Chapter 3

Day 3

Mary Teresa Morrison woke up later than usual; she had gone to bed much later than usual, too, so her body had ignored its usual instinctive early-morning wake up call. She was lying face down with her breasts pressed against the soft bedding. As her eyes opened and focussed on the bedside radio alarm, she could see the numbers: 09:38, then she smiled as she remembered that she didn’t have to get out of the warm bed.

It was then that she also remembered why it felt so different. She rolled over onto her back and stretched and yawned at the same time. The little insistent, intrusive ache from her full bladder told her that however comfortable she was she had to get up. The discarded nightdress lay on the floor near the bed but it was no longer required, so she picked it up and walked to the door where Bernie’s dressing gown hung in readiness.

Mary knew that by now Dermot Malone would have gone to work. Tricia would probably be downstairs, so unless Tommy was in there, the bathroom was hers and half a dozen steps and then turning the bathroom door handle confirmed her supposition. She stood under the shower for several minutes; she still felt as wonderfully smooth as yesterday, so obviously the hair down there didn’t grow that fast. It was a silly thing, but she really had no way of knowing ... she just knew that it had been a long time coming in the first place.

After washing her short hair with the Malone’s shampoo, she dried herself and brushed her teeth before going back to Bernie’s room to dress. So, what to wear today? The first choice was obvious: black or white? She decided on a black thong, which of course being identical to the red one she wore yesterday fitted equally as comfortably. The bra she took off last night was put on again this morning; perhaps she would try the black one tomorrow. She could have worn the same top, too, but as she knew Bernie wouldn’t mind, she found another that she’d almost chosen yesterday. The one thing that she rarely, if ever, did usually, was to leave her legs uncovered, but as she’d already done so many things that she usually never did, why not, she thought.

She had quite long, slim legs, and Bernie Malone had lots of clothes including lots of skirts in her closets. She was also quite organised, and her skirts were on hangers, like in a shop, and in what for her was the logical order: length, then colour. There were some really quite short length ones, made of stretchy material, but Mary Teresa chose something in black and what she thought was knee-length but which, when she put it on, was several inches above: she liked it, so she left it on.

There was nothing wrong with her own shoes; it usually didn’t matter what they looked like, as long as they were comfortable and hard-wearing, but for Mary Morrison, now it mattered what they looked like as part of an ‘outfit’, rather than just ‘clothes’.

Bernie had footwear for every type of clothing and every occasion, of course, so Mary found similar sandals to the ones she’d worn previously, except in a less flamboyant colour. So, suitably shod, she went downstairs to the kitchen.

“Good morning, Dear!” Tricia greeted her warmly, “Having a bit of a lie in were you. Would you like cereal again?”

“Yes, please! Yes, I was out quite late for me, so I went straight to bed when we got back, but I must have been tired.”

Tricia handed her the cereal box and then the milk. She sat looking at Mary, as if trying to identify some difference in her. Of course, when she’d seen her yesterday she was veil-less, but she still had on her normal clothes, but it didn’t seem to be what she was wearing that Tommy’s mother was really interested in. She’d lived for a long time in a house with two growing sons and a daughter and she was used to the way that they seemed to constantly ‘change’ ... and now she wanted to see if Mary Teresa had ‘changed’, too. Perhaps she now saw things in people that they didn’t see in themselves: she had seen her son and Mary together and she wasn’t entirely sure that she was comfortable with what she saw. Individually, she loved her son, and she really liked Mary, but it was the ‘together’ part that bothered her!

“Tommy’s gone out, Mary, but he said he should be back in time to ring the hospital again. Is there still no news about Sister Catherine?”

“Unfortunately not. Mother Superior says she’s only sixty-two and she has no known medical conditions that might explain her collapse; and while they are still carrying out tests, the hospital said there is apparently no organ failure so it’s still a mystery.”

“Do you have any plans for today, Dear?”

“No, not firm plans, but I’ll probably go to church again later today; would you like to come with me, Tricia, we’ll be back before you have to get Dermot’s meal? And speaking of which, is there something I can do to help you, either in the kitchen or around the house; it’s what I would usually do in between prayer.”

“ ... Hmm ... I’m not sure. I will come to church with you later, though. Will you be changing, Dear?” Mary smiled.

“Yes, don’t worry; however comfortable these clothes are, I shall wear something more appropriate in God’s House.”

Tommy returned shortly afterwards. He at least was appreciative of the way Mary looked, although he thought it more prudent not to say so.

“I’ve got you an iPod and I’ve got all our stuff on my computer upstairs so I’ll put a kind of greatest hits selection together for you. I’ll also download some sacred music to put on it. I’m sure they won’t object to you having that and you can always delete our stuff when you’ve listened to it.”

“Thank you again Tommy! Tricia and I are going to church later, so you won’t have to entertain me this afternoon, and if Sister Catherine’s regained consciousness I can always go to the hospital this evening.”

“Okay! I’ll get on the computer while you’re out. Shall we ring the hospital now?” They went into the sitting room where there was a phone. Once again Mary sat on the sofa while he called the Infirmary. Tommy looked at Mary and smiled: he tried hard to only look at her face and not her long, shapely, bare, legs. The call didn’t take long and Mary guessed the outcome:

“No change?”

