Trying to be as natural as possible I called ‘Oh extra long of course!’ picking up a whip I waved it out from the side, ‘And here, don’t forget the whip!’
If the woman thought our little charade was unusual, she didn’t let on. She walked around the corner towards the back of the shop and came back with a set of shackles.
‘I’m afraid it’s a standard length of chain on these. You might want to wear a silk scarf or something around your neck when using the shackle; they can leave a mark if you get too excited and pull too hard.’ She moved her hair to show her own war wounds.
Brandon paid for the shackle and whip and we left, bursting into fits of laughter as soon as we got outside!
‘I can’t believe we just did that!’
‘Eh you were the one who dragged us here! C’mon we better get the scarf now that we have everything else!’ I left him bemused in my wake and headed in the direction of Marks and Spencers. He caught up with me as I mounted the stairs. His eyes widened as I walked around the various choices on offer, every so often holding one up to his neck and dismissing it. He didn’t say a word until I had selected one and paid for it.
‘Perhaps I underestimated you Faye?’ it wasn’t said in admiration, more in unbelievable shock.
I just winked and walked away.
‘Where are we going now?’ he asked.
‘Stationary section, to get a birthday card, of course.’
‘A birthday card?’ he asked, totally confused.
I smiled warmly at him, ‘The scarf is for my mother’s birthday – what did you think it was for…?’ I asked rather innocently.
Chapter 7 – Present Time
It was Christmas Eve and I was desperately trying to get out of the office early. Lucy was busy dividing up the last of the wine and hampers, that had been sent in by our various clients, while devouring the box of roses that had been sat on her desk all week. I hurried as I filed away the last of my designs. Locking up, we were the last to leave and were heading for a quick Christmas drink before Lucy took the train home for the holidays. Brandon arrived just as we pulled the shutters down and took us arm in arm.
‘So my fair ladies where shall we go for our Christmas tipple?’
Settling into a cosy snug by a warm open fire, we savoured our hot toddies. Lucy was headed down home to Clare on the 2 o’clock train and Brandon was dropping me home for the holidays en route to his mother’s. But first, he and I were headed back to my place to exchange gifts. I was still nervous about giving Brandon his gift. I wasn’t 100% sure where we stood exactly. I’d ended things with Ross within days of our first coffee date over a month ago but I had kept things very casual between Brandon and I, deliberately. He hadn’t met my parents either; tonight would be the first time and I was nervous about that too. I realised that other than Nate and a few other minor teenage boyfriends before him, I’d never actually taken anyone else home. The gravity of it was beginning to weigh me down. Did I like Brandon much more than I was prepared to admit? How exactly did he feel about me?
Waving goodbye to Lucy as her train pulled out, I turned back to Brandon and he put his arms around me and kissed my hungrily.
‘I’ve wanted to do that all afternoon.’ He said; I realised then that I had too.
Lucy thought that Brandon and I were just friends; I didn’t want to rub ‘our relationship’ in her face. Things hadn’t quite worked out between Ted and her. While she realised she could live with the crooked penis, he realised he couldn’t live with her. Having fallen head over heels for him within days, she was devastated when she walked into a restaurant one weekend with her sister to see him with his tongue down the throat of some buxom blond. She had had it out with him there and then and he laughed at her saying she was only some piece of skirt he banged when he was bored. She’d cried for a week and turned her back on love and romance.
As far as she was concerned the 3 of us were just friends and our ‘dating’ hadn’t progressed on from coffee and weird shopping trips. I suppose that was also part of the reason I wasn’t sure where I stood with Brandon. We occasionally went out for dinner just the two of us and there was kissing… a lot of kissing, but Lucy clung to us both like a lost dog after her dumping and tagged along if she got wind of us heading out.
But right now, we were alone, all alone and headed back to my apartment. A few minutes later, we were in my sitting room and I felt nervous as I turned on the fire and looked around at Brandon reading some of my Christmas cards. He had been in the apartment once or twice before but I realised that Sharon had always been here, either in the room or asleep, now we were all alone.
