I looked at my watch; it was three in the morning. Lying back against the pillows, I wondered what Michelle would think of me. Did she think that my migraine was just an excuse? Had I drunk too much?   Love Hurts by Susan Brown

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Part 2 of 3

Previously...
 
After sipping the drink I looked at Michelle. She looked a bit worried.

“I’m okay, honest,” I said as I tried to get up and promptly sat down as the room started spinning.

“Right,” said Michelle, “Goodnight girls, we’ll see you in the morning.”

I can’t really remember much else. My head was throbbing and my eyes sort of started seeing flashing lights and my hands and feet started to go all tingly. I do remember getting all upset that I was ruining Michelle’s evening and I got a bit tearful…

I woke up in bed. The lights were out and my migraine was thankfully only in my memory. I was pleased about that because the last one I had lasted 24 hours.

I turned on the bedside lamp and blinking in the sudden brightness, I saw that I was in my own room and I was alone. I was wearing my silky nightie so I assumed that Michelle had somehow undressed me.

Looking at the other pillow, I could see that Michelle had not slept with me. Had I blown it with her?

And now the story continues…

After sipping the drink I looked at Michelle. She looked a bit worried.

“I’m okay, honest.” I said as I tried to get up and promptly sat down as the room started spinning.

“Right,” said Michelle, “Goodnight girls, we’ll see you in the morning.”

I can’t really remember much else. My head was throbbing and my eyes sort of started seeing flashing lights and my hands and feet started to go all tingly. I do remember getting all upset that I was ruining Michelle’s evening and I got a bit tearful…

I woke up in bed. The lights were out and my migraine was thankfully only in my memory. I was pleased about that because the last one I had lasted 24 hours.

I turned on the bedside lamp and blinking in the sudden brightness, I saw that I was in my own room and I was alone. I was wearing my silky nightie so I assumed that Michelle had somehow undressed me.

Looking at the other pillow, I could see that Michelle had not slept with me. Had I blown it with her?

And now the story continues…

I looked at my watch; it was three in the morning. Lying back against the pillows, I wondered what Michelle would think of me. Did she think that my migraine was just an excuse? Had I drunk too much? Thinking back, I realised that I had only had three glasses but maybe she hadn’t been counting. I cursed the crappy migraine; it was the first attack I’d experienced in nearly a year. It would have to happen now, wouldn’t it!

I got up and went into the bathroom for a wee. Sitting on the cold seat, I reflected that this year had not been a very lucky one for me and thank God that it was nearly over. I yawned, still very tired and a bit washed out after my migraine attack.

Soon I made my way back to bed and switched the light off. Thankfully, I fell asleep almost as soon as my head touched the pillow and had a relatively calm night.

The next morning I woke up to the sound of ringing. Reaching out, I picked up the phone, nearly dropping it as I did so. I pressed the handset to my ear; was it Michelle?

‘This is your morning wake up call, I hope you have a nice day.’ said the impersonal recording.

‘Bugger off.’ I said and put the phone down.

Yawning hugely, I looked at my watch; 7.00am time to get up, I supposed. I had a quick shower and washed my hair. After drying my hair, I went back into the bedroom and over to the closet. I picked out my cream; satin lined suede effect skirt and cream satin blouse and put them on the bed. I was still sort of numb, upset at the thought of Michelle probably not wanting to see me again. Being rather fragile and lacking in self esteem, I was definitely not feeling too bright and optimistic this morning. To say that I was not a happy bunny would be something of an understatement.

I slipped on my bra, lacy panties and tights; then went over to the dressing table to do my makeup. I think that I was on auto pilot as I did my face and it is a testament to my growing expertise that despite the distractions I was able to make a creditably reasonable job of it.
As I walked over to the bed, I noticed a slip of paper on the floor, nearly under the bed.
Bending down, I picked it up and my heart beat faster as I read the note.

Karen,
Sorry for the quick scribble but I’m in a hurry.
You were pretty well out of it went we got back to your room, so I got you undressed and made sure that you would be okay. Migraines are the pits. My mother still suffers badly from them so I know a bit about what it’s like on a personal level.
I had a phone call about one of my patients and I have to go and sort him out. I wanted to stay with you but his need was greater than yours I’m afraid so I have to go. I probably won’t be back until breakfast so hopefully we’ll meet up again then.
Love Michelle.
XXXXX
PS I miss you already!!

