The Touch Ch 24

WARNING TO READERS - This is a long, rambling, multi-part story and VERY British. The individual chapters will make more sense if read in sequence.

Pt. 24 Tales of the Unexpected

Tuesday brought another surprise. When I got home in the evening I nearly tripped over Gwen's suitcase standing in the hall at the bottom of the stairs.

I found her in the kitchen sitting at the table with Emma. I gave her a kiss on the top of her head and poured myself a cup of coffee. "What's going on, Mum?" I asked. "Are you going somewhere, is everything OK?"

"Yes, everything is fine," she smiled. "I'm just going away for a few days on a training course."

"Mum has been offered another promotion," Emma put in, "Isn't that great!" She got up from the table, "I need to go and change, I'm meeting friends in town and Mum is going to drop me off when she leaves."

After she went up to her room, Gwen closed the kitchen door and then quickly stepped up to me and we indulged in a very quick clandestine kiss.

"The hospital wants me to take up a teaching post; it's a lot more money and better working hours .... But it means that I need to attend a course at the Royal Bournemouth Hospital for the rest of this week and all of next week, I know that is short notice but they only told me today."

"Wow, that is fantastic!" I enthused. "I know that you have to go, but I shall miss you terribly." I felt selfish saying it but I really would miss her.

"I shall miss you too, my darling. It is a residential course and they are putting us into nurse's quarters at the hospital but I should be able to get away Saturday evening and have all of Sunday with you."

"I will cook something special for Sunday lunch then, just let me know what time you will be home on Saturday and we can all go out to dinner in town," I told her.

I could hear Emma moving about upstairs so I grabbed her hand and dragged her into the back lobby and shut the door. I pulled her into my arms and we clutched at each other, our lips coming together in a long desperate kiss, which only ended when we heard Emma on the stairs causing us to spring apart.

We slipped back into the kitchen just as she came in. "I had better go, I don't want to get there too late," Gwen said and then reached up to give me a quick motherly kiss on the lips. I walked with them out to the car and gently squeezed her arse and we gave each other a final hug.

"Call me sometime tomorrow, so that I know you are OK," I instructed her. I stood and watched them drive away. Our relationship was strange, it wasn't at all like being married, but I think we had both got used to the other just being there in the same house, we sometimes struggled to find quality time together and sex was usually a bit spontaneous and sometimes in unusual places but we were happy just being around each other.

Wednesday brought another surprise. Maggie was out with Colin and Kitty putting in some hours at Craven Manor and I had decided to stay in the office and get on with finishing the designs of the garden remake for Caroline Brookes at Bishopsdown. I needed to get the plans completed as the client had asked to see the first sets at the week-end and I planned to run out with them on Saturday.

I finished drawing the plans about mid-day and went down to the restaurant for some lunch and I was already crossing the arboretum on my way to the office when I heard the telephone ring, quickly followed by my call bell. We had installed a ringer so that whoever was in the office could summon us if we were out on site; Maggie's call sign was two rings, mine three and Emma's four.

I bounded up the stairs, "It's a lady asking for you, a Gill Watford... she says that you had spoken about gardens on a train or something?" Emma told me, "I'll put it through to your office."

I had almost forgotten about meeting Gill at Salisbury Station. It had been on the day that Gwen and I first became lovers and I guess that momentous happening overshadowed everything else from that day. There had been a connection between us, one of those strange things that I believed was something to do with 'The Touch', and I had given her my business card and told her to call me if she ever needed any garden work done. I was a bit surprised that she was actually calling.

I sat down at my desk and picked up the telephone, "Hello Gill, what a nice surprise," I opened.

"Hello Jamie, I hope you don't mind me calling you ... I wondered if you might have time to meet with me ... there is something that I would like to discuss with you."

"Have you decided to buy that house with a garden?" I remembered that she had told me about resigning her commission and leaving the army and possibly looking to buy a house in the county. I had offered to do any gardening work she might need.

"Not exactly... I would rather meet and talk face to face," she gave a little laugh; over the telephone it sounded husky and sexy. "I'm sorry, does that sound terribly mysterious?"

