In The Name Of Love (9 page)

"I'm so pleased you made it early. Did you manage to bring
everything?"

He was a bit set back by her words, expecting at least a
personal question and perhaps the offer of a cup of tea first. "Yes, the car's
packed to the roof. Shall I bring it in now?"

"If you don't mind, I want to unpack and sort it all out
this morning, because after lunch Joyce is taking me into Manchester for some
shopping."

It took then some time to bring everything in and take it up
to April's room, which looked quite full with cases and boxes all over the
place. He was pleased to hear her say, "Don't worry about all this mess, I'll
clean it up. There's some breakfast waiting for you in the kitchen."

As he left the room, he noticed that she closed the door
after him, and turned on a small bedside radio. He shrugged and went down to
the kitchen, where Joyce was busy frying up some bacon, sausage, and eggs.

"I expect you're hungry after your early start and battle
through the rush-hour traffic," she said, placing a heaped plate on the table.
"Get started on that, and I'll fix you some coffee."

"Thanks, Joyce, I'm starving."

"Cyril's driving us into Manchester after lunch, and we're
all going to see James Mason and John Mills in Tiara Tahiti. Would you like to
join us?"

"Thanks for the offer," said Grant, between bites and
wondering why April never extended the offer, "I have to turn you down, because
I have to meet my manager for an early lunch in Stockport, and I think we'll be
busy canvassing for new customers all afternoon."

"Maybe next time, then," she said, leaning over and kissing
his forehead, "I'm looking forward to tonight."

This was the last thing he needed, but before he could say
anything, she'd left the room. His hot breakfast was no longer so tasty, and as
he pushed the food around the plate he couldn't help worrying.
"I was hoping
to spend the night with April, not another night with Joyce. Especially after
last night's workout with Edna, which has left me exhausted. I will try to
speak alone with April when they get home…"

After a long and tiring afternoon spent canvassing small
business owners on a local industrial estate about pension funds, and getting
only one firm enquiry, it was past seven in the evening when he arrived home.
The house was dark, cold, and empty, so he decided to soak away his tension in
a hot bath.

He was still in the bath some thirty minutes later, when he
heard the giggles and chatter of April and Joyce as they climbed the stairs, so
he hurried to dry himself and slip on his pyjamas and dressing gown so he could
speak to his wife. The landing was empty when he left the bathroom, however, so
he knocked on her bedroom door.

"I'm just changing – I'll come to your room in a few minutes."

"Okay, see you then," he said, and he walked into his
bedroom. When he turned on the light, he was surprised to see Joyce walking
naked through the secret doorway between the two rooms. "April's coming here to
talk in a minute; you must go back into your room."

"Give me a kiss first, and then I'll go back," she said,
draping her soft body around him and kissing him long and hard on the mouth,
while writhing her hips against his, knowing it would arouse him.

 His hands came up to caress her breasts, while she slipped
her hand into his pyjama bottoms to caress his enlarged penis.

"Joyce, you must stop now, please. April will be here any
second." He tried to edge away from her, but she pulled his pyjamas down around
his ankles, freeing his cock to wave invitingly at her face.

"Ooh, just what the doctor ordered!" she said, bending down
to take it in her mouth.

"No, please," he said, shuffling backwards, but the pyjamas
caught his feet and he fell backwards to the floor.

There was a quiet knock on the door, and April said, "Can I
come in?"

In a split second, Joyce was through the secret mirrored
door, clicking it closed just as the bedroom door opened.

Grant was sitting on the floor, trying to pull up his
pyjamas to cover his erection.

"Well, if you think I'm coming in here while you sit on the
floor playing with yourself, you can think again. I'm going to bed, and don't
wish to be disturbed."

Grant jumped to his feet, but April was out the door and
back in her room, before he could fasten his pyjamas and make himself decent.

"Damn woman, what makes her think I play with myself?
Still, better she thinks that, than anything else. If she'd opened the door a
minute earlier, she would have seen me with Joyce, and then I'd be in real
trouble."

