by Paul Kelly
Title Page
DANIEL’S STORY
By
Paul Kelly
Publisher Information
Daniel’s Story
Published in 2011 by
Andrews UK Limited
www.andrewsuk.com
This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior written consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published, and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
The characters and situations in this book are entirely imaginary and bear no relation to any real person or actual happening.
Copyright © Paul Kelly
The right of Paul Kelly to be identified as author of this book has been asserted in accordance with section 77 and 78 of the Copyrights Designs and Patents Act 1988.
Synopsis
Daniel was tall, dark and handsome; the type of young man that any woman would find attractive. He was also a talented musician and played the violin beautifully, so naturally, Rene fell in love with him and wanted to marry him. Rene was a pretty girl; an artist and very talented also, but she was never cut out to be a housewife and after she fell pregnant with Daniel’s child, Dillon, she realized that the handsome musician in the bow tie and tails, just wasn’t sufficient for her needs and she left Daniel, amicably enough, but it left Daniel with serious health problems and the doctors discovered that he had multiple sclerosis, which was attributed to his stress at the break up of his marriage, as Rene felt she could not care for Dillon on her own and left that responsibility to Daniel
This, you would think, would have made Daniel’s music impossible to sustain, but Daniel’s love of his music helped him to overcome the disability and he taught at a well known public school, where the little boy Dillon was cared for most of the time as a boarder, helping Daniel to carry on with his life.
It was when he met Frieda, a woman of Austrian extraction, who like himself was a trained musician and played the piano with great skill, that he fell in love and wanted to marry again. His friends warned him that Frieda was not the type of woman who would make him a good wife, but as with anyone who falls in love ... you can only see what you want to see and nobody could tell you otherwise.
Daniel married Frieda and they planned to play their music together as a duo. He on the violin and she accompanying him on the piano, but as with any love affair, there is always some ‘fly in the ointment ...’ Frieda didn’t want children and she hated the little boy Dillon.
In time, Frieda became tired of the relationship and handed Daniel a note one morning before she left the marital home, telling him that she did not love him any more and that she was leaving him for another man. Daniel was heartbroken and remembered what his friends had told him about the woman he thought had fallen in love with him. It transpired that she too had been married before, but only for a very short time and that she fleeced her young husband for every penny he had.
As time went on, Daniel went through a second divorce court, only to find that Frieda was doing the same to him as she had done to her first husband and he had to pay thousands of pounds to be free of her. This stress also aggravated his physical condition and he fell ill with worry.
***
But a third woman came into Daniel’s life, even if by this time he was wary of love ...
He could accept Alison as a friend but nothing more, if regretfully, Alison was the only woman who ever really loved him, regardless of his MS. and had Daniel met her before he became involved with his two wives, his life story could have been very different.
Alison truly loved Daniel and she loved little Dillon too.
In the court hearing at the divorce Frieda told how Daniel had beaten her and was cruel to her in so many ways, which was a pack of lies, but that was the way she made her living. Wasn’t it ironical that Frieda had such a hatred of cruelty and of being treated so badly by her two previous husbands and yet she in time found a man who was not only ugly, twice her age . . . and who treated her like muck and beat her savagely.
She relates to a friend that she could only be happy with a man who was strong and who made her feel like a woman ... which if she could interpret her own feelings and desires, she wanted a man to debase her and knock her about and only then, would her appetites, (whatever they were would be satisfied.) and wasn’t it ironical that her ‘appetites’ were the instruments by which she should meet her untimely and cruel death.
Chapter One
"You've spilt your coffee," she said as she bent down to mop up the mess that Daniel Roberts had created on the floor beside his table. "Are you alright?" she went on, looking at Daniel as he sat with his head in his hands. He looked up at the waitress after a short while and she could see by his eyes that he had been crying. "Are you alright?" she enquired again, but Daniel hardly saw her through misted eyes as he sighed heavily and lowered his head again.
"I'm O.K." he moaned, "I just want to be left alone."
The waitress looked about her. There was no-one else in the cafe.
"I don't like to see you like this," she said, "Please let me help you. I think you must be in some trouble and ..."
Daniel shot his head into the air and stared wildly at the waitress as she looked on with concern in her eyes.
"I'm alright, he said ... Didn't you hear that? Are you deaf?"
"I'm sorry if I have upset you. I didn't mean to do that. My name's Alison ...Alison Ford. I'm a waitress here. If I can help, please call me," she said as she turned away and left Daniel sitting awkwardly on his chair with one arm slung across the table.
"I'd like another coffee, please?" he called out and Alison turned round to face him again. She stood beside him for a second before she took out her pad.
"Anything to eat?" she asked and Daniel shook his head.
"Just the coffee, if you don't mind . .." he groaned, "and I'll try not to spill it this time."
Alison smiled, but as she was about to walk away, Daniel dried his eyes and called out after her.
