Chapter 2

Opening up

Geoff woke up alone, had a shower and made his way down to the kitchen, half expecting to be alone as normal. Instead he found Helen searching through cupboards. She'd already made coffee and toast.

"I was going to start breakfast but I didn't know what you liked. I was just trying to find something to iron my skirt. Do you have an iron and ironing board?"

Geoff went to the cupboard under the stairs and got out the required implements and took them to her.

"Thank you, my skirt is so full of creases I couldn't possibly wear it."

Geoff looked at her. His shirt never looked that good when he wore it. Her bare legs were long and shapely. She had her hair wrapped up in towel. In the light of day he could see her eyes were green and that her young, girlish, face was freckled.

"Egg and bacon OK for you?" he asked. She nodded and he started the cooking.

As they ate in silence Helen repeatedly looked into Geoff's eyes. She saw kindness there but also sadness. When he topped up the coffee he tried to get her to open up.

"So do you want to tell me about what led up to last night?"

"I don't want to burden you with my problems. You've done more than enough already. I should go."

"You can leave now, if that's what you want. It might be a bit difficult in only your skirt and your underwear. I'll drive you wherever you want to go." As she put the last piece of toast into her mouth Geoff glanced at her left hand. He noticed the gold wedding band, topped off with another holding a large sparkling diamond.

"I see you are married, do you want to call your husband and tell him where you are?"

At the mention of her husband she crying stared again. Geoff immediately knew what the problem was; he got up and stood beside her holding her face to his waist.

"So its husband troubles, what's he done?"

"I don't have a husband anymore, he's divorcing me."

Geoff sat down again and took her hands in his. He waited for her to control her sobbing.

"So that's what brought you to the beach last night?"

"Partly, I suppose. I don't know Geoff, this is so unlike me. I'm normally the one other people depend on. Can you believe that? I run a team of accountants devising custom made plans to help people pay less tax. Now here I am unable to cope with a marriage break up,

"There's nothing silly about that psychologists rate it as stressful as the death of a loved one. You didn't see any warning signs?"

None, Douglas and I had been married for ten years. I thought we were doing OK. We'd been trying to start a family, but without success. Three weeks ago he told me he was in love with someone else and he moved out."

"But that was three weeks ago. What's happened since then?"

"I saw him with her on Friday. They were going into Mothercare, she's pregnant. She's giving him the baby I couldn't. I don't know what got into me. I don't suppose a man can understand how it feels for a woman to know she must be infertile. He'd left me for someone who could give him the children he wanted."

"So you felt worthless and unloved?"

"I suppose so; I don't know how I felt really. Suddenly my reason for being was gone. I wasn't a whole woman. It didn't matter if I lived or died. I don't know why but I got on a train and ended up here."

"Do you still feel that way?"

"I don't know, I don't think so." She squeezed Geoff's hands."If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't be here this morning, thank you. I am still alive, and I owe it to both of us to make the best of that."

"In that case we've a busy day ahead. You need some clothes and then you need to speak to Angie"

"Geoff, I lost my purse last night. I've checked my coat pockets, it's not there. It must have come out in the sea last night. Everything is in that purse, my driving licence, credit cards and all my cash."

"I don't have any money. Does a motor cycle mechanic make enough money to loan me some cash?"

"What makes you think I'm a mechanic?"

"The dealer's name is on the side of your truck."

"That's because I own the dealership. Don't worry about the money."

"Who is Angie?"

"The short blonde girl at the party last night. She's one of the best solicitors in the west. She'll help you with the divorce. You may not want it, but you can't stop it. Angie can make sure you don't lose out."

"Is there anything you haven't thought of?"

"Yes. How I'm ever going to wear that shirt again without seeing you in it. Now go up, dry your hair, pick out a clean shirt and we'll go into Newquay to get you some clothes and shoes."

"Shoes?"

"Your old ones will be floating past the Scilly Isles by now."

Helen almost smiled as she went up to dry her hair and get dressed.

He knew that Newquay wasn't the best place for clothes shopping, especially on a Sunday. Desperate problems required desperate remedies.

