Sunday, 5 December 2021

THE VERY FIRST CHRISTMAS

 

Putting up the decorations

And trimming the Christmas tree

Writing all the cards

This year from you and me

 

Your presents are wrapped

Only bows and tags to do

Until this moment I didn’t know

Just how much I loved you

 

So, I will have a happy Christmas

With the love of my life

The very first Christmas

Since we became man and wife

CHRISTMAS JOY

 

I have a new love in my life

That all Christmas I’ll be pleas’n

I will bring Joy to her world

When I go south for the season

Saturday, 4 December 2021

Tales from the Finchbottom Vale – (38) Christmas at the Seaview Hotel

 

Six months had passed since Francine Delise and Iain Akhurst made love in his room at the Seaview Hotel in Sharpington and two days short of six months since she said she wasn’t sure that they could be together.

Not that she didn’t love him or enjoy being with him, and it was fairly obvious on the evidence of the weekend in June that it wasn’t because she didn’t enjoy making love with him.

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

“I don’t regret it for a second” she said as they lay entwined beneath the duvet

“I just have doubts”

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

 

Iain couldn’t deny that he was disappointed and he wasn’t altogether happy about it but he wasn’t angry with her in fact he agreed with her up to a point, and he wanted her to be as sure as he was.

After all he had no words to convince a 29 year old woman to give her life to a man the wrong side of 40 and nor would he have wished to have used them if they were in his possession.

 

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

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

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

Not just the love making, which he thought was wonderful, but to hear his declaration of love returned in word and delicious deed.

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

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

 

Even before their chance meeting at the Seaview Hotel, Francine had agreed to take a six month secondment in Sharpington where she could be close to her sister and the twins so she suggested they take that time to think.

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

 

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

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

 

Though in his darkest moments he did question if it was indeed a moment of madness that brought the gorgeous young Francine to his bed.

Though he was glad for that madness if that’s what it was.

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

He preferred to think that it was fate that brought them together on that wonderful weekend and not an error of judgement.

 

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

As a result all he could do was throw himself headlong into his work totally and fill his every waking moment with thoughts of anything and everything that wasn’t her.

Impossible of course but if in the unlikely event that he could exclude her from his thoughts for a single second he couldn’t stop her invading his dreams.

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

He wrote in a diary, which he called a dream diary, it was where he wrote every detail, every thought that filled his troubled sleep on a nightly basis, thoughts of love for the girl of his dreams. 

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

 

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

“Hello, Iain Akhurst” he said

“Hey Iain” she said

“Francine?” he asked “God it’s good to hear your voice”

“Ditto” Francine replied “Where are you?”

“I’m in Abbotsford” he replied “Are you still at your sisters in Sharpington?”

“Yes and No” she replied enigmatically

“I’m at the Hotel, the Seaview”

“When are you back?” he asked

“I don’t know yet”

“Oh” he responded disappointedly

“Can you come down?” Francine asked

“When?” he asked

“Tonight” she replied

“Sure, but I don’t know what time I’ll get there”

“That’s ok but I want to meet” Francine said

“Alright I’ll leave now” he said “Have you made a decision?”

“Yes I have” she replied

“And?” he enquired trying to keep the anxiety out of his voice

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

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

“Come straight to the Hotel” she said

“What time do you think?” she asked

“Around eight” he replied

“I’ll leave a note at reception in case you’re late”

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

“Ok, bye”

 

The journey out of Abbottsford was an absolute mare and consequently he was significantly late and it was nearly 10 o’clock when he drove onto the promenade at Sharpington-by-Sea.

It was a bit different from when he was there last, back in June but it still made him smile as it always did when he visited the traditional seaside resort.

Sharpington still boasted a Victorian Pier, The Palladium ballroom, and of course the Sharpington Fun Park which were considerably quieter than at the height of the summer.

He liked it because it was like stepping back in time with the illuminations, crazy golf, and the amusement arcades in fact all the usual things to have a great time by the seaside.

He parked the car and walked briskly along the promenade and unlike his last visit he didn’t pause to sit in the well maintained gardens and look out to sea or muse over all the happy hours he spent in the Sharpington Fun Park, on the Rotor and the Wild Mouse, The Cyclone and the Morehouse Galloper.

He was in too much of a hurry to reach the Seaview Hotel.

