It was dark. Very dark. There were no streetlights this far out of town, and there was no moon. It was also rather cold. She huddled into her topcoat and stood by the side of the road, her back to the woodland, trying not to think about what could be living among those trees, because it was late, she was alone and it was a long walk home. At least it wasn't cold She shouldn't have told him to stop the car and let her out, but then, she couldn't just let him go on doing what he was doing. He'd been disrespectful and she couldn't stand being disrespected; she wouldn't put up with it. No way! She hadn't encouraged him in any way. He'd just put his hand on her leg, just above her knee, and squeezed - and not very gently, either. And he'd been driving the car, as well! Anything could have happened! There was a law against using mobile 'phones whilst driving and there should be a law against that sort of thing on the move, too.
In the restaurant, he'd been the very embodiment of charm; he'd held her chair as she sat; he'd listened with great interest -- or so it had seemed - as she talked; he'd flattered her about her hair -- she was very proud of her long, black hair - and her clothes. Told her he loved her smile and how beautiful she was. Huh!
Was it the clothes that had inflamed his passions? No, it couldn't have been that. She was, as always, very modestly dressed. The hemline of her dress had barely reached her knees and as for her neckline... Well, there simply wasn't a neckline! The dress had covered her shoulders and almost reached her chin; there wasn't even a hint of cleavage. She'd made absolutely sure of that. Not that she had much cleavage to display. She was quite unlike her mother in that respect; Mother had nice big boobs. She'd stood in front of the mirror for ages, turning first this way and then that way, making sure that everything was perfect.
And it couldn't have been the make-up, surely? The idea was ridiculous! She was expert at applying cosmetics. Too much looked cheap and not enough, well... That looked even cheaper, in her opinion.
Everything had been just-so for her evening date.
So what had made him do it? Perhaps he was just like "that"; her mother had given her that warning about men when she'd first started dating.
"Be careful, darling," mummy had said. "You don't know what men are like. I do!" And she'd nodded knowingly, before adding, "And you shouldn't get in a car with a man you don't know!"
It had taken her a while to find out what mummy had meant, but find out she did, on her very first date, seven years ago, when she'd been just eighteen and unprepared for what had happened. Her date had been a little older; quite a lot older, actually. In his thirties. She'd felt safe with him. And why shouldn't she? A man of that age would look after her, she'd thought. Take care of her, the way a father would. The way her father would if he'd still been around. Which he hadn't been since she was two years old.
She didn't think any father would put his tongue in her mouth when he kissed her outside the restaurant, either. Fathers didn't do that, did they? She'd found out since that some fathers did do that, but her father, her daddy, wouldn't, of that she was sure. The very idea! It appalled and intrigued her at the same time.
She hadn't told mummy, of course. There would have been trouble. Hell to pay, in fact. Mummy would have had words with him; would have seen the man off for what he'd done. And she didn't want any trouble. Besides, she'd liked what he did. She'd liked it a lot! Even now, she blushed at the thought of how that kiss had made her feel: all hot and not at all bothered. And even hotter and rather wet down there, between her legs. In her 'doo-dah', as mummy called it, on the rare occasions they talked about such things.
As she got older, her doo-dah began to interest her very much. She discovered that men were interested in her doo-dah, too! There was a lot of pleasure to be had when investigating her doo-dah and she liked pleasure very much indeed. Therefore, she investigated her doo-dah on a regular and frequent basis. And it wasn't too long before she was allowing others to help her in her investigations, because that was even more fun! She kept all this to herself. Mummy would never have approved! In fact, she would have had a fit. Mummy thought this kind of thing was dirty; not something nice people did.
But a girl had to have her standards. And her date tonight had fallen woefully short of her standards. Fancy trying to grope her as he was driving!
Still, he hadn't made much of a fuss about pulling over to let her out. He'd just said that it wasn't a good idea to get out just here, on this stretch of road, in the dark, with no houses for miles and not much traffic passing by. It wasn't safe, he'd cautioned her, not safe at all, for a young woman to be on her own in this neck of the woods.
But she'd insisted and now here she was. At first, she'd hoped he'd come back. Had waited for him at the side of the road. But time had passed and he hadn't come back and no other cars had passed, either. All she'd heard were noises from the trees: the hoot of an owl and the rustle of something moving around in the undergrowth. So she'd decided to walk, thanking her lucky stars she was wearing sensible, low-heeled shoes that were ideal for just this kind of situation. If those other girls in the restaurant had been forced to walk, they wouldn't have got very far in the heels they had been wearing, that was for sure. Slutty, they had been. The shoes and the girls. She was also pleased that she never wore pantyhose. Always stockings. Wearing pantyhose wasn't healthy, according to the magazine articles she'd read. It made you sweat and caused infections in your doo-dah and the last thing she wanted was an infection in her doo-dah. Besides, she'd discovered that guys didn't like pantyhose. Apart from one man, who'd persuaded her to wear some and had really enjoyed tearing them to get at her. He'd only torn them between her legs, but they were still only fit for the trash when he'd finished. It had been rather exciting, though! She flushed and grinned at the memory.
None of this helped her present situation. She was still stuck in the middle of nowhere, on her own. If only someone would come along to offer a lift. Not just anyone, mind you. It would have to be someone above reproach, someone who wouldn't take advantage of her. A priest, perhaps? Someone respectable. A nun. A nun would be ideal. That was unlikely, she knew, but it would be nice if a woman came along to rescue her; she'd had enough of men for one night.
After half an hour's walking, she stopped to rest. Her shoes might have been eminently sensible, but her feet still hurt. She wasn't used to trudging about. Nice comfortable cars were more to her taste. She looked around for somewhere to sit; nothing, not even a fallen tree. What sort of woodland was it, with no fallen trees?
And then, she saw the lights of an approaching car, heard its engine At last! With a silent prayer that it wasn't another predatory male more interested in helping himself to her doo-dah than helping her out of a spot, she moved to the middle of the road and waved her arms. The car slowed, pulled and stopped. She rushed up to the driver's door, peered through the window... And gaped in astonishment.
"What are you doing here, mummy?" She asked. "Why aren't you at home? You were going to watch a Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers movie. You got yourself some candy and popcorn to make an evening of it!"
"Just get in the car, Tilley," her mother said. "And what the heck do you think I'm doing out here? I'm riding shotgun on my only child, that's what I'm doing. And a good thing, too, from what I can see!"
"You've been following me?" Tilley was shocked. Why..? Why would you follow me?"
"Get in the car," her mother repeated. "We'll talk about this later, at home." Tilley was an obedient daughter; she did as she was told and climbed into the front passenger seat next to her mother.
When they finally arrived home, Tilley went to the kitchen to make a pot of tea. She was bubbling with questions, but knew her mother would answer them when she felt like it. She wouldn't be rushed. So Tilley made the tea, arranged some cookies on a plate, set the whole lot on a tray and took it into the sitting-room, where her mother waited. As her mother sipped her tea, Tilley checked her watch: 10pm. It would soon be bedtime. She hoped her mother would start talking soon.
She wasn't disappointed, because her mother set down her teacup, dabbed some cookie crumbs from her lips with a snow-white napkin, leaned back in her chair and glared at her daughter.