I’m Here for YouI’m Here for You

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I’m Here For You

1

Elspeth was startled to see him at the door of her private room. Had she known that Guy would be visiting her, she would have tried to brush out her luxuriant hair, apply some lipstick and a light spray of scent that was a particular favourite of hers, one that the young man that she saw smile so engagingly, through the small glass pane set in the heavy door, also approved of.

She felt her spirits lift.

Guy had that effect upon her.

His attentive and affectionate ways eased some of the pain that her condition bestowed on her, the debilitating ache of arthritis that affected her wrists and hands, to a lesser extent other joints in her body. The condition was taking its toll on her and now prevailed on all that she did, the bandages on her wrists impossible to disguise. They kept her from wearing favoured bracelets and rings were now an impossibility given the swell in her finger joints.

And yet, she now thought on seeing him push open the door and hold out a bunch of flowers, life could be a whole lot worse. Guy’s interest and attentive ways could have dimmed, so easily, the demands of his home, his wife and her granddaughter, Jenny, taking up all of his time.

They had not done so.

Guy was loyal to her and the memories of times that they had been able to share. He would not forsake her or stay away. He would not think of it, and she was heartily gladdened by his ways.

Her ex-husband, Ken, had never been the overtly attentive sort. Instead, he had shown all the characteristics of a spoilt young man and had carried such ways, and expectations, into his marriage. Infidelities had rocked her, but she had sought to remain resolutely faithful to him; even as she and her daughter were often thought of as little more than skivvies, two women attending to his and her two sons’ every need, when they were about; a hand never offered in helping with meals, washing up, or the most basic of household chores that taxed her reserves of energy as recent years, living with Ken, had wrought upon her.

Melanie, her daughter, was a comfort but at times of her choosing and possessed many of Ken’s self-centred ways. Guy had aroused quite different emotions in her and he did so, again, now.

‘I should have called you…’ he said, bending to kiss her softly smiling lips in the lightest of touches that belied the emotion behind it. ‘You know impetuous me. I couldn’t pass by and not be with you…Els.’

‘Els’ was his name for her; one that he used when they were alone together; a manifestation of the close bond that had developed between them and that no one in the family was remotely aware of; a name that thrilled her for the sense of a shared intimacy that had arisen during a beachside holiday in Florida, the clapboarded villa costing a mine in the daily rate but offering every luxury. The warming sun and touch of the Atlantic Ocean soon eased away the developing pain in her limbs, the words of concern that Guy expressed, so often, a salve for what she had come to endure.

She smiled at him, couldn’t keep her lips from trembling. ‘I’m not looking my best…as I would have liked for you.’

‘I still see the woman on that beach…laughing and daring to go out in the surf with me. I’ll never forget those times we had together…just you and I.’

Elspeth didn’t move as he brushed his fingers over the skin that was still exposed, not covered by the firm hand and wrist brace, with its Velcro fastenings, as it lay on the thin counterpane. Guy did not squeeze; instead, his feather-light touch was enough to arouse her memories and persuade her to look at him with unblinking eyes.

‘I…I still ask for forgiveness…for what happened during that time, and then after…with you,’ she whispered. They heard a knock on the door and Guy drew his hand away slowly.

‘I’ll put those flowers in a vase, shall I?’ the nurse said kindly on seeing them. ‘They will certainly brighten up the room some more. Don’t forget to take these…’ she said kindly, on placing a small cardboard cup containing Elspeth’s pills on the bedside table.

‘Yes, thank you.’ Elspeth rubbed at her wrist bands. ‘Loosen these for me…please?’

‘You know that I shouldn’t,’ the nurse replied considerately, but putting the flowers down at the foot of the bed. ‘Only for a few minutes…then, Elspeth.’

‘I’ll refasten them, don’t worry,’ Guy told her, moving aside to allow the nurse easier access. ‘I can’t stay long…but I know what a relief it is for Elspeth to be free of them, if only for a while.’

Elspeth paid no attention to the nurse. She only had eyes for Guy now, and her memories of that holiday….the warmth of the sun upon her skin, the company of a strong, vigorous and attentive young man, the way he could look at her, and…and…Guy’s impetuous, restorative touches upon her. He had offered questing caresses that had nagged at her resolve not to concede, but her mind in turmoil and her body aching from an unrequited longing güvenilir bahis that he aroused in her.

She had not encouraged them, destructive as it would have been to pursue his consoling interest in her when they had returned and lived separate lives once more.

