Snippets of Downshire Life – Groundhog Day

 

Emily Goff was a very successful chef, and she was well respected by fellow professionals and was highly regarded by everyone who knew her, but her success didn’t extend to her personal life, she may have had the Midas touch in the kitchen, but she was more like Medusa in the romance department.

She was living in Shallowfield with her family when her career took off, which began in a very small way when she was still at college.

It all started when a kindred spirit, another local Shallowfield Chef, Jane Cooper, employed her as sous chef in her home dining enterprise.

Jane felt an affinity with Emily because she was doing the same college course at the same college as Jane, unfortunately at the same time her love life was a total disaster.

Her bad luck in love continued even after she got a restaurant job under Jane at her own restaurant when she fell heavily for a gorgeous waiter, who turned out to be gay.

And that was her problem, she kept falling in love with the wrong guys.    

After three years at the Phoenix in Shallowfield, Jane Cooper was asked by the Lord of the Manor Gabriel St George to cook for a select group at the Mornington Manor, which became the first of many and after two years of that Emily became Chef in residence after Jane fell pregnant.

The only downside being that she had her heart broken in Shallowfield and Mornington.

After having her heart broken once too often Emily finally swore herself off men, which she managed to keep to for more than five years before cupid struck again.

She was still living and working in Downshire, but she wasn’t looking for love she was just doing what she did best, cooking.

It’s a relatively small English county but like a pocket battleship it packs a lot in, a short but beautiful coastline, a channel port, the Ancient forests of Dancingdean and Pepperstock, the craggy ridges and manmade lakes of the Pepperstock Hills National Park, the rolling hills of the Downshire Downs, the beautiful Finchbottom Vale and farm land as far as the eye can see from the Trotwood’s and the Grace’s in the south to the home of the Downshire Light infantry, Nettlefield, and their affluent neighbour’s, Roespring and Tipton in the north but cupid struck its mark in the East, or more precisely, 20 miles inland from Sharpington-By-Sea, equidistant between Finchbottom and Pepperstock Green, in the sprawling village of Denmead.

Emily was head Chef and part owner of the Angels Tears in the village which she had spent two years building up when she fell for the new curate at the Church of Saint Jane Frances de Chantal,
Humphrey Martin.

It took her completely by surprise in several ways, firstly she wasn’t looking for anyone, and she had her feelings locked squarely away, but most of all he wasn’t her type in any shape or form.

He was older than her for a start, quietly spoken, awkward, nervy and a bit Gorky looking to boot, as well as being a clergyman.

 

Humphrey for his part found himself attracted to her as well, despite the fact she was loud, feisty and outspoken, and very much not the type of woman he was looking for, but the heart wants what the heart wants, and his heart wanted her.

 

As it turned out they weren’t the only ones to think Emily and Humphrey were mismatched, but despite the misgivings of all concerned they soon found themselves going out together and then confounded the sceptics by becoming an inseparable couple.

And all was going well but at the back of Emily’s mind was the fear that it would all go wrong, was bound to go wrong, because her relationships always went wrong.

All her adult life she had failed in the art of love, every time she would fall for someone in a breathless passion, she would suffer the hoppy skippy heart when she looked at him, and feel that desperate longing when they were apart, and she would give herself completely, only for it all to fall apart.

Year after year, several times a year, she found herself falling again, helpless to resist, in fact it was like reliving Groundhog Day when she was forced to make the same mistakes over and over again.

However, she managed to break the cycle, after having her heart broken once too often and managed to keep love at bay for more than five years before she fell for Humphrey.

 

Emily had her reservations about dipping her toe in the water but after they had been going out together for the best part of a year she began to lower her guard, and that was when she started to hear the rumours which left her cold.    

There were some in the village who delighted in the fact that they could bring bad news to her door but there were many others who only had her welfare at heart and sought to comfort her.

But no matter how many positives she heard from friends and villagers she only remembered the negatives.

That was because the rumour that she kept hearing was that Humphrey was not going to be the Curate of St Jane’s for very much longer and what gave credence to the rumour in Emily’s mind was the fact that Humphrey had been quieter than normal and was clearly distracted, so she feared the worst.