He slipped on his dressing gown and went downstairs, but
only found Cyril who was watching the television. "The girls are having an
early night," said Cyril, "And once this movie is finished, I think I will hit
the sack. It's tiring going into town."

Grant sat down and said, "Was the movie in town okay?"

"Yes, quite entertaining. Not my cup of tea, but both the
girls loved it. I prefer a good detective story, like this one…"

"I think I'll leave you to it, then, and get an early night
myself."

He went upstairs, and stood outside April's room for a
couple of minutes. He could hear her radio, but decided not to knock as it may
start an argument. Perhaps after they'd both had a good night's sleep, things
would be better in the morning.

As he opened his bedroom door, he wondered if there was any
way he could prevent the secret door from opening, because he knew he could
never talk Joyce out of whatever she had in mind. And tonight, he was just not
in the mood for her.

The light was on in his room, and he was startled to see
Joyce sitting on the bed thumbing through a magazine. This angered him and he
said, "What if April came in and saw you in my room, there'd be hell to pay?"

"Not at all, we were in here together yesterday, looking
through these old magazines I store in that cupboard over there. She knows I
often read them…"

"Well, you better go back to your room, now I'm here."

"That's a good idea," she said, getting up and going over to
the mirrored door on the wall adjacent to the bedroom door. "Let me show you
how to open this, in case you need to come and see me."

"That's not likely to happen," he thought, as she turned to
smile at him, but he was intrigued to see her slip her finger in a recess
behind the mirror and click open the door.

"Very interesting, but how does the catch open the door?" he
said, coming closer.

"Look at this pulley, it has a weight, and when you release
the catch, it pulls the door open. Now look over here," she said, showing him
the catch on her side of the secret passage, "Click that upwards, Grant."

He gave the catch set inside the jamb a push upwards with
his thumb and the both doors on his and her end of the passage swung to and
shut with a click.

"Very neat, but now I must be going back to bed," he said,
clicking the catch again, but this time nothing happened. "Okay, why won't it
work for me?"

Joyce had walked through into her bedroom and was sitting on
her bed giggling.

"It's a little trick, darling; when you push the catch
upwards it locks both doors and stops them from opening. You have to click it
down if you just wish to shut them."

"Fine, well now show me how to open them."

"Perhaps I'll show you later, and perhaps I won't," she
said, slipping off the bed and letting her dressing gown slide to the floor,
revealing her naked body once again."

"As you wish," said Grant, walking towards her bedroom door,
"In that case, I'll leave by this door." He turned the handle but the door was
locked, and looking down he say the key to unlock it was missing. "Come on,
Joyce, open this door."

"My dear boy, you spend a long night in my bed and then
waltz up to Leeds and leave me all alone, while my body yearns for you. Now
come here and give me a kiss, and you'll soon be tucked up in bed."

"Yes, but which bed, that's the question."

"You'll never know, until you kiss me," she said, throwing
her arms around his neck and kissing him on the mouth.

Grant returned her kisses with equal vigour as he ran his
hand over the smooth skin of her soft body. His erection was already rampant,
and pressing against Joyce, while lust and desire surged through his body.

"Perhaps if I just spend a few minutes with Joyce, she'll
let me go back to my room…"

April lay on her bed listening to the radio and thinking
about her afternoon with Cyril and Joyce at the movies. They'd all enjoyed
watching Tiara Tahiti, and while they were waiting in the lobby coffee-shop for
Cyril to arrive before the movie, Joyce surprised her by saying, "I want to
thank you for the attention you're giving Cyril, it has cheered him up no-end
and I think you may be the answer to his problems at work."

"Good gracious, I'm not paying him any special attention,
Joyce; I just seem to get on well with him. And as for solving his problems
with the young ladies at work, I must agree that he does like to touch me a
lot."

She saw Joyce's eyes raise and in a panic she said, "On my
arms and knees, I mean. He's never touched me anywhere else."

