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.

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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.

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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.

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‘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.’

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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.

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‘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.

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‘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.

 

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