ARE YOU THE ONE?

I'd like to give you the special key

That unlocks my forbidding heart

But I must be sure you are the one

I must know that before we start

Or the secret of the golden key

I would be unable to impart

Snippets of Downshire Life – Shrovetide – Nippy Hug Day

 

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.

The Fun Park 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 21^st century roller coasters, but still fun.

It was also a popular resort for retirees and boasted a number of static caravan parks and one of them was the Whitecliffe Hill Caravan Park which overlooked the tow, and just beyond the Park was the Jubilee Heights Industrial Estate and one of the biggest companies on that estate was Martlesham Merchandise.

Martleshams had begun life as a mail order catalogue goods business in the 1960’s, but in the 21^st century they were exclusively an online company and Claudia Strohmeier was the Human Resources manager and Laurence Dalby was the Finance Director.

 

It was the seventh day of Shrovetide, shrove Friday also known as kissing Friday or Nippy Hug Day.

In bygone days the men of Leicestershire could demand a kiss from any woman of his choice on that day and by custom and if she was to refuse he could then pinch her bottom.

But after World War Two it quite understandably fell out of favour so in 21^st century Downshire Kissing Friday no longer applied or is even remembered for that matter, and in the case of Claudia and Laurence it was something that they were blissfully ignorant of and if they had known of it they would have been horrified by it.    

 

Claudia and Lawrence both lived in the grand neighbourhood of Granite Hill, which in a nod to San Francisco, the locals had nicknamed Nob Hill, she in the huge house she grew up in, and he in the home he bought with his wife when they were newlyweds.

Apart from the fact they both worked for the same company and lived on Nob Hill, they were also both thirty-eight years old, both single parents to two children, her because of divorce and him because of breast cancer, their children attended the same schools, and they moved in the same social circles, but despite the fact that they had so much in common they didn’t really connect on any level.

Which is why the events of the evening of Nippy Hug Day took them both by surprise.

 

It was one of the rare occasions when either of them got to have a couple of days of grown up time but even rarer for them both to get a weekend off at the same time.

Laurence had taken the Friday off and drove the children to Highfinch to spend the weekend with their grandparents and then met friends for a round of Golf at the nearby Lily Green Hollows Golf Club.

Claudia meanwhile had a pampa day, with her sister and they had a full day’s beauty treatments at Mazzone’s in the Dulcets, facials, manicures, pedicures, waxing etc. in fact the whole nine yards.

 

Laurence played his first round of Golf for more than a year so as a result by the time he got back to Granite Hill at the end of the day he was exhausted, unfortunately when he got to the house he needed to go straight out again to walk the dog.

Claudia on the other hand was feeling totally relaxed when the taxi dropped her off, thanks to a combination of the pamper day and the 6 cocktails that followed it, in fact she was so relaxed she had the taxi drop her off outside the wrong house.

 

Laurence really wasn’t in the mood for a walk, but it had to be done, his neighbour had taken him earlier, but he always got a walk in the evening, come rain or shine, it wasn’t Pongo’s fault that his master was tired, but it was only going to be a ten-minute walk.

It had been a very pleasant day earlier but by the time he got back to Sharpington a mist had rolled in off the sea so when he set off from the house visibility wasn’t great and the fog was diffusing what light was being emitted by the street lamps.

Added to that was the fact that he was fatigued and didn’t really want to be walking in the fog, so those things combined contributed to his walking blindly around a corner where he was violently knocked off his feet by a figure coming in the other direction out of the fog.

He had no time in which to brace himself and he finished up horizontal on the ground and his assailant ended up laying on top of him,

In that instant a car turned the corner and the headlights illuminated the face of his assailant and he was surprised to see that it was Claudia Strohmeier, and the surprise was echoed in her face just before she kissed him full on the mouth.

 

When Claudia got out of the taxi and realised her mistake, she walked briskly to where she actually lived, and wasn’t watching where she was going when she bumped heavily into another pedestrian and they both fell to the ground with her victim on their back and her on top of them, and when she was lying there nose to nose with them the smell of their aftershave was delicious and when the car headlights shone on him and she glimpsed the face of Laurence Dalby, a man she had never looked at twice, who nonetheless looked gorgeous, smelt delicious, and was right there beneath her, so in her cocktail fuelled state she kissed him and he kissed her back, and it was lovely.

 

When it was over she said

“Well that was unexpected”

“I’ll say”

“I should say I’m sorry” Claudia said “but I’m not”

“Nor am I” he agreed “But I think we should get up now”

“Yes, yes” she said “I’m sorry”

“Don’t apologize” Laurence said “I just think we should get up, so we’ll be more comfortable when we kiss again”

“Oh ok” Claudia said as she got gracelessly to her feet and then he got up as well and took her in his arms and they kissed again in the fog.

