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{\title I was trying to get some work done, I was already a week late with my report and the incessant rain hitting the window was not}{\author Knight}{\operator DJK}{\creatim\yr2004\mo10\dy23\hr15\min16}{\revtim\yr2004\mo10\dy23\hr15\min16}{\version2}
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\fs24\lang2057\langfe1033\cgrid\langnp2057\langfenp1033 {Heather (c) by Telephoneman 2004
\par 
\par This work is the intellectual property of the author Telephoneman and he claims the copyright. Permission if requested WILL be granted for this story to be posted or archived to any free site. Permission MAY be granted to 
any commercial or pay site or organisation.
\par Requests for such permission should be sent to: - telephoneman69@hotmail.com
\par 
\par xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx WARNING  xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
\par This is a work of adult fiction and contains descriptions of se
xual acts between consenting adults and others. If you are under the age of consent where you reside delete this file immediately. If it is illegal to obtain this sort of material where you reside delete this file immediately. Otherwise read and enjoy!

\par xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
\par 
\par 
\par It was mid afternoon on another bleak English Saturday and I was trying, and failing, to get some work done, I was already a week late with my report and the incessant rain hitting the window reverberated across the still room didn\rquote 
t helping my already wavering concentration one little bit. I\rquote d just decided to give up, again, and was on my way to make my umpteenth cup of coffee when I heard the doorbell chime to the tune of the Adams Fa
mily. It was one of those ideas that sounded great when I initially bought the thing, but rapidly lost its appeal. I repeated my promise to replace it with a normal, boring one next time I was out. Typically, rather than just answer the door I tried to gu
e
ss who was calling, I was certainly not expecting anyone and so thought it was probably a door-to-door salesman, I also thought that if it was then he deserves a sale for persisting in this weather. The only other possibility was my girlfriend. Juliet, th
ough she too was supposed to be working. I decided that I wanted it to be Juliet, I needed cheering up and Juliet was built to cheer men up; just looking at her was enough for most men. She was 5\rquote 10\'94
 tall, slim, with large firm breasts and glorious long legs to die for. Add to that long blonde hair and she would not look out of place on Baywatch. I pictured her naked body next to mine and felt an erection coming. I sure hoped it was Juliet.
\par 
\par I opened the door, and immediately felt a chill wind bite through m
y thin tee shirt and my arousal. Standing in front of me was not my girlfriend but a young lad, who looked about twelve years old. He was dressed in a similar style to me, that is, tee shirt and jeans. He was also looking thoroughly miserable and doing a 
very good impression of a drowned rat.
\par 
\par \lquote Excuse me mister,\rquote  he said trying to smile, \lquote can I use your phone please?\rquote 
\par 
\par I was just about to accede when I noticed another face peering around my gate. I smiled and a young girl, a year or two younger in appearanc
e, made herself visible and shyly walked to the doorway and stood behind the boy. She too was dressed for the better weather the morning had suggested and it was only her long hair, which in its current soaked state hid most of her face, which told me the
 child was female. Her demeanour too looked pretty miserable, and she appeared to be limping.
\par 
\par I asked the pair to come in, fairly sure that they were genuine, but decided I would not leave them alone in a room or allow them to separate. It is a sad indictment on today\rquote s society when you have to doubt children\rquote 
s honesty, but I am not na\'efve and had heard of many such sneak thieves targeting local homes.
\par 
\par  I took them into my living room and pointed to the phone. As he went to the phone, which was still antiqu
ated enough to require a cord, I took the opportunity of studying both of them. Each were dark haired and had the type of perpetual natural tan that only youngsters seem to manage. Both were slim and dressed for the sun, which had greeted the day, rather 
than the current downpour. I wasn\rquote 
t sure but I guessed they were brother and sister. I decided that my initial guess at their ages was pretty close. It was only then that I realised that the girls face was not normal, but seemed slightly deformed. Her long 
hair, parted centrally, hid much of her face, probably a deliberate ploy. I tried not to stare at her but could not help but feel pity for the child. I went over to the fireplace and pressed the buttons to ignite the gas fire there; so much easier than a 
c
oal fire though I had to concede a real fire, once the hassle of lighting it was over was much more preferable. I asked her if she wanted to stand by the fire to get some warmth into her fragile frame. She ignored me and when I repeated the question her b
rother looked up and said. 
\par 
\par \lquote Sally\rquote s deaf and has lost her hearing aid. She can lip read a bit providing she\rquote s looking directly at you and you talk clearly.\rquote  
\par 
\par He spoke in a manner both protective of the girl but also resigned to her problems. He looked at
 her and mouthed something, which was an obvious repeat of my request. I was just wondering whether she could talk when I heard a quiet but perfectly understandable \lquote Thank you.\rquote 
 as she moved gratefully to the heat. Her brother turned his attention back to 
the phone. I was drawn to the girl and my initial concerns about their honesty evaporated so I decided I could leave them whilst I went to make a cup of hot chocolate for each of us. When I returned the boy was still on the phone.
\par 
\par \lquote Sorry mum, honest, it wasn\rquote t my fault. I tried to stop her but you know what she\rquote s like.\rquote  I overheard the boy pleading.
\par 
\par \lquote At a man\rquote s house in Hartshill,\rquote  he added. There was then a silence as he listened to his mother\rquote s response.
\par 
\par \lquote She\rquote s OK, just a grazed knee I think, although she has lost her hearing aid.\rquote  He continued. \lquote I don\rquote t know. I\rquote ll ask,\rquote  he said in reply to an unheard question.
\par 
\par He turned to me and asked, \lquote what is the address here?\rquote 
\par 
\par I told him and heard him repeat it into the phone.
\par 
\par \lquote Mum would like to talk to you,\rquote  the lad said, nervously, then added, \lquote please don\rquote t tell her that I knocked on your door. She says we should be careful of strangers.\rquote 
 The last sentence was accompanied by a very tentative smile.
\par 
\par I took the phone from his still, wet hand and said \lquote Hello!\rquote 
\par 
\par I was very surprised to hear laughter at the other end, which explained itself when a very sweet voice replied, \lquote Hi! Tell Craig, if he doesn\rquote t want me to know something then he should at least cover the receiver while he\rquote s talking.
\rquote  This unexpected comment along with the pleasant way it was said brought a smile to my face.
\par 
\par \lquote Ok!\rquote 
\par 
\par Craig\rquote s mother\rquote s voice then turned more serious when she asked, \lquote Did he really just knock on your door?\rquote  After receiving confirmation she continued, \lquote I\rquote m sorry about that, he should know better at his age. I don
\rquote t even know what he was playing at riding that far from home with Sally, but he should have walked home and not bothered a stranger.\rquote 
\par 
\par Whilst I agreed that youngsters needed to be careful about who they talked to, seeing how the young girl was limping and listening to the torrential downpour still going on, I decided to take Craig\rquote s side. \lquote I don\rquote t think so,\rquote 
 I said, \lquote certainly not in this weather and your daughter limping as she is.\rquote 
\par 
\par \lquote What weather?\rquote  came a puzzled response, \lquote It\rquote s fine,\rquote  and after a pause, \lquote or, at least it was fine this morning.
\par 
\par \lquote You\rquote re obviously not near a window then.\rquote  I stated.
\par 
\par \lquote No. I\rquote m at work, there isn\rquote t a window in sight at this place.\rquote  The tone in her voice told me that this was obviously something that depressed her, though whether it was the lack of windows or just her place of work I couldn
\rquote t tell.
\par 
\par \lquote At work?\rquote  I asked shocked that she was allowing her children to roam the streets whilst she was at work.
\par 
\par It was her turn to understand my tone of voice, because she replied very defensively, \lquote Yes at work! We do need to eat you know, and their father should be looking after them, but I should have known better, he\rquote 
s probably in the pub or down the betting shop.\rquote 
\par 
\par Realising I had jumped to the wrong conc
lusion I apologised. She gracefully accepted it and said she would make arrangements to finish work early and come and pick them up, but it would be at least half an hour before she could get here, and would I really mind if they stayed here to wait for h
er. I looked at my watch, more from habit than needing to know the time, because I\rquote d checked the time a moment ago, just before I left my computer. 
\par 
\par \lquote Look!\rquote  I said, \lquote It\rquote s gone three thirty already, what time are you supposed to finish?\rquote 
\par 
\par After a brief pause she answered \lquote Five thirty. Why?\rquote 
\par 
\par \lquote Well I\rquote ve got nothing better to do.\rquote  I lied, knowing I still needed to finish the report, but was honest enough to know that I wouldn\rquote t get it done today whatever happened. I continued, \rquote why don\rquote 
t they stay here until you finish work?\rquote 
\par 
\par The hesitation, this time, was even longer. \lquote I don\rquote t know,\rquote  she started, \lquote I don\rquote t even know you.\rquote 
\par 
\par I laughed before answering, \lquote I understand your concern, but if I was going to do something bad then I wouldn\rquote t have let Craig ring you and 
give you my address, plus even if I had done I could still do things in the thirty minutes before you get here.\rquote 
\par 
\par Again a pause before she conceded, \lquote Yes! I suppose you\rquote re right. Are you sure though, they\rquote re no angels, my pair.\rquote 
\par 
\par Again I laughed, \lquote They can\rquote t be any worse than my four.\rquote  I said.
