Sign Of The Times
Chapter 2
At the end of the day…
‘Good point, I’m not sure yet’, Lemy responds in
deep thought. He thinks about it for a moment but for Lemy this is
a difficult decision. His Love of all women meant picking just one
was often confusing. As a child Lemy was always the center of attention
at his mother’s gatherings and the constant love and affection
he received from all these women in his life had spoiled him. He never
complained though.
‘ I reckon I’m gonna go for that Chinese girl. Did you
see her?’ Dom blurted out in his excitement. Dominic was no
stranger to women’s affections either but he had mastered a
long time ago the art of decision- making and once his mind was made
up it was hard to change.
‘Yes and what a surprise! Does it have anything to do with the
fact she looks like Lucy Lew!’ Lemy contorted.
‘And your point is?’ Dom probed.
‘Bloody good choice, old boy!’ Lemy responded. As they
reached the spar area Lemy removed his towel and cautiously stepped
in the spar. Dom, overwhelmed by temptation, whipped his of towel
and started to spin it into a thread in preparation for a towel flick.
Focusing on Lemy’s butt, he waited for lemy to bend over just
slightly before he flicked his towel; the wrist snapping back at just
the right moment to cause maximum effect. ‘aaaahhhh, you bastard!’
Lemy screamed grabbing his butt cheeks.
‘I’m sorry, I’m sorry! It was just so tempting.
I didn’t mean to do it that hard, seriously.’ Dom pleaded
as Lemy reached for his towel.
At this point, six of the ladies of the house elegantly march into
the spar room to join the boys. They immediately switched back to
cool mode, dropping there towels as they got back in the Spar. ‘Hey
ladies, how you doing?’ Dom queried casually. He didn' t wish
to appear inexperienced or new to this. Dom had been with a prostitute
once before but it had been during a holiday in Spain.
‘We’re fine’ they responded almost in unison, with
bright, welcoming smiles along their faces. This was a welcome treat
for the ladies, its not often their clients came in such young, handsome
packaging. Dom had child- like chizzled facial features accompanied
by a fitting square jaw, and bright blue eyes to match. He had worn
his hair long earlier on in his youth but preferred to keep it cropped
forward these days. Lemy, a blackman, was tall and muscular but with
a roundish baby face, brown eyes and a wide smile, that could charm
most.
Before the lads could say anything else the ladies decided to get
into the spar with them, gracefully placing their dressing gowns on
the floor and then tiptoeing into the water with devilish grins.
‘So what do you guys do? Your friends, yes?’ the curvy
blonde asked Lemy in a Russian accent. Her perfect smile and illuminating
green eyes absolutely mesmerizing Lemy from the start. On top of that
Lemy loved accents in women and any man would love hers. ‘Yes
we are! We’re at University.’ Lemy responded tentatively.
She places here hand on his thigh and edges closer to him staring
lustfully into his eyes with her contagious smile. The other ladies
didn’t stand much of a chance with Lemy but then they never
really did when Verna was on the job. On the other side of the Spar,
Dom had lucked out and found himself sitting next to and in conversation
with his Lucy Lew look-alike.
‘You look like Lucy Lew, you know that?’ he sayed stroking
her hair.
‘Ya kind of, guys always say that. Why, do you like Lucy Lew?’
She responded lifting her head and pouting her lips.
‘Not really!’ Dom responded nonchalantly. She looks at
him in disbelief. ‘But I like you!’ He continued. They
smile in Unison. Dom felt he was on fire again.
Suddenly Candy, the Hostess, came storming into the Spar area clapping
for attention. ‘Excuse me, ladies. But you can’t all be
in here! We need some of you in the lounge area to great the rest
of the guests.’ She said with slight irritation as she counted
the numbers in the Spar. ‘Have you decided which ladies your
going to treat to your time, gentlemen?’ Dom let out a snigger
when he heard the term gentlemen. ‘I’ll stick with you
if that’s Ok!’ Dom said to the lady he’s been chatting
with. Lemy looked quite obviously smitten by Verna, nobody need second-
guess whom he would be spending his time with.
‘Ok! The rest of you back to the lounge, quick quick!’
Disappointed, the ladies slowly and teasingly get out the spar and
dry themselves. Lemy is distracted by their performance for a second
but a quick rub of his thigh restores his attention. ‘Take care
ladies. We’ll see you soon.’ Dom quipped in a sympathetic
tone.
‘Bye, bye …’ they all shouted as they strut out
the room, all smiles and chests out. Quickly followed by Candy Their
more mature but equally sexy hostess. Seeing them leave the room in
such a manner made it clear to see where the ladies got their grooming.
‘So, you ready for your massage?’ Verna the Russian temptress
asked Lemy, his attention was now quite thoroughly back on her. As
if he had to think about it Lemy allows a brief pause for thought.
‘Ya sure, but I’m a bit sore from football practice so
be gentle on me.’ Lemy said with a smile as they stood to leave
the Spar together.
‘Of course I will, darling!’ she purred rubbing his chest
with a smile.
‘Dom, are we gonna do the credit card thing?’ Lemy asked
looking over at Dom. Dom was deeply engaged with Suzy the Thai girl.
‘Ya cool, no problem!’ He responded without looking away.
Lemy’s finances are strictly monitored by his Dad, so he can’t
put anything of disrepute on his credit card. Dom was usually the
one responsible for paying for these types of escapades on his card
and Lemy would reimburse him with the cash later.
