterly smack or a friendly peck, this was an open mouthed penetrating tongue kind of kiss which took him completely by surprise and took his breath away.
It took him a moment to realise what was happening and that he needed to be joining in.
However once he had cottoned on he went about it with relish and his hands which had been resting in the small of her back quickly encroached inside her smock top and were caressing the naked skin of her back.
The music went from Fleetwood Mac to 10cc to Harry Nilsson and still they kissed.
It was only when the dulcet tones of Jeff Beck’s, Hi Ho Silver Lining, broke the spell that they suddenly realised they were not alone and Helen giggled and as she giggled Lance realised he was fully aroused beneath his toga which made it difficult to walk in any way other than gingerly.
Helen looked at him curiously before looking down at the protrusion and began giggling again.
They walked back sheepishly to their table just a Martha came stumbling back towards them.
She was laughing like a drain as she tottered along and when she reached them she slurred
“I fell over” and roared with laughter again
“I think we’d better get you home” Helen said
Martha was still laughing as they gathered their stuff together and steered a drunk and giggling Martha towards the door.
Once outside Helen said
“Hold on”
And began rummaging inside her bag and eventually fished out her wrap around skirt.
Lance watched her intently as she wrapped the skirt around her slender pins and when she caught him watching her she blushed and then smiled.
They set off down the road with Martha sandwiched between the two of them and he fully expected them to continue that way the whole way home but when they got to the station, the train was on the platform so they jumped on and before the train even left the station Martha was asleep and with her sister asleep Helen took the opportunity to hold his hand.
When they got off in the Dulcets, Martha seemed to have suddenly sobered up and got it into her head that they weren’t walking fast enough and yomped off ahead of them at pace.
Helen and Lance set off after her but she built up a good head of steam and then Helen took hold of his hand again
“Let her go” she said “she’ll be alright” and pulled him towards a convenient bus shelter and then dragged him inside.
“She’s almost home anyway” she said and kissed him, her hot darting tongue exploring his mouth while her hands tried to get inside his toga and his arousal tried to get out, when it suddenly occurred to him that his drunken fiancé was somewhere ahead of them in the dark and he was in a bus shelter snogging her sister so he stopped things before they went too far and said
“We need to find Martha, come on let’s get you home”
She was reluctant to leave but she nodded her ascent and followed him and they walked the rest of the way holding hands.
(Part 07)
Helen and Lance reached Meadow Lea Farm and they walked to the house and Helen opened the door
“Come in for coffee” she said
His head was swimming with the evenings events, and he needed to think so he shook his head.
“Please” she begged “just coffee”
Lance agreed and Helen took his hand and led him inside.
Although the thought never occurred to him at that precise moment he really had no choice but to go in as his street clothes were in a bag in Martha’s room.
At the bottom of the stairs she whispered
“Put the kettle on and I’ll go and check on Martha”
Lance nodded and went through to the kitchen and filled the kettle and flicked the switch before walking back to the lounge just as Helen walked lightly down the stairs, she was barefoot and wearing a full length white cotton Kaftan and she was carrying his street clothes in a carrier bag.
“Martha is spark out” she said as she closed the distance between them and he got a sudden whiff of freshly applied perfume and he was intoxicated by it.
Lance was also very aroused as he believed that perfume was the only other thing she was wearing apart from the kaftan.
Helen smiled and in an instant her mouth was over his.
They were hot and urgent kisses far more eager than on the dance floor and more intense than in the bus shelter.
Lance broke away and asked
“What about your Dad”
“He’s in Sharpington, so is Uncle Donald and Auntie Margot and Ken is at his girlfriends and Katie sleeps like the dead” she replied
“What about Martha?”
Helen responded to his question by pressing her mouth against his again and once more tried to get inside his toga and unlike in the bus shelter this time she succeeded.
They made love on the sofa as his fiancé slept in the room above them and it was the perfect culmination of his years of longing.
Afterwards they lay panting on the sofa loosely covered by her Kaftan before she took him to her room and they made love again.
It was almost dawn when Helen woke him with a kiss.
“It’s time to go sweetheart” she said softly.
Lance returned her kiss with interest but Helen curtailed the embrace and slipped her Kaftan back on and went downstairs to retrieve his bag of street clothes and when she returned she sat on the bed and watched him as he quietly got dressed.
They tiptoed down the stairs and stood on the doorstep and kissed and then she said
“I love you” and his heart soared and they kissed again and he quite reasonably believed it was a new beginning, he certainly wasn’t thinking that it was the end.
“I never did get a coffee” he said and she giggled
Lance walked towards the gate and turned around and waved to her from across the Farm Yard and she blew him a kiss.
The dawn had fully broken by then and as he turned and waved once again the birds sang out their morning song that echoed Lance’s joy.
(Part 08)
As he left Helen on that joyous morning he thought that the bright dawn heralded a bright new beginning, a new dawn for a new start, but how wrong he was.
When he went to the Farm the next day Helen was conspicuous by her absence and his new beginning turned out to be a false dawn, a case of the same old same old.
She had gone to Northchapel to stay with friends and he was left in limbo and he didn’t know how to behave around Martha, who was oblivious of the fact that he and Helen had made love while she slept.
He was confused, was it over between them or not, and were he and Helen a couple or not?
If Martha ever knew about what happened between Helen and Lance that night she never mentioned it and her behaviour towards him was unaltered.
It was a month after the fancy dress party when Helen finally reappeared.
But it was another week after that before he got her on her own because she was avoiding him.
He took a day off from the Windmill Farm, which caused a bit of a ruck between him and his father, but he shrugged it off and made his way over to the Palfreys.
He waited in the copse beside the farm, where he had a good view of the comings and goings from the house and he waited until everyone had either left for the day or gone about their work.
The weather had been very hot for the previous few weeks and that day was no different even that early the heat was beginning to build.
He gave it another half an hour just to make sure no one returned and then he left the wood, climbed the fence and crossed the yard.
He let himself in the front door and tiptoed through the lounge and dining room and as he approached the kitchen door he looked in and he could see her at the kitchen sink.
As she stopped what she was doing she dried her hands and turned around just as he stepped through the kitchen door.
Helen gasped when she saw him and then almost instantly she dissolved into tears and ran in to his arms.
After some consoling he asked her
“Why have you been avoiding me?”
“Because I love you” she replied “but I also love Martha”
She sobbed uncontrollably again
“Didn’t that night mean anything to you?” he asked coldly and pushed her away
“It meant everything to me” she screamed “that’s why I feel so guilty, so wretched”
She turned away from him but he took hold of her arm and pulled her back into his arms.
After he had calmed her down and dried her tears they talked calmly and then she took him to her Aunt and Uncle’s bed and they stayed there all day.
When he kissed her goodbye that day it was the last time and furthermore he planned for it to be the last time he ever saw her.
Helen couldn’t live with the guilt of what she had done and even though she loved him desperately she vowed that they could never be together.
So after their brief affair Helen went back to University to do her masters.
Martha and Lance split up soon afterwards, he told everyone it was because he wanted a family and she didn’t but the truth was his heart wasn’t in it anymore if indeed it ever really had been.
In truth after sleeping with Helen, making love to Martha always felt like second best.
He knew it would hurt her when he broke off the engagement but Martha was a lovely girl and she deserved better than him.
She deserved someone who really loved her the way he loved Helen.
(Part 09)
After parting with Helen and breaking up with Martha he left Windmill Farm and moved to his Uncles Farm near Highfinch, he told his father he wanted to gain some varied experience so he would be better equipped to take over from him.