\par 
\par \lquote You\rquote ve got four children of your own? That makes me feel a bit better then, knowing that you have kids that is. Are they there now?\rquote 
\par 
\par \lquote No! Fortunately they\rquote re all grown up and flown the nest.\rquote 
\par 
\par \lquote Oh! You don\rquote t sound that old.\rquote  She said not realising that she was actually paying me a compliment.
\par 
\par \lquote Thank you!\rquote  I said smiling, \lquote shall we say about sixish then?\rquote 
\par 
\par This time her response was immediate, \lquote if you\rquote re sure you don\rquote t mind.\rquote 
\par 
\par  \lquote No problem, it\rquote ll do me good having some youngsters around the house again.\rquote  I finished by telling her exactly how to get to my house and hung up.
\par 
\par The first thing I did was hand over the hot drinks and the easy task of getting Craig to join his sister by the fire. I then went to get some cream and plasters for the young girl\rquote 
s injured knee. Over the next couple of hours I learned, mostly from Craig, amongst other things that their parents had split about a year ago, and that their father was supposed to be looking after them every other Satur
day whilst their mother was at work. Today he\rquote d needed to meet some friends in his local pub and had sent them to visit an uncle without bothering to check whether the uncle was in or not. He wasn\rquote 
t, and it was whilst they were riding back that they were caught in the downpour. They had initially played in the nearby park until the weather had taken a turn for the worse, then they\rquote 
d tried to wait out the storm in a bus shelter, but when it seemed that it was set in for the day they\rquote d decided to make a dash back to their Dad\rquote 
s house. It had been then that Sally had fallen off her bike, slipping on a wet manhole cover that was thoughtlessly located right on a bend, scraping her hands and the side of her right knee. A bit of antiseptic cream, a cup of chocolate
 and lots of TLC and Sally and her brother were fine. I\rquote d found some old games on the PC that my kids had played years ago and that I hadn\rquote 
t got around to removing, and set them playing each other. This, getting some warmth back into them and letting the fire dry their outer clothes took up the most of the first hour. Then, and I\rquote 
m still not sure how it started, we were play fighting, with the two of them trying to get me, and me kneeling down tickling each of them whilst trying to protect myself from attac
k. It was no contest, for although I was now a few years older and not as fit as I was, I was used to paying this game with my four and sometimes their friends too, so playing against two was not too tiring for me.
\par 
\par It seemed just a few minutes later that 
the doorbell chimed its annoying tune for a second time that day. The kids were oblivious to it, so engrossed in our game, so I was forced to peel them off whilst I went to answer it. I opened the door not certain what to expect. A petite, young woman, wi
th a wonderfully slim figure, greeted me. She was wearing a dark business suit, with her skirt just below her knees, displaying as good a pair of legs as I\rquote 
d seen in a long time. Her jacket hid her breasts, though they appeared to be on the smallish side. By the time my eyes reached her face, I\rquote 
d already decided that she was a very attractive woman. Her face, though, was a shock; she seemed quite badly disfigured. I could not keep the surprise from my face, and I was sure she must have noticed it, although s
he made no comment, nor could I discern any change in her expression. I realised that whatever was wrong with Sally was hereditary, perhaps only affecting the females of the line as Craig seemed fine. I also realised that some time during the past hour or
 so I had forgotten about Sally\rquote 
s looks. Angry with myself for my reaction, again, I tried hard to understand it. I decided that with Sally I just felt sorry for a child growing up different; whatever the difference was, other children would never let them 
forget it. With her mother it was different; the pleasant voice from the earlier phone call coupled with my initial look at her slim figure meant that I was already felt some attraction to her, meaning her looks had more of an impact on me than I expected
. Shaking these thoughts away, which were all over in a couple of seconds anyway, I invited her in. 
\par 
\par She was hardly through the door when first, her son, closely followed by his sister, ran up to her. Both were still red faced and on a high from our exertions. Their mother seemed surprised by their boisterous greeting, and looked at me questioningly. 

\par 
\par \lquote We\rquote ve been fighting David!\rquote  Sally shouted out, answering her mother\rquote s unasked question, her talking ability had been without doubt for some time.
\par 
\par \lquote David?\rquote  
she asked looking up at me, the narrow hallway forced her to stand quite close to me making the foot difference in our height seemed huge. I looked down at her and was instantly taken by her eyes. The bottom lid was turned out slightly, showing the inner 
red flesh. From my angle it framed her sparkling hazel eyes to perfection, to my mind the best eyes I\rquote 
d ever seen on a woman. Her face still appeared misshapen but now I could begin to see the woman behind the unfortunate mask. This close I could also detec
t a subtle aroma, which I after a second or two realised was her shampoo rather than a perfume. This made me also take note of her hair. It was brown, long and straight and like her daughter\rquote 
s parted in the middle and I, oddly, felt an instant urge to finger comb it, which, of course, I managed to resist.
\par 
\par \lquote Yes, David.\rquote  I replied, \lquote it is my name, I don\rquote t feel like a \'93mister\'94 and don\rquote t believe in the honorific title of uncle, so what else am I to be called?\rquote 
\par 
\par She had a small mouth and wore little or no lipstick or any other discernible makeup for that matter, but when she smiled it lit up her entire face.
\par 
\par \lquote Heather.\rquote  She said, holding her hand out, \lquote Have they behaved?\rquote  she added, nodding to the two still clinging to her sides.
\par 
\par I shook her hand, appreciating the softness and dainty size of it, before answering. \lquote Not at all, they\rquote ve been terrible.\rquote 
\par 
\par The two children looked up sharply at me in obvious disappointment, their mother only frowned. That was enough, I wanted her smile back, so I gave up the pretence and laughed. \lquote Only joking, they\rquote ve been great, more than that, they\rquote 
ve brought a bit of joy back into the house that\rquote s been missing these last few years.\rquote 
\par 
\par The smile returned. \lquote Ok. I\rquote d better get them out of your hair though. Say thank you to,\rquote  she hesitated for just a moment before continuing, \lquote David.\rquote 
\par 
\par They both smiled and said politely \lquote Thank you David.\rquote  They had picked up their mother\rquote s slight reluctance about my name and, of course as children do, stressed their use of it.
\par 
\par Then Sally, whose eyes had been darting between our mouths trying to follow the brief conversation, became the child again, \lquote but mum,\rquote  she pleaded, \lquote we were having so much fun. Do we have to go? Can\rquote 
t we stay just a bit longer? Pleeeeaaasse.\rquote  The last word was so drawn out it was impossible not to smile.
\par 
\par \lquote I think David has had enough, don\rquote t you?\rquote  her mother replied.
\par 
\par \lquote He doesn\rquote t mind, do you?\rquote  she implored.
\par 
\par \lquote No I don\rquote t mind, but if your mother says it\rquote s time to go, then it\rquote s time to go.\rquote  Sally\rquote s face went very sullen for a moment but when I added, \lquote but if it\rquote s ok with her you can come again.\rquote  It
\rquote s brightness swiftly returned. I looked at Heather for agreement. She could tell that her kids had obviously enjoyed themselves because Craig, who\rquote d been silent since his mother\rquote s arrival, spurted out with childish candour, \lquote 
yes please. Can we mum? It\rquote s better than going to dad\rquote s, at least David plays with us.\rquote  I wasn\rquote t sure before, but it was now confirmed that Heather and the children\rquote s father were separated. However, I didn\rquote 
t want to get between the children and their dad or cause any unnecessary tension between the two adults.
\par 
\par I started to say, \lquote hold on\'85\rquote  when Heather interrupted me.
\par 
\par \lquote Now Craig, I know you don\rquote t like spending time at your dad\rquote s place, but you can\rquote t just expect a complete stranger to look after you whenever you see fit.\rquote 
\par 
\par She looked at me for confirmation, but I was once more taken aback by her face. For the last few minutes I\rquote d completely forgotten about her looks, now I was reminded how badly I was handling it, to myself i
f not to Heather, who still showed no sign of annoyance or even resignation when I kept staring too long at her. \lquote \'85 can you?\rquote  she finished.
\par 
\par I was not certain exactly what she\rquote d said, as my attention had been elsewhere but rather than bring attention to it I tried to guess what had been said. I looked at Heather and said, \lquote 
you mentioned every other Saturday they stay with their father. I don\rquote t know what you think but they don\rquote t seem to like it, nor does he, otherwise he\rquote d spend more time with them, so I don\rquote 
t mind if they come down then as long as they realise that I won\rquote t be able to make it all the time and\'85\rquote  I looked at the two children with a mean scowl, \lquote \'85you do exactly what I say.\rquote 
 The meanness in the scowl obviously didn\rquote t show through as the both laughed and agreed. I looked at their mother who was trying to act despairingly as she was obviously manoeuvred into acceding to her children\rquote 
s wishes. We exchanged telephone numbers to make the arrangements easier and I said goodbye to the boisterous duo and 
their mother. I watched her lithe figure walk away and suddenly felt the stirring of desire, yet also for some reason I also felt protective of her.