‘Ok then, lets go sexy.’ Lemy said turning back to Verna.
She led him out the Spar and handed his towel.
‘You probably won’t need that for long.’ She said
rapping it around and tucking it in. Lemy could only smile back as
they turned and left the room, leaving Dom and Suz still in the Spar.
Anna lead Lemy to a small cozy room with a large massage table in
the corner. ‘Just lie down here, face down and I will do the
rest’ Anna ordered rubbing massage oil on her hands and on his
back, the chillness of the lubricant making him shudder. Lemy had
an awesome physic. Like most Nigerians he was tall and dark with broad
shoulders and a well cut upper body that any male model would have
been proud of. All this to go with his baby faced good looks and a
talent in his pants most women would appreciate.
Verna straddled lemy and began massaging away, seemingly to concentrate
on his shoulders and his neck. As Lemy lay face down he couldn’t
help thinking to himself that this wasn’t the greatest massage
he had experienced. But then again he hadn’t pick Verna for
her massaging skills. Come to think of it, he hadn’t really
pick Verna at all. She had seemed to pick him, but it was not a scenario
Lemy imagined living to regret. And when she asked him to turn over
and he saw her lean across the massage table to pick up a condom,
he was glad she had made the decision. She had probably one of the
roundest peachy bottoms he had seen leading up to a slender waist
and accompanied by her full pert breasts, which were an awesome sight!
They must have been 36 C cups Lemy had guessed, his most preferred
kind.
Over in the next room, Dom had decided to forgo the massage in it’s
traditional sense and He and Suz had begun fondling each other the
moment they got in the room. As Suz felt Dom’s member begin
to stiffen to a semi- erect status, she began kissing her way down
his body stroking and licking his nipples among other parts of him.
Dom had a well toned body and six pack abdominal that Suz couldn’t
seem to get enough of. As she stroked his abs and licked his belly
button she slowly began moving her lips down to his now throbbing
Penis. Going down is exactly what Suzy did best, in fact some of her
clients who paid for a full service never made it past this stage.
Dom always had a weakness for oral stimulation and this time was no
different. He stood with his head back trying to think of anything
but sex wanting her stop in case he came but he loved every second
of it. She kisses her way back up his body sensing his building tension
‘Lye down, I wanna ride you!’ She whispered in Dom’s
ear.
‘Ok! But I’m not sure how much more of this I can take.’
He joked. As it turns out, not much! Dom was in the Spar waiting for
Lemy, ten minutes later. As he lay down, Suz slowly placed a condom
on him stroking him as he pulsated before gently climbing on top of
him on all fours and gently lowering herself on him. Dom felt her
tight wetness engulf him as she let out a moan of pleasure. Dom reached
out for her breasts, tweaking her nipples as she rhythmically rocked
up and down on him occasionally pausing to get more comfortable. As
she felt Dom’s member bulge inside her, she began to quicken
her movements making her strokes longer as Dom matched her movements
growing in excitement. Her moans got louder and Dom’s movements
quickened until eventually he could take no more and came letting
out a groan of pleasure as he climaxed. It wasn’t long before
Suz began to convulse too, her warm juices covering Dominic who at
this point lay quivering on the bed.
Lemy was in good form and his excitement for Verna had him flipping
her here there and everywhere. They went from position to position,
having wild, uninhibited sex all over the room. They went from the
bed to the chair and ended up eventually on the side table switching
from position to position. Neither could get enough, as they banged
relentlessly only trying to get deeper and harder. The moans that
came from the room only served to inspire passing customers as they
nodded and joked in appreciation.
Twenty minutes later Dom and Lemy were back on the road, recounting
their tales to each other as they made there way back to town. It
seemed quite obvious they would probably be back, that’s what
they told their respective partners anyway.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
As Karl pulled into the parking lot of the school, he had a quick
looks at his watch. ‘Damn, fifteen minutes late.’ He said
to himself as he parked the car. It was the end of the school day
and the air was rife with the sound of raucous childhood antics. Karl
raced to the entrance of the school and into the administration office.
‘Hi, I’m Karl Roberts. I’m here for a meeting with
the head teacher.’ He said to the receptionist.
‘Oh ya sure, go straight through. They’re waiting for
you.’ She responded with a smile. Karl knocks on the door and
entered the office after hearing a vague response. Though the afternoon
sun shone straight through the large windows, the room was filled
with a rather somber atmosphere. Karl, looking around the room, first
noticed his son who was looking rather tense, like most standing in
his position Karl assumed. ‘Sorry I’m late.’ He
said, taking a stand by his son.
‘Not a problem Karl! We’ve talked through everything really.
We just need to hear what you want to do.’ Sarah Peterson began,
proceeding to explain the incident in more detail. As the story is
retold, Karl stole an occasional glance at Gloria and Ben stood to
his left, they’re heads down in embarrassment as they listened
to Sarah Peterson go over the details. Ben clearly looked sorry for
his actions; he was almost in tears as the tail was recounted. Karl’s
attention, on the other hand, was rather taken by Gloria, her slender
body quivered slightly as the tail ensued. She seemed to have an almost
angelic glow to her as she stood there in an all white dress, almost
see through in the right light. She had an almost flawless figure,
tall slender legs that led to an hour- glass figure that appeared
impeccably proportioned. All this and a cute, innocent looking face,
she barely looked old enough to be this boy’s mother. In fact,
she didn’t!
