The Remaking of Anna Plowright

Anna is Measured.

Anna staggered out from Maison Francois accompanied by much hand kissing and the shock of the bill. She made her way to The House of Jean-Paul, and upon entering, found herself in much the same environment as the one she had just left. Some differences did emerge in that here they addressed her as "Modom," and instead of tea or coffee being offered, she was asked if "Modom would care for a glass of champagne."

Anna was puzzled because she saw no wares on display. The place was all steps, stairs and pillars (polystyrene), but no wares. "Modom" was informed that Jean-Paul would be with her shortly, but he was presently engaged with the daughter of a Consular Official.

Anna asked if she might look at some of the clothing in the display area. Icicles formed in the air. "Perhaps Modom should await Jean-Paul." Anna was left to contemplate.

Shortly Jean-Paul slithered onto the scene. Somewhere in his forties, he was dressed in a grey coated morning suit with a carnation in the buttonhole. He was tall, and very smooth. He did not kiss Anna's hand, but bowed low saying, "Charmed, madam."

The girl, whom Anna had asked about the display, whispered something in Jean-Paul's ear. Jean-Paul turned and stared at Anna. "Madam is aware, of course, that The House of Jean-Paul, unlike Woolworth, has no display area. We attend only the foremost and refined ladies?"

Anna did an about turn, and, like Francois, Jean-Paul saw his profits declining and changed his tune. "I perceive that madam is among those in our society we should be honoured to serve. Such elegance, such a statuesque figure (he was not lying for once). If madam would step this way." He led her up a short flight of stairs into a large room with a catwalk stretching for two thirds its length, and what looked like a small stage covered by a velvet curtain at one end.

Jean-Paul invited Anna to be seated, and she sank into a luxurious chair that almost engulfed her. He addressed her, "If madam would care to confide in me what she is seeking?" Anna was confused and muttered, "Some new clothes."

Jean-Paul perceived that he had a problem customer on his hands, but such customers could often add to his already healthy bank balance. So, with obsequious smile he went on, "If madam would care to trust herself to me?" "Er, yes," said the puzzled Anna.

Jean-Paul clapped his hands, the curtains parted, syrupy music played, and a girl stepped out onto the catwalk. Jean-Paul announced that this was his latest creation in morning wear for the lady who wanted to look her most exquisite for the man in her life.

There now followed things for the afternoon and evening, things for town and country and things for those more "Intimate moments in madam's day."

Whatever his fault might be, it is fair to say of Jean-Paul, first, that he recognised a mature beauty when he saw one. Second, he was professional enough to know exactly what would enhance that beauty in the way of raiment. He chose superbly well, and expensively, for Anna, steering her carefully in the direction he wanted her to go.

Once choices had been made, Anna was measured in every possible direction. This done Anna said, "Do you think I could get some help in getting all these things to my car." There was another shocked silence.

Jean-Paul ended the hiatus with a high pitched laugh and said, "Ah, madam has such a sense of humour. We shall of course make dates and times for her to come in for fittings. And most certainly, myself will deliver her purchases to her residence, for the final touches.

Anna, realising she had made something of a faux pas, smiled and said, "Of course. How much deposit do you require?"

For a moment not icicles, but positive glaciers hung in the atmosphere. Again, Jean-Paul broke the ice, so to speak. "Madam has such a sense of fun. As if The House of Jean-Paul dealt with money matters. Madam's account will be sent in due course by the financial advisor to the House."

Anna staggered out of yet another establishment, but this time not knowing what the bill would amount to, but certain that it would be enormous.

She made one more purchase for that day. A pair of heavy-duty gardening gloves from a hardware store.

Anna Carries On.

Despite the outrageous cost, Anna attended Francois once a week for the next three weeks and once a month thereafter. Her eyebrows were plucked, areas waxed, and at one stage Francois said, "I perceive that Madame has a little facial hair, may I suggest we remove it permanently?" So, Anna's face was denuded of superfluous hirsute.

Jean-Paul, attended by two acolytes, eventually delivered her new clothes.

One problem beset Anna. She feared to be seen in public, and most of all, she was anxious at the thought of being seen by Blake.

It is odd, but true, that often when we make such efforts at physical self-improvement as those engaged in by Anna, the change could be so dramatic that we fear exposure to another's gaze.

Perhaps Anna had some reason for anxiety, because when Blake called on the pretext of bringing some vine cuttings to be planted by her verandah, he almost asked the attractive stranger who answered his knock, if Anna was at home, and could he speak to her.

Blake stared at Anna for a moment, then asked, "Anna?" "Yes," replied a wilting Anna, "Do come in."