"No, not at all," I lied. "Do you want to come in here to the office or should I come to you...if you give me your address?" Gill had been really nice and we had connected strongly so for some irrational reason, I felt a certain obligation to her.

"Perhaps we could meet for lunch, are you free any day soon."

I had a quick glance in my diary which was pretty full. "What about tomorrow?" I had planned on taking the day off and just doing some chores in the garden at home, but she had tweaked my curiosity.

"That would be absolutely terrific," she answered. "Do you know the Antrobus Arms in Amesbury .... If that suits you we could meet about twelve-thirty in the bar? Lunch will be on me."

"Yes, yes, that would be fine." I knew of the hotel but had never been there and Amesbury was only about seven miles away up the A345.

"Oh Jamie, thank you so much, I know that I am probably being a real pain in the butt, but I do appreciate your agreeing to come .... Until tomorrow then...."

"Yes, see you tomorrow...goodbye."

I decided not to put our meeting in my diary, I was not sure why but I wasn't at all sure that it was to do with the gardening business. She was right, this meeting did sound a whole lot mysterious, I was sure that she would not be buying me lunch at one of the county's higher priced restaurants just to discuss, possible work on a garden that I was fairly convinced she didn't even have yet.

Gill was a serving army officer; I seriously hoped that she wasn't drawing me into anything to do with military secrets or illegal activities. No, definitely not! We had only spent a couple of hours together but I really liked Gill, it wasn't just that she was very attractive and sexy and we had clicked, she loved all the same jazz bands that I did ... there couldn't be anything wrong with somebody who really liked jazz... could there?

Thursday morning I got up and made breakfast for Emma and after she had left for work went out and spent a couple of hours working in the garden. About eleven I went indoors and showered, shaved and dressed to meet Gill. The Antrobus Arms was quite a classy restaurant and so I put on a pair of biscuit coloured chinos, with a black shirt and beige linen jacket. I rolled up a tie and put it in my pocket in case it turned out to be a collar and tie dining room.

I arrived at the hotel just after twelve and bought a small Heineken lager and found a table where I could sit and watch the door. I was early but I guess even then I was a bit old fashioned; I didn't like the thought of a woman waiting alone in a bar for me to arrive.

Gill walked in dead on time and looked really great, even better than I remembered from the train. I reassessed her as being mid to late thirties and very attractive, her shoulder length dark hair was still cut in a soft pageboy style and as before her make-up consisted of a pale carmine lipstick, nothing more. She was about 5' 7" and her figure, was terrific with the voluptuous curves of a mature woman and an hourglass waist.

She was wearing a very smart plain grey, tight fitting wool dress with a wide black leather belt which emphasised her tiny waist, black tights or stockings and plain black leather court shoes. She looked elegant and extremely sexy. I stood up as she spotted me and approached the table.

"Hello Gill. Whew! You look really great," I said admiringly.

"Well thank you very much, that makes me feel good already," she beamed, her face lighting up and her deep brown eyes glowing. "Shall we go through to the restaurant...or... did you want anther drink first?"

"No, that's fine, let's eat."

The Antrobus Arms was a seventeenth century coaching inn which had been added to during the Georgian and Regency era and although it seemed a bit dated was still regarded as one of the better hotels in the area often the choice of celebrities, Robert Taylor, Alan Ladd and the Beatles having stayed there whilst filming on Salisbury Plain at various times in the past. The restaurant served excellent traditional British fare and I choose the roast loin of pork with apple sauce and Gill selected the fresh farmed trout, and we shared a bottle of rather good Yugoslav Riesling.

We actually talked very little over lunch except about generalities, the news, the weather, and I sensed that she was reluctant to get to whatever it was she really wanted to speak about. It was another lovely warm spring day, the wet weather at the weekend had passed over, and so after lunch we took our coffees and went and sat in the garden at a table by the ornamental fountain.

"Oh Jamie," she said as we sat down, "I am SO sorry. I don't think that I can go through with this... I've dragged you out here on a wild goose chase." She looked so sad and forlorn.

