Loving Carol Part III Peace
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Love & Peace Ch. 04 free porn video
Chapter 4 – Daniel’s story
Thank you to everyone who has voted and enjoyed the story so far. I have to admit now that there are not many sex scenes in this chapter – for reasons that will become obvious. But… I hope you still enjoy…
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I watched Kate walk out of the pub and felt the familiar despair. No matter what I said to her she never seemed to believe me. I sat and drank the last of my wine and gazed around at the busy pub. There were happy families out for lunch, couples sitting close together, groups of friends laughing and chatting. Where the hell had I gone wrong? Just a minute ago, I was sitting with the woman of my dreams, someone who made me happy in the midst of the mess that was my life, and now she had left me again.
Of course, she wouldn’t open the door to my insistent knocking, wouldn’t let me explain how important the changes at Jefferson’s were and how I had managed to safeguard her job. That her name on the ‘safe’ list was probably how my wife had found out about our relationship.
I drove away, my eyes fixed on the rear-view mirror in the hope that she would relent and open the door but it remained firmly closed. I had no choice to return to my house. There was no way I could describe it as ‘home’ – that would have been ridiculous. A home was somewhere you retreated to, felt comfort and happiness in, but with my wife and the empty shell where I lived, I felt only anger and misery.
Jessica was sitting in the lounge when I arrived. The place was silent, except for the ominous ticking of the clock on the fireplace and it felt cold. My wife was reading a magazine and didn’t even look up when I entered the room. She had her hand placed on her flat stomach, and I wondered if it was for effect. I was convinced she wasn’t pregnant, knew that it was a plan of hers to make it up and then conveniently lose the baby when she got what she wanted.
‘Jessica, are we going to talk about this?’
‘What’s to talk about, Daniel? You’re having an affair with a cheap slut and I’m carrying your baby.’
I sighed and went to the window where I stared out at the distant fields. This move was supposed to be a new start for both of us, an attempt at putting our differences behind us, but it had only managed to tear us apart.
‘And this cheap slut, she’s a lowly clerk at Jefferson’s! I thought you would have been more original than that!’
She laughed and I turned to face her, the anger in my face evident. ‘Leave her out of this, Jessica. You and I had agreed to divorce before I met her. How long are you going to throw this in my face?’
‘For as long as it takes, darling,’ the last word uttered with a sneer. ‘You put me through hell during our marriage, constantly asking me to move house, move countries, give up all the dreams that I had…’
I gazed at her in surprise. Never once had she mentioned how she felt. I had just assumed she was happy with the way our lives had turned out. Why had she never told me?
‘Jessica, look, we need to talk about this. I can’t carry on with this bitterness and if you are pregnant it won’t be good for the baby.’
She laughed. ‘Ha! You care about me? And the baby? What a load of rubbish! The best thing you can do, Daniel, is get out of my life and go back to your cheap slut.’
I felt the anger rise up in me then and I had to keep my hands at my side in order not to hit her. Her contempt was deeply rooted and my attempts to be reasonable were futile.
‘I’m going. I’ll find a hotel for a couple of weeks and stay there. It’s impossible to be here with you like this, but if you want any sort of divorce settlement without a huge fight, we’ll need to talk about this calmly. Do you agree?’
Jessica ignored me and carried on reading her magazine, a sly smile on her face. All the rage and frustration from my encounter with Kate suddenly erupted and I strode over to the sofa and grabbed my wife by the shoulders.
‘You fucking listen to me, Jessica! OK? We need to get this sorted and if you don’t agree to meet me, then you’ll regret it.’
She gazed at me, her face impassive, and I lessened my grip. ‘Just meet me on Thursday at Oliver’s restaurant. 8pm.’
‘Oh sure, Daniel, whatever you want.’
I stared back at her, wondering how we had come to this, how my dreams of a happy marriage could have gone so badly wrong. How I had ever loved such a cold and passionless woman.
I left the room and went upstairs to throw a few things into a small suitcase. I had to get away and all I could think of was Kate. How badly I needed her now…
*
Over the next few days, I hoped I would see her at work but her desk was tidy and bare. She had obviously carried out her plan to get away and my text messages and emails went unanswered. I went through the motions at work, my mind on other things and I felt disgusted with myself. I was supposed to be here for a reason, for an important role that was going to secure the future of the company and all I could think about was a woman who didn’t even trust me enough to hang around and listen to my explanations. Most of my time was spent in meetings and we’d decided to break the news of redundancies to the staff the following week.
