The Tale of Ugly and Christmas by Bazzza,Bazzza

Benny McShea had made his first million by the age forty one, his second at forty five. His success was a surprise to many, especially to some of his old teachers who had given him up as just an idle time waster and a dreamer. But Benny was a self made man, now a millionaire having set up an import export business from just the seeds of a dream. It wasn’t all plain sailing, the long hours; the stress and being away from home had cost him two marriages. He had worked hard for countless years, but could now smile and reap his rewards. A large architect designed contemporary home sat low in a beautiful and secluded valley to escape the winter winds. It was situated perfectly amongst deciduous trees to capture the warmth of the suns rays. In the garage stood the latest 911 Porsche and a year old Land Rover awaiting his pleasure. Business wise, Benny had vowed to take things a little easier. He surrounded himself with confident people he could trust and now spent his time evaluating new opportunities to further his wealth.

Benny’s other love was music, especially the blues. He played bass guitar in a four piece covers band which had a permanent Friday and Saturday night spot in a bar. As bands go, they would never aspire to be anything great, but they enjoyed both the music and each other’s company. They were good enough to fill the bar when they played, and that’s all any bar owner could hope for. For Benny, the band was a welcome release after a hard week, there could be nothing better than belting out George Thorogood, Stevie Ray Vaughn, George Benson and BB King pieces. They attracted a regular crowd who craved live music and their version of blues, their appreciation further inspiring the band to play much later than they were supposed to. It was also a place where Benny could mingle with the opposite sex, many of his horizontal conquests began from a little eye contact and a smile while he was on stage. Then between breaks, there was generally a little flirting which lead to other things. The other band members looked on Benny’s antics with humour and a just little jealousy, their wives kept a good eye on them for good reason.

Benny had little trouble attracting women; he looked a little younger than his forty five years, his hair still thick and dark with just a little silver appearing at the sides. The opposite sex often commented on his deep blue eyes which he inherited from his mother side, he was good looking without being ravishingly handsome. He was lean verging on being skinny which was a combination of genetics and stress. The love handles were controlled with a reasonable diet and a little exercise. He dressed casually mostly in jeans, even when working if he could get away with it, the wearing of ties and suits was avoided at all costs.

At the age of twenty five, Benny found out that he was never going to be a father. He had been married to his first wife Shelly, for nearly a year they had been trying for a baby but to no avail. Tests soon confirmed that Benny had a zero sperm count and that fatherhood would forever elude him. The marriage disintegrated after that and Benny bounced back into another relationship that resulted in his second walk down the isle. To be fair, it was his work that caused his second marriage to fall apart after ten years. Karen was left alone too long and met someone else; she was up front with Benny and moved out of their marital home before she hopped into bed with her new man. Since then, Benny kept his relationships short and at arms length. Like any man, he loved women and the sex they brought, but long term relationships were to be avoided. The last thing he needed was a broken another broken marriage and the dividing up of his hard earned assets. When things with a woman were moving a bit fast for his liking, he would slow them down with a little coolness. As he got older, his relationships became a little easier as many of his conquests were reasonably content with a little fun no strings sex.

Benny had many friends, but his oldest and best friend was Mark Davis. They had met in their late teens at university and spent many hours drinking, partying and fraternising with the nubile young wenches that were on offer. They stayed friends after graduating and moving into their chosen fields to make their mark in the world around them. Like Benny, Mark married at a young age, but the difference was that he and wife Chrissy were to be married for life. Chrissy was an exquisitely beautiful woman, tall and vivacious with long dark hair. At first Benny was dubious when they were first dating, Chrissy’s good looks attracting the attention of every warm blooded male in looking distance. But Chrissy had only eyes for Mark, their courtship was beyond reproach and Benny accepted the offer to be best man at their wedding. By the time Mark and Chrissy’s first child Joanna was born, Benny’s first marriage was already on the rocks. Chrissy was aware of Benny’s plight with not being able to father a child. One day when Benny was on a downer not long after Shelly had left him, Chrissy sat down beside him and talked to him about why she had left him. She spoke of a women’s maternal instinct and the thought of going through life without being a mother was unthinkable. Then Chrissy took him in her arms and held him tight, and he knew that Mark was a very lucky man indeed. Chrissy was a woman in a million.