I started to tear up as I read the note. So I hadn’t lost her after all! Suddenly the day seemed a bit brighter and my disposition changed from being on the dark side to ‘all was happy with the world’ mode.

I quickly finished dressing and made my way downstairs for breakfast. There weren’t many people in the dining room, but as I glanced over to one side, I could see Sharon and Pat sitting eating their breakfast; there was no sign of Michelle.

‘Hi girls,’ I said, sitting down.

‘Hello, Karen, how are you?’

‘Okay Pat; a bit tired but my thumping headache has gone.’

‘Where’s Michelle?’ asked Sharon.

‘She was called out for a sick patient.’

‘Bummer.’

‘Mmm,’ I said as I tucked into some cornflakes.

After drinking some coffee I felt at least fifty percent human again. I looked up and smiled as I saw Michelle walking across the room, coming in our direction. She looked a bit tired, having been up for hours, but had a lovely smile on her face as she looked at me; my tummy felt all squishy for some reason.

‘Hi girls.’ she said brightly as she gave me a peck on the cheek and sat down next to me.

‘’Rough night?’ asked Sharon as she poured Michelle a cup of coffee.

‘Yes; one of my patients had a heart attack and it was touch and go, but I think he’ll be okay now. That will teach him not to play squash when he’s three stones overweight with blood pressure and cholesterol through the roof. Some people never learn.’

‘It’s a shame that you were on call while being here. Couldn’t someone else do it?’ enquired Pat.

‘Not really. We aren’t like the NHS; when you have private patients who pay a lot for our services, they expect to see their own doctor and not a locum.’

‘But you do a lot of NHS work too.’ I said, ‘you shouldn’t work so hard; how many hours do you normally work in a week?’

‘I’ve lost count,’ laughed Michelle, ‘It would be easier to ask how many hours I didn’t work.’

I looked at her, concerned that she was going to burn out if she didn’t choose between private or NHS. But I decided to keep my thoughts to myself for now. I didn’t want her to think I was nagging; I wasn’t her wife, after all!

‘Are you okay now?’ Michelle asked me.

‘Yes, I’m fine. Sorry about last night.’

‘It was a great night except for your migraine that is. At least you had a nice time until nearly the end.’

‘That’s true,’ I laughed, ‘thanks for seeing me safe and putting me to bed.’

Both Sharon and Pat said at the same time, ‘Too much information!’ and we all laughed, my face going all hot for some reason.

We finished our breakfast and then it was time to say goodbye to Pat and Sharon. They were going up town shopping and then home.

After kisses and hugs, they left the breakfast room promising to keep in touch; leaving Michelle and I to have a final coffee before going up and doing the packing.

I hoped that Michelle and I could see a lot of each other in the future, if that was possible and as we spoke quietly to one another, I could see that she felt the same.

I looked into her eyes and could see the dark circles under them.

‘You work too hard.’ I said, frowning.

‘I know; I need to lighten up a bit. My practice partner Brian was saying only the other day that we could do with a couple more doctors and I think that we have sort of decided to start looking around in the new year.’

‘Good, I don’t like seeing you tired.’

She reached across the table and held my hand.

‘It’s nice that you care; nobody has done that for a while.’

‘It feels a bit strange to me too. When I woke up this morning, I believed that you were angry with me and thought that I had too much to drink. Then I saw your note and I felt a whole lot better.’

Michelle smiled and then glanced at her watch.

‘I suppose we ought to go and pack.’

I just sort of smiled sadly and just nodded.

Forty minutes later, I had packed and was ready to leave. I sat on the bed and recalled the things that had happened over the last few days. There was a knock on the door I snapped out of it. Getting up, I went over to open the door. Standing there was Michelle with her coat and two cases.

‘Come in.’

We sat on the sofa holding hands. I was so sad that our time together was nearly over.
‘Have you brought your car?’ asked Michelle.

‘No, I was going to take the train.’ I still hadn’t told her about not having a car; I was a bit ashamed about my circumstances really and didn’t want to dwell on my near pauper status. Okay pauper is a bit strong, but you get my meaning.

