Julia had brought out her baking materials and was busy baking biscuits. When the biscuit mix was ready she called in the children to help her cut out the biscuit shapes. She had purposely bought a set of Christmas bake cutters from the charity shop, they had only cost a couple of quid and would probably not last long, however, there was quite an assortment of Christmas trees, stars, gingerbread men, bells, candy canes and mistletoe. The kitchen smelt its best with a fusion of cinnamon and vanilla. She had purchased two poinsettia plants a few days before and placed them strategically on the window sill. She had also brought out a red tablecloth, red dish cloths and her snowman oven glove. This splash of red contrasted with her white stainless steel cupboards with the marble countertop and made the place even more homely. The American style fridge was covered with children’s drawings and cards placed over school time-tables and party invitations cleverly stuck with an array of magnets purchased during family holidays to Cornwall, Brighton, the balloon festival at Long Ashton, Longleat, Bath and the Cheddar Caves. There were a few holidays spent in Europe. They had been to Spain, Italy and the South of France as a family of four and Julia was convinced that Laura had been conceived during that holiday in France. Since Laura was born they had restricted their holidays to weekend breaks in various parts of England. This avoided the hassle of travelling on a plane with a pushchair and all the additional paraphernalia of travelling with a young kid. Julia had been planning their first trip abroad as a family of five for quite a while now, however, sadly getting caught up in her friendship with Sophia had placed this on the backburner too and this was an area that Ben left completely in her hands. If she planned the itinerary and carried out the necessary research for the trip he would be happy to go along, however, he would not be the one to initiate the planning. His expectations were always much lower. He would be quite content spending a weekend watching the football, drinking a couple of pints at the local pub and spending a relaxing day indoors in the company of his loved ones. His entertainment and hobbies were not expensive; however, they clearly gave him as much pleasure as Sophia’s high-priced entertainment.
Julia had spent a day enjoying the company of her children. She realised just how precious these moments were. They were growing up so fast. Emma was soon becoming a young lady with a mind of her own, which was very hard-headed at times; Andrew was her little man wanting his hugs and kisses for the majority of the time but at other times wanting to prove that he was all grown up. Laura was four turning on eight. Imitating her elder sister in so many ways and counting the days when she would reach her sister’s age. She was her baby and would always be her baby but she was a fast growing baby too. Soon they would all grow up and leave the nest. These were the years where Julia had to give them the very best that she could so that they could be independent individuals with solid principals who would be able to choose the correct and best path in their lives.
Following the biscuit baking Julia prepared the children a plate of spaghetti frittata. This was one of their favourite meals and Julia hadn’t cooked this in ages. It was rather time-consuming as you had to first boil the water and cook the spaghetti al dente, then sift the pasta and throw in the ragu together with a couple of eggs. The recipe then entailed that the pasta was scooped up into smaller sections and each small heap of pasta was flattened out in a saucepan and fried in a thin layer of olive oil to form a pancake. This was an all-time favourite and it reminded Julia of her youth arriving home from school and the strong smell of oil and tomato sauce emerging from the kitchen.
Lunch was followed by a lazy afternoon in front of the telly watching old DVD’s of various memorable occasions. Emma and Andrew’s First Holy Communion, Julia and Ben’s wedding, others taken on numerous holiday trips, birthdays and family do’s, the children bickering about which to watch first. Soon the mahogany coffee table was piled high with open jacket covers and DVD’s covering every inch of the surface. The memories captured on these plastic discs were priceless. Images of distant relatives who were now long dead, snapshots of happiness captured to be watched again and again, so vividly real.
During this time the rain had not ceased nor subsided. Flashes of lightning snaked across the sky’s blackness; it could have been night as the sky was so dark, Julia had to switch on the downstairs lights. Something she seldom had to do as the large French windows leading out to the back yard always provided sufficient natural lightning. It was something that had immediately attracted Julia to their house; this, and the fact that it was a corner house so it had a large garden all-round the house, ideal for a family with children. Julia was glad that she was well stocked up and did not have to venture outdoors to purchase necessary groceries. The mail man was unrecognisable in his heavy waterproof jacket zipped up to his chin and pulled low down to his eyebrows like some sort of Eskimo. The road was deserted and the odd car that would drive past left a huge spray of brown water in its wake. The day couldn’t have been wetter. The temperature was also dropping, so much so that Julia had to adjust the thermostat as it was beginning to feel chilly indoors despite her fleecy jumper and thick figure-hugging leggings.
