Tag: romance

Pegasus (Part 54)

The people holding the guns were three scruffy, dirty kids who didn’t look any more than ten or eleven years old. Their faces were gaunt and their arms thin. They motioned for both of us to stand up and hold up our arms. It went quiet below. We were then directed down the stairs in a single file.

My eyes moved furtively. There were another twenty kids downstairs, all looking similarly decrepit mostly armed with pistols. The large man was now pointing his machine in their direction. It wasn’t worth making a move.

“Look at what we have here, how did you too get here?”

His stomach bulged over his pants revealing a hairy, sweaty belly. Some of his teeth were missing and his shoulder-length hair looked badly matted. He had a bright red nose and a pock-marked face.

“Well, have you nothing to say for yourselves?”

He pointed his gun at Tabitha and then stroked her breast with it.

“We haven’t seen your kind round here before?”

Tabitha reacted.

“We are with the Resistance. Release us or face the consequences.”

My heart sank. I had a feeling this wasn’t going to end well.

“Oh, you are with the Resistance. That’s more than I could have hoped for. You will fetch good coin!”

Galway Girls (Part 29)

It seemed to take forever for Saturday to take an age for Friday to finally arrive. I was so looking forward to it, that I counted every minute. It couldn’t come fast enough. My nights were filled by late night text messages and by thoughts of her being in the bed with me.. The passion that there would be.

Eventually, the day came. I made sure my dingey little apartment looked and smelled as good as possible. A hoovering here, some Febreze there. I just hoped that she liked Lasagna. All the time I could feel my heart beating that little bit faster. Then her voice crackled over the intercom.

I pressed on the button for the door to automatically open and there she was. She looked radiant. Her curly blonde hair was now draped over her bare shoulders, the black tank top showing off her ample cleavage. A large smile greeted me before she cane closer and kissed me on the lips. It felt like heaven.

“So, this is your gaffe?” she said peering in my eyes.

I tried to think of something funny, something to immortalize the moment but instead came out with the rather bland, “It is.”

“So are you going to show me around?” she asked still enthused.

“Well, this is my kitchen and dining area behind me. My bedroom is in to the right and sure, follow me into my sitting room.”

I decided it would be overly optimistic to go straight to the bedroom.

Galway Girls (Part 28)

“Just be careful,” Bianca said quietly, “I wouldn’t like to see you getting hurt.”

The conversation was getting all too serious now so I mischievously brought up her Garda guy. He was older and usually only met her late at night..

“So, what about your Garda fella? Still on the radar?”

“Oh, the less said about that, the better.”

Tony couldn’t help but chip in.

“No booty call so?”

“Would you fuck off?” she replied to our laughter.

With our cappuccinos and scones finished it was time to make the short trip back to the office.

It did give me pause for thought. Was I just setting up myself for a world of pain?

What sort of life could I offer her anyway?

I need not have worried, I still had a few hours of scrolling through spreadsheets to look forward to.

Later that evening as I relaxed in front of the television I texted Lizzie.

  • So what are you up to?
  • L: Working late. Hope you are good x
  • Yeah, I’m grand. What do you work as anyway?
  • L: Trainee solicitor.
  • What a clever girl. Better try to keep hold of you. Lots of dosh lol
  • L: I will probably be replaced by AI any day now lol
  • Thinking of you a lot xx
  • L: Coming to see you next Sat. Arrive at 2 pm. Meet at your house. That ok?
  • Excellent xxx

My heart throbbed. She was coming.

Galway Girls (Part 27)

I had a little routine that I religiously, albeit subconsciously followed at work and the first thing was to check my email on Outlook. The good news, there were only ten new ones. I loved my job as an accountant technician. Always a new challenge to face.

Then I remembered to check my text messages. As I had hoped, it was from her.

  • Sorry about last night. My Grandma really was unwell. I’ll be down to see just you soon xx
  • I can’t wait xx

It immediately put me in good form.

“What are you so happy about?”

It was Bianca, my fellow co-worker and good friend.

“I’ll tell you at tea,” was my quick response.

That was another part of my daily routine. Going to meet Bianca and Tony who worked upstairs for the elevenses. Everything was always up for discussion, especially our sex lives.

Time flew and before I knew it was break time. We always went to the same spot. A place, not too close that we would be bumping into clients but also not so far away that we wouldn’t have time to actually chat.

“So, she was late and barely met you at all because of her sick Grandma,” Bianca said as she sat down beside me with our order.

“Yes.”

“Are you in love?” Tony asked me cheekily.

“Are you serious? I only just met her!”

But, inside I thought yes I am.

Pegasus (Part 51)

There was an anxious wait though before they came to a halt. I gripped Tabitha’s hand. It was sweaty. Then they waited in the silence.

A few minutes later, they heard the first rustling of sound. Then it grew louder. Amidst the sound of a girder lifting the boxes out, there was also what sounded like children talking and screeching.

The boxed crate they were in soon started to shake. They were on the move but didn’t know where. Minutes passed. This wasn’t part of the plan. They were supposed to remain in the same spot and board an adjoining ship.

They felt a large bang as they hit the floor. The machine operator obviously didn’t think there was anything valuable inside. That, or he just didn’t care. After a few moments, things fell silent once more.

It felt like the time to act.

“Come on Tabitha, it’s time to act.”

“Yes, yes let’s go.”

We pushed the top off of the metallic box. Our eyes winced closed from the light but gradually opened to reveal a cramped room full of containers and different parts of machines. The air was stale and smelled of oil.

“Where are we?”

Tabitha’s mouth opened but nothing came out. We both looked around in astonishment. Wires were hanging out everywhere – from the ceiling to the door control.