But what he really wanted to do was to wash his hands of the Palfreys once and for all.
And moving to Highfinch for a lengthy stay would achieve that or so he thought.
His cousin Dave had a mobile disco, he also had transport, he had all the gear, all the gigs and all the gab but he didn’t have a driving licence, he could drive tractors but he didn’t have a licence to go on the road.
So Dave persuaded him to be his roadie, he would drive him to the gigs and help him set up, then at the end of the night, pack away and drive him home, simplicity itself.
One night a little under a year after he broke Martha’s heart they were doing a gig at Purplemere college an in between set up and break down his time was his own.
Sometimes Lance would stay in the venue for the evening, other times he might have a sleep in the van or as he did on one particular occasion he went down the road for a pint.
When he returned to the venue he discarded his cigarette end as he walked up the steps to the front door he noticed a blonde girl to one side of the door obviously crying.
“Are you alright?” he asked and as she turned around she was wiping her eyes
“Yes thank you” she replied and then she smiled at him in recognition.
It was Katie Palfrey and when she saw it was Lance she burst into tears again and ran to him.
“Here we go again” he thought another crying Palfrey girl, but he was not the same sympathetic man he was when he held a sobbing Helen in his arms in the Palfreys kitchen.
She was crying over being discarded by a shit of a boyfriend, she obviously shared her sister’s habit of making bad choices.
Nor was he the same person Katie had a crush on when she was 15 years old, that man was gone forever.
His heart had hardened since then and he was ashamed to recall in later years but he took advantage of her vulnerability and made love to her in the back of the van.
Well more precisely they had sex, there was no love involved in the act at least not on his side.
They met up a few more times after that, purely for the sex as far as he was concerned and then when it was clear she wanted more he dumped her and there were more tears.
The significance of that meeting with a crying Katie Palfrey in Purplemere didn’t strike him at the time.
But it facilitated his having slept with all three of Richard Palfrey’s daughters.
But when it did occur to him he felt no pride in that dubious accomplishment.
It did however amuse him to wonder if Uncle Donald would have seen any wit in the fact that he had bedded all three of his nieces.
(Part 10)
After he broke up with Katie he hoped that that would be the last he heard of the Palfreys but of course life just wasn’t like that.
He had spent two years working with his Uncle up in Highfinch when he decided it was time to go home.
He was just turned 25 and was unattached and he hadn’t had a serious relationship since breaking up with Martha and wasn’t looking for one for that matter.
He threw himself into his work and for the next 18 months he thought of nothing else and it took some severe arm twisting by his mates to persuade him to go to the Mornington Beer Festival.
The Beer Festival was a two day event and as was the norm it was being held in the grounds of Mornington Manor which was only a short walk from Windmill Farm.
In addition to his mates they were accompanied by two young girls, Sally and Linda, who were the girlfriends of two of his mates.
The girls were gregarious, bubbly and outgoing and everybody liked them, but Lance just found them annoying in the extreme and the moment he saw them he regretted his decision to go.
Everything about them was loud and brash there was nothing that could be in any way considered to be subdued in either of them.
Garishly bright multi-coloured clothes, excessive quantities of jewelry and too much makeup.
After an hour in their company he was ready to throw in the towel but decided on one more drink.
They arrived outside the main beer tent, which was crowded and noisy.
As they made their way to the bar he decided he wasn’t up for it and hung back in preparation to slip away into the crowd, he got as far as the door when he was stopped dead in his tracks.
He was staring into the eyes of an angel whose brunette hair framed the classical beauty of her face and he was once again smitten.
“Lance” She said and smiled “is it really you?”
“Hi Helen”
“Hello stranger” She said smiling broadly, she still had the same lovely laughing eyes which narrowed when she smiled, which he remembered was often, and her smile illuminated her face.
Her friends said something about getting to the bar but he wasn’t really paying attention.
“I’ll catch you up” she responded to them
“God it’s good to see you” Helen said
“Yes it is” he agreed but was incapable of forming a more informative sentence, such was his state of shock.
“Would you like a drink?” he asked
“Yes please” she replied “But not here, somewhere quieter”
“Let’s go to the pub that will be deserted today” Lance suggested
“Ok then” she agreed
“It’s so good to see you” she said as they walked towards the Old Mill Inn “I thought you were in Highfinch”
“I was” he replied “I’ve been back about 18 months”
“I suppose you must be married and settled down by now” she mused
“No I’m still single” he replied “I decided relationships weren’t worth all the heartache, what about you?”
“The same” she said “I decided to give up on assholes that treated me like shit”
“A good choice” Lance agreed as they approached the pub.
“And anyway I let the only decent man I’ve ever known slip through my fingers”
“What?” he exclaimed coming to a halt
“I still love you” Helen said “I loved you then and the moment I saw you again it confirmed what I’ve always believed, I love you still”
“I never stopped loving you” Lance said “And I tried, really hard”
“Then I think it’s time we did something about it” she said
“What about Martha?” he asked
“She’s happily married and lives in Finchbottom, she’s moved on” Helen replied
“So we will be hurting no one by being together, but by being apart we are hurting ourselves and I don’t want to hurt anymore”
“Nor do I” he said and sealed it with a kiss
Helen and Lance married the following year and had three children and by the time they celebrated their 35 wedding anniversary they hand 2 grandchildren.
So as for the other two Palfrey girls, in the year after Lance split up with Martha she gained four stones and married a ginger haired accountant, and they’re still married and she never had any children.
Katie on the other hand married three times and had a child from each, all of them girls, and they became some other young man’s nightmare.
In the seventies Mornington-By-Mere was a busy little village and thriving with Valentine St George as the Baron in residence.
Throughout its history the Village of Mornington was largely dependent on agriculture for its survival but RAF Mornington as a fully operational front line bomber station brought additional prosperity.
However the farms of the Vale were still crucial to the health of the welfare of the inhabitants.
One such farm was Windmill Farm run by the Hall family and had been for six generations but the next generation was in doubt as Lance, the sole heir of the Hall family had doubts about his future and in particular at the age of 18 he couldn’t see himself as a farmer.
It was that doubt which shaped his thinking for the next four years and his interactions with the Palfrey girls of nearby Meadow Lea Farm in the Dulcets.
The Dulcets were a collection of villages and hamlets such as Dulcet Meadow, Dulcet St Mary, Dulcet Green and the nearest one to Meadow Lea, Dulcet-on-Brooke.
The narrative of Lance Hall and the Palfrey girls is not intended to be a boastful tale of conquest and at the time he was not proud to have done what he eventually did and the eventual outcome was not even the intended one, in fact in the four year period of Lance’s life that this story covers, the thought never once crossed his mind that it might happen and it certainly wasn’t desired, it just happened but he never regretted the final outcome and indeed thanked God for it.
It was 1975 when it all began and Lance Hall was just 18 years old when he met Helen Palfrey for the first time.
It was a cold grey Monday morning, so grey and dismal it was clear rain wasn’t far away.
He was visiting a friend in Shallowfield that morning and he had just stepped off the bus when the girl in front of him dropped her umbrella.
Lance bent down and picked it up and when he stood up again she had turned around and he was staring into the eyes of an angel whose brunette hair framed the classical beauty of her face.
“Thank you” She said and smiled and he was instantly smitten.
But as taken with her as he was, he was completely struck dumb and all he could do was return her smile and hand her the umbrella and that would probably have been that, had it not been for the fact that she was visiting the same friend that he was.