\par 
\par After she\rquote d gone I sat down, report totally forgotten about, and tried to analyse the way I was thinking about Heather. Even though Juliet was tall and well endowed I knew that Heather\rquote 
s petite body shape was certainly my preferred feminine form and there was no doubting her femininity, so that attraction I had no problem accepting. Being faithfully married fo
r nearly twenty years meant that I had not had many girlfriends, even over the eight years since my divorce, but those that I had had were always beautiful, at least in the accepted definition of the word. Juliet was certainly in that category, now in her
 
late thirties, not that she ever admitted as much, she was still slim and the natural blonde beauty of her youth had blossomed, making her a very attractive woman, something I knew from the many male stares she always pretended to endure. There was no way
 
that Heather fitted that category. I asked myself whether it was pity I felt for her, but quickly dismissed that as a reason, as I knew that it was a more personal feeling than that. I found her eyes fascinating, especially when she had been close and loo
king up at me. I gave up after a couple of hours when I still could not understand why I was so attracted to her, as I was honest enough with myself to know I wouldn\rquote t have agreed to look after her children if there wasn\rquote t that strong lure. 

\par 
\par I opened a bottle of good French wine and sat down to enjoy the DVD I\rquote d recently bought. It was \lquote Four Weddings and a Funeral\rquote  and seeing the similar instant chemistry between Hugh Grant\rquote s and Andie MacDowell\rquote 
s characters just made it harder to forget Heather. After that I phoned Juliet, but even an hour\rquote s small talk with her failed to remove Heather from my mind. Wisely though I decided not to mention this to Juliet.
\par 
\par I slept little and fitfully that night and was up at the crack of dawn, which at weekends, was not typic
al of me at all. It did have the benefit of giving me enough time to work on my report, although I reckon the quality was not up to my usual standards but I just couldn\rquote 
t find the will to do any better. Having finished by midday I met up with Juliet and we
 spent Sunday lunch down at the local pub, where they serve a reasonable traditional English roast. A pint or two of good ale and after saying goodbye to Juliet, who had to go and collect her son from his father\rquote 
s, a slow walk back to my house, in the resumed sunshine, completed a very pleasant couple of hours. Just as I got back I saw a young lad on a pushbike outside my house, it didn\rquote 
t take long to recognise Craig. He asked if I could show him how to use the computer better as, although his mother had one, he wasn\rquote t allowed to use it much. I didn\rquote 
t mind at all, as I knew I would end up taking a nap after my meal otherwise, so teaching the young lad was certainly going to be a bit more stimulating. 
\par }\pard \qj \li0\ri0\sb100\sa100\sbauto1\saauto1\widctlpar\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0 {I asked Craig if his mother knew that he was here. He smi
led sheepishly and shook his head. I was just about to tell him to ring her first, before deciding that I\rquote 
d rather talk to her myself. I told him to go into the computer room whilst I checked with his mother. I was quite surprised when I felt the mild flut
ter of butterflies in my stomach as I picked up the phone. 'What on earth are you getting excited about?' I asked myself, 'she's a young woman you've only just met; she's probably young enough to be your daughter. You don't know if she already has a partn
e
r and why should she be interested in you anyway? Besides, you have a girlfriend and although its no love match you certainly enjoy being with her.' I told myself these truths and accepted them completely but still felt like a young teenager as I waited f
or the phone to be answered. 
\par A shot of nerves coursed through my body as she said a simple 'Hello!'\~
\par 'Hi!' I started trying to talk calmly and in a relaxed manner, 'It's David.'\~
\par 'David?' the question in her voice was unmistakable, I'd obviously made such a great impression she couldn't even remember me just one day later.\~
\par Ego deflated, I carried on, 'The children, my house, yesterday.' I said giving her a list of clues.
\par \~'Oh! David. Yes I remember now, sorry. What can I do for you?' her voice was polite but no more.
\par 'Craig has just turned up here asking to use the computer; in fact asking if I'd teach him a bit.' I said.\~
\par 'Oh! I'm sorry, he should know better. Just send him straight home and I'll make sure he doesn't bother you again.' She said rather sharply.
\par \~'No, you\rquote ve got it wrong. He's not bothering me at all; in fact I think I mentioned yesterday that it would be ok. It's just that I thought you would prefer to know where he is.'
\par \~The hesitation that seemed to be a regular part of our few conversatio
ns made another appearance. 'Oh!' she started off with again along with a third apology, 'I'm sorry. I thought you were complaining about him. Most people do.' The last said with resignation. 'Are you sure it's ok?'
\par \~'Yes no problem. I'll send him back when I've had enough.' I said laughing.
\par \~'I'll expect him in five minutes then.' She replied picking up on my effort to lighten the conversation.
\par \~'I think I can manage a bit longer than that. What time does he have to be back?' I asked.
\par \~'Not 'till six o'clock, but I'm sure you'll tire of him before then.' The laughter was still there but somehow not quite as convincing.
\par }\pard \qj \li0\ri0\widctlpar\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0 {After I\rquote d finished talking to Heather I went into the computer room to tell Craig that it was all right for him to stay. The unreasonable ex
pectation that Heather would be having similar thoughts about me as I was about her were well and truly discounted, so I shook off the disappointment and set about teaching Craig the rudimentaries of Microsoft\rquote 
s bloated software.  The task turned out more interesting than expected, as he was a willing and inquisitive student; so much in fact that it was only when the telephone rang that I looked at my watch to see we were over thirty minutes past Craig\rquote 
s six o\rquote clock deadline. Guessing that it would be his mother I rushed to answer it.
\par 
\par \lquote Hi David.\rquote  She said, bringing me a mild pleasure as she remembered my name this time. \lquote I don\rquote t suppose you know where Craig is? He hasn\rquote t come home yet.\rquote 
 The resignation in her voice suggested that this was by no means the first time that Craig was late home.
\par 
\par \lquote Yes I do.\rquote  I answered sheepishly, \lquote he\rquote s still here. I\rquote m sorry, it\rquote s my fault, and we were so engrossed in Excel that I never noticed the time. I\rquote 
ll send him back immediately, unless you want me to bring him over, I can probably get his bike in the back of my car.\rquote 
\par 
\par Now that she knew where her son was, her mood lightened a little. \lquote I don\rquote t know whether to thank you for putting up with him or scold you for making him late.\rquote 
\par 
\par \lquote I deserve the latter but I\rquote d prefer the thanks, although I\rquote ve enjoyed having such an eager pupil.\rquote 
\par 
\par \lquote Ok. Thank you, but you\rquote d better send him home now. Thanks for the offer of a lift but his tea\rquote s not quite ready yet and I\rquote d prefer him to ride back,\rquote  at this point I could hear a smile in her voice, \lquote it
 might just tire him out a bit, so he leaves me and Sally in peace. Now,\rquote  the smile became laughter, \lquote if you can teach him THAT miracle you will have my eternal thanks.\rquote 
\par 
\par \lquote I\rquote m sure you wouldn\rquote t want him to become too placid and boring.\rquote  I said, but also noticed my own reaction, which was that I would very much like Heather\rquote 
s eternal thanks. Her sweet voice interrupted that train of thought.
\par 
\par \lquote Umph! Chance would be a fine thing!\rquote  she laughed.
\par 
\par \lquote Ok! I\rquote ll send him over right away.\rquote  
\par 
\par Reluctantly I said goodbye and hung up. A few minutes later Craig was on his way home after extracting, from me, a promise to continue next week.
\par 
\par The rest of the evening was spent trying to concentrate on television, which, with its poor story lines, boring actors and endless mind
less commercials, was not doing its best to capture and hold my attention. It was not too surprising, then, that my thoughts often strayed to Heather. For the umpteenth time I tried to work out just why I felt such a strong attraction to her. She had a fa
b
ulous sexy body from what I could see but then so did loads of women that I had little or no taste for. The two things that I must find in a woman are intelligence and the ability to hold a conversation. At first sight Heather seemed to fit in with both r
equirements. By the time I went to bed I was still none the wiser.
\par 
\par The next few days I was away presenting my report to the board of a well-known company. It was a blueprint for their future IT department and seemed to be accepted with only minimal objecti
ons. I was therefore in a buoyant mood when I returned home late Tuesday. I opened a bottle of chilled Montrachet and sat at my desk to listen to my answerphone messages. The third message had me sitting upright as I recognised Heather\rquote s voice. 
