by S M Mala
He shrugged in response as their food turned up and she didn’t know what to think.
Actually she did.
First, she didn’t want Stan to flirt with them let alone set eyes on the women.
Secondly, nor did she want Ted reeled in by the beauties.
And thirdly, she knew her company wouldn’t be needed, especially as she was wearing a dog costume.
Maddy unzipped her suit to the waist and pulled her arms out, not wanting to drop any food on it. She put the napkin on her lap then released her hair from the clip, dropping it into her rucksack.
‘That’s a pretty vest,’ Stan said, glancing at his burger.
‘Yes, Ted’s knicker place does them,’ she replied.
‘Sophisticated lingerie,’ sighed Ted. ‘Maddy gets all her underwear for free. It is a vest with bra support as you can see.’
‘I certainly can,’ he replied, flicking her a glance.
‘It’s very comfy, and I don’t like wearing bras. I’m sure the model types will wear it well.’
That’s when she noticed Eugene look at her as he frowned. Stuart then smiled when he turned his head. Stan and Ted were now eating their food as she heard the chatter in the background.
‘I’ll go when I finish this,’ she said, looking at the pair of them. ‘I know when I’m not wanted.’
‘You can stay,’ Ted said, touching her arm. ‘You might like them.’ Then he frowned. ‘Okay, you might not.’
‘And this is what you’re going to do? Pimp yourself out until you find one with a brain cell?’
‘Madeleine!’
She put the sausage to her mouth and started to eat it, licking the sauce from around her lips. Stan was watching as were the others.
Maddy thought they were probably confused by her lack of hot dog roll so carried on noticing Stan smile every time she took a bite.
‘And you, Stan. I suppose you want to stay, don’t you? Well, I don’t approve, and I’m taking Phyllis home with me. You’re a bad pet!’ As she looked down, Phyllis wasn’t there. ‘Phyllis?’ Then Maddy looked up. ‘Oh my!’
Her darling baby was making eyes at the light brown cockapoo, and Stan had seen.
‘What is she doing?’ he asked, chewing slowly. ‘She better not be flirting with that dog.’
‘That’s exactly what I think when I know what you blokes are up to,’ she said and got to her feet. ‘I’ll get her.’
‘Leave her. She’s having fun,’ Ted replied, grabbing her arm. ‘I’m pleased we’re talking.’
‘Not for long, you gigolo. Don’t bring any of them round to my home, I’m telling you that now!’
Maddy got up and walked towards Phyllis then looked at the cockapoo, who looked trashier close up. Then she realised who the dog reminded her of when she clocked the owner and nearly fell back.
It was Tara.
‘Is that yours?’ The woman turned to give her a filthy look. ‘God! Maddy, are you dressed up as a dog?’
‘No. A great big flea,’ Maddy said, pursing her lips. ‘She is not an ‘it.’ She’s my dog. Can you stop your cockapoo trying to catch her eye?’
‘My Ernie is a top breed, and he wouldn’t want to go for a mongrel.’ Tara glared at her then looked around Maddy, her eyes lighting up. ‘Ted’s here.’
‘And so am I. Keep away.’ Maddy looked down and spoke directly to Phyllis. ‘Go back to the table now.’
The little dog turned and sauntered towards the men.
She swore the pooch was copying how she acted by wagging her tail at Tara’s dog.
‘Why are you dressed up like that?’ Tara said, pointing the finger at her as she started to laugh. ‘I always knew you were a little bitch!’
‘And you were always on heat, taking it in every orifice you possibly could!’
‘How dare you!’ Tara got to her feet and glared down at her. ‘I could-.’
‘You do it and see what happens!’
‘Ladies!’ Ted jumped out of nowhere. ‘It is a little public.’
‘Not like your pubic she munched on when she was a filthy, two-timing, cock-.’ Ted put his hand over Maddy’s mouth.
‘Tara, good to see you but not, if you know what I mean. Stop winding up Maddy and keep your hound away from Phyllis.’
All Maddy did was try to pull Ted’s firmly placed hand away from her mouth.
‘Her mongrel shouldn’t be coming over here anyway!’ replied Tara, looking upset and angry.
