Shake Your Groove Thing

By Mercedes Del Ray

Diane has never been without a boyfriend since she was eighteen, and has moved from one guy to the next for years. However, after the breakdown of her last relationship she has decided that having a man in her life isn’t necessary, and has resolved to try and have a break from dating.

She has wanted to go the Caister Soul Weekender for years, and joins its Facebook page. When she sees a group of regulars have had a drop out for the next event, and are looking for a replacement, she asks to join them.

Once Diane arrives at Vauxhall Holiday Park, she sees how small the caravan that she has agreed to stay on with strangers is. She is horrified and wonders if she has done the right thing by coming. However, as alcohol flows freely she forgets her misgivings and starts to enjoy herself. Then she meets Jason. After taking her back to the van when she drinks too much and becomes unwell, he makes it very clear he’s interested in her. Diane soon forgets her decision to stay single for a while, but as the couple try to find some privacy to get to know each other, they are thwarted by Suzy - Diane’s jealous room-mate.

When things heat up with Jason, Diane decides to get the message through to Suzy in public, that he is no longer available. The indecent way in which she does this, results in the women in the group she has joined, throwing her off their van. Jason saves the situation by finding a room in Great Yarmouth and they move there, then once the weekend is over agree to meet again.

As their relationship develops, Jason’s sexual tastes are a revelation to Diane, as he insists she submits to his demands. After a while she comes to enjoy these new experiences but finds that her emotional needs aren’t being met in the relationship. Will Jason be just another boyfriend or can they find a way to make things work between them?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Mercedes Del Ray
• Release date: Sep 19, 2015
• ISBN: 9781311618863

Mercedes Del Ray

Mercedes Del Ray was born in London to British parents. The less said about her education the better. After she discovered boys, alcohol and cigarettes at the age of around thirteen, any hopes her father and mother might have had that she would excel academically were dashed.After leaving school, she spent many years working and travelling around the world before settling back in the UK. Along the way she has known many men and has been in a couple of long relationships - with a colourful selection of short term flings.Some of the events she relates in her written works are inspired by her own experiences, others are the product of her fertile and filthy imagination.

Book preview

Shake Your

Groove Thing

Mercedes Del Ray

Copyright © Mercedes Del Ray 2015

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the author except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

This is a work of fiction. The names of the main characters and the events are products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

Dedication

I have heard it said that the music you grow up with, is the music you will love all your life. In my early teens I swooned over David Bowie, Mick Jagger and Rod Stewart. Then I went disco. After passing my driving test, and getting my first car at just eighteen, there was no stopping me. I used to fill my beaten up old mini with friends, or travel on the train into Central London, to go to places like La Valbonne and The Empire Ballroom in Leicester Square. We’d all dance and pull to the likes of James Brown, Edwin Starr and Roy Ayres before coming home at around three to four in the morning. Sometimes I’d meet my angry father on the doorstep. As I made a cup of tea, I’d have an argument with him about my timekeeping before heading off to do an early shift, after having had little or no sleep.

As I got older, disco and soul was considered to be a bit naff in the circles I moved in, so for a while I moved on to listen to other genres. However, in the end I saw the light and went back to funk, then when the internet came about began to download the tracks I knew and loved. Even better, I started to meet up with likeminded people of all ages to go out and dance with.

To be honest, the Caister Soul Weekender in Great Yarmouth has never gone away has it? I found their Facebook group a few years back, and now go to the event at least once a year. I’ve had some fabulous times. Apart from the music, there’s the socialising and fun, and meeting new friends. And there’s the gossip.

At the end of September 2014, I was up in Great Yarmouth to party. After a very late night dancing and drinking in the Vauxhall Holiday Park, I woke up in my guesthouse and whilst eating chocolate in bed, turned on my laptop and went to the Caister Facebook group. I found a thread about a woman who the previous night, had allegedly given a man a blowjob during the garage set in The V-Lounge.

This event caused outrage amongst many people, and also gave me the inspiration for how the happy couple get together in this story. However, just to be clear, I do not know the real couple who did this, and it wasn’t me – honest! The characters in this story are fictitious. The things that happen after their meeting, are entirely a product of my imagination.

Finally, to finish I’d like to dedicate this to the soul family who I see in Great Yarmouth every year, and all my disco girls and boys – past and present. Thanks too to my neighbours, who have uncomplainingly endured the non-stop cheesy music I played to keep me going while I wrote this.

Index

Dedication

1………..Get Ready

2………..Upside Down

3………..That Lady

4………..Saturday Night, Sunday Morning

5………..Get Down On It

6………..Caravan Of Love

7………..Love Hangover

8………..I'm Wondering

9………..I Feel Love

10……...Was That All It Was

11………Satisfaction Guaranteed

12………When Will I See You Again

13………Don’t Leave Me This Way

14………You Got Me Dangling On A String

15………Spank

16………Thin Line Between Love And Hate

17………Joy And Pain

18………Livin’ It Up (Friday Night)

19………High Society

20………Shame, Shame, Shame

21………Gonna Get Along Without You Now

22………Sisters Are Doing It For Themselves

23………Turn The Music Up

24………Working My Way Back To You

25………Wear It Out

26………Overdose Of Joy

~~1~~

Get Ready

Thinking that she must have been mad to have agreed to come away for the weekend with a group of women she didn’t know, Diane looked around the tiny bedroom she’d have to share with a stranger. There was just about enough room for two child sized beds complete with plastic covers over the mattresses, but not much else. Even worse, there didn’t seem to be anywhere to put her clothes. When she noticed there were a couple of small cupboards above the beds, she was thankful she hadn’t bought anything that needed ironing. However, there was absolutely nowhere to put the case on wheels she’d used to transport her stuff in. Not even under the bed.

Why don’t you just keep what you need in the room, and the rest in your suitcase? You can put it in Karen’s car boot with mine, and just get clothes as and when you want them. That’s what I do. Diane’s room-mate Suzy, didn’t seem at all surprised by the lack of space. But then again, she’d been crammed into one of the caravans at the Vauxhall Holiday Park a few times before, so she knew what was what.

I didn’t realise the space would be quite this limited, and the beds are tiny. I must be the shortest person on here, but I think even my feet will be coming over the end when I lie down. Diane couldn’t keep herself from grumbling, even though she realised Suzy’s suggestion made sense.

What did you expect in a caravan? Did you really come away to stay in the bedroom? I didn’t. I came here to dance. This is just a crash pad as far as I’m concerned. So are you going to stay in here, and moan and complain? Or are you going to have a drink with the rest of us.

Okay sure just let me put away what I can, and I’ll be out there. As Suzy flounced out of the room, Diane’s heart sank, when she heard her say to one of the other women that she hoped the group leader had not made a big mistake, by inviting her to stay on the van with them.

Determined not to be put off by the rather hostile Suzy, Diane joined the rest of the group