‘So that’s about the long and short of it, really.’
Sarah ended, looking at Karl over her specs. Karl didn’t respond.
‘Karl!’ she called in a louder tone.
‘Oh ya! Right! Well if you think it’s an issue best resolved
here and now, that sounds fair enough to me. Ben looks remorseful
enough over his actions and if it hasn’t happened before I’m
sure it won’t happen again.’ He said confidently, almost
laughing to ease the nervous tension. ‘I don’t think it’s
something we need to worry about!’ He ended smiling at Ben and
Gloria who were staring at him expectantly. ‘My sentiments exactly,
Mr. Roberts!’ Sarah ended briefly.
‘Does that mean we can go now!’ Tim jumped in. ‘I’m
gonna miss my favourite show.’ Everybody stared at him in disbelief
and he smiled embarrassed. ‘And I have homework to do.’
‘Yes, okay Timothy. We all know how important your time is.’
Sarah continued closing a folder on her desk. Tim immediately grabbed
his bag and made for the door. He threw the heavy door open racing
through it and Karl had to quicken his step just to catch it, holding
it open for Ben and Gloria. He was able to get a sneaky peak of her
butt as she walk through the door and Karl was suitably impressed,
taking a short gasp.
As Gloria raced Ben through the school entrance to the parking lot,
she was still unable to look Karl in the eye as she sensed he was
trailing close behind them. This was what made the whole situation
all the more embarrassing because Karl’s appeal was obvious.
A tall blonde haired and blue- eyed boy of athletic build, its no
wonder most women found themselves powerless in his presence. ‘Listen,
about what happened earlier. I’m sure it was just a misunderstanding.’
Karl said catching up with Gloria. ‘Kids these days always go
through phases like this, don’t take it to heart.’ He
continued, trying to make her feel at ease.
‘Yes maybe! But still, Ben did a very bad thing and that can'
t be changed! ’ She said glaring down at Ben. He held his head
down and shrugged.
As he walks ahead a football is kicked over to him from a football
game some of the other kids were playing in the playground area. Ben
chests it down, does a couple of kick ups and then kicks it back.
‘Hey, your not bad.’ Karl said enthusiastically. ‘Do
you play? For a team, I mean?’
‘No, not really.’ Ben responded disappointed. Karl had
a thought for a moment.
‘Well Tim plays for a Sunday league team. In fact one of our
players got injured last week, I’m sure we’d appreciate
more players.’ He continued in thought. ‘There only a
couple of games left this season but …’ Karl exclaimed
looking over at Tim. Tim looked away in disapproval.
‘I’m not sure. What do you think mum?’ Ben asked
looking from Tim to Gloria.
‘If you want to, as long as you still do your studies.’
Gloria responded firmly.
‘Great! ‘Well practice is Tuesdays and Thursdays at 6pm
in Crescent park and matches on most Sunday morning…’
Karl explained excitedly.
‘Can we go home now!’ Tim butted in.
‘OK son, just a second.’ Karl quipped. ‘So I’ll
see you both soon?’
‘Yes, I guess so.’ Gloria replied with a shrug of her
shoulders. ‘Thank you for everything.’
‘Oh its nothing! Just make sure he turns up.’ Karl said
walking away. ‘Between me and you the team could use the support.’
He threw in for humour. Gloria couldn’t help but give a polite
smile.
As Karl and Tim drove home, Karl decides to give Catherine, his wife,
a call. The phone was on answer machine, he sighed in disappointment.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Catherine and her life long friend Hanna were onto their final leg
of their all day treatment in the Metropolis beauty treatment center.
‘And now for the highlight of the day! The full body massage.’
Catherine said lying back with a grin.
‘Oh yes. No matter how many times we come here, I still get
goose pimples before the massage. I wonder if Ramone is in today.’
Hanna said looking around.
‘Oh, he is! I checked before I booked the appointment.’
Catherine exclaimed. Hanna looked over in surprise, it never occurred
to her to check. she just wasn’t that concerned.
For as long as Hanna could remember, Catherine had always had an insatiable
appetite for men. And with her deep blue eyes, long straight mousy
hair, pert breasts and legs to her armpits she could give Barbie a
run for her money. Except Catherine didn’t need the money! And
she had been this way since she was twelve years old: an early developer
who long ago had learned exactly how to strike a chord with the boys.
But if there was anyone compelling enough to satisfy Catherine for
a life- time, Hanna was sure it was Karl. Lately, she felt she had
been wrong about that.
‘So how are thing with you and Karl?’ Hanna inquired innocently.
Catherine’s reluctance to discuss her marriage was obvious from
her disapproving sigh.
‘Ya, not bad! I’m just a little bored with the monotony
of life these days.’ She responded, staring into the distance.
‘I’m thinking about getting back into work.’ Catherine’s
tone was expressionless. Hanna failed to hold back her surprise at
this last statement. Catherine throughout her life had proved to be
quite work shy to say the least. Only Catherine could have got through
school and university doing as little work as she did. And this was
evident from the number of jobs she had been hired and fired from
since then, but she always had “Daddy” to fall back on.
‘I thought you didn’t like the work environment?’
Hanna said trying to hold back her laughter.
‘Yes, true! But I’m beginning to feel like I’m wasting
my life.’ She retorted passionately. ‘Tim is old enough
to take care of himself and Karl is always working. I just need something
more.’ Catherine ended staring into the distance at Ramone as
he made his way over, his tall muscle bound physic almost gliding
as his broad shoulders swayed from side to side. She would have payed
to give him a massage!
