WARNING TO NEW READERS TO THE SERIES - This is a long, rambling story and VERY British which has been divided into several parts for ease of editing and reading. The individual parts will make more sense if read in sequence as they follow straight on chronologically and therefore new readers should start reading at NOVELS & NOVELLAS > The Touch> Chapter 1 – Jamie's Story.
Most, but not all chapters contain some sexually explicit sections and the story has a strong incest theme which some readers may find disturbing and might wish to cease reading now...
Thank you to all readers who vote, leave public comments and send feedback, these things are important as it is the only indication of reader approval that an online author gets.
My apologies! This chapter may meander even more than usual as it is part of a collection of several short 'day in the life' journal style entries which have been linked to make up Chapters 38-44.
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THE TOUCH Chapter 41 GET A ROOM!
Caroline had originally asked me to call round and see her on Friday evening but instead I decided that she would need to make do with a telephone call as Friday would be the last opportunity for Gwen and me to do anything alone together before Emma got home on Sunday. As it happened Caroline was good with my call, I thought that she probably didn't actually remember why she had asked me to come to the house, or that things had moved on since she made the request. Mainly it was just to ensure that Becca Hill would be coming with me and that the watercolour of the garden would be brought to the house on Saturday afternoon before the guests started to arrive. She had obviously come down to Salisbury sometime during the day and I could hear the babble in the background of caterers setting up for the evening. There was absolutely no reason for any of the gardening team to be there everything was completed and tidy; Kitty and Benson had driven out on Thursday afternoon to water the flower beds and do a final check. I just hoped that the caterers and guests would not make too much of a mess of the newly laid lawn but the weather was good and the surface firm. In the end it was nothing that could not be repaired, it was Caroline's property and she could enjoy it as she pleased.
Friday evening Gwen and I planned to have a night out and so to save time I showered and changed at work before locking the garden centre up and then rode home. Gwen was ready and waiting and so we went straight out in her car and drove over to Bath to the Little Theatre Cinema which was showing a movie re-run of Bertolucci's 'The Last Emperor' starring Peter O'Toole. We had both missed the film when it was on the cinema circuit the year before. We had taken Gwen's VW Polo as parking in Bath is an absolute nightmare. My caravanette would be too tall to fit into the multi-story car park and so we would have needed to use the park and ride bus into the city from the Lansdown Road carpark on the outskirts of the city. As luck would have it we were fortunate enough to get into Manvers Street car park which was only a few minutes' walk away from the theatre and managed to get into our seats just before the film started.
We were both childishly excited by our little outing. It was the first time that we had been out together alone since our fantastic weekend in London at the opera and I guess that we both felt like a couple of kids out on a first date. We managed to hold hands and even discreetly cuddle in the darkness of the cinema which was a silly little illicit thrill that both of us enjoyed and made much of.
"You are a bloody pervert, Jamie Riley..." Gwen teased me in a whisper as we left the theatre, "Mothers should not get touched-up by their son in the cinema...it's just not done, you know..."
"Sorry," I chuckled, "I won't do it again..."
"Oh yes you will..." She replied in mock reproach, "I shall not come with you again, unless you do..."
We walked happily back to the car park arm in arm laughing and teasing each other. Gwen was always fun to be with and we had quickly developed our own special banter private to us. It was good that we could approach our situation with humour, I often thought of my friend Anthea Askew the librarian whose forbidden love had brought her nothing but misery. It was difficult for me to remember that this beautiful, joyous woman on my arm was not just my lover but my mother as well, we had been so much more than just mother and son for so long, ever since my father had abandoned the family. I cursed my father for many things but was grateful to him for creating a vacuum in which my friendship with my mother could develop and eventually become a completely different kind of love.
"Good evening Jamie." I was taken by surprise by a voice at my side and the touch of a hand upon my elbow. Gwen and I stopped dead and I turned to face the speaker my heart jumping into my mouth for a moment.
"Oh, Good Evening, Mrs Harvey..." It was the woman who owned the Cedars Care Home; we had a contract to maintain their grounds and I visited the house regularly. She was with another woman of about the same age and very similar appearance who I guessed was her sister. "I don't believe that you have met my mother, have you?" I asked introducing Gwen.
We stood there arm in arm and Mrs. Harvey never even blinked an eye-lid. "A pleasure to meet you," she said and they shook hands. "Do you live in Bath, Mrs. Riley?"
"No, Salisbury," Gwen answered. "Jamie has just taken me to the cinema and we are now on our way to get something to eat..."
"Oh how lovely...you are so lucky, my son never takes me anywhere..." Mrs. Harvey commented. "My sister and I have just come from the Marlborough Tavern on Weston Road... You should give it a try...we eat there all the time...Well goodnight...nice to have met you."
Whilst I was a bit surprised to meet Mrs. Harvey I guess that I should not have been; her care assistant Janet had mentioned that she had a sister who lived in Bath and the city was a cultural centre for the West Country, most people gravitated there regularly for the theatre, concerts and the like.
They walked on and Gwen and I turned to face each other suppressing a fit of the giggles, we still got a bit of a guilty thrill at being seen out together. In fact I felt as though I had just cleared a major hurdle. "I guess that nobody takes any notice of a mother and son out together..." I said giving voice to my relief... not being noticed was almost as good as coming out of hiding completely.
"Not unless you are spotted grabbing my arse..." My hand had absent-mindedly slipped down to cup her round firm buttock. "Come on that pub is just around the corner, I don't know about you but I am starving."
The Marlborough Tavern turned out to be a recently renovated city pub, what was then starting to be called a 'Gastropub' more about good food and drinks than keg bitter, fizzy lager, snooker and darts. We managed to get a table even though they were on the point of closing the restaurant. "I remember this place years ago, when it was a real dive... Nothing but music students and hippies with guitars..." Gwen remarked. The students were still there, except now they wore uniforms and waited on table.
The food turned out to be good quality, trendy pub-grub, which was becoming very popular, Gwen ordered the grilled chicken with a fancy salad and I went for the homemade toad-in-the-hole with juicy Wiltshire pork sausages and garden peas and a rich onion gravy. We were not disappointed with the quality of the food and each settled for a glass of the house wine to wash it down.
"Oh dear...this is really nearly the end of our lovely week together, isn't it..." Gwen sighed as we sat with our coffees. "I love Emma dearly, and I miss her being at home but it really has been lovely having you to myself this week..." She paused for a moment, "Can I tell you the bad news now?"
"Oh shit... I mumbled, "What is it?" I placed my hand over hers in a gesture of comfort.
"I have to go to an NHS conference in Harrogate next week... it starts on Tuesday afternoon so I will need to drive up in the morning..." She pulled a wry face, "It means I shall probably only just see Emma briefly on Monday evening after work..."
"Well I guess that Emma is going to be a bit pissed off with both of us..." I chuckled, "I am taking a couple of days off next week...starting Monday evening after work. I thought I would take Vera for a long drive and then stay overnight, possibly two, on a campsite somewhere..." It was my cover story for meeting Gill Watford on Tuesday but I had seriously been considering extending my trip by a couple of nights either side.