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.
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.
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.
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.
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
“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.
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
