The soft trill of the bedside telephone startles me awake. I roll over and blearily un-dim the time display on the clock radio. Jesus! 12.10am! Who on earth�
The âphone is still ringing. I pick up the handset.
âHelloâŚ?â I say warily. I never give my name. A woman living by herself is always vulnerable.
There is no response from the other end, just the light sound of someone breathing.
A cold chill invades my stomach. âHello⌠Is anybody there?â I say more stridently, hoping that the rising tide of panic does not show up in my voice.
This could be one of those dorks in my class at College fooling around. I am beginning to get angry now. âLook, Iâm going to put the âphone down! And if you call back again, you will have to deal with my husband!â
The male voice on the other end of the line is pitched very low. âFleur, itâs meâŚâ
âDaddyâŚ?â
âYesâŚsorry if I scared you honey. I couldnât sleep and rang you on an impulse. Then, when I heard you answer, I felt kind of stupidâŚâ
âAre you okay? Is everything all right?â
âYes, Iâm fineâŚâ
âIs it Mum? Is there something wrong with her?â
âNo, donât worry, she is fine as wellâŚfast asleep in factâŚâ
âSnoring?â
âIâm afraid soâŚâ
My motherâs menopause arrived unusually early and with it a glandular disorder that saw her shoot from a petite size ten to a bloated caricature who is hardly able to walk; all in the space of about six months. Poor Mum can only sleep on her back, which causes her to snore loud enough to wake the dead. Dad has taken to sleeping in the lounge of our two-bedroom house as a result.
âAre you downstairs?â
âUmmm, noâŚI hope you donât mind⌠Iâm in your room⌠Thatâs why I neededâŚit smells so much of youâŚyour perfume that isâŚwhatâs it called again?â
A small shiver of pleasure ripples through me that you are calling me from my room at home.
âCome on, Daddy! You know full well what perfume it is! You buy it for me after all!â
It is a little joke you and I endlessly tease each other with; one of many that makes Mum complain, âYou two have a little secret society going!â
âOh, okay thenâŚâ
I can hear the pleased laughter in your voice. The perfume is Revlonâs âCharlieâ. Significant, because your first name is Charlie â to me alone. To everybody else in the world you are âCharlesâ. If anyone dares to transgress, the icy stare from your bright blue eyes will freeze their bones to the marrow. You once frightened Mumâs brother Clem with it so much one day when he and Auntie Jane came over for a barbecue, he fled to the bathroom and threw up.
âSo, what are you doing in my room?â
âJust visitingâŚâ
âJust standing thereâŚor sitting down?â
âA little bit more than sittingâŚâ
Another small thrill of excitement surges through me at the thought that you may be stretched out on my bed. I know that you sleep in a pair of boxer shorts and nothing else.
âLying down then?â
âYesâŚI guess you could say that⌠And howâs my little girl getting on at The Big University? Is she looking after herself properly?â
âOf course Iâm looking after myself, Daddy! And my studies are going well.â
âThatâs good. Quite the social life I suppose, with lots of boyfriends?â
âNot really, Daddy, and no, not lots of boyfriendsâŚâ
My socialising with the other students is just about zilch. I am so glad I donât have to stay in the Halls of Residence! I find most of the other girls in my freshman year to be a bunch of silly ninnies. And the guys are all beer swilling morons with whatever brains they may have, dangling between their legs. You and Mum scrimped and saved for many years to get me here so I can study for my Earth Sciences degree, and you are covering the rent for the tiny two-room apartment I am in now as well. So what if the others think I am stuck-up? I am here to work hard and repay you both for the sacrifices you have made to get me a good education.
I finish, ââŚnot even one boyfriend.â
âNot even one! I find that very hard to believeâŚa lovely girl like youâŚâ
âWould you like me to be going out with lots of guys then?â
You are silent for what seems like a long time. At last you mutter, âNoâŚnot at all.â
Warmth stirs in my belly.
I am curious about your situation there. I ask you: âSo you are laid out on my bedâŚis the light on?â
âJust the little lamp by the side of the bedâŚwhen did you put the pink bulb in it? And, ahem, I am not exactly âlaid outâ on your bedâŚâ
I donât have to guess. You are under the covers; inside the snug cocoon where I spent so many nights as a young girl and teenager, with my fingers exploring the slippery wetness while I imaginedâŚdaydreamedâŚ
âAndâŚ?â
You chuckle softly; âYour entire collection of teddy bears is looking at me accusingly for being hereâŚâ