Chapter 13

I glowered at the idea. “It doesn’t. It merely reflects their snobbery, their one-up-man-ship approach to life, so it is all about their faults, not yours. You could be a genius and it would not matter to them; they are so superficial.”

Theresa sighed with pleasure and smiled. “You are so sympathetic, Alec. That must be part of your charm. You make a girl feel good. These others only wanted me to feel bad.”

I suggested, “How about a short walk before we have lunch, a walk in the park that we have nearby? The fresh air might do us some good.”

“Good idea. Fresh air costs nothing, and neither does a walk.”

“Theresa, you have to stop thinking about living cheaply. As long as you are with us, we shall think nutritiously and comfortably. Agreed?”

“Agreed. God, you always go for the best option. Must be because you have money to work from.”

“If only you knew, Theresa. At times I have taken to scrounging food, while trying to be completely hidden from my enemies. I had to work out how to find decent food, and a place to sleep, without leaving evidence of my existence. I ate a lot of fruit during that period. Fruit is good for you, but normally expensive to buy. I found another way, utilising my previous training, but I can’t say anything more than that.”

“So you didn’t exist on fast food?”

“Theresa, fast food is expensive, full of salt, sugar and fats. It is not a good nutritious option. For the money you can spend on fast food, you can buy fruit and vegetables, potatoes, and pasta, and live well, food-wise. I did learn how to make sauces and salads to supplement the more bland tastes of potatoes and pasta. Talk to Fiona about tastes; she is a fount of knowledge on food.”

We got out and walked to the park. I wore a hoodie to leave my face in shadow, and we borrowed one of Phemie’s more floppy hats for Theresa to obscure her red hair and face in the outside world. After that, we had a pleasant walk to and from the park. There, we watched the wild Mallard ducks on the boating pond, and the grey squirrels from America which have taken over most of the country, crowding out the native red squirrels. There were a few mums walking their infants in strollers, getting exercise for themselves instead of constant baby care at home. One or two smiled at us, assuming we were a pair of lovers enjoying each other’s company. Theresa smiled back at the ladies – girls rather, not much more than teenagers, I would say – which did nothing to disabuse them of their conjecture.

We walked on towards the other exit to get back to the road, but surprising me, Theresa took my hand. I presumed it was to reinforce the perception that we were a couple out for a stroll. I accepted the familiarity, and so we continued. We reached the kids play area, and she asked me to push while she crouched on the spinner and held on against the centrifugal force. “Just for a little,” she proclaimed. It was almost like being teenagers, then it occurred to me: she still was a teenager. Perhaps she was too old to officially use this contraption, but still a teenager all the same. I stood and pushed each grab rail as it passed, and Theresa squealed delightedly as it got faster and faster, so I stopped the acceleration and allowed it to slow down again.

When it came to a stop, she stepped off groggily, saying, “That was fun. I never used to be able to get adults to spin the spinner like that when I was young.” As she spoke, she lost her balance through the change from centrifugal force back to normal vertical gravity, and she staggered into me, grabbing hold of my torso to steady herself.

“Oh, my! I am still giddy,” she claimed, placing her head to my chest and holding her arms tight around me. “Hold me steady, Alec,” she asked, and I wrapped my arms around her body. As I did so, I was unsure how much was real imbalance and how much a desire to hold me close.

“Oh, you smell nice,” she continued. “Getting close to a man and smelling his scent is something I haven’t experienced before. It is ... different...” she voiced, and I held her steady, waiting for her to say she was fine now. I waited and waited, but she said nothing, just breathed deeply.

I finally ventured, “Are you feeling better now, Theresa?”

She jerked, saying “Oh. Yes. I was just loving the closeness. Is this normal?”

“As I said before, there is no such thing as normal. You experience your own feelings, and for you, they are normal.”

“Ah, yes. Am I being a nuisance then, Alec? Am I imposing on you?”

I reassured her, “No, you are not a problem or a nuisance, for you are just being yourself, and I am happy that you feel confident, being held by a man.”

“It is not the being held by a man, Alec; it is the being held by you.”

“I see. In my younger days, I would be kissing you by now, but I have new and important responsibilities.”

“I know you do, but don’t let that stop you; just kiss me, so the women around here think we are a couple. It would disguise both of us from being individuals, wouldn’t it?”

“Logical. I accept your argument.”

