Thank you for reading my story, I hope that you enjoy it, love Mica xx Yorkshire England.
I was going to go to the cottage for a few days, Mik was fine at home and he asked if I minded if his girlfriend stayed, and I simply said, 'of course not sweetie, just be, you know, safe.' He gave me 'the look' and I just smiled. Well, it won't help his future if he gets a girl pregnant when is still in his teens. I packed a few clothes into my little carry bag, and then some food from the kitchen, enough to last me a few days, some noodles, some bread some bacon, a dozen eggs, box of cereal and some cooked meats and some potatoes, I love mash and that is an easy evening veg.
I packed the car and then had a thought. I went back into the house and grabbed my swimming costume, I would go to the Spa on the way, a dip in the pool would be refreshing. When I arrived I was so lucky, there was just one space in the car park and it was right near the door, that saved me a long walk form the overflow car park behind the complex. I grabbed my towel and costume and went in. Girl on reception smiled and waved me through and I walked past the café down to the changing rooms. The café was really busy, and then I remembered the Aquarobics would have just finished and the thirty or so women that do it then all assembled for coffee and gossip before they went home.
Good, that meant that the pool would be relatively quiet. The changing room was almost empty, and a lot of the lockers were free, and I stripped, putting my clothes into the locker. As I turned to step into my costume I noticed a woman watching me. I smiled at her and stepped into my costume, pulling the straps over my shoulders and then adjusting my boobs in the cups. Locked the locker, pinned the key to my costume and headed to the pool.
As always the water was lovely, I so hate some pools that are just too cold. I remember going to the old Bingley pool before they shut it, and the water was so cold my nipples would stick out! Not a look I liked. I went down the steps into the pool, holding the handrail, well, be a daft place to slip, you could hardly make it look like you did it on purpose, and swam to the bubble zone. I like to sit in the bubble zone and let all the water bubbles burst around me, and if you pick the right spot, then you get a rather nice tickle between your legs. Well, you do if you're a girl, I have no idea what it would feel like for a man.
As I sat there, I moved my arms in the water, warming up my muscles before I swam some lengths properly. The girl from the changing room swam up and sat next to me, I noticed that she seemed to pick a bubble friendly spot just as I had.
"Hello," she said, "I am Leah, I have seen you here a few times and keep meaning to say hello." She was a little shorter than me, did I detect a slight American accent? She was around five two, five three at a guess from what I saw in the changing room, her hair was brown and short with a fringe, a few streaks of grey or silver. She was a dress size larger than me, and she had the most beautiful hazel eyes. Her lips were not full but still had the feminine cupid look. She was really nice looking.
"Hello Leah, I am Mica, yes, I have spotted you a few times. But I haven't been here much recently, I have been busy renovating my cottage in the Dales. In fact I am just on my way there after here, just for a few days. I want to enjoy it now that it is all done."
"Oh wow, is it like, you know, really remote? I have always fancied a remote English cottage, but well, it just never seemed to happen."
"I used to go up there when it was an Air BnB, and then the renting rules changed and the owner decided he didn't want to spend money on the required upgrades. I had been pretty much the only renter, so he contacted me and made me an offer to buy. We came to an agreement, and then all of a sudden I owned an old very basic cottage in the middle of Yorkshire, two miles from the nearest road."
"Oh wow, two miles, that must be utter bliss."
"Well the cottage did need a lot of work. I had to get the plumbing redone and also the electrics, I got the right people in for that. I kept the old AGA but I added a modern induction cooker. A few sticks of furniture from Ikea and it is now really a lovely spot. It even has its own beck at the back, that came with a couple of surprises. The whole place is really lovely."
"It sounds it, how do you get to it if it is two miles from the road?"
"It has its own private track. Unfortunately delivery drivers won't go up it, so I have to meet them at the end. Luckily the local farmer is friendly and he helped me get some heavy stuff moved using his trailer and his tractor. He also farms my land for hay, I don't charge him, but I don't allow him to use chemicals, or guns for that matter, on my land. He wasn't that pleased about that as there are a lot of rabbits on my land, but tough. My acres, my rules."
