Night-time Disturbance

This story occurred in the late 1980s when I had just turned 18. Three of my friends Andy, Mark and Rob were going away on holiday. I didn't fancy it as it was through a Christian youth club that Andy used to go to. I had therefore heard about these "holidays," so although you had your own chalets you were still supposed to go to various religious events. At the last minute Rob dropped out and after being convinced by Mark they would be loads of single women there who were all up for it I decided to go along.

As soon as I arrived I knew it was a big mistake, it was full of happy clappy Christian types who were not into drinking and certainly not into sex. The few bars open on site (it was out of season) were deserted, the chalet was decked out in cheap wobbly furniture and the hot water didn't work.

So I was feeling pretty miserable, on the second day Mark had gone to the site reception and requested someone fix the hot water out but nobody came. On the third day he marched down to site reception.

As always it was left to me to approach the girl at the desk. I calmly explained the situation how it was now the third day and we didn't have any hot water, despite someone promising to fix it. The girl seemed a bit disinterested. Mark saw this as his queue to jump in, be very rude to her and then demand to speak to the site manager.

The manager eventually came over and said he would get someone to sort it by 5.00pm, that wasn't good enough for Mark as he wanted it sorted immediately. Mark was being his usual obnoxious self and I didn't want to spend the rest of the day with him, so I said I didn't mind waiting for the engineer. The site manager had previously said the engineer could let himself in, but Mark mentioned something about his valuable belongings which made the situation worse.

I went back to the chalet with a newspaper, luckily I'd bought a couple of books to read so after reading the paper I settled into one of the books. A couple of hours later there was a knock at the door, it was the engineer. He started working away and later I offered him a cup of tea. I explained how bad the holiday was with most of the bars closed and nothing around for miles. He nodded sympathetically saying the first few weeks of the season are always booked out with Christians and he knew exactly where I was coming from.

He mentioned there was a staff club on site which was usually busy and he offered to buy me a drink when he finished work at 7.00pm.

After he had finished and after having something to eat I made my way to the amusement hall where Mark and Alan said they would be. On the way there I passed the reception block and noticed the girl who I'd spoken to earlier. Given the way Mark had been with her I felt I should apologise. I went through the door and cleared my throat, she looked up.

She didn't look particularly pleased to see me, 'the hot water's sorted.'

'Good,' she snapped and looked down again.

'I'm sorry, for the way my ... friend spoke to you earlier; it was well out of order.'

'Yeah it was.'

There was now silence, it was clear she didn't want to talk anymore, I shuffled away, and muttered, 'bye then,' under my breath. She did not reply.

Mark and Alan were playing snooker and Mark mentioned he had chatted up some girls and they were seeing them later, just my luck I thought. I explained about the social club and said I might go there, Mark laughed saying it was full of old codgers and these girls had been well up for it.

I played a bit of snooker with them and we then went back to the chalet. Mark and Alan had their shower and went out. I also had a shower and went out a bit later to the social club. The engineer Kevin was there and bought me a drink, we chatted for a while him telling me his life story. It was good to get away from the confines of the chalet and Mark's juvenile behaviour. I noticed Kevin's glass was empty and got him and me another drink. We talked some more about twenty minutes later a group of women walked in.

I paid no attention to them as we continued at our drinks until some ten minutes later when Kevin had finished and said his dinner would be ready.

I was in a bit of a dilemma, I didn't fancy going back to the chalet on my own, but I didn't know whether I wanted to drink in the club on my own either. In the end I went up to the bar and ordered another drink.

I was at the bar when a voice behind me said, 'sorry about how I spoke to you earlier.' I turned around to see a woman a few years older than me, about 5"3' tall and with a very friendly manner. She was part of the group of women, then I suddenly realised it was the receptionist. She looked completely different out of uniform and with her dark hair down.

I was slightly taken aback before I mumbled, 'it's alright.'

I expected that to be it but she surprised me by saying 'I'll get that,' as the barman passed me my drink.

'Thanks,' I replied not really knowing what else to say since nobody had ever brought me a drink before in those circumstances.

She smiled again and I got a whiff of her perfume. I had no idea who it was by, but she smelt very nice. 'Sorry about earlier. I was waiting news on my Gran, she had a big operation earlier in the day and I feared the worst, which was why I was so ratty. That and that friend of yours.'

