The Other Family

by Linda A. Hardy

  “yeah your uncle is great, loves a chat doesn’t he? full of stories, seems a bit lonely to me”

  “yes I think so too, since my Aunty Carol died Uncle Bill seemed lost for a while but he is starting to perk up again now, I guess the grieving process takes a while to get over, that is why the family starting having these get togethers every Sunday to help cheer Bill up and it has just continued ever since, the family make the effort to make sure we all see each other every week or every few weeks otherwise I think we would get caught up in our busy lives and end up going our separate ways and never seeing one another, families need to make the effort, it just does not happen otherwise”

  “your cousin Natalie is a bit full on isn’t she?”

  “yes she can be a bit like that, a bit over protective at times, but in a good way I think”

  “oh she was ok, nice to have family looking out for you, Lesley is very sweet”

  “sweet, if you say so”

  “is something wrong?”

  “you have already asked me that, there is nothing wrong ok” I nearly snap

  “well it doesn’t sound like there is nothing wrong”

  “lets go look for some gravestones shall we”

  Off we went further into the cemetery, Kevin started snapping away, taking shots from different angles and changing a few to black and white as well, at this time of day there were some long shadows in the cemetery from the various trees as well which added an affect in the photographs, especially when they were in black and white, something about black and white pictures that looks more crisp and clear, and more spooky.

  I found a bench to sit on while Kevin took some more snaps, there were only a few people wandering in the cemetery, some looked like they were visiting their loved one’s, others looked like they had just come in to wander around, like visiting a botanical garden or something, it was very quiet. I wonder if people do that, just wander in for some peace and quiet, to sit and contemplate, I wonder if you can ask the cemetery to be buried in a specific spot, like just over there next to that tree, I don’t know if I want to be buried, always had this fear of being buried alive, what happens if I am buried down there and I wake up, I won’t be able to get out, I hope someone makes sure that I am most definitely dead first before burying me, is this what people think about when sitting in a cemetery?

  Kevin came over and sat next to me and put his arm around my shoulder, I wish he would not do that, starting to make me feel uncomfortable.

  “you going to tell me what is wrong?”

  “I said there is nothing wrong”

  And then without any warning whatsoever Kevin leant across and kissed me on the lips, just a small kiss and my immediate reaction was one of revulsion. I pulled away and I burst into tears.

  “Kevin what the hell you doing? “

  “I thought you would like a kiss, why are you crying?”

  “I don’t want a kiss, and I don’t know why I am crying, I think I want to go home”

  Kevin still had his arm around me and I got up and pushed it away, he immediately stood and grabbed my waist and held me, I was trying to get out of his strong hold on me, “Kevin let me go, I want to go home” I said still crying

  “hey babe come on, don’t be like that, I’ll take you home alright”

  “I thought we were just friends Kev, even though I really like you, you’re a nice guy but I thought, oh I don’t know what I thought”

  “we are friends babe, lets go back to your flat hey and talk about this, you need to stop worrying, go with the flow Lindsay”

  When we got back to my flat I just wanted to be alone, I did not want Kevin to come in but he was standing outside my door and it looked like he was not going to move anywhere, so I unlocked the door and let him in. Mistake number one when your feeling upset, do not allow a man into your flat when you are alone, he will think it is the perfect opportunity to comfort you and before you know what has happened he will be enticing you to have a lie down and relax with him lying beside you. I was standing in the kitchen making a coffee and Kevin stood behind me and put his arms around my waist.

  “Kevin could you let go of me please, I don’t want this”

  “you need to relax more”

  “no I don’t, I need for you to let go of me”, I felt his lips on my neck, kissing

  “you do like that, I know you do”

  “Kevin will you bloody well get off me” I shouted, and I pushed against him to push him away and he let go

  “you know what you need, I need to use one of those condoms in your bathroom to make you feel better, come on darling lighten up”

  I was shocked, how does he know about the condoms in my bathroom, and then I lost it “get out of my flat, get out, get out, get out” I shouted, I started pushing him out of the kitchen and towards my front door, “get out, I don’t want you here, get out” I shouted again.