Snippets of Downshire Life – Shrovetide – On Kissing Friday

 

Downshire is a relatively small English county but like a pocket battleship it packs a lot in, a short but beautiful coastline, a channel port, the Ancient forests of Dancingdean and Pepperstock, the craggy ridges and manmade lakes of the Pepperstock Hills National Park, the rolling hills of the Downshire Downs, the beautiful Finchbottom Vale and farm land as far as the eye can see from the Trotwood’s and the Grace’s in the south to the home of the Downshire Light infantry, Nettlefield, and their affluent neighbour’s, Roespring and Tipton in the north but our story takes place in the southern town off Abbottsford which was the biggest in Downshire, its administrative capital and the seat of the Downshire government.

It was also a Cathedral City, home to Abbottsford Town football club and a place of learning thanks to the Downshire University.

 

It was the seventh day of Shrovetide, shrove Friday also known as kissing Friday or Nippy Hug Day.

In bygone days the men of Leicestershire could demand a kiss from any woman of his choice on that day and by custom and if she was to refuse he could then pinch her bottom.

But after World War Two it quite understandably fell out of favour so in 21^st century Downshire Kissing Friday no longer applied or is even remembered for that matter.

 

Two of the first-year English students at the University were lifelong friends Joshua Aldridge and Henrietta Perkins who had been so since preschool and even their parents were the best of friends, so no one batted an eyelid when they both wanted to study the same subject at the same University after all they had mirrored each other their whole lives.

They were also study buddies and had always helped each other with research and revision so it was no surprise to find them studying at the Learning Resource Centre or the Library and it was on the seventh day of Shrovetide that they had been most of the day at the LRC when the two BFF’s went to the coffee shop for a break.

Once they had their drinks they sat on one of the comfy sofas and turned their attention to their respective tablets, Josh opened Twitter while Etta looked at the BBC news feed

“It says here that its Kissing Friday” she said

“Really?” he retorted and leant in to read the article and he was suddenly aware of her smell, a hint of fruit in her hair, coconut on her skin and the subtle fragrance of her perfume.

“Wow” he said, and she turned to look at him “Kissing Friday, well I don’t mind if I do”

And then he kissed her mouth and to his delight she kissed him back, and when it ended he exclaimed

“OMG what just happened”

“I don’t know” she replied “But please make it happen again”

Snippets of Downshire Life – Shrovetide – Kissing Friday

 

Downshire is a relatively small English county but like a pocket battleship it packs a lot in, a short but beautiful coastline, a channel port, the Ancient forests of Dancingdean and Pepperstock, the craggy ridges and manmade lakes of the Pepperstock Hills Nation Park, the rolling hills of the Downshire Downs, the beautiful Finchbottom Vale and farm land as far as the eye can see from the Trotwood’s and the Grace’s in the south to the home of the Downshire Light infantry, Nettlefield, and their affluent neighbour’s, Roespring and Tipton in the north but our story begins in the West, to the south of Northchapel, in the beautiful village of Chapel Hill.

There was an expanse of green at the center of the village complete with duckpond and a weeping willow tree.

On the north side of the green was the pub, The Woodcutters Tavern and attached to the side of the pub there was a Stephenson’s general store and post office, across the green from the pub was the church, St Peter’s, with the vicarage to one side and a row of shops ran alongside the road on the West of the green, Buckley’s Greengrocer and fruiterers, Addison’s Bakery, Harvey’s Pharmacy, Bizzie Lizzie Florist, Mazzone’s Hairdressers, Harrisons Hardware and Boddingtons Butchers.

It was the seventh day of Shrovetide, shrove Friday also known as kissing Friday or Nippy Hug Day.

In bygone days the men of Leicestershire could demand a kiss from any woman of his choice on that day and by custom and if she was to refuse he could then pinch her bottom.

But after World War Two it quite understandably fell out of favour so in 21^st century Downshire Kissing Friday no longer applied.

 

There were a number of Robert Harvey Pharmacies across Downshire started by their namesake in the 19^th century in Abbottsford and the business was thriving.

The Chapel Hill branch was run by another Robert Harvey, who was very distantly related to the original, and his wife Lisa, and their daughters Georgina and Roberta.

In addition, they employed two other staff, Petra Joli, who stacked the shelves and manned the till, and Kenny Adams who was in charge of the stock room and made the deliveries.

