Life Decisions Lauras Route 01

There are two versions of this story- Route 1 and Route 2

This is Route 1

Its typically Bazzle- there is smoking and drinking.

Please let me know which version you like.

As ever I have read through this several times, some gramma will have slipped through the net.

Life Decisions- Adult Beginnings Laura's Route 1

Chapter 1 Home Time

Laura slowly brought her car on to the driveway, the black tyres crunching loudly as they gripped the grey granite gravel chippings. She wiggled her hips forwards and with a huff at the extra effort, pressed her chest firmly against the groaning seatbelt. It was all an attempt trying to sit up higher in the chair and peer over the steering wheel. Laura was not particularly short nor tall. It was all an attempt to focus on the tip of the bonnet to sure that she stopped after pushing and loudly scratching the bumper far enough into the pretty green trimmed rhododendron bush. This was her failsafe method as to make sure that she left just enough space for her dad's car to be parked beside hers.

With the hand break cranked on, with a deep sigh she finally relaxed her head back against the headrest and whilst tutting again at the fallen white ash covering her steering wheel, she hurriedly brought the filter to her lips as she took another drag on her cigarette that had been burning the whole time between her fingers. She exhaled a cloud of smoke out though her nose, it twisted and twirled and bounced against the windscreen as she flicked cigarette against the open window and then took another small desperate drag, exhaled again through her nose leaving the filter dangled in the corner of her mouth as she waited for the electric motor to slowly wind her window the rest of the way up.

With the cigarette firmly clamped between her lips and the smoke snaking around the inside of the car she pushed her cigarette pack further into her open handbag. As to make doubly sure it did not fall out on the passenger side seat as she got out. She needed them. With a deep breath in of smoke, she pushed the door open and then swung her chubby legs out and slowly got out of the car exhaling as she slowly climbed out. She removed the cigarette from her lips and exhaled yet again as she stopped in front of the green wooden door. The smoke weaving in the wind engulfing and bathing herself yet again yet another highly potent odour filled cloud. Laura could never time it properly as the wind swirled around by the front door. She squeezed and rubbed her black tights covered thighs together as her knees moved as if she was running on the spot to stay warm in the cold gusting wind. Laura momentarily closed her eyes and tilted her head back and lifted her chest as if to open their airway and maximise the amount of effective smoke her lungs could take. It was as if she took one last deep almost desperate drag on the filter as if was for a final time ever.

She paused her wiggling and, held the smoke deep within her lungs before she finally exhaled. The cloud billowing and winding around her as the smoke continued to drift out her mouth and nose as she forcefully stubbed the out the now well over three quarter-smoked butt out, in what had been a red, but having been outside for several years was now very much pink weathered plastic ashtray on the windowsill. The fresh butt being wedged and squished beside over a dozen other now rain-soaked dark brown stained filters.

Several years ago, her mum Trisha had demanded, as Laura had obviously started to smoke more and more, that she must use the ashtray "acquired" in a pub before coming into the house. This was rather than just being a stroppy teenager and untidy dropping her awful butts and littering the driveway and potentially the street for everyone to see. There were standards to be maintained. There were no way those awful stinking cigarette things were coming into the house still lit.

It now meant that there was real evidence of her consumption that Laura could not really hide. However much she defended herself. It would always provide ammunition to her parents, so that she could be continually nagged that she was smoking far too much. Her mum could literally count the butts of every time she came home.

This got problematic especially as and when there were far too many butts on the windowsill that a second layer had geologically formed. Laura would again get shouted at to empty the blasted ashtray. Her mum would be complaining as it 'looked disgusting at the front of the house'. Laura did not dare argue that they could easily be hidden between the gravel on the floor.

Laura also had a matching 'acquired' ashtray on in the windowsill by the white plastic garden chair on the back patio. There was less pressure with that one filling up, which it would regularly overflow, as in the evenings she would leave her parents watching a boring TV show and then quietly slope out. That one hardly got complained about. Visitors to the house would never see it. Her parents never understood just how much Laura enjoyed smoking. She exhaled the final cloud of smoke and then focused as she moved her cigarette pack to the side of her bag and with a rummage pulled the copper-coloured key from inside her handbag and twisted the Yale lock and a got in the house.