Although he had never met her before it turned out that they were both members of the Finchbottom Vale Young Farmers Association.
The reason they both happened to be meeting Yvonne Bird in Shallowfield that day was to sign up for some part time work to earn some extra money and in Helen’s case it was to swell her coffers before she started University.
(Part 02)
Over the next few months they became very close friends but sadly no more than that.
It turned out that they had several mutual friends and they kind of fell into a sociable group of a dozen or more friends who would go out either in one big group or smaller ones and go bowling, barn dancing or to the seaside at Sharpington or any number of things, the pub quite often.
And all of these many and varied social activities they participated in, but try as he may he never made any inroads into her heart.
Another bi-product of Lance and Helen socialising in the same group was his introduction to the Palfrey family and their farm.
Windmill Farm in Mornington was the larger of the two, which had at its center the large farmhouse, parts of which dated back six centuries.
It had been added to over the years to accommodate the growing Hall clan until it was now comprised of six upstairs bedrooms and an equal number of rooms on the ground floor.
There was also milking sheds, barns, hen houses, assorted out buildings and a farm cottage.
Meadow Lea Farm on the other hand was smaller and less diverse in nature but it had been around every bit as long and the Palfreys had worked the land to great effect.
Helen’s widowed father, Richard was a quiet kindly man who seldom spoke, while her uncle, Donald on the other hand never shut up and had a dry wit and if you were in the right frame of mind he could be hysterically funny.
If on the other hand you were not in the mood for it then he was just bloody annoying.
He was an accountant by profession which is a humourless occupation at the best of times which is why he over compensated.
Margot, her Aunt was a real battle-axe who had a face that could warp wood.
She was a Theatre Sister at the Winston Churchill Hospital in Abbottsford where he suspected she probably did unpleasant things to patients probably while they were unconscious.
Her Aunt and Uncle had moved to the Meadow Lea after her mother was diagnosed with terminal cancer and much to her annoyance they never went home again.
Helens eldest sibling was Ken who was twenty one years old and was a farmer like his father, while he inherited his uncle’s liking for being a wit he sadly he didn’t possess any but he was a good farmer.
Then came the three sisters, Helen aged 18, Martha 16 and 15 year old Katie and considering the fact they were sisters they couldn’t have been more different from each other personality and appearance wise.
They all had something around the eyes that bound them as kin, provided they were all together in a small room and you could compare them closely.
In a crowd however you would never have picked them out as siblings and furthermore they had absolutely nothing in common other than the same parentage and their shared beauty and of course an unbreakable love for each other.
(Part 03)
Helen was the oldest of the Palfrey girls at 18, the same age as Lance and was the tallest by several inches and she was blessed with stunning legs, in fact legs so stunning that they had never been surpassed in his eyes.
She had long brunette hair that fell over her slender shoulders she was also very slim, a size 12 in old money, God alone knows what the modern equivalent is.
She was not overly endowed in the bust department but he always thought she was perfectly in proportion.
Helen was also keenly intelligent and delightfully funny with the dirtiest laugh he had ever heard.
But despite all of that she didn’t have a clue how gorgeous she was and as a result she had a succession of failed relationships with unsuitable men who used her, abused her and then dumped her and managed to leave her thinking she deserved it.
Lance would never have treated her that way because he loved her and he would have cherished her if he’d had the opportunity.
One of her wider social group was Helen’s sister Martha, she was the middle one of the three and was a few months short of 17.
She was brunette as well but she didn’t suffer from Helen’s lack of self-confidence in fact her problem was that she thought she was very attractive.
In fact Martha actually thought she was more attractive than she really was.
She used to borrow her sister Helen’s clothes which didn’t fit her.
Martha actually thought that if she squeezed her size 14 arse into her sister’s size 12 knickers that she actually had a size 12 arse.
Only she knew why she did it, because she was attractive in her own right, just not as attractive as her sisters.
Perhaps she envied Helen’s slim figure and so tried to be her, but she was on a hiding to nothing because she was very definitely not Helen.
Katie was the youngest at 15 and she was Blonde and full of self-confidence but she could afford to be as she had everything, a delicious figure, a bubbly personality and an infectious sense of fun.
Oh yes Katie was funny and sexy and furthermore she had a crush on Lance, and he was as flattered as hell and had he been 3 years younger and not in love with Helen he would have snapped her up in a heartbeat.
As the months went by and Helen went from one disastrous, ill-considered boyfriend to the next, he sat on the side-lines watching then one day when she had just picked herself up from yet another car crash of a relationship Lance decided he should just ask her out and be done with it.
That decision proved to be a colossal mistake.
He wasn’t her type apparently.
“No I guess I’m not” he said “that’s because I’m not an asshole that treats you like shit”
After that exchange they didn’t talk for three months.
(Part 04)
When Helen and Lance finally began talking again he found that nothing had changed
He was still desperately in love with her but she still just wanted them to be friends.
That was the moment it dawned on him that it was never going to happen for them, and he thought he should have walked away there and then but he didn’t.
Instead he asked out her sister Martha who was then 17.
There’s no doubt that initially he went out with Martha because it was a way for him to be close to Helen but at the same time he could still have a life.
It was a dangerous enterprise to undertake on several levels and perhaps the most hazardous was the fact that with Martha’s facial features she had the most chance of ending up looking like her hatchet faced Aunt which was a scary thought.
That summer Martha gave him her virginity in a tent in Sharpinghead not perhaps the most romantic of ways but it seemed to him as good a place as any at the time.
Two months later they were engaged and Helen left for University.
Everything seemed to be working out for the best Lance loved Martha even though she wasn’t her sister and they were planning their future together and Helen was getting on with her life and working hard towards her degree and still going out with bastards.
But every time Helen came home from University the wound would open up again and she filled his every waking thought.
One Christmas when she was home he was making love to Martha in her bedroom and he actually imagined it was Helen so he broke up with her on New Year’s Eve.
The New Year began with Martha in tears in one room and Helen demanding to know what the hell was going on in another.
“Why are you breaking up with her?” she demanded for the third time. “She really loves you”
“Because I’m in love with someone else” he finally replied
“Who?” she asked
“You really have to ask” Lance replied
She looked blankly for a moment and then it dawned on her
“You can’t still be in love with me”
“Well I am” he retorted and then she sat down and lit a cigarette
“I thought you’d gotten over me” she said
“Oh yes you would think so wouldn’t you” he snapped
“Well you should have” she barked “I’ve given you no encouragement”
“Yes I should have” he said “then I wouldn’t see your face when I’m making love to Martha”
Lance left then and went home before she could respond.
Two days later he received a letter with a hand written envelope, in a familiar hand smelling of her perfume.
Helen had written him a letter, and his heart soared, and it took him half an hour to work up the courage to open it and another thirty seconds to throw it in the bin.
Three hand written pages in her elegant hand, extolling the virtues of her younger sister and begging him to change his mind.
Three long hand written pages and not one word of love for him.
He resolved then and there to break the chain that bound him to her and run for the hills.
After a week he had almost gone a whole day without having a drink but his determination was strong.
Until one cold wet night when there was a knock on the door and Martha stood there soaked to the skin and crying and he was trapped again.
For the next year or so everything seemed to have settled down mainly because Helen and Lance largely avoided each other.
In addition to his work on the farm he was working a lot of extra hours trying to stash some money in the savings for their impending nuptials and Helen was busy working on her dissertation and Lance thought perhaps he had finally turned a corner.