Helen used the journey to check out, more closely, the man she'd spent the night with. His dark beard made guessing his age more difficult but the traces of grey in his hair helped. She guessed he was about forty five. His strong arms were tanned as was his face which told her he spent plenty of time outside. She remembered the feeling of being surrounded by those arms. How safe she felt, yet how vulnerable she'd been. What had possessed her to climb into his bed? There'd only been the thin fabric of his shirt between them. He'd been the perfect gentleman, wrapping his arm around her as she sobbed, dripping tears onto his chest. She wondered if she should feel insulted when he rolled over, away from her. What she actually felt was relief as she snuggled up to his broad back.

By 2 pm they'd managed to kit her out with shoes and clothes enough for a few days. They sat outside a cafe drinking coffee and making plans. Geoff phoned Angie and arranged to call in on his way home. They had a light lunch and Geoff took her on a tour of the area before going to Angie's house.

All the time they were together Helen studied him. Geoff was an attractive man. It was not just his looks and his tall, strong physique. He had the sort of self assurance a man gets when he knows he has nothing to prove to anyone. In the shops, he had expected service and he got it. What's more the assistants seemed pleased to serve him. Why would a man with so much going for him, be alone and carrying such sadness in his eyes?

They arrived at Angie's and Geoff left the girls to talk about the divorce while he and John, Angie's husband, took a couple of beers into the garden and talked bikes. After the best part of an hour the girls joined them and a tearful Helen asked to go home. The journey back was quiet and Geoff wondered whether he'd pushed her too hard. He decided to delve a little.

"How did it go with Angie?"

"She told me the same as you did. I can't stop it, so I've got to get the best settlement I can. She mentioned that with another partner I might want to try I.V.F. and that a good settlement might pay for that. She helped me come to terms with things. Douglas, my husband, didn't go to that tart because she could give him children. He only found that out after he started cheating on me. She helped me see for the first time that it really wasn't my fault." Then Helen started to delve too.

"Geoff, who is Wellard?"

"What!"

"Angie said if I wanted to know you, I should ask you about Wellard."

"Wellard is me, it's a nickname."

"So how did you get such strange nick name?"

"It was at the St Paul's carnival in Bristol. It's quite a spectacle and a magnet for the black community. People travel down from London for it. Trouble is this year the National Front held a rally in Bristol on the same day and there was a bit of trouble."

"And you were involved in the trouble?"

"Not involved really. There's something about me you should know. I don't go looking for trouble, Most of the time I walk away from it, but there are some things I just can't ignore."

"Go on, tell me about Wellard."

"OK we were at a burger bar down by the station, when a young black kid came along. He couldn't have been more than seventeen. He was just minding his own business, going to catch a train when he was set upon by half a dozen National Front skinheads. At first they just pushed him about but then one of the group kicked him in the balls. He went down and they all started to kick him. I don't think any of the other bikers saw it. There were two coppers at the station. I couldn't believe it, they just stood and watched."

"I couldn't stand by and see an innocent lad take a beating so I started the bike and rode straight at them. The group dispersed but when I got off the bike to help the lad up they came back. The one who started the kicking pulled a knife and said".

"This ain't your fight granddad, so just fuck off."

"I told the kid to get between me and the bike. I could hear the rest of the lads running over to us so I knew we wouldn't be out numbered for long. The bloke with the knife lunged at me so I swung at him. I had my crash helmet in my hand and it hit him full in the face. I broke his nose, jaw and cheekbone apparently. He was certainly out cold. The lad just squeezed my hand and ran off into the station."

"And the Police did nothing all this time?"

"Oh yeah, when it was all over and the guy was laid out on the road, they came over and tried to arrest me. That's when Angie came to the rescue. She gave them her business card, took their numbers and told them that her client would happily answer questions at home and they could expect an official complaint about their failure to protect the public. It turned out the guy I hit only got out of prison two days before. He'd done a rather nasty number on his girlfriend. He was out on licence so; he went from hospital straight back to the nick."

"But why Wellard?"

Geoff smiled. "That's because of what the lad said as he gripped my hand."

"Awesome man. You is well ard, for an old guy, innit."

