Romances in Scotland & England

By Paul Stansby

A series of romances which connect son to father, other than the obvious, through previous liaisons set in the UK. There's a couple of parallel interludes with a shop, an attempted coup to take over the world super powers at an international soccer match at the Wembley stadium; also Actors, Ballerinas, Pop stars, Presidents and Royals are in the medley of stories.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Paul Stansby
• Release date: Feb 9, 2021
• ISBN: 9781005233815

Book preview

Romances In

      Scotland & England

              Fiction

              Eight Parts 

      Introduction:

  Fraser, a writer is sat in his usual haunt writing away on his laptop, on his table are two finished cups of coffee and some remnants of croissants on a plate, his friend Charlie appears through the entrance of the cafe, sees Fraser and heads towards the serving counter and picks up a coffee then joins Fraser   

  'On your tab'

  'Fine, not tax deductible though I use these establishments as work stations Charlie'

  'Maybe you should get a Cafe of one's own'

  'I wouldn't get the blend of staff, the foray of any cafe, the personal touch, the moods, the transients thoughts going the all their minds as they tend to their menial day to day tasks'

  'Uh huh, until they eventually stop thinking and result to automatic with their day to day routine, repetition, recurring patterns of similarity with little to differ upon'

  'Like each day mimicking the last one, maybe we've solve parallels syndrome to some part'

  'You hit a different pattern so that changes your whole life, instance, that's possible, variables on your life occurrences'

  'So you wouldn't entertain a room of one's own, in a house'

  'Nope, it's how I work, my imagination is generally sparked up on the move, supplemented by different coffee, cakes and conversations with cafe staff'

  'Myself too'

  'Yes you too, Charlie, casually walk in pick up a coffee and entertain yourself with my projects as I relate them to you'

  'Exactly'

  'Uh huh'

  'There's few interesting people around'

  'They're all caught up in mimicking out their daily routines, forget innovation or stimulation, of course it's what's required by governments of countries to run them as they automatically collect their tax revenues with little thought from the persons actively involved'

  'They preach that children need routine'

  'The governments achieve that with great success, routine is most constant requirement for countries to function'

  'Women have the best choices here'

  'Ah, having the children, certainly crashes out any ideas of an organised repetitive life until they grow up, then back to mainstream of day to day, major role changes for many to have'

  'Anything new today?'

  'Since last week yes, as I've been away'

  'I noticed, where?'

  'A greek island, I picked up on how to go about a theme I've been entertaining'

  'So?'

  'Romance, romantics and lovers'

  'Greek islands are reputed to instilling those thoughts, they certainly have stunning women living on them'

  'I think the same, this happened in a bakery in a tacky holiday village existing on account of it's stunning location not forgetting a beautiful beach '

  'So little distractions'

  'No, total focus and my mind found what is was searching for'

  'A new angle?, romance has been done to death through the annals of time'

  'And girls and women can't get enough of it, I've a new angle though'

  'Really'

  ‘I'm moving romance a step further from its portrayals by the greeks, romans to our present day where movies and online has carried it visually to us in cinemas and our homes. I equally love such stories, it never occurred to attempt a go at them'

  'So Fraser, the new angle, if it’s not secret one?'

  'Kinda of Charlie, I'm romancing the phone as the next medium to let our thoughts and wishes get carried away with, we all have them'

  'Ah'

  'A complete new genre, phones with professional written lines which relates to compassionate responses from it owners'

  'A chat phone?'

  'Yep, with a difference, say for instance you say, I Iove you, you have some sultry sexy voice respond, not forgetting the wealth of famous movie stars and celebrities who could be recorded as well to respond to your response'

  'So various apps for artists and you can download your favourites to hear the responses'

  'You got it Charlie, big huh, a new genre for writers too, writing for the cell phone, thousands of responses and lines required, all different as well in context for mood and desires'

  'They've advanced enough?'