Which is why he lowered his guard, and from Easter of that year onwards Helen and he were back on speaking terms again.
And as there had been no repeat of picturing of her siblings face while making love he was in a positive frame of mind.
(Part 05)
Martha had been lured away from farming by her Uncle into the world of accountancy and had been working for a big Aerospace Company in Finchbottom for over a year, they probably employed a fifth of the town’s available workforce at the time and she earned good money.
But better than that they had a huge sports and social club, and better still it was heavily subsidised.
That summer, there was a big fancy dress party and Martha got them tickets and she had a spare one which without asking him first, she gave to Helen who was back from University, having graduated with a first.
Lance was cross when he first found out, but Martha was so proud of her sister for graduating he relented.
Also Martha said she needed cheering up because she had just broken up with her latest waster of a boyfriend.
The latest pig, in a long line of pigs, so no surprise there.
On the night of the party it was a warm dry night and as the Palfreys Farm was only about a mile from the railway station, and the social club was a similar distance away at the other end, they decided to walk to and from the station, in costume.
Lance went to the Palfreys in his street clothes and changed in Martha’s bedroom.
Martha was dressed as a flapper in a dress she’d made herself and she looked really hot and Lance went as a Roman, wearing sandals and a toga.
Helen though was dressed as a toddler, in a smock top and a nappy, which showed off her gorgeous long legs to great effect, and her brunette hair was tied up in little bunches and she had a dummy on a ribbon around her neck.
For the walk to the club she wore a long wrap around skirt to protect her modesty.
When they got there they found the fancy dress party was already in full swing and was very well attended so much so that the hall was packed.
Lance noticed he was not the only Roman at the forum by long way and Martha was not the only Flapper, Helen however was unique as always.
With the heavily subsidised bar the drink was flowing freely and the crowd were exuberant in the extreme, some were so exuberant that they could barely stand.
As the evening wore on much alcohol was consumed and overall it was a very enjoyable night out indeed and Lance felt at last that he was able to enjoy being in Helen’s company without the old feelings coming to the fore.
Martha was close to having had one Bacardi and coke too many but insisted she was fine.
“Have a dance with Helen, I need a pee” she said and tottered off to the ladies.
“Great idea” Helen said and grabbed his hand and dragged him off to the middle of the dance floor just as Fleetwood Mac’s, Albatross began.
She stopped and turned around to face him and wrapped her skinny arms around his neck and then inexplicably she kissed him.
(Part 06)
When Helen kissed him out of the blue it was not a sisterly smack or a friendly peck, this was an open mouthed penetrating tongue kind of kiss which took him completely by surprise and took his breath away.
It took him a moment to realise what was happening and that he needed to be joining in.
However once he had cottoned on he went about it with relish and his hands which had been resting in the small of her back quickly encroached inside her smock top and were caressing the naked skin of her back.
The music went from Fleetwood Mac to 10cc to Harry Nilsson and still they kissed.
It was only when the dulcet tones of Jeff Beck’s, Hi Ho Silver Lining, broke the spell that they suddenly realised they were not alone and Helen giggled and as she giggled Lance realised he was fully aroused beneath his toga which made it difficult to walk in any way other than gingerly.
Helen looked at him curiously before looking down at the protrusion and began giggling again.
They walked back sheepishly to their table just a Martha came stumbling back towards them.
She was laughing like a drain as she tottered along and when she reached them she slurred
“I fell over” and roared with laughter again
“I think we’d better get you home” Helen said
Martha was still laughing as they gathered their stuff together and steered a drunk and giggling Martha towards the door.
Once outside Helen said
“Hold on”
And began rummaging inside her bag and eventually fished out her wrap around skirt.
Lance watched her intently as she wrapped the skirt around her slender pins and when she caught him watching her she blushed and then smiled.
They set off down the road with Martha sandwiched between the two of them and he fully expected them to continue that way the whole way home but when they got to the station, the train was on the platform so they jumped on and before the train even left the station Martha was asleep and with her sister asleep Helen took the opportunity to hold his hand.
When they got off in the Dulcets, Martha seemed to have suddenly sobered up and got it into her head that they weren’t walking fast enough and yomped off ahead of them at pace.
Helen and Lance set off after her but she built up a good head of steam and then Helen took hold of his hand again
“Let her go” she said “she’ll be alright” and pulled him towards a convenient bus shelter and then dragged him inside.
“She’s almost home anyway” she said and kissed him, her hot darting tongue exploring his mouth while her hands tried to get inside his toga and his arousal tried to get out, when it suddenly occurred to him that his drunken fiancé was somewhere ahead of them in the dark and he was in a bus shelter snogging her sister so he stopped things before they went too far and said
“We need to find Martha, come on let’s get you home”
She was reluctant to leave but she nodded her ascent and followed him and they walked the rest of the way holding hands.
(Part 07)
Helen and Lance reached Meadow Lea Farm and they walked to the house and Helen opened the door
“Come in for coffee” she said
His head was swimming with the evenings events, and he needed to think so he shook his head.
“Please” she begged “just coffee”
Lance agreed and Helen took his hand and led him inside.
Although the thought never occurred to him at that precise moment he really had no choice but to go in as his street clothes were in a bag in Martha’s room.
At the bottom of the stairs she whispered
“Put the kettle on and I’ll go and check on Martha”
Lance nodded and went through to the kitchen and filled the kettle and flicked the switch before walking back to the lounge just as Helen walked lightly down the stairs, she was barefoot and wearing a full length white cotton Kaftan and she was carrying his street clothes in a carrier bag.
“Martha is spark out” she said as she closed the distance between them and he got a sudden whiff of freshly applied perfume and he was intoxicated by it.
Lance was also very aroused as he believed that perfume was the only other thing she was wearing apart from the kaftan.
Helen smiled and in an instant her mouth was over his.
They were hot and urgent kisses far more eager than on the dance floor and more intense than in the bus shelter.
Lance broke away and asked
“What about your Dad”
“He’s in Sharpington, so is Uncle Donald and Auntie Margot and Ken is at his girlfriends and Katie sleeps like the dead” she replied
“What about Martha?”
Helen responded to his question by pressing her mouth against his again and once more tried to get inside his toga and unlike in the bus shelter this time she succeeded.
They made love on the sofa as his fiancé slept in the room above them and it was the perfect culmination of his years of longing.
Afterwards they lay panting on the sofa loosely covered by her Kaftan before she took him to her room and they made love again.
It was almost dawn when Helen woke him with a kiss.
“It’s time to go sweetheart” she said softly.
Lance returned her kiss with interest but Helen curtailed the embrace and slipped her Kaftan back on and went downstairs to retrieve his bag of street clothes and when she returned she sat on the bed and watched him as he quietly got dressed.
They tiptoed down the stairs and stood on the doorstep and kissed and then she said
“I love you” and his heart soared and they kissed again and he quite reasonably believed it was a new beginning, he certainly wasn’t thinking that it was the end.
“I never did get a coffee” he said and she giggled
Lance walked towards the gate and turned around and waved to her from across the Farm Yard and she blew him a kiss.
The dawn had fully broken by then and as he turned and waved once again the birds sang out their morning song that echoed Lance’s joy.
(Part 08)
As he left Helen on that joyous morning he thought that the bright dawn heralded a bright new beginning, a new dawn for a new start, but how wrong he was.
When he went to the Farm the next day Helen was conspicuous by her absence and his new beginning turned out to be a false dawn, a case of the same old same old.