"Gill, it's OK. Really it is..." I laid my hand over hers reassuringly. "Whatever it is... just tell me .... But if you really don't want to ... then that's OK as well."

She took a deep breath. "Very well, but let me ask you a couple of questions first... you will understand why later."

I nodded for her to go on.

"Tell me Jamie; are you in a permanent relationship, engaged or anything like that?"

Naturally my thoughts went to Gwen, but I couldn't tell Gill or anyone about our relationship. "No," I said, "Not really."

"So you've no immediate plans to get married .... To have a family ... children? Do you like children?"

"Where is this going ... I'm not sure ..... "

"Please, you've been a real sweetie just coming today, just bear with me a bit longer, please."

"OK," I laughed kindly, "No, I have no plans to start a family ... at least not yet," I thought of Gwen and Maggie the two women who meant the most to me, and the two that I could never have a family with. "Perhaps not ever," I added.

She glanced around as if to make sure that there was nobody in earshot, and then took another deep breath.

"Well, I DO want to have a child .... And I want you to help me get pregnant."

She looked serious. She WAS serious. I was totally stunned. For long minutes I just sat there with my mouth hanging open like a frozen in time goldfish, I tried to talk, to ask things, but nothing would come out, I really must have misheard her ... but I knew that I hadn't.

"I have started this now so I am going to have to finish it, it's taken me all my courage to get this far," she said, "will you hear me out before you laugh or tell me that you are disgusted, or horrified, or whatever?"

"I'm not going to be any of those things, I promise. You just took me by surprise that's all!"

"Jamie, as a man you may not fully understand this, but I am a 37 year old woman, I am on my own, I've spent twenty years living in University digs or army accommodation, and I've got nothing to show for it ... nothing personal that is ...no home, no husband, no family ... just my career and a lot of unspent salary."

She paused and looked up at me; I squeezed her hand gently to encourage her to go on.

"I can have the home, buying a house somewhere is easy, when I leave the army, I shall have a good pension and working as a civilian freelance consultant will pay a lot more money for many less hours."

She squeezed my hand back and chuckled, when she smiled her whole face lit up and she was totally entrancing. "There is no need to panic." She laughed, "I'm not looking for a husband ... or even a lover. I actually like being single and on my own, I have been in relationships and they just don't work for me."

"So what ....?"

"What I DO want is a family; I want a child or children and I want them to be my own, from the seed of a father that I have chosen." She paused and took another deep breath, "And that is where you come in!"

"Gill, I am very flattered, but I'm also still a bit stunned ... I don't understand, we hardly know one another ...Why me?"

"Oh My God, this is going to sound really crazy, so let me get the practical parts out of the way first, before you run away screaming."

Gill had one of those beautiful expressive faces that could show a hundred emotions all at the same time, and right then she looked everything from enthused to frightened to desperately sad and I just wanted to hold her and make everything good, but I remained in my seat and just held on tightly to her hands as though we are good friends of long standing.

"Firstly, you fit my profile for a good father, you are good looking, intelligent, young and virile....." She took another big breath before continuing, "Secondly you are not willing to commit; after the baby is born I don't want somebody who is going to insist on being part of our lives." She took another deep breath, "Lastly.... This is just a possible bonus; there is a good chance that you carry the gene that could father twins. My body clock is running and I'm not sure that I could go through this entire emotional trauma again; twins would be an instant dream family. Oh God, does that sound clinical and cruel?"

"No Gill, I don't believe that you could ever be clinical and cruel." Oddly, I understood her needs and emotions completely.

"There is one more thing. This is where you come to believe that I am totally crazy. Do you remember that morning in the station buffet room? Do you recall the 'static electricity' that we both felt when we touched for the first time?"

I nodded; I think I already knew what was coming next.

"That was the moment that I knew that it had to be you. I don't know what happened and I'm not sure that I want to, but there is a special connection between you and I, Jamie Riley, I just know that I would be able to get pregnant with you and that our babies would be just perfect."

"Wow! This is a lot to take in, Gill." I stood up, "I'm not going to run away screaming," I laughed. "But, I think we could both do with another coffee and perhaps a brandy, yes?"