But such thoughts belonged to another time and place…

2

They strolled along the beach, the pristine, almost white, sands stretching out before them and the villa not so far away. It had been built at the top of the grass tufted dunes, its deck and steps down onto the strand still to be seen, the clap-boarded walls painted an azure blue, like the sky above them.

Melanie and Elspeth chattered, a laugh escaping their lips as they stepped away from a surge of the sea, Melanie carrying her sandals in one hand and Elspeth barefoot, her sandals dangling from the boy’s carrier that Guy had fastened onto his bare back, his daughter’s sun hat rubbing at his billowing long hair that he felt obliged to regularly sweep back from his slender, high cheeked face. He stepped purposefully through the surf, unbothered if it soaked his swimming shorts, his daughter’s squeals of delight soon showing that she enjoyed the experience to. He offered a fierce clutch on his father’s hair, his actions alerting Guy if he had overdone his adventurous ways of it.

‘Careful!’ Melanie called out, moving away from Elspeth’s side and coming to him, the frilly edges of the kaftan that she wore soon sodden. ‘Don’t go out so far…you may stumble…I don’t want that with her on your back.’

‘It’s okay…don’t fret so.’ He hard heard the harder edge to her voice.

‘Well I do, fret!’ Melanie retorted in evident annoyance. ‘Otherwise, give Jenny to me…I’ll carry her.’ Melanie looked back to the house. ‘She’ll soon need a rest…’

‘We’ve not gone so far, dear,’ Elspeth said reassuringly. ‘A few moments more and then we can all turn back…’

‘Or go for a swim,’ Guy suggested looking at each of them in turn. ‘I can then get the Barbie going for our lunch…’

‘If that husband of mine gets back in time,’ Elspeth retorted, pushing her hands through the tumble of her luxuriant black hair. ‘He can’t wait to get away and play golf…he’ll soon talk someone into guiding him round whatever public course he’s decided to go to this time.’

Guy heard the annoyance in her tone; saw Elspeth fumble with the flesh-coloured bindings on her wrists. The woman before him was tanning nicely, the dusting of freckles to her skin already evident and to be seen on her breast bone, to the soft swell of her breasts, and upon slender arms that a sleeveless navy-blue beach dress, with its pattern of large flowers, revealed to his gaze. She fussed over her bindings once more.

‘Take them off, just for a while, Elspeth?’ he urged now, consideration in his tone.

‘I want to…how I want to,’ she replied, looking his way and already knowing what Melanie would say to that. ‘I’ll have a mark on my wrists and hands…if I don’t.’

‘Then take them off…who’s to know?’ he persisted, trying to convince her. Guy felt Melanie fuss over their daughter and met her silencing stare upon him as she did so.

‘The people who care for Mum, that’s who!’ she now told them, snippily.

‘Yes dear…’

‘Don’t say it like that, Mum! You know very well what the doctors, and the hospital, have said about those support bandages…’

‘But not that they’re ugly…and painful sometimes.’ Elspeth stood still, turned to meet the breeze that blew in off the sea. She was seen to lift her face to the sun; the breeze outlining her figure under that dress. Guy thought Elspeth to be maddeningly attractive then, her hair caught on the breeze and her troubles forgotten. He saw te real woman, as she had been before the pain took its toll on her. ‘I’m with Guy on this…’ She had turned to face them as she said it. ‘A few minutes…that’s all I ask. I get a holiday from those braces too…’

Melanie fussed over her infant girl once more.

‘You’ll do as you want, I know…no matter what I say.’ She tugged on the child carrier’s straps. ‘I’ll take Jenny home…prep a few things and give him a feed….hope that he settles as we have lunch.’

‘We’ll all go back,’ Elspeth suggested.

‘And what about your swim?’ Melanie glared at Guy.

‘I’ll do that on the way back. I might even persuade Elspeth to do that…but…but only if she takes off those braces…’

‘My thoughts exactly,’ Elspeth laughed. Impulsively, and looking at him only, she held out her arms to him and Guy began to unfasten them. Melanie fumed.

‘I’m going! The two of you really don’t understand what they’re for…’ She did nothing as Guy shoved the bindings into a pocket of the carrier. ‘Don’t be long then…’

‘We won’t be…’ Guy said as Melanie began to walk away from them; shifting the weight of the carrier on her back, the straps soon held by her slender fingered hands to stop them digging into her shoulders. ‘Don’t be so angry, please? Elspeth needs a break güvenilir bahis siteleri from everything going on her life too…Ken, your father…he’s amusing himself. He’s no company for her.’