 

Everything came to a head on the 2^nd of February when she was in the kitchen at the Angels Tears restaurant prepping for lunch with her sous Chef Charlotte St David and Humphrey knocked on the door.

This just in itself threw Emily into a blind panic and seeing her reaction Charlotte made herself scarce.

The reason Emily was so fearful was first that he never visited her before lunch because he knew how busy she was and secondly, and more crucially, it was Candlemas Day which was a very significant event in the church calendar, it was the festival of the purification of the Virgin Mary, which marked the last day of Christmas.

Falling midway between the winter and spring equinox it was a time for looking ahead at the bounty ahead.

Emily’s sense of foreboding was like the day signified the end of one chapter and beginning of another, with particular emphasis on “the end”.

The irony of the timing was not lost on her, because Candlemas Day was of course also Groundhog Day, and the phrase “Groundhog Day” has often been used to express the same events or actions occurring repetitively, and in her case that event was having her heart broken.

 

She took a deep breath summoned up a smile and opened the door

“Hello hon” she said “this is a nice surprise”

He walked past her without speaking and he was wearing a grave expression, which quickly removed the smile from her own face.  

 

He sat down at the table and she joined him

“Emily! I need to say something” he said abruptly

“Oh God you’re leaving Denmead” she snapped

“And you’re breaking up with me”

“No” he said impatiently

“What part?” she asked

“What?”

“What part is no?” Emily asked “the leaving or the dumping”

“Neither” he replied “I mean both”

“Then I don’t understand what’s happening, you come here wearing the face of doom saying you need to say something, there are rumours flying around the village about changes at the church and you have been very distracted lately and I don’t know what’s going on, so if you’re not leaving the village and you’re not dumping me, what then?”

“Emily Goff, will you please stop talking long enough for me to ask you to marry me” Humphrey said

“What?” she exclaimed

“Will you marry me?” he asked,

“So, you’re staying?” she quizzed “at St Janes”

“yes” he confirmed “I’m to be the new Vicar”

“So, it’s the Vicar who is leaving?” she mused

“Yes, to pastures new” he said

“Wow that’s a relief” Emily exclaimed and sighed

“So?” he said

“So, what?”

“The marriage thing” he pointed out and only got a blank look and silence until she screamed and threw her arms around his neck.

“Yes, Yes, and Yes” she said punctuating each affirmative with a kiss

“Of course, I’ll marry you”

So he fished in his pocket and tucked in the corner he found the ring he’d been carrying in there for the previous two weeks, it was only a cheap little ring, one that she had admired on a street vendor’s stall on a visit to Abbottsford market, it was only an inexpensive piece of yellow metal but he gave it to her and said

“This is only a symbol, we will need to buy you a real engagement ring together”

“I’ll keep it forever” she said and kissed him

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Snippets of Downshire Life – Candlemas Day

 

Dave Torrison was a Junior Doctor at the Royal Downshire Hospital in Purplemere and shared a house in town with two Nurses, Tony Torlini and Mark Tongue and another doctor, Mary Macintyre, who all worked at the same Hospital.

It wasn’t a huge house and nor was it in the smartest part of town but it was perfect for them as it meant that they had a relatively inexpensive place to live that was close to work, which was ideal for all of them as they worked shifts, and it meant that split between the four of them their expenses were very manageable. 

They were all single, though were all looking and all quite pessimistic regarding their prospects in the relationship department given their working hours.

But they all got on well and made the most of their situations.

They all had hopes and dreams though, of finding the right person and settling down.

 

Purplemere was one of the largest towns in the Finchbottom Vale, and the Vale was nestled comfortably between the Ancient Dancingdean Forest to the south and the rolling Pepperstock Hills in the north, and those who were lucky enough to live there thought of it as the rose between two thorns.

The Vale was once a great wetland that centuries earlier stretched from Mornington in the East to Childean in the west and from Shallowfield in the south to Purplemere in the north.