‘What are you thinking?’ he asked
‘Oh nothing really,…just that this is our first time alone here.’
‘I suppose it is. Afraid I am going to have my wicked way with you?’
‘Hmmm something like that…’
He smiled that delicious smile that I was falling in love with…HOLD ON! What! Falling in love with? Where the hell had that come from? I wasn’t falling in love with anyone!
He looked at me quizzically, ‘What now?’
‘Sorry?’
‘Your expression, you’re having one of your internal dilemmas. It’s written all over your face.’
‘No I’m not! Present time!’ I squealed to avoid interrogation.
‘Faye, before we do presents can we talk?’
Oh! This sounded serious. Was this the ‘let’s be friends’ talk?
‘Sure, what you want to talk about.’ I said more light heartedly than I felt.
‘Well, it’s us… well I suppose I wanted to see, if there was ‘an us’… or the possibility of an us? God I feel like a tool. I suppose I want to have ‘the talk’!’
‘The talk?’
‘The dreaded ‘are we/ aren’t we’ talk.’ I caught what he meant but it was always fun to watch Brandon squirm a little.
‘I’m not sure I follow. What are we or aren’t we?’ trying to suppress my smiles was getting hard.
‘Are we together, like properly together or are we you know, not.’
‘Aw Brandon, how very ‘high school’ of you!’
‘Well?’
‘Em well…’
He cut across me,
‘It’s ok Faye, you don’t have to answer. I understand if it’s something you are not ready to talk about. It’s just I wondered, what with dropping you home and whether or not I would meet your parents and how you would introduce me and what I could say to your mum.’
Wow, he had put some thought into it. I felt bad, I hadn’t, well I had but I wasn’t able to make a decision. On one hand, I felt it was too soon to be introducing someone else to my parents as my boyfriend, it had barely been six months, but then on the other hand there was nothing more I wanted to do. I wanted to scream it from the roof tops, take out a newspaper ad that said I was no longer, desperate or lonely or looking for love. I was unequivocally in love with Brandon Donohue and I wanted everyone to know!
Leaning over towards him, I pulled him down on top of me and started kissing him. He responded eagerly against my lips. We kissed passionately on the couch for ages and then I began to pull his shirt from his jeans and over his head. He responded by kissing down my neck and unbuttoning my shirt. We rolled off the couch and onto the rug in front of the fire where we made love for hours.
Lying in each other’s arms, sometime later with only the glow of the fire and the twinkle of the fairy lights illuminating the room, Brandon stroked the side of my face;
‘I’m in love with you Faye.’
Chapter 8 – Blissfully happy – at last
We realised half way to my parents that in our haste to get dressed and on the road we had forgotten to exchange gifts. As corny as it sounds, I really don’t think he could have given me anything better.
Meeting my parents had gone better than expected and he had thoughtfully brought gifts for them and Josh. My mother beamed as she opened the small jewellery box to r
eveal a stunning art deco rooch.
‘This will go perfectly with the scarf you bought me for my birthday Faye!’
I just smiled at him, remembering that shopping trip. For my father he had brought a bottle of Remi Martin, which I knew he would savour every drop of. Josh even broke a smile when he unwrapped one of the latest ‘hot off the shelf’ games.
‘Faye, would you help me make some teas and coffees in the kitchen?’
I had wondered how long it would take my mother to make some excuse to get to question me on my own, once we had arrived. All I had said to her was that a friend would be dropping me home and she didn’t need to collect me from the train station when I had called earlier in the week.
‘It was very nice of your ‘friend’ to bring us all presents dear. I do hope you have sent some down to his family?’
I smiled at her attempt at subtlety. I had actually, which made me realise that Brandon obviously meant a great deal more to me then I had realised.
‘Of course I have mum, you raised me well.’
