Chapter 2: Towards Christmas Eve

The next morning was spent pottering about the house. They had agreed that they would drive to the mall in the afternoon, catch lunch and then do their shopping for Christmas presents.

Zoe was very excited once more as she had been on MSN Messenger with Alison and had confirmed that her friend would be coming to stay for Christmas. Alison's Aunt believed that this would be a welcome break for the young girl, something familiar for her, something that would help make her first Christmas without her mother and father a bit better. Alison had indicated that she would be arriving at the Gray's on Christmas Eve, her Aunt would be driving her there.

Robbie asked if he could have a turn at Zoe's PC. He signed on and e-mailed Ellen McKenzie to wish her all the very best for Christmas and the New Year. He was surprised to see an answer pop into his inbox within minutes and opened it up.

It seemed that Ellen was feeling somewhat sorry for herself. Her husband had flown abroad, supposedly on a business trip, and she was going to be alone for Christmas. She hoped things were going well for Robbie and ended wishing he had a great Christmas and to remember he was still too young to drink when it came to Hogmanay (New Year's Eve for those who don't know Scottish traditions!).

Robbie immediately began composing a further e-mail. He asked Ellen whether she had a MSN Messenger account and if so what her address was. He supplied quick details of how to set up an account in case she didn't already have one and included his own address with a note of how she could contact him. He finished by saying how sorry he was that she was going to be on her own and that he hoped he got a chance to 'chat' with her soon. He signed the e-mail with a 'Love Robbie XXXX' and hit the send button.

He hung around for ten minutes to see whether there was a reply from Ellen. Just as we was about to give it up and sign off, the screen flashed to inform him that he had an incoming request to chat on MSN. The caller was Seaforth123. Robbie smiled to himself. He knew that Seaforth was the traditional Earldom of the McKenzie's. The name and the territory in the far North East of Scotland had also given Scotland one of its most famous infantry regiments, the Seaforth Highlanders.

He quickly accepted the request and found himself sending and receiving messages with Ellen. He commiserated with her once more about the fact that she was going to be alone for Christmas. He was surprised when Ellen responded that she was beginning to think she was better off without her husband there. She shared her suspicion that he actually had a mistress and she was sure that there was no business trip but rather he was spending Christmas with his 'bit on the side'.

Robbie found it a little amusing that Ellen wasn't considering their time together as cheating on her husband. She obviously discounted what she had done and had her spouse down as the villain. He sent her another couple of messages and then let her know he needed to go shopping with Amanda and Zoe.

The drive to the mall wasn't as eventful as the drive back from the restaurant but Amanda did have a nagging feeling that someone was watching her. She thought she caught sight of a car about a hundred yards behind that seemed to be keeping pace with them.

"Are we being followed?" She thought to herself.

She kept glancing in the mirror, trying to spot the car again. Robbie noticed she was getting agitated.

"Is something wrong Amanda?"

"I'm sorry, I'm getting paranoid after last night. I just can't help but think I keep seeing the same car behind us, almost as if we're being followed or something."

Robbie immediately turned in his seat to look back. He watched the traffic for a few minutes but couldn't pick out anything that looked strange.

"I can't see anything."

"Yeh, as I said, I'm getting paranoid."

When they reached the mall they went to the nearest food hall and had something to eat. After filling their bellies they agreed to split up to shop so they could keep their purchases a surprise.

Robbie had a good idea of what he wanted to buy. He thought splitting up was a great idea. He couldn't understand how women seemed to lose all sense of time and common sense when they went shopping. They seemed to want to go into every shop, try everything on, move on to the next shop and eventually return and buy the first thing they tried on. He liked to have a plan of exactly what he wanted/needed and then move purposely through the shops buying what he needed. The odd dollar saved by visiting numerous stores was something he was willing to forego if it meant he could finish quicker.

He had prepared a list of what he wanted and walked through the mall looking for stores where he could find all the items he needed to get. It took him just over one hour before he was satisfied he had everything required. There were two things he needed to go back to pick up but apart from that he was done. He bought a coke at one of the outlets and sat watching the rest of the mall frantically scurry around; smug in the knowledge that he had finished his tasks with the minimum of fuss. He had even bought some large black plastic bin liner bags to put all of his purchases in so the girls wouldn't get any clues from the store bags.

A group of four teenage girls came walking noisily down the mall towards him, dressed in various outfits that did little to cover up their charms, despite the freezing weather outside. One of the girls, a cute redhead, caught his eye and he couldn't help but smile as he found himself being 'checked out'. The redhead turned and said something to her friends and they all looked over at Robbie before conferring amongst themselves and giggling together. They walked over and bought soft drinks, dropping into seats at the table next to Robbie's.