But over the many centuries the vast majority had been drained for agriculture, a feat achieved largely by the efforts of famous Mornington Mills, of which only three had survived to the present day and even those were no longer functional and were in various states of repair.  

There were only three small bodies of water left in the Vale now one in Mornington, one in Childean and third of course was Purplemere.

 

It was on the eve of Candlemas day, the festival of the purification of the Virgin Mary, which marked the last day of Christmas.

Falling midway between the winter and spring equinox it was a time for looking forward at the bounty ahead.

Dave felt it was like the end of one chapter and was optimistic that it was the beginning of another.

The end in question was his four-month relationship with control freak Maddie, or mad for short.

The morning after breaking up with her he rose early, showered and dressed and after walking down the stairs he paused as he spotted something out of the corner of his eye.

It was a figure lying on the sofa and he recognised it to be Mary Macintyre even though she had her back to him lying on her side, because the sweeping curve of her hip to her waist was like a mountain slope, and it was a view he had admired many times before.
He must have spent a full five minutes gazing at her sleeping form, clad only in a nightgown, then he tiptoed in and draped a throw over her before tiptoeing away again.

The reason he was up so early was that he was heading to his parent’s house as he hadn’t seen his Mum or Dad since Christmas and she had called expressly to ask him to go round for tea, he agreed as he knew they would be pleased to hear he had dumped Maddie.

Although he was twenty years too old for his Mum’s idea of Sunday Tea, he was glad he went and passed a very enjoyable few hours with them.

 

By the time he got back to Purplemere it was after ten o’clock and he was surprised to see there was still a light burning in the window and there was no car parked on the drive, so he assumed the light was left on by one of his housemates to deter burglars.

He parked the car on the drive and went inside not knowing if anyone was inside or not but as he went in all was quiet.

So he went straight upstairs and got into bed as his shift started at 6 am, but as it turned out he couldn’t sleep so he got up again and got ready for work and he was at the hospital just after 4 o’clock.

His first port of call was the coffee cart and with his drink in hand he made his way upstairs and thought he would sit and drink it in the “on call” lounge.

He opened the door and the room was in darkness and as he pushed the door open the light from the hall flooded into the room and then he did a double take.

In the corner of the room was a small but functional bed but that wasn’t what surprised him.

What had got his immediate attention was the sleeping figure of a Doctor wearing hospital scrubs and it was a figure he was very familiar with, for laying on the hospital cot in the foetal position with her back to him, partially covered by a hospital blanket, was the curvaceous figure of Doctor Mary Macintyre and not for the first time he just stood and admired the view, especially her perfect round bum which was visible beneath the blanket.

Not that it was just her physical attributes he admired, he liked everything about her and he loved her body and soul, he had done since the moment he first met her.

But he had held his feelings in check because it had taken a long time to find a group of people he was happy to share a house with, and he thought having a relationship with one of them could get messy if that relationship failed, or worse than that what if he asked her and she said no, how awkward would that be and what an atmosphere it could evoke, so he kept his own counsel and went out with a succession of girls who failed to measure up to Mary. 

With a sigh he had one final look and closed the door and went along to the staff lounge where he sat and drank his coffee.

 

He sat there sipping his coffee and was questioning his position regarding her and then after about ten minutes she appeared, and she was looking gorgeous even before she beamed a smile at him.

He watched as she walked over to the notice board and unpinned a colourful flyer, then she turned back towards him, still wearing a smile, and laid it on the table in front of him.

He reluctantly diverted his gaze from Mary and looked down at the flyer which was advertising the upcoming Valentines Ball, and then he raised his eyes to her again.

“I like dancing, if you were wondering” she said “In case you ever get fed up of just watching me sleep”

She beamed another smile at him, partly for his benefit but also because she knew by his expression that she had not miscalculated the situation, before she turned on her heels and left.

 

So it was on Candlemas day, the festival of the purification of the Virgin Mary, when his life took a positive step forward.

It officially marked the last day of Christmas, and fell midway between the winter and spring equinox and he really felt it was like the end of one chapter and the beginning of another.

