The Borderline Ch. 02

"It isn't much I know, but I do try and do the best with what I've got."

"It's beautiful," I leaned against a wooden table.

"Thank you," she smiled, "it's my therapy."

"Therapy?"

"It's a long story," she pulled off her gloves, "but since you asked I'll give you the short version," she sat down and I shifted to the other seat.

"About five years ago I came to a fork in the road. I was living in Leeds and in a relationship with a hot and cold woman, kind of like Kelly but without the ex husband lurking in the background. Lucy was actually a good catch, very attractive and a good ten years younger than me but a real handful when it came to relationships. She travels a lot, at the time she was an M.E.P and split her time between here and Brussels, I knew she had other lovers although she never admitted to it. I kind of looked on it as karma for my unending series of relationships, eventually it jumps up and bites you in the arse."

She fiddled with a ring on her finger.

"Five years ago I got a job offer for Western General, it was a brilliant opportunity, the Scottish government is far more supportive of the N.H.S than the English government. Give the Tories half a chance and they'd scrap it and move to an American system, which I oppose but Leeds was my home and as much as I felt disappointed by Lucy's affairs I felt like this was the best I could do under the circumstances. I said as much to a mutual friend, Michael. He was my boarder and worked at the hospital as a nurse. One night we were watching a Sandra Bullock movie, Twenty Eight Days and there's this line halfway through the movie."

She looked past me for a moment.

"It was a question about when was the right time to start dating, her character is in rehab for twenty eight days and the lecturer says something like getting a plant, and twelve months later getting a dog. Twelve months after that if the plant and the dog are still alive, you can start dating. It's one of those quotes that kind of stands out there and I'm not an alcoholic or a drug user, but I've been addicted to one night stands and impossible relationships. I remember Michael looked at me and said, 'that's what you should do, ditch the bitch and start a garden,' I looked at him and he said that it was time to move on."

Her eyes shifted as she continued.

"It took another two weeks to make the break but when I finally did, it was the best thing I'd ever done. I ended it with Lucy and she actually promised to give up on her affairs and be a good little woman but I stood my ground and moved. Since then I've made this my project and I think I've done well with this garden, I even get the odd mention on Pinterest. A friend sent me a link to a Pinterest page on gardens with the question is this your garden? The picture must have been taken while I was out but I was kind of chuffed to see it online."

"So when are you going to get a dog?"

"Oh I don't know," she chuckled, "I did consider it a couple of years ago but I'm quite happy with the garden, I might get one soon, you never know."

It all made sense I reasoned. She'd mentioned several relationships but had never furnished much information beyond the basics.

"And I thought I was the lush," I sighed, "you were the sensible one."

"I'm sensible at work," she replied, "but my personal life has always been difficult," she looked at the back door, "I envy you, your girls are wonderful young women. I've felt nothing but total acceptance from them the moment you arrived here, you're a wonderful mother."

"I'm only a wonderful mother because I gave up on dating for years and focused on raising three girls," I replied, "kind of like your garden I suppose but the whole dating thing has been a series of short term relationships. I wouldn't call them disasters though, more like stepping stones and here I am sitting in front of you wondering where we go from here."

She looked at me and her eyes widened slightly.

"I'm not the same woman I was back then."

"Neither am I, I've put on weight."

"Not too much."

"I have this phobia about promising someone I'll love them forever," I replied, "every time I say those words something bad happens."

"I don't want promises in the dark," her eyes widened, "I want to know if you love me."

"I do love you," the words fell from my mouth a moment later.

Moments like these in movies are always dramatic and slowed down for the benefit of the audience to give them that dramatic pause. Thankfully there was no need for any of that nonsense as I leaned across and kissed her on the lips. I felt her wince ever so slightly and then she parted her lips and tugged at mine in response as she slowly opened her mouth. We parted a moment later and she exhaled suddenly.

"You kissed me."

"And that's a bad thing?"

"No, I never said that," she stroked my face, "you always were a good kisser but you seem to have improved a lot over the years."

"Practice makes perfect."

"You don't say," she let her hand fall to my hand and I gently wrapped my fingers around it.

"One step at a time," she fixed me with a steady gaze, "my garden is important to me."

"My garden is a mess," I confessed, "it could do with some loving care."

"Allow me," she leaned forward and kissed me again, I felt a lump in my throat and a familiar dampness between my legs, "I've got a voucher for Oran Mor."

"Which is?"

"A restaurant," she smirked, "it's a buy one, get one free voucher. Why don't we go out for dinner tonight? I'm sure the girls can look after themselves just fine."

"Okay."

However, if we thought we could just slip out the door and head on down to Oran Mor we hadn't reckoned on my daughters who on hearing of our plans took charge despite my protests.

"We're only doing what daughters do," Jennifer insisted, "I'll help you and Holly can help auntie Holly."

It was a rare treat to be the recipient of a makeover, it brought back happier memories of makeup days when the girls were much younger and they'd raid my cosmetics tray, the results weren't always successful but they could be hilarious.