A few months before Robbie would have been scared witless at the close proximity of four beautiful girls, girls who were obviously looking him over and whispering together about him. But his recent experiences with nurse Becky, Amanda, Zoe and Ellen had given him far more self-confidence around the opposite sex. Now he didn't feel intimidated in the least, rather he returned the girls frank appraisal of him by smiling and appreciating each in turn.

He always found it difficult to gauge ages of girls but these four seemed to be about fifteen/sixteen. As well as the redhead there was a raven-haired beauty with a petite frame and a cute face with a smallish nose. Two brunettes made up the group. Both were also slightly built and Robbie could see that they were identical twins, brown eyed and saucy if the looks they were giving him were anything to go by.

After a few minutes of looks, whispers and giggles from the girls, the redhead made her way the short distance between their tables and sat down beside Robbie.

"My friends have dared me to come over and speak to you. We think you're cute and we want to know why you're sitting here on your own?"

"Well, thanks for the compliment. Coming from four ladies as beautiful as you are that could really swell a guy's head you know. As to why I'm sitting here on my own, I've killed my girlfriend, cut her body up into parts and put it into these black bin liner bags. I'm sitting here trying to figure out how to get rid of it."

The redhead gasped and put her hand up to her mouth, eyes wide with sudden fear. She noticed the twinkle in Robbie's eyes and realised she was being teased. Just to make sure, she leaned across and looked inside one of the black bags, relieved to see only Robbie's Christmas shopping.

"Oh you are a joker aren't you. And where did you come up with that really cute accent?"

Scots can be a little prickly at times and Robbie wasn't sure he licked having his accent described as 'cute' but it was clear the girl wasn't trying to offend so he let it pass.

"My accents from Glasgow."

"No way!"

"Way, but not Glasgow, Montana. I'm from Glasgow, Scotland, you know Scotland, like in the UK? Anyway I'm here Christmas shopping with my girlfriend and her mom. I've finished but I'll probably have to wait another couple of hours before they finish too."

"You're a real live Scotchman from Glasgow?" The redhead squealed. "We read about you guys as part of an English project we did at School. It was real interesting because our towns have the same name and all."

"Well that's the main reason I came here too. When my folks and I saw the name on the map we just had to visit to see what Glasgow, Montana looked like."

Robbie didn't think it would be polite to correct her use of 'Scotchman' so he let that pass too. The redhead was so excited she missed the fact he frowned for a second and like any male getting this amount of attention from a beautiful girl, Robbie was soon grinning like a fool as the redhead fired question after question at him.

"What's your name?"

"Robbie."

The redhead shivered delightedly at the way his deep voice and Scots accent said the name.

"Oh, say it again, say it again!"

"Robbie."

"That is so cute!"

The redhead's friends were getting a little impatient at the length of time she had been over at Robbie's table and by the way the two of them seemed to have dropped right into a lively conversation. They had been expecting an awkward exchange of a few words at best when they had set the dare. Now it seemed to have backfired on them as their friend was obviously excited and having fun by the looks of things and the sound of her squeals. They quickly conferred once more and decided they should go over to see what was going on.

"Your friends seem to have decided to join us." Robbie said, noticing the other three girls walking towards them.

"Laurie, you were only supposed to get his number. What's taking you so long?" Asked the black haired girl.

"Kate, guys, you are so not gonna believe this. Sit, sit, listen to this."

The twins and the Kate pulled up chairs to the table and looked from Laurie to Robbie and back again.

"So what aren't we gonna believe?" Asked Kate.

"Tell them your name." Laurie said to Robbie.

"Hello, I'm Robbie." He looked at Kate as he took her hand in his. "You must be Kate, descended from the fairest of Scotland's Queens, your skin flawless ivory, your hair black as coal and in your eyes the fires of a passion that cannot be quenched. Fairest Kate, I'm your humble servant."

The girl was slack-jawed as Robbie raised her hand to give it a fleeting kiss and then replaced it on the table and turned to the twins.

"Though I don't know your names I do know that never has there been two more perfect Gemini, I'm already lost in the depths of your soulful brown eyes, one smile from you would surely still my very breath. I already dream of holding you close so that my heart can beat in time with yours. Your beauty is so bright it casts the sun into shadow, I'm your humble servant." He brought first one hand and then the other to his lips in a soft kiss.

Laurie was giggling wildly at the sight of her three friends totally speechless, wide eyed and hanging on every word Robbie said. Her giggles stopped when he turned and took her hand.

"And you my lovely Princess, surely a daughter of the wild Red Douglas, legendary warrior. I see the tempestuous lover you will become, the flame haired goddess you already are and my very being burns with desire for you, I'm your spellbound, humble servant."

Robbie dropped to one knee as he took her hand and bent over to kiss it before retaking his seat.

