Charity Begins at Home, Chapter 10 – Wrong Move

Lorna stretched and turned over, momentarily surprised to see a man next to her in the bed.

She smiled to herself and thought back to last night, when she and Alan had spent the night together. It had been completely different from anything she had experienced before and now she knew what all the fuss was about! 67 years old and just discovering how mind-blowing sex could be – all these years she had thought that she just had a low libido and wasn’t really interested. The problem now was that she wanted more, more, more!

Alan lay with his eyes closed and wondered how he could get out of bed and into the bathroom without Lorna seeing his morning erection! He didn’t want her to think that he was ready for another session of love-making (although he was) but he was feeling a slight touch of remorse and didn’t know whether or not to continue with this dalliance. Last night had been pleasant although it had been strange to have sex with an older women, even though she had kept herself in good condition. At first, there had seemed to be just passive acquiescence, although he had been picking up the sexual signals since he had met her, but then his expert manipulation of her body had seemed to unleash reactions which had obviously surprised her and delighted him!

Once they had both showered, dressed and had breakfast, Alan invented an appointment in town, kissed Lorna goodbye and drove away. She closed the door behind him, wondering at his impatience to be gone after such a lovely evening and night, then shrugged and got on with her housework, singing to herself as she dusted and vacuumed. She wondered if she would see him again soon; he had given her his mobile number and his email address so that she was able to contact him.

Later that week, as she sat alone watching TV and flicking through a magazine, she debated whether or not to telephone him. She hadn’t put him down as a one-night stand man who would desert her as soon as he’d had his wicked way but he was certainly giving that impression. She cast her mind back to “that night” and tried to remember if there had been anything untoward in what she had said or done but could think of nothing. Perhaps he was one of those men who wanted to be told that he was amazing in bed? No, not Alan, he knew he was good; there must be a good reason for him not contacting her and no doubt she would find out soon. If he didn’t call her, then she would phone him just for a chat.

Alan toyed with the idea of phoning Lorna to invite her out for the evening. She was pleasant company and, for an older woman, looked good on his arm and wouldn’t disgrace him if he met anyone he knew. He could always say that she was an old friend; no need to let them know that they had been bed-fellows! Although that had been surprisingly interesting, after her initial passive response to his advances. He had begun to think that he’d misread the signals from her but he must have done something right as she suddenly livened up and actually joined in! He usually preferred the young, attractive girls or women who weren’t afraid to state what they wanted and often initiated the more uninhibited forms of sex, but it had made a refreshing change to encourage Lorna from her passive state into some signs of passion. He did feel a slight twinge of guilt at stealing her from Richard but she had done all of the running while Richard had done nothing to stop her.

Richard sat at home, alone with his M&S dinner for one and a glass of Pinot Grigio Blush – he’d bought a case as it was Lorna’s favourite but she wasn’t around to drink it now. He was still shocked and hurt at how she had virtually flung herself at the younger Alan Martin and they had disappeared together at the end of the evening. How could he have misjudged her so much? He hadn’t even had the time to warn her of Alan’s reputation as a ladies’ man and, if rumour were true, as a bit of a heartless “stud”. Maybe that was the attraction, compared to a staid old duffer like himself.

Lorna checked her mobile phone for what seemed like the thousandth time! Nothing from Alan, or anything from Richard. Had Alan just been playing with her and had she let go of a valuable friend for a night of passion, however wonderful it had been? How could she contact Richard now to apologise and would he want to see her again? Did she want to see Alan again? Stupid question – of course she did, especially if more of that wonderful sex was on offer. She had years of neglect and ignorance to make up for, after all.

Alan decided to make that call and was pleasantly surprised when Lorna responded so eagerly to his suggestion of an early supper and an evening at the movies on the following evening; he was used to the modern miss being very blasé when accepting invitations out. He arranged to pick her up in at home; it meant that he couldn’t have too much to drink but if he wanted to stay the night he didn’t want to impair his considerable “technical” abilities. In the unlikely event that she turned him down for a sleepover, then he would go back into town, have a few drinks at one of the night clubs and see who he could pick up for the rest of the evening; he was that confident of his charms!

Richard put down the phone, having left yet another message on Lorna’s voicemail. He was beginning to think that she was deliberately blocking his calls but he would keep on trying. He needed to see her to discuss the situation, even if it was the last time he saw her. She had to know about Alan’s reputation with the ladies, although she might think that he was being a “dog in the manger” about it. He really cared about Lorna and only wanted what was good for her and he certainly didn’t think it was Alan Martin, not in the long term anyway.

Lorna listened to yet another voice message from Richard, feeling guilty. The problem was that, although she did feel so guilty about how she had treated him, she didn’t know what to do or say now. While they had made no commitment to each other, they had been very good friends and they had slept together, albeit only the once. Now she had literally dumped him in favour of a younger man who made all of her hormones leap into action and was an amazing lover, although in her heart of hearts she knew that he would just as quickly “forget” to phone her and leave her without a qualm.

The evening out had been fun; an early supper followed by one of the current “must see” movies. Alan drove Lorna home, wondering whether or not he’d be invited in for coffee and more. Although he was always ready for sex, he still wasn’t too sure where this relationship was going and he didn’t want to get too involved or, more to the point, he didn’t want Lorna to get too involved. It would make it much more difficult to extricate himself when he got bored and he did like things to be easy! As anticipated, he was invited in for coffee, which became more, and he eventually left at 8.30 the following morning, wondering what an earth he had unleashed – Lorna had certainly been extremely demanding and it had taken all of his considerable prowess to deal with her.

Lorna took a deep breath and picked up the phone to call Richard. She was in such a good mood after the lovely evening with Alan that she felt she could deal with anything, even a grumpy Richard. Wretched voicemail again – “Hello, Richard, it’s Lorna here, returning your call. I hope that you are OK and sorry I haven’t been in touch sooner but I’ve been really busy. Why don’t we have lunch one day soon and catch up? Give me a call when you get this message. Byee”. She winced as she put down the phone; it sounded so artificial but she hated leaving messages anyway, as well as feeling very awkward.

“Let’s do lunch!”, Richard snorted to himself. Was that going to solve anything? He did want to see her, but without the spectre of Alan hanging over them; he supposed that lunch was going to be the best option. He took the easy option and sent her a text message inviting her to meet him at the Royal Hotel for lunch the following Thursday. Even if she didn’t turn up, he’d get a decent lunch and not feel a fool sitting there on his own.

Lorna eventually set off for lunch on the Thursday. She had changed her outfit three times and had settled on a well cut pair of trousers with a silky T-shirt and long jacket instead of the first two outfits, which had been too fussy. This way, if Richard didn’t turn up, she wasn’t too dressy and could go on into town for some retail therapy. She hadn’t heard from Alan at all since their evening out and was still hesitant about calling him in case he thought she was too demanding. She wasn’t sure that he’d been too happy with her demands that night but he had obliged her! She smiled at the delicious memory, buckled on her seat belt and set off for the confrontation with Richard.

To be continued …….

Chapter 11

Written by Laura Wickham