'But she's alright now?' I asked.

'Yeah, I spoke with my mum earlier and the hospital says she's doing very well.' She smiled at me and seemed genuinely touched that I had shown any sort of interest.

There was a bit of a silence, on my part I could not get over how different she acted and looked. I struggled to recall when someone had been so friendly to me.

'Oh, my name's Annie by the way,' as she held out her hand, 'do you want to come and join us?' As she pointed to where her friends were sitting.

'Er yeah I replied,' the sensation of her hand against mine still with me.

'Don't worry we don't bite, what's your name?'

'Steve.'

She led me over, gently guiding me by my elbow to where her friends sat and introduced me to them all.

I was even more intimidated, my experience of women was pretty much nonexistent. I sat silently as Annie talked to her friends feeling the proverbial spare part and trying to think of something to say or join in the conversation. The conversation somehow got round to why I was with them.

Annie explained, 'his stupid friend starting shouting the odds about having no hot water for the shower, saying he had reported it the other day.'

'Oh, that might have been to me,' replied Mel who was about the same age as Annie and had light brown hair. 'Yeah I remember him, short bloke with greasy hair, he seemed a complete knob and then the phone rang, so I forgot to log it with the engineer.'

'So where are your friends tonight?' Another one of them asked.

'They said they met a couple of women as I was waiting for the engineer.'

Mel laughed. 'I saw that friend of yours and another lad with two girls who must have been all of fourteen.'

I smirked.

'Still, you're with some real women now,' said another one who was actually old enough to be my mother and I later found out was called Sue.

'Leave him,' said Annie.

'Sorry,' said Sue as she squeezed my thigh, laughed and winked at her friends.

The rest of the girls also laughed, 'so have you got a girlfriend?' Asked Angie a blond in her late twenties.

'Not really.' I limply replied.

'Not really,' repeated Angie.

'Like playing the field do you?' Inquired Sue.

I felt myself blushing even more and I'm sure it had the word virgin emblazoned on my forehead. I felt so uncomfortable, Annie hadn't really said anything more to me and the rest of the girls were just taking the piss. I was set to drink my pint as soon as possible and get out before any more embarrassing questions were asked.

'Oh leave him,' said Annie, 'he was very nice to me earlier.'

I felt a great weight off my shoulders as the talk drifted to what they were going to do that night, with mention about going into town with a view to going to a club. Thinking there would be no chance of inviting me I let the conversation drift over me.

I left the girls to go to the toilet convinced they would be talking about me. When I returned all of them apart from Annie were still on about what to do later. I had finished my drink and was about to make a move, 'er, bye then and thanks for the drink,' I mumbled to Annie.

'Where are you going?'

'Back to the chalet.'

'Not going to buy me a drink then?'

I hesitated before replying, 'I thought you were going into town?'

'No, town's dead on a Tuesday and after the day I've had I don't really fancy it.'

'Oh right, what do you want to drink then?'

'Another bottle of Pils.'

I went up to the bar and waited to be served. I struggled to believe and understand why Annie would rather spend time with me than go out with her friends. I got served and returned back to her.

She smiled, 'sorry about them, they can be a bit loud.'

'They're no worse than any of my friends.'

'You can say that again.'

We spent the next twenty minutes or so just talking, I explained I was doing A Levels with the intention of going to university.

'My first proper boyfriend Martin, he wanted to settle down and stuff and we were still at school, sod that.'

She then proceeded to reel off a long list of ex-boyfriends and although she wasn't explicit in what she said it was clear she was quite experienced. I tried to nod in all the right places hoping to give the illusion I too was experienced in relationships.

Talking to her was just so easy, every other time I had tried to talk to a girl I'd clam up, or she would immediately appear disinterested, but with Annie it was different. Perhaps because I knew she was out of my league nothing would ever come of it I felt more at ease with her than the girls at college.

By now we had finished both our drinks, 'do you want another drink?' I asked.

She looked at her watch, 'no I think I'd better go.'

'Do you want me to walk you back?' I said without thinking.

She turned to face me and then nodded before flashing me a smile and my heart skipped a beat. Annie then put her coat on and we started walking toward her chalet. As we walked I thought of things to say but my mind was blank, in the back of my head somewhere was telling me to try and hold her hand or put my arm rounder her.