"Oh my God it just sounds so perfect. What do you do, or are you a lady of leisure?"
"I am pretty much retired now. I do some freelance work for the Government and I can do most of that from home. I think when the contracts expire I probably won't renew them. I may turn my hand to writing, the Dales cottage is so inspirational."
"Wow, you're so lucky. I guess you are on your own then?"
"Oh no, my son, Mikhael, is about to go to university, but he prefers the comforts at home with his PlayStation and girlfriend, and not being marooned in the middle of wild Yorkshire with his mum. He knows he can go to the cottage whenever he wants, and take his girlfriend if he chooses, but, even for teenagers, when pretty much the only thing to do is have sex, they kind of lose interest."
Leah roared with laughter, "crumbs yes, I remember when I was a teenager all every boy wanted was sex, but when we had the opportunity for unlimited sex, about half an hour was their limit."
It was easy chatting with Leah, and soon it was as if we had known each other for years. We talked about my name and how I was fourth generation British, but old country family names remained a tradition, how my husband had passed in the pandemic, how that had floored me, how she was single, her marriage when she left the forces had been a bit of a disaster, and she was not interested in finding another man, "men are too complicated and yet simple at the same time," she said, "women are much more straight forward."
Interesting. I hadn't thought about it, was she coming on to me?
"If you want," I said, and I don't know why I said it, "you can follow me to the cottage and have a look, and then we can perhaps have a bite of food before you go home?"
"Oh wow, are you sure? I was afraid to ask, yes, I would love to."
After a few lengths swimming I left the pool and showered and then dried myself and changed into my clothes, bra, dress, sliders. If she was watching from the other side of the changing room she would have noticed that I didn't put on any knickers. I hate knickers. We met in reception, and I set her satnav for the end of my track, in case we got split up.
"I think I know roughly where that is," she said, "on a bus route I think."
"Yes, three days a week there is a bus. I have a friend who sometimes visits me up there who comes by bus." I was deliberately vague.
We set off, it was about thirty minutes and as we drove it seemed to be getting darker and darker. I hadn't bothered looking at the weather predictions, I never called it a forecast, they are usually wrong, and so I had no idea that a storm was coming in.
I turned into my track and Leah followed. As is my want, I drove slowly along the track. I know by now where all the holes and rocks are, Leah would not, so slowly was the order of the day. I pulled up in front of the cottage, and Leah pulled in behind me.
"Well Leah, here we are, this is it."
"My God it is fabulous, I am so jealous."
"Don't be jealous, losing my husband and getting his life insurance is what paid for this, that was too high a price."
She didn't say anything. Not much you can say really I suppose.
"Right, I just have a few bags of stuff to get in, and then I can get the kettle for a cuppa on."
She helped me take the bags of stuff in, and I gave her the tour whilst the kettle was heating.
"This really is fabulous. It is olde worlde yet has modern conveniences. I love your taste in decorations."
"Thank you Leah. It was a balancing act, making it twenty first century liveable in what is basically and eighteenth century building. No mains sewerage, water comes from a spring, no gas, slow WiFi, telephone is rubbish, electricity goes off whenever there is a storm. Luckily I have the AGA which I can heat water and cook with, so, a few candles and I just snuggle down under the quilt if I am here during a cut. If there is a cut, Jacob, the farmer, usually pops over to make sure I am alright." And we usually end up sharing the quilt if truth be told, well a little tumble between friends is always good for the soul, Leah didn't need to know that.
There was a massive flash and a few seconds later the loudest rumble of thunder I ever did hear. Poor Leah almost jumped out of her skin. I am glad she didn't, that would have left a mess.
"Jesus, fuck," she cried out.
"Ah yes. Sorry, because we are bit high here, the thunder always sounds incredibly loud."
"Aren't you afraid of being struck?"
"Well, I don't go out when the weather is bad, so no, and if it hits the house, that's just bad luck I suppose. There are plenty of tall trees and poles and things around that are higher than the cottage, and the cottage has been here a few hundred years, so I guess it must be okay."
She shivered and looked very uneasy.