I ordered the drinks from the bar and by the time that I had detoured to take a pee a waiter had taken them out to the table. I pulled a chair over so that I could sit closer to her, our knees almost touching.

"OK, so supposing I agree to what you are asking," I started tentatively, "what do you want me to do .... Do we both need see to some sort of doctor ... or do you just give me a flask ... or what?"

"This is where I start to sound like the crazy lady again," she sighed. "Yes. That was my original plan, but since I met you and that 'thing' happened at the station, I know that the only way that I want to get pregnant is the natural way."

"You mean that you and I should ... you know...?"

"Have sex. Make love, whatever .... Yes!" She turned her face towards me her expression one of both hope and anguish. "Oh God Jamie, are you disgusted by that?"

I just blurted out the first words that came into my head, "Bloody hell Gill! I'd love to.... Er, I mean, it would be great to... Er, I sound like a right pillock don't I...? I paused and took a deep breath, "NO, I'm not disgusted ... I'm honoured you have chosen me." We both started to laugh at my ridiculous formal statement and with relief, her laugh was musical and tinkly and her face lit up. She had a way of tilting her head slightly to one side when she laughed which was really cute and appealing.

How could I possibly be disgusted by this beautiful woman offering to have sex with me? Just the thought of fucking with her was already starting to give me a hard on. This thing about trying to get her pregnant... up until now I had been more concerned with NOT getting my partners in the family way, not a major problem with most modern women taking the pill; the thought of making love to Gill, filling her with my seed and her actually becoming intentionally pregnant... well that added a new level of eroticism that I had never even considered before.

We sat for another hour and another two coffees whilst we discussed the details of her plan, things like when we would need to meet, possible venues of where we could meet and then when we felt confident enough about each other, the necessary personal questions and assurances about our sexual health and family genetic health history.

Finally we agreed that she would work out her 'hot spot' calendar and call me again so that we could arrange our first liaison. We both needed to find a venue where neither of us was likely to be recognised and so we eventually settled on a fairly new motel near Chippenham, which although about 25 miles from Salisbury offered a modern room and anonymity.

I walked her back to her car, an old maroon 1970's Volvo 245 estate. "I've had it since I was a student; when you are constantly moving then you need a car that is reliable and big enough to move all your gear."

We stood by the car and I wasn't sure quite how to say goodbye. In the end Gill just stepped up to me and put her arms around my waist and gave me a gentle kiss on the cheek, holding her cheek softly against mine for several long seconds. Her body was soft and warm against mine and I could feel my prick starting to twitch into life.

After she had driven out of the car park I sat astride my Vespa and lit a cigarette. What the hell had I got myself into now? Thoughts of fucking with Gill, of getting her pregnant, filled my head with such erotic images that I had to pull over halfway home to have a cigarette. It is almost impossible to ride a moped safely with the distraction of an erection.

By the time I reached the outskirts of Salisbury it was still only late afternoon and so I kept going into the city and parked at the market place and walked across the road to the public library. Gill had spared me a lot of the feminine details about ovulation, temperatures and the like, but I felt that it was something that I should understand so that I could be supportive to her through this experience. It was obviously going to be emotionally difficult for her and I didn't want to just approach it like a mindless stud, I liked Gill and although I fully accepted that our relationship was only going to be temporary I didn't want to see her hurt or disappointed by me.

I rode home, changed and made a salmon en croute with a salad for Emma's tea. I heartily disliked salmon but she adored it and I selfishly only cooked it for her when I was not going to be eating at home. I did not want to sit around at home just thinking about Gwen and Gill and getting horny and so I left a note for Emma telling her that her supper was in the 'fridge and got the car out and drove over to Philippa Shelby's riding stables, I had promised Janice that I would see her again soon and thought that she might be free to go out for a drink or something.

There was only one other car in the customer car park when I pulled in and I could see that the stables appeared to be closing up for the day, a couple of lads were hosing and brushing down the cobbles of the stable yard and most of the horses appeared to be in their stalls already. "Is Janice about?" I called over to them.