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CHRISTMAS LINDA PART 2 - ONE SPECIAL NIGHT
by Paul Curtis I found myself stranded in a strange town With less than a week to go before Christmas Stranded two hundred miles from home With a seriously ill car in the garage And a lack of will to contemplate train travel In truth I was in no hurry to return home To the empty soulless house that once was home But now held no comfort for me My wife of twenty five years had died a year before Finally loosing her battle with cancer And my children were all grown up now With homes and families of their own The house would be full at Christmas Full of noise and hustle and bustle, And the usual mix of love, laughter and tears But for now it was cold and empty So I booked into a hotel for the weekend And I would drive home on Monday So finding myself in a strange town Just a few days before Christmas And with more than a little time to kill I decided I could fill part of my day By doing some last minute Christmas shopping As I stepped out of the Hotel I shivered The day was cold, grey and damp And clouds scudded across the December sky It was the kind of day that chilled you to the bone I made my way towards the high street It was only a five minute walk The receptionist assured me with a smile As she jotted down some brief directions In an effort to warm myself up I walked briskly following her directions Down the narrow almost Dickensian lanes and ally ways Passing picturesque Victorian and Tudor buildings, well mock Tudor As I went and it was indeed five minutes when I emerged Onto the busy cobbled pedestrianised high street It was a curious mixture of ancient and modern At one end of the street a Norman church was visible And at the other was what appeared to be a municipal building With rather pretentious Georgian columns There was still evidence of a row of Edwardian shop fronts But much of the street was modern With a little too much sixties influence to be easy on the eye The street was criss-crossed along the full length With festive lights and decorations Which did there best to brighten the scene I decided to familiarize my self with what the town had to offer In the way of shops so I turned left and joined the throng of shoppers Faces gloomy to match the weather And headed towards the Georgian pillared building This turned out to be the public library As I dodged between the Christmas Lemmings I made a mental note of shops I would return to My progress was hampered by erratic shoppers Who moved it appeared independently to any logic Some seemed to zigzag everywhere and very few possessed The ability to walk in a straight line for more than a few paces And others would take a few steps then stop for no apparent reason Then after a few moments pause carry on normally in the same direction The sound of cheery Christmas songs and carols Could be heard from every shop I passed Though the cheeriness of the music Was clearly not reflected on the faces Of the shoppers going in and out of them As I passed one shop Noddy Holder screamed "it's Christmas" Just in case any of the reluctant shoppers were in any doubt When I reached the other end of the high street Where the church stood there was a little square Which I wasn't able to see before In the centre of which was the war memorial And to its left was a magnificent Christmas tree Covered in baubles and adorned by a beautiful angel Assembled around the tree was the Salvation Army band I took a few moments to admire the tree and listen to the band And I was taken back to a distant time and place The clock chimed and I was brought back to the present I took a few more moments while I decided on my first port of call Not realizing just how important a decision it was I decided on Woolworths, always a favorite of mine at Christmas But it also happened to be the closest So I walked towards the store and pushed open the door As I entered I paused to hold the door open for a woman coming the other way I waited as she put her purse away into a huge handbag And I wondered what I would get for my trouble I had found the older I got the less women appreciated courtesy The simple act of holding open a door could provoke a range of responses A smile, a thank you, a nod, a sneer, a tut or a colorful mouth full of abuse And you couldn't always tell who was going to do what When she had finished fiddling and securing her bag She moved to step through the open door As she passed me she looked up said "Thank you" and smiled broadly And then she stopped as I returned her smile and then I just stood there Both of us stood motionless as slowly the recognition set in We both stood there dumbstruck not believing our eyes I'm not sure how long for but long enough for a queue to form behind each of us We both blushed and excused ourselves And stepped out onto the street away from the door Neither of us knew what to say I couldn't believe it was Linda Who I last saw 30 years before being driven off in a taxi Disappearing off through the snow With her palm pressed