‘Look, can I give you a lift home or better still, can you spend the day with me?’

‘Aren’t you on call?’

‘Yes, but with luck I won’t be needed. Last night was a bit exceptional; anyway, my partner owes me, so I’ll ask him to cover if necessary.’

‘I thought that you said your patients expect a personal service from you.’

‘They do, but sometimes we need to have a bit of time off and anyway Brian has a better bedside manner than me. What do you say?’

The thought of going back to that dreary flat kind of made me shiver a bit. I wasn’t due back at work for until tomorrow afternoon - Christmas Eve. Looking at Michelle, I knew that I wanted to spend as much time as possible with her and so I just smiled and nodded.

‘Wheeee!’

I was given a big hug and showered with kisses. Then, we sort of lost track of time and I needed to do some emergency work on my makeup before we left the room and went downstairs to hand our keys into reception. Michelle was one passionate girl!

At reception, we thanked the manager for the lovely time we had and were soon in Michelle’s car heading out of town.

After a while we were out in the country and the fields went by in a blur as we talked about our weekend and what we intended to do today.

‘Do you fancy some lunch?’ enquired Michelle.

‘That would be nice.’

‘I know somewhere that you will like, not too expensive and it’s in a lovely village.’

‘That sounds lovely.’

About twenty minutes later, we found ourselves going through a quaint little village complete with thatched roof cottages, a church and village green with a pond in the middle, occupied by large numbers of quaking ducks and the odd swan or two. It was an American tourists dream; the sort of place that they made puzzles out of.

On the far side of the green, was a thatched roofed pub that looked very old, pretty and Quaint with a capital Q. Michelle parked the car around the back in the small car park and we walked through the rear entrance of the pub and into a small bar. There were several people there, drinking quietly and seated around the tables that dotted the room. Some of the customers looked up and smiled at us. That was nice because you sometimes go into pubs and conversation stops as they look at the strange newcomers. On the far wall was a large blazing log fire which was very welcoming but rather hot if you went too near it. The ceiling was low and had dark wooden beams. This was no mock up of an oldie world pub, it was the real thing.

We walked up to the bar and were greeted by a jovial rather large man.

‘Hello Michelle, not seen you in here for a while?’

‘Hi Jeff; yes too busy as usual, but it’s nice to be back; this is my friend Karen,’

‘Hello Karen, it’s nice to see you; what can I get you both?’

‘Can I just have a diet coke please?’

‘Certainly, and you Michelle?’

‘I’ll have same please. Are you serving lunches?’

‘Yes; here are your drinks. You can take them through to the dining room if you like. Sandra will bring you some menus.’

We walked through an archway and sat at one of the free tables. Several people said hello to Michelle and I wondered if they knew about her history. If they did, it didn’t seem to matter. Thinking about that made me recall the problems I had at work with my supervisor, I wondered how much longer I could take the harassment. I wish she was more accepting.

A pleasant looking woman walked up to the table with a nice open smile on her face.

‘Hello Michelle, nice to see you again.’

‘Hi Sandra, you’re looking well.’

‘Not too bad, Jeff’s driving me nuts as usual but apart from that, things are fine.’

‘Sandra, this is Karen. Karen meet Sandra, Jeff’s long suffering wife.’

‘Hello.’ I said a bit shyly.

‘Nice to meet you Karen; now here are the menus; I’ll leave you to have a look and I’ll be back shortly.’

It was simple pub style food and I ordered steak pie and chips and Michelle opted for fish and chips — nice and healthy — not!

When the food came, it was piping hot, lots of it and delicious. I cleared the plate, something I don’t normally do. We talked about lots of things while we ate; our jobs, the lovely weekend that we had, clothes, makeup. It was lovely to chat like this and the time flew by.

‘So,’ I said, dipping into some ice cream, ‘you know this place quite well.’

‘I should do, it’s my local.’

‘So you live near here then. I thought I recognised the name of the village from our chats on line. Little Bottom is not a name you can forget!’

‘Yes,’ she laughed, ‘at least it’s not called Pratt’s Bottom!’

We both had a bit of a giggle at that! I looked at my watch and realised that we had been sitting here for nearly two hours!

‘Well,’ I said, finishing my coffee and looking around, noticing that we were the only diners still there, ‘what now?’