‘Good to know. So have you known Brandon long?’
‘A couple of months now.’
‘And does he have a girlfriend?’
Never one to beat around the bush was my mother.
‘He does actually, lovely girl, you’d like her.’
‘Oh really? You’ve met her then?’
‘Oh yea, we get on like a house on fire!’
My mother slide glanced at me.
‘Faye Marie Winters, you little weapon you!’
Tears of laughter streaming down my face, ‘I couldn’t help it mum, I’m sorry!’
‘How long have you been seeing each other?’ she smiled.
‘A couple of months.’
‘Is it serious?’
'Yes, I think it is.’
‘He seems nice.’
‘He is mum’
‘As long as you are happy.’
‘I am mum’
She squeezed my arm and kissed my forehead. Laden down with teas and cakes, we headed back into the others.
About an hour later walking him to his car I realised I hadn’t actually given him anything –other than kiss him, I hadn’t reciprocated his declaration of love.
‘I just realised, I haven’t given you anything.’
‘Oh I think you have.’ He said, nuzzling into my ear.
‘Easy tiger, my mother is probably watching.’
He restrained himself and kissed my nose. He leaned against his car and I wrapped my arms around him. I took a moment to be sure before saying it.
‘I love you too.’
He smiled so widely I thought his face would crack.
‘You just like making it impossible for me to leave you, don’t you!’ He kissed me again and we just held each other for a few minutes. The cold crept up on me and I shivered. ‘You best head in; you’ll catch your death!’
I really didn’t want to move, but it was cold and he had a long journey ahead of him.
‘Call me when you arrive?’
‘Of course.’ He kissed me again and hugged me tight. ‘Have fun and I’ll see you in 2 days – you still want a lift back in?’
‘Definitely!’ I nuzzled into his chest one last time and backed away. ‘Go! Quickly, while I can restrain myself!’
‘Wanton woman!’
I watched as he drove down the driveway and out onto the street. He beeped as he turned the corner and I walked back into the house, blissfully happy!
Chapter 9 – New Year, New House[s]?
You know when people say it was a world wind romance? I never really understood it before. That was until Brandon. After Christmas we became two sides of the one coin. To the outside world I am sure that it seemed we were rushing into everything, to us it seemed perfectly natural. Almost like we had both waited a hundred years to find each other and now that we had; we weren’t going to waste a moment.
Weeks into the New Year we moved in together. Or more I moved in with him. He’d been holding out on me and when I eventually got inside his roomy open plan loft style apartment, I wondered why he insisted for so long coming to mine. I had always thought my lovely little apartment to be bright, airy and spacious; in comparison to his it was the size of his walk-in wardrobes that had a shoe box tacked on as a balcony. But I was in heaven; not only was I living with the man of my dreams, I now had an apartment with vast proportions and space to decorate, any woman’s and Interior Designers dream! Brandon wasn’t as enthusiastic about my redecoration plans as I was.
‘But babe you live here too, I want you to be happy with it.’ I would insist.
‘Faye I’ll love whatever you love. Furniture; it’s just not my thing. Once the LCD and sound system stay where they are, you can do what you want.’
‘But I need to run it by you!’
‘Tell you what; make me the fifth person you run it by.’
‘The fifth, that makes no sense at all?’
‘It does really, at least then, chances are one of the first four will already have done whatever shopping or fixing needs doing!’
‘You lazy sod!’ I said throwing a cushion at him.
‘I’ll tell you what I will come shopping with you for though.’
‘What’s that?’
‘New beds, or at least I’m happy to test loads of them out with you.’ He said pulling me down on to the couch. The doorbell rang then and moments later Chloe burst through it.
‘Sorry, couldn’t wait. LOOK.’ She said throwing a handful of estate agents listings down on the coffee table.
‘What are they?’ I asked looking up at her. ‘I thought you were staying in your digs until the end of the year?’
‘I am; they aren’t mine!’
