Chapter 5

About two in the afternoon I finally made it into my shop. John looked up at my grinning face as I opened the door.

“Morning mum. You look like the cat that got the canary.” He teased me. “It must have been one hell of a fight though we could hear the screaming for hours.”

“John!” I gasped colour flooding my face. “Oh god”

“Relax mum.” John hugged me tightly. “I’m glad you’ve sorted things out with Mandy.”

“I am too honey, but I am sorry if we got a bit carried away.”

John stayed with me in the shop for the rest of the afternoon and walked me home afterwards.

I cooked a simple tea for us and Greg, it was a nice family meal and I got chance to get to know Greg a little which helped me adjust to their relationship.

Around half past eight I went and had a shower and put on my sexiest night dress ready for my love. When she came through the door I had a bath run for her and carefully and gently washed my lover before taking her to bed. Despite Mandy’s promise to me this morning we didn’t make love, it was enough to sleep in each others arms.

I woke up about my usual time to get ready for work. I lay there for five minutes staring at Mandy, I couldn’t believe how this beautiful girl wanted me. Eventually I had to move or I would be late for work. I slipped out of bed and headed for the shower. I’m afraid to say I caught myself singing in the shower I was so happy. By the time I got back to the bedroom Mandy was sitting up in bed.

“Morning darling.” I said and kissed her as I went to sort my clothes for the day.

“Morning. Its a good job I love you woman your singing is awful.”

“Sorry couldn’t help myself. Must be something to do with being in love.” I was grinning broadly.

“Love you too.” Mandy kissed me hard and tried to pull me back into bed.

“Sorry love, I’ve gotta get dressed and go to work.” I said and laughed as I pulled away from her as she pretended to sulk. She watched every movement as I got dressed, the desire I could see in her eyes thrilled me I must admit.

I left Mandy sitting in bed with a cup of tea and headed for the shop. I had a pleasant but quiet morning until about eleven when Mandy came in. We spent the afternoon chatting and getting to know each other better. A couple of times we were caught kissing when customers came in. Apart from one woman who muttered that we were disgusting and walked back out most people seemed to either try to ignore it or smiled warmly at us. I was continually surprised at how natural it felt, there was no embarrassment, no feeling that I was doing something wrong. I suppose after the things I had to do as a “working girl” anything real would have felt right.

The days flew by with Mandy in my life. We would have family meals at home for the four of us some nights. We went out for meals several times usually ending up at Silks afterwards for dancing. And we made beautiful love most nights.

Before long it was time for John and Greg to head off to university. I have to admit to crying as I saw them off, but at least I didn’t have to go back to an empty house. Two days before they left Mandy had moved the last of her stuff into my house and gave up her bed-sit.

The first weekend after the boys had gone we went to Silks on Saturday night. Neither of us had to work Sunday so we were out to make a night of it.

The moment we got into Silks the place felt different, there was a buzz about the place that night. It didn’t take long to realise why. The band had always been mediocre but tonight there was a new girl on the stage and they were electric. We danced away to some stunning sounds before the band took a break. Everyone was talking around us about who the new girl was and how the band had improved with her arrival.

After their break the singer introduced the new girl and asked her to play a special number. I think it was an old Duane Eddy track and she was good. After the solo the band started playing a lot of ballads, you know the sort of stuff you can dance closely to.

I once heard that dancing was “a vertical indication of a horizontal intention” and believe me I was indicating my intentions to Mandy very thoroughly.

Towards the end of the night the band began to wind down and they played a Fleetwood Mac track, Albatross. It was a tune I knew well as I’ve always loved the band, but as we were dancing to it I noticed there was something different. The Bass player broke out of the normal Bass line for the song and was playing the most beautiful yet mournful piece. For a moment you could tell that she had caught the band by surprise but they quickly pulled it around and followed her lead. Like most people there we stopped dancing and just stood there watching them.

The girl had her eyes closed as she was playing and there were tears streaming down her face as she played. Even the other members of the band were staring at her. The tune tugged at my heart and I have to admit to finding a few tears in my eyes as well.