  'If not, they will, the technology is there I think, of course you get more perverse and hook your phone up to your rubber synthetic type doll if you're in possession of one and take it it a step further'

  'I don't, I have the real thing, nowhere near as athletic as she was in body but we've grown old together so we both faded in that area'

  'Romantic enough?'

  'I'd get one or two of the apps, an end to loneliness?'

  'I think so, have a chat with your superstar with a 100 or so choice lines to interact with, or select a character which suits your mood, analysing responses there's a top one hundred, followed on by a larger parameter of say up to a thousand'

  'I think a hundred is well adequate. I don't think many get past a hundred excluding the likes of you of course'

  'You could also do plays and interact with stories, where you can select a character and be her or him in the narrative played out'

  'That'll be popular Fraser, you'd could create story nights if you have multiples so more than one  person could select to be in the stories'

  'Good for your memory practice, keeps your brain from getting dormant'

  'Romancing the world Fraser, get everybody out of day to day mimicking routines to mimicking your favourite film stars'

  'A lot of girls would love this, slipping into Margot Robbie's or Angelina Jolie's role into narrative'

  'Guys too'

  'How did you come up with this'

  'Out of the blue, though a little influenced by the account of the mimics that Harry was transcribing of this remote village from times gone by whose persons mimed out film dialogues for entertainment'

  'Ah yes, its going to be a series of films as some of the real actors were there, interesting to see who does it best'

  'Could result in a new interactive whose got talent type of show'

  'So I see why you're hot on writing romances'

  'Oh yes, this will really open this genre and some others as well, romances will win hands down I think'

  'Harry?'

  'What about him?'

  'Maybe you two will combine forces'

  'Ah, yes an extra person to entertain in the cafes of this town as we work our way up and down them'

  'Yes'

  'In fact you play an important role as you reduce other unwelcome intrusions'

  'Alone, you do attract persons'

  'In this town, often, inundated with students seeking you out so you assist there and you're not a bad proof reader, highlighting possible errors and improvements in the scripts and dialogue'

  'Oh, you've got a new one to peruse?'

  'I do'

  'I can select some croissants then on your tab'

  'In another cafe as there's a group of girls come and are looking over, looking to be college age, by the time you've selected croissants I'll be overrun'

  'Yep'

  'Here's my card, tap it and follow up to the tea room on the first floor along the street, though its more aptly a gin bar'

  'I know, gives a suggestion of sophistication calling it a tea room'

  'Most definitely'

  Fraser rapidly packs his back pack with this laptop and leaves while Charlie taps the card and follows, being pestered by the group of girls who are ever hopefully of picking a technique or two. Fraser puts on shades and slips on his woolly hat with he pulls firmly down and walks down the street, and goes up into the tea room, which was empty, Charlie appears  ten minutes later.

  'Not pursued I see'

  'Oh no, I lost the more persistent ones in the pound store who followed me out'

  'No doubt they'll have careers as reporters in the future'

  'We're you at this remote village in Albania?'

  'I was indeed, so shot the breeze with Harry and Hollywood's fab goddesses who had come along to chill'

  'They must have known that'

  'Oh yes, there's not a lot on social media that girls will miss, the current goddesses being the most followed'

  'I don't do social media'

  'Likewise'

  'So they're embroiled with romances'

  'Amongst themselves, same sex relationships attract a lot less media interest'

  'Not enough romance for girls to cultivate up in their heads'

  'Precisely, and waiter service in here'

  'Ah yes, here's your card and receipt from the other cafe'

  'Thanks, they've got menus for food in here and here's a manuscript for going through and some highlighters'

  'A good environment to work in'

  'Convenient, no cooking or shopping involved so keeps me focussed on current projects and conjecture on possible ones'

  'Lots to do'

  'With interactive romance stories and phones there is, many hours for this project'

  'Any fall back from the actresses who were in this remote village'

  'No that was in Albania, I'd gone back to Corfu to pick a flight back to here, hence being in a holiday village as Thomas Cooks demise has filled up many airlines seats'

  'A popular destination for holidaymakers, so all new to you'

  'Yep, it was and Harry's busy with a new project, ah here's a server, a waiter, trying to be genre free, tea please, Fraser?'