 

Fridays were busy in the shop, so they were all there before opening time getting ready for the early rush, when Robert said to his wife

“Come on then woman where’s my kiss or do I have to pinch your bum”

“What’s that?” Petra asked, and Lisa laughed and then explained

“In Leicester, where I’m from, there was an old tradition, that on kissing Friday, which is today, a man could demand a kiss from any woman he chose, and if she refused he could pinch her bum”

“That’s assault that is” Roberta pointed out

“That’s an opportunity too good to miss” Georgina retorted “and was there a limit to how many men you could snog”

Everyone in the shop laughed except Roberta who tutted.

“They don’t do it anymore” Lisa said

“Good” Roberta affirmed

“I think it’s a shame” Georgina stated

“I agree” Petra muttered to herself not that it would have made any difference to her situation.

She had someone very firmly in mind who would fit the bill in the kissing department, in the shape of Kenny, but as yet nothing had come to fruition.

Kenny was two years older than her and was relatively new to the area and she was besotted with him and had been from the first moment she saw him.

She thought he was gorgeous, he was tall and muscular with sandy coloured hair and thoughtful eyes, the only downside was that he was painfully shy.

Twenty-year-old Petra was a bit of a self-confessed tomboy and she wasn’t quite sure if he liked that she wasn’t a girlie girl and didn’t present with all the usual girly paraphernalia.

If that was the reason she would gladly try and be more of a girl, but the truth was she didn’t know if he had any strong feelings either way, all she knew was that he was single and lived in Chapel Hill with his brother and his wife.  

It wasn’t that they didn’t talk, they did every day at work, and they got on very well, but he was at his most communicative talking about work or generalities, like the weather or sport, it was the more personal stuff that eluded them, and kissing Friday was no exception.   

 

Such as the fact that she never carried a hand bag, instead she had a back pack with her at all times, she also wasn’t fashion conscious, which was another plus for him, she always wore a loose fitting black dress, black tights and coloured baseball shoes and wore her long red hair in plaits.

He really liked everything about Heather, her prominent chin which she thrust out proudly, her green behind thick framed specs and her broad smile that made her nose wrinkle.

In short, he thought she was perfect, he just needed to work up the courage to ask her out, which is where he hoped the mistletoe would come to his aid.

 

At the end of the day when the shop closed everyone went through there well practised routine and then one by one they said good night and left, and while Robert Harvey secured the pharmacy, Kenny and Petra went in the back room to change into their street clothes.

Neither of them worked on the weekend as the shop used Saturday staff, that was how she started, while she was still at school, so if anything was going to happen it would be while they got changed. 

“Are you looking forward to the weekend?” she asked as she slipped off her flat shoes and replaced them with her boots, and she winced as that was the best she could come up with.

“Yes” he replied, and she started to panic as she couldn’t think of anything else to say as she watched him change his footwear her mind went blank for a moment before she regrouped and asked

“Are you doing anything special?”

“No not really” he responded, and she despaired because it was hopeless, getting information out of him was like getting blood from a stone.

What she didn’t understand was that his limited responses were due to him trying to summon the courage to ask her out.

All she actually knew was that she had waited for him long enough and as she didn’t want to spend another Friday night at home wishing he’d asked her out she decided to change tack.

It was when he had bent down to tie his shoe lace that she chose to act.

“Do you remember what Lisa was saying earlier about that funny old tradition?”

“Um…” he responded as he sat up again and he found Petra standing above him.

“Well as we live in the age of equality I am demanding a kiss on Kissing Friday” she said, leant forward and kissed him, and what a kiss it was, a long awaited, and it was even better than the one either of them had imagined.

“Wow I like that tradition” he said

“Me too” he agreed and then added

“In fact, I liked it so much that I demand a kiss on Kissing Friday”

Then he pulled her onto his lap and they kissed again.

A PASSIONATE DESIRE

 

A passionate desire,

Made manifest

First in a perfect kiss

Then in a carnal embrace

Entwined with you

In an act of bliss

My love for you

Made complete

YOUR KISS UPON MY MOUTH

 

Your kiss upon my mouth

Your breath against my skin

Your almost palpable touch on my heart

Snippets of Downshire Life – Lent

The Norman family had been in the Grocery business since Victorian times when they started with a small shop in Abbottsford, a business which quickly expanded and thrived well into the 20^th century, but the depression of the thirties hit the business hard and many shops had to close.

The original Abbottsford shop survived the downturn in the great depression but fell victim of the Luftwaffe in 1941.

In the 21^st century they had shops in Childean, Shallowfield, the Dulcets and of course Mornington-By-Mere, each shop being run by a different branch of the family.

 

The heads of the Norman clan in Mornington, were septuagenarians Gavin and Evelyn, who lived in Bridge Street at School House Cottage with their younger son Owen.

Before the move to number 10 Military Row their older son Gareth and his family lived above and behind the shop, which was quite cramped for a family of five but the new house was much more spacious and the move allowed them to utilize some of the former living space as additional storage as well as providing their oldest child Michelle with a place of her own over the shop.