‘Well we could go for a drive, but it will be dark soon. I so hate it in the winter when the nights draw in so quickly. Or, if you want to, I could show you my little house.’

‘I’d love to see your place. You’ve never talked much about it and I’m like most girls, dying to see your net curtains, soft furnishings not forgetting your etchings!’

We both laughed and then Michelle paid the bill. I offered to help but she just told me that it was my turn next time.

We thanked Jeff and Sandra for the nice meal and Michelle promised them that she would try to get in a bit more often. Stepping out into the cold air reminded me that wearing a skirt can be a bit counterproductive at times. We walked as briskly as possible to the Merc and as soon as we were both in, Michelle started the engine. Soon the heater started working and we lost some of our chilliness as the warmth permeated into our bones.

We turned left out of the car park and went down the main road, if you could call it that, out of the village, past the post office, butchers, bakers and a few other small shops.

After about a mile, we turned off into a small country lane with hedgerows on each side. There were a few houses on each side of the road and they all looked somewhat affluent. Finally, we turned into a drive that led up to a rather large detached house, fairly modern with gables and large well laid out gardens. It was all quite lovely. Obviously, doctoring paid quite well!

We stopped outside the front doors and Michelle switched the engine off.

‘Here we are; what do you think?’

‘Bit of a dump.’ I said with a straight face, ‘I prefer my flat.’

‘Bloody cheek!’ laughed Michelle as she tickled me in places that make me blush thinking about it, even now!

We got out of the car and went into the house. It was as nice inside as it was out. The hall was large and had a central staircase leading to a large landing. I followed Michelle along a short corridor and that led into a large modern kitchen. As we walked in, I didn’t take in too much as standing to one side was a young woman about two or three years younger than me. She looked round as we came in.

‘Michelle!,’ she screeched, running to Michelle and throwing her arms around her shoulders.

I just stood there doing my famous impression of a goldfish, not quite sure what was going on.

‘Rachel, what are you doing home?’

Then I twigged. Rachel was Michelle’s younger sister, still at college and a bit of a live wire from what I had been told.

‘Well, I finished college a wee bit early so I thought would come and surprise you.’

She was pretty, quite thin with long blond hair that hung loosely down her shoulders. She had on a knee length black skirt and red jumper, black tights and boots. Michelle and Rachel were obviously very close and I smiled as I saw how they behaved towards each other.

Rachel glanced up and saw me, smiling, she let go of her sister and came over to me, hand outstretched.

Grabbing my hand she said, ‘Karen? It has to be you. I saw your piccie on Michelle’s computer. You look lovely.’

She looked at both of us and smiled.

You’re a couple aren’t you? I can tell. You have that look, you know the one. It’s when you can’t stand to be apart. This is lovely; I’ve wanted her to get together with someone ever since that bitch of a wife Catherine left her…’

‘Rachel, Karen doesn’t want to hear about that and anyway, she knows about it already.’

‘Spoilsport, you know I like a juicy bit of gossip. Anyway, it’s nice to meet you at last Karen. I knew from what Michelle told me that you were a bit special. She hasn’t stopped going on about seeing you at that do of yours for ages. Anyway, changing the subject as you two have both gone a lovely shade of beetroot red; anyone for a cuppa?’

I looked at Michelle and she looked at me and we both burst out laughing.

‘What? What have I said?’

That just started us off again…

A little while later, we were all relaxing in the comfortable sitting room, which was larger than my whole flat and drinking our coffees.

Michele was telling Rachel about our weekend and trying to steer her away from asking questions about what we got up to at night. She was incorrigible but we had to laugh. I liked Rachel, she was nice and refreshing and she obviously loved her sister to bits.

‘So,’ she said turning her radar on me. ‘I assume that you are staying the night and I don’t have to air one of the spare rooms?’

‘RACHEL!’ shouted a very embarrassed Michelle.’ Please keep your smutty remarks to yourself and anyway, we haven’t discussed anything like that.’

‘Look Rachel,’ I said, trying to look serious but, to be honest, it was a losing battle, ‘we don’t want to go too fast and anyway, I had intended to go back home this evening; we hadn’t made any other plans.’