She had gone to Northchapel to stay with friends and he was left in limbo and he didn’t know how to behave around Martha, who was oblivious of the fact that he and Helen had made love while she slept.
He was confused, was it over between them or not, and were he and Helen a couple or not?
If Martha ever knew about what happened between Helen and Lance that night she never mentioned it and her behaviour towards him was unaltered.
It was a month after the fancy dress party when Helen finally reappeared.
But it was another week after that before he got her on her own because she was avoiding him.
He took a day off from the Windmill Farm, which caused a bit of a ruck between him and his father, but he shrugged it off and made his way over to the Palfreys.
He waited in the copse beside the farm, where he had a good view of the comings and goings from the house and he waited until everyone had either left for the day or gone about their work.
The weather had been very hot for the previous few weeks and that day was no different even that early the heat was beginning to build.
He gave it another half an hour just to make sure no one returned and then he left the wood, climbed the fence and crossed the yard.
He let himself in the front door and tiptoed through the lounge and dining room and as he approached the kitchen door he looked in and he could see her at the kitchen sink.
As she stopped what she was doing she dried her hands and turned around just as he stepped through the kitchen door.
Helen gasped when she saw him and then almost instantly she dissolved into tears and ran in to his arms.
After some consoling he asked her
“Why have you been avoiding me?”
“Because I love you” she replied “but I also love Martha”
She sobbed uncontrollably again
“Didn’t that night mean anything to you?” he asked coldly and pushed her away
“It meant everything to me” she screamed “that’s why I feel so guilty, so wretched”
She turned away from him but he took hold of her arm and pulled her back into his arms.
After he had calmed her down and dried her tears they talked calmly and then she took him to her Aunt and Uncle’s bed and they stayed there all day.
When he kissed her goodbye that day it was the last time and furthermore he planned for it to be the last time he ever saw her.
Helen couldn’t live with the guilt of what she had done and even though she loved him desperately she vowed that they could never be together.
So after their brief affair Helen went back to University to do her masters.
Martha and Lance split up soon afterwards, he told everyone it was because he wanted a family and she didn’t but the truth was his heart wasn’t in it anymore if indeed it ever really had been.
In truth after sleeping with Helen, making love to Martha always felt like second best.
He knew it would hurt her when he broke off the engagement but Martha was a lovely girl and she deserved better than him.
She deserved someone who really loved her the way he loved Helen.
(Part 09)
After parting with Helen and breaking up with Martha he left Windmill Farm and moved to his Uncles Farm near Highfinch, he told his father he wanted to gain some varied experience so he would be better equipped to take over from him.
But what he really wanted to do was to wash his hands of the Palfreys once and for all.
And moving to Highfinch for a lengthy stay would achieve that or so he thought.
His cousin Dave had a mobile disco, he also had transport, he had all the gear, all the gigs and all the gab but he didn’t have a driving licence, he could drive tractors but he didn’t have a licence to go on the road.
So Dave persuaded him to be his roadie, he would drive him to the gigs and help him set up, then at the end of the night, pack away and drive him home, simplicity itself.
One night a little under a year after he broke Martha’s heart they were doing a gig at Purplemere college an in between set up and break down his time was his own.
Sometimes Lance would stay in the venue for the evening, other times he might have a sleep in the van or as he did on one particular occasion he went down the road for a pint.
When he returned to the venue he discarded his cigarette end as he walked up the steps to the front door he noticed a blonde girl to one side of the door obviously crying.
“Are you alright?” he asked and as she turned around she was wiping her eyes
“Yes thank you” she replied and then she smiled at him in recognition.
It was Katie Palfrey and when she saw it was Lance she burst into tears again and ran to him.
“Here we go again” he thought another crying Palfrey girl, but he was not the same sympathetic man he was when he held a sobbing Helen in his arms in the Palfreys kitchen.
She was crying over being discarded by a shit of a boyfriend, she obviously shared her sister’s habit of making bad choices.
Nor was he the same person Katie had a crush on when she was 15 years old, that man was gone forever.
His heart had hardened since then and he was ashamed to recall in later years but he took advantage of her vulnerability and made love to her in the back of the van.
Well more precisely they had sex, there was no love involved in the act at least not on his side.
They met up a few more times after that, purely for the sex as far as he was concerned and then when it was clear she wanted more he dumped her and there were more tears.
The significance of that meeting with a crying Katie Palfrey in Purplemere didn’t strike him at the time.
But it facilitated his having slept with all three of Richard Palfrey’s daughters.
But when it did occur to him he felt no pride in that dubious accomplishment.
It did however amuse him to wonder if Uncle Donald would have seen any wit in the fact that he had bedded all three of his nieces.
(Part 10)
After he broke up with Katie he hoped that that would be the last he heard of the Palfreys but of course life just wasn’t like that.
He had spent two years working with his Uncle up in Highfinch when he decided it was time to go home.
He was just turned 25 and was unattached and he hadn’t had a serious relationship since breaking up with Martha and wasn’t looking for one for that matter.
He threw himself into his work and for the next 18 months he thought of nothing else and it took some severe arm twisting by his mates to persuade him to go to the Mornington Beer Festival.
The Beer Festival was a two day event and as was the norm it was being held in the grounds of Mornington Manor which was only a short walk from Windmill Farm.
In addition to his mates they were accompanied by two young girls, Sally and Linda, who were the girlfriends of two of his mates.
The girls were gregarious, bubbly and outgoing and everybody liked them, but Lance just found them annoying in the extreme and the moment he saw them he regretted his decision to go.
Everything about them was loud and brash there was nothing that could be in any way considered to be subdued in either of them.
Garishly bright multi-coloured clothes, excessive quantities of jewelry and too much makeup.
After an hour in their company he was ready to throw in the towel but decided on one more drink.
They arrived outside the main beer tent, which was crowded and noisy.
As they made their way to the bar he decided he wasn’t up for it and hung back in preparation to slip away into the crowd, he got as far as the door when he was stopped dead in his tracks.
He was staring into the eyes of an angel whose brunette hair framed the classical beauty of her face and he was once again smitten.
“Lance” She said and smiled “is it really you?”
“Hi Helen”
“Hello stranger” She said smiling broadly, she still had the same lovely laughing eyes which narrowed when she smiled, which he remembered was often, and her smile illuminated her face.
Her friends said something about getting to the bar but he wasn’t really paying attention.
“I’ll catch you up” she responded to them
“God it’s good to see you” Helen said
“Yes it is” he agreed but was incapable of forming a more informative sentence, such was his state of shock.
“Would you like a drink?” he asked
“Yes please” she replied “But not here, somewhere quieter”
“Let’s go to the pub that will be deserted today” Lance suggested
“Ok then” she agreed
“It’s so good to see you” she said as they walked towards the Old Mill Inn “I thought you were in Highfinch”
“I was” he replied “I’ve been back about 18 months”
“I suppose you must be married and settled down by now” she mused
“No I’m still single” he replied “I decided relationships weren’t worth all the heartache, what about you?”
“The same” she said “I decided to give up on assholes that treated me like shit”
“A good choice” Lance agreed as they approached the pub.
“And anyway I let the only decent man I’ve ever known slip through my fingers”
“What?” he exclaimed coming to a halt
“I still love you” Helen said “I loved you then and the moment I saw you again it confirmed what I’ve always believed, I love you still”
“I never stopped loving you” Lance said “And I tried, really hard”
“Then I think it’s time we did something about it” she said
“What about Martha?” he asked
“She’s happily married and lives in Finchbottom, she’s moved on” Helen replied
“So we will be hurting no one by being together, but by being apart we are hurting ourselves and I don’t want to hurt anymore”
“Nor do I” he said and sealed it with a kiss
Helen and Lance married the following year and had three children and by the time they celebrated their 35 wedding anniversary they hand 2 grandchildren.