‘Well ladies! Its time for your massage.’ He said in a
faint Italian accent. The girls giggled and sprung up to follow him.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
‘So, I take it he wasn’t to happy then?’ Terry
said giggling to himself. Paul Travis was still too ruffled from his
brief conversation with John Hayes to respond.
‘Not happy are not the words! He was livid!’ Paul replied
in puzzlement.
‘To be fair, it is a stressful time.’ Terry said trying
to brush off the incident.
‘Ya, for all of us! We’re the ones who have to go into
a local election in a month.’ Paul responded through clenched
teeth.
‘Easy mate! We’re a pretty safe seat.’ Terry began
in his usually calming tone. ‘I don’t think that’s
gonna change anytime soon.’ He sat reclined in his chair looking
cool as ever. Terry had been in politics for three years now and at
thirty- three years old he was relatively young for the game but charismatic
beyond his years. As a lawyer he always remained close to local affairs
helping where he could and developing a circle of friends capable
of taking him to where he most wanted to go; Ten Downing Street, but
that was much further ahead in his plans. Paul was also relatively
young in the game at thirty- five, joining politics about a year before
Terry. But whereas Terry seemed to relish the role he played in the
political establishment, Paul was growing increasingly frustrated.
Less than a year ago America and Britain had declared war on Iraq
as part of their whole war against terrorism campaign, despite the
fact about sixty to seventy percent (depending on which opinion poll,
politician or media source you decide to go by) of the public voted
against it. The Houses of parliament voted and deemed it necessary
due to the potential dangers of Iraq holding weapons of mass destruction,
which turned out not to be there after all. Whoops! Although the invasion
was over within a few weeks; compliments of the American battling
prowess, the process of nation rebuilding had proved more difficult,
with constant rebellions and terrorist acts taking place on a daily
basis. Now, not only had the government lost the trust of the people
who never wanted to go to war in the first place, they had to worry
about the safety of soldiers and civilians; British and American,
still in the Middle- East, and lets not forget to mention the incurring
cost of the war on taxpayers.
And now there was talk of further tax rises, inflation rates going
up and budget cuts for social services. They were supposed to be the
party of the people! What had happened to this once great nation that
was now forced to hang onto the coat tails of America, going with
their every foreign policy. Paul never liked the idea of the war and
certainly wasn’t happy with what had happened since. He often
asked himself if he was in the right party, but it was the almost
lack of opposition that kept them in power rather than the popularity
of their policies and decisions and that didn’t look like it
was going to change anytime soon. Paul’s mobile started to vibrate,
‘You alright mate! Haven’t heard from you in a while …’.
Terry listened intently while he fumbled with his pen.
‘Who was that?’ Terry asked innocently, after the conversation
came to an end.
‘Oh just an old friend of mine. He wants to meet up for a drink
sometime.’ Paul responded with a nostalgic grin.
‘Really. Where do you know him from?’ Terry asked again.
‘From University! He’s a teacher.’
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Around the corner came a black Vitara jeep fully kitted out with
twenty inch, five spoke alloys shooting out the side and all white
leather interior, blaring out a heavy Drum N Bass bass- line that
could be felt from miles away. Abdul was just coming out the building
and knew straight away what the vibrations were.
‘Turn that down, there’s people working here?’ Abdul
shouted over the music.
‘Work? What’s that?’ Dom joked as he turns the music
down.
‘How you doing man? How was work?’ He asked
‘Same as, rude boy! What you guys get up to?’ he asked
curiously. Dom and Lemy laughed.
‘Get in we’ll tell you about it? Your coming to The Snug
right?’ Dom asked insistently. The Snug was the main university
union! With subsidized alcohol, pool tables and a duke box, with live
DJs on weekends; which started on Thursdays for students, The Snug
is what most of the students called “The Office”. And
they clocked in regular hours there, long hours on most occasions.
‘Ya cool, but I just need to go to the library and do some stuff
quickly.’ Abdul responds as he jumped into the back. Lemy watched
the people as they exited the building after their shift.
‘Do you wanna bring any of these girls with you?’ Lemy
asked curiously as he stole glances at the passing groups of ladies.
‘Yaaaah! Who’s that?’ Dom asks excitedly as a tall,
voluptuous, dark skinned girl with long curly hair caught his eye.
Abdul had a look.
‘Oh her, that’s Lea. A very popular girl around here but
she has a boyfriend.’ He replied flatly as though he had had
to give that answer several times before.
‘We’ll see about that!’ Dom said to himself as they
drove off. It was not long before they were back on the university
grounds and heading for the Snug
‘You alright, boys?’ Emma asked as the four girls reached
Dom and Lemy at the bar. Emma, Hanna, Fiona and Ola were all known
to the university crowd as “The Ladies”. From the first
day they met, they were drawn to each other by sheer animal magnetism.
Predators of the same species, they did everything together. Beautiful,
strong and independent, you would thing they were a popular breed
in this day and age, not quite. Most guys were intimidated by them!
Emma and Hanna were cute, sweet, petite girls with light brown hair
and bright blue eyes. They were the very definition of the English
rose and often mistake for each other. Fiona was French, tall with
dark hair brown eyes and a smile that would defrost the coldest of
hearts. Ola was a cousin of Lemy’s, actually a family friend
but everyone in Africa is family. She was tall, dark and incredibly
sexy, in an almost scary manner. The fact she wore bright coloured
contact lenses didn’t help her cause on that front.