‘Whose are they then?’
‘Anthony’s!’
With that she flopped on the couch and burst into tears her foot going ninety to the dozen on my just laid polished cherry floorboards. Brandon and I looked at each other, totally perplexed. Brandon shrugged his shoulders. Chloe looked at us incredulously.
‘Well obviously he is moving!’
We were still both none the wiser.
‘Don’t you think he would mention that to me, his girlfriend?!’
‘Maybe they are old? Where did you find them?’
‘They’re not. They all are only up in the past 2 weeks.’
‘Have you asked him about them?’
‘No! How can I?’
‘You are his girlfriend.’
‘Clearly that doesn’t account for much.’
‘Chloe, are you not being a little unreasonable?’ I had been thinking it, but Brandon had the balls to say it; not that I was sure he would have those balls much longer with the way Chloe was looking at him. Her face distorted and she burst into tears again.
‘Sorry’ she whimpered. ‘I’m getting my ‘flowers’, I’m an emotional wreck.’
‘On that note, I’m leaving.’ Brandon was up and across the room in three large strides.
‘Chloe, what really is going on?’
‘I don’t know Faye; I’m all over the place lately. Why wouldn’t he mention this?’
‘Perhaps, it’s a surprise?’
‘How? It’s not like I can afford to buy a house, I still have another 2 years of medical college left. And we’re only together a few months, who buys a house together after that length. We don’t even live together for Christ sake!’
‘Well you practically do. You’re always over at his.’
‘Yea but I don’t pay rent, or bills or anything. A drawer and a wardrobe in his bedroom hardly count.’
‘Talk to him about it.’
‘I can’t.’
‘Why not?’
‘Cause I feel like such a fool, rushing over here, and crying!’
‘He’s not going to know that now, is he?’
‘I suppose.’
‘Here have some chocolate.’ I said remembering I had some in my handbag.
As Chl
oe munched her way through 2 Mars bars I wondered what all this was about. It was unlike her to fly off the handle like that; despite the eminent onset of her period. Maybe there was more to this then she was letting on.
Chapter 10 –The first secret…
Later that night in bed Brandon turned to me, ‘Faye, you women are mad!’
‘What?’
‘You fly off the handle at a moment’s notice! Or even without notice!’
‘We do not!’
‘Right…’
‘We’re just passionate about things.’
‘I see, that’s what you call it, is it; passionate.’
‘Brandon!’
‘What?’
‘You don’t agree? What would you call it then?’
‘Neurotic.’
‘Oh my god, we’re not neurotic.’
‘Suit yourself then.’
The cheek of him, to think that women are neurotic about things, if he wasn’t so damn sexy I would kick him out of the bed. Or…
‘Get out!’ I shrieked, pointing to the door.
He looked at me incredulously.
‘Out!’
‘But Faye, what the…what are you doing?’
‘Acting neurotic, apparently it’s the way all women act.’
‘Oh you cheeky weapon.’ He said flinging the book I was reading across the room and pulling me further down under the covers. ‘Faye Winters will you marr….’
The world stopped. I looked Brandon straight in the face. He smiled.
‘Faye I’m not going to finish that sentence, not right here. This isn’t the way I want to ask you, but I do want to ask you. Don’t even give me an indication of what you might have said. Or maybe you should, maybe it’s too soon, maybe we’ve not been together long enough? Maybe it’s too soon after Nate leaving you… no don’t, don’t say a word. Let me do it properly.’
I stared at him. Strange to hear him ramble like that. A proposal… he had almost proposed. In the moment I was elated and could think of nothing else but to scream, YES, YES, YES, but now, now that the moment had passed and he had brought up Nate and the short time we had been together, could I be sure I wanted to marry him? Did I know that now? I love him; that I knew. But was I ready to be a fiancée again? I snuggled down into his chest thinking this over in my head as I fell asleep.
The Meaning of Purple Tulips Page 5