"The next time I went out on a ride as I pulled off my helmet, the whole of the bike crowd were chanting, well ard, well ard, well ard. The name just stuck."

"So you're not just my hero. You're everyone's knight in shining armour."

"I'm not even a knight in black leathers. I just try to do the right thing."

"Well I'm very glad you do. Whatever led me to me to your beach did me a huge favour"

She leaned over to put her head on his shoulder. "Can I cook for you tonight?"

"Of course, if that's what you want."

As she squeezed his arm and felt a tingle between her legs as she felt his well defined muscles.

That night, as she cooked, she kept glancing at Geoff and every time the tingle returned. She couldn't remember the last time she'd felt so drawn to a man. She imagined his hands stroking her, his strong arms holding her. Every time she felt the tingling she imagined his fingers running over her little pussy. She knew that she wanted him but what would be the next step? How could she get him to make a move on her? She thought about the previous night when she'd been completely at his mercy and he'd done nothing. Perhaps he doesn't fancy me. Maybe he doesn't go for women. She started on desert and made her decision. It was time to take her life back, and if that meant making herself vulnerable again, then that was a chance she was prepared to take.

For the first time in two years Geoff ate a meal at home that he hadn't cooked himself. He sat at the table while Helen waited on him. He couldn't keep his eyes off her as she moved about the kitchen and waited table for him. He tried not to let her see him looking at her, but the thought of her lying in bed next to him last night excited him. He admired her trim waist. The shorts she had bought that day accentuated the roundness of her arse and showed off her shapely legs. He remembered the sight of her lying on the bed dressed only in her underwear. He asked himself what fool walks out on such a charming beautiful young woman. When they'd finished eating, she made him coffee. As she placed the cup on the table she turned and kissed his lips. Geoff responded immediately, putting his arm around her waist and pulling her onto his lap. They enjoyed a deep passionate kiss then another and another. Helen pulled away to get her breath back.

"Well that answers one question. You're not gay."

"Of course not! Who said I was?"

"No one. I keep getting told what a lovely man you are, yet there is no woman in your life. I just wondered that's all."

"So are you happy now you know?"

"I'm not sure. You had me at your mercy last night but you didn't even try to seduce me. I suppose you just don't find me attractive."

Helen looked into his eyes, willing him to say it wasn't true. She could feel the tingling in her pussy just from looking at him. She longed for him to take her in his arms. The way he kissed her indicated there was something there. She desperately wanted to feel loved, but more than that she wanted to be loved by him. She waited, with bated breath for his reply.

"If I'd taken advantage of you last night I'd have lost your respect and deserved to lose it. I turned away from you so that you didn't get to feel what was happening to me. As for not finding you attractive, I think I've just shown that I do."

Her heart beat faster as she listened to his reply. She wanted him, this much she knew, but could she really wait for him to make the first move? She loved him for being a gentleman, but would that also stop him from making a move on her? The tingling changed to a throb from deep inside. Her mind was made up. It was now or never.

"I'm glad; it makes the next part so much easier. You've been really good to me and I don't like to ask for another favour, but I'm going to. Would you make love to me please?"

She looked down and her long red hair fell across her face. Geoff could hardly believe his ears. This beautiful young woman was asking him to make love to her. It had been the best part of two years since he'd had sex with anyone, and he wasn't even sure the last time was real. He thought about it for a moment and it became clear. She'd come to her senses and now she was grateful to him for saving her. He struggled to find a response. His face started to redden as he spoke.

"Helen, I really am very flattered that a lovely young woman should make me such an offer, but making love is very important to me. I don't want to do it with someone because they feel they are obliged, or grateful to me. It has to be because I care for that someone and she really cares for me."

Helen was silent for a moment. "I should feel insulted -- but I don't. I'm not offering my body as a thank you, though heaven knows I should. I asked you to make love to me because you are quite the most wonderful man I've ever met. My head may be in a mess right now, but this isn't gratitude, and I know my body wants you. If you didn't care for me you would have given me over to the police or some hospital by now, so I'll ask you again. Please Geoff, please, take me upstairs and make love to me."