My wife, Angie and I were going through a bad time in our marriage. We'd been married for just over sixteen years. In that time, we had produced two kids and a nice home. My job was relatively well paid and it kept us in good financial order. All that said my relationship with Angie had over those sixteen years slowly became stale. Our feelings for each had waned into conventionality and even though I tried to bring some change or difference to the relationship, it always failed at the first hurdle with Angie always arguing the fact that everything was okay so why change. Since our youngest daughter was born and especially in the last two years, Angie had fallen deeper into this conservative blinkered state lost her sense of fun even her mother noticed, her lack of fashion and I noticed how low her sex drive was too. Whether it was ultimately due to carrying and giving birth to Lucy, I'll never know. In reality, I thought I'd lost the woman I'd married.
Angie had forgone her sense of fashion from a fun-loving attitude that gave her an eye for choosing just the right sort of clothing to set off her figure in the most delicate of ways that always made me want for more. She was a woman who loved to show her femininity sensuously that was never over the top or slutty looking; I always admired her for that.
Now she has become so conservative that she covers nearly eighty per cent of her body. Long skirts, jeans, baggy jumpers and high neck blouses gave her a dowdy mum look. And I can't remember the last time I saw her naked.
I suppose I could put it down to the conversation we had over the dinner table. It was in July 2018 our daughters were at home for the summer break. We'd just finished out main meal and Angie had got up and started collecting up the dirty plates.
"So who would like a pudding, then?" she asked. "I'm not fussed really, but it was a nice dinner Mum," Lucy said.
"What do you have Mum?" Jennifer asked. I picked up my glass of Beaujolais and took a mouthful.
Angie replied, "Well there's strawberry ice cream, Cherrie Cheese Cake or fresh Pineapple with cream."
"Oh I'd love some fresh Pineapple, mum." Jenifer asked. Lucy's eyes lit up, "And me."
"And you Peter what would you like?" She had the dirty plates in her hands waiting for my answer.
Jennifer groaned, "God mum what are you wearing?"
"What do you mean?" Angie asked as she looked down her body at her clothes.
"I mean what are you wearing, you look so dowdy."
"I do not," snapped Angie obviously not liking what her fifteen-year-old was saying.
"You do mum. Look everything you wear is so old fashioned."
Then Lucy added, "That's right mum, you look so decrepit."
Angie stood at the door to the kitchen looking at her two daughters shocked, "Decrepit, well that's nice isn't!" Angie spoke and looked again at her clothing, "There's nothing wrong with my clothes. I don't know what you mean."
"You really ought to look at yourself mum and lighten up," Jennifer added. Angie when into the kitchen the door swinging shut.
"Blimey, Dad why don't you say something to her about it, Mum has lost her sense of style and she has a much better body than she is letting on, why bother keeping in shape just to hide it?."
"Come on Jennifer it has nothing to do with you what your mother wears. If she wants to wear those kinds of clothes, then that's up to her you shouldn't interfere."
"But dad..."
"Don't go there Jennifer. What happens between mum and me has nothing to do with you girls okay?" I snapped back knowing Jennifer would not stop until she had made her point.
With a sigh, Jennifer eased back and we all fell silent waiting for mum to return with our puddings.
A couple of minutes later Angie returned with the fresh pineapple sliced up on a plate. She placed the plate on the table and then handed round bowls for each of us.
"Help yourselves to the fruit and the cream is in the jug," she said.
As we started to enjoy the fruit and cream Angie said to Jennifer, "So what's wrong with my clothes I've been wearing these for years?"
I could see on Jennifer's face the question would allow her to make another attack on her mother, something she has been doing frequently over the past three or four months. Once they were inseparable but since Jennifer's fifteenth birthday Jennifer takes extreme delight in trying to ridicule her mother.
"That's precisely what I mean. Your clothes are so ancient you can't even get them from the charity shops anymore."
With that Jennifer got up and left the dining room with a huge smile on her face knowing she'd won that round in this war of words and derision.
Over the following weeks, Jennifer exploited her position of being one up on her mother and made it known to all and sundry, especially her immediate friends that her mother had no form of dress sense and that she was living in the past.
In that year, my employer had a large conference in London. The company had had its best year so far and for the first time it allowed wives and partners to come along to the Year End Ball. The conference was a three-day event taking place in the Docklands area; all those going had a room in a hotel. In addition, because we were living down in deepest Cornwall we were given an extra night so that I was at the conference on time. It was to start on the Thursday and finish on the Saturday night, and culminating with the End of financial Year Ball.
I used this opportunity to try and bring Angie out of her conservative attitude and hopefully get my wife back, the one I married. In addition, if it all goes to plan it could stop our daughter ridiculing her mother.
Two weeks before the event at dinner, I asked Angie, "Would you like to go to London with me to the conference?"
"Oh yes, that would be great," she replied then started to think about it. "Can I go too?" Jennifer suddenly sat up.
"And me, I would like to go to London as well?" Lucy said trying to keep pace with her older sister.
"Afraid not girls, if mum says she wants to come then you two are staying with your Gran."
"Oh Dad, not Grannies?" the two girls said almost simultaneously.
"So what do you say Angie?" I pressed.
"But you'll be at the conference all day and I'll be stuck in the hotel bored out of my mind."
"Not necessarily, you could go sightseeing see the Tower of London, Buck Palace."
"Not on my own," she said looking fearful, "Oh no, I couldn't go without you."
"We could go with you and then you could see the sights," Lucy interjected.
"I know you've never been to London before so why not take this opportunity, it's free," I said, "I really want you to be with me and we can go to the ball and dance all night."
"Do you really, do really want me to be with you?" asked Angie amazed. "Yes of course I do however, there is a catch though!"
"What do you mean a catch?" she asked suspiciously. "It's one you'll like."
"Well come on out with it," she urged irritated.
"We'll talk about that later. But in principle you would come with me?" "Yes of course. But I don't like catches."
"Oh come on dad we want to know what you're planning?" Jennifer said frustrated.
"It's not for you girls to hear I'm afraid you will just have to wait that's all."
"Ah dad you always do this it's just not fair," Lucy groaned as she got up from the table.