I had a suspicion it was a secretary who had found out about my relationship with Kate. One of the women who carried out administration tasks for the Directors was friendly with my wife – they attended the same gym – and would often meet for coffee. Perhaps the secretary was curious as to why I had put Kate on the ‘safe’ list. A glimpse of us leaving together was all that was needed to put two and two together…
On Thursday, I called my wife to confirm our meeting. Her replies were curt but polite and I braced myself for a heavy evening ahead. I had been staying at Oliver’s all week as there was no way I could be at home. The hotel had special memories for me as I had stayed there with Kate. I realised it was silly and sentimental, but by being there, I felt close to her and it helped with the feeling of restlessness that seemed to overtake me.
I sat at the bar and waited for my wife to arrive. Nursing a neat whisky, I thought about our marriage and tried to work out when things had started to go wrong between us. At first, we had been happy. We took holidays to Europe and spent long weekends exploring the vineyards around San Francisco. I hoped that there would be children eventually when the time was right. Except it was never right and there was always the ghost of Louise in the background, useful ammunition for her to throw at me whenever we had one of our innumerable arguments.
Thinking back, I asked myself whether I ever really loved her or whether she was just an antidote to the memory of my first love. Watching her now as she walked confidently towards me I compared her to Kate. There was such a difference in the two women. Jessica was self-assured, cool and startlingly beautiful, whereas Kate was wonderfully natural, loving and kind.
‘Drinking already, then?’ Jessica remarked, raising her eyebrows. ‘I’ll have a mineral water.’
I ordered another large whisky and followed her over to a table by the window. Her perfume left a vapour trail and the smell of it made me feel slightly nauseous. I knew that after tonight, whenever I came across that particular scent, it would bring back bad memories.
‘So why have you dragged me half way across the county, then?’
I took a gulp of whisky and looked at her. ‘To talk about our marriage. To try and sort things out amicably rather than keep hissing and shouting at each other.’
Jessica smiled. ‘Oh, I think it’s rather fun. I like making you angry, Daniel. I like giving you a little taste of what I’ve had to put up with over the years.’
‘Why are you doing this?’ I sighed and downed the rest of my whisky. ‘Why are you blaming me for an unhappy marriage?’
‘I blame you because you alway
s promised me that we would stay in one place. Somewhere long enough for me to start the career I went to University for. Somewhere we could raise the kids we were never going to have!’
‘You never wanted children, Jessica. You said that your career came first.’
‘Yes, the career and then, when it was the right time, I wanted to have children. Don’t try and pin the blame for that on me, Daniel.’
I called a waiter over and ordered another whisky. I knew it was a dangerous thing to do but I just needed to feel numb.
‘You seem to be drinking a lot, my darling. Are you feeling alright?’
I stared at her and suddenly felt full of loathing for this woman, who as far as I knew, could be carrying the child I had always wanted.
‘Just tell me one thing Jessica. Be honest with me now. Are you pregnant or not?’
She laughed and shook her head. ‘Ah, Daniel! You’ll just have to wait and see… When my stomach starts to swell, you’ll know then…’
Luckily, my retort was stopped by the arrival of the Maitre d’ who escorted us to our table. I felt angry that the beauty and elegance of my favourite restaurant was wasted on my wife who was gazing at her surroundings in obvious contempt.
‘I don’t know what you see in this place, Daniel. It’s so ridiculously overdone. Why couldn’t we have gone to my favourite place instead? It’s so much better than here.’
She sounded petulant and I enjoyed telling her it was where I had stayed with Kate. ‘Good memories everywhere for me here, Jessica,’ I said. ‘The one good thing about my life at the moment is Kate.’
My wife’s eyes narrowed as she looked at me over the rim of her glass. ‘Ah, yes – Kate. I’ve been hearing a lot about your sweet little girlfriend.’
I ignored her and concentrated on the wine list, picking the most expensive red Burgundy I could find. Maybe if I spent all my money now, my greedy wife wouldn’t be able to touch it after we divorced.
‘Kate is worth a hundred of you, Jessica.’
‘I doubt it, Daniel. She’s probably just after your money, darling. But when Jefferson’s get to hear about your little affair, it’ll be a different story.’
I clenched my fists and forced myself to remain calm. ‘I told you – leave Kate out of this. She has nothing to do with our marriage.’
