The mistress�s revenge

Chapter 5 - second time around

Six months later, my life was quite different. I had finally passed my exam and had a job on a ward as a qualified nurse. I had moved house and now shared with four others, instead of just two. The new house was grander, in a better area and my room was much better, for only a little bit more rent.
Alice was one of my housemates now, but we often missed each other due to working opposite shifts.
After several arguments over the telephone bill in the last property, it had been decided that the telephone would be incoming calls only and we would then just have to pay a flat line rental fee. There was a telephone box down the street if anyone had to make any calls themselves... or ring someone up and ask them to ring back on the house phone in 5 minutes.
I had just about got over Stephen. I still had no idea what had happened, but I had my suspicions now that he might have had someone else. It made sense, but I didn't have any proof. He was best forgotten.
I had been out with other boys since then, but no one had made me the way he made me feel. Would I ever find THE one?

I still went out in the evenings a lot, but I did not go out clubbing as much. I tended to just go to the pub with one of my housemates. Where I lived now was a bit further away from the town. It was possible to walk the distance, but it was a long walk and after a night of dancing it was preferable to get a taxi, which, even if it was shared led to a more expensive night out and money was still short.
I had used to go to the Rock night at Tiffany's night club on a Monday. It was smaller, but had a similar atmosphere and clientele to the Mayfair. On other weekdays, depending on who was available I would go to the Stage Door night club. This was much smaller venue, more mainstream, with indy leanings. Dress was smart casual, so what you wore at the the Mayfair would not necessarily be accepted there. If you managed to be privileged to be a member, you could get in free, before 21.00. You would probably meet half the hospital staff inside though.
I hated going to the Stage Door on a Friday or Saturday, when I could be going to the Mayfair. It was too cramped, too busy, but not as pretentious as some other places.
Occasionally I could persuade someone to go to the Mayfair instead. Alice would always go, but she had a complicated relationship with her current boyfriend, which I will not discuss here.

So, approximately six months after Stephen had disappeared into the ether, I was at the Mayfair with Alice and some other friends. We were getting into the swing of it, enjoying the night, having a bit of a dance on the dance floor.
Then suddenly someone picked me up off my feet, swung me around and asked me where I had been! It was Stephen! What did he mean, where had I been? It was him that went missing!
Nevertheless, I was glad to see him and interested to hear what he had to say for himself.
We found ourselves a quieter spot to chat. He was very tactile with me and appeared to be keen to pick up where he had left off. (!?)
I was just grateful to see him again. He still made my heart flutter!.
He admitted that he was already going out with a girl in Easingwold when he had started seeing me. His mother had found out that he was cheating and made excuses for him not to speak to me on the phone.
He said he had finished with her, (He did not say she had found out about me). He said he had gone to school with a band called Magnum. He was good friends with them all and they had invited him on tour with them. He said he had been all round Europe with them acting as a roadie. He said he was featured on their new video playing the keyboards.
He apologised, then he asked me out again, but this time it was all above board. I was the only one. He would not cheat on me.
I was just grateful to have his attention. It felt good to be associated with someone so handsome. I only hoped that I could live up to his expectations.
We joined the rest of the group and I introduced him to everyone. He was welcomed warmly, we sat, we chat, we danced. He bought me a drink or two.
He said he was staying locally tonight. He was expected to go back there with some other people. However, tomorrow, he could catch a later train and come around to the house to see me. I gave him the address and some directions, but doubted whether he would actually turn up.
...He did! we spent a very civilised afternoon, just chatting over coffee on a sofa in the dining room.
He discussed his plans for building up his own business. He was going to become a music agent and promoter. All he had to do was get some bands on his books and get their music reviewed by some of the big music journalists. In the mean time, he was going to continue to be a ticket agent in Yorkshire and sell concert tickets and transport as a package.
It all sounded so feasible. He sounded confident and I was confident for him. Unfortunately he could not stay too long as he was expected home. He promised he would ring.
I doubted it. I reminded him that our phone was incoming calls only and to allow the phone to ring several times because sometimes one of my housemates had to run down from the attic to answer it. It took about twenty rings just to get there!

Once he was gone, I tried not to build my hopes up too much. I felt like I was still being lied to. I had no idea who this band Magnum were, I'd only heard one song by them and evidently this was not the same one as the video that he had been in.
I had no proof that he had or had not been on the tour, but something just did not sound right about it.

He rang me a few days later. He would come up a week on Friday and we would meet for dinner. He would take me for a drink and then on to The Mayfair. He could even stay over, if I wanted. I was so pleased. Finally I was going to go out on a proper date with him!

Then, on the Thursday before, he rang me again. He said he was a member of the North Yorkshire Search and Rescue team and he was going on a last minute training camp in the Lake District on Friday. He did not think he would be back in time to go to the Mayfair, but if he did, he would see me there.

What!?

He had never even mentioned going on a hike on a slight incline before, never mind being on a search and rescue team. This could only be another excuse. He was not going to turn up. I started to wonder whether I believed anything he told me. Some of the things he said were so far fetched they could be true, or they were simply an elaborate pack of lies!
Alice was disappointed for me, but persuaded me to go anyway. What did it matter if he didn't turn up?
So, I went. I got into a heated discussion with Alice's boyfriend. I suggested he showed a little bit more understanding towards her. He told me I was too nice for my own good. He said she needed to understand that if he spent the rest of the weekend with her, he was entitled to have a night out with the lads and not have to speak to her.

Then I saw Stephen. I could not believe it!
It was already after ten, but if he HAD been on a training camp he must have made a considerable effort to come back from the mountains to see me that night! I doubted my doubts. I didn't know what to think any more.

We had a good night together and arranged to meet again. This was going to be like the first day that we spent together. He would travel up on the train, he had some things to do and then we could go back to my house before he caught the train back home mid-afternoon.

However, on the day in question, there was something about him that was not quite right. I felt like I was in the way. He wanted to go to a record shop to buy a double single by a band called FM. It was Hot Legs, a Rod Stewart cover. I had not heard it, but he told me I would love it!
He also went to the City Hall and bought 20 Magnum tickets for their forthcoming gig there. It struck me as odd. If he was such a friend, why did he not get complimentary tickets from the band?
We went to my house, he played the music, he made fantastic love with me, but, there was a spark missing from him.
I took him to the station and said goodbye. I didn't know that I would not see or speak to him again for several months.