At around six p.m. after a second lot of pop-corn the kids changed into their pyjamas and were now in the girl’s bedroom upstairs. They had brought out various, long forgotten, board games and were teaching Laura the rules of the games. Julia had expressly forbade the use of electronic games during the Christmas holidays, otherwise she knew that all three kids could very easily spend hours glued to their I-pads or stuck to the Wii. Julia was curled up comfortably on a window-seat in the library downstairs. She was immersed in the latest novel by one of her favourite authors and was totally captivated by the plot and the characters in the novel. The novel was set in Spain and was all about sun, sea and sex. It was a stark contrast to her current surroundings in the most dismal weather conditions. She pictured the rest of Somerset flooded like her back lawn. Water was now running off the lawn in little streams down the stone paths. The paths were almost totally submersed in water. The bird bath was overflowing; the plastic watering can left half-full so as not to fly in the wind was now spilling out water from its spout. The rain drops kept drumming onto the glass in fierce angry bursts like a powerful shower head pointed at the plastic shower curtain. Her reading was only interrupted by a phone call from Ben to check how she was and to say how much he was missing her. The weather in Brussels was wet too, however it was nothing compared to the deluge Julia was experiencing here.
At intervals Julia would waddle over to the kitchen in her comfy bootie slippers. The slippers were a present from the kids for her birthday and she loved wearing them. They were rose pink and lined with fur: oozing warmth just by looking at them. She would top up her mug with fresh coffee and head back to her reading spot, the cushions now warm with her body heat. She could have been a feline, all curled up and huddled over her book, her dark hair loose over her face. She felt lazy but content. The most strenuous part of the day had been loading and unloading the dishwasher heaped with all the crockery, cutlery and kitchen utensils they had used during the day, but she would make up for it tomorrow. She would wake up early to clear the house and freshen up the house before Ben arrived. She would even cut some fresh flowers from the garden and place them on the kitchen table, unless the garden was too wet to do so. She also had some of Ben’s suits that she needed to take to the laundry before they shut down for their Christmas holidays and of course she had to purchase the fresh vegetables required for Christmas lunch.
At around half past seven she prepared some beans of toast for the kids. All three kids loved their toast laden with beans and heaped with melting cheese. She took toast with them too around the island in the kitchen. Hers was without the cheese and she was counting her calories knowing that she would overdo it on Christmas day. Laura was swinging her legs on the high counter stools and Andrew and Emma were interrupting one another in an attempt to recount events from their school year. It had been a precious day well spent in
the company of her loved ones. She couldn’t help but imagine what Sophia was up to. She still hadn’t returned her messages. Julia could picture her walking about in a satin dressing gown thrown loosely off the shoulder as sensuous as ever, perhaps walking across her heated parquet flooring to fetch a bottle of sparkling Prosecco and some Old Amsterdam cheese, her favourite, before retreating to the bedroom with her latest conquest. She would drive him wild with her teasing and alluring lingerie so that he would fall like a puppy dog in her lap. She could captivate all and twist men round on her little figure. Men were mere puppets before her, there to please and amuse her. Their sole purpose was to worship and adore her. To bow down to her beauty and presence. Later, she would most certainly relate her sexual adventures to Julia and they would laugh about it together. It was a part of Sophia’s life that excluded Julia but in exposing this part of her life to Julia it was somewhat shared. Julia was very selective about what she recounted about her lovemaking. She felt that she was betraying Ben in doing so and her stories always seemed to fall short of Sophia’s more exciting adventures. Sophia had seemed to try all. She was daring and adventurous in her lovemaking, whereas Julia was far more reserved.
It was just past nine and the children were settled in their rooms preparing for bed. Julia had just watched the evening news. It was only then that she realised the full extent of the damage caused by the heavy downpour. Brick walls had collapsed, trees had fallen across roads, flooding had damaged properties, hundreds of motorists were left stranded, parts of England were experiencing extensive power cuts and the police were issuing warnings for people to stay indoors unless absolutely necessary. There had been numerous accidents involving pile ups, including serious injuries and deaths. The wet roads and the debris of fallen trees, mud and stones was the perfect combination for the spike in danger. The fact that motorists also had limited visibility due to the continuous rainfall only helped to worsen the situation. The good news was that it was expected to clear up by tomorrow morning after a long night of heavy rain.
Once she had cleared the kitchen counter Julia crept quietly upstairs and checked on the children who were now all snug sleeping soundly in their beds. She collected soiled clothing from their bedroom floors and switched off the night lamps and closed their doors as she went out. She went back downstairs to finish clearing the living room. The children had placed the DVD’s back in their place in the bookshelf, however she couldn’t resist taking them out again and straightening them all out: placing them back chronologically by year as they had originally been. She then wiped down the coffee table which was smeared with oily fingerprints, a result of the popcorn they had eaten. Tomorrow, she would vacuum this area quickly. She was tempted to do so now but was afraid that the noise would wake up the kids, so she just wiped down the leather sofa with a dust cloth, gathering up the few stray kernels on the sofa, and went into the kitchen. She poured herself a glass of red wine, Merlot, her favourite and decided she would go to bed and read upstairs. She knew that if she stayed reading downstairs the urge to nibble some stilton with her wine would be too strong and she really did need to keep her calories in check otherwise come January her clothes would be tight.