'The same'

  'A pot then please and a plateau of mixed sandwiches'

  'She didn't say much'

  'Not a thing Fraser'

  'You must have been on social media media sites while in Albania'

  'I expect so, she'll most likely be shy of what to say'

  'Better to stay quiet than say something you would regard as foolish which we would disdain'

'Too right Charlie, a girl with wisdom, think of something relevant to say rather than irrelevant utterances'

  'Time to scan through this manuscript'

  'I'll get back to romancing, stories of passion, lust, and jealousies'

  'The latter being the most expandable upon'

  'Infidelities are prominent there not forgetting peoples lasting connections even though its all over'

  'I'm going to be quietly occupied while you do your conjectures'

  A few hours later

  'Ah lovely Rita'

  'Good, found you two, your phones are off'

  'Flight mode, also known as Coffee and bar mode to me'

  'Indeed Fraser, you emailed Harry about chat phones'

  'I did, so he's likes it?'

  'Loves it Fraser, ah that is a new one of yours Charlie has'

  'It is, Gin?'

  'Yep, one of their specials, ah here's Candy, darling a lunchtime double special please.

  'Ah so you frequent here?'

  'Frequently Fraser, hence first name terms, so a chat phone is?'

  'You have a chat with a phone instead of somebody you've called or been called by, a selective person that's been installed on memory with relevant lines to reply back to you'

  'Ah, right, cool, that's good, so lots for you writers to do'

  'I expect so, actors too as they'll takes this up Rita'

  'I think that's the popularity, the fab four must be with Harry'

  'In the fact the fab eight if you included the Beverly Hill girls'

  'The heiresses, that explains more, two of those girls have phone companies, ah Gins, thanks Candy, keep me in touch with this world and not Harry's'

  'Some glasses of gin to defy gravity more and not float off into Harry's world'

  'He mentioned films'

  'He makes them Rita'

  'Not with this chat phone idea'

  'No, as that's interacting with the one screen dialogue so you get to play which character you want to be in the scenario'

  'This appears to be a possible outcome with this story '

  'Oh right, Charlie, that's a good one you're delved into'

  'Not bad at all Rita, yep these chat phones could develop into story nights as game nights have happened'

  'Puts an edge on book clubs for sure, so you get read aloud the character you've selected along with the rest of the cast'

  'Yep'

  'Ooh, this is  lovely Gin in here, so all all the actors will be having relevant apps, that'll be a money winner for them. They'll be performing in films for no fees, so what are you currently doing Fraser'

  'I'm romancing the world'

  'I suppose you would be with this Fraser, interactive romances, you'll kill it with project of continual romances on your phone, the new love cell. I'll be getting new one now as it'll only work on the sophisticated ones I expect'

  'It'll need to be very high spec, I'm not even sure the technology is here for this, it is for voice response commands, but it will soon be'

  'Oh yes, as soon as the word gets out they'll be working 24/7 on it, huge, super for promoting education as kids will be able to get interactive with literature, slumber parties will become read aloud stop overs, the phone companies will make you a saint I think.'

  'You'll need a lot of space on the phone I would think, then there's online competitions to think of'

  'Of course, something that the phone companies have been looking for since messenger and other communication apps have hammered their margins'

  'Couldn't they still do that'

  'Not with dial up only Charlie, your phone number being your account into the online facility, like a password'

  'Ah, why don't they do that now?'