Blake, polite though he was, could not resist the question. "Anna, what have you done to yourself?" "Oh," muttered Anna, "I just thought I'd brighten myself up a bit." "Brighten up!" spluttered Blake, "You look…er…look…

As he struggled for an appropriate adjective Anna knew the decisive moment had come. Now she would know if all her efforts, or rather those of Francois and the enormous amount of money she had expended were worth it.

She waited immobile for Blake to find the word he needed. Finally he found the expression and burst out with "Astounding." Hesitantly Anna asked, "Does that mean you like what I've done?"

Blake hesitated once more. The remade Anna gave him the feeling that whereas she had previously looked as if she might have been his young mother, now she looked as if she might be his oldest daughter, if such he had. It was all very disconcerting. Mental adjustment was called for.

Making a rapid rearrangement of his Anna perspective, Blake said, "Anna, you look lovely. I always thought you an attractive woman, but now, I er…" He gave up the attempt to give expression to his thoughts and feelings.

It would be foolish of me to pretend that you, dear reader, cannot see the drift of this story. If Anna had been feeling somewhat erotic in relation to Blake, then Blake had, even before the new Anna, reached the point of being tortured by desire for her. From the time he gave her the lift in his car, he had been drawn to Anna. What made him hesitate in making overt advances was the age gap. Not that it was a problem for him, but he was under the impression that it might be for Anna.

It is sad how often we perceive a barrier to a relationship, which in fact is no more than an obstacle of our own imagining. Anna had been held back from being more open to Blake for precisely the same reason. She saw age as a barrier. It had only been the viewing of the couple on television with a twenty-year age difference that had emboldened her to attempt self-renewal. What faced her now was the need emotionally and intellectually to catch up with her new physical self.

Had Blake been any less of a considerate and loving person, and had Anna been more brazen, they would have tumbled into bed together long before. But they were not of that sort, and who knows, if they had been, it might have been a short sexual tumble, that left one or both of them hurt and damaged.

So here was Blake trying to come to terms with the re-aligned Anna, and Anna trying to come to terms with her new self. The poor creatures met this situation by resorting to their old manner of relating, that is, talking generalities. One touch of something more personal and daring did come towards the end of Blake's visit.

Anna was prominent in the local St.John's Ambulance Service, and the St.John's annual fund raising Ball was to be held that night. Anna was to make a thank you speech half way through the evening, and was also to be involved with overseeing the smooth running of the event.

Blake said he would see Anna at the ball, and could she keep some dances free for him. Anna happily agreed. At the time of Blake's visit, Anna was wearing her old gardening clothes, so Blake had not yet seen her in the radiance of a Jean-Paul creation. At the ball she planned to wear the dark green and somewhat revealing dress selected by Jean-Paul for such occasions (she wondered what the vicar would think).

Blake departed happy in the knowledge that his beloved (that is now how he thought of Anna) would be close to him that night.

The Ball.

Anna arrived at the ball early to start her organising.

Sensation!

The other women assisting her, like Blake that morning, at first did not recognise her. Little was said to Anna about her appearance, but they whispered cattily among themselves. "Disgusting at her age." "Where did she get the money for that designer stuff?" "You'd think she had something better to do than spend time putting on a face." "I don't think this is the class of person we want in St.John's," and so on.

Anna was not directly involved with taking tickets and money at the door. She was attending to the refreshment arrangements, seeing that the microphone was working, and getting the dance band settled. She did, however, keep an eye open for Blake's arrival.

Eventually she saw him on the edge of the growing crowd. She made to go across and briefly greet him, and then she stopped. Her mouth went dry and her legs started to shake. She suddenly felt sick. With Blake was a lovely girl in her early twenties. The girl was hanging on to Blake's arm, and as Anna watched, she saw the girl kiss Blake's cheek.

Anna thought she would faint, but she dragged herself together and tried to concentrate on the tasks in hand. Everything seemed to rush around her in a mist of misery. She did not notice the passing of time, and it was not until someone said, "Time for your speech, Anna," that she realised the evening was half over.

She had kept herself busy, or at least, pretended to be busy, and made sure she avoided Blake and the girl. How she got through the speech she would never know, but when it was done, she slipped out of a back door and drove home.

As she drove, the tears streamed down her face. It had all been for nothing. All that time, all the effort and money had been for Blake, and all the time he…!"

When she got home, she could have cut the Jean-Pauls to ribbons. She felt as if she wanted to tear off her face and shave her hair. Instead, she put on one of Jean-Paul's "for madam's more intimate moments," fell into bed, and lay awake all night weeping, the image of Blake and the girl burning deeper and deeper into her brain.

Came the Dawn.

It cannot be said that Anna woke early. More accurately, she partially emerged from a mist of distress, humiliation and self-loathing. What a fool she had been. "How could she have thought a young man like Blake would ever be interested in an old woman like her?"