So as for the other two Palfrey girls, in the year after Lance split up with Martha she gained four stones and married a ginger haired accountant, and they’re still married and she never had any children.
Katie on the other hand married three times and had a child from each, all of them girls, and they became some other young man’s nightmare.
Downshire Diary – (34) Moonlighting
(Part 01)
Sharon Black was a pretty nurse with straw coloured hair, and despite the fact that she was almost six feet tall, she looked like a breadth of wind might blow her away.
But she was a very strong character and full of self-confidence, but it hadn’t always been that way because when she was a young girl she lived in the village of Bracefield in the Finchbottom Vale and she was painfully shy.
But that was a long time ago and now at the age of 33 she was comfortable in her own skin.
She hadn’t lived in Bracefield for many years and she lived alone in her own two bedroom house on a new development in the south of the town.
She had tried living with someone else and almost became engaged to him but after two months she realised two things, first that she didn’t love him and secondly that she preferred living alone.
Sharon was an oncology nurse by profession and worked at the Winston Churchill Hospital but in order to pay for her to live alone in her own house, which she loved, she had to supplement her income with some private work.
So she started moonlighting for a private nursing agency and did a wide variety of roles, evenings and weekends, the only thing she refused to do was to work at the Churchill Hospital where she worked out of, as she thought that was taking liberties.
So that was why every other weekend Sharon made her way up to a private house on the outskirts of the Village of Tipton in the north of the county.
It was a big Art Deco house built in the thirties, very elegant and very stylish but for its owner Michael Booth it had become like a prison because even a gilded cage was still a cage.
He was a good looking man in his late thirties slim and even elegant and he always smelt gorgeous but the reason for his imprisonment was his wife’s illness.
Sharon’s role in regard to Nuria Booth was palliative care.
Normally when Sharon was on the night shift all she had to do, apart from managing the patients medication was to just sit with them.
So it enabled her to nap quite a lot so as not to impact on her day job, and she was fortunate in one respect that she had never slept for more than 6 hours a night in her whole life.
But with the Booths she stayed for the whole weekend and by the beginning of June, Nuria was very far along and barely conscious.
It was about three o’clock in the morning when Sharon woke from a restful dose, so she checked the patient and then decided to go and get herself a hot drink.
She crept slowly and quietly down the stairs so as not to disturb Mr Booth.
Sharon tip toed her way down until she was startled by a sound, which made her stop and then after listening intently for a full minute she then carried on.
As she approached the kitchen she noticed a light under the door of his Study.
(Part 02)
Sharon Black crept slowly and quietly down the stairs from her patient Nuria Booth’s room so as not to disturb Mr Booth.
She tip toed her way down the staircase until she was startled by a sound, which made her stop and then after listening intently for a full minute she then carried on.
As she approached the kitchen she noticed a light under the door of his Study.
She made herself a drink and then went to investigate the light in the study and when she got closer she noticed the door was slightly ajar and she could see Michael Booth seated at his desk.
“Hello Mr Booth” Sharon said pushing the door open
“Is everything alright?” he said startled
“Yes I was just getting a drink” she replied
“Are you ok?” she asked and entered the room and approached him.
“If you’re having trouble sleeping I can give you something” she said
“I’m fine really” he said
“I don’t think you are” Sharon said and sat herself on the corner of his desk “So come on out with it”
He didn’t say anything immediately but Sharon noticed he was staring at her legs, and then he realised she had noticed and looked away.
“Well I’m ashamed to say it but…. I’m bored”
He admitted
“I can’t go out of the house and leave her but I can’t have people over here either”
“It’s not just that though is it?” she said as she noticed his eyes on her legs again.
“No” he agreed “I feel guilty because I resent her and her illness keeping me here”
“I see” she said
“Does that make me a terrible person?”
“Of course it doesn’t make you a terrible person Mr Booth”
“Please call me Michael”
“Of course it doesn’t make you a terrible person Michael” she said
“You love Nuria very much and it hurts like hell to watch her slipping away”
“She isn’t slipping away though is she? She’s dying by inches”
Michael said “and its torture”
Michael Booth was a very wealthy man with business interests all over Downshire but even with all his wealth he was helpless to help his wife.
“I know” she said “And all you can do is be there for her, hold her hand and talk to her, read to her, and let her hear your voice”
Michael nodded
“Any way I should get back” she said “Good night”
“Good night” Michael said and he watched her leave the room and as he had shown such an interest in her legs during their conversation she thought she would give him something more tantalizing to look at and walked out very slowly, and her boldness surprised her even though she was very self-confident.
Her brazenness of course was due to the fact that she had grown very fond of him over the months she had been nursing his wife.
But that night was the first time she realised that he was attracted to her.
“He really likes my legs” she thought as she climbed the stairs
(Part 03)
Although Sharon Black had grown very fond of Michael Booth in the months that she had been nursing his terminally ill wife, and flattered though she was when she caught him ogling her legs, she had far too much professional integrity to act on her feelings.
But he had undoubtedly awoken feelings in her that she thought had gone forever.
Michael Booth was a good looking man in his late thirties slim and even elegant and he always smelt gorgeous.
But despite his great wealth he was sad, lonely and guilty, sad because the woman he loved was dying, lonely because of his self-imposed imprisonment in his home and guilty because of his growing feelings for Nurse Black.
Sharon Black was not the only nurse that looked after Nuria, he had twenty four hour a day, and seven day a week cover but she was the only nurse he looked at with a lustful gaze was Sharon and not because she was the only attractive one among them, which was why he felt so guilty.
Because if he’s lusted over every woman that stepped over his threshold he could have written it off as simple objectifying.
But instead he was only attracted to Sharon so that was a horse of a different colour.
He loved his wife Nuria, and he had done for all of the 15 years they had been married and the two years they were together before that, but it was breaking his heart watching her decaying before his very eyes.
Sharon was fully aware that she was on his radar and not just because he had shown such an interest in her legs.
And although she had dismissed it as a possibility for all manner of reasons, inappropriate and unprofessional being only two of them, she still found herself looking forward to her weekends in Tipton every other weekend.
Michael was a lonely, soon to be widower, as his wife Nuria was dying.
Almost every waking moment he had thoughts of Sharon filling his head but he knew there would be no betrayal on his conscience.
He had far too much integrity to allow anything to happen like that and if he were to fall from grace the guilt would have lain heavy on him.
But he still felt guilty for having the thoughts in the first place, but it wasn’t just a physical thing, he really liked her and felt a connection to her.
Sharon was also conflicted having feelings for him whilst trying to remain loyal to her patient and so as she drove north from Abbottsford on Friday evening she promised herself that she wouldn’t do anything provocative or alluring but she promised herself that every time she set off but each time she failed.
Which was why when Sharon woke from a restful dose at three o’clock in the morning, after checking her patient, she decided to go downstairs because she knew that Michael would be sitting in his study.
She crept slowly and quietly down the stairs so as not to disturb him if he was asleep and so she tip toed her way down until she was startled by a sound and then she knew he was awake and when she got downstairs could see a light under the door of his Study.
(Part 04)
“Hello Michael” Sharon said pushing the study door open “trouble sleeping again?”
“I’m afraid so” he said
“I was just getting a drink” she replied “Would you like one?”
