The Waiting Game

by Anna Samuels

‘I know I’m biased but they are actually amazing kids…well young adults really. It’s hard to ever think of your children as completely grown.’

  ‘That’s because you’re their Mum! My Mum still mothers me; even at my age!’

  ‘Yeah,’ I smiled.

  ‘So, Ben’s your eldest?’

  ‘Yes. He’s in his third year of Uni.’

  ‘What is he like?’ she asked, curious.

  ‘He’s…the most wonderful son. He’s smart, caring and considerate. He’s training to be a lawyer and he’ll make it. He’s always been so intelligent.’

  ‘Must take after his mother.’

  I laughed. ‘He met his current girlfriend on the course and they’re lovely together. I expect it’s a relationship that will last.’

  ‘Sounds very stable.’

  ‘Yeah…as opposed to me!’ I commented, laughing at myself. ‘He’s the rock in our household and he’ll be a wonderful husband one day. He’s nothing like his father,’ I added ruefully.

  ‘I bet he took his good genes from you,’ Alex said quietly.

  I smiled over at her. ‘I don’t know about that…’

  ‘And you have a daughter too?’

  ‘Yes. Ava just started Uni. She’s studying journalism. She’s a wonderful girl too but completely different to Ben. While Ben is quiet and studious, Ava’s always been outgoing and energetic. She’s always on the go. Something of a force to be reckoned with.’

  ‘Again; like her mother.’

  ‘No,’ I said, shaking my head vehemently this time. ‘She’s the type of character I would like to be. She’s strong, bloody-minded and she doesn’t let people walk all over her-ever. I wish I could be like that.’

  ‘You can. You can be anything you want to be, Cassie.’

  ‘Is that a saying from somewhere?’ I questioned.

  ‘Probably-but I’m just talking. You choose to be the person you are. If you want to be more confident and more self-assured, just work on it. You don’t have to play the down-trodden card for the rest of your life, Cassie.’

  ‘You think I play ‘the down-trodden card?’ I questioned, hating those words and feeling hurt by them.

  ‘A little maybe. I think you lack confidence and have gotten used to putting yourself down all the time. If you let go of that kind of negativity, I’m sure you would be much happier.’

  I went quiet for a long moment, thinking about her words.

  ‘Have I upset you, Cassie?’ Alex asked after a while.

  ‘I…’ I couldn’t speak.

  ‘I’m sorry, Cassie. I didn’t mean to hurt you by saying that. I really didn’t.’

  ‘No I know,’ I said softly.

  ‘I was just trying to help you actually. I don’t want you to be someone that people walk over. You’re far too incredible and wonderful for that to happen. Having talked to you for so long too, I’d love to see you happy.’

  I nodded to myself but stayed quiet. In my mind her words were replaying over and over. The ‘down-trodden card.’ Did I? Perhaps she was right. I did tend to look upon the negative more than the positive, even though I didn’t want to be that way.

  ‘Cassie?’

  ‘Mmm?’

  ‘I’m sorry. I’ve clearly upset you…’

  ‘I just…it hurts because you’re right,’ I replied slowly, glancing over at her in the car as she slowed to a halt.

  ‘I didn’t mean to be so blunt though. It was rude and I apologise.’

  I sighed. ‘I don’t mean to be a negative person. I really don’t. I also don’t mean to be negative and down-trodden. I think I’ve just ended up in something of a rut.’

  ‘Why do you think that is?’ she asked.

  ‘Because I’m surrounded by misery!’ I exploded. ‘I have parents who constantly moan at me and make me feel like nothing I ever do is good enough. I have children who look at me and see a failure and someone slightly unstable. I work with annoying female teachers who constantly moan about the job and haven’t got a positive word to say, ever. It has an affect and sometimes I think it’s me! Maybe I’m the harbinger of doom! I’m surrounded by negativity. It’s no wonder I’m ‘down-trodden’ and miserable.’

  A long moment of silence passed.

  I felt my breath come in short, quick movements. I had become wound up and I didn’t know where it had all come from.

  ‘I’m sorry,’ I uttered, seconds later.

  ‘Don’t apologise!’ she exclaimed. ‘You’ve made the first step!’