Recalling her duties, and still clad only in her "intimate moments," she fed her dog and the chickens. It was as she dealt with the chickens that a tornado struck her. Blake came hurtling round the corner of the cottage, stopped, looked at Anna, then said in a voice she had never heard from him before, "Aha, there you are. And where the hell did you get to last night?"

He was obviously furious, and he went on, "I hunted everywhere for you, and people told me no one had seen you after your speech. Even if you were unwell, you could have told me. I wasn't sure what had happened to you until Joyce and I passed the cottage on the way home and saw your car left out in the drive. And what about the dances you promised me?"

Anna was confounded. If anyone was to be angry, it should be her. He had virtually stood her up for that girl. For the moment all she could think of to say was, "You'd better come inside, Blake."

The fuming Blake followed her into the cottage. They went into the lounge and stood facing each other. "I wanted to introduce you to Joyce. I'd made a point of telling her all about you." "How very thoughtful of you," snapped Anna, who had now started to recover from Blake's opening attack. "I'm sure she would have enjoyed meeting your dear old, and I mean old, friend."

Blake was momentarily taken aback. "What is the matter with you? Are you ill?" he asked with genuine concern now evident.

"I think," replied Anna, "I have been very sick, mentally sick."

"Blake accepted this at face value. "But you can't be," he said, "I've rarely met a saner person."

"I think you'd better get back to your girl friend, before you find out just how insane I can be," Anna spat out.

"What girl friend?" queried the puzzled Blake.

"Oh, is there more than one then? I was of course referring to the one you were with last night. What's her name? Joanne or something," Anna flung at him.

Silence.

"You mean… you thought…you thought Joyce and I… Your right, you are deranged. Did you really think there was anyone but…? Joyce is my cousin. She was passing through on her way north. She just dropped in to say hello to the family, stayed overnight, and leaves again in about an hour. She gets married in a fortnight."

Anna was dazed.

Blake's anger was rising again. "Do you know, I was going to introduce you to Joyce as the woman I am going to marry. Did you really think I've been hanging around here just to paint your windows and fix your verandah? Didn't you get any idea at all that I might love you? God, I've wanted you almost from that day I gave you a lift. Have you got any idea how many nights I've lain awake thinking about you, and when I sleep how often I dream of you?"

Anna was shaking all over. The Jean-Paul intimate moments were very see through and extremely brief. She felt horribly vulnerable in her semi nudity.

Blake was still raging on. "I'm sick of this. You've done nothing but keep me at a distance, and yesterday for the first time, when I asked you about the dance, you showed some spark of interest in me. Then you go and stand me up because you see me with a girl who is my cousin. Well I suppose that shows you do care about me a bit, and I'm going to take advantage of that "bit." I've had enough of your being distant."

Blake pushed Anna down onto the couch saying, "You can fight if you like, but I'm much stronger than you, and I'm going to have you one way or another."

He rapidly stripped himself and then ripped Jean-Paul's intimate moments from Anna. Pushing his knee between her legs to force them apart, he came over on top of her. She felt the head of his penis searching for her entrance, and she said very quietly, "Darling, don't take me in anger. I have so much love to give you, so much that I have never given to anyone else. It's all yours now, my darling. If you love me, take me gently this time."

She felt the anger flow out of Blake. As he relaxed he brought his lips to hers and kissed her like a famished man being given his first meal after long deprivation. Yet, Blake knew now that the fountain of her love would flow freely for him, always there to assuage his sexual thirst for her.

Anna felt his lips close over her nipple while his hand gently embraced her other breast. Releasing her breast his hand explored down her belly to reach her vagina and slowly push his fingers into her entrance. She felt the waves of vibrant passion stab through her, and she grasped his penis, gently stroking it and drawing it to her, willing him to put it into her mouth.

Blake felt her urgency and raised himself over her to penetrate her mouth, and felt the sucking and licking, as if she would draw the sperm from him by main force. He could stand it no longer. He was torn between entering her with his tongue or penetrating with his manhood. This time, his manhood won the sweet battle, and he slid into her.

As she felt him penetrate deep into her, Anna thought, "Now he is mine at last." She sobbed with joy as he emitted a low cry and shot his sperm into her, saying over and over again, "For so long, for so long."

At last, they came apart. They half lay half-sat, on the sofa they had used as their marriage bed. Anna, now secure in her love for him and his for her, laughed, and said, "By the way, you will have to pay me for that one. I want a new "Madam's intimate moments" from The House of Jean-Paul." She lifted up the ripped garment and they both laughed. Blake said, "I shall get you one tomorrow."

He knew not what he said.