Amelia's Story (Box Set the Complete Series Books 1 & 2) (19 page)

I spent as much time away from the house as possible. I had already achieved my O
-levels from night school while I was living with the Norwegian family, which I had funded myself, from my day job. That was one item crossed off my list. A small door had opened into the modeling world, which was inspiring me further with each passing week. I continued to go the gym and the sauna. When I needed to escape from reality I would bury myself in a book. The one I was reading at that time was
Flowers in the attic
by Virginia Andrews. Such a tragically sad story, much of which I could relate too. I often went running into the town park, which was a vast space and great for runners. I had also joined a local cheerleaders group, which were supporting the Wrekin Giants. Each Sunday morning I would head out with my pom poms for cheerleading practice. A big game was just around the corner and all the local press would be there. It was very exciting for us.

Then one Sunday morning, our team leader informed us that a reporter from the local newspaper was here to take our photos in advance of the game. I will never forget that feeling the first time I saw myself in the local paper, the whole group smiling, perfectly posed with our black and white pom poms. I felt so proud of myself. I had a zest for life that could not be contained by anyone. I knew I was on the right path and heading towards a great future.

Trying to be a teenager

A new night club had opened in Shropshire called
Cascades
. You had to be 21 years of age or over to gain entry into this long-awaited club that was the talk of the town. On the day of the grand opening, my friend Stacy and I spent two hours getting dressed up at her house, and using every trick in the book we could to make ourselves look much older than our 17 years suggested! We both had permed hair, which had been back combed to within an inch of its life! We stepped into a pair of brightly coloured stiletto heels and then we both stood in front of Stacy’s bedroom mirror. We were smiling, quite contented that we had achieved our aim, and thought how grownup we both looked. I was excited. I could not believe I was going to my first nightclub. Stacy was my new best friend. She had been brought up by a loving family, and she was doted on by her parents and wanted for nothing. Stacy was an only child, very pretty, and quite spoilt really. I wanted to be her. She had everything I had ever dreamed of: a loving family, a great education, and lots of friends, as well as her fair share of admirers.

Once we were both satisfied that we were ready, we made our way downstairs, said goodbye to Stacy’s parents and made our way to the bus stop. We were offered a lift by Stacy’s father; however, we wanted to make our own way
to the nightclub. We wanted to catch the bus into the town centre like independent teenagers. We each had the total some of £5.00. This was all the money we needed, as neither of us drank alcohol, and we were being picked up at the end of the night by Stacy’s father. It cost £3.00 entry fee to get in and then we would need just the £2.00 remaining for our soft drinks which cost around 50 pence. It’s unbelievable what you could do with a fiver back then. This was the very late ’80s and 1990 was almost upon us! As we got off the bus outside the nightclub, the queues were phenomenal; the line of people waiting to go in went on forever. We walked up nervously and joined the ever-growing queue. As we got closer and closer to the bouncers on the doors we became more and more nervous, convinced we would be turned away. However, much to our delight this was not the case. The bouncers looked us both up and down and then waved us through. We could barely contain our excitement. On entering the club, we were both blown away by the sheer enormity of the place. There were disco balls everywhere; the walls were mirrored, which reflected everything, and made the club look twice the size it actually was. We were in complete awe of the place, and we felt so grownup. There were two dance floors, a burger bar, a cocktail bar, and the main bar opposite the main dance floor. We purchased our soft drinks and stood back against the wall, taking it all in.

The club was filling up fast, and I was watching all the older girls coming down the spiral staircase, looking amazing in their flamboyant outfits. But then I
recognised someone, tall, dark, and exceptionally handsome. It was Damian. My heart skipped a thousand beats. I didn’t mention him to my friend. I don’t really know why; I stepped out from against the wall and positioned myself opposite Stacy, putting myself directly in his line of vision! I prayed so hard that he would notice me. He did. He looked straight into my eyes. I held my breath for a very long time. Stacy was saying something to me, but I couldn’t hear her words. In fact,I could hear nothing in the club at this poin
t‒
only the sound of my own breathing! When Damian reached the bottom of the stairs with his best friend, I froze for the longest time. Then he smiled at me and beckoned me over. I had not seen him for months. Oh, how I had missed him! On the sight of him, once again, it just confirmed to me how much I truly loved him, my first and only love!

