Chapter 3

I woke up late on Saturday morning, so late, in fact, that it was debatable whether 11:58 still classed as morning. My serious thinking meant that even with the lay in, I hadn’t managed a full eight hours sleep, yet I got up feeling refreshed and happier now a decision had been made. As much as I would enjoy taking Penny to my bed, and I believed that was on, if I’d chosen that route, I didn’t want to risk everything that went with it. I had seen so many, a couple at first hand, friendships collapse once sex entered the equation, no small number of them in acrimony. I still had to work with her and I did value our friendship. I was honest enough with myself to know that I didn’t want to live a teenager’s life again, assuming my decrepit body even allowed the chance. I also knew that I didn’t want Penny to miss it by trying to drag her into my lifestyle. I reckoned our differences too great for any realistic compromise. All I needed to do now was make certain Penny was reading from the same book

I decided that I should talk to Penny as soon as possible, so after a few minutes searching through the telephone directory I called her home.

Her mother answered. “Hello! Marion Walters speaking. How can I help?”

I tried not to laugh but I’m sure the amusement crept into my voice as I responded. “Ah! The voice of the professional saleswoman, even at the weekend.”

“Sorry, automatic mode. I’m sorry, who is this? I don’t recognise the voice or at least I can’t put a name to it.”

“My turn to apologise. It’s David, from last night’s wine tasting.”

“Oh yes, my little daughter’s heartthrob.” She laughed.

“Not you as well.” I complained. “To be honest, that’s the reason for the call.”

“She’s still in bed, lazy thing, so you’ll have to wait to fix your next date.”

I could hear the humour in her voice but I also sensed that it was forced, understandably she wasn’t too keen but had decided to let her daughter follow through, and no doubt, in her mind, be there for her when it fell apart. Your kids still have to make their own mistakes even if the mirror your own. They never listen until it is too late.

“Not that. In fact I’m glad I’ve got the chance to talk to you.”

I went on to explain my overnight decision and how and why I’d reached it. Marion was quiet throughout, only prompting me to continue when I paused. At the end I asked her for her advice on how best to tell Penny.

“Straight out with it. I think she’s half expecting it and also half hoping for it.”

“Hoping for it?” I asked.

“She not as daft as she acts sometimes. She thinks a lot about you and if you pushed, or even just led the way, I think she’d let you have your wicked way.”

I almost choked at this. It obviously was heard down the phone.

Marion laughed. “Sorry about that but you know what I mean. Anyway, as I was saying, I think she’d let you, because she trusts you, actually trusts you to do what’s best for her. Deep down though, I think she is hoping that you won’t take her down that route because she knows it has very little chance of working, for exactly the same sort of reasons you’ve come up with. I must say my original opinion of you was rather poor, although it went up somewhat last night and even more this morning. There are not them many men who would turn down someone like Penny. Do you want to come around for tea tonight? It’ll be around sixish, you can talk then.”

“Okay! That sounds a good idea.” I said after some thought, then asked, “Do you want me to bring some wine?”

“Judging by your knowledge last night, I reckon that’s an excellent idea.”

“White alright?” I asked, knowing they both preferred white, but not certain what was on the menu.

“Yes fine.”

I felt more than a little relieved at our conversation. I shouldn’t have been so vain and known Penny would think it through for herself. With my head working a bit better I remembered one of my daughter’s comments from late last night. She’d said that Penny was good for me and I seemed a lot more alive than usual. I now realised that she was right, since Penny had begun joining me for lunch I’d felt better, actually happier, in my everyday life. Maybe I was wrong, again, and I did need a woman in my life, just as both of my daughters kept telling me. I knew myself well enough that I couldn’t just go out and look for a woman, but I could, perhaps, lower the defences I tended to throw up whenever I met anyone in a personal environment. I also tentatively went through the available women I knew, to see if anyone might be suitable. The only one that I came up with was Marion and she was probably a little young for me and had already shown her preferences to be towards younger men, not that I blamed her, after all that’s exactly where my tastes lay, only women of course. There were two other women that I would like to get to now better, but they were both already in relationships and I most certainly didn’t want to go along that route, even on the slim chance that one of them did. Still, I’d been on my own for some years now; I could wait a bit longer until the right person came along.

On the drive over to Marion’s I had the local radio on, the only time I ever listened to local stuff was in the car, when the news came on. The big story was that of a young woman found badly beaten and raped. The details were sketchy, a young woman in her twenties had been found unconscious in the local park. Police had not yet named the girl or given any further details but were keen to speak to anyone seen near Hanley Park in the early hours of Saturday morning. The likelihood of it being anyone I knew was remote but I still had to pull over and ring my daughters. The two girls knew their Dad too well, both said virtually the same thing — ‘Just heard have you, well don’t worry I’m okay.’

