This story contains graphic descriptions of consensual and references to semi-consensual corporal punishment in the form of caning and strapping. If this offends you, you may prefer to stop reading.
All the participants in this story are adults over the age of eighteen years. None of the characters depicted are real and any similarity to real places or people living or dead is purely coincidental.
Please comment and score. Any constructive criticism, positive or negative, is welcome. Far too few folk comment or score.
As always, any errors in editing are mine and mine alone.
As I often do, I have included endnotes to explain some aspects of the story, or slang terms used. If you don't like them you don't need to read them,
Mrs Walker's Study
My story begins in the autumn of 1988 when I was twenty-one and an apprentice electrician living in Liverpool. That was also the season when the Reds (Liverpool Football Club) won the treble of League, FA Cup, and League Cup and the Hillsborough Disaster occurred, but all of that was still several months in the future. In those days, I attended most of Liverpool's home games at Anfield Stadium, only a mile from where I lived in a house on Walton Breck Road.
I first met Janis in The Stanley, a pub close to the Junction of Robson Road and Walton Breck Road. It was early on a Saturday evening in October, and I was having a drink after a game at nearby Anfield. We had beaten Forest, and I was in an excellent mood. I had left my mates a few minutes earlier and had dropped into The Stanley for a pint before going home. She had been at the game herself and was there having a drink with a couple of her girlfriends. I caught her eye, and she smiled across the bar at me. Not one to spurn an opportunity I bought her and her friends each a snowball, we got talking, and Janis and I fell into a conversation.
I fancied her from the off, and it was clear that she liked me too. The same couldn't be said for her two friends. They were from Woolton, an affluent part of the city and the snooty pair just sat and looked down their noses at me. They saw me as a working-class Scouser, far beneath them, and certainly not worth talking to. From the moment they finished their drinks, they were itching to leave. Only Janis wanted to stay. Eventually, after a half hour or so, they got their way and the three of them left the bar together. Janis had little choice. It was six miles back to Woolton and they had agreed to travel home by bus. As the door to the bar closed behind them I turned to the remains of my beer and reflected on a lost opportunity. I did not see Janis re-enter the pub but moments later she appeared beside me at the table.
"I can't stay. I'm going to have to run to catch them up. I'll meet you here in three weeks after the Luton match if you want," she said.
"That would be great," I replied. "I'll be here."
"See you then," and then she was gone.
***
Almost three weeks later to the minute, and just after five in the afternoon, I sat alone in The Stanley. I think I expected her not to show, but about ten minutes later, the door to the bar opened and Janis appeared. She stood at the door scanning the room until she saw me, and then she smiled and walked over to where I was sitting. I saw a pretty young lady with short brown hair, a snub nose, and big brown eyes. She was of medium height and average build. Her body was well hidden, dressed as she was in blue jeans and a thick winter coat.
"Hello," she said. "I hope I didn't keep you waiting. I'm sure I walk more slowly than you do."
"I've only been here a few minutes. I wasn't sure you'd turn up. I thought you might forget or change your mind."
" Jane and Helen tried to talk me out of coming. But I wanted to see you."
"Did you come to the match alone?"
"I left them at the bus stop."
I bought Janis a drink and got myself a refill, and then we sat and talked. She was two years younger than me and training to be a primary school teacher at college in Liverpool Her mother was the headmistress of a well-known private girl's school. Her father was a civil engineer who spent a lot of time away from home in the Gulf and at present was on a contract in Saudi Arabia. Her mother did not like the expat lifestyle but liked the money he earned, had her own job, and had elected to stay in the UK. Janis lived with her in Woolton and had no brothers or sisters.
"It's been only Mother and I for years. We rarely see my Dad. They're effectively separated."
We talked about Liverpool and how well they were doing - we talked about the holidays we had taken and were planning to take - we talked about the films we had seen- we talked about concerts we had been to and the local music scene - and I told her a little about myself.
Janis seemed genuinely interested in what I would do when I became a qualified electrician in a couple of months.
"I'll get a nice pay rise and work for my father," I said. " He owns his own business. The plan is that I'll learn the ropes and one day he'll hand over the running of the company to me. He wants me to do a part-time accountancy course next."
Time passed, and I looked at my watch and was surprised to see it was half past eight.
"Are you hungry? Would you like to have a curry? I know a good curry house around the corner."
"I'd love to, but I can't. Mum will expect me home by ten o'clock. I didn't tell her I would be late, and if I am, she'll be very angry. She's very strict. Goes with her job."
"OK, how about fish and chips, and I'll take you home in a taxi. You'll be home in plenty of time."
***
At just after half past nine the taxi pulled up outside a large, detached house with a high walled garden. I asked the taxi to wait, and Janis unlocked the gate and entered, In front of us, a wide paved driveway ran up to the door. There was a Jaguar parked by the front door and it was apparent Janis came from money. We reached the front door, and she turned to face me.
" I enjoyed the evening....I'd invite you in but..."
"I understand. The taxi driver is waiting anyway. Can I see you again?"
"Yes, I'd like that."
"When?"
"Tomorrow?" she asked.
"I'll pick you up at noon then."
Then I kissed her on the cheek and walked away. Just before I turned, I saw a female form behind the curtains in the upstairs window. Janis's mother had been watching.
***
I decided not to go back to my house for the night. Instead, I would visit my parents in Formby, see my mother, whom I hadn't seen for two weeks, and pick up my car.
"Victoria Road, Formby," I said to the cabbie, naming probably the most exclusive address in the city.
The following day, just before midday, I arrived at Janis's home, rang the buzzer, and the heavy wrought iron gates swung open. I drove up the drive and waited by the front door and waited. A minute later Janis appeared, opened the car door, and jumped in beside me.
"Good morning," she said brightly.
"Good morning to you too."
"Nice car," she said.
She was referring to my bright red Nissan 300.
"It was my twenty-first birthday present."
***
We drove across the Runcorn Road Bridge to Chester, where we ate a leisurely pub lunch and afterwards walked the city walls stopping off to visit the cathedral, the Roman amphitheatre, and gardens. We walked arm in arm along the banks of the River Dee and got to know each other better, As we ambled along, I told her a little about the Roman conquest of Britain.
"Chester was called Deva Victrix," I said. "For the river Dee or it's Goddess. Nobody can be sure."
"Wow, I'm impressed. Where did you learn all this?"
"I read."
***