\lquote Hi David! Craig wanted to know if he could come over tonight, but as you\rquote re obviously not in he can\rquote t. I hate these things, I always seem to talk gibberish into them so I\rquote ll just say goodbye.\rquote 
\par 
\par I checked my watch to find that it was already past ten thirty. Should I ring back and apologise for not being in or was it too late. I swayed for about five minutes before my desire to talk to her overruled my belief that it was too late in the evening.

\par 
\par The phone rang for what seemed an eternity, beyond when I would have ordinarily hung up, which I was about to when it was answered.
\par 
\par \lquote Hello,\rquote  said a very sleepy voice.
\par 
\par \lquote Oh Shit!\rquote  I thought, I\rquote ve woken her up. 
\par 
\par \lquote Hi Heather! It\rquote s David. I\rquote ve just got in and thought to call you back, without realising the time.\rquote  I felt only a little guilt at this lie. \lquote It\rquote s only realising I\rquote ve woken you that made me check my watch.
\rquote 
\par 
\par \lquote That\rquote s all right. You\rquote ve probably done me a favour, I\rquote d dropped off watching the TV, if you hadn\rquote t rang I\rquote d have still been down here a few more hours probably. As
 I tried to say in the message, Craig wanted to know if he could come over tonight, he had a homework assignment to do and he thought you might have been able to help. Too late now though, he\rquote s been in bed over an hour.\rquote 
\par 
\par \lquote Well tell him I\rquote ll be around tomorrow evening, if that\rquote s not too late, and once again I\rquote m sorry for calling so late.\rquote 
\par 
\par \lquote No problem, but I am tired so if you don\rquote t mind I\rquote m going to bed. I\rquote ll tell Craig in the morning. Goodnight David.\rquote 
\par 
\par \lquote Goodnight Heather!\rquote  I said.
\par 
\par Craig did not come the
 following day, so I assumed that it was too late for the particular homework he required my help with, however he and Sally appeared on Saturday afternoon. They spent the next few hours playing games on the computer with bouts of fighting me in between. 
They headed off on their bikes about six o\rquote clock, ending my hopes of meeting their mother again. 
\par 
\par Saturday night Juliet stayed. As I undressed her I found myself comparing her to Heather, as I cupped and kissed her generous breasts I wondered how Heather\rquote s
 smaller ones would feel, would her nipples react the same, what would she taste like? I was so hard and eager that even Juliet noticed. I tried to forget Heather as I thrust into my girlfriend\rquote s sexy body but as I climaxed it was Heather\rquote 
s disfigured face that filled my mind\rquote s eye. I did feel a bit guilty about fantasising about another woman but I had done so before, as I\rquote 
m sure Juliet had over other men. It did no harm to just fantasise, as long as that was all it was. I felt a lot more guilt though as I lay next to Juliet\rquote 
s naked body when I acknowledged that this time was different. Other fantasies were purely sexual; this I knew was more than that. I fell asleep with that thought.
\par 
\par Sunday was a repeat with the children again spending a few infectious h
ours with me before going home. They were doing me quite a bit of good, as for the next few days numerous friends commented on my improved state, although a couple of hours at a time seemed about as much as I could currently handle. 
\par 
\par I saw the kids at least twice a week over the next few weeks but to my growing dismay, I didn\rquote 
t see Heather for about a month, although we talked regularly. The one plus for me during this time was that our conversations lasted longer each time we spoke and swiftly moved beyon
d her children as a sole topic. In the meantime I began to look forward to the children\rquote 
s visits and got to know them quite well. Craig was very boisterous, almost hyper, but seemed to know when to behave properly, at least when he was with me. He seemed a
 typical male, concerned only with things rather than people whereas his little sister seemed the opposite. We spent many hours on the computer both learning and playing games, most of the latter he was soon beating me at. Craig always wanted to be doing 
s
omething. Sally on the other hand, perhaps because of her hearing problems, preferred physical contact to lectures. She showed little interest in learning any computer stuff and swiftly bored of playing games on it too. She much preferred our regular figh
t
s and just loved to cuddle up to me and watch TV. My own children met them and every one fell for little Sally with her subtle need for affection. A couple of times she even went shopping   with my eldest daughter. I soon learned the art of dealing with h
er deafness until it became second nature, even after she\rquote d received her new hearing aid. 
\par 
\par It was nearly a month before Juliet got to meet them and it did not go as I expected. With her having a son of her own, separated from his father I thought she would
 take to them easily, especially Sally, I could not think of anyone knowing her and not loving her to bits. Of course I had talked to Juliet about them, and their mother on numerous times. She only seemed interested in Heather and my relationship with her
.
 It did my ego some good to know that Juliet was jealous and obviously did not believe me when I explained the situation. She assumed something was going on between us, why else would I look after her children. I refuted this, knowing of course that I had
n\rquote t seen Heather since the first week, but I also kept to myself the appeal I still felt for her. When she did meet Sally the horror on her face was obvious and for the first time I saw Sally react to someone. Sally\rquote 
s normal happy face disappeared immediately and she started studying her feet. 
\par 
\par Juliet then said angrily, speaking as if Sally was not there. \lquote You didn\rquote t tell me she looked like that!\rquote  Sally ran out the room and after giving Juliet a real dirty look so did Craig.
\par 
\par I knew Juliet was very into \lquote body beautiful\rquote 
 but her over the top reaction made me very angry indeed. We then had our first major row. We had intended taking the children swimming that day, something we both enjoyed, but Juliet was adamant that she wouldn\rquote t take Sally with her in case s
omeone thought she was HER daughter. I\rquote m sure the children must have heard us but wisely they stayed clear. The final straw for me was when Juliet found that their mother looked similar to Sally. She laughed and asked why I hadn\rquote 
t told her before especially when she was acting all jealous. After all, she said, no man would ever want a woman who looked like that, let alone someone who had a \lquote beautiful\rquote  girlfriend like herself. I hit the roof, saying that I\rquote 
d much rather be with a real woman like Heather than the hollow replica before me, however pretty the exterior. Needless to say this started a bitter row and it wasn\rquote 
t too long before she stormed out of the house and out of my life. At the time, although very angry at her I was not sure whether I really wan
ted to lose her for good, which I obviously had. The two children on the other hand were delighted to see her go. Sally came and sat on my knee and never moved until it was time to go, even then it was with great reluctance that she left. 
\par 
\par Just as she was leaving she looked up at me and said in all seriousness. \lquote She wasn\rquote t a very nice person for you to have as a girlfriend anyway. If you want, I\rquote ll be your girlfriend from now on.\rquote  
\par Her smile melted my heart so I picked her up and looked at her so that she could see my lips and mouthed. \lquote You\rquote ve got yourself a deal then kid.\rquote 
\par 
\par I spent the next few days alternating between feeling sorry for myself, proud of Sally for her resilience and ability to rise above Juliet\rquote s words and angry with Juliet for her actions 
and words. I came to the conclusion that Sally was right, Juliet wasn\rquote 
t for me and, as I was being truthful, the main reason for Juliet in my life was easy sex and the ego boost I got from having her on my arm when we went out. I suddenly realised that those reasons made me feel as shallow as I\rquote 
d accused Juliet of being. 
\par 
\par When I did see Heather again it was purely coincidental; it was midweek, I\rquote d been to yet another meeting with my current client and was on my home. It was gone seven o\rquote clock and I did not
 feel like cooking so decided to call in for a Chinese takeaway. As I walked through the door I noticed the rear view of a nice and sexy young woman waiting to be served. It must have taken a few minutes for me to realise it was Heather. I was pleasantly 
s
urprised that she seemed genuinely happy to see me and we talked firstly about the children before moving on to why I was here personally; she knew from the children that although I regularly had a takeaway I invariably ordered one to be delivered. When h
e
r food was served she stayed behind, still talking, until mine arrived. Seeing her changed my mood and as we left I felt strangely content, happy just being in her company. That changed to absolute delight when she suggested that rather than eat my meal a
lone at home, I might want to join her and the kids. \lquote Might!\rquote  I thought, I could think of nothing I\rquote 
d prefer to do. Heather had walked to the takeaway, it being only a few hundred yards from where she lived, so I offered her a lift and we set out for my first visit to her home.
\par 
\par Less than two minutes later I was directed to pull up outside a nice detached house, which looked to be less than a decade old. Other than giving me directions Heather said nothing during our short trip. 
\par 
\par As we entered the house I heard Craig shout out. \lquote About time too, we\rquote re starving.\rquote 
\par 
\par Before his mother could answer I shouted back in a deliberately stern voice. \lquote That\rquote s no way to talk to your mother young man! If it was left to me you would do without tea altogether.\rquote 
\par 
\par I hadn\rquote t even finished when Sally came flying into the hall, obviously alerted by her brother to my presence.
\par 
\par \lquote David!\rquote  she cried and run straight at me with her arms held wide open. Careful of my meal I still managed to scoop her up into my arms.
\par 
\par \lquote So! How is my new girlfriend then?\rquote  I asked smiling down at her.