"Black with only a little sugar. My name is Daniel ... and thanks," he said, but Alison seemed to ignore him as she went into the kitchen to bring him the coffee he wanted, returning a few minutes afterwards with his drink and sitting beside him at his table.
"Black with a little sugar," she said and hesitated before she went on, "I didn't mean to be intrusive. Only you are the only one left here and it is past closing time and I thought ... well, I thought you were drunk when I saw that you had spilled your drink. Sorry."
Daniel smiled weakly and Alison looked relieved,
"I am the one who should be sorry," he remarked, stirring his coffee as he spoke, "You see, I have had a rather a troublesome time in the past few weeks ... well in the past few years, I should say. I am sorry if I appeared rude."
"I have broad shoulders," she said and cocked her head to one side as Daniel looked into her eyes.
"Thanks, but no thanks. It is something that wouldn't interest you and besides, I will have to get through this time by myself and I think I can only do that on my own."
"A trouble shared ..." she went on as Daniel sipped his coffee, but he put one hand in the air and shrugged his shoulders.
"Are you? ... "I'm sorry I have no right to ask you anything of that nature," he said as he stood up to leave the cafe, "and anyway, as you have said, you should be closed by now. I'll be off and thanks again for your concern."
"If you can hold on for just a few minutes, I'll come with you. I have to clo
se the cafe and I should be going home myself anyway."
Daniel stood still and looked about him.
"Going home?" he said and raised his eyebrows in despair. "Going home ... Nice expression if you can mean it," he said and Alison rushed off to get her coat before she locked up the premises, but even if it had only been a few seconds to get her coat, when she returned Daniel had left the cafe. She rushed out, closing the door quickly behind her, just in time to see Daniel about to turn into a narrow street, not far from where she worked.
"Wait," she called out, "Wait for me please ... "I don't like walking home in the dark and ..."
At that moment, Daniel returned to her view and she turned the key in the cafe door before slipping the key into her coat pocket.
"Do you live far?" she asked, "I can walk with you if you like and as I've said, I don't like walking alone in the dark."
Daniel stretched out his hand to her as she rushed towards him.
"How far have you got to go?" he asked, but she dismissed his enquiry with a question of her own,
"Never mind about me," she said, "I'll be alright. I only have a short walk from here, but you ... how far do you have to go?"
Daniel looked down at the ground and did not answer as Alison slipped her hand into his as they walked , but he pulled away from her.
"I don't have far either," he said, "but I'll see you home first and then I'll make my own way."
Alison gripped his hand, almost as if by fear.
"But will you be alright?" she asked, "It looks as though it might rain and I know you were upset about something when I spoke to you in the cafe."
Daniel looked at her as she spoke, but there was a deadly pale; almost deathly look on his face in the moonlight and as Alison was about to speak to him again, he put his forefinger to her lips.
"I'll see you home and I'll be alright," he said and they walked on together in silence until Alison told him where she lived at Randolph Gardens.
"I wish you'd come in for a hot drink or something," she said as a faint wind blew her hair from her face and a light spot of rain touched her cheek, but Daniel shook his head.
"I might spill the stuff again if I do that," he joked, but his eyes did not smile and his face was solemn. "I'll wait until you go inside and close the door before I leave," he added. “I live only a few streets away in Cramer Road.”
Alison walked up the few steps to the front door of the flat before she turned around to speak to Daniel again.
"You are very kind. I mean, I appreciate your waiting until I got in safely. Can we meet again perhaps?" she asked, but Daniel shrugged his shoulders.
"I might be in the cafe again tomorrow, who knows?" he replied before he walked away as she went into the flat.
Chapter Two
Alison rose the following morning and rubbed her eyes. It was a few moments before she remembered the incident of the night before and she rubbed her eyes again thinking it might just have been a dream. She had a strange feeling in her heart ... not like love or anything like that ... Well if it was she had never experienced anything like it before and she thought she was in love when she married Ken ... Oh! but that was ages ago, or so it seemed ... and she had been nursing at the time, taking her SRN soon after she married him and yet, she had only been married for about fifteen months. She closed her eyes to block the scene from her mind as there was nothing about Ken that she wanted to remember and she recounted the days since she had been divorced. As she showered and dressed, her mind was in confusion. She had met a few chaps since the divorce and some of them were nice, or at least seemed to be that way, where others were nothing but 'gropers' she suspected, but to be on the safe side, she hadn't gone out with any of them, however she remembered with a fickle smile that Daniel was different somehow, although she couldn't understand why. He just was ... .He hadn't tried to engage her in useless conversation nor had he tried in any way to touch her and she was pleased that she had remembered his name. Would he remember hers, she thought wildly as she yawned and gave a little chuckle.
