Accompanying Father-in-law

I was very new to the family; I had met them all, naturally. James's family were all reasonably sociable and although I had nothing in common with any of them, they all accepted me into the extended family. James was one of four boys in the family, his older brothers had both married some years earlier and his younger brother had a steady girlfriend. I hadn't really been James's girlfriend; I had worked for James in a large department store, in the warehouse. The warehouse manager had tried to get me to transfer to the shop floor as a counter assistant because he knew that the store was moving to, 'Just in Time' deliveries to help cut costs, he couldn't tell me that of course, he was going to be transferred to another store as manager and as I refused to go out on the shop floor, mainly because I was far too shy to work out in public, I found myself in the store manager's office, the first time I really met James.

I had an overly long interview with James, when he eventually told me that I had two choices, retrain as a sales assistant or redundancy, I was totally shocked, I had worked in the store since I left school at sixteen, so I had worked there for almost six years already and I expected to, like the rest of the staff there, work until I retired from the company. I had three months' notice of my redundancy, I was allowed unlimited time off for job interviews but, as we were just entering the start of the recession there was little in the way of work about that didn't involve customer interaction in one way of another.

While I was in my final weeks of working at the store, James, the general manager had spoken to my mother; he asked her if he could ask me out, as my mother knew him so well, she readily accepted his request. Nothing was said to me of course. My mother picked me up from work on the last Friday that I was employed as she always did, our village having no direct public transport connection to Northampton where I worked. As soon as we got home, I took my shower as I always had to do because my job was so physical. When I got out of the shower I found my best dress laid out on my bed, that caused me some confusion, I preferred jeans and T-shirt after work.

My mother called up to me that I should get a move on as I was going out, I just assumed that she had used the wrong verb as I had never 'gone out' on my own, ever, my mother always accompanied me. I put the dress on and went down stairs just as the front doorbell sounded, I opened the door to James, the man who had wished me luck and shook my hand just an hour earlier as I left his employment.

I was more than surprised when my mother told me to have a good time and watched as James pulled me, by the hand, down the drive to his car. James took me to a posh restaurant out in the wilds of Northamptonshire and over a lovely meal and an expensive bottle of wine, James made an unusual proposition, he needed a housekeeper. James had trained as a Roman Catholic priest from a very young age but for some reason he hadn't taken up holy orders at the end of his training. James hadn't trained for pastoral work, he wasn't going to lead prayers in church, he had trained to work in the Bishops office, a business specialist and expert on the restoration of old building, such as churches and manses.

"I only need a housekeeper but because I'm not actually a priest, no one would believe that our relationship could be innocent, so I propose a more permanent arrangement, I'm offering to marry you but without the usual bedroom duties, we would have separate bedrooms and when people start to ask why we haven't had any children, I'll say that I have problems, an old Rugby injury or something."

I was totally shocked by James's offer and turned him down flat. My mother made it clear that she knew that James had asked to marry me and she started to apply pressure just as she had done over every moment of my life. Eventually I said yes to James just to get away from my mother and I took that opportunity to break all further contact with my mother.

There was a little complication over the wedding day, James's mother was of Greek extraction and she insisted on one of her old village customs being observed. The new bride had to prove her virginity on her wedding night by having her bloodstained nighty and bottom sheet provided for her new family's inspection. So, far from being a platonic marriage, I had to go to bed with James and let him consummate our marriage. To be honest, I didn't really know what it all entailed, what to expect from consummation, and in truth, the horror of it all was over in a fraction of a second, James was as violent as he could possibly be, tearing my body open to effect the maximum blood flow from the shortest possible contact.

We soon settled down to our arrangement, I cooked, cleaned, washed and ironed for James and he gave me money, my own space and for two years he didn't even enter my wing of the house. The house was amazing; it had been three labourers' cottages on a farm that James's parents had bought from its previous owners. There was a field path joining our house to my in-laws, I thought James's house had been impressive, six bedrooms, four reception rooms, office and swimming pool but his parent's house was like having James's house three times over.

