Wednesday 23 December 2020

The Clerembeax Palace Hotel and Spa – Christmas Day Matinée

 

The beautiful Downshire village of Clerembeax St Giles was situated to the west of Abbeyvale located between Grace Hill and Bushy Down and on the outskirts was the Clerembeax Palace Hotel and Spa and when Yvonne Labuschagne inherited it from her cousin, the last remaining Clerembeax, she undertook the task of modernizing the Palace and opening a Hotel and Spa, offering fitness classes, gym, rock sauna, infra-red sauna, aroma steam room, ice fountain, drench showers, Jacuzzi, a Romanesque pool, Reflexology, Raki, facials, scalp massage, hand massage, Manicure and Pedicure, while also providing accommodation, meeting and function rooms, a superior restaurant and whatever temptation might attract potential visitors.

She was by profession a masseuse and had worked for many years along with her late husband at the Dancingdean Spa Hotel in Childean.

Staffing the Hotel and Spa was crucial, and Yvonne used her contacts in the Spa world to find the right specialist people in her field of expertise’s and employed Hannah Morgan to fill the remainder of the roles, on the understanding that she employ from the village populous where possible, and that was how the Ward girls came to work at the Palace.

 

The Ward family had a small holding on the North side of the village, parents Jack and Olive, and daughters Donna, Felicity, Josephine, and Maxine.

It was a profitable concern and gave them all a modest living but when the Palace opened it gave them a chance to supplement their incomes without having to travel to Abbeyvale.

They were all hard-working girls and didn’t care what work they did so Hannah Morgan didn’t hesitate to offer them all housekeeping jobs.

 

Felicity was the second oldest at twenty-three and the tallest at 5ft 8, but she was also the least confident, and was oblivious to how attractive she was, with her willowy figure and long brown hair.

Unlike her siblings she was painfully shy, and was a quiet studious girl, who never went out, preferring to immerse herself in books, in fact she only ever left the farm for work and church, and she hadn’t left the village since she left school, but the one thing that she shared with her sisters was her work ethic.

Life changed for her however at the beginning of November when Stephen Shepherd arrived as Hospitality manager.

He was in his mid-twenties, tall, with a military bearing, blonde hair, blue eyes and a smile that melted Felicity’s heart the first time she saw him.

In fact, she liked him so much that she volunteered to help him with the linens.

 

It soon became clear to everyone that there was more to their relationship than Hospitality Manager and Housekeeping girl, but it didn’t become evident to the two of them until the Second Sunday of Advent.

 

The Ward Family had always been churchgoers and not out of a sense of duty, the whole family had very strong faiths, and they only missed in exceptional circumstances, and the same was true of Olive Ward’s family Sunday Lunch.

But after Stephen offered to take Felicity Christmas shopping in Abbottsford that afternoon, Olive excused her, and they had a great shopping expedition which culminated in a tender kiss.

 

There were many more dates and many more kisses between then and Christmas Day, but he had to work that day as the Hotel restaurant was fully booked for Christmas lunches, so they didn’t get together until 4 o’clock at his cottage. 

Which was when they sat down with a large sherry and opened their presents.

Felicity had never done Christmas presents with a boyfriend before and she was very excited indeed, almost as excited as she was with the shopping trip when he kissed her in the Phoenix Shopping Centre.  

She was quickly on her hands and knees under the tree as Stephen looked on

“Open this one first” she said excitedly and handed up a little gift bag to him. 

“Ok” he said laughing and he took the package and inside the gift bag was a little bundle wrapped in tissue paper, and inside that was a little square gold embossed jewellers box, and when he opened the hinged box he found a pair of platinum cufflinks bearing a crown motif, and his initials, the crown being symbolic of his name.

“They’re beautiful” he said and then he joined Felicity on the floor and kissed her.

“Your turn” he said and reached under the tree and brought out a small parcel.

“I’ve never had a Christmas present from a boyfriend before” she said

“Well you have one now, open it” he urged “Open it”

“I want to enjoy every second of it” Felicity said

When she had carefully removed the paper, she put it on the floor and opened the gift box and inside she found a gold charm bracelet, bearing five charms, a shamrock and a horseshoe (denoting luck), a heart inscribed with her name (for love), a Christmas tree (to mark the season), and a crucifix.

“Wow” she exclaimed “it’s beautiful”

“You can add to it as a record of our life together” Stephen added

“What forever?” she asked

“For ever” he confirmed before adding “I love you”

“And I love you too” she responded, and they embraced, and the nature of that embrace led to them opening the rest of the presents much later on Christmas Day.

No comments:

Post a Comment