“No ... but that’s not necessarily bad. Sometimes that’s normal. Maybe we’ll go back tomorrow and see if we can’t pin someone down to give us some real information.” It seemed natural to him to go and sit beside her. “Have you got time for a brew before you go out?”

“Yes please! Then I’ve got to go and change ... I promised your mother. She didn’t say anything, but I don’t think she really approves of these clothes on me.”

“ ... Mary,” Tommy said, “do you remember last night?” She slid her hand on top of his and gave it a quick squeeze.

“ ... Everything...” she said, looking into his face and smiling, “Now go and make that tea!”

Back in the bedroom Mary opened her case and took out a white blouse. The one that she had been wearing before, together with her underwear, was being laundred. She intended to change back into Bernie’s clothes later, so the thick, black tights went back on, as well as her grey skirt. She also wore a dark grey cardigan over her blouse. Mary’s usual shoes felt so heavy after Bernie’s lightweight sandals. As she attached her novices veil to her head she chuckled softly to herself as she imagined being taken to hospital as Sister Catherine had been—and also the looks on the faces of the nurses when they saw Bernie’s bra and the tiny knickers underneath her nuns clothing!

It was a fine day, with no rain forecast, so Mary didn’t wear a coat, although Tricia Malone wore a light jacket and carried a headscarf in her bag. As they walked the relatively short distance together, Mary at least appreciated the comfortable shoes that she was wearing.

Back at his parents’ house, Tommy Malone was kept engaged downloading numerous songs onto the new iPod. As he had said, all of the Handful of Darkness catalogue was already on his computer, which was synched via the Internet with the one in his London home. It was more Classic Hard Rock than Metal... he liked to think more subtle and melodic than the brute force of some forms of the genre.

There were several legal download sites he used, but Apple’s own probably more than others. He also didn’t know much about religious music, but there was a fairly large selection listed of which he paid for quite a few collections. When the music was on the player he added a few little ‘extras’: some of the official images of the band not just himself, both posed and live on stage. Tommy had also bought Mary another little gift, but it was a surprise for when she went back to the convent.

He’d been giving a lot of thought to that recently. It was bitter irony, he decided: he’d never felt the need for a romantic relationship before, but now the one woman he’d met who really interested him ... was a nun! It wasn’t just Bernie’s made-over version either that he was attracted to: he had liked her from that first day on the train. And although he admitted to himself that she had looked really hot when his sister had finished with her, strip away the veneer of the wig, the clothes and the make-up and he felt just the same. However, despite his feelings, there was no way he was going down that road. He had nothing to lose and everything to gain, but conversely Mary would risk damaging everything that she believed in if he put his own, selfish interests first. And not only that ... his mother would probably kill him!

Tricia Malone still felt a little awkward being alone with Mary while away from the familiarity of her own home. She had gone to Catholic convent schools herself, and although the overall experience wasn’t so bad, it had left her with a lasting impression of nuns that wasn’t all positive. But then from leaving school until she met and married Dermot, and subsequently while raising her children, life had been happy; and ever since the success of her oldest son, especially, financially comfortable and carefree, too.

Her daughter, Bernadette, was the baby of family and as such was suitably spoilt, especially by her oldest brother. Tricia of course tried to raise Bernie according to strong common sense and Catholic principles, but while she was always more or less obedient and well-behaved child, from an early age she knew her own mind and what she thought she wanted from life. One of the things that she wanted ... and got ... was not to go to a faith school, and above all, not an all-girls school of any kind.

The relationship between mother and daughter was always very good, however, and Bernie had never held anything back from Tricia; although, perhaps, her mother had sometimes wished that she had!

Mary and Tricia spoke little as they walked to the church, not at all once there, but more easily on the way home again. Because of her family life and now that as a novitiate, Mary didn’t usually find idle chit-chat easy: the only people that she’d found it comfortable with were the Malone’s and Tommy and Bernie in particular. Tricia tended to stay away from other people’s personal stuff, but she was genuinely interested in life within the convent community, so she took the opportunity to ask her house-guest about that. Mary listened carefully and answered all questions honestly, but a part of her couldn’t wait to get back to the Malone’s home so that she could change out of her clothes again. She also wanted to see Tommy again, but she tried hard to suppress the reasons why.

As they got closer to the house, however, Tricia’s old concerns about Tommy and Mary returned. It wouldn’t be possible to keep them from being together, but she could extend the period.

“What you were saying earlier, Mary, about helping me: I have a pie to make for dinner tonight, would you be up for washing and peeling some veg? There will be the four of us, as usual, and Bernie and her boyfriend, Andy, are coming round to eat.”

“Of course I will; I’ll just change into something suitable when we get back. Do Bernie and Andy have jobs, Tricia?”

“Well, they sort of work together. I don’t know much about the Internet, but Tommy’s band have a website and our Bernie is in charge of it. Of course she has access to all the latest news and she goes to some of the concerts and takes photographs ... she’s even been on some of the tours. Andy is still at university, though, but he helps her with the technical stuff. He’s also a keen musician, so you can see the connection. They both get paid something, which keeps Bernie in new clothes and helps Andy with his university expenses. He lives in a flat not far from here, which is where the website is run from, so she’s there quite a lot. They do seem very fond of each other but I don’t know how serious they are; people don’t seem to be so worried about getting married and the future any more.”