James's father was in the Freemasons, he had been a member for many years and was now at the point where he expected to be 'Promoted' up the Masonic echelons, his only problem had been his wife, she was, like her son, a staunch Roman Catholic and as such was totally against Freemasonry, and she refused point blank to accompany him to any official functions, Ron was being held back, the answer was simple though, he just enlisted the help of his daughter's-in-law, even Simon, James's youngest brother, gave his girlfriend to his father a few times for 'Ladies night', the annual social event to thank members wives for their help over the previous year.

I had seen Mary, the wife of Ron's oldest son on Ron's arm just before I married James, she looked like a cat-walk model, she was dripping with jewels, wearing a top designer dress that showed off her perfect body. Mary looked more like a princess than the wife of a farmer's son from the Home Counties. I had been out for a walk and as I was about to join James's family I had chosen to walk past his parent's farm, just to be nosy.

Strangely, at the same time as I walked past, every one of Ron's workers had turned up, I had no idea that Ron gave his staff the use of the large barn at the side of his house for their annual party, the barn and funding for food and drink and while Ron went to his lodge, June 'hosted' the party.

I could see that they were all waiting outside just there to see which of his daughter's-in-law Ron had talked into accompanying him. When I saw Mary, I stopped dead in my tracks, Sid, the garage foreman spotted me and he came over, "That will probably be you next year girl!" I didn't answer but old Sid's comment snapped me out of my torpor and I wriggled past the men almost blocking the road as Ron and one of my future sisters-in-law climbed into the stretched limo.

I was five hundred yards down the road before Ron and Mary whispered past me in the chauffeur driven car, the smoked glass of the side window was down or I wouldn't have seen Ron and Mary engaged in a passionate kiss and one of Ron's hands on a very inappropriate part of his daughter-in-law's upper body.

Nothing had been mentioned about the social event the following day at Sunday lunch, Mary was there but without her husband, I got the feeling that as they got home so late, Mary had stopped over at Ron and June's house instead of going home and disturbing her husband's sleep. There was a lot of talk about our upcoming wedding though, both James and I had been very much left out of the arrangements, his mother was such an organised business woman that she had just taken over everything, including choosing my wedding dress and my trousseau. It seemed very funny to me that after that first glimpse of Masonic grandeur, I hadn't heard another word about it for the following eleven months.

I was at home; the postman had delivered James's mail. I say James's because nothing ever came for me through the post. I collected it all from the doorstep and placed it in James's study. I did the cleaning, the baking, washed, dried and ironed all of our clothes and was just about to have a sit down with a cup of fruit tea when the postman returned, he knocked the door and handed me a package, "Could you sign for this please? I've been round to Manor Farm but couldn't find anyone there to sign for the package; I knocked the door for ten minutes too." By way of proof, he showed me his bruised knuckles.

I signed the book and took the package in. I had finished all of my work and as it was a nice day, I popped my wellington boots on and took the field path between our house and James's parent's house.

I knocked at the kitchen door, there was no answer so I let myself in, slipped my boots off at the kitchen door and checked to see if the name on the package was Ron's or June's name, it could have been addressed to the property company, if so, that would have gone into June's study if it was for Ron or the farm machinery company, that would have gone to Ron's study and if it were for the farm, I would have to go through to the farm office at the far side of the house.

The package was in Ron's name and the address label had a compass and square logo at the bottom corner. I was on my way to Ron's study when I heard voices coming from Ron's den. I recognised that one of the voices was Ron's so I changed directions and went towards Ron's huge TV and snooker room.

I didn't knock the door as it was open a few inches; I peeked in, if Ron was in a business meeting I could always go to my original plan and pop the package on Ron's desk in his private study. I got the shock of my life when I looked in, Ron and Simon, James's younger brother were sitting on the sofa, Simon's girlfriend, Rebecca, was standing in just her bra and panties, she was stepping into self-support stockings, Ron stopped her, "Didn't you bring proper nylons?" "No, Simon prefers these." Ron went to his bathroom, a Jack and Jill bathroom between his den and his bedroom, when he returned he had a packet of old-fashioned RHT stockings, ultra sheer with a proper seam up the back, he also had a suspender belt that perfectly matched Rebecca's bra and thong set. Rebecca stood there with her back to Ron and he reached around her to fasten the suspender belt around her waist, after he fastened the clasp, he let the fingers of his left hand trail across the bear cheek of her left buttock, over the strand of dental floss that connected the front of her thong to the waistband at the back and on over her bare right buttock.

