Writing for Fun
February 2018
Last Summer - Jenni Bowers
It had all started well, James had bought her the shiny new white Mercedes sport as a Valentines gift and a stunning diamond ring for her birthday, they’d spent July and August in the Caribbean, drinking champagne, eating fabulous meals on a Cunard cruise ship, Jocelyn, who was on the short and dumpy side with rather sparse blonde hair and blue eyes, enjoyed showing off the many gowns with accompanying jewellery and of course ‘the shoes’ of her ‘cruise’ wardrobe, to be admired or envied by the other ladies amongst the fifteen hundred passengers and crew.
The couple spent happy hours dining at the Captain’s table, enjoying the small talk, making new contacts and ‘friends’ then dancing into the small hours or standing on the deck watching the moon and stars in the magical warmth of the night, holding hands, seemingly just as in love as ever after 30 years of a very busy life together. The sight of the odd dolphin pod or even orca made the trip even more romantic.
Jocelyn began to relax and feel confident that, at last, James had settled down to life with her after one or two flings during their marriage which she’d always forgiven. She enjoyed flirting with Martin, the Purser, even getting a lovely slow waltz in his strong arms one evening, totally forgetting to look over at James. If she had she would have noticed the attractive brunette, about forty with a wonderful tan and green eyes which she used to maximum effect on James and all the other men in the vicinity, some of whom were throwing sly glances to her whenever their wives and partners were not looking. She possessed an hour glass figure, never mind it was made of plastic, the double D cup job was proving worth its weight in gold as it drew attention from the male crew and passengers every where she appeared on the ship. At the casino table she managed to lean forward with aplomb, rendering her cleavage visible to some very wealthy men, but it was James she homed in on, she’d seen Jocelyn’s huge diamond ring and decided he could provide a good life for herself, hubby was clearly very well off.
The brunette’s campaign began to pay off, James began to slip away from Jocelyn and ‘bump’ into brunette quite often until Jocelyn at last became suspicious and ‘tackled’ James who denied the flirtation.
At home they resumed normal life with James often away on business, travelling the world in his quest for more goods to enable Jocelyn to keep their company stocked with unusual and exciting homeware, Asian furniture and art works adorned the premises in the High Street.
The meeting with Martin was really an accident – although she had told him about their company whilst enjoying that waltz on the ship, she hadn’t really expected to see him again when they left the cruise behind. However, around Christmas time there he was, looking at one of the ornate African coffee tables in the showroom, their eyes met, they shook hands and the frisson between them was inescapable – soon they were meeting at a hotel and making wild, passionate love.
Meanwhile James had discovered that Aileen, the brunette, had seduced not only himself but several other rich men from the cruise and they had all been giving her expensive gifts, James had even rented an apartment so they could meet whenever he was in London, Aileen had made full use of this as he found out on a surprise visit, the other man was young, slim and very fit threatening James with violence if he didn’t leave the premises immediately.
Shocked and stunned, swearing at the brunette, who by now was laughing at him – he tried to grab the keys to the car but she had tight hold and sneeringly told him, ‘I have photos too so don’t try to take anything away or I’ll send them to your wife.’
Returning home James felt such a fool, what had he done, risked everything, his kind, loving faithful wife for a cheating gold digger, he bought red roses and drove slowly home, promising himself and God to be faithful and treat Jocelyn better from now on, no more affairs.
Opening the front door he sensed something different about his home, it was cold, no delicious cooking smell heralding a wonderful home-cooked meal either and there on the hall table was a note from Joc – ‘Last summer was the last time James, I’ve had enough of your affairs, found love, going on a Round The World Cruise – good luck with your brunette.’