As with every third Wednesday of the month, the house was dark and empty when she got home late as usual from work. Her mum Trisha was out at her parish meeting and her dad, Dereck was out yet again for a meal meeting his usual customers. Laura sighed, and swallowed air, contemplating a drink to wash her throat. As she flicked the light switch and reluctantly looked up as she waited for seemed an eternity that was only the three seconds for energy saving lightbulb to warm up and illuminate the hallway and stairs of her parents 1930's house.

She kicked off her work shoes leaving them on top of the neat pile of her parents, and then with a huff and a gently cough, she gently and quietly climbed the stairs. Her black 40 denier tights covered toes were tickled by deep expensive and plush cream carpeted stairs. As she climbed, she unbuttoned and pulled off her black jacket off by the time she got to the landing. She headed to her bedroom. She then bounced songs from the radio still reverberating in her head as she hummed as her fingers unbuttoned the white shirt and then unzipped her black work skirt dropping both to floor. With a resigned sigh she coughed again as she bent down and picked them up off the floor and dropped them strategically on the back of the white painted wooden kitchen chair in the corner of the room. Laura then sighed as she wiggled her hips as she tugged her tights down and then bounced her backside on the bed as she grunted at the effort as she tugged and pulled them off her toes.

She brought her hand to her mouth with yet another of her usual and predictable coughs as she gently bounced her buttocks on the bright white duvet. She forced herself up off the bed with another cough and headed back out the door and towards the landing and the bathroom, she paused in front of the bathroom mirror as winced at her messy blonde hair with a couple of split ends hanging down over her slim face proud of her shape, smiled liking her cream skin contrasting with her green eyes.

Laura then groaned as she flicked her thumbs inside the elastics as pulled down her black knickers and then untangled her arms from the straps, spun and took off her white work bra dropping them both in the large wicker washing basket in the corner of the room and then briefly shivering and squeezing her thighs together again she hopped into the shower. No sooner was in, she stood there and grinned to herself as she peed. She had been enjoying holding it since the 3 o'clock coffee and cigarette break. She had been hoping that there were not too many traffic lights on red on the way home. She had once told her boyfriend Adam that she enjoyed the tingle of holding it in. There was real pleasure that she got from the desperation to pee. There was also equal pleasure she got from the release.

In his own almost satanic way, he now made a conscious effort to ensure that she held it as long as possible, maximising the enjoyment. It did not help that he had his twisted perversion was that personally got a kick when she could no longer hold it in.

She glanced down and watched the yellow water which was now jetting down between her thighs and turned on the water. Suddenly it was slowly mixing with the shower water and swirling down the plug hole as she held the powerful showerhead as water poured over her head. She stepped back and squirted the shampoo into her hair and lathered in shampoo and happily and loudly singing into the showerhead. She then turned the handle, so she got the water flowing at full pressure to wash away the smell of far too many cigarettes, her daily make up and vast quantities of her built up work stress.

***

With her warm green fluffy towel wrapped around the top her chest and securely clamped under her still slightly stubbly armpits. She was not seeing Adam that evening. It did not matter. She busily wiped the condensation off the mirror with her hand and smiled at her now puffy round, but with her now red scrubbed clean face that was brightly reflected. Then with another tune still playing loudly in her head pivoted on her heels into the direction of her bedroom to get dressed. She distracted herself before she got to the bedroom and peered over the balcony. It was still deadly quiet and dusky. With that an almost evil smile that crept across her face, she nodded to herself as carefully headed down the stairs still wrapped in her towel. She reached her handbag hung over the bottom of the banister and pulled a cigarette and her lighter from her bag. Whilst continuing to smile to herself as she headed to the backdoor, unlocked, and opened it. Within seconds she regretted the movement as she shivered when the cool air hit her still damp body and hair. Laura had priorities and other focuses. With a flick of the lighter, and a deep drag she lit the cigarette, the tip burning brightly in the dusky sky as she repetitively pulled hard on the cigarette.