\par 
\par She decided to ignore my question and ask one of her own. \lquote What are you doing here?\rquote 
\par 
\par Craig\rquote s voice suddenly joined in from the doorway, \lquote Yes, what are you doing here?\rquote  emphasising the \lquote are\rquote  where Sally had stressed the \lquote you\rquote .
\par 
\par \lquote I found him at the Chinese.\rquote  Heather chipped in, \lquote but I can always take him back if you don\rquote t want him.\rquote 
\par 
\par Happily a negative response echoed from both children. I carried Sally into the kitchen where Heather managed to relieve me of my meal but not her daughter. She dished out the food and we headed back to join Craig, who\rquote 
d returned to the television. The meal was interspersed with cuddles from Sally; hush noises from Craig to whom the television was a matter of life and death and general conversation with Heather. I enjoyed it immensely. All too soon it was Sally\rquote 
s bedtime and only by allowing me to take her up, with the promise of a story, did her mother finally get her to agree to go to bed at all. It must have been a good half hour b
efore I finally rejoined Heather. The TV was off, the hi-fi playing some soft rock and Craig was nowhere to be seen.
\par 
\par \lquote I thought we\rquote d lost you for the night.\rquote  She said, \lquote Sally certainly seems taken with you.\rquote 
\par 
\par \lquote The feelings mutual I can assure you.\rquote  I replied. \lquote Where\rquote s Craig?\rquote 
\par 
\par \lquote On the computer.\rquote  Heather answered.
\par 
\par \lquote I thought he wasn\rquote t allowed to use yours. At least that\rquote s what he told me.\rquote 
\par 
\par \lquote He wasn\rquote t, but since he\rquote s been going over to you he actually wants to use it as a computer rather than a games console, so I don\rquote t mind as much. Anyway! What is this I\rquote ve heard about a new girlfriend?\rquote 
 Her smile showed the lack of seriousness although the amusement in her voice also gave the game away.
\par 
\par \lquote Well! The old one dumped me so I thought I\rquote d try a younger model.\rquote  I replied trying to keep my expression serious. \lquote This early bedtime doesn\rquote t help much though.\rquote 
 This time I was laughing, having given up any pretence.
\par 
\par The seriousness in her reply therefore surprised me. \lquote Dumped? That\rquote s not what I\rquote ve heard. I was told you told her to leave, after an argument about Sally.\rquote 
\par 
\par I looked into her lovely eyes and told her what had happened, omitting the comments we\rquote d both made about Heather herself.
\par 
\par Before she could respond Craig came in to the room, \lquote David how do I get one cell to look at a specific cell only?\rquote 
\par 
\par \lquote What exactly do you want to do?\rquote  I asked.
\par 
\par \lquote I want to use a cell as a kind of lookup. It\rquote s great when I tell it which cell to look at but when I do a copy it tries to look at another cell.\rquote  His expression was one of seriousness.
\par 
\par I told him the answer but he was still unsure. Seeing this his mother said, \lquote look Craig, it\rquote s past your bedtime and it is school tomorrow,\rquote  this produced the expected frown, \lquote 
so let David show you what he means then straight up to bed. OK?\rquote 
\par 
\par Knowing this was the best he was going to get he nodded and led me to the PC. It only took about two minutes to show him what I meant but about another fifteen to answer all the other \lquote important\rquote 
 questions that he needed to know that night. Only a call from his mother ended the session.
\par 
\par I said goodnight as he went reluctantly up the stairs and I returned to the living room to Heather. The CD had changed but not the style. I had enjoyed the evening but did not want to outstay my welcome. I suggested to Heathe
r that it was time I headed back hoping that she would disagree. She glanced at the clock before nodding and leading me to the door.
\par 
\par Just before she opened it she looked up at me and asked, \lquote By the way did you mean what you said?\rquote 
\par 
\par Even if I had being paying full attention to her words rather than her fabulous eyes I still wouldn\rquote t have been able to answer. She saw my puzzlement so added, \lquote about preferring me to your girlfriend.\rquote 
\par 
\par I hadn\rquote t realised just how much of our row had been reported back so the question took me by surprise, as did my answer when I said without hesitation, \lquote Yes. Definitely yes.\rquote 
\par 
\par She then opened the door without a word but as I walked past her she said, \lquote David!\rquote  As I turned to look at her she put her hand behind my neck and pulled me down for a quick but tender kiss, said \lquote Thank you!\rquote 
 and then moved out of my way so that I should leave, which is what I did, somewhat dazed by the final turn of events.
\par 
\par I opened my car, sat in front of the wheel and did not move for a good ten minutes. 
I'd thought the evening had gone well, especially considering how spur of the moment it had been. Heather and I had talked, when the kids weren't interrupting that is, about various topics from politics, work and children, the latter about as close as we 
g
ot about discussing our personal lives. She had given me no hint that she knew exactly what had been said between Juliet and me. I'd spent most of the last month thinking about Heather but until now she'd give me no reason to believe that she thought anyt
h
ing about me other than someone who looked after her children now and again. I looked at her house, the lights were still on downstairs but I could detect no movement, although that wasn't why I looked. I was still trying to understand the last few minute
s
. I was split down the middle between elation that she had some feelings for me and total doubt believing that the kiss was nothing but a thank you for sticking up for Sally and her. When the latter seemed the most likely, I thought about her kiss, I coul
d
 still feel her lips on mine and I was sure it held more than just a friendly thank you. Then I thought of the rest of the evening and the complete lack of any intimacy, coupled with the belief that a lovely young woman like Heather would be interested in
 
an old, at least in relative terms, man like me.  For the first time since coming out of the takeaway I thought about her looks but even allowing for those I doubted she'd have much trouble finding a good man, more her own age. Then I thought of the kiss 
and came full circle. Eventually I started the car and soon was at home, but with little recollection of actually driving.
\par }\pard \qj \li0\ri0\sb100\sa100\sbauto1\saauto1\widctlpar\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0 {Yet again, sleep eluded me until the early hours, my mind still following the same circle as earlier but this time during the optimist
ic phase was thinking about the future and whether I could dare to hope for the one I desired. It was during this sleepless night that I first admitted to myself that my feelings for Heather were very strong, although I could still not explain why even to
 myself. My closing memory before sleep finally caught up was that I should at least try to see if there was any possibility of a relationship; the possible benefits outweighing the probable embarrassment of finding out. \~
\par }\pard \qj \li0\ri0\widctlpar\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0 {Not surprisingly I woke late the f
ollowing morning but as I was working at home it mattered little. Somehow I managed to get through the day without thinking about Heather for more than about 80 percent of the time. I thought back to the start of the few other serious relationships I
\rquote d been in and whether I felt in the same state at the beginning of those. I couldn\rquote 
t remember being this apprehensive, even when I first met my wife; part of it I put down to the age difference, after all, I repeated to myself, why would any young woman be interested in someone at least twenty years older than them. I\rquote 
d already worked out that I\rquote d ring her at seven o\rquote clock, which would give her time to get home from work and feed the children. As six o\rquote clock arrived my resolve to wait was cracking and the sense 
of anticipation mounting. By six forty-five I give in and rang, my heart going twenty to the dozen as I waited for her to answer. Imagine the shock I had when a deep, adult male voice answered. Caught by surprise, it was a few seconds before I asked for H
eather.
\par 
\par \lquote She\rquote s in the kitchen. Who shall I say is calling?\rquote  the voice asked not too politely.
\par 
\par \lquote David!\rquote  I said hoping that she didn\rquote t know any other Davids.
\par 
\par The voice changed tone immediately. \lquote Oh! It\rquote s you is it?\rquote  This said with venom, \lquote well she doesn\rquote t need to speak to you. She already has a husband and doesn\rquote t want another man bothering her, and while we\rquote 
re at it, my kids have got a father too and I don\rquote t want you trying to take them from me.\rquote  Before I could even contemplate replying he hung up.
\par 
\par I stayed there with the phone hanging in the air, stunned by the turn of events. I\rquote 
d built myself up to ask Heather where I stood, the chance of rejection had always been high in my mind, but I had not expected that she would go back to her husband, for that\rquote s w
ho it undoubtedly was. The sense of disappointment overwhelmed me and the rest of the evening passed without me noticing. I dragged myself to bed and eventually fell asleep after a long bout of self-pity. Friday was the same and I merely went through the 
motions of working, one of my client\rquote s directors, with whom I was working close, even commented on the monotone voice I had. I neither expected nor received any contact from Heather that day.