against the glass her neck craned to keep sight of me And here she stood before me as beautiful as ever she was The soft curls of her brown hair still danced on her shoulders Yet with fine strands of silver threaded thru it Her smile was still able to melt my heart even after all those years Her smiling eyes still had the same sparkle The years had been kind to her and too me much less so I was still fumbling for the words to say as I studied her When she reached up and hugged my neck Kissing my cheek at the same time And spoke softly in my ear "Paul, Is it really you?" I simply said yes and we stood in that long comfortable embrace I don't know how long we stood there not wanting to let go Then as she relaxed her grip and I kissed her forehead "It's so good too see you" I said feebly She put her head on my chest, squeezed me and sighed Then released her grip and pulled away slightly And put her hand up to my cheek and caressed my grey beard "Do you have time for coffee"? She said almost pleadingly I said of course and she put her arm through mine and led me across the high street Asking quick fire questions as we went And I explained about my car breaking down And that I was staying at the Cromwell hotel She said "oh really" and "oh dear" delighting in my misfortune We sat on a large comfortable sofa in Starbucks And told the tales of our lives spent apart Throughout I looked at her with adoring eyes Pinching myself expecting to awake from a dream As I had done so very may times before I told her about my wife and children She told me of her marriage and subsequent divorce The good man I gave her up for turned out to be a violent drunk She had no children which although unsaid was clearly a regret With the aid of several cups of coffee we managed to talk away the entire morning I suggested we might spend the day together And have dinner together at the hotel She accepted the invitation to dinner with a delightful smile Then she looked at her watch and suddenly jumped up "Look at the time, I have to go" she flustered She said she had a prior commitment "Lunch with mum" she said rather unconvincingly She said it was something she couldn't get out of As I helped her back into her coat the smell of her hair Evoked memories of our past embraces She fished out her mobile phone as we left the coffee shop From her huge handbag and we exchanged phone numbers And we firmed up the details for the evening Then with a hug and a kiss she was off I stood and watched her walk away her coat tails swishing behind her She stopped briefly and turned to give me a smile and a wave Then with the phone to her ear she hurried off again talking animatedly I stood watching until she disappeared from sight Then I went back to my Christmas shopping And treated myself to a new shirt for the evening I bought the gifts I was looking for and paper, tags, cards etc And with all my shopping complete I returned to the hotel for lunch The rest of the day seemed intolerably long In an effort to kill some time I went for a swim Used the gym, went for a walk I got a haircut even though I didn't need one I even wrapped the Christmas presents I had bought But the time passed so interminably slowly I walked into the hotel bar at 7 o'clock an hour early Partly for some Dutch courage and in part because I had run out of things to do I ordered a drink and then sat at the bar Even though I wasn't expecting her until eight Every time the door opened I turned to look for her And when it wasn't her self doubt crept in And with every false alarm the doubts got worse What if she doesn't come? What if she changed her mind? What if she never intended to come? What if? What if? What if? Then at a quarter to the hour the door opened and there she was There she stood wearing a simple black knee length dress Black tights or stockings and four-inch stiletto shoes Her legs as shapely as I remembered them And in one hand she held a black leather clutch bag Her face looked a little anxious until I stood up And then it lit up in the most radiant smile Then she walked towards me Almost tottering on her heels and she laughed I took her hand as she climbed onto a stool And kissed her cheek the fragrance of her perfume was intoxicating Going straight to my head like a strong spirit The combination of her scent and my desire for her almost made me swoon I ordered her a drink and we nervously made small talk Like two strangers on a blind date Until the waitress led us through to the restaurant Once we were seated at our table I asked her how her lunch with mum went And she blushed the deepest red She told me the lunch date was a little white lie Because she needed the afternoon to get ready And the animated phone call was to her sister To rally the troops to get her presentable We both laughed and any awkwardness was gone We talked with such an easy familiarity As if her departing taxi had only been a week ago By the time we had finished our coffee the restaurant was empty Except for us and a weary waitress waiting to clear our table The evening