 

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

He wondered if she would be sat at the bar surrounded by admirers or sat alone in a corner the worse for drink and coiled to strike with venomous words on his tardiness.

He only hoped she was still there and hadn’t got tired of waiting.

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

So he stood in the foyer trying to summon up the courage to go further, he was so desperate to know her answer but equally terrified of what it might be, yes or no.

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

Or

“No” and they would never be together.

He reran the earlier conversation through his head and tried to read between the lines to find some hidden meaning or some indication as to her decision.

He checked in the bar and there was no sign of her

“Shit” he exclaimed and unzipped his coat and walked up to the reception desk.

“Hi” he began “Do you have a message for Iain Akhurst?”

“I’ll just check for you Sir” the receptionist said

“Oh yes here we are” she added and handed him an envelope

“Thank you” he said and when and sat down to open it.

 

He slowly opened the envelope and withdrew a sheet of note paper which he unfolded and read the few lines

“What kept you? I thought you were impatient for an answer,

I’ve gone up, use the key, and I’ll see you when you get here”

Frankie x

“Well that was all cheerful and light hearted” he thought to himself “but it still doesn’t tell me anything”

So he tipped up the envelope until the key card fell out and he saw it was for one of the posh rooms on the top floor and walked towards the lift.

 

Iain slowly opened the door and stepped inside.

“Hi Francine” he called “I’m sorry I’m late the traffic was hell”

But there was no answer.

He closed the door and walked into the room and expected to find Francine asleep having got fed up of waiting for him.

But it was just a dimly lit little lounge area, which was empty.

Although hung on the back of a chair he noticed a coat.

“She is here” he said “But where?”

There were two doors leading from the lounge so he opened the first one which proved to be the bathroom, he hoped the other was to a bedroom and not an adjoining door to the next room.

Then he questioned whether or not she would even be in there, the fact that her coat was there meant nothing she could just have left in a huff and forgotten it.

But then something caught his eye, tied around the door handle he saw a black stocking.

“Well she wouldn’t have gone without that” he said

Iain slipped off his coat and threw it onto the armchair and walked towards the door and that was when he noticed something else attached to the stocking, it was a gift tag.

He opened it and read the words inside

“Happy Christmas Iain

All my love

Francine”

And beneath her signature there were three letters

“PTO”

And when he turned the tag over there was only one word

“Yes”

The Clerembeax Palace Hotel and Spa – The Christmas Party

 

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.

The Spa was a good attraction, but it was crucial for them to maintain a high occupancy rate, however things were tough in the Hotel trade with the success of Travelodge, Premier Inn and Holiday Inn Express and so places like the Palace needed to offer something extra to attract the guests, apart from the Spa. 

So, they put on novelty weekends, such as “Murder Mysteries” and in addition, they had a sizable Ballroom which was used for special occasions, high days and holidays, which boosted occupancy and Spa numbers at the same time, Christmas being a prime example, when there was great demand and grand Christmas function took place.

 

One of the guests at such an event was forty-seven years old Eric Price, who was widowed three years earlier, and immediately after his wife’s death he seemed to suddenly appear on the radar of the local spinster’s, widows and divorcees in and around his own age.

In fact, it all started at his wife’s funeral where he was buttonholed by two well-presented mourners who made it perfectly clear he could avail himself of them if he chose to do so, which he did not.

But three years after his dear wife was laid to rest, and only after repeatedly rebuffing the endless advances of even the most attractive of the local pursuing vultures, did he finally decide, out of desperation and loneliness to dip his toe in the water and began to entertain the possibility that he might once again share his life with another soul.

His friends suggested he start internet dating but that was a step to far in his opinion, he wasn’t going to try something if his heart wasn’t in in it.

His friends continued trying to persuade him to try it nonetheless but then one day he met Charlotte Euringer at a mutual friend’s garden party.

 

Now they were attending a party of a different kind and his hand was shaking as he was stood at the bathroom sink to shave and looked at his reflection.

“Who am I trying to kid?” he asked himself “I don’t stand a chance with her”

 

Despite his misgivings he shaved and showered and made the best of what he had, and dried, perfumed and powdered himself before he changed into his dinner suit, complete with cummerbund and bow tie, he was feeling rather nervous as he stood before his reflection and tied his tie for the fourth time and wished he worn a clip on.

“She’s not going to look twice at you anyway” He said to himself “She’s way out of your league for God’s sake”.

