Two of a Kind

By Rosemary Gemmell

Fourteen light-hearted and heart-warming short stories of romance and family relationships from a prize-winning author. Many of the stories were previously published in magazines or mentioned in competitions, including finding the perfect gift in The Chocolate Experience, making unexpected friends in The New Neighbours, and a bashful young man's attempts to find the right girlfriend in The Invitation.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Rosemary Gemmell
• Release date: Jan 6, 2023
• ISBN: 9781739858544

Book preview

Two of a Kind

and Other Stories

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Rosemary Gemmell

Updated 2023 © Rosemary Gemmell

www.rosemarygemmell.co.uk

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted in any form, or by any means electronic, mechanical or photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner.

Two of a Kind and other stories is a collection of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

Contents

The Chocolate Experience

The Great Walk

Two of a Kind

The Best Advice

Just Good Friends

Trolley Run

The New Neighbours

The Invitation

Makeover

Moving Mary

Rendezvous

Whirlwind Catch

Autumn Love

Running Late

The Chocolate Experience

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Mike wondered what on earth to buy his girlfriend, now that she didn’t eat chocolate. And the problem was all his own fault.

It was usually easy at birthdays, anniversaries, Christmas and Easter. He’d never had to look for an acceptable gift, or trail the shops looking at one boring thing after another, trying to guess if it was the right colour, right size, or right book.

They’d been together for two years and he thought he knew all her little insecurities. Like reassuring her that ‘her bum did not look big in the new jeans’, that her hair was ‘exactly the right length and colour’, that her teeth were ‘perfectly white’ and that no matter how much chocolate she ate, ‘she didn’t put on any weight’. They were both fitness fans; walking, swimming, the gym, always on the go, burning off the calories before they registered anywhere.

Then Mike brought the article in. It was in the local paper: the pros and cons of chocolate, along with a short history of where it originated. He knew Susie would be interested as it was one of her favourite subjects. And sure enough, she read every word while she munched on a few chocolate munchies.

Then she suddenly stopped. Yuck! Did you know that white chocolate is hardly real chocolate at all? It’s nearly all fat; just cocoa butter and condensed milk! There’s no cocoa in it.

Mike was only half listening. Susie loved white chocolate nuts and raisins, and white chocolate covered mice, and especially white chocolate Easter eggs.

Well, just eat the milk and plain kind, he answered. The voice of reason he thought.

Do you know how it’s made? she asked and there was definitely a hint of disgust in her voice.

Mike had no idea, and wasn’t that bothered since he didn’t care about chocolate one way or the other.

Does it matter, if you like it that much? he asked.

Her glare could have melted a few cocoa beans.

That’s it! I don’t want another piece of chocolate ever again.

She threw the rest of the munchies in the bin. But she didn’t stop there; she emptied the kitchen cupboard of every single chocolate bar or biscuit.

Mike sighed. He knew Susie was a bit of a ‘black or white’ person. No shades of grey, everything to extremes. It was one of the things he usually liked about her as she complemented his diffidence. But he did think she’d gone a bit over the top. How could reading about something make that much difference? He was glad she hadn’t read up on how some of her everyday food was made.

Mike tried bringing in another article, about the new thinking towards dark chocolate, about how good it was for all sorts of surprising health reasons. It seemingly lowered cholesterol, stimulated the brain, protected teeth, among other things. He reckoned that would make people enjoy their chocolate without any guilt.

But not Susie. She refused to be swayed. She’d always preferred the sweeter taste of white chocolate, so he guessed she probably wouldn’t take to the more bitter dark bars. Mike decided to give it a try on the way home from work one night and it was surprisingly good.

Now Susie’s birthday was coming up. So what was he going to get her this year? Not the huge box of luxurious chocolates she usually expected. She was serious about this ‘no chocolate’ lark. Even when she started to get withdrawal symptoms and was narky and headachy, she never wavered, not even during what would have been her usual monthly choco-marathon.

Mike started hoping for subtle hints and he trailed the shops like any other man, looking for inspiration for Susie’s birthday, even though he and shops didn’t get on. Then he saw the advertisement on the side of a bus. Could it work, he wondered? It was such a mad idea that it took him the rest of the day to persuade himself to try it. He’d keep it a surprise until the very last minute, and hope Susie wouldn’t guess too soon.

As a precaution, he bought her a voucher for a weekend at the health farm she’d talked about, saving another trawl through endless shops. But he really hoped she’d like her real present.

He told her he was taking her out for the day.

So what will I wear? Dressy, casual, smart? It was her way of trying to find out where they were going.

Comfortable, Mike said.

He wondered why they’d never been before, considering her former passion.

Susie tried to guess. Right up until they neared the gates. When she saw where they were she was speechless, for one second.

What? You’ve brought me here? Now? Are you mad? Or just the most insensitive person I’ve ever known?

It wasn’t a good start. Mike hoped it could only get better.

Oh, come on, you’ve read one article in a newspaper and it’s changed your life. Surely it would be better to see the real story? Hope was a great thing. When she didn’t refuse to go in, he thought it might just work.

The chocolate factory made one of Susie’s favourite brands;