‘Balls, as the actress said to the bishop. I can see that you too need to be joined at the hip. Look at the way you keep looking at each other. I bet it was lust at first sight. I don’t go in for all that lovey dovey stuff and I probably won’t until Mr or Miss or even Mrs Right comes along; then I expect to get all gooey eyed like you too love birds. Until then, I can bully my sister and possible future sister in law…’

‘RACHEL!’ we both said at once. I hadn’t bargained on the possibility of permanent arrangements. I was just lucky to have found Michelle, and she me. Anything else would be for the future, if it happened at all.

‘Sorry! My, we are touchy. Anyway Karen, are you staying the night? I wish you would. I want to show you some piccies of Michelle when she was little and still Michael, even then she was cute. I have a nice one of her wearing her first fairy dress for a fancy dress. She was only four and Mummy said that she had a hell of a job prising her out of it and into boys stuff. There were tears at bed time evidentially.

‘Look Rachel,’ said Michelle with the sound of desperation in her voice, ‘please leave it. I’m sure that Karen doesn’t want to hear about my misspent youth…’

‘Oh I do,’ I smiled mischiefly. ‘I want to know every dirty little detail.’

‘Oh, so erm, will you stay the night then?’

‘If you’re asking.’

‘I’m asking.’

‘Then yes. It would be lovely. Tell me.’ I said turning to Rachel.’ Did she ever wear a tutu?’

‘Funny you should say that…’

I could hear a sort of groaning sound coming from Michelle and I had a feeling that tonight was going to be enjoyable.

That evening was fun. I got to know Rachel a lot better and under that slightly aggressive attitude, she was quite soft underneath. We laughed over Michelle’s photo album and I could see that from a young age, she looked much more a girl than a boy. We had a snack for tea, just sandwiches and cake. We were both a still a bit full up from our extended lunch and Rachel said she was on a diet, though why she said that I didn’t know as she was quite thin and had a gorgeous body.

We sat long into the evening chatting about ourselves. Rachel was studying for the law and hoped to be a hotshot barrister when she completed her studies. Michelle talked about her practice and how she hoped that things would calm down a bit when they got a few more doctors on board. I told them about my previous work with computers and the fact that I was now in a low paid job looking after the elderly and how I didn’t get on with my supervisor.

‘She can’t be like that,’ said Rachel, ‘it sounds a lot like harassment and bullying to me.

Do you want me to have a word with one of my tutors; she is well up on that side of the law?’

‘Thanks, but no. I’m a big girl now. I want to see if I can outlast her. There is quite a high turnover of staff in my type of work and she might be gone in a few months.’

Rachel was doubtful but made me promise to tell her if things got too bad.

All too soon it was nearly midnight and Rachel gave us both a kiss and went off to bed. I could see that she was bursting to say something outrageous about something, but she held off after a ‘look’ from Michelle.

We went out to the car and brought the cases in. With everything going on, we had forgotten to go and get them earlier.

We took the cases upstairs to Michelle’s bedroom. Opening my case, I remembered that my nightie was a bit grubby for some reason and Michelle said that she would find something for me to wear. I went into the bathroom, had a wee and then cleaned the makeup off my face. After cleaning my teeth and brushing my hair, I went back into the bedroom. Michelle was sitting on the bed.

‘All done? I’ve left a nightie on the bed for you; it should fit okay. I’ll just go and get ready myself.’

She kissed me briefly on the lips, sending slight shocks down my spine in doing so and went into the bathroom.

Looking on the bed, I could see a gold coloured satin baby doll nightie with matching panties. Picking them up, I could see that they looked very expensive and well made. I took my clothes off and then put the lovely confection on. I loved the feel of the smooth fabric against my hairless body. I sat on the bed and waited for Michelle to appear, hoping she wouldn’t be too long as I desperately wanted have her in my arms again.

A few seconds later, the door opened and there she was. She was wearing the same as I was but in a silver colour. She had brushed her hair until it shone and she looked quite edible. I stood up and went over to her. We said nothing, we didn’t need to. I felt the heat from her body through the thin satin fabric as we embraced each other urgently. Soon, we were on the bed, our legs entwined as we passionately made love. Her pert little buds were standing to attention as I licked them through the satin. We kissed and caressed each other. Things got a bit warm and we were soon naked in each other’s arms, we explored each other’s mouths; our passion rising as our bodies were warmed by the heat of our wonderful love making. Breaking off for a moment, rather breathlessly, I looked into her lovely eyes and then glanced at her wonderful slightly plump, moist and shiny red lips, open and ready for another sweet encounter, I marvelled how lucky I was to have found her as our lips met once again.

