David Shoreman thought he had
drawn the short straw when he had to drive from the family home in Abbottsford
to pick up his 2nd cousin Clare Pilkington from Dulcet St Mary on
December 23rd.
But it was family tradition
for the clan to gather together at Christmas and even though Cousin Clare was a
pain in the arse she had to be got and it was his turn.
Although they were the same
age, 35ish, were both single and shared a great grandfather, they had nothing
in common whatsoever because he was an outgoing, personable and fun loving,
whereas Clare was a dried up old witch, in his opinion anyway.
Clare lived alone in a big
house, which she once shared with her deceased brother and parents, she didn’t
socialize, she had never had a boyfriend or girlfriend for that matter and
apart from the annual sojourn to Abbottsford for Christmas she was a bit of a
recluse.
She wasn’t really liked
within the family in fact she was barely tolerated.
But the truth of the matter
was they didn’t really know her and made little or no attempt to rectify that
situation.
As he left Abbottsford it
started to snow and the snow that had fallen ten days earlier was still evident
on the ground so the fresh fall quickly settled.
He wasn’t keen on driving in
the snow, and he didn’t like driving to Dulcet St Mary either, doing it in the
snow just made it worse so he drove very cautiously.
It was apparent that the snow
was coming from the direction he was heading because as he was driving between
the Finchbottom Expressway and the Dulcets the snow on the road was getting
significantly deeper so he went even more cautiously until he finally arrived.
Clare looked the same as
usual with her fine brunette hair scraped back off her face giving her a severe
“Croydon facelift” appearance.
She also wore the familiar
black pinafore dress over a grey blouse and black wooly tights.
There was a polite though
monosyllabic exchange of words on his arrival but he urged haste on the basis
of the weather and she quickly locked her front door while David put her case
in the car.
“I’m not sure how long it’s
going to take to get to Abbottsford in this mess” he said as they set off
“I like the snow” she remarked
“Me too” he agreed “but not
for driving in”
The road back to the
Finchbottom Expressway was impassable so they tried the road to Shallowfield
however they only got as far as Mornington and had to turn back.
There was another route
across the Vale that went through Clarence but the likelihood that it was
passable was severely in question.
“It looks like we’ll have to
stay at yours and try again in the morning” he said
“Ok” she responded
When they got back to the
house he couldn’t get the car all the way up the slope of the driveway so he
had to leave it where he came to a stop.
It was only ten yards from
the car to the front door but the snow was calf deep so by the time they
reached the sanctuary of her house the snow had got into their footwear and
Clare’s thick woolly tights were wet through.
“Make yourself at home” she
said and ran upstairs
David took off his coat and
wet shoes and walked into the lounge and took out his phone.
“Where are you?” His sister
Karen asked crossly “we were getting worried”
“I’m at Clare’s” he replied
“What still?”
“Yes, the roads are blocked
so I’m staying here for the night and we’ll try again in the morning”
“So you’re spending the night
with Cruella?” Karen said and laughed
“I hope you’re going to
behave yourself”
“Very funny” he retorted
“Good luck” Karen said
Just then he heard Clare
descending the stairs so he said
“I’ll see you tomorrow”
Clare walked into the room
and she had lost the “Croydon facelift” look and as her hair had been shaken
out and tumbled onto her shoulders.
She had also lost the black
pinafore dress, the grey blouse and black wooly tights, instead she had on a
full length pink fluffy dressing gown, pink socks and pink bunny slippers, an
altogether more frivolous version of Clare than he had ever seen before.
In her arms she was carrying
some clothes.
“It’s only joggers and socks”
she said “they were Clive’s, he was about your size”
Clive was her brother, who died
in the same car accident that took her parents.
“Thanks” he said still
reeling from the softer pinker Clare.
But despite the fluffy
exterior she was still the same monosyllabic woman as before.
That was at least until she
opened the first of several bottles of wine and then she didn’t stop talking.
Due to the snowy weather,
which was showing no sign of abating, he was a captive audience as she sat and
drank wine she slowly revealed herself.
After Clare opened the third
bottle of wine she proceeded to reveal more and more about herself with every
drink, but the more she drank the more she tended to ramble and she spoke a lot
about time and sands running through her fingers and choices and not knowing,
but he couldn’t really follow her train of thought very easily as the alcohol
had taken its toll, so before she could open a fourth bottle of wine he took
the initiative decided to steer her up to her room.
Once they reached her bedroom
door he had to wedge her against the door jamb while he opened the door,
unfortunately as the door swung open she fell into the room.
Dave instinctively reached
out and grabbed her in an effort to prevent her from hurting herself unfortunately
he overreached and fell to the floor before she did and landed on his back just
in time for Clare to land on top of him.
“If you wanted to kiss me all
you had to do was ask” she slurred before planting an almost Labrador like kiss
on his mouth.
“I’m too much of a gentleman”
he said after extricating himself from her embrace and struggled to his feet
and helped Clare to do the same before steering her into the bedroom.
“But you’re not a gentleman”
she said as he plopped her onto the bed “so there’s nothing stopping you”
She grabbed him by the lapels
and planted another kiss on his mouth, much more controlled and unhurried and
he started to reciprocate.
He
had never noticed before but Clare was actually an attractive woman, who
beneath her stern exterior was a warm open person, with an altogether pleasant
demeanour.
She
was not the person that the family all thought she was, she was not the persona
she projected to the world.
Dave began unbuttoning her
dressing gown and her kissing became more intense and she snorted through her
nose.
He couldn’t believe he was in
Cousin Clare’s bedroom, kissing her while he was undressing her.
His sister Karen would laugh
her socks off if she knew he was snogging the “dried up old witch” and enjoying
it.
It didn’t feel to him like he
was fondling a witch, she was too warm, soft and tender and when his finger
went between her lips he knew she wasn’t dried up either.
And when he was positioned
between her thighs she stopped kissing him and said
“I thought this day would
never come”
So as he looked into her eyes
he slowly entered her.
On his way back from the
bathroom he paused to gaze out of the landing window and the snow was still
falling fast and then he climbed back into Clare’s bed and she gave a rather
smug self-satisfied sigh as she cuddled up to him.
“When can we do it again?”
she asked with her head on his chest.
“Tomorrow” he replied “if you
still want me”
“Why wouldn’t I still want you?”
she asked
“You may feel differently in
the cold light of day” he pointed out
“I won’t” she assured him
“How can you be so sure?” he
asked
“Because…”
“Because?”
“Because I’ve always wanted
you” she replied
“In which case we can do it
all day” he said and kissed her
“We have to drive to
Abbottsford tomorrow” she pointed out
“It’s still snowing so we
won’t be going anywhere tomorrow”
“What about the Family
Christmas Tradition?”
“I suppose we’re just going
to start our own tradition” he said
Clare lifted her head from
his chest and looked at him coyly and said
“Then I hope it snows till
twelfth night”
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