The end in question was his relationship with Mad Maddie and now it appeared that Mary was his new beginning.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Clerembeax Palace Hotel and Spa – Predatory

 

The beautiful Downshire village of Clerembeax St Giles was situated to the west of Abbeyvale located between Grace Hill and Bushy Down and on the outskirts was the Clerembeax Palace Hotel and Spa.

It was once the home The Clerembeax’s, who arrived in Downshire following the Norman conquests and stayed for a thousand years before the name died out following the death of the reclusive Marcus Clerembeax at the age of 96.

The current owner was Yvonne Labuschagne, who decided to open it as a Hotel and Spa and she and her handpicked staff had made a great success of it, and they had a varied clientele.

 

Malcolm Steele had stayed in a lot of Hotels over the years and he had bedded a lot of women in Hotels, sometimes he picked up the women and sometimes they picked him up.   

The bar was a favourite starting point and was usually fertile ground and on those rare occasions that he struck out he could often go to the concierge to find him one, in the bigger Hotels at any rate. 

But in the Clerembeax Palace Hotel and Spa didn’t really work like that, so if he struck out there, he would spend the night alone.

However, as luck would have it when he arrived in the bar there was large busty blonde sitting on a stool at the bar, and he recognized her.

“Hello Dr Simmons” he said “Good to see you again”

She was one of the Doctors at his mother’s care home.

“Mr. Steele, please call me Sally, I try to play down the Doctor bit when I’m out otherwise people have an annoying habit of telling me about their nasty complaints”

She laughed a rather delightful laugh that caused her rather substantial chest to come alive.  

“I’m looking forward to getting hold of those beauties” he thought to himself and then he noticed the wedding ring, which was to him what Kryptonite was to Superman.

He had a very strict rule about not fishing in another man’s pond so to speak, a rule which he had only broken on a handful of occasions and on every occasion he regretted it, even though the sex was outstanding.

But he thought there was nothing wrong with having a drink with a beautiful woman and indulging in some polite conversation while he ogled her tits.

So, over a drink or three he explained that he was doing a publicity tour for one of his famous authors and she told him she was hiding from her ex-husbands mother.

“I divorced him, no problem” she said “but she still thinks she’s my mother in law”

“I notice you still wear your ring” he said

“That’s to ward off the lounge lizards” she remarked

“I understand”

“Are you really publishing a famous author?” She asked and he nodded superciliously

“Your mum says you publish dirty books” Sally stated and laughed loudly.

“We all have to make a living” he replied

“So, who’s the author? Some dirty old man writing for other dirty old men” she asked cynically

“Actually” he said quietly “she’s a middle-aged spinster from Cheltenham”

“Seriously?”

“Seriously, she has the filthiest mind of anyone I’ve ever met” he said and they both laughed

It was shortly after that when they got the distinct impression that the barman had had enough and was ready to close.

The generally accepted convention was that the staff were obliged to keep the bar open all the while guests were 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.

“I think we should let this poor man close up for the night” she said, and they bade the long-suffering barman a good night.

As the lift doors opened, when they reached the third floor, Sally announced

“This is us”

“No, I’m on the fourth floor”

“Yes, but me and my magnificent breasts are on this floor” she pointed out “and as you’ve been staring at them all evening with lustful eyes I thought you might like to do with them what you’ve been imagining” 

“Well as you put it like that then of course I will accompany you” he said

“Thank God for that I’m so horny” she whispered as they stepped out of the lift

“Really?”

“Yes” Sally replied and then added “you wouldn’t believe just how horny”

“Let’s find out then” Malcolm said and escorted her to her room.

Uncanny Love Tales – (13) Metropolitan Music Lover

 

Phlebotomist Harriet Quimby and Professor of music Nathan Robinson had been dating for close to six months and were getting very serious.

To the untrained eye they seemed an odd couple, she a beautiful willowy health professional and him an unspectacular looking academic, but it was also patently obvious that mismatched or not they were deeply in love and despite their differences and a six year age gap they were a two halves of the same coin.