I was twenty three, five years older than Rebecca but I doubted that I would have the courage to wear lingerie like that, especially not in front of two men, especially if one was my boyfriend's father. I just stood there transfixed as Rebecca slipped her foot into the expensive stockings. It took her a while to get the toe and heel just right before paying the nylon tube up her leg, careful to keep the seam as straight as possible. Rebecca repeated the action for her other leg and as she did, Ron had switched the huge TV mounted on the wall on, he was showing pictures from previous years of the Masonic Ladies Nights, Mary was the first on screen, I remembered the way she was dressed the year before. There were dozens of pictures of Mary dancing with several of Ron's friends.

Then Sarah, Paul's wife, Paul was James's next oldest brother, Sarah was dressed equally as beautifully as Mary had been, Sarah and Mary could both have been professional models, again, lots of pictures of Sarah dancing with the same group of Ron's friends, the event was far more spectacular as it was the millennium event, then I spotted a very young looking Rebecca, as that was the 1999 social, Rebecca would only just have turned eighteen years old but again, she was dressed up like a model, again, she was dripping in gold and jewels and again, the same bunch of Ron's friends were draped all over her in the photographs.

Simon fetched a can of beer from the fridge for his father and himself, they both opened their cans and both took long pulls on the beer from the cans as Rebecca stepped into the first dress off of the mobile rack at the side of the sofa. "I thought that you were going to work on Isabella to accompany you this year dad!"

"I can't make up my mind about her yet, I need someone who knows what she's doing, I know that Rebecca won't run a mile the first time the Lodge's Grand Master touches her up while out on the dance floor!"

Rebecca had finished dressing, "What do you think Ron?"

Ron was silent, Simon chipped in, "Wrong colour for you, I think my dad had Isabella in mind when he picked that dress out."

Ron nodded his head, "Yes, try the next one dear."

So, Ron had bought me a dress to wear at the Mason's social night but had decided to ask Simon's girlfriend instead, but still it was interesting to see what Ron had in mind for me to wear. The dress was a red 'Peasant' style dress, very full skirting, knee length with a black leather, lace up waistcoat over the bodice, usually a peasant dress would capture the breasts, about equal to a half cup bra but this dress was scooped to below the breasts. It looked like a seventies topless dress, the kind you usually saw with a white polo-top under it, covering the points of interest, this dress had a fake blouse sewn into the front, white, very frilly and almost see through but not quite, with a drawstring neck so that the wearer could set how much was on display.

I'm sure the red and black of the dress would work well with my ginger hair, especially with the huge quantity of white lacy blousing between the chin and the low cut front. I shook my head, there was no way I would be seen out in public dressed like that. By the time I refocused on the room, Rebecca was dressed in a green cocktail dress, far simpler than the peasant dress and, it matched her colouring perfectly. Ron took her picture and 'threw it into the TV screen so that Rebecca could see what it looked like, she nodded her head as did both Simon and his father.

I slipped out of the house with the package still in my hands, Rebecca was changing into the third dress as I tiptoed back to the kitchen, there had been eight dresses on the rack and I guess that Rebecca would try them all on over the afternoon. When James got home from work I handed him the package, "I'll have dinner ready and on the table in thirty minutes, can you pop this around to your father?" James had to drive to his parent's house as he wouldn't be able to walk there and back in thirty minutes.

The following day, Ron turned up out of the blue, I saw him walking the field next to our house with James's oldest brother Ron junior, they were taking soil samples from several places over the field and then they turned up in my back garden, I had the door open before they got to it, "Hi Isabella, we need to do a few soil tests, can we use your kitchen? We could do with a coffee too if there is any going?"

