I came home for the wedding of my twin sister Lynsey, which is where all this began. I'd spent the previous three or four years travelling, first in Europe, travelling ever eastward over the months until I ended up in Nepal, then down into India, and eventually the back-packers heaven, Australia. I'd been there about a year, it's a big country, working various casual jobs and generally having a good time, when I got the news that Lynsey was getting married in a few months' time. Being twins we had that special and sometimes mythical connection that people wonder about. There was no way I was going to miss Lynsey's wedding and that was the catalyst that brought me home to Scotland.
The wedding was still a couple of months away at this point, and I needed somewhere to stay, so when my mother offered me Lynsey's old room in her house, I gratefully accepted. Lynsey had moved out about a year previously to, 'live in sin,' with her partner. Mum was a devout churchgoer, and didn't approve of such progressive ideas, but behind her holy disapproval she had a heart of gold, and she was my mum. It was nice to be back under her motherly wing for a short while, and I had no intention of making this a permanent arrangement anyway. I would take off again, shortly after the wedding, well at least that was my plans, but life has a way of sometimes kicking your balls when you least expect it.
The first thing I did was look around for transport, and I found an old banger of a van, but it was cheap, the sort of thing that 'do-it-yourself' enthusiasts often convert into a mini campervan. I was no DIY enthusiast, and had no need for a campervan, but the engine seemed sound enough, it had a full year MOT safety certificate, which was more than long enough for me. The only thing I 'improved' was to find a couple of seats at the local breakers yard, and fitted them in the back. My devious and permanently optimistic mind was thinking I couldn't fuck a woman in my mother's house, she was ultra-religious and to do that would show a complete lack of any respect for her. Or if I got lucky, I couldn't even use the back seat of my van if I didn't have a back seat. With a couple of travel rugs and soft cushions my 'shagging wagon' was complete.
All I needed now was a job to give me some income to help pay my way at mum's house, feed myself, put fuel in the tank, etc. I'd managed to save a little money while working in Australia, mainly due to the fact that I live a very frugal lifestyle. I don't smoke, and I don't drink alcohol, no gambling habits, no drugs. I describe myself as very low maintenance.
Before going off back packing, I'd worked for a few of the clubs around town as a 'bouncer' or as they are now called, 'doormen,' or plain old, 'security.' So, I went round to see my old boss, told him I'd be in the city at least until my sister's wedding, and he took me on straight away. Being young and single, it was a great way to meet women. I was no Casanova, I had no pop star, or film star good looks, but I was tall, six foot, two inches, with a decent physique, dark hair and blue eyes, with good teeth. I was reasonably intelligent, and looked for the same in a woman. I was very fastidious and wouldn't bed just any woman for the sake of it, but I did okay all the same, and the back seat of my van got the occasional good work out, but most of the women I met had their own flats or houses. Okay, this sounds like I was meeting dozens of women, but no, it was in single figures, low single figures at that, maybe four or five.
Things were going well at my mum's too. She loved having me home, and truthfully she was spoiling me. My younger sister, Rosalind or 'Rosie,' as we had always called her, who also stayed at mum's was being nice to me too, but then she had always been nice to me. Rosie was a couple of years younger than me, and I'd always looked out for her when she was a kid, well I was a kid too at the time, but naturally bigger than her. She would follow me around like a little puppy, but I loved her, and I still loved her.
At twenty three years old, she had blossomed into a real beauty, with shoulder length straight dark hair, clean cut features with high cheekbones, beautiful blue eyes that sparkled and shone, and a sensuous, full-lipped mouth with a smallish straight nose and strong chin. It all went so well together to make her absolutely beautiful, furthermore she was tall, about five foot seven inches without heels, and although very slender, she had the right curves in the right places. I thought she would have had a boyfriend at least and moved away from home, but no, for some reason she was single.
She was fiercely intelligent too, and making lots of money working for an oil company. Rosie had been working from home for quite some time thanks to the Covid pandemic, but thankfully things were opening up again, and that included the night clubs where I was working. I tried my best to be quiet when I came home late from the clubs in the early hours of the morning because still Rosie had to work normal 9am-5pm office hours. I didn't want to disturb her, and tried to be quiet when I came in, but she'd often be waiting up for me, and make me a cup of tea when I came home late. It was at times like this when it was just me and her that we'd chat for simply ages, despite the lateness of the hour. We had no worries about disturbing mum, she had hearing problems and removed her hearing aids when she went to bed.
Now that we were adults we seemed to grow even closer than we had been before I'd gone off on my travels. She'd come and sit close to me as we talked, take my arm and snuggle up close on the sofa. We loved each other; it was as simple as that. She told me she missed me so much when I was away, and she'd cried herself to sleep so many nights when I had first left, which made me feel really bad. I'd thought nothing of it when I left to go travelling, but what she said made me think later, that when we set out to have new adventures far from home, we aren't inclined to think about those we have left behind. Or how that might affect them, but I was beginning to see in these talks with Rosie that I'd hurt her so badly.
'How come you don't have a boyfriend Rosie? You're a really beautiful young woman, you should be up to your armpits in young men fighting over you. What's up?' I said one night. She looked pretty upset that I'd asked her that. 'I'm sorry Rosie, I didn't mean to hurt your feelings,' I said. 'you know I love you and I'd never do anything to hurt you deliberately.' She looked at me, her eyes had filled up with tears, she nodded, and I took her in my arms to comfort her. She snuggled in even closer, but said nothing for ages, and then it all came out.
'This is it; this is why I don't have a boyfriend,' she sobbed. 'I've never met anyone who compared to you, never met a man who was as kind and loving to me as you are, or as big and strong. You looked after me and protected me all those years ago, and I still look to you as my 'blueprint,' of what a man should be. None of them can compare to you. I put you on a pedestal as a child, and you're still up there, still the standard by which I judge them all,' and she sobbed again, holding me tighter. It was flattering, but I felt really bad for her sake.
I lifted a box of tissues from the coffee table, and taking one, I reached out and tilted her chin up to me. She looked at me with tears on her eyelashes, those blue eyes so much like my own, only so much more beautiful, boring into me. Her bottom lip quivered with emotion. She had a beautiful mouth, why had I not noticed that before I thought, and perfect teeth. I dabbed her eyes gently with the tissue, mopping up her tears, and when she closed her eyes, I kissed her eyelids like I used to do when we were young, and I was reading her a bedtime story before she fell asleep.
She put her arm round my neck and pulled me down to her, and kissed my lips. It was so very nice and affectionate, loving even, and of course I kissed her back, she was my little sister and I loved her.
