In
the small but thriving English county of Downshire people go about the tasks of
their everyday existence in ways that range from the mundane to the
extraordinary as their forebears had done for centuries before, in the varied
and diverse landscape, from 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, to the beautiful Finchbottom Vale and the
short but beautiful coastline to the east.
But
it’s in the old market town of Abbeyvale where the participants of this
particular tale live their lives, and the tale began as
December started, and the town was dressed for Christmas.
Twenty-seven-year-old
Violetta Garcia was a tiny woman of Spanish descent who
looked like a breath of wind would blow her away but looks could be very
deceptive as she was very strong and very grounded.
However, she was also very lonely.
All her siblings were married, apart from
younger sister Morella, so were most of her cousins, and the ones that weren’t
were at least in relationships.
Literally everyone else she knew, family,
friends and even workmates, had a family, a partner and children and she wanted
that, she had always wanted that, now as she sat in St Bernadette’s Church one
Sunday morning with the pews full of families with their children, she wanted
it even more.
Violetta was a very attractive young woman,
petite and slim, so she
was not short of admirers nevertheless she was still alone because the sort of
admirers she attracted were not the husband and father types.
The men who
pursued her were more interested in coupling than being part of a couple,
although she was not prudish or chaste enough not to indulge her own appetites,
but none of them were keepers.
Unlike
Violetta, her sister, Morella was content with a life of coupling with the many
bees that were attracted to her honeypot, male and female, but none of them
ever held her attention for very long, she was always keen to move onto the
next conquest.
But Violetta
needed more than just a succession of sexual partners, no matter how satisfying
they might be.
Whenever
she found herself in church, which was often, she would offer up a little
prayer and would always ask to be guided in her search for love.
With a
sideward’s glance as she left the church, she spotted a familiar face stood to
one side obviously waiting for someone, it was Morella’s most recent reject
Jesus Martinez.
He was tall
handsome and quietly spoken and she was sorry when he was dumped as she had
liked him.
However,
she was filled with dread when she caught sight of him and immediately averted
her gaze and pretended not to see him as she hurried down the steps.
She was
keen to avoid talking to him as she had a horrible feeling it would turn out to
be a very embarrassing conversation, with him begging her to intercede with
Morella on his behalf.
“Violetta!”
he called
She ignored
him and hurried down the steps as she knew any effort to change Morella’s mind
would be fruitless.
“Violetta!”
he called more urgently
“Just keep
going” She muttered to herself
“Violetta!
please wait!”
“Damn” she
said under her breath as she took pity on him and came to a halt.
Violetta
took a deep breath and turned to face him and immediately said
“It’s no good
Susi she’s not going to change her mind no matter what I say”
“Oh, I know
that” he retorted casually
“You do?”
“Yes, I’m
not here to talk about Morella” he explained
“You’re
not?”
“No, I want
to talk to you, about you” he said earnestly
“I don’t
understand” Violetta responded
“I wanted
to…” he began
“You wanted
to what?” she asked with a puzzled expression
“Ask you
out”
“Oh” she
responded with surprise, and it was a surprise, as she certainly wasn’t
expecting to be asked out when she caught sight of him as she left the church.
Completely
caught unawares she had to think quickly how to let him down gently, because
she liked Jesus, so she didn’t want to hurt him, then she heard herself say
“Oh, ok
then, you can take me for lunch”
