Ben was driving home through the countryside. He wanted to pop into a garden centre to get some strawberry plants. It was a wet November afternoon, and Christmas was on everyone's mind except his. Christmas was meant to be a time of the year that brought goodwill and cheer to all men, But Ben had little time for the man-made construction of Christmas. Choosing instead to see it as just another excuse to be nice to people who had done nothing all year to elicit such favour. It wasn't like he was a "Christmas humbug" but he could see through the facade and unhappiness that touched most people over fourteen.
Ben was single and had been through two marriages in his 60 years. They had left some scars but nothing traumatic or psychological. Looking back he had learnt from these relationships and put their ending to being too young the first time and drifting apart on the second. On the plus side, he had a great Son from his second marriage so life was looking good and had treated him well in the grand scheme of things.
The afternoon was getting away and Ben noticed a little garden centre that was still open as he drove along the English country lanes near where he lived. He decided to pull in and check it out. He went in, but the strawberry plants were outside, and it was still raining so he decided to look at them another day so he didn't get wet. As he headed to the exit he noticed a little sign that said "Betty's Tea Room" Ben reasoned that a nice coffee would go down a treat right now so he decided to go in and get a drink and warm up a bit.
The tea rooms were a standard fair for an English rural setting. Wooden tables were dotted around the inside with four chairs around each table and set far enough apart so you couldn't hear anyone else's conversation or steal food for the table next to you.
All in all a nice slightly plain-looking tea room, but one thing that made it stand out was a captivating waitress behind the counter.
"Hello," she said with a lovely smile "What are you having?"
There was something illuminating in her smile and her eyes felt like they could see right through you.
"Can I get a coffee please?" said a flustered Ben.
"Anything else?" she asked.
"That will do I think."
As she turned to make his coffee Ben couldn't help but look her up and down to try to asses what lay beneath the waitress's outfit. As he walked to a table he felt he needed one that looked in the waitress's direction so he could continue looking at her. What was it that she had that made Ben want to keep looking at her? He could certainly see that she looked after herself and obviously did something to keep herself fit but there was something else that he couldn't quite put his finger on.
She was captivating that much was obvious. Was it her smile or the words she'd used that made him feel that he had known her all his life? She was very friendly and open, it seemed like she didn't have a thing to hide. He kept looking at her without being too obvious. She was medium build for a woman, not at all fat. Hair that framed her features nicely and of course those dangerous beautiful eyes! A warm smile, nice lips and a great body from what he could tell.
Ben was looking at her to such an extent that it worried him that someone may be watching him while he ogled her. He cautiously looked around to make sure no one else could see him. Why did she bring out such emotions in him? It's not like he was looking for someone, feeling content with where he was he didn't feel the need to date anyone. But seeing this woman, something inside him clicked. He needed to know more he needed to get to know her.
She busied herself clearing tables and then out of the blue as Ben wished she would go back behind the counter so he could watch her again, she appeared at his table and started talking to him. It was a few seconds before he realised. His mind scrambled to get up to speed and not look foolish.
"I used to go to school with your sister, she's older than me though."
Ben's brain did the math and put her as being younger than his sister who was 64. He was certain that he didn't know her very well whilst he was at school so he reasoned she was probably older than he was. He went for 62, although she could definitely pass for someone in her fifties. Up close he could see more of her. His eyes were being told by his brain that he should look at her eyes but his inner mind had gaps to fill as he put together a reason why this woman had such power over him.
He did learn however that her name was "Charlotte" This suited her very well it just seemed to make her all the more alluring and he couldn't help but feel that she was flirting with him. The way she stood in front of him and that she was standing quite close told him she was tactile. Perhaps in a different setting, maybe sitting at a bar, with just her and him there she might now and again reach out and touch his hand or his arm.
What got to him was how friendly she was, not just friendly as an act but genuinely friendly. He felt like he could talk to her for hours and then some.
She then said "Well I better get going." and turned to continue tidying the tables whilst Ben's eyes followed her as his mind tried to make sense of why he was so smitten.
Eventually, Ben thought he better go home, Ben decided that he needed to come back to see Charlotte again soon, he wanted to get to know her. There was a reason he had stopped there today. There was a reason they had been put together on this wet Saturday afternoon in November. Ben realised as he said goodbye that he couldn't wait to get back to see her and talk to her some more.
Over the next few weeks, he visited the tea rooms to see Charlotte, and their friendship blossomed. There was even one week that Charlotte asked him "Are you on Facebook?" To which he said, "Yes I'm on Facebook".
They then started chatting, sending messages between them, and Ben was able to learn more about Charlotte. The first thing that he learned was that she lived about a mile up the road from where he lived.
Another thing he learned was that Charlotte was married. Under normal circumstances, most men would have called a halt to any further exploration as far as this relationship was concerned. Ben however was not "normal" he had his views on many things and encroaching on another man's wife was not on his list of "taboo" subjects.
He also learned that Charlotte was a shy person and it took a great deal of time for Ben to gain her trust. What he did know for certain was that she was unhappy and unfulfilled based on other people's opinions of how she should live her life. He realised this after listening to the story of her life that unfolded in the ongoing weeks of their friendship and messaging each other. She was not only unhappy but had been treated quite unfairly and sometimes to the extent one might have said "unfairly"
She was unable to have anything of what you might call her own life. She was often questioned and should she say anything out of place she was often cruelly shut down without explanation. Even having a drink of wine whilst at home often brought criticism. Ben wondered why anyone would want to keep such a sweet person under lock and key.
Her life was not her own, having to look after her immediate family plus she looked after her Dad and worked five or six days a week. She was still expected to perform her "wifely duties" to do the cooking and cleaning and all the other things. One thing he did learn early on was that as far as Charlotte was concerned there had been no intimacy between her and her husband for a considerable time.
Ben had always known that to keep a woman happy you had to allow them as much freedom of not only distance but also time to express their individuality. He knew that women are complex things that need stimulus not only from their partners but also within their own lives. Freedom to go and do things that made them happy and made them feel fulfilled. That and as the old saying used to go "Keep them well fucked and poorly shod" a saying that he was told many times by the older generation of his male family members.
Although for Ben he chose to not believe the last part of that particular saying. In the first part though, he believed that was true and did try to uphold it when in a relationship.
Keeping a woman "well fucked" not only helped with his mindset, but he firmly believed that keeping a woman satisfied in the bedroom was very important. A satisfied woman is a happy and content woman. Sex should never be used as a bargaining chip but should always be used to show how much love and affection are present in any relationship.
