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 begins
slightly further south equidistant between Nettlefield and the Oxley’s, in the
beautiful village of Heathervale.
Chris Palmer was new
to the area having moved to Nettlefield from Purplemere following a very
acrimonious divorce.
He was a relatively
good looking man who was fast approaching his 40th birthday, with a good
physique and short sandy hair, greying at the temples and was possessed of
piercing blue eyes.
He also had had very
bad luck with the opposite sex, which was why he was now divorced, but he
planned on turning over a new leaf and leaving his courting days far behind
him.
As he was rubbish at
picking the targets for his affection he decided the safest thing to do was
stop picking.
After his divorce he
decided not only to give up on relationships but also to give up on Purplemere,
so he sold up and planned to head for pastures new.
His reason for moving
to Nettlefield in particular, over all the other places he might have chosen either
in Downshire or beyond, was the Heatherlands District Health Centre.
It was a large
practise that serviced a large area, covering Nettlefield itself, Oxley Green,
Heathervale, Oxley Ridge and Tipton and Chris had been fortunate enough to land
the job as practice manager and he also found himself a nice little flat in
Nettlefield.
The senior partner at
the Health Centre was Dr Clarisse Lowe, a tall statuesque woman who dressed in
tweed, she had Chestnut hair, a voluptuous figure, lovely long legs and a
generous frontage, who was in her mid-forties and was just the kind of woman
Chris would have fallen for in his previous life.
But he was a new man
and besides she was probably a lesbian because she seemed to have a very close
relationship with one of the practice nurses, Josie Minter, a skinny blonde
girl ten years her junior.
But the fact that he
suspected Clarisse was playing for the other side didn’t stop him admiring her
lovely long legs or her impressive cleavage at every opportunity and Josie’s
sexual orientation, if he had read the situation correctly, didn’t prevent her
from flirting with him outrageously on a regular basis.
In fact her flirty
behaviour led him to what was a false assumption, namely that she swung both
ways, because she was very definitely straight and the close relationship she
shared with the lovely Doctor Lowe was as a result of Josie being her step daughter.
Clarisse had been
married to Edward Lowe, who had been an eminent surgeon in Downshire, he had
also been twenty years older when he married her and he had two children from
his first marriage, Josie being the oldest.
The marriage was a
happy one but only lasted five years because Edward died suddenly on the Tipton
Twelve Trees Golf course after suffering a heart attack.
She had been a widow
for 10 years which had left her lonely but also afraid of risking her heart on
someone who might end that loneliness.
In the beginning, as
Clarisse was the senior partner at Heatherlands, Chris was required to have
almost daily briefings with her on his progress and he took those meetings as
an opportunity to feast his eyes on the good Doctors assets, though he drew the
line someway short of staring down her blouse at her large breasts in their
lacy hammocks, though he could quite easily imagine them.
But he did look at the
gorgeous Doctor Lowe in a less than professional manner however discreetly that
might have been and over the weeks, he found that despite his pledge not to get
involved with any more women, he had fallen for her in a big way.
Clarisse for her part
had noticed the effect she had on Chris but did nothing about it and certainly
didn’t encourage him, but she was flattered that she was still alluring enough
to quicken a man’s pulse.
But apart from the
fact that she had vowed not to risk her broken heart again she also had
instigated a policy at the practise forbidding fraternisation between members
of staff, so even if she were so inclined toward Chris she wouldn’t go against
her own edict.
After he’d been at
Heatherlands for a few days short of three months, which just happened to be the
week before Easter, there were quarterly reports to be completed and as it was
his first quarterly reporting, combined with the fact that it was their yearend
as well, he had to spend disproportionately longer in Clarisse’s office than
was normal.
Which he for one
didn’t mind as it meant that he got to spend more time with her as well as
giving him additional ogling time.
Come the day before
Good Friday however they worked late into the evening and they still hadn’t
finished.
By 7.30 Dr Conway had
left for the day and there were just the two of them, although Josie was due
back from a home visit.
“Let’s call it a day”
she said
“Are you sure?” Chris
asked “we need to finish them before next week”
“I know but I can’t
look at another number tonight” she said
“That’s ok you get off
and I’ll press on and finish” he offered “it’ll only take another couple of
hours”
“No I don’t think
that’s a good idea” She said and rubbed her eyes
“Why not come to the
house tomorrow after church and we’ll carry on when we’re fresh, with clear
heads and we’ll be done in no time”
“I think that’s a
great idea” he said “I’m done in”
“I thought you said
you’d be done in a couple of hours” she said and smiled
“That was just
bravado” he admitted and laughed
Clarisse lived in the
village of Heathervale in a six bedroom converted farmhouse that was originally
her marital home which she now shared with her stepdaughter Josie and although
she was a lonely widow she was blessed because she and Josie had a very close
relationship.
Clarisse and Josie
were very strong in their faith even before Edwards’s untimely death but it had
deepened in the years that followed and they were both regular congregants at
St Giles’ church so on Good Friday Clarisse and Josie attended the midday
service at the village church but Josie had to leave before the end because she
was working and had a couple of home visits to do.