As the years past, Mark, Chrissy and Joanna remained close. Benny and little Joanna had a special relationship, she would love to climb up on Benny’s knee and cuddle up to him. Joanna had inherited her mother’s good looks and was a stunningly beautiful child. One day, Benny called Joanna ugly as a joke; he was just having a little harmless fun with her. Now some people might think it was inappropriate to call a child ugly, but to Joanna whom everyone told her how beautiful she was, it was a big joke. When ever she saw him after that day, she would run up to him and twirl around for him to look at.

“Am I very ugly today?” she would ask knowingly.

Benny would shake his head and smile, “I reckon you get uglier every time I see you.”

With that, Joanna would cackle with laughter and throw herself at him. As Joanna got older, she showed no restraint in jumping on Benny’s knee for a little affection. Benny commented to Chrissy one day about whether it was appropriate or not.

Chrissie turned to him and grinned, “Fat chance of you stopping her, she just adores you. That’s one head strong young lady and she I can tell you she doesn’t do one thing she doesn’t want to. She’ll stop if she wants to, but if not you’ll just have to grin and bear it.”

When Joanna, now known to Benny as Ugly hit her teens, Mark began to move around the world with the oil company he worked for. For a while Joanna travelled with them, but when her schooling began to suffer, she was enrolled in a prestigious girl’s boarding school. From there it was off to Switzerland to a girl’s finishing school to put the final gloss on her preparation for adulthood. Benny felt sorry for her, for he knew that Joanna was a girl who loved affection, boarding school can sometimes be a cold and calculating place. Benny had always kept in touch with Mark and Chrissy via e-mail, and he was assured that Joanna was doing well.

In early December 2003, Mark and Chrissy e-mailed Benny asking if he could put Joanna up over Christmas. Mark was in the Middle East which was no place for a young lady. Joanna wanted to return home but their family home was still rented out and she had no where else to go. Benny replied stating that she was welcome to stay as long as she liked. A week before Christmas, Benny pointed the 911 towards the airport to pick his charge. He worked out that Joanna would be nineteen going on twenty, and would be a different person than the one he remembered. How did one manage a young lady of that age? There was little doubt she would be no less headstrong than as a child, and that he would be in for some interesting times.

He waited nervously as her plane disembarked, his eyes wandering over the passengers as they strolled out through the arrival lounge. Suddenly, a familiar voice caught his attention.

“Benny, am I so ugly now that you don’t even recognise me?”

He turned and found himself looking into Joanna’s big green eyes.

He grinned, “I’ve never seen anyone so ugly before in all my life.”

She laughed and placed her arms around him pulling him in tight. The difference was that now she didn’t have to reach up to do so.

“Let me look at you.” he said easing her away to arms length.

Her brunette hair had been buzzed to an inch long but her beautiful face detracted from any hardness. A black tee shirt was stretched out over a formidable bust; her jeans were tight and hugged a narrow waist and shapely legs.

“Yep, still very ugly.” he lied.

“I thought you’d say that.” she laughed. “Well, for an old man, you don’t look too bad.”

“You need glasses too?” he asked which got him another smile.

After picking up her bags, they wandered out into the car park. Joanna smiled at the Porsche, and then laughed when he threw her the keys.

“If you can manage it on the way home, you can borrow it while you’re here. You prang it, you pay for it.” he threatened.

She turned and smiled sweetly at him, “Just send the bill to my Dad, he’ll pay.”

Benny had no need to worry for Joanna quickly mastered the controls and had the 911 skirting the highway towards home. She grinned as she gunned the accelerator on a long straight and then buttoned off as the sports car lunged dangerously and rapidly forward.

“Mmmmm, I’m going to enjoy driving this.”

Benny saw little of Joanna for the first few days as she spent most of her time out catching up with old friends. With Christmas approaching, Benny was busy with business activities, mostly wining and dining customers and suppliers. He returned home in the early afternoon and found Joanna sunbathing on a lounger on the deck. He tossed his cell phone and keys onto the bench and went outside.

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