It was a big family and a small business so not all the Normans could rely on it for a living, as a result 29-year-old Michelle worked for Bizzie Lizzie’s florists.

She had worked for them since before she left school, firstly as a Saturday girl, and had worked in every capacity in her time there, behind the scenes, in the shop and deliveries, but for almost a year she had been managing the Shallowfield branch.  

It was when she first took over that branch that she met and fell in love with car salesman Derek and she was hoping that she would very soon be changing her name to Michelle Adams.

She was put out of her misery in the middle of February, shortly before her 30^th birthday, in the cruellest way and she was on her way back to work after having had lunch with Derek.

“Bastard” she muttered under her breath as she returned to the shop, and she was running the lunch time conversation through her head, which was why she was so angry.

“You’re breaking up with me?” she asked in disbelieve across the table in the Woodcutter’s.

“Please don’t take it so hard” he said

“You’re breaking up with me a week before my birthday, my 30^th Birthday?” she repeated

“I didn’t see why I should prolong the inevitable and I haven’t got your present yet, so it seemed the most sensible time” he said

“You cheap bastard” she yelled and poured his pint of Mornington Ale over him.   

 

“Well it’s going to be a rubbish 30th birthday” she muttered to herself as she walked into Bizzie Lizzie’s and found her colleague Lauren Wylie in conversation with two of her regular elderly customers about Lent.

“Hello Dear” Lily said “We’re just talking about what to give up for Lent”

“I’m giving up men” she snapped

“Me too Dear” Lily said “I haven’t had one for six years, so another month won’t hurt”

“I’ve already given them up” Grace added “Too much excitement is bad for my heart”

“It’s alright for you lot” young Lauren said “For me to stop I’d first need to start first”

“Oh bless” Lily said and they all laughed including Michele, in spite of herself

 

The next morning Neil Vann arrived at the shop to see Michele and quote her on some new work tops in the back room.

She had known him for several years, he was the same age as her, and was the strong silent type.

He took some measurements, made some notes and said he would phone her later that day with a price, but he added that he was quite busy and wasn’t sure when he would be able to fit it in, but if she needed it doing sooner he would rearrange the diary to accommodate her.

“He could accommodate me any day of the week” Lauren said after he’d left the shop “but it’s not me he’s interested in”

“Well he’s not interested in me” Michelle snapped

“Really?” Lauren retorted “He may have been measuring the work tops, but it was your measurements he was taking note of”

“No, he was not” Michelle said “and anyway I told you yesterday I’ve given men up for Lent”

“That’s a shame” Lauren said as she walked into the back room “he’d make a cracking birthday present for you”

 

It was her 30^th birthday two days later so she had the day off, but she woke up annoyingly early and couldn’t get back to sleep.

So, she decided to get the maximum out of the day, she already had an appointment for a pamper session at Mazzone’s in Childean, the whole nine yards, hair, eyebrows, facial, manicure, pedicure, and waxing.

But as she had woken early she decided to drive to Childean and have an early session at the gym followed by a relaxing swim at the leisure center Swimming pool.

 

After an invigorating session in the gym she drove the half a mile to the pool and parked the car, and carrying her bag, she got to the front entrance just in time to see Neil Vann and his sister Abi walk through the changing room door and then Michelle paid at the kiosk and proceeded to the changing rooms herself.

It was a very modern facility with modern unisex changing rooms with two long rows of cubicles flanked by lockers, and as she always did she selected a cubicle at the far end of the row where she quickly got undressed and into her one-piece swimsuit.

She was just putting her street clothes in her bag when she heard some familiar voices nearby, the first one was almost outside her cubicle door

“Come on slowcoach” the voice called, which she recognised to be that of Abigail Vann “why do you always take so long?”

The other voice was her brother Neil

“I’m nearly ready Abi, you go on and I’ll catch you up”

“Ok I’ll see you in a minute” Abi said as she was moving away.

A moment or two later, having gathered together all her bits into her bag she opened the door and found that without realising it, she had timed it to perfection as Neil was right there in front of her wearing only an inadequate pair of speedos and a towel draped around his muscular neck.

“Hello Neil” She said staring at his ripped torso and in response he stared back at the girl in the one-piece black swimsuit.

“Hi Michelle” he said as he continued to cast an appreciative eye over her swim-suited figure

“This is a nice surprise” Michele commented “I’m pleased I bumped into you,”

“Me too” Neil said, but before he had time to add anything else she dropped her bag and taking hold of the towel around his neck she pulled him into the cubicle and closed the door.

And as she kissed him she thought

“What the hell, I’ll give up cakes instead”