"Might be in the cafe tomorrow, who knows?" he had said and she wished she had been on the early shift at work just in case he did turn up. Should she ring Rosie, her work partner who was on the early shift that week and tell her to look out for him? ... but how could she do that? Tell Rosie he was handsome in a strange sort of way, that he was six foot tall, had mid brown hair ... and oh! he had a dimple on his left cheek when he smiled.
Alison ran her fingers through her hair. She felt a happiness that she hadn't experienced for a very long time ... if she ever did experience a feeling like the one she had then. What was it about this man who spilt his coffee carelessly on her spotless cafe floor and made no attempt to apologise? Was he any different to the men she had met throughout her twenty three years? She tugged at her hair as if by that action she would find an answer to her dilemma, but the sun shone though her bedroom window regardless of her thoughts, as it regularly did on a fine spring morning and left her still thinking of a man called Daniel ... Quickly she showered and dressed, laddering her tights in the rush and had to put on a new pair.
She thought it might be best just to call in at the cafe when she was dressed. It might be that Rosie had seen Daniel before when she was on the early shift yesterday and she might even remember him, or better still, where he could be found again. It was a pretty wild guess, but she took the decision she would do just that after she had a rushed breakfast of toast with some of her own home made whisky marmalade. She liked that; licked her fingers and headed for the door as she threw her coat over her shoulders and touched her hair to make sure that it was in place, somewhat.
Nothing really mattered until she could get to the cafe again and then, she hoped ... but sadly when she did arrive there, Rosie knew nothing of the man she described and Rosie took note of every handsome man and even those who were not so handsome who came into the cafe when she was on duty. Rosie considered that any man who looked at her would be trapped, if she wanted to trap him, but sadly few people saw what Rosie saw when Rosie looked at herself in a mirror.
"Are you sure you haven't seen anyone of that description, Rosie?" Alison asked anxiously, but Rosie only pouted her lips and raised her eyebrows.
"If he's like you say he is, I would have noticed him, that's for sure," she replied, but that was little consolation to Alison. "The place is very quiet this morning, darling' " said Rosie, "Come and have a coffee with me before the rush starts and anyway, what's happened to that husband of yours? You haven't introduced me to him yet. Afraid I met give him the eye?"
Alison sat down at a coffee table and looked again at the table in the corner where Daniel had spilt his drink. She had only worked in the cafe for the past ten weeks and she hadn't discussed her private life with anyone, certainly not Rosie.
"I don't have a husband any more Rosie," Alison confessed as if she had committed the most terrible sin. "I thought you knew that," she went on knowing full well that she had never told Rosie about it "I've been divorced for the past five months now."
Rosie sipped her coffee and her eyes went wide with surprise.
"What? ... A good looking girl like you and you say you're divorced. What the hell's wrong with the man, Does he have a white stick? You've been working here for nearly three months now and you haven't said anything about a divorce to me. I'm sorry Rosie, I wouldn't have said many things to you that I shouldn't have said if I knew. I guess it's true what people say about me ... I've always had a big mouth," Rosie went on, but Alison smiled. She was always aware of the seriousness of her situation. She had never wanted a divorce. Marriage had always seemed something very sacred to her, but as things were in the marriage, it was obviously the outcome for a very long time. She looked about her as she drank her coffee, thinking that perhaps Daniel might have returned again, but there was nobody there who looked in anyway like
him and people were coming and going most of the time. She put her cup down and waited for another hour at the cafe, thinking again that Daniel might turn up, but without success and after a little while longer as the cafe was not very quiet that morning, she left Rosie, knowing her friend would want to get on with her work and took a stroll in the park. It was a beautiful morning. The air was fresh and she walked slowly round to the duck pond, where she usually took some bread to feed them, but she had rushed out from the flat so quickly to get to the cafe in the event that Daniel might be there that she forgot to take some bread with her to feed the ducks, but they knew her as she approached the pond and squawked their way towards her in anticipation, but Alison could only sigh. It seemed that everyone was disappointed that morning and she walked slowly home again.
That evening, just before she went on duty at the cafe, she took extra care with her hair and made sure that she was looking her best, much to Rosie's surprise as she raised her eyebrows and made a sarcastic remark on Alison's appearance, but Alison wasn't in the mood for any kind of remarks, good or bad, she just wanted to get on with her work, in the hope that a certain man might come back again to the table in the corner. He could spill all the coffee he wanted for all she cared. She just wanted to see him again and with that thought, she sat down for a moment between serving to ask herself what was happening to her, as she had never ever in her life before felt as
she did then. It was different with Ken. She thought she loved him. He was very handsome, if not particularly tall, but even if she did, he obviously didn't love her and she found that out very soon after they got married.
Chapter Three
It was nearly two weeks after her meeting with Daniel that Alison received some news of him again, but it wasn't the type of news she wanted to hear. There was a small piece in the newspaper about a man being badly injured in a 'hit-and-run' accident and the name, or rather the lack of it made her look twice at the article.