I bent and kissed her upturned face, brushing aside the locks of flaming hair that were falling over her face. She pushed up to meet my descending lips, so it was a bumping encounter rather than a proper kiss. Theresa grunted, “That was almost as if we were completely new to kissing. Want to try to do better, Alec?”

This time, she moved slowly and we met more sedately, and then she began to push again, this time with feeling, then she stood back to consider it.

“Much better. Let’s have another try, but this time hold me close as we kiss.”

It was almost like a master class in kissing, only she was a complete novice at it. I could well believe she was a virgin, if her kissing skills are so limited. This time, as she released my lips, she proclaimed, “Nice, but I feel you are humouring me, Alec, There is no passion there. Are you trying to restrain yourself due to Phemie and Fiona’s claim on you?”

“You have me there, Theresa. I didn’t want to get too involved, I agree. You are a lovely passionate girl, an asset to any man who fancied you, but I have my ladies to consider; my responsibilities to them.”

“You are such a gentleman, Alec. That is one of the things I admire about you. You commit to your women one hundred per cent. Please do me a favour: treat me for a moment as if I was one of your women, and kiss me again.”

I allowed myself a moment to reflect, but I could not really refuse, so I took her and held her tight, and lowered my lips to hers, while stroking her cheek in a tender gesture.

This time, our kiss developed into an exchange of passion and tenderness. I was disturbed by how much Theresa was putting into it.

She was acting as if she and I were lovers, almost. This was at odds with how she had treated me after her rescue. I was her rescuer, but still suspect as a man, to be regarded as dangerous, like a grenade that she thought might go off and cause her harm if she was not careful.

That had now gone, as if she had released herself into a new world, and I was the beneficiary.

I reminded Theresa that we had to get back and make lunch, so we turned our attention in that direction and started talking about what we would have. At her suggestion, we chose fish fingers and baked beans. I knew we had both in our grocery supplies, so I made no comment on the low budget aspect of the meal. If she liked that concoction, I could go along with her. Fish is good for you, and beans have much to commend them, though there are many different varieties of beans, much of them available in tinned form or if you want, as dried beans. Dried beans have to be soaked for a while before cooking, to let them absorb water and be soft enough to cook properly. Baked beans in tins are usually navy beans/haricot beans in a tomato sauce, and remarkably healthy apart from the high salt and sugar content of the sauce that is there for flavouring. That is why you should not have a lot of baked beans in a day. Your body’s production of excessive wind is one by-product you do not want overmuch!

We soon had the fish fingers grilled and the beans heated up in a pot with the canful split between us. I liked the combination and could happily try this as a lunchtime snack more often. From time to time I noticed Theresa looking at me quizzically, but I concentrated on the food, for as any army man will tell you; food is important. We finished and set to, washing and drying the plates and utensils and the mugs we had used for our drinks. It was a very domestic scene, and it seemed to get to Theresa, as I found her brushing against me a trifle more than would be expected by accident, once running her hand over my lower back as she moved past.

Once everything had been put away, we relaxed and retired to the lounge chairs.

Theresa ventured to ask, “Do Phemie and Fiona always get home around the same time?”

“Usually. It depends on whether they have other things to do that would delay them at school, or a visit to the shops for something they need. It never bothers me. Why do you ask?”

“I wanted to kiss you again, or get you to kiss me, and I didn’t want us to be interrupted. Does that upset you?”

I spoke gravely this time. “Theresa, kissing can lead to other things, and eventually to sexual intercourse. People can get carried away by their enthusiasm for the process, and do things they never intended at the start. Human males are programmed genetically to be stimulated to the point where they and their woman start a new life inside the woman without thinking very much about why they are doing it. Sex can be like that if you are not careful.

I just want you to be informed of these considerations before you get too fixated on kissing. I am guessing that you didn’t do much kissing prior to this?”

She reddened as she took this knowledge in and realised what she had started. This moved to sudden tears in her eyes as her emotions took over. I waited for whatever came next.

“Alec, I am sorry. I just wanted to have more kisses, and you seemed amenable to that; and your women told me you were a lovely man when you interact with a woman.”

I looked closely at her, and noted now how pretty she was. Previously, she was a rescued person, with need of advice from my ladies, but today she had turned herself into an attractive girl who it seems was bereft of love, social friendships and all the usual ways in which a boy or girl becomes an object of desire for the opposite sex. She had missed most of that, and had become abject in her loneliness. Having met me and my two ladies, she had become aware of what life could have been like in different circumstances, and was trying to catch up. That could be dangerous for a girl like her, and I didn’t want to be responsible for placing her in a situation she might regret. I needed Phemie and Fiona to help me.