Her bedroom overlooked the front lawn. It was a large bedroom with six walls, since it was built in the corner of the house and one of the corners had been rounded with another wall. The other wall had been created due to the walk in closet. Unlike her ultra-modern kitchen their bedroom was a very traditional bedroom made of sturdy dark oak. Heavy pelmet damask curtains hung from the two large windows finishing just above the floor. The material was covered in a print of blue and gold; the gold matched the gold sheers hanging in between the curtains perfectly. The rails were heavy wrought iron affixed high above the windows so that the curtains left only a small part of the wall visible above them. All of the walls were painted in a lighter shade of bluish grey. The dressing table was piled high with cosmetics, brushes, perfumes bottles, a box of tissues, a jewellery box and hair accessories. The tall chest of drawers was much neater, covered with six silver frames of various sizes. Two were taken on her wedding day, the rest were of the children. A couple of paintings were hung on the wall behind the dressing table and behind the chest of drawers there was a large mirror framed with a thick mahogany frame. Julia had selected this mirror from an antiques shop in Bath. On the wall, against which the top of the bed lay, there was a beautiful sliver cross that they had purchased during their honeymoon where they had spent three weeks touring the North of Italy. The parquet floor was of a lighter shade of brown, than the rich mahogany colour and there were two blue fluffy rugs on each side of the bed. The bed was a king’s size bed and the cream linen on the bed was of a very good quality. There were four pillows on the bed and a long bolster pillow in front. At the foot of the cream quilt there was a blue throw over.
This room had witnessed so many hidden secrets, arguments, lovemaking and heart to heart talks. It was the room she had been confided to during her pregnancy bed rest. The room she had slept in with her loved ones: her husband and then all her children in turn until they were old enough to progress to their own bedrooms. It was a room that had seen tears, laughter, hopes destroyed and dreams being born. It was the soul of the house. Just as Emma and Andrew had been conceived there, this room had given birth to so many aspirations. Year after year living and loving in this room had stocked it high with precious memories. Julia loved this room it was definitely one of the best features in the house and although it was hardly shown to anyone Julia prided herself on the fact that it was so tastefully decorated. She had paid attention to every little detail, even the four keys in the wardrobe doors had been dressed up with golden tassels.
Julia carefully placed her wine glass on a round coaster she kept permanently there and settled herself comfortably in bed. The room was warm, lit by her bedside lamp and another lamp on a low table in one of the many corners. The air was a fusion of smells, a mix of the lavender from a potpourri container which Julia had hung at the back of the bedroom door, her rose scented body lotion and a faint hint of the vanilla body spray she used daily. The scent in the room was especially noticeable this evening as the bedroom windows had been closed all day and had missed out on the daily airing which Julia always ensured she carried out religiously.
She was thoroughly enjoying her read, she had placed her mobile on the bedside table next to her on silent mode so that if Ben called her she would not wake the kids, she didn’t expect anyone else to call but perhaps she would also receive a SMS from Julia or she might leave her a message on WhatsApp. On her bedside table she had a small icon of the Virgin Mary, around five books that she had already read and needed to be placed back in the library downstairs and the mobile charger. Ben’s bedside table was much neater as he preferred to read on the kindle and kept that in the drawer of his bedside table, so his bedside table was always kept clear emphasising the old-fashioned table lamp placed on a handmade lace doily. The doilies had been purchased during a holiday to Thessaloniki. Julia had been heavily pregnant with Emma during this trip so they had not covered as much sightseeing as she would have liked to, however she could vividly recall the small crafts shop where she had purchased a set of these lace doilies. It was in the oldest part of Thessaloniki, which is also the highest part of the town. She had struggled to communicate with the old lady in the shop who knew very little English and as a result all her sentences had been heavily interspersed with Greek. Julia recalled the strong heat of that day, the beads of sweat running down her face and the dampness of her hair clinging to her skin. Later they stopped at a restaurant and ordered an array of vine leaves, cheeses, sardines, olives and fresh bread. Later in the hotel room they had made love under a large and noisy ceiling fan, the balcony window wide open because of the heat and the muslin curtains fluttering in the light sea breeze. She recalled the rich smell of the Stephanotis that covered the facade of the little family run hotel. She had picked a couple of the white flowers and had
pressed the flowers in sheets of tissue paper as a small keepsake of the romance of this place. Ben had been so caring to her especially during her pregnancies; ever so gentle and patient with all her rash decisions. He used to tease her about these blond moments of hers and with exaggerated expressions remark that it was lucky that a pregnancy only lasted nine months. Even whilst making love he was extremely cautious, almost fearful that he might hurt her or the baby, continually asking her and checking that she was enjoying it. This was her Ben; yes, in many ways she was so lucky to have married him. She felt so bad at having given Sophia so much importance over him. She then and there decided that as a New Year’s Resolution she would stop bringing Sophia to their house or to meet Ben and the kids. She knew that Ben had not really clicked with Sophia and only bore it for her sake. She would limit her meetings to coffees and the occasional lunches with Sophia and cut down on their activities together. She would keep Sophia in her world and not cause this imposition on all her family. Her family needed her not Sophia. It was only Julia who needed Sophia so it was not fair to drag her family into this. Julia felt as if a weight had been lifted.
Julia's Secret Page 5
