Thursday 31 December 2020

Snippets of Downshire Life – The New Year’s Resolution

The fortunes of Shallowfield on the edge of Dancingdean Forest, had always relied largely upon forestry and agriculture for its survival and in the post war years with rationing and a shortage of work a lot of people moved away, to Abbottsford, Abbeyvale and beyond and it barely survived, but by the 70s things were beginning to change, thanks mainly to tourism and an increase in leisure time, and the fortunes of the Sciberras family improved along with it.

Adam also benefitted and everything in his life seemed to be perfect, a privileged upbringing, public school and Oxbridge education, a place in the family business, a luxurious house and a glamorous wife, but he blew it.

Apparently having everything in life served to him on a silver platter wasn’t enough for him as he decided he needed to have numerous meaningless relationships or more precisely, one night stands, until he was finally caught.

So now he was separated from his wife, estranged from his family, and reduced to stacking shelves at the Shallowfield Village store for Anuruddha Gunasekara and living in a bed sitter above the Bengal Curry House, and he’d never been happier, he had no responsibility, no pressures, and no expectations.

He had been cut off from his wealthy life style by his father in order to teach him a lesson and he was expected to last a few days before he crawled back to the family and begged for forgiveness, but he had been living his simple life for three months and the thought of returning to his old life had never once crossed his mind.

And that was before “she” started coming into the shop a few weeks before Christmas, she was small and fine featured with short brunette hair and a radiant smile, which he tried desperately to ignore.  

Since his spectacular fall from grace he had chosen not to have any more dalliances, despite several offers which he had rebuffed and he had not actively pursued anyone, or wanted to for that matter.

She made it difficult for him as she came into the shop every day, sometimes twice, and they always exchanged polite conversation and a smile, but Adam tried to keep their interaction to a minimum. 

He did find out from other members of staff that her name was Anona Rouet who lived “in” at the Shallowfield Lodge Hotel, on the edge of Teardrop Lake, where she worked long hours as maid, receptionist, waitress, chief cook and bottle washer, and Adam tried hard to be disinterested.

As Adam was persona non grata with his family he chose to work maximum hours at the shop throughout Christmas to allow for those who did belong to functional families could feel the benefit.

So he successfully managed to maintain a healthy, yet polite distance between himself and Anona all through December.   

 

After closing the shop on New Year’s Eve he thought he should reward himself with a beer before turning in.

There were a glut of pubs in Shallowfield and he had tried them all, there were three pubs at the Teardrop Lake end of the village within five minutes’ walk of the shop, The Woodman’s Axe, The Woodcutters Arms and The Foresters, and the names clearly reflected Shallowfield’s dependence on forestry over the centuries, the pubs at the other end of town had more of an agricultural flavour in their naming, The Wheatsheaf, The Plough and the Farmers Tavern.

His favourite hostelry was The Plough, but that was too far to walk and the end of a long day and another one in prospect the next morning, so he decided very definitely to restrict his choice to the forest end and plumped for The Woodcutters Arms and was there with ten minutes to spare before the chimes and stood at the bar and ordered a pint, and he was halfway down his pint when she appeared and as soon as their eyes met they smiled.

“Hello” Anona said “This is a nice surprise”

“Yes it is” he agreed and was resigned to the fact that further resistance was futile.

“Can I get you a drink?”

“I’m still working I’m afraid” she replied “I get off at half 12, you can buy me one then”

 

She sat on the stool next to his and he ordered her a drink.

“Large white wine please” he said to the waiting barman.

“I’m glad you picked this pub” she said “I suspect you would you have gone elsewhere if you’d known I worked here”

“What makes you think that?” he asked

“Because in the shop you’ve always been…. Distant” she replied “or perhaps reluctant, would be more accurate”

“Well my life has tended to be a bit complicated” Adam said

“And you think I might make it more so?” Anona asked

“Possibly”

“Well I can be very uncomplicated” she said and leant in and kissed him.

 

In the early hours of New Year’s Day Adam and Anona were at his bedsit and laying entwined in the afterglow when she asked

“So what complications are you concerned about?”

“The main one is that I’m separated from my wife” he said

“Separated?”

“While in the process of getting a divorce” he clarified

“I’m sorry, any particular reason?” she asked and he laughed

“My infidelity”

“I see, singular or multiple?”

“The latter” he confessed

“So are you a lost cause or is there some hope for a self-confessed adulterer?” she asked

“I don’t know how to answer that” he said

“Well prior to us meeting tonight did you make a New Year’s resolution?”

“I did” he replied

“What was it?” she asked with interest

“I think I should keep it to myself” he said

“Go on tell me” she insisted and after a moments silence he replied

“Not to get involved with women” He replied

As she climbed onto him she asked

“How did that work out for you?” Anona asked as she nibbled his ear

“And what if you were to make one now, what would it be?” she asked

“Never to have another one night stand” Adam replied

“This isn’t a very auspicious start then” she pointed out

“Really? I thought this was just our first date” he said and she kissed him

 

 

 

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