I hadn't intended a follow up on my last story, "The School Fete", but the way it ended seemed to suggest a further adventure. In that story, Julie and her friend Marina, had been ambushed by senior students in their son's school. You may want to read that story first.
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Julie's life had returned to normality after the unfortunate episode at the School Fete. There seemed to have been no repercussions at home or at school. Her husband had not noticed anything and despite real worry, she had delivered her son to school on Monday morning and nothing had been said, nor had she noticed any odd looks from other mothers, or staff. The only problem remaining, was some soreness in, shall we say, the pelvic area, not surprising after what she had been put through. She was back to the routine of housework, shopping, gardening and the school run. Julie had spoken to Marina and thankfully, there seemed to be no awkwardness or blame from her friend. That was very important, she valued Marina's friendship very highly. The two women were so similar in their outlook, sense of humour and fun, it seemed natural to be best of friends and she didn't want to lose that.
There remained one problem, or should that be decision, to make. That was the brief note given to her by James, one of her "partners" that evening. It shouldn't even be a problem, the only sane decision, was to throw it away, anything else put all she valued at risk. But and how often is there a but, he fascinated her. A thirty two year old women, fascinated by an eighteen year old schoolboy, how pitiful. He was confident and self possessed like few adults she had met, plus he had superb sexual technique. Julie couldn't get the memory of their encounter out of her mind. How could an eighteen year old be so skilled and aware of a woman's needs?
Several times she took the piece of paper out of her purse, several times put it away again. Once she screwed it up and threw it in the rubbish, only to retrieve it later. Finally, she rationalised her decision to call, by telling herself she needed to check whether her secret was still safe. The next problem was when to call, she decided just after school, when she had collected Josh, her son.
Finally, Julie called the number, her hands actually shaking with fear. There was an answer after a few rings,
"Hello, is that James Wilkes...good, this is Julie Franklin, you know, from the weekend."
"Hi Mrs Franklin.."
"Please call me Julie, under the circumstances, Mrs Franklin is a bit formal."
"You're quite right, Julie it is. I have to ask first, how are you? We put you both through a terrible experience and you must believe that we all regret it terribly. I would like to apologise on everyone's behalf. Seriously, I hope you are feeling a bit better."
He replied, sounding genuinely concerned, she had to admit, but so, so in control.
"This is very delicate, but whilst we all do regret it, the whole afternoon was unbelievably, well, just unbelievable. I'll remember it all my life. Before you ask, we all had a discussion after you left and everyone was very down about how badly they had behaved, really. Since then, nothing has been said between us and not a word with anyone who wasn't there, not a word and we all agreed it would never be mentioned again. I hope you're reassured by that?" James finished.
"Yes you're right, that was mainly why I called and thanks for that. Marina and I share the blame, we shouldn't have accepted you're offer to have a warm bath and dry our clothes after the storm, it was totally inappropriate." Julie finished, leaving the conversation open. James picked up on the opening.
"You said that was mainly why you called, was there something else I can help you with?"
It was now or never and Julie started shaking again, a slight tremor in her voice as she replied.
"Well, I just wonder if it might be a good idea to meet and talk through what happened, maybe have a picnic, whatever?" It sounded pretty lame and she wasn't sure what response she wanted, his ringing off would be the simplest.
Yet again, he was so sharp and confident in his response.
"Yes, that's an excellent idea, a talk may help us both, the picnic would be a break from school food and "Whatever", sounds fascinating."
Watch it buster, she thought, you can be a tad to confident and smooth, for your own good. She let it pass though and they set next Wednesday afternoon at 12 midday, as long as she could arrange care for josh's Sister.
"How should I collect you, coming to school is to risky? You won't wear uniform will you, that would be to weird?" Julie finished, hoping to end the conversation quickly and think about what she had just done.
They settled on a small country road a half a mile behind the School and she asked one last question,
"Can you have a beer, I am not sure what the rules are? Oh and I'm sure you won't mention to anyone what you're doing?"
"Of course I won't and compared with what else I've been up to, a beer is well, small beer."
"If you have to cancel, I'll understand, you have my mobile number now to phone me, bye." She finished.
"I'll be there, I wouldn't miss it, bye," James finished and they both rang off.
Julie sat in her sitting room, clutching her phone, shaking more than ever. You stupid, stupid bitch, she thought to herself. Nevertheless she started making the arrangements, before cold feet set in. First she thought of where to go. She remembered a lovely quiet wood about fifteen miles from the School, with a cool stream running through it. That would be perfect, they wouldn't be disturbed. Why did it matter if they were disturbed having a picnic? Julie didn't want to admit what she really hoped might happen. Next she phoned a friend about looking after little Sophie.
She put next week out of her mind and returned to the daily chores. The days went by and next Wednesday started perfectly, a warm, early Summer English day seemed to be on the cards. When Josh and her husband Jim, were off at School and work, Julie set her young daughter in front of her favourite blank paper and crayons and started on the picnic. That included a couple of cold beers for James and a small bottle of white wine for her. She was driving, but needed something to calm her nerves.