“No I’m fine” he said
“I’m just going to read for a bit”
Sharon sat herself on the corner of his desk and he immediately began staring at her legs, she was unaware at that moment that he was showing such an interest in her legs not that she was about to give him something even more tantalizing to look at.
She had seen in her peripheral vision that there was a book on the far corner of the desk so Sharon stood up and in one fluid movement turned around and reached across the desk to retrieve the book.
“So what are you reading?” she said without returning to the perpendicular.
“Dickens” he said in answer to her question while he stared at her wonderful figure as she was reaching over the desk but then his conscience got the better of him and he got up abruptly
“I think I’ll give it a miss after all” he said and left
As Sharon made herself a hot drink she reflected on the event that had occurred and thought that neither of them would be able to sleep any more that night.
After having her evening meal with Michael on Sunday, Sharon Said her goodbyes and headed home unbeknown to her that she would not be making the drive north for another weekend of moonlighting because three days later her patient Nuria finally ended her fight and slipped quietly away in the night.
So the next time she made the drive northward was to attend Nuria’s funeral, and she later found out that she was the only one of her nurses who bothered.
It was difficult when you were a palliative care nurse because all your patients died, and you couldn’t attend every funeral, so you just went to the ones where you had made a special connection, either with the patient of the family.
The funeral was held at St Hilda’s church in Tipton village and the wake was held at the Tipton Manor Hotel.
It was what Michael considered to be a proper funeral where everyone wore black, the men in black suits and ties and the women in the whole ensemble.
Which he always thought was nice, it was tradition, he liked tradition, and he also liked women in black and it would normally have been a source of titillation with all the women present dressed in black, but not of course on that day however as he was too emotionally drained to be interested in such things.
Even when he saw Sharon Black walking towards him, which was the first time he’d seen her out of uniform, he was unmoved.
But he was pleased to see her there nonetheless and he found her presence a great comfort and at the end of proceedings she held his hand and gave him her contact details.
“In case you want someone to talk to” she said and kissed his cheek.
(Part 05)
Sharon continued in palliative care at the Winston Churchill Hospital as well as moonlighting for the agency but all the while Michael wasn’t far from her thoughts but it wasn’t until more than three months after the funeral that she heard from him again.
It was a Sunday morning just after 3 am, she was doing a weekend shift in Shallowfield and he knew with her habit of taking a hot drink in the wee small hours when she was on duty that there was a reasonable chance he would find her awake.
She opened the email and it began
“I’m sitting in my study reading Dickens and I thought of you”
Over the weeks and months that followed emails between them continued more often than not in the middle of the night and she found that even when she wasn’t working she would wake at 3 am just to check her mail.
The content of the mails varied considerably so were very informative, explaining that he was back at work and looking to the future, and some were quite candid such as when he told her that he didn’t want to contact her as a grieving widower looking for a sounding board or a shoulder to cry on, he wanted to wait until he could contact her as a friend with potential.
By the time the first anniversary of Nuria death had come and gone the correspondence had become romantic in nature and often quite intimate.
But once the anniversary had passed the email traffic stalled and each of them was waiting for the other to say or do something so when after she had awoken at 3 am one Sunday morning at the end of June to find no email, she showered and dressed and was in the car heading north by 5.30am.
She arrived at the house on the outskirts of the Village of Tipton in the north of Downshire.
It was a big Art Deco house built in the thirties, very elegant and very stylish just like its owner.
She hadn’t seen him for over a year but she had the picture of him in her head.
He was a good looking man in his late thirties slim an even elegant and he always smelt gorgeous and she was really looking forward to having the fragrance in her nostrils again.
But as she stood on his porch her head were full of doubts and she suddenly felt foolish.
And she thought about turning tail and returning home but then the door opened and a smiling Michael was standing there.
“Come in” he said and Sharon walked nervously in as invited.
It was not like her she was normally ultra-confident but she stepped into the hall she felt very timid, and having got there she had no idea what to do next.
But it was no more than a minute or so after she’d walked in and taken off her coat before he took the initiative and took her in his arms.
Sharon Black was a pretty nurse with straw coloured hair, and despite the fact that she was almost six feet tall, she looked like a breadth of wind might blow her away.
But she was a very strong character and full of self-confidence, but it hadn’t always been that way because when she was a young girl she lived in the village of Bracefield in the Finchbottom Vale and she was painfully shy.
But that was a long time ago and now at the age of 33 she was comfortable in her own skin.
She hadn’t lived in Bracefield for many years and she lived alone in her own two bedroom house on a new development in the south of the town.
She had tried living with someone else and almost became engaged to him but after two months she realised two things, first that she didn’t love him and secondly that she preferred living alone.
Sharon was an oncology nurse by profession and worked at the Winston Churchill Hospital but in order to pay for her to live alone in her own house, which she loved, she had to supplement her income with some private work.
So she started moonlighting for a private nursing agency and did a wide variety of roles, evenings and weekends, the only thing she refused to do was to work at the Churchill Hospital where she worked out of, as she thought that was taking liberties.
So that was why every other weekend Sharon made her way up to a private house on the outskirts of the Village of Tipton in the north of the county.
It was a big Art Deco house built in the thirties, very elegant and very stylish but for its owner Michael Booth it had become like a prison because even a gilded cage was still a cage.
He was a good looking man in his late thirties slim and even elegant and he always smelt gorgeous but the reason for his imprisonment was his wife’s illness.
Sharon’s role in regard to Nuria Booth was palliative care.
Normally when Sharon was on the night shift all she had to do, apart from managing the patients medication was to just sit with them.
So it enabled her to nap quite a lot so as not to impact on her day job, and she was fortunate in one respect that she had never slept for more than 6 hours a night in her whole life.
But with the Booths she stayed for the whole weekend and by the beginning of June, Nuria was very far along and barely conscious.
It was about three o’clock in the morning when Sharon woke from a restful dose, so she checked the patient and then decided to go and get herself a hot drink.
She crept slowly and quietly down the stairs so as not to disturb Mr Booth.
Sharon tip toed her way down until she was startled by a sound, which made her stop and then after listening intently for a full minute she then carried on.
As she approached the kitchen she noticed a light under the door of his Study.
(Part 02)
Sharon Black crept slowly and quietly down the stairs from her patient Nuria Booth’s room so as not to disturb Mr Booth.
She tip toed her way down the staircase until she was startled by a sound, which made her stop and then after listening intently for a full minute she then carried on.
As she approached the kitchen she noticed a light under the door of his Study.
She made herself a drink and then went to investigate the light in the study and when she got closer she noticed the door was slightly ajar and she could see Michael Booth seated at his desk.
“Hello Mr Booth” Sharon said pushing the door open
“Is everything alright?” he said startled
“Yes I was just getting a drink” she replied
“Are you ok?” she asked and entered the room and approached him.
“If you’re having trouble sleeping I can give you something” she said
“I’m fine really” he said
“I don’t think you are” Sharon said and sat herself on the corner of his desk “So come on out with it”
He didn’t say anything immediately but Sharon noticed he was staring at her legs, and then he realised she had noticed and looked away.
“Well I’m ashamed to say it but…. I’m bored”
He admitted
“I can’t go out of the house and leave her but I can’t have people over here either”
“It’s not just that though is it?” she said as she noticed his eyes on her legs again.
“No” he agreed “I feel guilty because I resent her and her illness keeping me here”
“I see” she said
“Does that make me a terrible person?”