After a while, we lay side by side. She was stroking my hair gently with her hand. I wet my finger and then traced it over one of her erect nipples. Michelle groaned with pleasure and her eyes closed. I could feel her tremble slightly as I continued to explore her body first with my hands and then with my mouth and tongue. Her body was as smooth as the satin that we had recently been wearing; and it was so wonderfully intimate the way we were feeling.

Lifting my hair slightly, she kissed my neck, making me shiver with anticipation; I then felt her tongue tickle my ear lobe and my body sort of shuddered with pleasure. After doing unspeakable things to my ears, her tender lips went to mine and we kissed once again tenderly, but she didn’t stop there, soon she was playing with my little breasts making me pant and writhe with pleasure…

Modesty forbids my mentioning some of the other things that we did that wonderful night, but it was quite some time after that we fell asleep in each other’s arms; happy, contented and very relaxed.

I woke up the next morning to the sound of birds twittering outside. Being winter, I assumed that they were robins or something similar but I wasn’t very up on birds of the feathered variety. Turning over, I could see that Michelle wasn’t around. I looked at my watch and saw that it was eight in the morning. Remembering that Michelle liked to go for early morning runs, I wasn’t too worried. I preferred squash myself at a more civilised time of day; that was before I became somewhat poorer.

I yawned and stretched and then got up. I felt a bit chilly as I didn’t have a stitch of clothes on. Smiling at the memory of last night, I went into the bathroom, had a shower, put on my undies and then some jeans and a top. Then I packed my case again. I had to be in work that afternoon, not that I relished it. I quickly applied some makeup and brushed my hair, and then I was ready to face the world.

Going down stairs, I could hear a voice coming from the sitting room, it sounded like Michelle so I went over to the door. Just as I was about to open it I could hear that she was talking to someone on the phone. Not wanting to disturb her, I turned away just as I heard the name Catherine.

Intrigued, I stopped to listen. I hate eves dropping but when I heard the name of Michelle’s ex wife, I just couldn’t help myself. Maybe they were having a row and I could give her a kiss and cuddle after she came off the phone.

‘It’s nice to hear from you again, Catherine… Yes I know it has been a long time… We did say a lot of upsetting things…. I know, we should be friends not enemies…. We had a lot of fun together before it went wrong… Yes I’d love to meet up. When? Okay, it’s a date…’

I walked away and went back upstairs. So Catherine and Michelle had not finished after all. I felt numb inside and then hurt and angry. I wanted to confront Michelle and find out what was going on. Was I just being used? I went into the bedroom and over to the window. It was quite light now and sunny in a cold sort of way. There was a slight frost on the ground and the sky was deep blue. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Michelle running down the drive wearing a track suit. As I watched her go, I made my mind up. I couldn’t face her. I had had enough of disappointments in my life and I didn’t want to hear her say that we didn’t have a future. I need to leave and leave now! I know that I said yesterday that I didn’t want to think about anything permanent, but deep in my heart, that is exactly what I wanted, but now it wasn’t going to happen.

I assumed that Rachel was still in bed as I could hear no sounds around the house. I finished packing and put my boots on. I was in a hurry because I wanted to be well away before Michelle came back and Rachel got up.

I carried my case downstairs and went into the kitchen.

There was a note pad and pen on the dresser and I wrote a short note.

Michelle,
Sorry it didn’t work out. I hope that you can find some happiness now.
Karen.

I left the note on the table and went out.

I didn’t meet Michelle on the way to the village and was glad of that as I didn’t want to have a scene. As I reached the main road, I could see a bus coming. Running to the stop, I just managed to catch it. Soon I was going back to town and my dreary flat and the job that didn’t pay enough, with a supervisor who hated me. Outside I was calm but inside I was crying my eyes out.

To be continued...

Please leave comments...thanks

My thanks go to the brilliant and lovely Gabi for editing and pulling the story into shape.