‘It’s not a mongrel!’ snapped Maddy, when she removed Ted’s hand. ‘She’s a Bernese mountain dog who is quite small, not like your fanny and-.’
Again, Ted put his hand over her mouth and then dragged her away.
‘You can’t behave, can you?’ he said, picking her up and carrying to the table. ‘Don’t you dare go making a scene?’
She pushed him off and sat down, glaring at her sausage and seeing the rest of the group look at her as if she was a mad woman. Angrily she chewed the food then went to take another bite and stopped to see them stare.
‘Okay, I don’t like her,’ she said, looking at all of them and Ted. ‘He does make extremely bad choices and sometimes, just sometimes, the women he chooses don’t like me.’
‘Go figure,’ she heard Stan say and turned to look at him.
‘She started it.’ Maddy when to bite her sausage. ‘And what’s she doing here? I don’t-.’ Then she noticed a familiar face walk into the pub and across the garden. Her mouth dropped open when he kissed Tara. ‘Dr. Bob?’ She sat up. ‘Dr. Bob kissed that?’
‘Oh, God,’ Ted mumbled and shook his head. ‘Is that the same Dr. Bob who you think is a miracle worker?’
‘Certainly is,’ whispered Stan. ‘So, she bagged Mr. Perfect?’
‘Banged him and left some life-threatening disease.’ Maddy put down her sausage. ‘And he looks after Dora. Well, I’ll have something to say about that and-.’ Dr. Bob had seen her while Tara was saying something. He was walking over. ‘Oh, bums.’
‘Eat your sausage,’ Stan coaxed gently. ‘It’s going cold.’
‘So am I,’ she said, shivering.
‘Hello Maddy,’ the man said walking up to her as she immediately put her hand out to be shaken. ‘Fancy seeing you here.’
‘It’s my local,’ she replied, forcing a smile but feeling the dagger looks coming her way from Tara. ‘I see you know the dog.’
‘Maddy,’ Ted groaned, giving one of his warning looks.
‘Ernie? Yes, he’s our dog.’
‘Our dog?’ asked Maddy, unable to believe what he was saying.
‘Yes, my wife, well, soon to be ex-wife and I got Eric together and-.’
‘You married Tara!’ she said, her voice faltering. ‘Her?’
‘Do you know-.’
‘I’m going to take Maddy now,’ Stan said, getting to his feet. ‘She’s not feeling herself.’
‘You married her?’ she said again, shaking her head. ‘Really?’
‘Here, knock this back.’ Stan handed her the glass of wine which she drank down with one gulp. ‘You need to lie down.’
‘But!’
Then he shoved the rest of her sausage into her mouth as she took a large bite, realising she couldn’t speak. The remaining bit was eaten quickly by Stan as he grabbed her hand and dragged her out of the pub.
‘Sometimes Maddy,’ he said, starting to laugh. ‘You are bloody barking mad, do you know that?’
Maddy couldn’t speak. Her mouth was full of sausage.
And she was lost for words.
‘You ate my sausage!’
Stan had marched her and Phyllis back at high speed. ‘Did you see that? Did you hear what he said?’
After he got her through the front door, Stan walked to the garden doors and opened them, as Maddy furiously kicked off her shoes.
‘Phyl, play downstairs and we’ll take you for a walk later.’ He then put the television on, parking it at a children’s channel. ‘I’m going to have words with this other
little pup.’
‘He married her!’ Maddy threw her rucksack to the ground, realising her suit was still halfway around her waist. ‘I’ve gone off him. And he touches Dora? No, no, no. You wait until I tell her what-.’
He lunged her at her and placed his lips over her mouth, their tongues meeting.
Stan slowly pulled away.
‘That’s just typical,’ she sighed, stroking his back. ‘You think you know someone and you really don’t. And she called Phyllis a mongrel! Can you believe that?’
‘You need to lie down,’ he said, pulling her upstairs.
‘I don’t understand. I really don’t and-.’
Stan had practically lifted her up and carried her into the bedroom before placing her at the end of the bed.