My brother-in-law started to add chemicals to the soil samples while I made them both coffee, then, as the chemicals were changing colour, Ron asked if I could find a pen and some paper, I was asked to jot down what Ron told me to write, I leaned on the work surface and began to write down what I was told, Ron moved in close behind me and looked over my shoulder, "No, seven point five, not seventy-five!" Ron said over my shoulder, he was really, really close, his face almost touching mine, my eyes flicked over to my brother-in-law, he was watching his father closely and when he saw the look on my face, he smiled at me.

I managed to duck out from under Ron's arms as he pressed his lower body against my bottom, I handed Ron the sheet of paper and he used my phone to call the supplier to order the fertiliser that the field needed, he asked for five tones to be dropped off the next day.

I spotted Ron and two of his staff in the field, the field had a slight incline, Ron needed a quarter of a ton per acre on the field by the road, at the bottom of the hill, then half a ton per acre for the middle of the slope and a ton per acre at the top of the hill, once his men began to spread the fertiliser Ron walked down to the house, I already had three cups of coffee and a plate of biscuits on a tray.

Ron took the tray out to his men and returned to my kitchen, "Has James mentioned that he's away on Saturday and Sunday night?"

I shook my head, "He usually tells me on Friday night, is he away stocktaking?"

Ron took a sip of his coffee and then he nodded his head, "I think he's working in the Newcastle area, he's dropping a few things off at my parent's house for me while he's up there."

Ron spotted the newspaper and began to read the headlines, he said, almost casually as he flicked through the pages, "Do you have any plans for Saturday night yourself?" It crossed my mind that Rebecca might have changed her mind about going to the social with Ron on Saturday and he may just have been working around to asking me to go with him.

"No, I don't have any plans for Saturday night!" There was a long pause as Ron studied page three for the longest time, then as he flicked to page five, "June had to go to Greece at short notice and she was going to host the staff party on Saturday, I can't do it, I have a function to attend, would you be willing to look after the party for us so we don't have to cancel it?"

I was a little taken aback; I had become very excited at the prospect of going to the smartest function in Northampton's calendar, even if it meant dressing up in the 'tarty' dress that Ron and Simon both said would suite me more than Rebecca. I nodded my head, just as the tractor driver knocked on my back door with the tray in his hands, "Good news, tell everyone the party is still on for Saturday, Isabella has agreed to house sit for me, so tell everyone, no rowdiness' or there will be no party next year.

Ron kissed me on the cheek, "I'll come over and pick you up on Saturday afternoon."

"You don't need to do that; I can walk over the field path."

"No, I'll pick you up; you'll need an overnight bag, much better if I collect you in the car."

"Why will I need an overnight bag?"

"The party goes on way past two o'clock in the morning usually, far too late to be walking back home over the fields. My function usually goes on way past two am, so I need you to be here to lock up and make sure the alarm is set properly."

I was on edge for the rest of the day, when James got home, I put his dinner on the table for him and he told me that he would be away on Saturday and Sunday, he was going to Newcastle to stock take on a store in Sunderland, that closed every Sunday. "My dad asked me to stop over at my grandfather's house to make sure his house is ready for winter, see if he needs any of the exterior painting before the rain and snow hits."

Well, I thought to myself, no wonder Ron knew James would be away over the weekend, the stock take at James' stores could happen any time in the autumn quarter, so long as they were all finished by the end of November ready for the Christmas rush, Ron had set the Sunderland shop's stock take earlier because of James' concern for his grandparents.

I wasn't really into partying as a participant, never mind as a hostess, so I was on edge for the rest of the week until Saturday. James left the house quite early, in his boot was his painting kit, a large tin of white gloss paint and his overalls, he was planning on visiting the Sunderland shop on his way to Newcastle, tell the manager what he expected for Sunday morning's stock take before pushing on to his grandfather's house and see what of the external woodwork needed painting, with the hope of just touching the few bits up on Saturday afternoon, so that he didn't have to return on Sunday afternoon to finish off after stocktaking.