‘She has an amazing resemblance to the dear departed Louise as well. Wouldn’t you agree?’
Never had I felt more hostility for my wife than I did now. She knew just where to attack me and took delight in causing me anger and hurt. She had known all along about Louise and my feelings for her, the devastation I felt when she died. I realized my wife was a cruel, hard woman who hadn’t an ounce of sympathy in her.
We ordered our meal but for once, the standard of cooking was wasted on me. Jessica ate her meal with relish, taking delight in the fact that my appetite had gone. All attempts to talk reasonably were met with sarcastic comments and I gave up, letting Jessica talk unremittingly about the life she had led with me and my control of our marriage.
With the arrival of coffee, I sat back in my chair and gazed at my wife. ‘Ok, Jessica, this was obviously a mistake. Just do what you have to do and start the divorce proceedings. I’ve had enough.’
She smiled then, a sly smile full of spite and malice. ‘You capitulate so easily, Daniel. I expected more of a fight from you.’
‘Well, I give in. What more can I do? You’re determined to screw me, Jessica. I’ll just ask one thing, though. Don’t talk to Jefferson’s about Kate. Do that for me and you’ll get what you want.’
Another smile and this time I saw real triumph in her eyes. As she started to speak, my mobile phone suddenly rang, making me start.
Glancing at the screen, I saw it was Kate’s number and I felt my pulse race.
‘Hello?’ I said into the mouthpiece and then listened, my heart thumping with shock…
*
The journey seemed to take forever. I ordered a taxi as I had drunk far too much whisky and wine to drive myself. I only had the vaguest of directions as Kate’s friend Amanda had been too upset to talk coherently. I couldn’t get any real information from her, just that Kate was hurt and had called out my name. Amanda had managed to stay calm long enough to find her mobile phone and dial my number which luckily Kate had stored when we first met.
I sat back as the taxi sped through the night, and dialled Kate’s mobile again.
‘Amanda? What’s going on? How’s Kate?’
Amanda still sounded shocked and I began to imagine all sorts. ‘Oh Daniel…I’m so sorry.’ She started to cry and I pressed her further.
‘You must tell me what happened. Please. Is Kate badly hurt?’
‘No, just her head. He hit her!’ Another wail and I could hear her crying.
‘Who hit her? Amanda? Tell me…’
‘We were in the pub…I thought she would be safe with him. We’ve known him ages…’
I suddenly felt so frustrated. I leaned forward and asked the taxi driver how long it would be.
‘About another hour, mate. I’m going as fast as I can.’
I slumped back and spoke into the mobile again. ‘Look Amanda, just calm down and tell me what happened. Stop crying, it’s not doing Kate any good.’
I heard her sniff and then a heavy breath. ‘OK, I’m sorry. I’m just so angry.’
‘Can Kate come to the phone, Amanda? Is she there?’
‘No, she’s asleep. But she seems ill, Daniel. Her breathing is so fast and kind of shallow?’
‘You need to phone an ambulance, Amanda. Will you do that for me? Do it now, OK?’
‘OK.’ I heard her throw the mobile down and then footsteps as she made her way to the house telephone.
I took a deep breath and tried to remain calm myself. The thought of anything happening to Kate was too much to bear and the fact that there was nothing I could do to help her made it even worse.
I heard Amanda speaking in the distance and waited for her to return to the mobile. I needed to know what had happened and this time I would get it out of her.
When she returned she was much calmer. ‘Daniel? The ambulance is on its way. It’ll be here in ten minutes.’
‘Right, just tell me what happened. I need to know everything.’
‘OK. Kate left the pub before me. We’d arranged to meet and I took my new boyfriend plus a bloke called Steve. We’ve known him for ages.’
I heard her take another deep breath and her voice wobbled slightly. ‘Kate was pretty fed up, I suppose… Anyway, she wanted to go home so Steve offered to walk her back. Daniel, I’ve known him nearly all my life…’
A fresh bout of crying and I waited patiently. ‘Just tell me, Amanda.’
‘Um, well, she left and after about five minutes we decided to go as well. My house is just beyond Kate’s cottage and as we were walking towards where I live, I saw them standing on the path. They were struggling and then I saw him hit her… He hit her so hard, Daniel…’ She burst into tears again and I felt a growing fury rise within me.
‘Then what happened?’