‘Dr. Bob always came across as a nice man. I knew he married someone on the rebound and she wasn’t that pleasant. Who’d have thought it would be Tara! I mean, she was giving Ted the eye before her ex walked in.’ She watched Stan smile at her while removing his clothes. ‘Don’t you think that’s a little odd?’
‘I think your behaviour was pretty interesting,’ he replied and stood in his underpants before taking off his hat.
‘I knew that mutt giving my Phyllis the eye was classless. Even looked like Tara in hindsight. I bet she died Ernie’s coat to match her bleached locks. Who names a dog Ernie?’ Maddy let out a little laugh and huff when she said it. ‘And they shouldn’t go to my pub. They never usually turn up.’
‘Are you going to stop talking?’ he asked, stepping closer.
‘Well, no I’m not!’ She put her hands on her hips. ‘It is how I deal with stressful situations.’
‘It is how you deal with all situations.’
‘Put some headphones on if you don’t want to listen.’
Stan grinned and looked at her up and down.
‘You have no idea, do you?’ he sighed, placing his fingers on the zipper of the suit and pulling it down until she was stood in her underwear.
‘Of course, I had no idea! How was I to know they were married? He touched my tit once, accidentally. What if I had thought it was a come on and went for it with him? To think where he has been and with her. Ted, he was young, and the infestation would now be gone.’
‘Barking Maddy.’ Stan gently grabbed her head in between his hands. ‘You sit there, pulling your suit half off and revealing sexy lingerie for-.’
‘It’s a vest.’ Maddy looked down and could see her nipples were poking out. ‘And not well padded from the look of it.’
‘Then slowly undo the clip in your hair, letting your locks fall out.’
‘It gets hot under the hood.’
‘And you ate the sausage, licking your lips when the ketchup went around your mouth, that-.’
‘What was I supposed to do?’ she asked, flummoxed by what he was saying. ‘Have you ever tried eating a sausage without that happening? And it was a large one.’
‘Everyone was looking,’ he laughed, peering into her eyes. ‘And seeing you wrap your lips around it was an eye-opener.’
‘Is there something wrong with the way I eat?’ Maddy has never thought about it. ‘Is that why they’re always looking at me because I have poor table manners? I don’t think I have.’
‘You don’t think those men find you attractive? Madeleine, they sat there dumbstruck pretending not to look. The only other person oblivious to it, other than you, was Ted. I get the impression they won’t cross the line because he wouldn’t like it.’
‘You got turned on by me eating a sausage?’ She grinned. ‘I see. You’re a little strange, don’t you think?’
‘Will you just be quiet for the next half hour?’
‘Why?’
‘Because.’
Stan kissed her gently, and she felt his hand grab her arse as she held onto his shoulders.
‘And,’ he said, pulling away and mauling her neck. ‘I think Ted might kill me if he finds out what we’ve been doing.’
‘Do you want to keep me a secret?’ she asked, pushing her hand down to grab his buttock. ‘I don’t mind.’
‘I want to tell everyone but not yet. I’ve got a few things to sort out and-.’
Maddy lunged at him, pushing Stan back onto the bed while pulling off her vest. He promptly yanked down her knickers and removed his last layer of clothing as they rolled around on the bed.
Right now, he was a dog on heat, and she could feel it. When Maddy glanced down, he was stood to attention.
‘When did you realise I was such a sexpot?’ she asked, releasing her mouth from his. Stan’s lips were ruby red, and he looked too pretty for words. ‘And if so, how could you resist my charms?’
‘Chat, chat, chat,’ he mumbled as he let out an exhausted sigh. ‘Can we talk about this later?’
‘The quicker you say, the wetter I get.’
She knew she had him as the eyes widened with anticipation.
‘First time I met you, you were trying to hit on my dog.’
‘That’s not true. It was love at first sight for Phyllis and I.’
‘The second time, I glanced over when you thought no-one was looking and you sat there, all on your own just looking around. You seemed lost, and then I wondered if that was the intention.’
‘What intention?’
‘For me to look at you properly. To see the real Madeleine Berkeley. Then you caught my eye and came bounding over to irritate the hell out of me with your weird conversation. It was about how many spotted varieties of ladybirds there are.’