‘Hello ladies how are we?’ Dom asked with casual charm.
There were hugs and kisses all round.
‘So what have you guys been up to, then? I know you didn’t
come to class.’ Hanna asked inquisitively. Dom and Lemy looked
at each other and laughed in embarrassment.
‘No. We got up late, so we just went down to town and hung out.’
Lemy replied innocently.
‘Oh, man! You should have called us! We were down there too!’
Emma responded grabbing her drink.
‘What were you doing down there?’ Hanna asked again.
‘Ummm, we just went down to the river, you know. Enjoyed the
sun rays, drank a few cocktails that kind of thing.’ Dom said
confidently. The girls looked at each other in suspicion.
‘We were at the river.’ Emma cut in. Dom and Lemy looked
at each other again.
‘Really? Where?’ Dom asked in engagement.
‘Where we normally go! At The Pitchers in Richmond.’ Emma
responded.
‘Oh right! No, we went up to Putney because we were meeting
Abdul after work.’ Dom responded calmly. That ought to cover
it.
The Snug was not as busy as it usually was, even for a Tuesday evening.
It was the last week of classes before the end of year exams and this
was one of the only times you could guarantee students would turn
up for classes, thus the reduction in office hours. To go with this,
the end of year ball was the following Saturday and everyone seemed
to be saving their money and energy. With the UK’s top Hip-Hop
DJ coming in, it was sure to be the blow out of the school year for
most and perhaps like any other weekend for Dom, Lemy and others.
Dom and Lemy, accompanied by the ladies, made there way to the corner
of the snug; what the regulars called “The Playas Corner”.
This part of the snug was always packed and with the most entertaining
of characters. It was always guaranteed to raise a number of tomorrow’s
talking points.
In the head seat was Alistair or big Al to some. Very similar in character
and background to Dom, Ali also considered himself God’s gift
to women. When these two characters first met it was a titanic battle
of the Gods. Ali struck first by pulling Emma, which pissed Dom off
because he had showed an obvious interest in her. He quickly responded
by involving himself in a relationship with Hanna, a scenario that
actually brought the boys closer together, thanks to some tactical
play by the girls. The only shame being that neither relationship
lasted very long, but then none of Ali’s relationships ever
did. Dom had seemed to lose interest in campus girls after his torrid
affair with Hanna.
Ali was watching the closest game of pool he' d seen as he was due
to play the winner. This would inevitably be Eric! Eric was like nobody
around and yet possessed the ability to get on with everybody, especially
the ladies. Closer to Ali than anybody else he was able to balance
an extremely active social life with school and football amongst other
sports. He was playing against, or beating on this occasion Mike but
these games were always to close to call. Mike was originally British
but his family moved to America when he was young and only moved back
to England two years ago. Most people still considered him American,
he dressed like a yank, he talked like a yank and he called football
soccer. He was a yank And a real entertainer if ever there was one.Amongst
all these characters were the usual following of guys and girls that
seemed to make the colourful University social scene.
The location of the University placed it just far enough from central
London not to be affected by the hustle and bustle of City life and
still close enough to be experienced in full. With its healthy, luscious
green campus grounds and various fields and courts for it’s
extra curricular activities, it was enough to draw its students into
a world of their own as appose to the real world.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
‘Your lucky I’m so tired these days, otherwise you know
what you’d get!’ Gloria exclaimed while putting the rice
on the stove. Ben’s lecture had been going for a good twenty
minutes now and his mind had already glazed over. He sat emotionless,
staring at the TV. Gloria went over to her purse and pulls out five
pounds.
‘Can you take the electricity key and go and charge it, please.
I’ve got to go to work in the next half an hour.’ She
explains, passing the money to Ben who took the money and ran out
the room. Gloria worked a second job on evenings and weekends in a
private care home, which brought her home at 1 am on some days. She
usually took Sundays off to be at home and relax. She and Ben lived
in a small one- bedroom basement flat that shared a garden with the
flats upstairs. Gloria knew some of the neighbours from upstairs,
who were also from Zimbabwe so she didn’t mind leaving Ben alone
for a few hours. And besides, he was quite responsible for his age;
on most occasions anyway. ‘It won’t be long before he’s
looking after me!’ she used to joke to her friends. ‘I
can’t wait.’ She said to herself turning off the stove.
Most of the clients in the care home where she worked were elderly,
which made life pretty straight- forward. Gloria had once worked in
a NHS care ward that had people of all kinds coming in and out. The
drama that could often erupt was often unwelcome, especially in the
early hours of the morning. You do get some crazy people, she had
remarked to herself on several occasions.
As Ben returned, Gloria had already finishes dinner. ‘Ok! Dinner
is ready. You can help yourself when your hungry.’ Gloria said
rushing off to get changed. A smile appeared on Ben’s face.
Ben liked having the house to himself! Sometimes he’d go upstairs
and hang out with Freddy and Josey but most of the time he’d
just watch TV or play on his Playstation, raising the volume as high
as he could. He was through to the semi-finals on ‘Euro 2004’
a football game he played with a team he had created himself, and
tonight was the night he was going to win the championship. He could
sense it.
‘And don’t forget your home work!’ Gloria shouted
from the bedroom. Ben sighed, he knew it was coming and still he had
no intention of doing any. He had plenty of time to do it all in the
library after his little altercation.
