The Unwanted Gift: (Part four) The Oracle

Richard was in love; he was blessed with this precious gift when he had least expected. True happiness had always eluded him, now that he had found love, he was going to hold on to it with all his might. All the soppy poems and silly love songs at which he once poked fun now made sense. For the first time in his life, Richard longed to go to sleep holding a woman and wake up to the warm, sensuous feel of her body next to his.

The word love seems so insignificant to describe what he was feeling. Constance, his Connie, hated the name Connie, but she would slowly melt into him when he whispered it softly in her ears, nibbling gently at the ear lobe which he knew drove her wild. Richard smiled, shit, he thought, life could not get any better.

The boy had finally grown into a handsome young, and intelligent man, with a wicked sense of humour and a devil may care attitude. Women adored Richard and Richard loved women, most of his old flames remained his friends. However; until he met Connie he had never experienced real love, and often wondered what the hell all that fuss was about, and now he knew. Richard made a point of keeping his affairs casual and friendly, he knew that he could always walk away if things got complicated or he became bored, whichever came first, and then he met Constance.

Would the sensible Yorkshire folks think him mad, if he were to burst into song and swing off the lamp-post here and now? Richard thought as he smiled.

The urge to do an impromptu dance was irresistible, Richard wanted to shout to the world that he was in love. God must be in his heaven because all was right with the world.

Not only had the farmer's son found his perfect woman, but she came with an incredible run of good luck. For the first time in months, he was on a roll. For the first time in a very long time, he'd won some real money on the gee-gees. Richard had promised Connie that he would stop gambling. “Soon”, he whispered, “soon babes, but not just yet.”

The consummate gambler had found a sure way to win on the horses. Richard referred to his winnings as his little gift from the Oracle, the Oracle will help him earn the down payment on the flat in St John's Wood, which Connie had her eyes on, she made him so happy, he wanted to do something special to show her how much she means to him.

Just thinking about Connie was like a natural high, Richard walked around in a daze with a perpetual smile on his face.

Back in London at the LSE, ( London School of Economics) where he taught economics, his friends could not understand what was wrong with him, they'd place their hands on his forehead to check his temperature and look at him oddly, inquiring if he was OK. He did not tell them about Connie; he wanted her all to himself for just awhile longer, but they knew something had changed. ”He must be sickening for something, it’s got to be a woman,” said Samuel, Richard’s best mate."

"That, or he's getting some." Said Ging, named for his mop of ginger curls. "If he's not careful, we'll be calling the men in white coats." Ging continued, and the others laughed.

They were right, Richard was burning hot with a fever, but he was not ill, in fact; he never felt better.

Richard left London for a short visit to Yorkshire to see his parents; they still lived on the farm where he grew up; his father called, summoning him home. “Your mother is not herself these days lad,” his Dad stated, in his matter of fact way, “she needs to see you, I think it’s high time you made a visit, we need to talk son. There are things we must discuss.” Richard’s dad was a man of few words; there was no point asking questions. Richard knew from experience that his old man had said as much as he was going to say. He suspected, his father wanted to discuss what will happen to the farm when he could no longer manage it.

Richard had skilfully managed to avoid this issue for as long as it was possible, but he was running out of options. His sister was now happily married with two children and lived in Wales. As the eldest of the two, it was his responsible to take over the farm. However, he had little or no interest, nor the inclination to be a farmer or to run his parent's business. When he was home, he spent most of his time at York race course, even though the old man hated gambling, he must prepare himself for a rough emotional rollercoaster of a visit.

Nevertheless; before bracing himself to face the music, he must take a small detour. Richard headed to York where he purchased gifts for his parents and something special for Poppy. Poppy was like his little sister, he knew his parents thought of her as their second daughter, he smiled as he remembered how the young girl once had a childish crush on him. Sweet little Poppy! Yes, there were certainly more than one reasons why he must seek her out, and the sooner, the better. For one thing, he’s going to need an ally for the dreaded family conference with his parents.

Richard thought of his Oracle and the money he hopes to win at York. Yes, he must get something nice for Poppy, and if he remembers correctly; her birthday was at the end of the month. However; the gift Richard most wanted to purchase was something special that will impress Connie.

Richard pretended that he had not noticed how Connie's eyes longingly caressed the Raymond Weil watch in the jewelry shop window as they left the casino a few weeks ago. He tried to imagine the look on her face when he casually present her with the watch, she was like a greedy little girl, her eyes sparkling bright at the sight of a parcel, but this little girl shall have her gift because she made him feel invincible.

Constance was tall, statuesque, dark skinned and beautiful; her parents were immigrants from the Caribbean island of Grenada, she was born in Streatham in the London borough of Lambert. She has never visited her parent’s homeland, although she listened patiently, as her father spoke longingly about his island home. Her home was Streatham; she would like to visit Grenada one day, but as for now, she was trying to get to grips with her new job and find somewhere to live so she can move out of her parents’ home.

Constance worked part-time as a fashion model, she loved modelling, but the work was sporadic. Between jobs, she also worked as a croupier in a casino in the West End of London, the money she earned, helped with the bills, the remainder went into her growing funds to buy a flat in St John’s Wood. An expensive area, but with a bit of savvy, she could save enough for the deposit. "Meeting the right man with his own dough wouldn't hurt either." She thought. However, Constance always seems to fall for the wrong men. Maybe her luck was about to change.

Constance met Richard about three months ago at the casino where she worked, he was handsome, funny and losing a great deal of money. He made it clear that he fancied her, but she kept him at arms length, maintaining a professional distance, but she secretly loved the attention. Although it was obvious to everyone that she was well and truly smitten with the man, Constance went through the motion, Richard came on to her, and she smiled, but her eyes said "watch it... Mr player." Richard refused to take no for an answer; he was persistent, determined to break through her cynicism, he would slowly but surely wear down her resistance. Constance did not want a relationship with a gambler, Richard was a dream, but he was flawed. However, love will always find a way.

Constance was falling in love; she knew that she loved Richard, but was concerned about his habit of betting on everything and anything, so she made him promise, that he would stop gambling, and concentrate on teaching. She pleaded that they could live comfortable on their two salaries. However; that was before he found his oracle.