  'The phone companies would need to buy all the social media sites to restrict connectivity Charlie'

  'I see, so why don't all the film companies have a unique code number for each film they release so people can't pirate them'

  'An encryption key, I'm sure they would but must feel the extra exposure benefits them'

  'Yep, if you like it you're going to shell out for a 4 k copy to gain a perfect reproduction in a compliant language'

  'Its good for indy films as well, Charlie, for many would never make the cinema as many American films don't make the english screen'

  'Mentioning languages you're going to need a lot of translators for these chat phones'

  'Oh yes Rita, and romantic intonations and reflection of individual romantic meaning of words and phrases will take natural fluent users of the languages to put them over, a multi lingual task of precision and authenticity'

  'Yes, also amuse the school children to no end, super, they'll be all speaking basic Mandarin and Hindu in no time at all, time for lunch or perhaps another gin'

  'Gin, I think'

  'I think so too Charlie, gins please Candy'

  'Celebration time, I've been listening in, I'll bring a selection and bucket of ice'

  'This will finish the day off earlier than expected, whose romantic story first? Who was the gin princess'

  'We have a Gin Princess, a fairy queen tonics to accompany it too, Charlie'

  'Okay, always takes two to get to heaven, that combination should ignite the first piece along well along with crushed ice'

  'You're thinking crushing your stories up?'

  'The crushed up love omnibus, no I wasn't, a good title for a music album, and most good love stories warrant a song, so possible Candy, for the moment a Gin Princess over crushed ice'

  'I'll bring the bottle'

  'A seductress in herself as name implies, I sure never ever seduced anybody by offering them coffee as a late night drink in my younger days, a rather downer for a girl who would at least be expecting champagne'

  'Gin and Ice never occurred to you'

  'Actually I had an aversion to spirits in my early days, Rita'

  'I expect you did, between you and tour friend Harry any additional spirits weren't required by your writings, its appears to be too easy to find new worlds at the bottom of a glass for you guys'

  'We've champagne'

  'Too early and no girls to impress, diamonds maybe a girls best friend, champagne is a man's for sure'

  Candy goes and gets the gin, accompanied by a tray of classes and crushed ice and tonics

  'Looks good'

  'Smells good as well Candy, an underrated past time Gin drinking, lets find out what output happens with these drinks to entice words, a possible avalanche may happen or maybe nothing at all'

      Romances One, Mary

        ( Set in Scotland)

          Fiction

        Chapter One Burnt Island

  Mary is walking down the high street, rain lashing into her face, make-up forgotten, her daily visit to the cafe, her hangout with her mates for most days, the pubs was for the weekend and hopefully find some fella who'd won on a bet and was feeling lush to impress the girls, men were scarce, most had gone off to sea on submarines, the port being just along the coast. Her hair was black and curly, impervious to wind the rain flattened it out, no bounce in it when wet, it did bob well when dry while she walked. Today was for trousers, wet tights weren't the one, she had spare pair to change into in the toilets of the cafe, trousers were the best attire for this wet and windy coastal town in Scotland, being short in stature though she preferred to wear skirts to show off her legs and ass, no cars tooted for trousers. The cafe light's loomed up , windows steamed up, the cafe was not fancy and the owner let the girls smoke on weekdays as they were the sole customers,  Russian brand cigarettes had mysteriously washed up on the beach and had got the girls into some thorough beach combing during the night a few weeks back, checking out for other booty at the same time, containers sometimes washed ashore or split open on the rocks either side of the bay emptying the contents to be washed up on a rising tide. The beach was a godsend as the currents often brought items to be looted in the dark of the night.  Last year there had been some containers of toys washed on the shore, that had been as serious effort by half the town to oust those way, later to be sold on the market stalls at christmas. bar farming the economy had gone to pot, once a small town whose backbone of existence was the fishing fleet, the catches of herrings and cod were plentiful, but over fishing and the after joining EU had put pay to that in recent years and everything was done to quotas, being in Europe meant sharing so the the fish stocks were hammered not forgetting the Russian trawlers, Mary was rather inclined that one of the Submarines out of the docks had knocked a couple off hence the many cartons of cigarettes coming ashore , still bored submariners doing some target practice would never let on, her elder brother was one of those as well, off for months at sea then out to party when on leave, the main highlights of the year for the year for the girls was shore leave, they'd been taken out to the pictures and dinner, and the Hotel in the next town would open up it's large back room at the weekend, normally used for weddings and other large functions, put a band on and discreetly turn a blind eye to the misuse of its many bedrooms, the hotel was large and the industry of the town had long since its heyday, floor covering manufacturing and coal mining had now virtually ceased, though further along the coast to the north there had been the oil boom for a while, pipeline and enormous oil rig construction, just a little too far up the coast for the neighbouring town to benefit from. Construction workers similar to the mariners liked a drink so liked to keep their nearby locals rather than travel down, and along the coastal towns they were plenty of girls who were into partying. If babies happened the state generously obliged in that area with housing and allowances for single mothers. Not how she wished to progress in life but some of her friends were not so bothered about screwing the state by screwing around. She, though in vain up till now wished for a romantic interlude in life, or at least an experience to remember with a man for a meaningful length of time, a year or two would do, that's enough time to recall somebody for the rest of your life she thought and dealt with the reality of where she lived, there was little here to entice somebody to stay for the rest of their life but she had her group of friends to see everyday and had lived and grown up in the area so was content enough at least with that. She reaches the cafe and enters, the place was smokey and full, not packed though, around twenty girls were sat around, some playing pool, others darts, pinball machines rattled and clunked, yep this was her day to day life.