‘I won’t, don’t worry.’ He replied robotically.
As Gloria entered the care home, it was as it always had been on most
evenings; quiet, dull and generally depressing. Her first task of
the day was usually to take the medication trolley round and administer
the allocated pills. Most of her clients appeared to be already brain
dead and it was rare that she would get any conversation out of many
of them. She did have her fans though, most of them being of the male
variation. As she stood in the lounge reading the lists and analyzing
whom she had to see next, she felt someone pinch her bottom. She turned
around startled to see an elderly gentleman in a wheel chair smiling
away. ‘Toby! I told you to stop doing that!’ She said
trying to hide her smile.
‘I know! But I just can’t help it. I see this beautiful
rump and my hands just take over.’ He said shrugging and laughing.
‘Well here’s your medication.’ She said passing
him a couple of pills and a cup of water. Toby threw the pills in
his mouth and swallowed the water.
‘Are you going to be reading for me today? I’ve been looking
forward to it all day.’ He said with a child like smirk on his
face.
‘Yes, Ok! When I’ve finished what I’m doing. And
it’s just for you, so don’t go bragging to your friends.’
She ended.
‘Would a gentleman like myself ever dishonour a courteous lady
like yourself in such a manner?’ He said lifting his nose teasingly.
‘Well, you think about that the next time you see my beautiful
rump.’ Gloria ended, walking on with the trolley leaving laughter
in her wake.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
‘So what do we have in here?’ Karl said to himself as
he dug through the freezer. He pulled out some Lamb chops. Karl usually
cooked dinner because well, two reasons. Firstly, because Catherine
didn’t like to cook and secondly, when she did, it wasn’t
very good. Unless, of course, there were guests coming round! She
didn’t like to spend much time at home anyway so she wouldn’t
cook really, Karl would try and justify to himself.
‘Tim. How do you feel about lamb chops?’ Karl shouted
out to the living-room.
‘Ya, fine! Whatever you wanna cook.’ Tim shouted back.
He was engaged on the PC apparently doing some research for a school
project.
Kids these days always seemed so busy, Karl thought to himself. What
are they going to do when they grow up and have to deal with real
work and real responsibilities like family! ‘They will be in
for quite a surprise.’ He said laughing to himself.
As Catherine strolled through the front door, she seems to be in her
usual perky mood after the Spa. ‘Hi, honey. How was your day?’
She asked Karl as she strutted through to the kitchen and gave him
a peck on the lips.
‘Ya, not bad! And yours?’ he inquired in response.
‘Not bad I suppose.’ She responds dryly. Karl remembered
when Catherine was so full of life and energy, she used to bounce
into rooms and brighten up everything and everyone with her sparkling
personality and crazy antics. These days she just seemed so bland.
Still very pretty, but bland; Karl often struggled to keep the conversation
going. If only this was the only problem with their relationship these
days but they hadn’t had sex in ages either. Not through a lack
of effort on his part.
‘You are just in time for Dinner. I thought we could all eat
together, we haven’t done that in a while.’ Karl continued,
his tone full of enthusiasm.
‘Sure! What are we having?’ Catherine asked as she looks
through the mail on the kitchen counter.
‘Well Madame! Zis evening we will be servin’ brazed lamb
chops in mint sauce accompanied by a serving of rice with carrots,
peas, broccoli and roasted potatoes in gravy.’ He responded
in an exaggerated French accent. Catherine smiled.
‘Sounds good! I’ll just go upstairs and change.’
She responded leaving the room.
Dinner was relatively eventless as usual. The only sound to be heard
was the scrap of cutlery on plates. ‘So did everything get sorted
out at school today?’ Catherine asked peering at Tim. Karl quickly
jumped in.
‘Yes, it was just one of those silly situations really. Nothing
to worry about.’ He said dismissively. Tim just shrugged and
carried on eating.
‘Well, I’m finished. Can I be excused?’ Tim asked
hopefully.
‘Yes, fine! Make sure you finish your home work before computer
games!’ Catherine responded sternly.
‘One step ahead of you, mum! Just got all my research of the
Internet so, I’m ready to write my history essay.’ Tim
retorted grabbing his plate and leaving the room. The ensuing silence
was broken by Catherine, ‘ Oh yes! We’ ve been invited
to a dinner party at Rob and Sarah’s this Friday.’ She
began. ‘You don’t have a prior engagement do you?’
she asked between mouthfuls. Karl started to panic a little. Rob and
Sarah are like the perfect family you’d only see in those Disney
movies of old; there even hard to find on television these days.
Karl always came away from those encounters feeling inadequate; As
a father, as a husband and especially as a breadwinner.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Sarah Patterson always arrived back from school about 6 to 6:30 pm
depending on how much extra paper work she had to finish before she
left school. Even in her early teaching days Sarah had never been
known to leave her in tray occupied. In fact she once had a situation
with a superior member of staff who so resented her efficiency; he
would wait until she left the building to place certain items of work
in her pigeon- hole. This would often have her peved off first thing
in the morning.
Having got divorced to her husband almost ten years earlier, she living
a solemn life in the three bedroom house that they raised they’re
two boys Tom and Mark in. She got to keep the house as part of the
divorce settlement but both sons had grown up and promptly after university
started their own lives; Tom, the elder by two years, becoming a lawyer,
and Mark the more nurturing, following his mother into teaching. The
official reason for the divorce was “irreconcilable differences”
but the real reason was because Tom Snr. had been in love and conducting
an affair with someone else for years. Sarah was most capable of finding
someone else too had she not been so consumed by her work; her rather
plain dress with un- styled hair and little make up a very testament
of her lack of effort.