  “hang on baby, what the hell is the matter with you, its only a bit of fun, some other time then hey?” said Kevin and with that he walked away and left my flat and I went and lied down on my bed and cried my eyes out having no idea why I was crying so much.

  Chapter 26

  The next morning there was a text message on my phone from Kevin, did not mean to come on so strong yesterday, being an idiot, hope we’re still friends, Kevin, I texted him back saying, my fault, over reacted, was not feeling well, yes let’s blame some imaginary illness, that will explain my outburst and the crying.

  The telephone is ringing and I forgot to put the answering machine on, did not really feel like talking to people, to anyone, but I went and answered the phone.

  “hello”

  “can I speak to Lindsay Harrison please” I heard a woman’s curt voice say

  “yes this is Lindsay, how can I help you?”

  “my name is Pippa Andrews, I saw your letter in the paper on Saturday”

  “yes that is right, do you know Thomas Caxton or his daughter Philippa at all?”

  The woman on the other end laughed and then said “well yes I do darling, I am Philippa but everyone calls me Pippa”

  “oh my, sorry, I did not even twig about the name, when you said Pippa, I did not even realise, it is short for Philippa of course”

  “yes that is right, it says in your ad that a relative is looking for my father, may I ask who that relative is?”

  “of course, your father Thomas has a sister named Dorothy, she has asked me to try and find her brother, Thomas Caxton”

  “my father does not have a sister named Dorothy, he has a sister named Matilda, she passed away a few years ago now”

  “is it possible to meet you? then I can sit down and explain the situation much better?”

  “maybe you have the wrong Thomas Caxton, like I said my father does not have a sister named Dorothy”

  “I am a Genealogist, and my research has shown that Thomas does have a half-sister named Dorothy, Tom’s mother died when he was a teenager and his father later remarried and they had a daughter Dorothy”

  “I see, I did not know about this other family, I only thought Pa had one sister Tilda and that was it, I knew his mother died when he was quite young but I never knew his father married again, maybe it is best if we can meet and talk about this”

  “yes that sounds like a good idea, where do you live Philippa? Or do you prefer Pippa?”

  “I prefer Pippa, I only ever get Philippa when Pa is cross with me, I live on the outskirts of Caversham”

  “well I can come to you, that is no problem, what day or time would suit you”

  “I am free on Wednesday, say around 2pm, is that ok?”

  “yes that sounds good, let me just jot down your address”

  I wrote down Philippa’s address and informed her that I would see her on Wednesday at 2pm.

  “will you be coming by yourself or have someone with you” Philippa asked me

  “oh it will be just me, is that alright?”

  “yes perfect”<
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  Later that day there was a knock at my door and Kevin was standing there asking how I was, and what was I cooking for dinner, I had not even thought about cooking dinner, he said ok then and left and half an hour later he was back knocking on my door and holding two pizza boxes “I thought you might like pizza tonight” he said walking into my flat.

  I told Kevin I was going to Caversham on Wednesday to meet up with Philippa and he suggested I could pop in and see his parents if I had time, I told him I would think about it, see how things go, but I knew there was no way I was going to visit his folks. There was no talk between us about what had happened the previous day and Kevin kept his distance and after eating our pizza’s he left to return to his flat.

  Chapter 27

  I arrived in Reading by train on Wednesday lunch time and found where the local buses leave from to go to Caversham, but before I went there, as I was way too early, I walked into Reading town centre and stopped for lunch and looked over my questions I had prepared for my meeting with Philippa.

  I am the sort who does not like being late for anything, infact I am sure I would be early for my own funeral one day, after my lunch I hopped on the bus and made the short journey to Caversham, where I was still too early for my appointment at 2pm, I had a wander around the town centre and actually thought what a nice little town it would be to live in. Five minutes to 2pm thinking well the time is close enough, I knocked on Philippa Andrew’s front door.