Review of “The Missing Ones” by Patricia Gibney

This was published way back in 2017. It is the author’s debut and also the first in the renowned Lottie Parker series. The author is from the same town as myself. The story is set in Ragmullin, a clever anagram of the real town.

Make no mistake, she is picturing Mullingar at every stage. It made reading the novel quite an intimate experience, immediately recognizing where the different scenes fictionally occurred. The scenes of bitter cold and snow brought my memory back to a particularly harsh few winters from nearly a decade ago.

The central character is Detective Lottie Parker. A deeply flawed hard-nosed detective trying to juggle a demanding job with a complicated family life. Her husband died a few years previous leaving her a single parent.

There are numerous complex relationships like Lottie’s relationship with fellow detective Boyd, with her Sergeant, and then each of her children.

The case she is investigating is a series in a presumably normally quiet Ragmullin. The first occurs at the town’s Cathedral and it all revolves around what happened many years beforehand. What follows is a grotesque and excellently written tale of child abuse, corruption, and murder.

It is beautifully crafted and you’re never quite sure where it will go next or who is responsible for the grizzly killings. The author has stated that she just likes writing but this was excellently planned and thought out.

The scenes of child abuse may be too much for many and for those with a weak disposition, I’d give it a wide berth. But if you’re looking for a good crime thriller, look no further. My rating is five stars out of five.

Remember to subscribe if you enjoy my writing.

Galway Girls (Part 26)

I woke up the next day with a hangover. That wouldn’t have bothered me if it hadn’t been a work day. It took some self-talk to convince myself to leave my comfortable soft pillow and bed. My head was pounding and my throat almost painfully dry.

I made a mental note to myself to have greater discipline next time, hoping I hadn’t let myself down the night before. Even though, I knew there wasn’t much point. I went out to my kitchen and prepared myself some toast and tea. My stomach wasn’t in a mood to tolerate much else.

I ordered Alexa to turn on Midlands Radio 3. Music immediately blared out but it was throbbing through my skull,

Alexa – Volume 6.

That was much better. As the song ended, the presenter said that a scorcher had been forecast for that.

I slowly ate my breakfast and headed out the door.

My apartment was only two streets away from where I worked. It was a simple journey on mostly wide footpaths along commercial streets of terraced shops and restaurants with overhead apartments.

I felt the buzz of my phone as I passed the smell of burgers from a fast food outlet. I decided to keep going and look at it work as I was nearly.

A few moments later I had arrived and turned on the computer.

Pegasus (Part 49)

Then the train began to slow as it entered the spaceport. I shuddered when I saw the high fence. Tabitha led the way. We had been given a map to show us which ship we had to board. It became clear that what had seemed to be the perfect maze of buildings was in fact perfectly ordered. The safest route for us to take had been marked out.

Still, at all times we had to keep our eyes focused on any camera or one of the many droids busily lifting boxes from one location to another. At times, it was a matter of patience, otherwise speed but at all times stealth.

Then with one last burst of speed, we reached the warehouse that was our destination and darted inside. It was obvious even in the dim light that the ship was not at all what we were expecting. It was small but worse again it looked like an automated delivery class ship. There was no space for a crew only cargo. We looked at each other in despair before Tabitha started muttering.

“It’s okay follow me. I think I know what we can do.”

I followed close behind.

She went over to the cargo.

“Come on. Help me open one of these!”

Galway Girls (Part 24)

The days were getting longer, the bleak winter was just a horrid afterthought. I could now feel the warmth of the sun on my face as I admired the lush, green trees that were dotted around my urban landscape and the plethora of birds in the sky.

These were the best of days. The warm weather. A decent job but most importantly Leslie. She was my first and last thought of each day. We discussed everything about each other.

Our favorite films – “Gattaca” for me, and “Die Hard” for her.

Music – Eminem for me, Coldplay for her.

Location – Galway for me, Dublin for her.

The list would just go on and on. There was nothing I didn’t want to know about her.

Then it happened. She was coming to see her Gran and would meet me afterward. It was set for a Saturday. It was to be a flying visit but would help us plan her next longer stay. We arranged to meet at 7pm in an accessible pub close to my apartment called The Court.

All that day, the anticipation built. She sent messages telling me she was on her way. I decided to get over to the pub at 6pm to get a bite to eat before she arrived. It was largely empty apart from the odd staff member and one or two people watching the horse racing that was blaring in the corner. The dinners provided there were always delicious and I went for the Chicken Supreme with a vodka and coke.

A young chubby barwoman took my order and delivered it to my table twenty minutes later. The smell of the freshly cooked chicken whetted my appetite and I quickly tore into it.

Galway Girls (Part 23)

My heart skipped a beat. She regularly came to Mullingar. What were the chances?

I immediately sent her a text back

You must know the town well so? I live in a flat near the County Buildings. Do you know Mount Street?

No, I don’t really know the town that well. She’s in a nursing home on the outskirts.

Oh right, guess I’ll have to show you one of the days lol

Yeah, I’d like that.

That ended the texting for the day. My dinner was due to arrive at my flat and the hunger was taking over.

Then as I lay in bed later that night, my phone suddenly lit up.

I quickly picked it up and tried to see who it was. It took a few seconds for my eyes to readjust to the bright screen. To my surprise, it was her.

Hey, are you still up?

I wasn’t but told her I was. My sleep could wait.

We messaged back and forth. Then things gradually turned sexual.

You have such beautiful eyes.

I can’t wait to see you again babes.

I want to kiss you and so much more.

Tell me more.

Eventually, my hand got tired from pressing the small buttons and I told her that we would talk the next day.

And we did and the day after.