I made my way over to Dami
an; he hugged me, kissed me on the cheek, and then took me to the bar. We talked for the longest time. Damian was now a local hero, he had made it. He had been promoted from the Ipswich Reserves, to Ipswich United Football Club. His name was already known all over the country. He talked about another possible transfer, about his life in Ipswich and how he wanted to be one of the best football players in the country. He was well on his way. My heart just melted. I told him about my modeling, and how I hoped I would get bigger contracts. Damian stopped me in mid-flow.

“Amelia, you don’t have to impress me. This is Dami
an, and I haven’t changed. It does not matter to me whether you are a model or working in a factory.”

Oh how I wanted to be alone with him right at that moment. He really was unchanged; he was still the same Dami
an. I felt so proud to be standing there with him at the bar, everyone was looking at us. I felt like I was floating on air once again, much like the first time we had met.

Dami
an asked me what I was doing afterwards. I told him I had no plans but to head off home. That was when he asked me if I would go to his friend’s house. He advised me that he would make sure I got home alright. My heart was thumping so hard. I went in search for Stacy to tell her I would not be coming home with her, she was not too happy.

“You are leaving me here?” she asked sternly.

“No of course not. When we leave I’ll see you to your dad’s car, and then I will head off with Damian.”

“Oh, okay Amelia, you seem to know Dami
an pretty well. How come you never mentioned him before?”

“Because I never thought I would see him again, Stacey. I thought it was over between us, truly.”

“I believe you Amelia. Thousands wouldn’t,” she smiled.

For the rest of the night Dami
an mingled with people he had not seen for a while, and I danced with Stacey on the dance floor. “Soul II Soul” was playin
g‒
one of my favourite songs, “Weekend Girl” followed by a “Freddie Jackson” number. Great soul tunes that had everyone up on the floor and dancing. I looked over in Damian’s direction. He was smiling at me, watching me dance, and I felt like a million dollars. Of all the girls in
Cascades,
he was watching me. I was truly in love with Damian, ever since that first day I saw him riding past on his bike, when I was standing outside
Kiss Kiss Fashions
!

At the end of the night I walked Stacey to her father’s car, hugged and kissed her goodnight, then made my way over to Dami
an, who was waiting for me. I could not wait to be alone with him. He was just perfect. And he still wanted me. How things would be between us going forward, I had no idea, I just knew I wanted to be with him any way I could. When I was 17-years-old, he was everything to me.

I was worried now, though. He would have every local girl imaginable throwing themselves at him: beautiful girls, and rich ones. They all had so much more to offer him than I did. How long I would keep his interest was anyone’s guess; though he seemed
genuinely to like me still. However, I was sure before too long he would be tempted away. I did not have the confidence in myself to believe otherwise.

We headed off to his friend’s house in a taxi. On arrival we climbed out of the car and headed up the path to an empty house that was on loan to us for the evening! I was suddenly nervous. I suddenly felt body conscious. I had never really thought about my body in this way before, how it would look to a man, but I was feeling it now. It made me feel conscious, as I knew in less than ten minutes I would be naked in bed with Dami
an, like I was once before. However, this time it was different. I was more aware of myself. As we walked through the door, I started mumbling away with nerves! Damian remained quiet. He took my hand and led me over to the sofa situated in the middle of the living room. We lay down together, and then our lips met, before I knew what was happening we were naked, and making love, in this stranger’s house.

It was just as amazing as the first time, if not better; he was kind and considerate, telling me I was beautiful, and that I was Dami
an’s Amelia. I felt like the luckiest woman alive.

We lay together for a long time. We talked and we caught up with each other. I told him I was now living at my mother’s house. I talked to him about my dreams of escaping this small town just as he did. I asked him why he had not written to me. Why he had not called me. He said, he was not very good at writing letters, and that the phone was a communal one where he lived, and it was hardly ever free. I accepted this explanation, and never mentioned it again. I asked him if there was anyone else in his life, and he assured me there was no one. I felt relieved. That night passed by so quickly, he never promised me anything; he never lied to me; he just said, “Let’s see what happens.”