"I know, my dear, he does love your company so much, and he
couldn't do anything if he wanted to. I promise you that it is taking his mind
away from the attractions at work. So, please don't stop him."

"Of course I won't, he's a real gentleman and you must be
proud of him."

"Don't be surprised if he holds your hand during the movie!"

"Oh dear, I don't want to make you jealous, so what shall I
do?"

Joyce threw back her head and laughed so hard she had to
take out a handkerchief and dab at her eyes. She said, "Oh, April, you are such
an angel. Of course I'm not jealous; quite the opposite. You know that Cyril
and I have not shared a bed for almost a decade, but we continue to enjoy life
together and neither of us plan to make any changes."

"I've kept Grant out of my bed as you know, but I don't
think it will last a decade!"

"I don't wish to pry, but you're not still angry with him,
are you?"

"Well, things just don't seem to be going right between us
at the moment. It's as if he has another woman, but I know that's not true,
because he just doesn't have the time. I guess it will sort itself out soon."

"That's good, and in the meantime you can enjoy Cyril's
company – here he comes now."

There was just time for him to take tea with them, before
they took their seats for the matinee show beginning at 2:00 p.m. Joyce's
prediction soon came true, and Cyril took hold of her hand within a few minutes
of the main feature starting, and didn't let go until the end of the movie.

April was embarrassed by his action to start with, but as
she became engrossed in the movie she forgot all about it. He gave her hand a
squeeze on occasion, and she turned to smile at him, taking care to see if
Joyce was watching, but she appeared not to notice. She glanced at him from the
corner of her eye, trying to gauge his age and guessed he was in his early
fifties.
"More than twice my age," she thought and then, "Now why did I
think about that? Just stop thinking woman, and watch the movie…"

She chuckled aloud at the memory, thinking that she behaved
like a young girl on her first date; holding hands all through the movie! As
one of her favourite tunes came on the radio, her thought turned to Grant, and
for about the tenth time that evening she wondered why he was lying on the
floor nursing a huge erection.

Getting off the bed she went over to the dressing table and
sat on the stool, staring at her reflection in the mirror. In the couple of
years they'd been married, she'd never know him to masturbate, and perhaps that
was what shocked her so much. "Get a grip of yourself, woman, he's a grown man
who needed you.

When he knocked on your door earlier, you refused to let him
inside the bedroom and told him you were dressing," she said to herself in the
mirror. "If you continue to turn him away, and keep him from your bed, you'll
end up losing him!"

Her hand went to her mouth in shock. This thought had not
occurred before, and talking aloud, letting the words flow randomly, had let
the idea loose. No doubt it had been skulking at the back of her mind, but
she'd never realised it until now.

"You're going to have to get him into your bed again, so
pretty yourself up and then go and get him!" her image instructed her.
"Shut-up," she replied, "I know what to do…"

She went over to her dresser and found a silk nightdress
she'd been saving for their holiday, which never happened. She slipped off her
underwear and pulled the short nightdress over her head, her skin shivering at
its silken touch.

Sitting once more at the dressing table, she applied a
little makeup and rouge to her face, then a touch of red lipstick to finish the
job. She brushed her blonde hair ten times with each hand, letting the waves
bounce around her neck and shoulders, before standing up and admiring her
petite figure in the mirror. "This should do the trick," she said to the
mirror, before making her way to the door.

She hesitated at the door and returned to the dressing
table, where she picked up her favourite perfume. A large dab went behind each
ear and for good luck a large dab was applied to the top of each small breast
peering bravely from the low neck of the pale blue nightdress. She went over to
the bed and turned on a small table lamp, and returning to the door she put out
the main lights.

A glance around the room confirmed everything was just right
and welcoming for her husband, and she slowly opened the door, checking that
she was alone on the landing. She stood in the open doorway for a couple of
minutes, but could hear no sound, so she made her way along the landing to Grant's
room.