\par 
\par I knew Heather was due to work that weekend but when Sally and C
raig turned up on the Saturday morning I was still surprised, though I also determined that they should not suffer for my own misconceptions. Despite my mood the children still managed to make me laugh with them and by the early evening I was pretty much 
b
ack to my normal self, if only on the surface. I assumed that their father had not mentioned anything, as their behaviour too was exactly as usual; boisterous, loud and infectious. I chickened out on my normal, previously much anticipated, call to Heather
,
 to check she was back before sending the kids home. I got Craig to do it and that was the only time he looked at me as if something was not quite right. Once it was confirmed that their mother was home I sent them on their way. As I collapsed, shattered 
from the physical effort of playing with the kids and the emotional drain of trying to pretend that nothing was wrong, I thought, miserably, that today was the first Saturday for some weeks that I wouldn\rquote t talk to Heather. \lquote 
Serves you right for being such a old fool in the first place\rquote  I told myself. With no work the following day I made my mind up to drown my sorrows in a bottle, or two as it turned out, of wine. Most unusual for me I didn\rquote 
t even consider which bottle I chose. Needless to say I got to sleep easier that night, but still woke up around three o\rquote 
clock in the morning before spending the next few hours tossing and turning. I tried forcing my mind elsewhere, to familiar topics like winning the lottery, being good enough at sport, any sport, to be f
amous, to the oldest fantasy of making love with various beautiful and sexy women. None worked for more than a few minutes before Heather resurfaced to once more take control of my head. 
\par 
\par On Sunday afternoon, Sally came visiting alone. For reasons known only to her she was in an exceptionally affectionate mood, which suited me just fine. Someone\rquote s timing was also good, as \lquote Chitty Chitty Bang Bang\rquote 
 was showing on TV, so we watched it cuddled up together with hardly a word spoken. I couldn\rquote t even remember being so close to my own daughters. A few minutes after the film ended she was ready to go and left me with the enigmatic words. 
\par 
\par \lquote Don\rquote t worry David, everything will be all right.\rquote  
\par 
\par Unsure what \lquote everything\rquote  was I couldn\rquote t help smile at the youngster\rquote s atte
mpt to look after me rather than vice versa. About half an hour later the irritating chime of the doorbell echoed once more through the house. I opened the door to find Heather standing there. Once again she\rquote d managed to surprise me.
\par 
\par As she walked into the house past me she remarked, \lquote what\rquote s up with you, you look as if you\rquote ve seen a ghost.\rquote 
\par 
\par I managed to close the door and my mouth, in that order, before turning to face her. Before I could ask the obvious question of why she was here, she asked a question of her own.
\par 
\par \lquote Well! What is so important that it won\rquote t even wait till after tea?\rquote 
\par 
\par Yet more bewilderment spread across my already puzzled features. \lquote Important?\rquote  I asked.
\par 
\par Heather gave me a smile usually reserved for the really stupid. \lquote Yes important! Sally said you needed to see me straight away.\rquote 
\par 
\par I was shaking my head when Sally\rquote s final words became clear. \lquote I think we\rquote ve both been had. I have been feeling a bit down, these last few days. Sally obviously noticed and thought that you could help for some reason.\rquote 
 I tried to explain.
\par 
\par \lquote And can I?\rquote  she asked, not certain whether to smile or not.
\par 
\par \lquote Well, at least you can come in and have a coffee, unless you prefer something a bit stronger?\rquote 
\par 
\par \lquote Thank you,\rquote  she said following me into the living room, \lquote a coffee will do nicely.\rquote 
\par 
\par There was a weird silence as I made the coffee; neither of us knew quite how to start the conversation. Typical as well, was when I did finally try and begin, when we were sitting opposite each other in the lounge, Heather started talking at
 the same time. She quickly shut up and told me to continue.
\par 
\par \lquote OK!\rquote  I started. \lquote I have really enjoyed these weeks seeing you and the kids and I suppose I read a little bit too much into your friendship.\rquote  I ignored her quizzical look and continued. \lquote After y
ou gave me that kiss I began to hope that you felt the same about me as I do about you.\rquote 
\par 
\par \lquote And, how is that?\rquote  she asked seriously.
\par 
\par With no hesitation but certainly some trepidation I replied. \lquote I like you; I like you a lot in fact. Virtually since our first meeting I\rquote ve felt a very strong attraction to you. Don\rquote t ask me why, because I\rquote 
m not sure, I just know that I\rquote m happier when you\rquote re around than when you\rquote re not. Then when you kissed me,\rquote  I held my hand up to stop her interrupting, \lquote I know it was only rea
lly a peck but it felt as if you meant it. That\rquote s why I\rquote m sorry, a man of my age should know the difference but I suppose I read into it what I wanted to rather than what it really was.\rquote 
\par 
\par \lquote What has made you change your mind then?\rquote  she asked, puzzlement written across her face.
\par 
\par I noticed before I answered that she had neither confirmed nor denied my interpretation of events.
\par 
\par \lquote When I realised that you were back with your husband.\rquote  She still looked perplexed so I explained the phone call.
\par 
\par \lquote Yes he was with me that evening. He was fetching some stuff and I cooked him something, not that I have to explain my actions to you or anyone else. He didn\rquote t mention that you\rquote d called, but then knowing Martin, he wouldn\rquote 
t. Anyway I\rquote m not back with him as you call it. As for the other bit I\rquote m not sure. I like you but can\rquote t honestly say I\rquote d thought about you as anything other than a potential friend.\rquote 
\par 
\par My stomach churned at the confirmation. In fact it was even worse than I\rquote d thought, Heather hadn\rquote t even considered me as a man. \lquote Not too surprising.\rquote  I managed to comment.
\par 
\par She continued. \lquote I must admit that I didn\rquote t realise that you fancied me, for use of a better term. Looking like I do, it\rquote s not something I often consider.\rquote 
\par 
\par I quickly leapt in. \lquote That\rquote s daft and you know it. Just because you look different than others doesn\rquote t mean that you don\rquote t look great and sexy, very sexy in fact.\rquote 
\par 
\par A strength and power suddenly appeared in her voice. \lquote I KNOW what I look like, I see my reflection every morning AND I see the revulsion in the eyes of total strangers even some friends, so don\rquote t tell me I\rquote m daft. Your ex-girlfriend
\rquote s reaction is more common than you might think.\rquote  Just as swiftly as it appeared the power diminished and she continued in her normal voice. \lquote But thank you anyway.\rquote 
\par 
\par \lquote Look! I\rquote d better get back to the kids, I\rquote ve sent them next door for half an hour.\rquote  
\par 
\par With that she stood up, put the unfinished coffee on the table and headed off. 
\par 
\par \lquote I\rquote m sorry!\rquote  I said.
\par 
\par \lquote No need to be, in fact I\rquote m flattered, but I really must go.\rquote 
\par 
\par Go she did, with no kiss or even a peck this time.
\par 
\par I spent the next hour blaming myself for being a complete fool. Heather had offered nothing, promised nothing and yet I had still convinced my wishful mind that there was something there.
\par 
\par When the phone rang I let it ring for a while, in fact contemplated just unplugging the damn thing. When it finally got the better of me I answered with a gruff \lquote Hello!\rquote 
\par 
\par It was Heather. \lquote I was just about to give up, I thought you must have gone out.\rquote 
\par 
\par \lquote No. I\rquote m still here.\rquote  I replied in monotone, still feeling sorry for myself.
\par 
\par \lquote Look!\rquote  Heather said. \lquote I don\rquote t feel comfortable about how we left it. Do you want to come over and we can talk some more when the kids have gone to bed?\rquote 
\par 
\par \lquote Don\rquote t know what there is to talk about. You made yourself pretty clear earlier.\rquote  I grumbled.
\par 
\par \lquote OK, if that\rquote s the way you feel.\rquote  She said as she hung up.
\par 
\par I sat listening to the phone buzz before it sank in that I\rquote d turned down a chance to stay friends if nothing else. I spoke to myself saying. \lquote David, your capability for stupidity and self pity knows no bounds.\rquote 
\par 
\par I\rquote d no sooner put the receiver down when the phone went again.
\par 
\par I put it to my ear and croaked \lquote Hello.\rquote 
\par 
\par \lquote Stop feeling sorry for yourself and get over here now,\rquote  Heather ordered. \lquote I\rquote ll expect you in 15 minutes.\rquote  She continued and then put the phone down to prevent any further discussion.
\par 
\par I\rquote d detected the warmth back in her voice, although I no longer translated it into anything special. She was right, I was being a bit pitiful, plus, I did no
t want to lose out on her as a friend and seeing the kids who I now thought of with quite some affection, especially little Sally. It was only then that I remembered that it was Sally that had told her mum to come over. Whatever happened I decided that we
 both needed to talk to Sally to make certain she understood. 
\par 
\par I was still scruffy so decided a quick shower was called for and so it was 35 minutes before I actually arrived as Heather\rquote s. I\rquote d had to fill the car up with petrol on the way and had impulsive
ly bought a bunch of flowers from the service station. It was with no small amount of apprehension that I rang the doorbell. Craig answered the door and invited me in. He was quieter than normal and there was no sign of the mischievous Sally. The flowers 
proved worth the effort spent on their purchase as Heather beamed as I gave them to her before rushing off to put them in water. I sat down on the sofa still feeling a little awkward.