"It's a pleasure to meet all of you beautiful ladies. I'm over a thousand miles from home but when I see the rare beauty that's before me right now I realise why I've travelled all this way to come to Glasgow, Montana. Surely it is only here that this combination of flawless complexion, sparkling eyes, perfect figures and alluring, welcoming smiles come together to warm and capture the heart of this poor Scotsman."

Robbie knew he was going well over the top but he sensed his Scottishness made him somehow more interesting than the average local boy and he had decided it would be fun to 'ham it up' a little. To his surprise the girls didn't gag in response to his poor attempts at flattery, rather their jaws dropped, their faces blushed and their eyes misted over.

"Time to quit while I seem to be ahead." He thought. "Look girls, I'd love to stay and chat longer but I need to go pick up a couple of things."

While they were still gawking at him he stooped, picked up his bags and smiled as he sauntered off. He retraced his steps to the two shops where he needed to pick things up, adding the presents to his black bags. His next task was to find Amanda and Zoe. He found them coming out of Victoria's Secret, a fact that held out a lot of promise he thought.

The girls were both frustrated at Robbie's ingenuity in hiding his purchases inside the black bags, telling him he was sneaky and no fun. Robbie smiled to himself, as he knew their frustration would add to the fun over the last few days before Christmas.

They agreed that they had all been successful in getting everything they had come for and headed for the parking lot. The girls continued to press Robbie for details of what he had concealed in the black bags.

As they reached the exit doors to the mall, Robbie heard his name being called and he turned to see Laurie, Kate and the unnamed twins waving at him. He halted to let them catch up, glancing at Amanda and Zoe to see whether they had noticed his new friends. Amanda and Zoe hadn't heard the girls shouting and continued on their way to the lot.

"Robbie, how could you think it was alright to just slink off without telling us how we could contact you?" Asked Laurie.

"Um, I'm sorry, I didn't realise you would want to contact me."

"Duhhhh, of course we want to talk with you again, especially if you carry on from where you left off. You didn't even get to know the twins' names, they're Debbie and Donna by the way, and how could you leave after what you said? We've got unfinished business Mister, I mean, are you for real?"

Robbie was taken aback at the rush of emotion that flowed from Laurie. He looked at the other girls and they were all nodding to show that they agreed with everything that Laurie was saying.

"Look, I'm sorry if I did something to upset you all. I was just being friendly and didn't mean anything by it. I told you I have a girlfriend and right now she and her mom are about to leave me stranded here at the mall. I really need to go girls."

"Upset us! Duhhhhh, we're not upset, in fact you made our day. We need to speak to you again, but until then this will help make sure you are thinking of us."

With that, Laurie stepped up to Robbie and kissed him very thoroughly indeed. She stepped back, panting heavily, her face flushed, only to be almost pushed aside by Kate. Kate if anything managed to put even more passion into her kiss and she looked at Robbie dreamily when the kiss was over. The twins moved in on Robbie together and wrapped themselves around him. First Debbie and then Donna took their turns to soundly kiss the young Scotsman.

"Girls, I'm overwhelmed, by your beauty and by your sweet, passionate kisses but I really need to go."

Laurie held his hand for a second before he turned and began to hurry for the exit. He opened his hand and saw that Laurie had slipped a piece of paper into it. He took in the cell phone number and e-mail address as he hurried, almost running to catch up with Amanda and Zoe.

"Oh god, what have I got myself into now?" He thought.

He burst out of the mall and headed in the direction of where Amanda had parked the car. He caught sight of the girls in the distance and redoubled his pace to catch them. He heard the girls behind him call his name again but ignored them this time in his haste. He was perhaps a hundred yards behind the girls when he saw a dark grey sedan turn from one of the side lanes and take up position between him and Amanda and Zoe.

Robbie didn't know why but he immediately had a bad feeling about the car. He shouted at the girls but was too far away for them to hear. He broke into a full run, his pace accelerating quickly given the athlete that he was. He watched as the car began to pick up speed and it was apparent to him that it was aiming at the girls. He knew there was no way he could ever close the gap and watched in despair as the car raced towards them.

Robbie thought quickly and came up with a potential solution. Skidding to a halt he sat down on the ground and unleashed a mental charge at Amanda. Amanda was on the outside of the two girls and was best placed for what he wanted.

Doug was smiling to himself as the car raced towards the two Gray sluts. He had intended to just frighten them again but the rush he was now experiencing drove him over the brink and he was now focussed on mowing them down, sex be damned. He was anticipating the impact on their bodies when he saw Amanda suddenly lurch to the side, grabbing her daughter and thrusting them both between two parked cars. As he rushed past Doug glanced out of the side window to see them both lying on the ground. He had not spotted Robbie running behind him and he cursed and stomped on the accelerator, tyres squealing as he took a corner too fast on his way back to the highway.