 

At the precise moment that Eric was questioning the wisdom of pursuing such a beautiful woman, 45-year-old Charlotte Euringer was stood in front of her mirror looking at her reflection.

She was immaculately dressed in a full length green halter necked designer evening dress and she sighed when she slipped on a lavish faux fur shrug and left the room and knocked on the door across the hall where her best friend Daphne and her husband Geoff were staying.

“Wow” he said, as he opened the door “you look stunning”

“Bless you darling” she responded “but I’m scared to death”

“You shouldn’t be” he reassured her “Eric will trip over his tongue when he sees you”

“I wish I shared your faith” Charlotte said

“Come on gorgeous, come and talk to Daphne”

He stepped aside and let her walk past as he closed the door and she went straight to where Daphne was sitting at the dresser and she turned to look at Charlotte

“You look gorgeous”

“Do you think so?” she asked before adding, with panic in her voice

“What if he doesn’t like me?”

“But he does like you, you know he likes you, and he’s going to love you even more tonight when he sees you” Daphne said to her softly in response to her crisis of confidence

“I hope so” she replied forlornly

Geoff poured them all a glass of Champagne and Daphne massaged her ego while her husband plied her with drink, and half an hour later they left the room and headed towards the lift.

 

When Eric emerged from the lift, the reception was jammed with an array of stunningly turned out men and women, but he couldn’t see Charlotte anywhere.

However, while he stood on the periphery of the throng Geoff, Daphne and Charlotte arrived behind him and Charlottes heart skipped a beat when she first caught sight of his dapper upright figure.

“Hello Eric” She said warmly and the moment they made eye contact   all their previous doubts melted away.

 

The Clerembeax Palace Hotel and Spa – The Second Sunday of Advent

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 and when Yvonne Labuschagne inherited it from her cousin, the last remaining Clerembeax, she undertook the task of modernizing the Palace and opening a Hotel and Spa offering, fitness classes, gym, rock sauna, infra-red sauna, aroma steam room, ice fountain, drench showers, Jacuzzi, a Romanesque pool, Reflexology, Raki, facials, scalp massage, hand massage, Manicure and Pedicure, while also providing accommodation, meeting and function rooms, a superior restaurant and whatever temptation might attract potential visitors.

She was by profession a masseuse and had worked for many years along with her late husband at the Dancingdean Spa Hotel in Childean.

Staffing the Hotel and Spa was crucial, and Yvonne used her contacts in the Spa world to find the right specialist people in her field of expertise’s and employed Hannah Morgan to fill the remainder of the roles, on the understanding that she employ from the village populous where possible, and that was how the Ward girls came to work at the Palace.

 

The Ward family had a small holding on the North side of the village, parents Jack and Olive, and daughters Donna, Felicity, Josephine, and Maxine.

It was a profitable concern and gave them all a modest living but when the Palace opened, it gave them a chance to supplement their incomes without having to travel to Abbeyvale.

They were all hard-working girls and didn’t care what work they did so Hannah Morgan didn’t hesitate to offer them all housekeeping jobs.

Felicity was the second oldest at twenty-three and the tallest at 5ft 8, but she was also the least confident, and was oblivious to how attractive she was, with her willowy figure and long brown hair.

Unlike her siblings she was painfully shy, and was a quiet studious girl, who never went out, preferring to immerse herself in books, in fact she only ever left the farm for work and church, and she hadn’t left the village since she left school.

but the one thing that she shared with her sisters was her work ethic.

 

At the beginning of November Stephen Shepherd arrived as Hospitality manager.

He was in his mid-twenties, tall, with a military bearing, blonde hair, blue eyes and a smile that melted Felicity’s heart the first time she saw it, and if that alone hadn’t been enough to catch her eye, Stephen was also an immaculate dresser, Blazer, Slacks, collar and tie, finished off with tie pin and cufflinks.

 

As the Palace was doing so well, with the Spa, Hotel and hospitality out performing expectations, Hannah Morgan was stretched to breaking point, so Yvonne decided she should bring someone else in to share the burden, so at the beginning of November Stephen Shepherd arrived as Hospitality manager.

He was in his mid-twenties, tall, with a military bearing, blonde hair, blue eyes and a smile that melted Felicity’s heart the first time she saw it, and if that alone hadn’t been enough to catch her eye, Stephen was also an immaculate dresser, Blazer, Slacks, collar and tie, finished off with tie pin and cufflinks.