  “Good afternoon, I’m Lindsay Harrison”

  “do come in”

  We made our way through to her living room, I could sense that she seemed a bit tense, a bit frosty almost, there was no smile when she opened the door, nothing outwardly friendly, I could feel her eyes almost boring into me, looking me up and down, I may of done the same when I first saw her, she was very immaculately dressed in a skirt and blouse and under her white blouse I could see she was wearing a lace bra, almost revealing, she was the sort of woman I could stare at and admire, she had makeup on and her brunette shoulder length looked professionally done like she just stepped out of the hairdressers, she looked very much like a business woman and was even wearing high heels, I could not believe people dressed like this when they are at home, I know I would never dress like that, but she certainly caught my eye. We sat in opposite chairs to each other and I could feel I was a little tense, I hoped she had not noticed me admiring her looks.

  “Pippa I understand that your father Thomas is in a nursing home, may I ask which one?”

  “well I am not going to divulge that information, just yet, I don’t really know who you are and who this Dorothy is”

  “of course, Dorothy was born as Dorothy Caxton, her father is your grandfather Dennis Caxton, also Tom’s father, I have some documentation here that I can show you that proves Dorothy is the daughter of Dennis”

  I handed Philippa her father’s birth certificate as well as his parents marriage certificate and the marriage certificate for Tom’s father to Dorothy’s mother Elizabeth, as well as a copy of Dorothy’s birth certificate.

  “I see, you can understand my reluctance, I need to protect my father, he is now in his nineties you know, and getting quite fragile, even though he is still very much sound of mind, he is in a private nursing home nearby, St Mary’s, but his care is rather expensive”.

  “must be difficult, especially as you are an only child, so no one else to help with the burden”

  “burden, it is not a burden”

  “no of course not, sorry did not mean for it to sound that way, just hard for you by yourself”

  “so how did this Dorothy lose contact with my father?”

  “Tom’s father died quite young, leaving his widow Elizabeth with Dorothy, by this time Tom had already moved out of home and was working, Matilda was still living with them for a short while but it was not long before she too moved on, a few years later Elizabeth remarried, my understanding is that Tom did not approve of his stepmother’s new husband, after a while visits to see Dorothy just stopped”.

  “yes I can see it would be a difficult situation, both my father’s parents dead and he is left with a stepmother he does not like”

  “Matilda however visited her stepmother and Dorothy on a weekly basis after she moved out, but I believe the visits stopped once Matilda married and moved to the coast, I think the occasional Christmas Card was exchanged and birthday cards but they saw less of each other from this time onwards”

  “funny Tilda never mentioned Dorothy or her mother, maybe she did not like them very much either”

  “oh I am sure it is not a case of disliking one another, just a difficult situation with both their parents gone and getting on with life and living, I am sure that is all it was”, feeling the need to support Dorothy and her mother

  “so what does this Dorothy want now then?”

  “she is hoping to see her brother, spend some time together before they become too old and it is too late”

  “well we could arrange a visit, I visit Pa about once a week, I would go more often but find it quite distressing seeing him in a home”

  “could you not have him live with you then?”

  “what, oh no, I am far too busy here”

  “may I ask Pippa, you have family living here with you?”

  “no but I do have clients come and go”

  “no children?”

  “I did have a son, but he is not with me, he passed away a few years ago now”

  “oh sorry to hear that, so you work from home then I gather?”

  “yes you could say that, you know with a little more makeup and a new hairstyle you would be very pretty”

  “excuse me!” I said, not expecting a comment like that from her and I continued “um I could arrange for Dorothy to come and visit your father on the weekend if that is suitable”

  “yes you do that, I told you where he is, I will ring them and let them know you will be visiting, Saturday would be a better day”

  “great I will let Dorothy know”, I felt an almost coldness from Pippa, very businesslike, we had reached a point in the conversation where I could either get up and finish our meeting or continue to get to know her a bit better for Dorothy’s sake, so I asked her, “what line of work from home do you do?” thinking maybe she might be a Avon lady or saleswoman of some kind, I felt like she was eyeing me up and down but to be honest I could not help do the same, she was making me feel uncomfortable or maybe I was making her feel uncomfortable, see I am thinking too much again, it is hard not to look at another woman who appears to have the perfect figure and holds herself with such confidence.