“Of course it doesn’t make you a terrible person Mr Booth”
“Please call me Michael”
“Of course it doesn’t make you a terrible person Michael” she said
“You love Nuria very much and it hurts like hell to watch her slipping away”
“She isn’t slipping away though is she? She’s dying by inches”
Michael said “and its torture”
Michael Booth was a very wealthy man with business interests all over Downshire but even with all his wealth he was helpless to help his wife.
“I know” she said “And all you can do is be there for her, hold her hand and talk to her, read to her, and let her hear your voice”
Michael nodded
“Any way I should get back” she said “Good night”
“Good night” Michael said and he watched her leave the room and as he had shown such an interest in her legs during their conversation she thought she would give him something more tantalizing to look at and walked out very slowly, and her boldness surprised her even though she was very self-confident.
Her brazenness of course was due to the fact that she had grown very fond of him over the months she had been nursing his wife.
But that night was the first time she realised that he was attracted to her.
“He really likes my legs” she thought as she climbed the stairs
(Part 03)
Although Sharon Black had grown very fond of Michael Booth in the months that she had been nursing his terminally ill wife, and flattered though she was when she caught him ogling her legs, she had far too much professional integrity to act on her feelings.
But he had undoubtedly awoken feelings in her that she thought had gone forever.
Michael Booth was a good looking man in his late thirties slim and even elegant and he always smelt gorgeous.
But despite his great wealth he was sad, lonely and guilty, sad because the woman he loved was dying, lonely because of his self-imposed imprisonment in his home and guilty because of his growing feelings for Nurse Black.
Sharon Black was not the only nurse that looked after Nuria, he had twenty four hour a day, and seven day a week cover but she was the only nurse he looked at with a lustful gaze was Sharon and not because she was the only attractive one among them, which was why he felt so guilty.
Because if he’s lusted over every woman that stepped over his threshold he could have written it off as simple objectifying.
But instead he was only attracted to Sharon so that was a horse of a different colour.
He loved his wife Nuria, and he had done for all of the 15 years they had been married and the two years they were together before that, but it was breaking his heart watching her decaying before his very eyes.
Sharon was fully aware that she was on his radar and not just because he had shown such an interest in her legs.
And although she had dismissed it as a possibility for all manner of reasons, inappropriate and unprofessional being only two of them, she still found herself looking forward to her weekends in Tipton every other weekend.
Michael was a lonely, soon to be widower, as his wife Nuria was dying.
Almost every waking moment he had thoughts of Sharon filling his head but he knew there would be no betrayal on his conscience.
He had far too much integrity to allow anything to happen like that and if he were to fall from grace the guilt would have lain heavy on him.
But he still felt guilty for having the thoughts in the first place, but it wasn’t just a physical thing, he really liked her and felt a connection to her.
Sharon was also conflicted having feelings for him whilst trying to remain loyal to her patient and so as she drove north from Abbottsford on Friday evening she promised herself that she wouldn’t do anything provocative or alluring but she promised herself that every time she set off but each time she failed.
Which was why when Sharon woke from a restful dose at three o’clock in the morning, after checking her patient, she decided to go downstairs because she knew that Michael would be sitting in his study.
She crept slowly and quietly down the stairs so as not to disturb him if he was asleep and so she tip toed her way down until she was startled by a sound and then she knew he was awake and when she got downstairs could see a light under the door of his Study.
(Part 04)
“Hello Michael” Sharon said pushing the study door open “trouble sleeping again?”
“I’m afraid so” he said
“I was just getting a drink” she replied “Would you like one?”
“No I’m fine” he said
“I’m just going to read for a bit”
Sharon sat herself on the corner of his desk and he immediately began staring at her legs, she was unaware at that moment that he was showing such an interest in her legs not that she was about to give him something even more tantalizing to look at.
She had seen in her peripheral vision that there was a book on the far corner of the desk so Sharon stood up and in one fluid movement turned around and reached across the desk to retrieve the book.
“So what are you reading?” she said without returning to the perpendicular.
“Dickens” he said in answer to her question while he stared at her wonderful figure as she was reaching over the desk but then his conscience got the better of him and he got up abruptly
“I think I’ll give it a miss after all” he said and left
As Sharon made herself a hot drink she reflected on the event that had occurred and thought that neither of them would be able to sleep any more that night.
After having her evening meal with Michael on Sunday, Sharon Said her goodbyes and headed home unbeknown to her that she would not be making the drive north for another weekend of moonlighting because three days later her patient Nuria finally ended her fight and slipped quietly away in the night.
So the next time she made the drive northward was to attend Nuria’s funeral, and she later found out that she was the only one of her nurses who bothered.
It was difficult when you were a palliative care nurse because all your patients died, and you couldn’t attend every funeral, so you just went to the ones where you had made a special connection, either with the patient of the family.
The funeral was held at St Hilda’s church in Tipton village and the wake was held at the Tipton Manor Hotel.
It was what Michael considered to be a proper funeral where everyone wore black, the men in black suits and ties and the women in the whole ensemble.
Which he always thought was nice, it was tradition, he liked tradition, and he also liked women in black and it would normally have been a source of titillation with all the women present dressed in black, but not of course on that day however as he was too emotionally drained to be interested in such things.
Even when he saw Sharon Black walking towards him, which was the first time he’d seen her out of uniform, he was unmoved.
But he was pleased to see her there nonetheless and he found her presence a great comfort and at the end of proceedings she held his hand and gave him her contact details.
“In case you want someone to talk to” she said and kissed his cheek.
(Part 05)
Sharon continued in palliative care at the Winston Churchill Hospital as well as moonlighting for the agency but all the while Michael wasn’t far from her thoughts but it wasn’t until more than three months after the funeral that she heard from him again.
It was a Sunday morning just after 3 am, she was doing a weekend shift in Shallowfield and he knew with her habit of taking a hot drink in the wee small hours when she was on duty that there was a reasonable chance he would find her awake.
She opened the email and it began
“I’m sitting in my study reading Dickens and I thought of you”
Over the weeks and months that followed emails between them continued more often than not in the middle of the night and she found that even when she wasn’t working she would wake at 3 am just to check her mail.
The content of the mails varied considerably so were very informative, explaining that he was back at work and looking to the future, and some were quite candid such as when he told her that he didn’t want to contact her as a grieving widower looking for a sounding board or a shoulder to cry on, he wanted to wait until he could contact her as a friend with potential.
By the time the first anniversary of Nuria death had come and gone the correspondence had become romantic in nature and often quite intimate.
But once the anniversary had passed the email traffic stalled and each of them was waiting for the other to say or do something so when after she had awoken at 3 am one Sunday morning at the end of June to find no email, she showered and dressed and was in the car heading north by 5.30am.
She arrived at the house on the outskirts of the Village of Tipton in the north of Downshire.
It was a big Art Deco house built in the thirties, very elegant and very stylish just like its owner.
She hadn’t seen him for over a year but she had the picture of him in her head.
He was a good looking man in his late thirties slim an even elegant and he always smelt gorgeous and she was really looking forward to having the fragrance in her nostrils again.
But as she stood on his porch her head were full of doubts and she suddenly felt foolish.
And she thought about turning tail and returning home but then the door opened and a smiling Michael was standing there.
“Come in” he said and Sharon walked nervously in as invited.
It was not like her she was normally ultra-confident but she stepped into the hall she felt very timid, and having got there she had no idea what to do next.
But it was no more than a minute or so after she’d walked in and taken off her coat before he took the initiative and took her in his arms.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)