  ‘What?’ I questioned, completely baffled. I had expected that to be the end of our date as I had ranted and raved about my miserable life. She could easily have turned the car around, decided that I was a complete loser and moved on. Instead, she was smiling at me with warmth.

  ‘You’ve taken the first step. You’ve recognised that you’re surrounded by negative energy and you’re stepping away. You’re already embracing change and trying new things. Next you’ll be finding your positivity and your whole life will be different.’

  I stared at the incredible woman before me. She was so, very wonderful and I realised in that moment that I never wanted our time together to end. ‘You know something, Alex?’ I murmured.

  ‘What?’

  ‘You’re just about the most incredible person I’ve ever met in my life.’

  A slow smile crept across her features. ‘And you, Cassie, are one in a million. Don’t let the buggers get you down, right? Move on and move on with me.’

  I squeezed her offered hand, relishing the feeling of her skin connecting with mine. ‘There’s nothing I’d like more,’ I told her.

  Alex took me to a little, intimate restaurant in the countryside. We were the only guests and dined by candlelight.

  ‘This is the loveliest meal I’ve ever had,’ I gushed after the main course was served.

  ‘Yes, this is one of my favourite little haunts,’ Alex told me.

  ‘Oh really? Who do you come with usually?’

  ‘I don’t,’ she responded. ‘I come alone to eat and think. It’s always peaceful and I know the owners too.’

  ‘Ah I see. So you really don’t date or go out much?’

  ‘No. I’ve been so busy trying to maintain the running of the park alone that it’s been a bit of a struggle to have a life outside of that. That being said, the park is my life.’

  ‘So you really fear losing the place?’ I asked, remembering the fears she had voiced previously.

  ‘I do, yeah…my brother doesn’t want to keep the place. He’s adamant that we should sell and split the profits. His life would be easier then as he would have the money to move on and pay off his house. He’s never had the same kind of emotional attachment to it that I have.’

  ‘But can’t you buy him out somehow?’ I wondered.

  ‘That’s what I’m looking into-but raising that much money is hard. I can’t ask my parents and there’s only so much the bank can lend…’

  ‘What kind of figure are you looking at?’ I enquired.

  She named a figure which was substantial.

  ‘So, you see my predicament. But I’m determined, Cassie. It’s my home, and my business. I love it. I love every aspect of it. I’m not going to give it all up without one hell of a fight.’

  ‘Well, if I can help in any way let me know,’ I told her.

  ‘Well if you’ve got a spare pair of hands and one hell of a lot of cash lying about, I may take you up on that,’ she joked.

  I smiled back at her, but my mind was whirring with activity. Could the idea I had possibly ever really work? My head spun with possibility. ‘Don’t we all wish we had loads of cash hanging around,’ I murmured, not voicing my actual thoughts on the matter.

  ‘I’ll figure something out,’ Alex sighed, rubbing a weary hand over her face.

  ‘I’m sure you will. It means a lot to you, doesn’t it?’ I asked her, with interest.

  ‘Yeah…it’s everything to me. It’s my home, my history…my memories. I also lov
e the business-I love running the place, meeting lots of different people and feeling like I give people something pleasurable by a relaxing holiday away. I don’t want that to end. I mean, what else would I do? It’s all I know!’

  ‘Well, I’m sure you’ll figure it out, Alex…and the thing is, you clearly don’t want to do something different to the job you do. It’s definitely something to pursue-ways of making that continue.’

  ‘I don’t even see it as a job,’ she told me softly. ‘It’s just what I do. When you love your job, it becomes just an integral part of your life.’

  I gazed at her wistfully. ‘Now that sounds nice.’

  ‘You’ve never felt that, have you, Cassie?’

  ‘No,’ I told her. ‘My role has most certainly always been a job in my eyes.’

  ‘What a shame.’

  ‘Not anymore! I’m not doing it!’

  ‘Well more power to you,’ she said softly. ‘I’d take less money any day before doing a job I didn’t like.’

  ‘I shouldn’t go back to teaching, should I?’

  ‘If there is absolutely any other option, take it, Cassie. Life is short and for enjoying. Do something you love.’

  ‘I just have to find it,’ I said quietly, looking up at her under my lashes.