A part of me felt disappointed, I wanted him to promise me the world. I felt selfish for wanting so much. I felt insecure inside. I just knew I would lose him eventually; he was heading towards a world that was so far removed from mine.

At first light Dami
an called a taxi, he opened the door and I climbed in, he kissed me goodbye and said he would call me soon. I was no longer sure of his feelings for me, like I once had been. Sure, he liked me, and he liked me a lot; but something had changed between us. I just could not figure out what exactly.

I felt tearful on the way home. It was around 5
o'clock in the morning, and I climbed out of the car and made my way around the back of my mother’s house. She had double locked the door from the inside, which meant I would not be able to unlock the front door. So obsessed she was with locks and bolts. I found that she had doubled locked the back door from the inside too. I sat down in my mother’s back garden, too afraid to wake her up. She knew I would not be home until very late. How did she expect me to get into the house? After about an hour I decided to throw stones up to Jake’s bedroom window, he slept like a log and could not be wakened. So I plucked up the courage and threw a large stone at my mother’s bedroom window. She was a very light sleeper indeed. She opened her bedroom window, and shouted down that I would have to stay there until she got up a bit later. Then slammed her window shut. I was stunned, and tearful, I tried Jake’s window again, throwing stone after stone. Eventually he surfaced and opened his window. He smiled down at me.

“Oh, Amelia, are you locked out again?”

“Yes Jake, mother has double locked both doors from the inside. I can’t get in.”

“I will be right down. Just wait there a minute,” he advised, shaking his head mockingly.

I could hear Jake opening the door. I walked into the kitchen and then popped the kettle on. I was not tired in the least. I was feeling very chatty. I talked to Jake for over an hour about Damian. Jake was in awe of him and respected him a great deal. He had recently watched Damian on the TV. I took Jake into my confidence, and told him how I felt I was losing him, and that I was convinced I would not hear from him for a while. Jake tried his best to make me feel better, saying that Damian would be a fool to let me go, and that I was more than good enough for him.

Finally, tiredness caught up with me and I crept up to bed very quietly, mindful not to disturb my mother. I slept for hours
, finally re-surfacing around two o'clock in the afternoon. I took a shower, and then made my way downstairs. On entering the kitchen I heard the phone ringing. Mother beat me to the phone; she looked at me with a mocking expression on her face.

“Yes, Amelia’s here, who is this?
she asked.

“Dami
an, okay. And are you Amelia’s boyfriend?” she enquired.

Mother took forever to hand the phone over, she said I had five minutes and then she wanted to use the phone. She always did this on the rare occasion I had a phone call. She hovered in the kitchen, refusing to give me any privacy whatsoever.

“Hey Amelia, I thought I would come over and see you today. Give me your mother’s address, please.”

To say I was stunned is an understatement. I was not expecting to hear from Dami
an so soon. I gave him my address and then put down the phone.

I was feeling very nervous about him coming to my mother’s house. I had no idea how she would react towards him, or what kind of embarrassment she would put me through. She really was that unpredictable. I ran upstairs as fast as I could. I put some makeup on and my new jeans with a baby blue T-shirt. I smothered my hair with Silvikrin hairspray, flicking it backwards and forwards a few times for maximum volume! This was the ’80s and it was all a
bout big hair and shoulder pads!

Dami
an turned up an hour later. My mother was unbelievable, flirting with my boyfriend, saying he was far too good for me. Eventually she got bored of trying to humiliate me and went upstairs. Jake was in the garage, doing up an old motorbike. Damian and I headed outside, so I could introduce my brother to him. Jake was in awe of Damian, and they both hit it off straight away. They tinkered around with this old motorbike for the longest time. I sat on the edge of the grass watching them both. Jake was very shy, a very naïve young man, and Damian was very confident and quite aworldly young ma
n‒
they were so different. Damian was very good with Jake, and gave him so much time that afternoon. That was the only time Damian had ever come to my mother’s house. They rode around the front of the house on this old motorbike for the rest of the day. We were all laughing and having the best time. Eventually Damian had to go; I walked with him to the bus stop and waited patiently for the bus to arrive. I prayed with all that I had that the bus would be late. We stood in the corner wrapped in each other’s arms and kissing passionately.