December
Neil Mack was
the most recent newcomer to the village of Pepperstock Green and had waited for
four years for a suitable property in the village to come on to the market, and
it was a life-changing move especially when he met his next-door neighbour,
Marjorie Saunders.
He worked for a
film production company WKF, who had been based on outskirts of the village for
more than five years.
Marjorie was a
divorcee and immediately lost her heart to her new neighbour but was reluctant
to do anything about it and thought that any search for a meaningful love with
someone of a like mind would be a fruitless exercise as she had been let down
before.
She was a
striking looking woman, not model beautiful but very lovely with dark hypnotic
eyes.
Though the
woman that stared back at her from the bedroom mirror each day thought she was
far from lovely.
She stood 5
feet 4 inches tall in her stocking feet and was a stone heavier than she should
have been, which was thanks to her own baking.
She wasn’t
though disappointed with everything she saw in the mirror she liked her legs
which she thought were quite shapely and her hair which she thought of as her
crowning glory, which was long and straight and was of a brown so dark that it
looked black.
However,
Marjorie didn’t think that nice legs and beautiful hair was sufficient to win
the love of her new neighbour Neil Mack, because she valued herself so little,
which was why she held no expectation in his regard.
He for his part
had shown no interest in her nor given any indication that he thought of her in
anyway other than as a friend and neighbour, and her dilemma was that if she
did tell him of her feelings for him and he didn’t feel the same about her it
would create an unbearable awkwardness, with him living next door.
So that was why
she decided it was best not to upset the Status Quo, and to just remain as
friends.
After all
friendship was better than nothing and that had been her opinion for nine long
months.
Marjorie had
not, however, gone unnoticed by Mark, but he too had decided discretion was the
better part of valour and also opted for the Status Quo option.
His
professional role was as a middle management strategist but that year, due to a
sudden heart attack striking down the woman who organized the Christmas
entertainment for the company, Neil was given a new project, cater the
Christmas office party from scratch in 10 days.
Molly had her
heart attack in October, and he wasn’t given the poisoned chalice until well
into December by which time all the venues were fully booked, including the
Barnabus Manor Hotel in the village and the Mablethorpe Spa in Pipershaven, and
no one could cater for it at such short notice.
The venue
wasn’t so much of an issue as they could hold the party at WKF, but catering
was, because the staff were going to expect more that Pork Scratching’s and
cheese footballs.
So, his thought
returned to his beautiful buxom neighbour Marjorie, because apart from the fact
he thought she was gorgeous, he also knew that she was a brilliant baker, and
she was also the manager of Bloomer’s Bakery in the village, so she had the
wherewithal to get the job done and get him out of a hole, provided she wasn’t
already over committed.
What he didn’t
know was that there was a great deal of competition within the Bloomer’s
Baker’s chain and Pepperstock Green were neck and neck with their nearest
rivals in Springwater and Pipershaven at the end of November and a huge
catering order would push them over the line, which would mean both the kudos
and a nice bonus for Marjorie’s shop.
He got up late
on Monday morning, so when he knocked on Marjorie’s front door he got no
answer, so he took a walk into the village and wandered aimlessly down the road
with no particular purpose and found himself walking past Richmond’s General Store, and as he’d used the last of
the milk in his morning coffee, he decided to pop in and get some, and as soon
as he walked in, his eye was drawn to a large stack of magazines. the Radio
Times to be precise, and the bumper Christmas edition at that.
He knew that it
was a bit sad, but he really looked forward to getting the Bumper Christmas
Edition of the Radio Times.
It was one of
the highlights of the season for him, and he would have gladly acknowledged
that it did indeed sound really sad, but he didn’t care, it was part of
Christmas for him, but to make it even sadder, he bought two copies.
The magazine
reminded him of his childhood when the family would mark the programs they
didn’t want to miss in coloured pen.
At that time,
you had to buy a Radio Times for the BBC channels and a TV Times for the
commercial stations.
After leaving Richmond’s General Store with the Bumper Edition of
his magazine he headed towards Bloomer’s to see his other favourite bumper
bundle, Marjorie, and on arrival went inside.
“Hello Mark”
Marjorie said, her face blushing slightly
“Hi Marjorie, I
missed you at the house this morning” he said, and she completely coloured up
“Oh? How can I
help?” she asked conscious that her colleagues were watching her every move
“I’m hoping you
can save my life, I’ve been lumbered with organizing the Christmas party” he
said fishing inside his coat and bringing out a folded piece of paper and
handed it to her
“At the last
minute to boot, can you cater for one hundred, in a week?”
Marjorie said
nothing, just read the list so he added
“I’ve listed a
few things that are a must, but the rest is up to you, and money is no object”
Marjorie smiled
and handed the list to her colleagues and gave him a bear hug almost crushing
his Radio Times
“You are my
hero” she announced and kissed his cheek several times, and then as they stood
face to face smiling at each other they kissed, and it was a long slow and
deliberate kiss.
“Do we get one
of those now” Marion asked from behind the counter when they had finished.
“No, you
certainly don’t” Marjorie replied
“It’s one of
the perks of management” she added, and she kissed him again
When they had
finished a queue had formed so she blushed and said
“Well thank you
for your order, Mr. Mack”
“Here if I
order something do I get one of those?” and elderly customer asked, prompting a
peel of laughter
“I’m sorry Mr.
Kelly” she said “Special customers only”
As a result of their exchange in the shop, WKF got their Christmas Party, Bloomer’s staff got their bonus, Marjorie got her man and Christmas for Neil was a special Bumper Edition.
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