‘46 species and 27 come from the ladybird family,’ she said, knowing that off by heart.
‘And then you spoke about why leopards can’t change their spots. I think you should have been called Dotty.’
‘You’ve not answered my question, and I’m starting to dry up.’ Maddy smirked knowing how he was pushing his dick near her lady's lips; he’d realise that was far from the truth.
‘I’ve always known it,’ he said, his smile slipping. ‘I tried hard not to but realised you’re a hard thing to fight off, give or take.’
‘You can sexually molest me now,’ she replied, her heart beating so fast it was going to explode.
‘Condom?’ Stan whispered.
‘In the box.’ Maddy pointed to the side. ‘Help yourself.’ He reached over and pulled one out. ‘Willy?’
‘I have one, so I will attach.’ Stan sat up, and she watched him twiddle with the wrapper then roll it down. ‘Hole?’
‘Ah,’ she said as he kissed her tummy, his head slowly moving up as his tongue glided between her breasts. ‘You can have the whole of me if you’d like.’
Stan stopped at her face, and his smile slipped.
‘I’d love the whole of you,’ he said and stroked her face with his fingers. ‘Every single little part.’
It happened again.
The full force of her feelings about him, knowing for the first time she could ever remember, getting something she really wanted.
The thing was too good to be true.
‘Then take it. Take me,’ Maddy said, meaning every word of it.
And he did.
‘Why here?’
Maddy was confused the following afternoon when she was at the hospice. ‘Why not at the hospital?’ Linda stood outside the room where Dora was in and seemed anxious. ‘Please tell me.’
‘She doesn’t want to go to the hospital. Dora would rather be here with her friends. Dr. Bob thinks it’s a good idea.’
‘Dr. Bob.’ Maddy grimaced saying his name.
Her lover made her forget about everything that had happened the day before, all afternoon, evening, night and morning. Stan Franks certainly had some stamina. Now he was writing his column and some other outstanding work, saying she had inspired him.
Based on the sex it was inspirational, for sure.
Maddy looked at Linda and could see the tears in her eyes.
‘She asked me to help plan a funeral a few weeks back. I ignored h
er.’ Maddy bit her lip hard on saying it seeing the teardrop fall from Linda’s eye. ‘I know what she’s trying to say, but I don’t want her to give up. Anyway, it’s my birthday next week, and I’m going to Rome.’ She swallowed hard. ‘I do listen, you know. I realise what’s going on and that right now she’s going through a hard time.’
‘Madeleine.’ Linda grabbed her hands and pulled her away from the door. ‘My baby isn’t well, and I don’t know what to do.’ She watched Linda put her hand over her mouth, trying to hold onto a sob.
All Maddy could feel was an immense sharp pain in her stomach, making her want to vomit. She took a deep breath and realised her bubble of love with Stan wasn’t going to hide the fact something bad was happening.
‘What do you want me to do?’ Maddy whispered, holding in her pain and knowing that this was the time to support Linda, and more importantly Dora.
‘Let her speak to you. She said you weren’t listening or you just looked too upset. She felt bad.’
‘That’s silly. She doesn’t have to feel bad at all.’
‘Listen, Maddy. That’s all I ask you to do. Listen.’
‘We can’t meet tonight.’
Maddy had sat by the pond where Stan had pushed her in and was trying hard to pull herself together.
She had done as instructed and spoke to Dora.
Every word the young girl uttered broke Maddy’s heart, and she listened.
She listened carefully and hid the pain she felt when Dora explained what she wanted for her funeral.
Again, and again, Maddy had to shake her head and tell Dora that she didn’t look ill and beg her to explain what it was all about. Dr. Bob hadn’t said anything, and she didn’t know why Dora was thinking such thoughts.
But those thoughts had affected her mother so much so, she wanted Maddy to help.
And the truth of it, with all her positive ideas and thought, she didn’t have a clue because she had no intention of thinking too hard about it.
She refused to as it scared the living hell out of her and the idea of losing Dora.
‘What’s wrong?’ asked Stan.
‘Stan.’ She started to cry and couldn’t stop. ‘I’m sorry.’
‘What’s wrong? Where are you?’