I'm Ben. For those who don't know me, I'm in my early sixties and have been retired for a few years now. Sadly my wife died shortly after retirement which has left me on my own, rattling round the old family home. It's got too many memories for me to move at the moment, the garden is barely manageable for me, my wife was the gardener, her pride and joy, but I struggle to keep it up to scratch. There have been one or two moments since she died, but I miss her terribly, my rock and anchor has gone.
I play quite a bit of golf, read a lot and potter endlessly to fill my days, but life seems to be what someone once said was "Occupational therapy 'twixt birth and death." My sexual prowess was not what it once was either, a bit of porn occasionally but what I really enjoyed reading was erotic short stories. Indeed I had dabbled in writing a few myself, mostly from my imagination, but usually based on a spark of something in real life.
I had some good mates at the golf club, a whole load of us would play three times a week, Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, have few beers and generally put life right in the bar afterwards. My wife had never been a golfer, "You wouldn't catch me associating with that lot of so-called women," was her oft heard cry, but she knew I enjoyed the game and the company, so was always content for me to have that relaxation and male company.
I had played particularly badly one Monday, and was brooding about it as I came back to the clubhouse. It was mid-summer and the weather was gorgeous, but although we sat on the patio with our drinks I couldn't get those bad shots out of my head. "It's no good," I declared, "I've got to do something about it now, otherwise I'll brood all day tomorrow about it. I'm off for a few holes on my own to see if I can sort it out." There was some good hearted banter about missing good drinking time, but I was resolute and headed off back out onto the course.
To be fair it didn't get a lot better, pulls, pushes, everything seemed to be a bit off. It culminated on the fifth where I pushed a fairway wood wide into some trees, a place I don't think I'd ever visited in twenty odd years of playing the course. Feeling more than a little aggrieved, I set off in search of my nearly new ball, deep in a wood full of oak, ash, and quite a bit of undergrowth, bramble and such like. The floor of the wood was carpeted with soft mulched leaves and whilst the canopy was covered there was still plenty of light to see my little, white, lost ball.
I rounded a corner of undergrowth, eyes firmly on the ground in front of me when I heard a muffled "Oh!" Looking up I was astounded to see one of the lady golfers from the club having a wee. She was squatting down, her shorts and panties down round her knees and from not more than five yards away I could see that last vestiges of a stream of pee emanating from her body. She held a tissue in her hand ready to wipe and dry herself.
I took all of this into my brain in a millisecond, and embarrassed, turned away quickly. Clearly she tried to do the same, as out of the corner of my eye I could see her rising to a standing position trying to pull up her underwear and shorts, they were sticking to her thighs however and I caught a glimpse of light brown pubic hair at the juncture of her thighs.
The next I heard was a crash and a shriek of pain. Caught between wanting to see the problem and to help, and not wanting to be considered a pervert I turned slightly back towards her. In standing quickly and trying to cover her modesty, she had toppled over and fallen into the undergrowth which consisted principally of brambles. Looking more carefully I could see that she had twisted and what was most visible to me was a rather nice looking backside, white between her shirt and half pulled up shorts.
She was wriggling to get free, but the brambles were tenacious and she seemed caught fast. "Look, I'm sorry," I said, "I'm really embarrassed, but it does look as though you need some help to get free of that. Can I be of assistance?"
"I don't think you're as embarrassed as me, but yes, I would appreciate a hand to get these bloody barbs away from me." I moved nearer and trying not to make it obvious that I could see her semi-naked, I started to pull the brambles carefully away from her, one by one. Freeing most of her, I offered a hand which she accepted and pulled her up. She twisted away from me to hide her exposed front and in as gentlemanly a fashion as I could, I averted my gaze.
Once free she managed to cover herself up and turned back to face me. "I do apologise," she said, "I just had to go and didn't think anyone would be this far into this wood."
"Well it was a pretty terrible shot," I admitted, "and I too would like to apologise for embarrassing you." Looking down I noticed that she had some quite bad scratches on her legs and arms, caused by the brambles. "I've got some antiseptic wipes and a tube of Savlon in my bag, you ought to get something on those scratches sooner rather than later, shall I fetch them?"
"That would be kind on you, I never carry anything like that." I returned to my bag, mulling over what her name was. She was a person I recognised from the club house, but I couldn't recollect if I knew her name. She was quite striking in appearance, probably in her mid to late forties, tall and elegant, with a good figure.
I returned with my bag and recovered from the myriad of pockets the wipes and cream which I handed to her to begin cleaning herself up. "You're Ben aren't you?" she asked, "You were Captain a few years back."
"That's me," I replied, "but it was a good few years back now." I'm sorry, I recognise you, but can't recall your name."
"Vicky," she replied and held out her hand. I've always found shaking hands with women difficult. With men it's quite simple, good firm pressure and that's it. With a woman should I grasp her hand, take the fingers gently or what? Vicky solved the problem with a firm but ladylike grip. Someone comfortable with herself.
Finishing the clean-up, she returned the wipes and cream and thanked me for their use. "I think I'll head back to the clubhouse now and let you continue to play on, I think you'll find your ball over there," and she indicated to a small white dot glinting in a patch of sunlight some five yards away.
"I think I've had enough for today as well, it's not going to get any better at this rate. Do you fancy playing our way back in, it's only three or four holes if we cut through here?"
"That would be nice," Vicky responded, "I never really like playing on my own, it seems like a good idea but the interest pales after a while. Playing in company is so much nicer. Loser buys the first round."
I echoed her thoughts and we set off for the nearest tee on the back nine. I teed off first and for the first time that day hit a good, solid drive down the middle. Vicky moved forward to the red tees and took her stance. It was text book perfect, and I couldn't help but admire how pert her bum looked. She gave it three or four little wiggles before commencing her backswing and then turning she stroked the ball with a lovely swing and her ball followed mine down the middle of the fairway ending up just a few yards behind mine. "Lovely shot, Vicky," I complimented her.
"Didn't out drive you though," she grumbled. Clearly a competitive lady. We played the remaining few holes in good spirit, chatting about the Club, courses we'd played and people we knew in common. Golfers do have a common bond, but in my rare experiences of playing with the ladies, I had never actually been so comfortable chatting to them. Vicky was a charming companion and I was not looking forward to the end of our few holes.
For her part, I could sense that she wanted to say something. Guessing what it was, I pre-empted her, "Vicky, you have my word that I will not mention anything about our encounter today to anyone. The last thing I'd want is for you to be further embarrassed."
"Ben, thank you. I appreciate that." A round of golf always ends with a handshake, or with the ladies, a peck on the cheek. I was not certain whether we were at that stage yet, but Vicky took the initiative and putting one arm on my back, pecked me on the cheek. I reciprocated with an air kiss. "Who won?" she asked.
We hadn't really been keeping score, so I offered to buy her a drink before we went home. "I'd really like a shower first and some more of that Savlon if you wouldn't mind Ben," she said, "shall I see you in the bar in half an hour?" I handed over the Savlon and we went to our separate changing rooms. I usually showered after a round and always brought a change of clothing, so when I returned to the bar I was dressed in chinos and a casual shirt.