Read Online Dear Beneficiary by Janet Kelly - Free Book Online

fashion. In fact I could only ever really remember thinking that sex seemed to cause so many problems considering how dull it could be.
    But now I could see what the fuss was about, I looked forward to every occasion with Darius. We did things I didn’t know you could do with another person, and also had a few close shaves, like on my birthday when the entire family decided to let themselves in to the house to cook me a surprise lunch, thinking I was playing golf. Darius only just fitted into the wardrobe and it was unfortunate he had to stay there quite so long.
    He said he’d never met anyone quite like me, which I took as a compliment. He added that apart from being good company, he also liked my cooking. So our relationship wasn’t just about sex.
    At first I found his attention difficult to believe. Then he told me I reminded him of a teacher he used to have – the mother of one of his school friends. The family were from north London, and while the father was working for an oil company in Lagos, she’d give English lessons to local children.
    â€˜I was thirteen,’ he told me. ‘I thought she was a goddess. Once I saw her changing to use our swimming pool and I couldn’t take my eyes off her. She wore this grey pencil skirt with a slit up the back and I’d look at it, wondering where it would lead. When I saw her remove it I was in heaven,’ he’d said.
    He also told me he’d had a number of girlfriends but found them wanting, each in different ways. They were either set on marriage and children or would withdraw emotionally in a passive-aggressive bid to manipulate him into following their lead.
    â€˜You are like that teacher. You’re the mistress of unspoken communication and never apologise for who you are,’ he said, hugging me close. ‘You don’t need to be rescued or make cute “womanly” mistakes to make me bend to stereotypes. All I know is I don’t have to be with you long for something magical to happen.’
    My lips made a wavy line for a smile. I’d never been spoken to so gently, so warmly and with so much feeling. Perhaps true love does exist, despite age, class and culture?
    I explained the story of Mrs Robinson from The Graduate and we watched it one rainy Sunday afternoon, sitting on the sofa. He told me he completely understood the young Benjamin’s fascination with Anne Bancroft’s character, adding that she wasn’t nearly as sexy as me. He then proceeded to take my clothes off with his teeth, carefully peeling away the barrier between our bare flesh before he slowly caressed my body with his soft hands, building up my anticipation before he took me on the Persian rug, bartered for with much effort on a family holiday to Turkey.
    The following week I’d made chocolate cupcakes (I found out he had something of a sweet tooth) and he’d brought the soundtrack of The Graduate with him. He made me dance to ‘Mrs Robinson’, singing the words until he got to ‘Jesus loves you more than you will know’, substituting his own name for Jesus, and we both laughed at the line ‘put it in your pantry with your cupcakes’ – it was then I knew our relationship meant more to him than just scratching at a physical itch.
    Having said that he spent a good deal of time investigating nooks and crannies I didn’t know existed. As for the multiple orgasm – I’d spent forty years thinking it was a fantasy.
    It was a good arrangement.

CHAPTER TEN
    I’ve often found it quite difficult to get out of the driveway without hitting one or the other side posts. I’m sure they are too close together, as they make the angle difficult when reversing.
    Colin used to say I never looked properly and drove like a ‘typical woman’. Well, in my opinion that is hardly a matter for derision as a ‘typical woman’ would read a map, ask directions if they were lost and let