Chapter 1

“They’d been arguing for as long as I could remember, every time my father went away, they would argue over the phone.

Usually about why he needed to take his personal secretary with him, then whenever he came back, they would start again and mum would end up crying.

I moved out on my sixteenth birthday into an empty cottage on the estate, surprisingly dad paid to have it made habitable for me, but then again, money had never been a problem in our family.

Mums family were long established (and very rich) bankers, while my fathers family owned a chain of prestige car dealerships spread across Europe, which dad took over on my grandfathers retirement.

He’d been a drinker most of his life and I feel sure that if he hadn’t had a chauffeur to drive him, he’d have lost his license years ago for drunk driving.

My mother enjoyed a drink too although not to the same extent as he did, in fact she often came over to my cottage after another argument clutching a bottle of brandy and we would sit outside just chatting and sipping our drinks. I’d lived in the cottage for two years watching as

their marriage slid slowly towards a divorce and I for one couldn’t wait for it because his drinking and womanizing was turning mum from a beautiful, happy and carefree young girl into a prematurely aged woman with all the cares of the world on her shoulders.

The final straw came when he was to attend a very important even in New York to represent the British car sales market, but he opted to take his secretary instead of his wife.

He was drunk when he told her and just laughed when she burst into tears at the sheer callousness of his actions.

“I can’t believe he’s doing that mum.” I said as I held her in my arms.

But she said that she’d suspected he wouldn’t be taking her anyway.

“He’s besotted with his bloody secretary,” she said bitterly, “Well as far as I’m concerned she can fucking well have him, I’m finished with all this, I’m going to divorce him.”

“About bloody time too.” I agreed with her, “You’re far too good for him.”

“Can I move in here with you until we split?”

“Of course you can mum,” I smiled, “I love being around you.”

“You always say the nicest things to me.”

“It’s not just a matter of being nice, mum, they’re true. I happen to think that you’re beautiful.”

I helped make up the bed in my spare room and tried not to look at her gorgeous backside while she was bending.

Then I walked over to the house with her to help her pack some clothes, dad was talking to someone on his phone when we walked in, but held it to his chest guiltily.

“Tell her she can have you.” mum said and if looks could kill, she’d have died there and then.

“Just empty the top two drawers into that suitcase.” she said. But I did it slowly, admiring the many tiny thongs, the lacy bras and the stockings as they tumbled into the case.

She grabbed a couple of bottles of brandy telling me that she intended getting drunk that night.

“You should doll yourself up and go out, meet someone, bring him back here, I’ll give you privacy, go on, do it mum.”

“I’ve got a better idea,” she laughed, “You get dolled up too and take me somewhere.”

“There’s a darts match at the local, but I don’t suppose that would interest you very much.”

“Are you playing?”

“Well yes, if I go of course.”

“In that case that’s where I want to go.”

All the local lads knew her of course, but I don’t think any of them had ever seen her in a denim mini skirt and a white tee shirt before. They were very respectful to her, we had a little meeting before the match to discuss the fund raising to buy another mini bus to take us to away matches.

Mum was sat behind us but I knew she was listening, suddenly she got up and came over to us, “Will this be enough?” and she dropped a cheque on the table.

“Fucking hell!”

“Er sorry luv, I mean, well, wow, I don’t know what to say.”

She laughed out loud for the first time in ages, “Well I think fucking hell sums it up admirably, will someone buy me a brandy please?”

They almost ended up fighting to buy her drinks after that, she was one of the lads!

The away team turned up and we thrashed them, sending us to the top of the league, but we were higher than that, much higher thanks to mum’s generosity.

They insisted on giving us a lift home in the crappy old mini bus that we owned, half of the seats were missing so she had to sit on my lap.

She made light of it as I knew she would, but I still got a hard on and she knew it!

“Sorry,” she giggled as we alighted outside the cottage, “I think I might have affected you in the bus.”

“You did mum,” I said, then I grinned cheekily, “And you can do that again any time you want.”

“Michael!” she laughed, but I could tell she was secretly pleased, “Mind you, it’s nice to know I can still turn somebody on.”

“Mum you turned half the bloody pub on tonight.” but she just smiled.

“I don’t think so darling, I was just an ordinary woman, there are plenty of those about.”

It was getting late so we decided to call it a day and went to our separate rooms.

Dad flew to America the next day without even seeing us, so we went back up the the big house where mum spent hours on the phone to her lawyers and I just mooched around doing odd jobs or surfing the net on my computer.

Over dinner she announced that she was thinking of starting to date again.

“Anyone special in mind?” I asked.

“No not at the moment,” she answered, “But being out with you last night made me realise that life has been passing me by, I’m still a reasonably young and fairly attractive woman.”

“Stop right there mum,” I almost shouted, “You’re thirty four years old which is young, but you’re not reasonably attractive, you’re beautiful, even after all the shit that dad’s put you through, your eyes still sparkle when you laugh, you’ve got a wicked sense of humour and that giggle of yours, well it sends shivers down my back.”