George and Carol had been married for just over ten years. They'd originally wanted children but nothing had happened yet and, basically, the idea had gradually slipped from their minds.
Because they had no family commitments, it meant that they were able to devote time to their local community β especially charitable organisations. George had been asked by two different political parties to stand in local elections, but he had declined the invitations.
George, tall dark and handsome, worked at a local car sales and his reputation for being straight and honest brought customers back again and again. He was far from wealthy, but the couple were comfortable. Carol worked part time as a receptionist at the local dental practice. She was friendly and efficient and more than a few patients made a pass at her (usually on the way out after a successful check up).
Life in the bedroom was OK for the couple. Sex was nothing special, nothing particularly adventurous, but reasonably frequent and of a loving nature.
Christmas was fast approaching and as George's parents had emigrated a few years previously, Carol decided to invite her own to stay for the festivities.
Then there was Aunt Angela. George had met Carol's Aunt on a number of occasions, but hadn't seen her for about a year β on the occasion of her husband's funeral. Carol realised that she would be spending Christmas on her own and began to feel she should do something. Although the house had three bedrooms (all en suite), the smallest had been converted into an office for both of them, so it wouldn't be possible to invite her to stay, but they could at least invite her to celebrate Christmas Day with them.
Maybe Aunt Angela wanted to be alone. But unless she asked, Carol would never know. In the end, when she did, Angela jumped at the opportunity and confessed that she had been dreading spending the day on her own.
Of course, that left the problem of how to get her to their house and home again. Even if they could get a minicab, it would cost the annual budget of a small country, so George agreed to forego alcohol until he got back from taking Carol's Aunt back to her home again.
On the day, George left at around 9am and made good progress over the forty miles. When he arrived, Angela was ready and waiting. He didn't even have to switch the engine off as she stepped out of the door with two bags of presents. Surprisingly, the round trip took George little more than an hour and a half.
Angela was younger than her sister (Carol's Mother) by quite a few years and she dressed accordingly. Today she was wearing a simple, thin-strapped light blue dress with black leather high heels. The skirt flared out from her hips and swayed as she walked.
The day went well, lots of food and drink (except for George) and everybody enjoyed the intimate family gathering β Angela in particular. She possibly drank a little more than she should, but nobody blamed her and the permanently tipsy demeanour was quite amusing. Before they knew it, the clock struck midnight and it was time for George to take Aunt Angela home.
As he backed the car out of the driveway it started to rain lightly. However, not long after they had set off the drops turned to flakes of snow. By the time they neared their destination it was fast approaching a blizzard. The visibility deteriorated rapidly and George found himself straining to see beyond the windscreen. Once they left the main road the surface conditions became very hazardous. George could feel the rear wheels losing grip every now and then and he made sure that his steering movements were very gentle. Finally, they made it. The one-way journey had taken close to two hours.
As soon as they got inside, Angela made straight for her telephone.
"Carol, Darling," she said when answered. "We've only just got here and the weather is simply awful! I can't possibly let George drive home now. It's far too dangerous. I can put him up overnight and he can drive home in the morning."
George was about to speak out at Aunt Angela's suggestion, but then realised that it was already 2am and his chances of getting home were pretty slim. When he looked out through the window he could see that snow was already covering the windscreen of the car and it wasn't letting up.
"Now that's settled, George, perhaps you'd like a drink at last? I've felt so sorry for you all day having to abstain."
He really did feel like he'd missed out now. "OK," he said. "I'd like that." Even though it was the early hours of the morning, the stress of driving had left his mind buzzing. He needed to relax a little.
Angela left the room and returned minutes later with a bottle of red wine and a pair of glasses. She poured the liquid, settled the bottle down on the coffee table, sat down next to him on the sofa and then handed him his drink.
They began to talk amiably; all the while Angela seemed to be toying with her necklace or earrings. As the alcohol took hold George began to look at her properly β the first time that he had really had a chance to do so. She was still very attractive. There were a few soft lines on her face, but her skin was such that she didn't really need a lot of make-up. Her eyes were a light blue β almost matching the colour of her dress and her legs were long and slender, covered in flesh-toned nylon.
George suddenly realised that he was finding Angela attractive. On reflection he realised that their ages were not all that far apart β fifteen years, in fact. He felt a stirring in his underpants and tried to concentrate his mind on something else, anything else.
Angela kept topping up their glasses as they chatted, until the bottle ran dry. George had been enjoying the conversation and hadn't realised how much he had drunk.
"Oh, that's a shame," she said. "It's all finished. It would be a waste to open another. How about we have a glass of brandy?"
"Um, OK," was all George could reply.
She fetched some cut-glass balloons and an expensive looking bottle of brandy. She didn't seem to pour much into the bottom of the glass, but it was quite big, so it was clear how much there was. After they had had a few sips she said, "You know what I missed today? Not playing party games. I really used to like that part of Christmas. Why don't we play something?"
George assumed that she meant cards, or charades or something. "OK," he replied.
"What shall we play then?" She seemed to consider for a moment and then said, "We don't really want to play a kids game. How about⦠something like the Guessing Game?"
"The Guessing Game," he asked. "What's that?"
"Oh, it's simple really. We take it in turns to guess something about each other. If we get it wrong we have to down our drink. If we get it right the other person has to down theirs instead."