Chris also had a strong
faith but he had lapsed in his attendance since his divorce, partly because he
felt ashamed that he had failed in his marriage.
So when Clarisse
walked back to the house after the service he was waiting in his car on the
drive when she reached home.
It was a cold day and
as she approached he could see that she was wrapped up against the cold but he
knew it was her by the way she moved, which was quite distinctive to someone
who had spent a lot of time watching her walk around the health centre.
“Sorry I’m late” she
said as he got out of his car “I got chatting at the church”
“No problem” he said
amiably and opened the car boot and removed his laptop bag and some folders.
“Come in out of the
cold” she said and he followed her in
When she had slipped
off her long winter coat and removed her boots he could see that instead of her
normal tweed suit she was wearing trousers, tweed obviously and a chunky
sweater.
Her apparel, for her
at any rate, was casual in nature but in Chris’s eyes made her no less alluring.
“I thought we could
work in the dining room, we can spread out in there” she said as she walked
down the hall and he followed on.
Chris was correct in
his assessment, they did finish in a couple of hours but that was only due to
the fact that they were fresh and rested as Clarisse had stated.
“I just need to print
off copies for the partners” he said “And we’re done for another year”
“So you’re planning on
still being here next year then” she said “We haven’t managed to scare you off,
or rather I haven’t”
“Not at all I like
working at Heatherlands, and I really enjoy working with you” he replied
“Good, I think we are
good together” Clarisse said and fearing she had given him the correct
impression that she liked him she hastily added “I mean we work well together”
Chris did indeed get
the impression that she liked him more than a colleague and he liked that she
did, even though he had sworn off the opposite sex.
“Do you mind me asking
you a personal question Clarisse?”
“It depends what it
is” she replied
“It’s very personal”
he said
“Ask away then”
“Why are you always
wearing tweed?” Chris asked
“That would be telling
wouldn’t it” she said
“Then do tell” he encouraged
her and she blushed slightly
“Oh dear” she began “I
wear tweed so that people see me as a Doctor and not just as a woman”
“Really?” he exclaimed
and she nodded
“Well I can tell you
for sure, it’s not working”
After he said it she
went properly red and became quite flustered
“I’ll make us a drink”
she said and hurried out of the room.
While she was gone he
packed all of the folders away and stowed his laptop in his bag and sat back
and waited for her to return, positioning himself so as to have the best view
of her when she re-entered the room.
Clarisse returned
after about twenty minutes with the drinks and Chris gave her a good appraising
look as she walked in, as had become his habit, but this time she was wearing a
different outfit,
Instead of the tweed
trousers she was wearing jeans and the chunky sweater had been replaced by a
figure hugging white top and her chestnut hair that had been tied back now hung
loosely onto her shoulders.
If he thought she was
sexy and alluring in tweed then seeing her in tight jeans and a clingy top sent
her sex appeal off the scale.
As she walked towards
him she was moving differently than normal as she was no longer trying to look like
a Doctor and then when she was close enough to hand him his drink he could
smell her liberally applied perfume which heightened his senses further.
“Thank you” he said
but he wasn’t really thanking her for the tea.
Clarisse then sat with
her bum perched on the dining table beside him and sipped her tea and he
thoroughly scrutinised her from head to toe.
On the outside she was
very calm and collected but inside she was ablaze with desire.
She knew what effect
she had on him as she entered the room and was still having on him because she
also knew he couldn’t take his eyes off of her.
What she didn’t know
was what she should do next, she was a little out of practise, not that she was
ever that well versed, but with a man five years younger than her she was a bit
out of her depth.
Fortunately her
dilemma was brought to a resolution when Chris put down his tea on the table
and stood up.
“What if he walks
out?” she asked herself in a panic “How will I face him in the centre next
week”
She needed have
worried because when he stood he took the mug from her trembling hand and put
it on the table next to his before taking hold of that same quivering hand and
pulled her to her feet and then he kissed her.
They were alone in the
house, so neither Clarisse or Chris held back as the longing and want of each
other that they had been suppressing for weeks surged to the surface and the
kiss was progressing well, he feel her heart pounding in her chest and there
appeared no end in sight to the kiss as the door was flung open and Josie appeared.
“I don’t believe it”
Josie said holding the door handle as she stared at her stepmother kissing her
practise manager, which of course stopped as a result of the interruption.
“How could you?” Josie
said as the pair continued to hug in front of her. “You said no fraternizing
with colleagues”
“I did say that”
Clarisse agreed
“I think she’s miffed”
he said
“Miffed, I’ll say I’m miffed”
she said
“I’m very bloody
miffed, I could have got off with the locum last month, but I said no because
of the “No Fraternizing” policy”
“Ah I think we’re
scrapping that policy” Clarisse said and they all laughed
“By the way you said
that that locum was an oily creep”
“That’s not the point”
Josie said “he still asked me out”
“Well you are now free
to say yes to the next oily locum that asks you out” Clarisse said and kissed
Chris again and Josie was laughing as she went out of the room.
So that was how it
came about that two people who despite their reluctance to expose themselves to
love again and who were very definitely not looking for a relationship, let
alone love, found it anyway.