\par 
\par As Heather came back to she sat down opposite me I looked at her carefully. She was wearing a red blouse and black ankle length skirt; her hair looked freshly combed, which I took to be a good sign. As usual I could see no hint of makeup. \lquote 
The kids won\rquote t disturb us until it\rquote s time for them to go to bed. I\rquote m afraid I\rquote ve had tea
rs from Sally because I told her off for sending me on a wild goose chase. However, whilst I was scolding her she did say some things that made me think. Looking back I don\rquote 
t think I was entirely truthful when I said about not being aware of your admiration, it\rquote s just that I choose not to see it as that. Also when I said about not thinking about you in that way, that too was not strictly true because although I didn
\rquote t consider you a potential lover or anything, I did think about what it would be like to kiss you, that\rquote s why I kissed you goodbye that time. I suppose I didn\rquote t expect you to react the way you did.\rquote 
\par 
\par I decided to interrupt and to ask a question that had been on my mind since first meeting Heather. \lquote Can I ask exactly what it is that causes you and Sally to look as you do?\rquote 
\par 
\par She then spent sometime explaining Treacher Collins Syndrome or TCS, which affects the development of facial bones. Most suffers are also deaf, if not totally, then at least to a certain degree, Heather herself was totally deaf 
without her hearing aid, something her long hair had kept hidden from me. I had guessed correctly that it was hereditary and wrongly that it was passed on through the female line, apparently Craig was fortunate as TCS is usually a dominant gene. }{\i 
(This story is not the place to go into full details. If you are interested there are a number of web sites covering TCS)}{
\par 
\par Although I\rquote m sure it wasn\rquote t what they wanted I felt sympathy for Heather and Sally, especially when Heather related stories of her childhood. I
 remembered how cruel children could be to those who are even slightly different. I had felt their bite in my own childhood and my only sin was being tall. I remembered Sally hiding behind her brother when I\rquote d first met them.
\par 
\par I enjoyed our talk; it was factually informative and also gave me a better insight into what made Heather who she was. It also felt like a very safe subject, helping me to relax.
\par 
\par Halfway through, the children had come in to say goodnight. I could easily see that Sally had been crying
 and even now she was very subdued. Thankfully it did not stop her coming to me for a big goodnight hug and kiss. Heather went back to this later saying, \lquote I can see why Sally\rquote s dad is upset. She never seems to light up as much with him.
\rquote 
\par 
\par \lquote Ah! But is that Sally or him?\rquote  I countered.
\par 
\par \lquote Him, almost certainly.\rquote  She confirmed, and then added laughing, \lquote and he won\rquote t be the only jealous one if she keeps getting all the kisses.\rquote 
\par 
\par  Not certain how to take that I jumped in with both feet and decided to take it as I wanted it to be.
\par 
\par I held out my arms and said. \lquote I can\rquote t risk upsetting you now can I? So you\rquote d better come here and let me put right my oversight.\rquote 
 I was grinning inanely as I spoke but my stomach was turning over and over as my nerves refused to settle. 
\par 
\par Heather smiled her wonderful smile and stood up to walk the few steps to where I was sitting. She took my hands and guided herself to sit on my lap facing me, with her jean-clad knees either side of me. We looked into each other\rquote 
s eyes for a long time, with no words spoken, just my fingertips caressing her face. 
\par 
\par Finally I spoke the words that had been filling my head. \lquote Look Heather! I know, looking the way you do, that you may not believe me when I say that I find you truly beautiful, especially your eyes when you look up at me, but I really do.\rquote  

\par 
\par Heather blushed slightly before leaning slowly forward to kiss me. As before I felt myself tremble as our lips met. Initially I kissed her gently and often, by which I mean that I covered her soft lips with man
y little kisses before being drawn into a full passionate embrace, where mouths were locked together as our tongues sought each other. 
\par 
\par It was then, with a child\rquote s perfect sense of timing, that Craig walked in. Seeing us quickly break apart, he laughed, pleased with making his mum feel guilty. 
\par 
\par \lquote Just come in to say goodnight.\rquote  He said with a huge grin, before deliberately closing the door and heading off to bed.
\par  
\par We both laughed as Craig left, before looking at each other. The laughter quickly subdued as
 we slowly resumed our kiss. I put my hand behind her neck pulling her harder onto my lips. Her obvious willingness lightened my heart, more than I could have hoped for; my other hand stroked her back, my fingers following her spine. After a long time sav
o
uring her warm lips I began to kiss her neck and throat with the occasional excursion to nibble her earlobe. I also found the courage to move my hand round to cup her breast. Feeling no negative response I squeezed the breast through her blouse pinching m
y
 finger and thumb over her nipple. Boldly I undid the buttons of her blouse and pushed it to one side. My lips now roamed freely around her chest as my hand pushed her bra cup up and caressed her naked breasts. They were smaller than I had imagined, no mo
re than an A cup but no less enticing. Her nipples were already erect so I quickly moved my mouth to one, sucking and biting; taking great satisfaction in the obvious pleasure I was giving to Heather.
\par 
\par I placed my hand on her lower thigh and slid her dress up until I was touching her tights. I squeezed and rubbed her thigh through the hose before moving my hand further up her leg.
\par 
\par Just as my fingers reached their goal Heather sat up and said. \lquote No! The kids! They might walk in.\rquote 
\par 
\par As much as I wanted more I could not argue with that, so I waited to see what Heather wanted me to do.
\par 
\par After several long moments of contemplation Heather stood up and taking my hand led me up to her bedroom. 
\par 
\par Once there I was about to ask how she felt, but was prevented by her finger against my lips.
\par 
\par \lquote No words please David, just make love to me.\rquote  
\par 
\par Her words melted any remaining doubts I had about my feelings for her. I swiftly bent forward to kiss her tenderly before removing her remaining clothes. As I admired her naked body for
 the first time I knew that I had been right all along, it was an incredibly sexy one.
\par 
\par I picked her small frame up and lay her down on top of her double bed. I discarded my own clothes in a flash and was soon lying at her side, my right arm under her neck
 pulling her into a deep, rewarding kiss. I relished the softness of her skin against mine and failed to resist the urge to pull her entire body as close to mine as was physically possible.
\par 
\par I had intended to take my time, adoring each part of her body in turn, but our mutual desire meant I had to postpone that delightful task. I was as hard as I\rquote 
d ever been and Heather was obviously very aroused herself because she lifted her right leg slightly, slid down the bed and pushed her wet pussy against the tip of
 my engorged cock. Immediately she moved down a little more and I found myself deep inside this captivating woman. As my mind savoured the exquisite pleasure my body took over, thrusting in and out in an ever-increasing tempo. I was amazed that within a c
o
uple of minutes Heather reached her orgasm; I had never known a woman come so quick, especially as I had not even touched her pussy before. Such thoughts soon disappeared as my own release arrived. Grunting out unremembered words I exploded, filling my ne
w lover with my seed.
\par 
\par Shattered we lay there, not having moved from when we\rquote d first joined each other. I knew that I was in love with Heather but was well aware that if I told her I could scare her away so I just hugged her tighter to me.
\par 
\par After an hour or so of dozing and kissing Heather decided a shower was needed by both of us. 
\par 
\par I adored every moment of that shower. My hands traced every single inch of her body, lingering long enough on her pussy and clit to elicit another orgasm for Heather. She had to
 remove her hearing aid, therefore her world became one of total silence and communication was purely by touch and mime. Heather took her turn at washing my sweaty body and took little time to get my cock back at full attention. It felt that she wanted to
 
use her hands to bring me my second coming, but I felt that would be a waste of limited resources so I lifted her up and lowered her onto my erection. Once again my cock slid into her welcoming body with ease. The wet surface and the small cubicle forbid 
anything too exertive so we just maintained a steady rhythm allowing me to time my own release with that of fabulous little lover. 
\par 
\par After a further few minutes in the shower to rinse away the latest sweat, we lingered almost as long drying each other before returning to her bed.
\par 
\par Twice more we made love, our lovemaking then was slow, yet passionate, as we took the entire night to explore the other\rquote s body. Throughout the night we spoke little just relished the contact we maintained. We each fell asleep on nu
merous occasions only to be joyfully woken by contact with the other.
\par 
\par When I finally woke properly, it was with a start, not certain where I was or whether I\rquote d dreamt last night. Almost instantly I felt the pressure on my arm where it was still wrapped under Heather\rquote 
s neck, that and the sound of her quiet breaths as she continued to sleep, convinced me it had been no dream. I was split between wanting just to watch her in her slumber and an urgent desire to make love to her again. The decision was taken ou
t of my hands when the door flew open and in rushed Sally. On seeing me she stopped dead, the shock on her face quickly replaced by one of joy as she screamed my name and climbed over her mother to me. If her scream hadn\rquote 
t woken her mother then the climb certainly had.
\par 
\par \lquote What are you doing in here young lady?\rquote  Her mother demanded angrily, obviously not at her best when startled awake.
\par 
\par \lquote It\rquote s so late and I was worried,\rquote  Sally said, her joy at seeing me evaporated by her mother\rquote s tone.
