The Glorious Twelfth!

School was finished for the summer. It had been a hard & difficult year but nothing like the impossible last term. Time was needed. Time to stop & look at my life & where I was. When I looked it was at a second failed marriage. It had just petered out. We didn’t argue just occupied the same space until I could move out.

Now I was looking at the summer holidays & a rest. My sanctuary was ready & I settled in with the relief that I didn’t have to pretend anymore. Little one was safe with his dad which left me something I couldn’t remember having –freedom!

My fairy godmother who had provided my bolt-hole kept in touch each day. Just to check I was OK. The offer of ‘Come to dinner. Nothing fancy. My friend Nick is popping down. Haven’t seen him in ages’ was not unexpected. She was such a thoughtful friend who knew I was in need of TLC.

I don’t know about you but when something momentous happens I have to treat myself to something. I remember it was always new underwear but on this occasion I wanted to look a bit different.  I wanted to remind myself that I was a successful woman with the world at her feet no longer shackled to a relationship that was going nowhere. My choice was a bright yellow dress in soft jersey which touched the curvy bits without clinging & looking cheap.

My friend had moved to her partner’s house in a seaside town so I went up that afternoon to get some sea air into my lungs. It felt good to be out in sun with not even the worry of what to get for tea. As I got ready for dinner, I was beginning to relax into this new way of feeling & looked forward to the evening ahead. ‘My friend Nick’ was not able to come to dinner but it had only been a casual arrangement.

He did arrive later, full of apologies for missing the meal. He & my friend were old flames from College so they were comfortable in each other’s company. We went out for a few drinks into town & somehow ‘My friend Nick’ & I paired up. We both needed new topics to talk about as he had also just come out of a long term relationship.

He was a sportsman who spent most evenings rushing around getting hot. I was a smoker. Subconsciously it seemed, I put those two pieces of information together & they didn’t go hand in hand. I didn’t seem to smoke as many cigarettes as normal but this was subliminal thinking.

By the time we returned to the house, it was clear that ‘My friend Nick’ & I got on well. When he left to go home he said that he had enjoyed the evening. My friend escorted him to his car which had been parked a few streets away.

I remember going to sleep feeling good. The evening had been a success & I had made a new friend. There was no way I was looking for a relationship. After all, I’d had two husbands! When I returned home the next day, I was very surprised to get a phone call inviting me out. Yes it was ‘My friend Nick’. We were married the following year & are still together over 22 years later.

The link with the title – well the day we met was August 12^th known in shooting circles as ‘The Glorious Twelfth’ – the start of the grouse season. I suppose I could be corny & say something about a bird being caught but….!

Image curtesy of Google Images

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This post has been written for the Writing Workshop at Sleep is for the Weak. I have chosen prompt 1 which asks ‘Do you believe in fate? What in your life feels ‘meant to be’, good or otherwise?

THERE’S A LITTLE YELLOW STAR AT THE BOTTOM OR THIS BOX. IF YOU’VE LIKED THIS POST PLEASE CLICK!