Standing there holding on to the towel hauling the smoke into her lungs as quickly as possible, her mum would be complaining that she would catch a cold smoking outside with wet hair. But she did not understand that to Laura smoking came first. She would dry herself in a minute. This was a compromise. She would have to stay in for an hour or two yet and be sociable with her mum. After a few minutes of calmly enjoying her cigarette leaning against the open-door frame, ensuring her exhales went mostly outside, whilst she potentially stayed inside trying to try and stay vaguely warm. She reached around the door to the ashtray and stubbed the cigarette out catching the unravelling towel before it fell off, and then firmly shut the door and with another gentle cough, headed back upstairs to get properly dried and dressed.

Laura hummed to herself as she rummaged in her messy, if slightly overly full knicker draw, at the bottom she pulled out one of her pairs of large grey comfortable cotton pants, she tutted as she pulled and teased the fraying elastic and again coughed loudly as she sat and again bounced on the edge of the bed. Then with one last cursory wipe with the edge of the towel to dry her toes, she groaned as she squished her stomach in on itself as she leaned forwards got her feet through the holes and pulled them up her slightly still damp legs to her knees just as the doorbell then rang. She sniffed, sighed, and stood up wiggling her hips in the process as she quickly pulled the knickers up the rest of the way over her still damp hips. She then straightened the towel making sure she was decent as possible and headed down the stairs tightening the twist of the towel calling out with her slight deep voice in the direction of the door "I am on my way!" As she padded down the stairs as quickly as she could, whilst firmly holding on to the towel.

She paused, coughed again, shaking her head from the exertion of moving quicker than she envisaged down the stairs. Took a deep breath as she glanced through the opaque glass in the top third of the wooden front door, and winced, she could see what might be there. Laura took another deep breath in anticipation and then opened the door to see standing side by side a male and female uniformed police officers.

***

Laura looked nervously at the two officers and with an outstretched arm pointed at the table then winced, wishing she had spent the few minutes and actually had shaved her pits. Whilst hoping that they did not care as she silently offered them a seat as she waited for the hissing bouncing kettle to come to the boil. She then busied herself as she tidied away the left-out breakfast plates and things in the middle of the round pine wood kitchen table. Trying to distract herself as the two officers were still standing there in front of her as they mentioned words like "Sorry", "car accident", and "hospital." For Laura it was all rather difficult to take it in. Her head was full of the fog of confusion. They then they mentioned a phrase like regarding to notify next of kin. Laura had explained that her mum's meeting didn't finish until nine. She opened the kitchen window and she again apologised as shivered as the cool evening air blew through as she went back into the bottom of the stairs and retrieved her bag hanging on the bottom of the banister and importantly for that moment in time her pack of cigarettes and lighter whilst holding on to dear life on to the towel.

Out of common courtesy Laura offered the two police officers the open pack and they both very quickly, with a shake of a head and a hand up refused. She leaned against the kitchen counter and flicked the lighter, swore at it as the breeze from the open window instantly blew it out. With a quick practiced flick of the wrist, she shook it again, flicked the lighter and this time manged to produce a steady flame. With a couple of small drags finally got the cigarette lit. She ignored the officers whilst taking two separate long inhales to try and calm her fluttering heart, and only then did she focus on the now steaming hot kettle.

Laura tried to focus poured the boiling hot water in to the three cups and absentmindedly stirred in the milk without even asking if they wanted any, but then turned to offer the officers sugar which they again politely refused she put two spoons of sugar in hers, she felt like she needed it as she violently stirred the spoon as a tear trickled down her cheek. She sighed as she pulled on the cigarette again and then leaned to flick her ash out the kitchen window as the exhale tumbled out on the breeze afterwards, she grizzled with herself and rummaged around in one of draws and retrieved one of several Gü glass ramekins that should have gone in the recycling, but her mum had saved for a special reason that had yet to be specified.