  One thing they all had in common, they knitted, knitted a lot, passed down skills from their mothers and grandmothers as they watched and assisted growing up had turned now into a little industry with online, selling direct to the customer so cutting all the middlemen and shopkeepers taking their cuts along the way, bags of this was hung up along the walls with needles poking out of the bags with knitting well wrapped, when knitting nobody smoked, so this was play time before lunch then knitting needles clicked in earnest after, late into the evening as well as the jabber, small talk and gossip careered around them all.

  'Hi Mary you looked soaked'

  'Correct on that observation, tippling it down Jean'

  'We've some exciting news'

  'Uh huh, we're getting Scottish independence after they've found this new oil field they've been assessing, the only problem there nobody wants its so much nowadays and our oil is now so expensive to extract to be competitive'

  'No, and the Brexit with the complexity of the borders that goes with it will make those dreams of independence far reaching'

  'You think that's why the Brits are doing it, or rather the English, keep Scotland in the UK by leaving the Europe not forgetting the queen and all the razzmatazz that goes along with that'

  'Could be, certain through a huge spanner in the works for our independence which would have a cinch I think had we stayed in Europe'

  'Yep, too right and the English have not been able to survive without us for a long time now, so the news'

  'There happens to be an English boy moved into the village, young with a large bike'

  'An English person here, unusual, even more so if he's got some gelt, there's many a town in England with bright lights and tall girls with super legs for boys to be chasing after'

  'There is that, we're more on the plain side than our english cousins, so do you want a crack at him as you're the eldest of us'

  'I could certainly show him a thing or two Jean, anybody got a snap of him on their phones'

  'Here, he's also staying at ours'

  'Really Sandra, an English boy on an economy drive, let's see, yep I'll have a go with him, show him some of our Scottish hospitality, nice bike as well, so why is he staying with you?'

  'He gets on with dad'

  'Oh right, rather far fetched anybody getting on with him, I don't for sure, let me get stripped and into some dry clothes and work out a plan'

  "It's his birthday soon'

  'Really, I'll be could at  that off to a big bang then'

  'Monday next'

  'Good you make yourself scarce and your mum will be working at the hospital and its your dad busy day so he'll be out early, no doubt dropping your mum off on his way.'