Her marriage to William Quimby ended as a result of his lies and deceit so when her relationship with Nathan began, Harriet stated

“I have only one rule or perhaps more aptly, it is my no lies policy, we have to have absolute honesty between us or nothing”

“I agree” Nathan said “Unreservedly”

 

In the fullness of time although they still had their own respective homes they were always together when commitments allowed, although in truth they were each other’s primary commitment and when they were together it was generally always at his house.

Apart from when Nathan was out of town lecturing and it had been that way since the very beginning.

When Harriet first agreed to go out with Nathan she didn’t have it in mind that it was a date as such in fact she didn’t, even to that day, understand how it happened, she remembered that she agreed that if she went with him to a Jazz gig, in return he would take her to the opera and it was as simple as that or at least it seemed so simple and matter of fact.

But go with him to the Jazz gig she did and one gig led to another one and then to drinks, and dinner and the pictures until she suddenly had space in his wardrobe and a drawer for her knickers and then she could hardly remember the time before they met.

They did however still disagree musically but in all other matters they were simpatico.

 

Nathan was a jazz fan and when he wanted to relax he always listened to Beiderbecke, Goodman, The Dorsey Brothers, Jelly Roll Morton or Artie Shaw but of an evening he would always defer to Harriet’s favourite, Puccini.

Just to look at her lovely face as the wonderful melodies washed over her.

When he first asked her out she said

“Ok I will come with you to the Jazz Shack to hear you play again, on one condition”

“Name it” he said with enthusiasm

“You have to come to the opera with me”

He went to speak but she silenced him with a look

“And I don’t mean Gilbert and Sullivan either”

“Puccini’s Madame Butterfly, one of the greatest pieces of early 20^th century music ever written” she said with authority

“It’s a date” he said

His one and only regret since they had been together was that his part of the bargain that he should take her to see Madame Butterfly had remained unfulfilled.

They couldn’t find a performance at the time and she had to settle for Tosca, which she did without a single word of complaint, but a promise was a promise and his failure to keep it would have to be put right.

 

Nathan had been away for three days lecturing on the question of whether Jazz had an effect on speakeasies or vice versa and Harriet was missing him terribly.

She had been at his house all the time he had been away as she felt to lonely in her flat.

 

When Nathan drove onto his driveway he was delighted to see the lights were on, which meant Harry was home.

He opened the front door and was surprised to hear the sound of Bix Beiderbecke coming from his study.

“Hello!” he called as he closed the door.

“Nathan?” Harriet called back “is that you?”

She appeared from the lounge and rushed towards him

“You’re early” she said and kissed him.

“Yes we wrapped up earlier than I expected” He replied

“How come you’re listening to Bix Beiderbecke, you hate jazz?”

“It’s growing on me” Harriet replied

“Really?” he asked doubtfully

“Yes I’ve got to like it” she said

“Liar” Nathan said

“I’m not lying” she said innocently

As they walked to the lounge

“What happened to your no lies policy?” he asked

“I hate it when you remember what I say” she said grumpily “and then use my own words against me”

“So?”

“Ok” she confessed

“If I can hear your jazz playing in the study it’s like you’re only in the next room and not miles away and then I don’t miss you so much”

 

Later that evening after they had made love Nathan said

“Can you get some time off around your birthday?”  

“Yes I think so” she replied “Why?”

“I thought we might get away on a mini break” he replied, “Hotel, opera, posh restaurant”

“Really?”

“Yes it’s your 30^th after all” he replied

“That’s a big birthday”

He would have liked it to have been a surprise but he needed to tell her in order for her to book the time off.

 

Harriet managed to get the time off and then he made all the arrangements and kept all the details secret until the day came for them to leave.

They were stood in the hallway with the bags packed when he said

“Have you got your passport?”

“You don’t need a passport for Covent Garden” she said and snorted

“No, that’s true” Nathan said “But you do for the Met”

“The Met?” she asked

“Yes” Nathan replied

“The Metropolitan Opera house?” she asked “in New York City?”

“Yes, but I can change it to Covent Garden though if you’d rather” he offered

“Don’t you dare” she said and kissed him

“I can’t believe you’re taking me to New York” she said and squealed

“Well it is your 30^th” he explained

“Well if you’re taking me to New York for my 30^th what will you do for my 40^th?”