Amanda fought to control her voice. ‘She fell to the ground and Steve saw us running towards him. He made off and David, my boyfriend, followed. He’s not back yet, either.’ More tears and I gripped the mobile closer to me.
‘Where is Kate now?’
‘She’s in bed. When I got to her, she was mumbling your name so I found her mobile and called you. I’m so sorry…’
‘No, you did the right thing, Amanda. How did you get her upstairs?’
‘Um, she was OK at first. I helped her up and she said she felt strange, but she fell asleep and now her breathing doesn’t sound right at all…’
‘Well, just wait for the ambulance, and I’ll be there as soon as I can. Just don’t leave her OK.’
‘I won’t. Oh, please get here quickly. She’s so pale.’
‘The paramedics will sort her out, don’t worry. Just let me know what they say.’
‘I will. Oh God, I just want her to be OK.’
I rang off and glanced at my watch. There was still a long way to go and I stared out at the dark countryside willing myself to remain calm. This couldn’t be happening to me again, could it? To lose Louise, and then Kate would tip me over the edge I was sure.
I thought back to our first meeting, the night at her cottage when we had made love, the night in the hotel when our need for each other was so evident. I just couldn’t lose her now. I couldn’t go back to the life I had before I met her.
When Amanda’s phone call came at the restaurant, my wife had reacted with her usual anger and intolerance. She had refused to stay and listen to my explanation.
‘Oh just go to her, Daniel!’ she almost shouted, causing the other diners to look at us in surprise. ‘You probably arranged this with her! Admit it…didn’t you?’
She had stormed off and after calling a taxi I had tried to phone her but her mobile was switched off. She hadn’t promised to keep quiet about my relationship with Kate and this was just the ammunition she needed to go public and make my life a misery.
The mobile rang again and I picked it up immediately. ‘Daniel? We’re going to hospital. She’s got concussion.’
‘Right, just let me know where the hospital is and I’ll be there.’
Amanda gave me directions and the taxi driver assured me we would be there in half an hour. At least Kate was in the best place now and then I could take over and look after her. Her welfare was all that mattered now.
*
The hospital was large and because it was now past midnight, there were very few staff about to point me in the right direction. Amanda had called again and had given me the name of the ward. After mistakenly heading off to the hospital’s laundry, I eventually found my way to the right Nurse’s station and then to Kate’s bedside.
She was asleep, but her breathing seemed normal and there was some colour in her cheeks. I bent forward and gently kissed her forehead and she murmured in her sleep. Amanda was sitting next to her but as soon as she saw me, she rose to leave, explaining that her boyfriend was waiting for her outside the hospital in his car. He had given up the chase, as Steve had just disappeared into the fields and woods behind the village.
‘Thanks so much for what you did,’ I told her. ‘I don’t even want to think about what would have happened if you hadn’t found her.’
Amanda looked stricken. ‘I wasn’t a friend to her in the pub. I was so wrapped up with David. Please tell her how sorry I am…’
I assured her that I would and sat down heavily on the hard plastic seat by Kate’s bed. I took her hand and stroked it, wanting so much for her to wake up and see me there.
As I gazed at her face, I realised that it was Kate I wanted and that maybe the ghost of Louise was finally receding. The familiar features were there but it was Kate’s personality I wanted, the very essence of her that made me smile and need her so badly.
Long hours passed by her bedside and I dozed on and off, my mind ever alert to Kate waking. The nurses checked on her regularly and they smiled at me and offered me tea but just told me to be patient. She had received a nasty blow to her head, they said, and would need some care and attention over the next few days. I wanted to give it to her, smother her in love and show her just how much I cared.
As dawn broke and the hospital woke from its slumber, Kate opened her eyes. I was half-asleep but I heard her soft voice murmur my name and I smiled as she looked at me.
‘Daniel? What happened?’
I explained to her gently and she frowned as she remembered the incident with Steve. ‘He was so strong. I couldn’t fight him off. Did…did he do anything to me?’
‘No, my love,’ I assured her. ‘Amanda found you almost straight away and he ran off. You had a lucky escape.’
‘He looked so evil, Daniel. I just wanted you to be there, but you weren’t…’ She started crying and I scooped her into my arms. ‘I’m so sorry for leaving you in the pub like that. Why do I do that? Why am I so stupid?’
‘We just need to trust each other, OK? And we can. There’s been so many problems between us. Our relationship never really got off to a good start.’
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