\par 
\par Heather looked at her bedside clock before exclaiming, \lquote shit!\rquote  
\par 
\par The look of horror on Sally\rquote s face at her mother\rquote s expletive showed it to be a rare event, something I found surprisingly relieving.
\par 
\par Heather looked at me. \lquote It\rquote s almost ten thirty, I was supposed to be meeting a couple of friends at ten for some retail therapy.\rquote  She looked at me, her wonderful smile spreading across her face, before adding, \lquote I don\rquote 
t think I need it though now, do you?\rquote 
\par 
\par \lquote I hope not,\rquote  was my reply.
\par 
\par Heather then looked at her daughter, pulled her to her for a quick kiss on her forehead. \lquote Sorry darling for being a bit sharp.\rquote  Sally\rquote s expression regained its earlier joy as her mother continued, \lquote 
now will you leave us alone for a bit whilst we wake up properly.\rquote 
\par 
\par Sally leaned over to me and gave me a quick hug, which I happily returned, before jumping energetically off the bed. Just before she left the room she looked at me and said, \lquote I\rquote m glad you\rquote re here with mum. Does this mean you\rquote 
re going to be here all the time?\rquote 
\par 
\par \lquote Never you mind young lady, now get out and leave us in peace.\rquote  Heather answered on my behalf.
\par 
\par As soon as the door was shut Heather turned over to face me, and as if telepathically knowing each other\rquote s mind we kissed. The kiss lasted a long time as my mouth travelled down her body. I could
 taste the saltiness of our contact. My lips once more brought the blood to her nipples before I moved further down her body until my tongue found her clit. As I flicked her bud I could smell and taste our night\rquote 
s coupling. Any thought of an immediate repeat were put on hold as Heather\rquote 
s hands pushed my head hard against her, forcing my tongue onto her clit. I took the hint and continued to mouth her whilst I simultaneously pushed two fingers into her. She came, her body convulsing with the ecstasy my tongue and fingers brought her.

\par 
\par Of course I still had my own need for release and so it was close to forty minutes later when we finally went downstairs to greet the two knowing faces at the kitchen table.
\par 
\par I was glad to see that Craig too, was happy to see me.
\par 
\par So started, probably the happiest period of my life. My infatuation, for I cannot think how else to describe my initial response to Heather, had given way to a true and deep love for her. I really enjoyed having Craig and Sally about, at least most of t
he time anyway. I didn\rquote 
t actually move in with Heather but we saw each other most days and I spent most evenings getting to know her and three or four very satisfying, if tiring, nights a week in her bed. I quickly realised what I had been missing by being
 single; the simple things like a tender kiss as a welcome, holding hands whilst out shopping and most of all a cuddle in front of the TV. I\rquote 
d had girlfriends, some even long term but in hindsight they seemed to be purely sexual relationships not a loving one like the one I was now enjoying. 
\par 
\par I knew how I felt and one evening, about a month after we\rquote d first made love I thought it time that I told her that I loved her. She smiled her glorious smile and kissed me. She told me that was something her husband h
ardly ever said and never volunteered. It was quite some time before she said those magic words back to me. Not that I minded waiting, I wanted to hear them of course, but it was more important that they were meant, it just seemed that she needed the time
 
to be certain of her feelings. We talked of a future together, both the practical side of things like where we should live, whether we should marry and the emotional parts like the age difference and the children. For most of that period I went around wit
h a stupid grin on my face, reflecting the happiness I was feeling. All my friends and even some customers went as far as commenting on how happy I appeared. 
\par 
\par I took her to meet my children, although with all four in their twenties I find the word \lquote children\rquote 
 not particularly descriptive. As Heather was closer to their age than mine it was a little difficult at first but eventually they all agreed that she was the best thing that had happened to me in their lifetimes.
\par 
\par Sally and Craig still saw their father, but not as often as before, partly because he wasn\rquote 
t needed to baby sit as much but mainly because they preferred it that way. He was, however, regularly on the phone to Heather, usually complaining about me trying to take his kids away. I didn\rquote t comment,
 but thought that if he tried playing with them and spending some time doing things that interested them then he might have nothing to complain about. When Craig found out that I used to play football at a good level he insisted that I help make him a bet
ter player. His ambition, similar to most boys of his age, lay in professional football. He was getting something of a computer expert, even beginning to learn programming in Delphi. Sally didn\rquote 
t mind too much what she did as long as I was with her, and if her mum was there too, so much the better.
\par 
\par Heather didn\rquote t have any friends of her own, or if she had then I never met them, which I know isn\rquote t rare with separated women, especially those with kids. Their friends tended to be the wives or girlfriends of their husband\rquote 
s friends and the separation usually included them.
\par 
\par I arrived late one evening at Heather\rquote s house, having waited in for an estate agent to value my house. I was looking into the possibilities of selling it and of me and Heather living together
 properly. The valuation had come as a pleasant surprise, nearly double the figure I\rquote d been expecting so I was in a happy mood as I knocked on the door, Heather hadn\rquote t yet offered me a key and I didn\rquote 
t think it important enough to ask for one.
\par 
\par Sally opened the door as bubbly as ever, dragging me in and demanding to be picked up and cuddled. I lovingly obliged. As I\rquote d got used to looking at Sally\rquote s and Heather\rquote 
s faces I soon realised that the TCS affected them both in similar but not identical ways. I knew 
that Heather had had a number of constructive operations, especially around her jaw and as that had proved painful and not massively successful so she had declined similar surgery for Sally. 
\par 
\par I carried the young girl into the front room where her mother w
as reading through some work documents. Seeing me with Sally she instinctively smiled before putting her reading material down. As she looked up to speak the smile dissipated whilst I put her daughter down.
\par 
\par Instantly I felt something was not right. \lquote What\rquote s up?\rquote  I asked without any other greeting.
\par 
\par \lquote Is it that obvious?\rquote  Heather asked before answering her own question, \lquote I suppose it is!\rquote 
\par 
\par I waited.
\par 
\par \lquote Martin wants to come back.\rquote 
\par 
\par \lquote And do you want him back?\rquote  I asked, knowing by her demeanour the answer.
\par 
\par  \lquote I don\rquote t know, I think so, after all he is still my husband and the children\rquote s father, I believe he deserves another chance.\rquote 
\par 
\par I was shell-shocked. I had thought everything between us had being going well. I had consciously tried to prepare myself if our blossoming relationship failed but I\rquote 
d never thought it would be quite this sudden and that I would see enough signs of any breakdown that I could try to repair them before a final split. 
\par 
\par \lquote So that\rquote s it then.\rquote  I said, full of anger and self-pity. \lquote So much for your words of love! Was I just a tool to get him back then? Show him how other men would want you if he didn\rquote t?\rquote 
\par 
\par The look of guilt on her face hurt more than I could ever have imagined. I\rquote d made the accusation in anger but now saw that I was actually right.
\par 
\par Her shame at being caught out made her angry and her voice went as cold as steel. \lquote You had what you wanted so don\rquote t complain. The children need their father, which you aren\rquote t.\rquote 
\par 
\par \lquote I don\rquote t want him back. I want David as my daddy.\rquote  Said Sally vehemently.
\par 
\par We had, as many adults often do, forgotten that children have ears and a mind of their own. We both turned to look at the little girl, tears streaming down her cheeks. I felt a lump in my throat as I took in Sally\rquote s loyalty.
\par 
\par Heather screamed at her. \lquote You are just a child. I will decide what\rquote s right for you. Now get out and stop listening in to my conversations.\rquote 
\par 
\par Sally looked at me before running out of the room shouting \lquote I hate you\rquote  at her mother.
\par 
\par As much as I wanted to vent my anger at my former love, Sally\rquote s words had hit a spot that drained all my venom. With only a look of contempt but without another word I turned and left the house.
\par 
\par Tears filled my eyes and I had to wait quite a while before I felt capable of the short drive home. 
\par 
\par I have never f
elt so bad, even during my divorce, as I felt the following months, I stopped working, eating and looking after myself and started drinking more than was good for me, even becoming occasionally suicidal. How had I let myself be conned like that. My love f
or Heather had been, and if I was honest, still was, stronger than I\rquote d thought possible. I\rquote d naively believed her when she told me she loved me, although in retrospect it was nearly always \lquote I love you too\rquote 
 in response to my words. Whenever I was close to rock bottom the memory of Sally always seemed to appear. I had gotten to know and love a wonderful young girl and knowing that that love was reciprocated was the one good thing to come out of our affair.

\par 
\par I do know that I\rquote ll never be able to trust a woman again and that any casual affair would be going backwards I decided on a life of celibacy.
\par 
\par I wrote a short and rather inept poem not long after the split.
\par 
\par 
\par Before the knock at my door
\par Thought my life was at its best
\par Didn\rquote t see the fatal flaw
\par Only saw sexual conquest
\par 
\par You brought light from dark
\par Dragged me away from sheer lust
\par Left upon me your indelible mark
\par Only to then rob me of all trust
\par 
\par Comments welcome to:
\par Telephoneman69@hotmail.com
\par }}