Author's note.
I must confess that I hadn't intended to write another Chapter to this series, but I got a lot of very positive feedback from the first two chapters which always helps. I confess that I also like Ben and Chelsea and the trials and tribulations of their feelings for each other, so it's been fun adding another story.
For those who feel like writing to me saying that some detail or another isn't realistic - don't bother. It's an act of fiction and it is what it is! For anyone else, though, please spend a second or two leaving feedback, particularly if you have ideas about the direction the relationship might move from now on.
All characters are over the age of 18, of course, and all of them are entirely fictitious.
Enjoy!
*****
CHELSEA RISING - Ch. 03
Monday 0700
Chelsea Rogers held the envelope in her slim fingers and glanced again at the handwriting on the front. It was a feminine hand - the neat characters marching across the paper, not at all like the academic scrawl her father would have used, but she knew that it was from him. She also knew that it was an invitation to his wedding.
She slipped her finger under the flap and tore open the envelope, her eyes scanning over the script on the card inside.
Mr James Rogers and Ms Melanie Phillips request the pleasure of the company of Ms Chelsea Rogers on the occasion of their marriage at the Church of St Joseph and Mary at 1600 on Saturday 23 November 2010, and afterwards at Seven Hills RSL, 15 Showground Road, Seven Hills...
Chelsea propped the invitation on the kitchen worktop and picked up her coffee, thinking about how much things had changed. It was almost exactly three years ago since her mother had died, lying in the hospital bed whilst her father held her hand, praying for her to get better. Chelsea liked to think that her mother was at peace as she finally gave up the struggle and reached out for the tranquility of death. Poor Dad. She remembered the grief he had worn like a shabby coat for so long - and guilt too, because he had not been able to protect her. He had virtually given up after that, and everyone had thought that he might not last long - but now, just three years later, he was marrying again - a testimony to the healing capacity of the human spirit.
She looked down at the invitation again, the heavy linen card and the flowing silver script. A message of celebration, of happiness and hope for his future. God knows, she thought, he deserves that, and she should be with him on his special day. The words burned into her brain.
Request the pleasure of the company of Ms Chelsea Rogers...
Every fibre in her being longed to go, to help make it a special day for him - but her heart quailed at the thought. How could her company be a pleasure, she reflected, when Ben will be there?
Benjamin Philip Rogers - her brother, her friend, her lover...and her nemesis. Ben, whom she had sworn she would never set eyes on again.
*****
Two hundred miles away the subject of her thoughts shuffled through that morning's mail, discarding the junk, setting aside the bills and picking out those of interest. The white linen envelope with its distinctive handwriting now lay on the top of the pile and he picked it up and deftly opened it with the silver letter -opener from his desk.
Mr James Rogers and Ms Melanie Phillips request the pleasure of the company of Mr Benjamin Rogers and partner....
He turned as Sophie came into the room, still in her nightie. Her blonde hair was in disarray and there was a sleep crease on the side of her face from the pillow.
"Hi Hon. Anything interesting?" Despite her age her voice was pitched like a little girl's, lacking the timbre of maturity. It was one of the things that had turned him on when they first met...a little girl's voice, to match the little girl look.
"Not much - bills, mostly, and an invitation to Dad's wedding next month."
She moved to his side and straddled him, climbing onto his lap with her back to the desk. The fabric of her nightgown settled higher, clinging to her hips, and he could see the swell of her mound pushing against the bikini panties, a wisp of hair peeping from the elastic line. He felt the warmth of her body radiating down through his tracksuit, and he could smell her - a warm, musky odour, a mixture of cinnamon and milk and warm puppy. She wriggled a little bit and the nightie shifted, pulling tighter over her pert breasts so that the nipples pressed against the sheer fabric.
"You gonna go, Ben?"
"Sure. You're invited too."
"Gee. That's nice." She took the card from his fingers and read it slowly, her lips forming the words. "Benjamin Rogers and partner." She looked down at him, a sudden thought in her mind. "I've got nothing to wear!"
"What about that brown dress with the white spots? You look sensational in that."
She regarded him with her big blue eyes. "That's last year's fashion, Hon. "It's different now." She ran the tip of her finger down the side of her face, the nail rasping against his unshaven skin, and she pouted down at him, her voice soft and wheedling. "Can I buy another outfit for the wedding, honey? Just a teeny -weeny one?"