“Well that’s easy” he said

“What?”

“I’ll change you for two 20s”

“Bloody cheek” she said but kissed him anyway

Uncanny Love Tales – (12) The Phlebotomist and the Professor

 

Her full birth name was Hayley Harriet Hanson but that was before, at the tender age of 21, she made the regrettable decision to marry William Quimby, but after her disastrous marriage ended though she chose to remain Harriet Quimby as she rather liked the name, her ex-husband on the other hand remained a complete bastard.

In the years following her divorce she had not remarried or even thought of doing so.

She worked hard in a rewarding job, she had a supportive family and a large circle of friends, and she was content with that.

Harriet was not without admirers however and she had not exactly lived as a nun, she had had boyfriends but she had not actively sort a replacement for Mr Quimby, her philosophy was “what will be, will be”.

She was a phlebotomist by profession and proud of it but she was really tired of people saying “What’s a phlebotomist?”

And then having to explain her occupation to them, so she made the decision to reply, when asked what she did for a living, that she was a nurse and volunteered no further information, it was just simpler that way.

Which was a shame because she loved her job, and she really was proud to be a phlebotomist, she liked dealing with people and liked engaging with them and she was good at it.

Some of her colleagues favoured the stand-offish approach, keeping a dignified distance between themselves and the patients, but that was not Harriet’s way.

Harriet found the pleasant exchanges helped the day pass by, she couldn’t do it with everyone of course, some patients thought they were customers and that she was on a par with a shop girl, but they were few and far between.

 

Nathan Robinson was wearing a brown leather jacket and tan needle cords as he sat in the health centre waiting room amongst the sick and the lame, although he was neither.

He was 35 years old and never married, although he’d come close a couple of times, he was medium height, slim build and had thinning sandy hair and grey eyes.

He was however very nervous as he was sat waiting there for a blood test, not that he was squeamish where blood was concerned but he did hate needles.

 

“Mr Robinson” called a willowy young woman with bobbed dark brown hair, wearing a white uniform with red piping.

He stood up and followed her into a small clinical room.

“Good morning nurse” he said

“Hello Mr Robinson, but I’m not a nurse”

“Hello doctor?”

“No, I’m not a doctor either” she corrected him

“You’re not the cleaner, are you?” he asked

“No” she replied and laughed

“A vampire then?” he asked

“Don’t worry I’m not going to drain you” she reassured him “You look too pasty already”

“Really, I thought I was palely interesting” he offered in a hurt voice

He looked at her hand, she wasn’t wearing a wedding ring or any other significant rings for that matter, but what he was focusing on was that her ring less hand was holding a needle and he swallowed hard.

“You’re afraid of needles” she said

“I wouldn’t say I was afraid” he responded defensively although in truth he was Trypanophobic.

“What would you say then?” She asked

“I am merely wary of them” he insisted.

“Chicken” she said unsympathetically, she was well used to needle phobe’s and her easy manner and playful teasing would soon put him at his ease.

“Harsh” he responded still focusing on the needle

“Now if you don’t sit still I’ll have to take it from your jugular” she said menacingly

“So, you are a vampire” Nathan said

She ignored him and drew the first sample

“So, what’s the blood test for?” She asked

“Are you allowed to ask me that?” he asked

“No” she replied, “so what’s it for?”

“I have an infection”

“Urgh” she exclaimed feigning horror

“Not that kind of infection” he assured her

“Do I need to double glove?” she asked

“No it’s alright I don’t really have an infection” Nathan said

“Good” she said and drew another sample

“It’s just part of a general medical” he said

“Oh” she responded

 

After he’d left the room, she chuckled to herself as she remembered their exchange and she thought what a very pleasant man he was. 

 

Nathan himself was quite taken with the young willowy phlebotomist who’s easy many put his mind at rest to such a degree that he was able to take more than a moment or two to appreciate the loveliness of the lovely girl with the very large needle, but it was just over a week later when she saw him again.