“Theresa, you are a lovely young woman and an attractive one at that. You have the possibility of a wonderful life ahead of you, with the right person. You need to ask the advice of Phemie and Fiona about what you should do with your life, not just in employment but in social and emotional circumstances. Everyone needs the help of good advice; not just whatever advice is offered to you, but advice that first of all makes sense, secondly does not cost you anything in the long term, and thirdly makes things better for your future. The biggest difficulty is knowing what is good advice.”

She pondered this for a little then accepted, “Okay. I’ll speak to them about my future. They were very helpful about the attack on me. They even suggested that you could teach me some self-defence moves against bullies. Is that true?”

I was astounded. “They said that? How did they know about that? They must have inferred it from my past career, is all I can say; but it is true. I could do that, but it takes time to learn. It is not a one-day course.”

This did not faze her at all.

“Sounds like something I’d like to do. No-one ever taught me how to resist bullies.”

“Make it part of your to-do list, then.”

“Do you think we could try some more kissing meantime?”

“I expect so, provided you explain the situation to Phemie and Fiona, so they don’t imagine I took advantage of you.”

“Never! I will tell them you were a perfect gentleman when you kissed me at my request.”

I took this as a promise, and we embarked on some more kissing practice. She was soon good at this and I had to warn her against too much enthusiasm.

Theresa protested, “But I like it, and I like the feeling of your warm body up against mine. It just feels right.”

“Exactly. This is the point where you stop, or you will end up being fucked and complain about it afterwards, as if it was nothing to do with you. I want to protect you, Theresa. It is my duty.”

“Spoilsport. I am sure I could stop myself in plenty of time.”

“You say that now, but if you fail, you are scuppered, with no excuse. That is why we must stop now. If you want to take anything further, speak about it with Phemie and Fiona first of all. They will tell you about the dangers from a girl’s point of view.”

“If you insist. You are being a gentleman again, Alec. I don’t know whether to be pleased or upset about that.”

“Neither, is my opinion. Just wait until you talk to the girls, is all I ask.”

So that is what happened. We spent the remainder of the afternoon talking, or reading or listening to music, and then preparing the evening meal, using the chicken that had been thawing in the refrigerator since yesterday.

When the girls arrived, I was up like a shot to welcome them. They were pleased at this attention, then Phemie glanced curiously at Theresa, who was sitting demurely in a lounge chair.

“Hi, Theresa. How did your day go?”

“Fine,” she responded. “We got the chores done and went for a walk in the park before making lunch. Since then we have mostly sat around, then prepared the dinner. Alec has cooked a chicken, as I expect you knew.”

“Yes, we planned on that for today. That chicken has been in the freezer for too long; time it was used, and it will be perfect for four of us.”

I contributed, “I roasted some potatoes in the oven, to go with the chicken, and we have some mixed veg boiled in a pot. They just need to be drained and decanted onto a serving dish. I thought Fiona would do the carving of the bird, to display her knife skills.”

Fiona was up for that, and Phemie took over the rest, leaving me to lay the table. I made up some chicken gravy and put it in a pouring jug for adding to our plates as desired.

We were consuming our main meal when Theresa dropped her bombshell.

“Alec has been teaching me to kiss today. He is good at it. He insisted on not going further, because of his commitment to you girls. Wasn’t that gentlemanly of him? He even insisted I speak to you two about it. Not my idea, but his, being the nice man that he is.”

Fiona looked Theresa up and down, her fork poised between plate and mouth. “What was your own plan?” The fork went to her open mouth, signalling the end of her comment. Theresa looked shocked for a moment.

“My own plan? I didn’t have a plan.”

“Then why did you want all that kissing to continue? Don’t you know what that can lead to?”

“Not really, but Alec warned me that it was dangerous.”

Phemie grinned and said, “Yes, dangerous like ending up being fucked!”

Theresa nodded, “Yes, that was what Alec said, and why he wanted me to speak to you girls. He said you would decide what to do.”

Phemie switched her attention to me.

“Oh, he did, did he? What did he imply?”

“Why, nothing. He just said to talk to you, to get your advice.”

Fiona stared at me in turn, and said to me, “You want us to let you kiss her some more, Alec? Or something else?”