Often she would come home straight from work to watch TV and make
herself a meal. The difficulty of which would depend on what sort
of day she had had at work and how inspired she felt. Arriving home
tired on most days, it would usually be something simple like pasta
or a salad of some kind. After watching the seven O’clock news
and catching up on her regular soaps she would proceed to call her
sons or some of her friends. After this she would maybe catch up on
her reading or go over some paper- work from school over a glass or
two of wine.
This pattern of life had become quite mundane for Sarah. Other than
her regular Saturday night Bridge games with her friends and Sunday
lunch with her son’s and sometimes their partners, she hardly
went out unless it was a special occasion or event of some kind. She
hadn’t been on a date since well, her divorce. On some nights
more than others the loneliness would really bother her as she would
feel an overwhelming longing to be held. She had picked up a few brochures
for dating agencies; although she hated calling them that, she preferred
to call them meet and greets or meeting agencies, she was still unsure
as to whether to go through with signing up.
She didn’t know anybody who met there partner through a dating
agency and the stigma that they usually carried with them was that
of a sad, lonely and pathetic individual. She decided she would approach
the subject with her friends this Saturday evening and then depending
on their decisions and her sons on Sunday, make a decision. She picked
up her book to continue reading; a romantic novel while she was curled
up in bed was about as much action as she was going to get anytime
soon. This night here imagination was worked over time and Sarah couldn’t
help sliding a hand under the covers to enhance her stimulation.
‘I know, I miss you too, buts lets just see what happens over
the next couple of
months, Ok?’ Dan said over the phone to his wife, Rita.
‘OK! But you are coming over this summer, right?’ She
moaned pleadingly.
‘I should hope so.’ Dan responded firmly.
‘Good! I need to see you!’ She continued. Just then Dan
heard his mother calling him from the living room. ‘Listen,
I have to go but I’ll speak to you soon. Take care and love
ya loads.’ He ended, hanging up the phone and heading for the
living room.
Dan had been home for over a year and a half now, the reason for his
return being the ill health of his mother. She had been diagnosed
with cancer about two years ago and Dan, being her only son, decided
to return home and accompany her by her request. Dan’s father
passed away several years before leaving a rather substantial inheritance
of money and property to his mother and him, including their large
family house in south- west London.
‘What is it now, mum?’ Dan asked entering the living room.
‘It’s my back again. I think its cramp.’ She responded
reaching for her back. Dan walked over to the sofa and sat beside
her. He began to massage her back, ‘Have you given any more
thought to getting a carer?’
‘Oh no! I don’t need a carer! Besides, I have you here
with me.’ She responded.
‘Yes, but I’m not going to be around forever mum. I have
a wife and a life of my own.’
‘But you wouldn’t want to leave me alone at this vulnerable
a point in my life? What would your father say?’
‘Mum! Dad has been dead for Five years. We have to move on.’
‘Yes, I know son! But I just need you here with me right now.
I can’t go through this alone.’ She responded with a tiresome
sigh.
‘When was the last time you saw Dr. Martin?’ Dan asked
innocently.
‘Oh about three weeks ago. I’m still in good health!’
She stated reassuringly. Considering her condition, Dan found her
calm exterior alarming. He decided he would go and see Dr. Martin
himself. Given that Dr. Martin had been the family doctor for as long
as Dan could remember, he didn’t expect patient confidentiality
to be a problem.
‘Yes, but that may not be for very long. I still don’t
understand why you won’t get treatment.’
‘Because I’m fine! Besides I’ve lived a good life
I don’t want to go through all that. And there’s still
no guarantee it would help me, anyway.’ There was a moment of
silence. ‘As long as I have my loved ones around me, that’s
enough for me.’ She ended tapping Dan’s knee reassuringly.
As Dan finishes massaging his mother’s back his mobile phone
rang, ‘Is that better?’ He asked.
‘Yes, that’s much better son. Thank you.’ She said
reaching over to tap his hand.
‘Good! I’ve gotta take this call and then probably do
some marking. I’ll see you soon.’ He said getting up to
leave the room before his mother could protest. He pressed the answer
key on his mobile.
‘Hello, mate! How are you doin?’ Dan asked answering the
phone.
‘Not bad, mate and you?’ Paul responded in a tired groggy
voice.
‘Ya good!’ Dan replied, in an equally unconvincing manner.
‘How’s the world of politics treating you then?’
‘Ahhhh, don’t ask! Are we still on for that drink on Wednesday?’
Paul countered, changing the subject.
‘Yes. Sure! What time are you usually done?’
‘Oh, about five! Give or take an hour depending on what issues
cross our desk. It’s a busy time of year.’ Paul continued,
his responses still lacking enthusiasm.
‘Oh yes, the local elections are coming up. Are you still running
for local mayor?’
‘Yes, as far as I know.’ Paul responded with a sigh.
‘Try to hold back your enthusiasm there buddy. People might
think you like your job to much.’ Dan quipped with an air of
sarcasm.
‘Oh and they’d be too right!’ Paul retorted laughing.
‘Alright then! So I’m probably going to be having drink
with some guys from work at the Tavern. Do you still remember that
place?’
‘Ya! Isn’t that where you…’
‘Yes, ok! So we still remember that, then.’ Dan said interrupting.