  ‘You will…I have a good feeling about it,’ she smiled.

  I returned her smile happily.

  ‘Now, how about we order. I’m hungry…for more than just food,’ she said, with a glint in her eye. ‘Let’s eat and then head back to mine.’

  ‘Sounds perfect,’ I replied, feeling happier than I had ever been before. Meeting her eyes over the table sent my heart galloping at speed. The feelings I was experiencing were so intense and wonderful that I never wanted our time together to end.

  When we got back to her hours, Alex took me by the hand and pulled me up the stairs. I knew where she was taking me and I wanted nothing more than to go to her bedroom to be with her intimately.

  When we reached the room, Alex pushed me up against the first available wall and kissed me passionately. I moaned aloud, loving her roughness, the lack of control and finesse. She wanted me eagerly, and I loved that.

  Bending to her knees, she pushed my skirt up and out of her way and then pulled my panties down. Her mouth found my clitoris immediately and began lapping me with her tongue. I fell back against the wall, holding on to her head for sheer balance.

  Her mouth was eager, in a frenzy and it was so intense that I felt myself come straight away. Arching, gasping and crying out her name, my hips undulated against her face, enjoying every moment of bliss she evoked.

  Eventually, the waves subsided and I felt my knees begin to give way. Alex stood and lifted me, carrying me to the bed and dropping me down in the centre. She quickly dispensed with her clothes and then pulled open a drawer by the side of the bed. Surprised by what I saw her pulling on, I felt my mouth open in awe. She moved to lie across me before I could say anything and spread my legs beneath her. On her waist she had donned a strap on and without ceremony, she thrust the toy inside me in one, long movement. It entered my slick folds hard and I cried out against the pleasure. She began moving eagerly, her breasts moving in rhythm with her pumping hips. I felt the pleasure building with each passing movement and I moaned and groaned, unaware that I could ever have felt this way during this act. On and on she thrust, pushing me to the brink of oblivion. When it came, I arched and gasped at the sheer sensation rushing through me. Waves and waves of intense orgasm rushed over me and I was left spent and breathing heavily, my whole body buzzing with the excitement. As she eased out of me and fell to my side, I felt her contentment with my reaction to her. I felt myself growing sleepy after such intense climaxes and I must have drifted off for a while as when I woke, it was colder and darker. I moved slightly and realised Alex was behind me, curled up to my back. The hardness of the sex toy pressed against my back and I wriggled against the feeling, remembering how incredible she had made me feel.

  ‘Umm,’ Alex moaned, her body moving against mine gently.

  ‘I thought you were asleep,’ I whispered into the darkness.

  ‘No…just waiting for you to wake…’

  I smiled to myself. ‘Waiting for your turn?’ I asked, huskily.

  A low rumble sounded by my ear. ‘I just love every minute with you,’ she murmured.

  ‘Me too,’ I said so softly it was almost inaudible.

  She moved behind me and then I felt her hands press something cold and sticky against the cleft of my backside to my clitoris. Her hand rubbed me through my legs from behind and I moved against the sensation, moaning softly.

  Her fingers entered me, in and out, up and down my folds. She then moved her fingers upwards and pushed inside my other opening, slick from the lubricant she had applied. I gasped in surprise. Never before had I felt the feeling of being touched there and it was incredibly exciting as is felt so forbidden.

  ‘Do you like that?’ she asked in a whisper, moving her finger in and out of my most secret opening.

  ‘Mmm,’ I moaned, as sensation built in me swiftly. My nipples had hardened and my clitoris was pulsing with desire.

  Suddenly, she pulled her fingers out and replaced them with the sex toy. The large, long toy pressed against me and I felt uncertainty rush through me.

  ‘Relax,’ she said quietly, ‘and I’ll stop if you don’t like it,’ she promised.

  I breathed in deeply, and as I exhaled long and slow, letting my body relax, she pushed deep inside me as my tension eased.

  ‘Ah!’ I cried out with pleasure.

  Slowly and gently, she rocked against me, drawing out the pleasure second by second. Her hand reached around to rub me while she thrust and the duel pressure was almost too much to bear. I cried out, moaned, gasped and groaned as I came harder than I had ever come before. A million stars passed behind my eyes as I climbed the dizzying heights to bliss.