'You okay?'

'Yeah,' I replied but my throat was dry as I thought about how I would leave her, I would try and see if we could meet up again before Saturday or...

'It's very nice of you to escort me back. I wish sometimes my boyfriend was a bit more courteous.'

Boyfriend! Where had that come from? She had made no mention of any boyfriend in any of our previous conversations, just a long list of ex-boyfriends. As we continued to walk my feet became heavier with every step I was so deflated.

'This way.'

She interrupted my morose thoughts as we cut across some grass. Less than a minute later she announced.

'It's just round the corner.'

As we turned the corner she gave a shriek and gripped my arm, 'Steve.'

'What is it?'

'There's a light on in my chalet and I think the front doors open.'

I must have said something like "so," because she replied.

'I share with Mel and she's gone into town, I think someone's broken in.'

'Do you me to check?' I blurted out without thinking about the consequences of such a rash action.

'Yeah, but be careful they might still be inside?'

I don't know why I volunteered to check her place out. It was probably because my head was all over the place with walking her back to the chalet and the possibility that something might happen only to be crushed by her startling revelation.

I was now about to enter the front door. I could hear music, it sounded like the Smith's and I pushed the door ajar and poked my head inside. Rather than a burglar or a trashed room I saw a woman sitting on a settee. It took a second for me to recognise her.

She saw me and yelled something.

'Annie,' I shouted out as I turned round and beckoned her to join me.

Annie ran over and on seeing who was inside the chalet brushed past me, 'Mel, we thought you were a burglar. You were supposed to have gone into town?'

Mel shook her head and nodded as she belatedly recognised me, 'that bitch Belinda turned up, you know how I can't stand her, so with her there were too many of us for the taxi, so I decided to give it a miss.'

'Why did you leave the door open?'

'Sorry, must have forgot to close it, anyway it was only slightly open,' she then looked in my direction, 'so what's he doing here?'

'He was being a gentleman and walking me back.'

'Oh yeah,' laughed Mel.

I saw Annie frown at her friend before noticing her wine glass, 'have you got some wine in the fridge then?'

Mel nodded.

'You don't mind, it's the least you could do after the shock you gave us.'

'I suppose so.'

'Steve, do you want some wine?'

'Yeah,' I replied, surprised they seemed happy to let me stay as Annie joined Mel on the sofa and I sat on an armchair opposite.

'Well this is nice,' said Mel as she flashed me a smile, 'bet you didn't think you'd be spending the night alone with two gorgeous women?'

'No,' I blushed.

Annie yawned.

'Keeping you up?'

'Sorry, I've got an early start tomorrow.'

'So,' said Mel fixing me a glare, 'Angie's question.'

'Sorry.'

'Angie, in the bar earlier, she asked whether you had a girlfriend, and I think you said "not really."'

Instantly I had flashbacks to the bar and my feeling of complete awkwardness, clearly they had only let me stay so they could make fun of me. I looked down at the carpet, 'I don't.'

'Why not?'

'I don't know...'

'But you do like girls?'

'Mel, leave him alone.'

'I think I'd better go.'

'But it's raining, you're over the other side of the camp, you'll get soaked.'

In my uncomfortable state I hadn't even heard the sound of the rain against the windows, 'it doesn't sound that bad.'

As soon as I'd finished my sentence there was a boom of thunder quickly followed by a bolt of lightning in the distance that was visible through the paper thin curtains.

'You don't want to be struck by lightning.'

I traced an element of sarcasm in Mel's voice and was tempted to reply, you'd probably like that.

'Mel's right, you can crash on the sofa, I'll get you some blankets.'

Annie, went to her bedroom to fetch the blankets, left alone with Mel, I was still tempted to risk a lighting strike, anything but be exposed to more probing questions.

'There you go,' said Annie as she placed a pile of blankets on the floor, 'I'm calling it a night. Mel, you're taking up his bed.'

'Yeah, I'm off as well,' replied Mel as she stood up. It was the first time I had seen her standing and I was surprised that she was only slightly taller than Annie and quite slim.

'I expect you to make us a nice cup of tea in the morning,' she said as she headed out of the lounge with her back to me. Unexpectedly she turned round, I looked down at the floor embarrassed that I had been staring at her as she exited. I then looked up and caught her eye, she just smiled and said, 'goodnight.'