‘Do you wanna meet us there whenever your done?’
‘Ya. Sure thing. So I’ll see you there tomorrow.’
Paul ended with more energy than he had managed the whole conversation.
‘Definitely, pal! Speak soon.’
‘Take care.’ Paul ended hanging up the phone.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Paul Travis lived in a spacious one bedroom flat with his partner
of seven years, Karen. Karen was a social worker and given her dedication
to her job she often worked longer hours than specified in her contract.
It was this dedication that first attracted Paul to her, after her
looks of course. She was a slender, brunette with an bright amicable
glow about her. Coupled with her model-like facial features and a
contagious innocence in her smile, she was startlingly attractive
to most men.
They met before Paul got into politics and was still very much active
in his community work. They had been living together for nearly four
years, about the length of Paul’s political career. She was
not only his partner, and likely wife to be, but his confidant as
well.
Paul sat sunk into the living- room sofa, flicked through television
channels aimlessly as he awaited her return. He wasn’t really
concentrating on the TV, drawn into reminiscing about his more youthful
days following his conversation with Dan. His old University mate,
buddy, partner in crime, the accomplice, his inside man. He couldn’t
wait to catch up, why had it been so long since they met? As he sat
staring blankly at the TV screen with a dumb smile on his face, a
statement made by the news reporter snapped him back to reality. “
Lets hope it’s not too long before we see a return to the politics
of social justice”. At that moment he heard the sound of keys
in the front door.
Karen entered the living room looking tired and overworked as she
often did when she returned late. ‘Hi honey, how was your day?’
She said giving him a kiss.
‘Oh the usual problems. How about you?’ Paul asked intently.
‘Ya, the same! I hope you haven’t eaten, I got Chinese.’
She said placing the bag on the living room table.
‘Nice. You take a seat and relax, I’ll get some plates
and cutlery.’ Paul said rushing off into the kitchen. ‘So
why the late day?’ he shouted from the kitchen.
‘We had an after hours meeting about the setting up of that
new asylum seekers refugee center.’ She responded taking of
her shoes and stretching. Paul re- enters the living room carrying
some plates and cutlery.
‘Right. I forgot about that. What were the main points of discussion?’
He asked setting the table.
‘Oh the usual. How many are to be housed, what sort of facilities
and services and the issue on everybody’s minds; “the
security”.’
‘Well, this is an expensive area to live! Do we really want
to put a bunch of asylum seekers here? There’s a lot of British
citizens who pay a lot to live here and even more who would like to.’
Paul began, his political monologue more for his own analysis
‘That’s true, but there over here now and we need to put
them somewhere. There aren’t a lot of other options.’
Karen ended with certainty.
‘We have enough problems here as it is, without having all this
additional stuff to worry about. I just spent the whole day fielding
calls from angry head teachers and school governors about the proposed
budget cuts to next year’s school budgets. It was far from pleasant.’
Paul groaned dishing out the food. Karen nodded knowingly, nobody
hated being the bearer of bad news more than her.
‘Well what brought that on?’ Karen queried sitting down.
‘Good question! The usual economic and social restrictions I
guess. We can only dish out the money given to us.
‘So do you really think the reason why you have less money to
dish out is because of the increase of immigrants come into the country?’
Karen asked with a smile.
‘Well put it this way, it doesn’t help.’ Dan replied
trying not to be drawn into submission by her smile
‘Sure, but if you lived in terrible conditions surrounded by
war, poverty, famine and crime wouldn’t you like to be able
to go somewhere where you could live your life and bring up and support
your family in a safe, stable environment?’
‘I have nothing against basic human rights for every human being
but do they all have to end up coming here? I mean where are we going
to go if our country ends up in the same state as some of these third
world or sorry “Underdeveloped” countries?’ He asked,
stressing the political correctness.
‘Well as long as we have people like you in positions of authority
we’ll be just fine.’ Karen ended tapping Paul’s
hand.
‘Huh, I wish I was as confident as you about that.’ Paul
responded digging into his food. As they finished eating, Karen got
up to clear the table. As Paul got up to help her, she sat him down.
‘Don’t worry I’ll do the washing.’ She said
with a wink.
As Paul watched her stroll over to the kitchen sink and wash the dishes,
he couldn’t help thinking to himself how lucky he was to be
with her; intelligent, compassionate and beautiful, settling down
with her hand to be the best decision he had made in his life. As
she leaning over the sink slightly he could just make out the tops
of her stockings as her black skirt rod up slightly. He slowly strolled
up behind her and put his arms around her, kissed her neck and whispered
in her ear. ‘You look just as beautiful now as they day I met
you and you were the most beautiful woman I had ever met then!’
He said slowly undoing the buttons to her white slightly see through
blouse and caressing her breasts. Karen didn’t doubt a word
he said she could feel how turned he was as he grinded his slightly
aroused manhood against her tight curvy butt. ‘And now?’
Karen began to lose control, leaving the rest of the dishes in the
sink as the water from the tap continued to run. She suddenly notices
a bystander on the street outside, frozen in wide- eyed anticipation
of what he would see next as he stared up through the second floor
window. She shut the blinds with one flick of her hand and turned
to face Paul, her blouse already undone and her skirt pulled up to
her waist.
When She and Paul had first moved in together, they had made love
like bunny rabbits all over the house including the kitchen, It had
been a long time since they had done anything this experimental.