"This could still be all in vain," I pouted at the mirror as Jennifer put the cap back on the lipstick, "she might decide I'm just an old crone."

"Don't say that," she poked me playfully, "it's never in vain even if it doesn't work out but I so hope it does work out."

"Why?" I looked at her in the mirror, "if it does work out I might end up moving here."

"Which is good because we'd get to stay here as well, but it doesn't matter where you live. What does matter is your happiness. You used to call out her name when we were younger."

"When?" I frowned.

"We were just starting school and sometimes we'd crawl into bed with you when it was stormy," she picked up the eyeliner and moved around to face me.

"You used to talk in your sleep and you used to call out for Holly a lot. At first Holly thought you were talking to her but then we worked out you were talking about another Holly."

"I can't remember that at all."

"Of course not, you were asleep, sometimes you woke up and you'd been crying. It was granny who told us about Holly McMahon when we were in grade five."

I had nothing to say to that I'm usually pretty quick with a reply. It was true I'd thought about her for years afterwards but I hadn't realised that the twins had known about her for so long, and here was me thinking I was being very modern telling them when they were sixteen!

The makeover even extended to the choice of outfit. For me it was a flowery midi dress that tied at the nape of the neck and finished with a wide leather belt. Holly's outfit however took my breath away, a beautiful red dress with a single wide strap over the left shoulder. Her hair hung past her shoulders and her eyes brought a lump to my throat.

"You look beautiful," I took her hand.

"Touché," she curtsied, "we'll be the two hottest sheilas there tonight."

What can I say about Oran Mor? It was once a church but when it was finally closed and sold off the new owners turned it into a bar restaurant. It reminds me of a similar restaurant in Richmond I went to many years ago. The patrons are an eclectic mix, from business people to students and artists. We were just part of the crowd and Glaswegians know how to have a good time, I was exposed to the egalitarianism I remembered so vividly from my youth. Some of Holly's friends were there as well, which put paid to our romantic dinner, not that I minded at all, they're good people, a mixture of different ethnic backgrounds and at least half of them want to visit me in Melbourne!

"They're good people," she slipped an arm around my waist as we crossed Byres Road, "they know what I am and just accept me the way I come across. That's what I love most about Scotland, they celebrate diversity and shun bigotry."

The twins were lying on the sofa bed when we got home and Jennifer sat up and stretched as we entered the room.

"Do you want us to go upstairs?"

"Um no," I put my arms around Holly's waist and leaned my chin on her shoulder, "we'll grab another bed tonight."

The moment she closed the bedroom door I kissed her shoulders, she arched her back and moaned gently as I fumbled for her zipper. A moment later she turned and putting her arms around my waist, walked me back to the bed, kicking off her heels, which caused me to giggle as I stumbled over a shoe. She hit the bed and grinned as I knelt on the bed and undid my shoes. A hand slid up my leg and I parted my legs to allow her hand to reach my panties, gentle caressing of my perineum sent waves of pleasure flooding through me and then I straddled her and kissed her again and again. She slid my dress higher and higher as I covered her throat and front with soft sucking kisses. Holly caressed my inner thighs and I giggled.

She slid further up the bed, dragging me with her and our lovemaking began in earnest, a slow disrobing interrupted by stroking and kissing. Her nipples hardened under my sucking and her fingers found my wet passage opening for her. We were like two perfectly tuned bodies exploring each other as we drove the other to orgasm and when it was finally over we collapsed into each other's arms and just lay there talking.

Pillow talk has always been one of my favourite things but in this case the pillow talk continued over the course of the next few days and uppermost in our minds was the next step. Did I move here or should she move to Australia? In the end the answer came from a surprising source, Sheetal's father, Ajay. We were sitting in a Starbucks in Buchanan Galleries when he suggested we split our time between the two countries.

"You are an accountant and she is a doctor," Ajay indicated, "she owns a house here and you own one in Australia?"

"Yes," I shifted in my seat, "and the mortgage is paid."

"Mine too," Holly broke in.

"Then there is no problem," he smiled, "you should think about this and I would be your first customer," he finished.

The idea found fertile ground with yours truly and my family. For the last year or so Jacinta and her partner have been renting and trying to raise enough money for a housing loan, which as anyone can testify is getting harder by the day. I'd offered to remortgage the house once before and build a bungalow out the back but Jacinta refused to let me do it. Now I could give her the spare bedroom and just live there for six months at a time. The twins were keen to spend more time exploring the U.K and Europe so the spare bedroom at Holly's would be ideal and Holly knew of several people who could look after the house for six months.

In the end it was mum who hammered the final nail into my coffin of excuses.

"You're past fifty, your daughters are grown women, what's stopping you?"

And so here I am sitting at Glasgow airport with Holly. The twins are staying on for a few weeks before returning to Australia and Holly is going to take them to Paris for a weekend. I've got a lot to do over the next six weeks but my mind is made up. I can't believe I'm actually getting married for the third time! Who would have thought?

At least this time Holly gets to wear the wedding dress. Now that will be something to look forward to and with that I have to finish this before my boarding call.