With yet another laboured and large sigh of exhaled smoke which funnelled through both her mouth and nose Laura finally sat down at the kitchen table. She stared at the officers with her cigarette dangled in the corner of her mouth, and gently put down her mug and again violently tugged at the top her towel and wiggled her bottom in a desperate attempt to remain decent in her current company. With her hand she offered the officers to sit down, which this time they did. Laura put the burning cigarette between her fingers as she focused on the police officers' lips as they moved. It was almost cartoon like the mouths were a blur and the sounds they made did not really make sense. She tried to listen to the officers as they repeated themselves word for word again, this time Laura really hoped that a cup of tea and some more nicotine would help her focus and listen. She was not hundred percent sure that it did.

After what felt like hours to Laura and the time taken to smoke her second cigarette, which in reality was only fifteen minutes, the front door eventually opened with the noises of a bag and coat swishing against the wall and then the footsteps of her heels on the polished wooded floor down the hallway.

"Evening Law," Trisha called out, "I hope you managed to have a good evening and didn't work too late?" she then the footsteps stopped as there was an over emphasised sniff and with a growl she continued "Oh Law what have I told you about your bleeding smoking in the house...I don't know how many times I need to tell you, please, you need to get the air freshener spray out, I don't care how desperate you were. There is no reason to. Also, Law did you see the police car outside? Who is that for? Number 27 again I thought I watched them finally move out the other day?" Trisha prattled away as she made her way down the hallway towards the kitchen carrying her brown handbag.

Laura with a tear in her now red eyes and solemn face looked up as Trisha's head appeared at the door "Us Mum, they are here for us..." she stated dejectedly as Trisha's smile on her face quickly vanished as she looked around the doorway and as her eyes scanned the room, she then sighed and leaned her head against the door frame at the sight of the police officers.

"Oh, pardon my French, but what the fuck has happened?" Trisha asked as her eyes widened in their sockets as she looked across at the solemn looking police officers sitting at her kitchen table drinking a cup of tea.

***

After asking for a third time, and then trying her best to listen again as the female police officer repeat her sentence the answer hit her like a bag of bricks, with a loud shriek Trisha's head collapsed into her hands as her sobbing got louder and louder as tears poured down her cheeks. "Law" she sniffed wiping her finger across her nose of the dribbles of tears whilst looking at the pack of Marlboro lights on the table in front of her "Sorry Law, sorry officers, but I now really need one of your ciggies!" she stated at the table as looked up she noisily wiped more tears away with the back of her hand.

"Pardon mum?" Laura asked with confusion as own tears dropped down her rosy, red cheeks and dripped on the table as she leant forward holding her arm as it supported her head.

Everyone sat in silence for the thirty seconds it took for Trisha to compose herself.

"Sorry Law," she paused and took a deep breath as she thought for a second before sighing her lungful of air, she looked across and twisted her mouth and lips and nodded to herself "Please Law, can I steal one of your cigarettes?" she turned to the police and put her hand up "Sorry officers, I do apologise. I need a cigarette!" They shrugged their shoulders.

"But what the eff Mum?" Laura asked screwing her now rather wrinkled faceup in confusion.

"Its fine Law, please I just need this one and I will explain all later." Trisha dismissed as her arm reached across and deftly turned Laura's pack around.

"Mum, are you sure about this, mum?" Laura asked trying to see if this was a trap as she nervously with turned the pack on the table.

Trisha nodded determinedly "Very!" She stated as she securely placed the filter between her fingers, looked at her hand and then put it in her mouth.

***

"I guess I need to come across to the hospital?" Trisha asked after coughing from the tears running down her throat mixing with the acrid smoke she was pulling in, as the cloud of her recent exhale mixed with Laura's in the middle of the table as she nervously flicked her cigarette above ramekin now filling up with ash, and then with a glance at Laura and to the police officers she powerfully dragged again.