  “I am in the entertainment business, I entertain people”

  “I see, that would be interesting”

  “oh yes it is very interesting, I get a lot of big tips, you look a little tense, you should learn to relax more, how rude of me, would you like a drink, something to spice things up a bit, what do you say?”

  “funny my friends often tell me I need to relax more, I worry too much, I would love a coffee thank you”

  “oh I got just the thing” at which point Pippa stood up and walked towards me and whispered “why don’t you sit on the sofa, be more comfortable, kick your shoes off and I shall come and entertain you shortly”

  “may I use your bathroom”

  “certainly just at the top of the stairs”

  I walked up the stairs, whilst Pippa was making a drink in the kitchen, when I returned Pippa had the coffee’s sitting on the table and we sat side by side as we sipped our drinks.

  “this coffee has rather an unsual flavour” I said

  “yes I put a little liquor in it, helps to make us feel relaxed“ she said sitting very close to me that I could smell her perfume, Ysatis by Givenchy, one of my favourites.

  I had no idea what to expect, perhaps she is a dancer, maybe she sings, but the next minute I felt like the room was spinning and Pippa stood in front of me and started taking her clothes off.
/>   “do you like women?, I think you do, I can tell by the way you look at me”

  “what, excuse me, I feel a bit strange, a bit light headed” did I really hear what I think she just said

  “that’s ok darling, it is just the liquor making you feel that way, just relax, I will entertain you”

  “entertain me, in what way?”

  “have you ever been with a woman before? It is really very good” said Pippa

  “um I don’t think I want to answer that question, it is private, this is all a bit weird”

  “I take it the answer is no then, but don’t worry, let me make you feel good, I like the look of you”

  Pippa started dancing in front of me whilst undoing her blouse, the next minute she had dropped her skirt and she was standing in front of me in only her bra and knickers and high heels

  “do you like what you see darling” she asked me and I would be a fool to say no, she looked stunning, my eyes were wandering all over the place

  “you look like I want to touch you” I said

  “you have been looking at me so intensely darling, undressing me with your eyes from the moment you walked in, come here”

  Pippa pushed me back on the sofa and straddled her legs across my lap, she took her bra off and started massaging her breasts, I could not help but look, her breasts were perfect too, just like her figure, she kept asking me if I would like to kiss them, I cannot believe I got myself into this situation, Kevin warned me about meeting people on my own, but I never would of thought a woman would be a threat, yes a man but never a woman, you just do not think something like this could happen. I felt unable to move, I was so drowsy and felt so uncoordinated, there was no way I could move if I tried but I also could not take my eyes off her.

  “I can tell how you look at me, that you want me” Pippa whispered

  I felt Pippa’s hands move under my top and begin to fondle my breasts, “you like that don’t you darling, I can tell you do”

  “yes I do, oh my god” I whispered

  Then her lips and mouth were around my tits, sucking and licking and kissing, my head was screaming this cannot be happening, but I felt powerless to do anything, but at the same time it felt wonderful, I wanted it but did not want it. I could feel her undressing me, pulling my clothes off, the liquor in my coffee had made me feel so relaxed I wondered whether it was infact some kind of drug as I did not feel tipsy from having any alcohol, we were both naked on the sofa, I could feel her hands touching me and her lips kissing me, I felt her hand slide between my legs and I could hear myself moaning, I was too drowsy to stop her, my god it felt wonderful but I felt confused, not sure how to feel. I must of fallen asleep and when I awoke it was already dark outside so I could see through a small gap to the side of the curtains, Pippa was lying on top of me naked and I felt my hand caressing her bare bottom, feelings of confusion overcoming me.