When I arrived at Marion’s the mood was a bit sombre, as they had also been discussing the rape. Penny had been ringing her friends and had had a few ring her. The news said in her early twenties and without proof Penny could pass as that, quite easily. I admitted calling my girls. Marion said the only people to benefit were the telephone companies with all the extra calls. I added the newspapers to that as, sadly, that type of news sells.

Our meal was a chicken casserole, which was fine and tasty. Gradually the dark mood eased, as we found other, lighter topics to discuss. When Marion insisted that she clear the table, Penny seemed puzzled, as that was obviously her job normally. I assumed the idea was to give me time to talk to Penny. I did just that and after a bit of pretend pouting, Penny agreed that what we had was not worth risking, especially as neither of us could see any long-term future. Once her mother was back, she couldn’t help but tease a bit more.

“Pity, I really wanted to know how much better an experienced man would be.” She laughed before walking up to me and with both hands around my head dragged me into a full-on passionate kiss.

My body’s reaction was normal as I returned the kiss.

“Just so you know what you’ve turned down as I see everything seems in working order.” She giggled as you looked at the obvious bulge.

Marion was laughing too, so I joined them. “Don’t worry, I’ve a damned good idea what I’m giving up and no doubt I’ll have a few moments of regret, now being one of them.”

I turned down a second glass of wine, a nice Sancerre, but I had to drive and besides, I had another eight bottles of the wine at home. We chatted about the usual mundane stuff for half an hour before I headed home.

That kiss haunted me for the rest of the weekend. It was as if my body was telling me what an idiot it thought I was, other than that it was just a normal weekend with washing, ironing and general housework. I did note that the rape we’d heard about didn’t even make the national news. A politician denying any wrong doing over an alleged expenses fiddle, accusations of electoral fraud in Zimbabwe and a third rate celebrity’s drug problem took up the majority of the time — not certain where the news was in any of those particular stories — and sport took up the rest. A sad indication of our nation’s priorities, I thought.

Monday was a normal day at work, with perhaps a little increase in Penny’s gentle teasing, but normal also means busy, so it was soon home time. One thing of note was that I caught myself thinking of a number of my female colleagues slightly differently, not overtly sexual, but considering them as dating prospects. One, Brenda Lewis, a divorced woman in her mid forties had dropped more than a few hints over the twelve or so months we’d worked together. I’d always ignored them up until now. She was a fiery redhead, and I mean red, with all the freckles that usually accompany that hair colour. I own up to being a sucker for red hair but could I live with her temper. I knew from meetings that we’d shared, that she was capable of blowing a gasket for little reason and even less warning. She did however tend to calm down just as fast and never appeared to hold any grudges. One to think about was Brenda.

That was whom I was thinking about as I walked around the back of the empty office block next to ours, the courtyard of which acted as our relief car park. I was looking for my Jag; it was never in the same spot two days in a row. Behind me, I heard someone running and smiled, I’d never been quite that desperate to get away from work. The next thing I knew was a sharp pain behind my right knee, which caused me to fall to the ground, before even more pain, as at least two men started laying into me. It had been a few decades since I was last in a fight but I knew that, even in my prime, as I was already down it was too late to defend myself properly. All I could do was damage limitation; I did the best I could by curling up and covering my head. The kicks and blows continued, leaving me wondering what this was about. I’d first assumed that I was being mugged, but it seemed that my attackers were more interesting in hurting me than robbing me. I heard a voice hissing at me “fucking cradle snatching pervert!” and a second, more controlled voice, telling the first one to shut up. Briefly I heard shouts from further away and the blows ceased, the last one being a kick to the back of my head. I relaxed realizing that help had arrived. I know that was the last thing I remembered before waking up, lying on what I guessed was a hospital bed.

It turned out that I was only slightly wrong, it was actually an ambulance stretcher and I was still outside work. As I moved my head to ascertain this, I immediately wished that I hadn’t, as the pain reminded me of what had just happened. Someone heard my moans, and an unfamiliar voice said that I had come around. I painfully looked around to see quite a large crowd had gathered to watch my ignominy. A paramedic, in his bright green overalls, leaned over and told me that I was being taken to the North Staffs., our local hospital, and that I would be assessed there. As I was being lifted into the ambulance a police officer came over and said that he’d be following us to the hospital and we’d have a chat as soon as I felt up to it. I nodded.

The ride was as uncomfortable a one as I could ever remember taking, with me feeling every little bump in the road, and there were many, as our local council thought their personal comfort far more important than having decent local roads.