‘And you are?’

‘You can see how it is for her…she wants something from this holiday too, to forget what is playing out all the time…both here and at home. Where’s the harm in it?’

Guy said it on closing the space between them for a moment.

‘Go on…she’s looking our way! Just doesn’t tire her or we’ll all suffer for it…’

‘Jeez! You can be harsh on her…and Elspeth doesn’t deserve any of that.’

Elspeth looked on some distance from them as she watched them talking. She saw how Guy looked her way. She loved Guy for his refusal to accept the controlling ways of the others, even here on a wide stretch of an almost deserted beach and the time that she spent under the warmth of the sun that bestowed uncommon comfort upon her.

‘Yeah,’ Melanie sighed, stopping a while to look at him, then at Elspeth who was some way off. ‘I’m the one, though…who will have to care for her when things go really bad. Those braces are on her wrists for a reason.’

‘I sure know that…’ Guy touched his son’s face. ‘Be good for your mum.’

He strolled back and rejoined Elspeth, chose to confide in her as they stood close and decided on what to do. He felt her brush the skin of his arm.

‘Thank you for supporting me,’ she now said.

‘It’s easily done. I see a new woman…and I’m with her now.’

3

‘We’re both in trouble,’ Elspeth grinned as Guy drew near and chose to stand close beside her.

She would have a few moments alone with him, spend precious time with her undoubted ally in what was beginning to take over her life and that she simply did not want to concede to; the closing in of the boundaries to her world…as Melanie and Ken seemed to suggest she should do. She absorbed what they said and hew they behaved towards her. Guy set her free from all of that, the darling caring man that he was.

‘What trouble…for being together and going for a swim?’ he smiled.

‘No! You know what I mean!’ Elspeth held up her arms, the loosest of colourful bangles sliding down and onto her still slender wrists. ‘The bandages are gone! You can see the tide marks…already.’

‘Come on. Let’s go out and have a swim…do something about that?’ Guy looked up and down the beach. They were within the safety zone marked by the flags. ‘Leave your sun dress over there…’

‘I’ll…I’ll just sit here and watch you…I’m fine doing that.’

She felt discomfited by his sudden and easy ways with her, and a guilty conscience kicked in, if only for a moment. Guy flirted with her. It was a change from his considerate ways that she knew of back home. Melanie was already some way off and would not see how they were with each other. She felt the gnawing sense of longing, the claims of an uncommon desire and attraction to him. Guy wanted to take her out of herself, not to have her sink into despondency.

‘Are you quite sure?’ he smiled on a captivating tilt of his head.

‘No, just you go for your swim…’ She had slowly sat down, clutched her knees and now looked up at him. ‘I’m just glad to have a few moments here…’

Guy seemed to think only of her, now. She met a wondering, appraising, look upon her. ‘Okay. It will be just a taster for me…then I’ll be with you again.’ He lingered. ‘The marks on your wrists are fading…’

‘Yes…yes they are,’ she replied looking at them, the up at him. ‘Go for your swim…I’ll be watching you.’

‘Do that…it may persuade you to be with me.’

She wondered what she was falling into with him. He soon bounded off, his long sandy brown hair caught on the breeze and before he dove into the surf. Elspeth waited, for what seemed like an age, before he surfaced and was seen to beckon. She delighted in the ripple of his arm muscles as he swept back his hair and strode to be with her again.

‘Come in…the water’s lovely!’ she just about heard him yell out. Guy stood in the surf, stumbled as waves swirled about him.

To see this vigorous young man draw near, the water glistening on his tanned skin…it inflamed her senses, provoked a riot of conflicting emotions that she did not know how to control, other than to be out of his company. Her sense of propriety and correctness, her loyalty to others, vied with an undeniable urge to live it out and differently; for her to succumb to Guy’s encouraging ways.

‘You’ve persuaded me…I can’t just sit here and watch you fooling around,’ she said on shielding her eyes and looking up at him. Guy would have noted the soft pink nail varnish on her toes; a complement to her fingers and the sun block on her lips. Her choice of a strappy, mid-thigh sundress would allow her arms and legs to tan.

‘Good, I’m glad’ he grinned, ‘come on then. Be with me…live it out…take a chance on that.’

‘I am,’ she retorted and stating the obvious.