Nathan was on his way to meet friends in Abbeyvale, and took a short cut through St Candida’s park as it was a nice day, and he saw a small group of young women sitting on the grass and he recognised one of them.

“Hello nurse Nosferatu” he called and made the sign of the cross when she turned around

“Oh hello chicken” she responded and made it sound like a term of endearment which wasn’t her intent, but she was not unhappy about it.

“Should a phlebotomist be out in the sunlight?” Nathan asked

“What’s a phlebotomist?” one of the group asked and Harriet shook her head and took it as her sign to leave.

She said her goodbyes and quickly caught up with Nathan who had gone ahead.

“Thanks for that” she said

“For what?” he asked

“For exposing me as a phlebotomist” she said

“Ay?” he exclaimed in confusion

“But you are a phlebotomist”

“I know” she said “but I hate the fact that I always have to explain it”

“Sorry” Nathan said

 

“So, what was your medical for?” Harriet asked him as they walked through St Candida’s park

“Blimey you’re even nosey when you’re off duty” Nathan responded

“Yes” Harriet replied, “So what’s it for?”

“Oh, I’m starting a new job next month so I decided I would get a full MOT before I started” he said

“And what do you do?” she asked

“I’m a University Professor” he said proudly

“A Professor?” Harriet replied; however she was a little impressed

“Aren’t you a little young?”

“Not in my field” he replied

“And I thought Professors were intelligent” she said

“And I thought nursing was the caring profession” he retorted 

“So, what are you the Professor of?” she enquired

“Music” Nathan replied

“Really, what kind?” she asked impressed

“My field of expertise is early 20^th century” he replied

“Like Puccini?” She said hopefully

“Like jazz” Nathan said

“Jazz? How disappointing, you got interesting for a second and then wham dull as ditch water again”

“I like jazz” he said defensively “Jazz is very exciting”

“And people study that at university?” she asked derisively

“Of course, as part of a rounded curriculum” he replied

“Do you play, or just teach?” she asked

“Yes” Nathan replied

“What instrument? The washboard?” She asked and laughed out loud with delight

“That’s skiffle, not jazz” he corrected her “Philistine”

“What then?” Harriet persisted

“Clarinet” Said Nathan

“Really? But that’s a proper instrument” she said shocked “Are you any good?”

“Well, I enjoy playing” he answered

“You’re really bad then” Harriet said and laughed

“Why not come and judge for yourself” he said

“When?” she asked

“Now” he replied “we’re playing a set at the Jazz Shack on Finchampton Street”

“Oh ok” she answered

 

After the gig, if you could call it that, because they only played two numbers, he joined her at her table.

“You were very good” she said “better than you led me to believe”

“Well thank you ma’am” he said in a false American accent

“But I still don’t like jazz” she said shooting him down

 

When it was time to go, he suggested

“Perhaps we can do it again”

“Oh, I don’t know about that” Harriet said

“Why not? I thought we had spent a very pleasant afternoon together” he stated

“We have absolutely nothing in common” Harriet retorted

“We share a sense of humour” he said

“That doesn’t count” she responded

“I think a good sense of humour is essential in a relationship if there is a prospect of someone seeing me naked” Nathan replied

“That’s not much of a prospect” Harriet said

“Come on Harriet” he said “what harm could it do”

Harriet was quiet for a moment then she said

“Ok I will come with you to the Jazz Shack to hear you play again, on one condition”

“Name it” he said with enthusiasm

“You have to come to the opera with me”

He went to speak but she silenced him with a look

“And I don’t mean Gilbert and Sullivan either”

“Puccini’s Madame Butterfly, one of the greatest pieces of early 20^th century music ever written” she said with authority

“It’s a date” he said

“Yes, I suppose it is” she said almost to herself

LOVER (CINQUAIN)

Lover

Warmly, Cosily

Holding, Comforting, Caressing,

The All Embracing Joy

Lover

INSEPARABLE ONCE # 2

 

We were once inseparable
Tied with the bonds of love
But when the day came
When bonds become restraints
Love melted into the ether
And the ties that bound
Turned inexorably to dust