seemed to have passed in the blink of an eye And had all too soon come to an end We got up and made our apologies Linda went through the door to the ladies and I settled the bill I said good night and had made my apologies again Then went in search of Linda through the same door she had used I found her standing by the Christmas tree She had retrieved her coat and scarf from the cloakroom Which were draped over one arm her bag was in her hand Linda stood with her back to me gazing out of the window She could see my reflection in the glass and smiled I gasped at the beauty of her and pinched myself again I wanted to kiss her so much but I was afraid Afraid to break the magic of that special kiss That perfect moment when we kissed in the snow All those years ago when I let her slip from my grasp For 30 years I had revered that moment Relived it whenever I felt a snowflake on my skin Or stood in a taxi queue on a winters night Or when I hear the Salvation Army play Or when the snow falls during Christmas time For 30 years I had wanted to be back there holding her in the snow And here I stood a few steps away and I was hesitant As if sensing my turmoil she turned away from the window And I took those few steps to face her We stood for a few moments just looking at each other Then she smiled her most heart melting smile As she caressed my cheek then she pulled me to her And kissed me gently on the lips, a tender and sensitive kiss When our lips met electricity ran down my spine And it was as if we were young again Our lips parted for a second then met again And her kiss became more intense, more passionate Her coat, scarf and bag fell to the floor as our arms enveloped each other We stood locked in our passionate embrace as the tree lights twinkled Then she pulled away for a moment before burying her face in my neck And spoke softly in my ear "you see that was as good as the first time" How could I have doubted it would not be perfect? I slid my fingers beneath her hair caressing her nape And gently turned her head so I could kiss her sweet lips again This time when we disengaged she put her head on my chest Still holding on to me so tightly I kissed the top of her head and smelled her hair I didn't want to let her go, and then I said "please stay" "I can't watch you disappear from my life in another taxi" She lifted her head and looked at me and said "I'm not letting you go again, not now not ever" Then she smiled at me coyly and blushed like a virgin And buried her face in my chest again Then she scooped up her coat, scarf and bag from the floor Took my hand and we walked in silence to my room Outside the room she looked into my eyes and kissed my mouth Then I opened the door and let her walk inside She dropped her coat and bag onto a chair and turned to face me Reached up and wrapped her arms around my neck And whispered in my ear "I never stopped loving you" My arms enfolded her and pulled her to me tightly Then we kissed at first soft and tender then more urgently And I began to un-wrap my most special Christmas gift Wrapped in lace and silk instead of paper and ribbon Caressing her body from neck to Lacy stocking top And our love was at last made absolute When our act of love was complete and our dreams realized We lay holding each other in the afterglow Silently content until we drifted off to sleep I awoke to find her stood silhouetted against the window Gazing out wearing my shirt to cover her nakedness She turned her head to me and said "it's snowing" I slipped out of bed joined her at the window Standing behind her and enveloping her in my arms We watched as the snow settled on the courtyard She hugged my arms and said "How perfect is that"? Both of us thinking back to the last time we enjoyed the snowfall together We stood for a few minutes taking in the snowy scene Then she inclined her head so I could kiss her When my hands moved from her soft belly and cupped her breasts She led me back to the bed and we made love again I woke early and lay in the half light and held Linda's sleeping form in my arms As I lay there I thought how good the fates had been to us If my car hadn't broken down, and had I not rejected the idea of taking the train I would not have been shopping on that cold grey morning I thought about the moments I spent admiring that tree in the square And listening to the Salvation Army band And what thought processes made me do what I did Was it destiny that I chose Woolworths at that very moment or just blind luck? All I knew was that 24 hours before my life had been so empty And now it was full and I was finally with my soul mate Linda was in my life at last and I wanted her never to leave it again But if fate decreed that this one special night Was all we could have I would have to be content I am a fifty something family man with a passion for writing and I draw inspiration from those around me. paul.curtis1956 @ btinternet.com http://www.dreamagic.com/poetry/poetry.html http://www.peculiar-poetry.com/ Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com |