  'You'll be wanting to meet him before'

  'Could do, looks rather yummy so you mum would notice me fancying him'

  'Oh we all want to bang this one Mary'

  'I expect so, we may even get him to stay'

  'Especially if we create him as a multiple father'

  'There's a point, forget the protection for once, see how he comes over first'

  'Great eyes'

  'They are Sandra, time to slip into some dry jeans'

  Mary goes off to the toilets, sits on it while peeling off her dry jeans and pants, time to trim the bush she thought and smiled, this should be fun and her smile turned into a grin, she reflected on her thoughts, I'm already grinning and I've not had the cheese never mind dessert yet as she looked into the mirror she had got of her handbag, initially to inspect her bush. She dried herself off with the paper towels and hung her jeans and panties up on the coat hook, her coat she'd already hung up with the others still dripping, so she went out quickly to get it and hang that up in the shower, the other girls looked across as she shot out bottomless to get her coat, on her return to the washrooms, she beckoned Sandra

  'Trim time my bush is much too bushy Sandra'

  'Oh right, coming'

  'I'll go down the chemists and get some waxing material, maybe we should all have wax'

  'That'll be fun Jean, we haven't compared our development of our crotches for a long time, I've not had a full view of mine for ages'

Mary makes her way into the cloakroom followed by Sandra and Jean grabs her coat and leaves for the chemist. Another girl, Connie remarks to her friend Magda'

  'A first for me'

  'Uh huh, it hurts like hell but improves sex no end'

  'That'll be a first as well'

  'You've experimented'

  'Between fourteen and fifteen with classmates'

  'Ah, with any toys'

  'Oh no'

  'You're?'

  'Eighteen'

  'I'll introduce you to a vibrator, you pop it up and scream a lot in delight, just don't tell your dad'

  'Okay, have you done it with your dad?'

  'No'

  'I've thought about it'

  'It is something you need to get right, dad's are taboo, off the reservation for carnal knowledge gathering, lets have peep, you've almost hedge down there blooming out, you'll feel great without all that'

  'I have fantasies'

  'You'll have many living here, fantasises are a good as it gets most of the time'

  'I write about them'

  'Really, are they wicked?'

  'Not sexually but wicked in other ways'

  'Uh huh, hello Trish

  'I've got my electric hair remover with me, lets take a look , oh yes a moustache trimmer needed down there first, I'll nip and get my dads when the rain stops, time we all got minted up down below, a late lunch and get ourselves done first, no farting is good when doing this and we're mostly veggies so do a lot of that

  'Not such a great diet when gassing off like a cow with belching and farting Magda, but if you're not farming around here there's little meat that's affordable to one, it all goes down to Edinburgh and London to fetch hight prices, lean meat produced from our highland pastures is renown, keeps us lean too by missing out on it'

  'So its a requirement for girls Magda'

  'Being hairless is generally preferable, not obligatory but its good a get a fresh breeze up your sails caressing the top of your thighs and your portal to life Connie, your well endowed with hair all around that region'

'A new experience for me portraying feminine appeal Magda'

'As a visit to the hairdressers or a dress does, all adds to your charisma, and appeals to you and others'

  'So becoming a 'darling', of course that fades with age, my mum must have been one once Magda'

  'She was a catch as we are referred to one occasions Connie, sexist maybe, but men are referred to in the same manner, more referring to their money and job prospects rather than beauty and physique Connie'

  'Those who went down the pits or up to the distilleries weren't so much, my grandfather was down in the pits, not much love in one's life when you're going miles under the seabed hacking out a coal seam to make a pittance for your family'

  'But men do it Trish'

  'Debatable why Magda, of course I wouldn't be here had he not hooked up with Gran, of course there's the obvious'

  'He got her up the duff so did the honourable thing Trish, then became a martyr is how his own eyes will have interpreted it all by supporting his family as they depended on him which appealed to his sense of well being and gave him a role, a simple one but a role nevertheless'

  'That's all the more likely Magda, maybe some love along the way but zero on the romance'

  'So romance is an extra, an added bonus Trish'