  As I was coming down from orgasm, Alex clearly could hold back no longer and moved to straddle me as I lay on the bed. She sat down onto my face, spreading her sex for my mouth.

  I licked and suckled her, desperate for her to feel as satisfied as she had made me. When she had come once, I then took the sex toy from her and learnt how to pleasure her in ways I had only ever dreamt of. When we finally fell asleep in each other’s arms, I knew I had finally found my destiny. Here, with Alex, was what I had been looking for for so many, long years.

  Chapter 1

  We slept for several long hours and when I woke, it was very dark and cold. Something had woken me and I wasn’t sure what it was.

  ‘Your phone,’ Alex said in a mumble, her face buried in the pillow.

  I sat up, shivering in the cold. I fumbled around in my bag on the floor, searching for my phone. When I looked at the home screen, I could see I had several messages and missed calls.

  ‘What the…?’ I muttered myself, confused over the unknown mobile number which was contacting me.

  ‘What is it?’ Alex asked, rolling over.

  ‘I don’t know,’ I told her, as the phone in my hand began to ring again.

  This time, I answered it straight away.

  ‘Hello?’ I said, feeling like there was something wrong, and I didn’t know exactly why.

  ‘Oh thank God! Is that Ava’s Mum?’ a scared, female voice asked.

  Ava? My heart leapt into my throat and I was suddenly wide-awake; and full of fear. ‘Yes, this is Ava’s Mum. Who’s this?’

  ‘My name is Jenny. I’m in the next hall from Ava. She’s in the hospital, Mrs Hunt! I think you need to come here right now,’ she told me, emotion taking over as I heard her tears begin.

  I was shaking and the terror coursing through me at the word ‘hospital’ was immense. ‘What’s happened? Is she okay? What hospital?’ I asked, rambling quickly. I needed answers to questions and I needed them fast.

  ‘She’s being treated for an overdose. I don’t know what’s happening now…they have me wait
ing in a room!’ she cried, ‘we’re at Plymouth Royale Hospital,’ she told me, shakily.

  I dropped the phone in that moment and began dressing frantically, all the while muttering to myself and going half-crazy at the idea that something awful had happened to Ava. In the blur that followed, I vaguely noticed Alex picking up the phone, talking to the girl and then leading me from the house. She spoke to me in low, calm tones as she buckled me into her car and then began the drive to Plymouth. She drove fast but safely out of Cornwall, keen to get me there quickly-but in one piece. I wasn’t able to function well in those long, heady moments. I couldn’t stop crying, and the fear that my daughter might die was too incredible to bear.

  In what seemed like minutes, we arrived at the hospital. Once again, Alex took charge, leading me in and talking to reception. We were shown to the waiting area where we met Jenny, the girl who had phoned to let us know. She was shaken and distraught, but I felt unable to do anything to help her. Forced to wait to hear news of what Ava’s condition was, I paced the room, unable to settle.

  ‘Cassie; try to stop for a while,’ Alex told me, encouraging me to a chair.

  ‘No. No! Why can’t I see her, Alex?’ I demanded. ‘What the hell’s happened to her?’

  ‘The doctors will tell us as soon as they are able to, Cassie. You need to calm down a little bit.’

  ‘Don’t tell me to calm down!’ I ranted. ‘It’s not your daughter in there, is it?’ I cried out, lost in my anguish. ‘I don’t even know if she’s…’ I couldn’t finish, my voice breaking with despair. ‘I can’t lose her, Alex,’ I cried, breaking down.

  Alex caught me before I fell, holding me with her strong arms. ‘I’m here…I’m here,’ she said soothingly as the emotion consumed me. We ended up embracing on the floor; my weight eventually pulling Alex down. She held me for long, painful moments and I tried to get a hold of myself but just couldn’t.

  It was ten long minutes later when a doctor finally arrived to update us.

  ‘Mrs Hunter?’ the man enquired.

  ‘Yes!’ I cried, rushing to him. ‘Is Ava okay?’ I demanded.

  ‘Ava is a very lucky, young lady. She’s not feeling especially well right now but we’ve pumped her stomach, she’s awake and alert and I am confident she will make a full recovery from today.’