Elspeth stood iddaa siteleri up and unbuttoned the fastening at the neckline of her billowing beach dress and drew the hem up and over her thighs, then body. She soon revealed her azure blue bikini, stark against the light tan of her skin and it myriad of freckles. Guy had complimented her on them often enough; the sight of them, to her, a blemish that seemed to become more pronounced the older she got.

She was being taken out of her ordered ways of it, and now followed him into the surf. She found it surprisingly warm and soothing as it swirled around her thighs. She laughed as Guy flopped into the water and turned to look at her. She was nowhere near as confident in the water as he was.

‘I’m not going out far…so don’t make me,’ she told him, nervily, her steps cautious and slow.

‘I’ll look after you, promise,’ he soon answered and drew close. He was entranced by the sight of her; how the wet fabric of her bikini clung to her body that he delighted in, the provocative swell and shapeliness of her breasts; the soft tan lines that faded away until the beginnings of paler skin was revealed to his gaze; the soft swell of Elspeth’s belly at the rim of her bikini briefs. To have an overall tan, as Melanie sought, was to sunbathe almost nude, to discard her bikini top and wear little more than a thong. He knew that to be a step too far for Elspeth. He simply loved the look of her just as she was now. ‘I’ll swim beside you…’

‘Yes, but not too close…’ she felt obliged to caution him, and on seeing Guy’s undoubted interest in her. She had met a look upon her that she had not seen in Ken’s eyes for so very long.

Guy showed off; he performed hand stands and fell over; he porpoised around her as she settled down, the water up to her chin and she began to swim, meeting his look as Guy swam on his back as if to encourage her.

‘I’m glad to be with you like this…to see you let go.’

‘Is it that obvious?’ she said, stopping and then gasping as her feet could not touch bottom. ‘Oh God…we’re out of our depth!’ She gave him a panic-stricken look.

‘It’s okay, really it is,’ he soothed; soon holding out a hand that she felt compelled to take. He drew her to him as he walked towards the shore. ‘Can you feel the sand now…wriggle your toes into it?’ Elspeth saw him twist and turn. ‘It’s a foot massage with a difference…’

She laughed on hearing his boyish pleasure in saying and doing it. His hand still held hers and she wondered what he would now do. Guy began to rise and fall in the water in a quickening rhythm that she could do nothing about, but to follow.

‘I can’t do that!’ He had disappeared from view, and she sensed that she was expected to do the same. He surfaced so very near to her, a broad grin creasing his face.

‘Well? What’s keeping you?’ he asked the grip on her hand tightening and she ignoring a stab of pain as he did that. He wanted frolic.to see her let go of any remaining inhibitions.

‘Guy! I can’t do that!’

‘Yes you can, Els! Yes you can!’ he laughed in boyish excitement that captivated her, as much as she feared how she could so easily let go. He charmed her; he sought to seduce concessions from her with these playful antics. ‘Just try it and surprise yourself!’

She had time to gulp in a deep breath before he pulled her under, soon pushing up with his thighs to pull her up and free of the surface, then down again until she could stand it no more.

‘Stop!’ she couldn’t help but gasp out in laughter. ‘You’re a danger,’ Els now cried out, raising her hands to sweep away her sodden, glistening hair that now hung limply onto her shoulders, her bikini top all askew. ‘And you’re looking at me again in that way of yours…just stop it.’

She was dismayed, not angry. Elspeth heard him sigh and met his unflinching gaze. ‘I want you to live it out while you’re here, Els…and do that with me. I want that.’

‘I’ll try to do that…’

‘No, do it while we’re here….and with me.’ He stood closer and she felt a touch, the slowest of caresses, his hand on her back to draw her closer. ‘Don’t give in to their bullying…’

‘Give in…give in to you and my instincts and feelings, instead?’ Elspeth blurted out and in some dismay. It was how Guy’s ways had made her feel. They confounded all reason and her fraying resolve.

‘If that’s how it is, yes…’

4

Their situation now was unreal. She broke free of his embrace and began to walk, swim, then walk again, back towards the shore, the incoming, gentle swell helping her on. The prick of sea shells were to be felt to the soles of her feet. They were of no interest. Guy’s ways of it had lit a flame within her, taken her to a place that she dared not go.

‘Your body hurts…but you retain your distinct beauty and I’ve seen a moment’s vitality again in you…and a special sound in your laugh…relaxed and captivating.’

Everything he said was true. She knew it herself, yet she was dismayed at his ways with her and that she could hold his attention upon her in the ways that she had. How crazy! He was flirting with her, and she felt herself to be on the edge of simply letting go and of wanting to be taken out of only too-ordered ways.

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