I went over to the settee and sat down, the bathroom was between the girl's bedroom off the lounge and through a door and I could hear teeth being brushed and the toilet flushing.

I then partially undressed, leaving my pants and T-shirt on but removing the rest of my clothes. It took ages for me to fall asleep, as I had a lot of thoughts inside my head. To explain my absence to Mark and Andy, the fact I was alone with two women, but that was immediately tempered by the fact they weren't interested in me. But the way Mel had looked at me earlier...

I must have eventually fallen asleep because I woke up completely disorientated, it took me a moment to realise I was on holiday in a chalet, next I became aware of another person in the room, Mark? Andy? I then recalled the events of earlier, which explained why I was sleeping on a sofa so Mark and Andy were discounted. The mystery person was behind me in the kitchenette, I hoped it was Annie. Inadvertently I must have moved or let out a sigh as a voice asked....

'Are you awake?'

It was Mel, 'yeah,' I replied disappointed.

'Couldn't sleep?'

'Yeah.'

'Me neither, I'm just getting a glass of water, do you want one?'

'Please.' I replied surprised at the conciliatory tone of her voice.

She walked from the kitchenette and around the sofa, so she was directly in front of me. The only light in the room was from her bedroom but I could clearly make out she was wearing an oversize T-shirt and flimsy trousers.

'There you are,' and leant down towards me.

'Thanks.'

'You're welcome, do you mind if I sit down for a bit?'

'No,' I replied as a moment later I felt her bottom squash up against the side of my right knee as she sat facing me.

'Sorry if I upset you earlier.'

'It's alright.'

'Are you sure? I wasn't making fun of you. I was just surprised that you didn't have a girlfriend that's all.'

'Oh.'

She nonchalantly moved her bottom and I got a jolt of pleasure to my groin, 'good looking lad and nice with it.'

'Sorry.'

'It was very nice of you to walk Annie back, and apologise for your friends earlier behaviour, most guys your age don't do things like that, they're just after one thing.'

I gulped.

'I'm sure you're not like that,' she said mischievously.

But I am, I was so tempted to say. But the present situation was completely new to me and I didn't know how to react.

As my eyes began to adjust to the light I took more of Mel in. For some reason I hadn't noticed before but she had quite big breasts and the disappearance of her earlier brash demeanour made me view her quite differently.

'Anyway, have you ever had a girlfriend?'

Her question cut right through me, 'no,' I replied dejectedly.

'Does that mean...'

She paused, but I knew how her question would finish.

'It's alright I'm not going to tell anyone.'

I nodded my head in shame expecting her to laugh in my face at my virgin status.

Instead she went off at a tangent, 'I'm glad it rained.'

'Why?'

'Well if it didn't rain you wouldn't be here and we wouldn't be having this chat and it's nothing to be ashamed about, I'm sure you'll meet a nice girl one day.'

'I doubt it.'

'Don't be so despondent, what about the girls at your college?'

'They're not interested.'

'Have you ever asked one of them out or anything?'

'Er, well.'

'So you haven't then?'

'I suppose not.'

'Perhaps you should, Annie thinks you're a very nice guy.'

'Yeah, thanks.'

'For what?'

'You know, for not laughing at me.'

'Oh Steve,' she paused as if weighing up what to say next, 'so why couldn't you sleep?'

'I don't know.'

She shivered, 'it's a bit cold in here isn't it?'

I nodded.

'And I bet this sofa's really uncomfortable?'

'Yeah.'

'That's a pity because,' as she pointed in the direction of her bedroom, 'through there is warm and comfortable.'

I was actually lost for words as I attempted to digest her offer, although my heart went into overdrive and I immediately felt light-headed at the thought of what might happen.

'Cat got your tongue?'

'No.'

'So do you want to spend the rest of the night on the sofa?'

'No, no of course not.'

She chuckled, 'don't get your hopes up, I'm not going to relieve you of your little problem, but we can chat and stuff.' With that she stood up, took my hand and said, 'come on.'

She still had hold of my hand as we exited the lounge went along a short hallway and into her bedroom. Once inside she let go of my hand and walked to the side of the double bed which the small room struggled to accommodate and turned a bedside light on, 'turn the main light off,' she said softly.