Some of the girls in housekeeping thought his “uniform” was odd and made fun of him behind his back, but Flis liked it.

 

After about a week in the job he asked Hannah if he could have the assistance of someone from housekeeping to assist him with the linens, table cloths and napkins etc.

Hannah had no problem with his request and was about to assign someone when much to hers, and everyone else’s surprise, Felicity volunteered.

“Ok then off you go” Hannah said with a smile.

 

“Hi, I’m Stephen” he said, rather pleased that his helper was the attractive girl he’d seen busying around everywhere.

“Felicity” she said

“That’s a lovely name” he said, “Doesn’t it mean Happy or is it lucky?”

Good fortune, or happy” she replied

“Much more interesting than mine” he said “I’ve always thought Stephen was rather a dull name”

“Nonsense it’s a great name, which means “garland, crown”” she explained

“Really? I didn’t know that” he responded and chastised himself for thinking that just because she worked in housekeeping she wouldn’t be very bright, having spoken to her for only a few minutes it was clear he was in error.

“I’ve seen you quite a lot, busying around the place” he said

“That’s right” Felicity said “There’s not much going on at the farm at present, so my sisters and I have increased our hours up here”

 

Felicity worked with him on and off all that week and in the weeks that followed whenever he needed help he asked for her, and every time they talked she surprised him anew.

But although it was clear to everyone that there was more to their relationship than Hospitality Manager and Housekeeping girl, it didn’t become evident to the two of them until

The Second Sunday of Advent.

 

The Ward family had always been churchgoers and not out of a sense of duty, the whole family had very strong faiths, and they only missed in exceptional circumstances, and the same was true of Olive Ward’s family Sunday Lunch.

 

The family arrived at St Giles’ en masse and milled around at the back of the church chatting to some of the other congregants, although Felicity tended to just hover until it was time to take their seats.

But after only a few minutes of shuffling around staring at her feet, she was interrupted.

“Hello Lucky” a voice said and when she looked up it was Stephen

“Oh hello” she responded “I’ve never seen you here before”

“No, I normally work on Sundays” he replied

“Yes, I know, I thought that was because you didn’t do church” she said

“No, I do it so people with family can get the most from the day” he explained “Then I come to the evening service”

“Oh, I see” Felicity said, “So why not this week?”

“I need to go and do my Christmas shopping” he said “I’m going to Abbottsford straight after the service”

“Oh”

“Why don’t you come with me?” he asked

“Me?”

“Yes” he said

“We always have a big lunch on Sunday” she said

“I’ll buy you lunch”

“Mum wouldn’t like it” she said resignedly

“What wouldn’t mum like?” Olive Ward asked, having seen her daughter with her head up talking to a man, so she had to investigate.

“Stephen just asked if I wanted to go Christmas Shopping in Abbottsford” Felicity explained “But I said you didn’t like us to miss lunch”

“Nonsense” Olive said “Of course you can go, as long as Stephen promises to feed and water you”

“Absolutely” he assured her and then Olive nodded and left them alone, and as she joined her husband she was wearing a broad grin.

“So that’s settled then” he said “You can go home and get what you need, and I’ll pick you up from the Farm, agreed”

“That’s a date then” she said and then got flustered

“I mean…sorry… I didn’t mean date”

“Really?” Stephen said “I did”

CHRISTMAS FOLLY

 

Merriment abounds

And music fills the air

And in the cosy room

I’d hoped to see you there

 

Friends and loved ones

Surround me, old and new
I wished that one of them

Might have been you

 

Outside its cold

On this Christmas Eve
When the party's over

I won’t want to leave

 

But I will head home

Trudging through the snow

And in my loneliness

I’ll wonder how I let you go

OH MY PRETTY LITTLE ELFIN FACED GIRL (PART ONE)

 

Oh my pretty little elfin faced girl

In green woolly tights and pixie shoes

I’ve admired you from a distance

Where your smile melts away my blues

 

I watched you bloom in the spring

And bask in the warm summer glow

Then dressed in russet colours of autumn

And all the year I’ve felt my love grow

 

Now winter is here and Christmas is near

Oh how I long to kiss your sweet lips so

Oh my pretty little elfin faced girl

I pray I meet you beneath the mistletoe