Seventeen year old Lisa receives a surprise visit from Alan Turner, a boy she had met the month before while staying with her friend in Chelmsford. Before he set off for Dunoon, where Lisa's parent's holiday home was, Alan hadn't spoken to Lisa, so was unaware that she had got engaged to a millionaire called Nick Corday, who she had met while she was on holiday with her family. Alan works out, while they're talking, that Lisa is already regretting her decision to fly to the Isle of Man to announce her engagement, so Alan offers to take her to the airport  the next day, and then walks her home.
When Lisa gets home she finds her mother drunk and spoiling for a fight, but she manages to get her to bed.















     After Lisa disappeared through the front door of her parents' house, Alan stood there for five minutes trying to gather his thoughts. He still wasn't sure what he was doing there. His girlfriend Carla would go mental if she knew he was up there on his own, especially if she got wind of the fact that the only person he knew up there was a sexy teenager with a seemingly crazy mother.

     The mother thing still confused him. There was no disputing the blind terror Lisa displayed at the thought of being late. But surely her mother couldn't be that bad? Lisa didn't seem to want for anything, and she had been beautifully and expensively dressed on the two occasions he'd met her. The holidays, the two homes, the private schools, they were all trappings of a privileged upbringing. It didn't make any sense at all...

     Alan looked back up to the house standing proudly near the water's edge. All the lights were on, and he half expected to see Lisa framed by the soft light of one of the windows confirming that her rush had been unnecessary, and that all was well.

      After a few minutes, one by one the lights went out and he felt easier. It had been a long and confusing day, which had brought many emotions to the surface. The kind of emotions he had rarely experienced in his twenty-one years.

     As he walked back to the hotel Alan thought guiltily again about Carla. He knew what love was, having spent the last six years wooing and loving her since they'd met in fourth year at school. Their families were from similar backgrounds and everyone seemed comfortable with the romance as long as they didn't get too serious and talk about getting married too soon. All their parent's asked, was that they were both qualified in their respective professions and financially able to support themselves before they settled down.

     When Carla had left to go to school in Spain, he had enjoyed his new found freedom. It was good fun going out with the lads again and chatting up the odd girl on a night out, but the novelty was beginning to wear off. Five and a half months down the line, he missed her, but he suspected more as a friend than a lover. Their relationship had changed a lot in the last six months. They had hardly made love while he had visited her the month before, and there was something missing in their relationship. That's why the way he felt now was so confusing.

     What he had felt when he was sitting opposite Lisa in his room at the hotel, was unlike any of the feelings he had ever experienced with Carla. It was unbelievable that someone who had never experienced sex could turn him on so much, and just thinking about Lisa made him feel so frustrated. What had she said about the guy wanting to marry her as soon as he found out that she was a virgin?

     At first that had seemed strange to Alan because when he and Carla had got it together they had both been virgins, as were most of their class mates, but nobody regarded their virginity as anything of any great value. What Alan couldn't understand was his own reaction to finding out about Lisa still being a virgin.

     Alan had often mused about how it would be if he had sex with an older, more experienced woman because everything he had tried with Carla had been new to both of them and, for the most part, it had been good. They had worked their way through the recipe book of sex, trying most things until they both knew what the other liked, but there had been moments when something they had tried had appealed to him, but not Carla. The unwritten law was, if either didn't enjoy any experience, it would never be tried again.

     Now he wondered how it would feel to be the master in the bed, training an inexperienced lover like Lisa. He could understand why it might turn on the guy in the Isle of Man. It turned him on as well....


     It was past twelve by the time Alan got back to the hotel, and although he was exhausted, he couldn't sleep. His body felt like a mass of raw nerve endings, and by half past two he was desperate to shut his eyes and escape from the misery he was feeling. He lay on the bed and imagined what it might have been like if he and Lisa hadn't both been committed to other people. That thought only made it worse, and made him ache for her even more. He gave up trying to sleep and threw on his jeans and a sweater, hoping some fresh air would calm him down.

     The road was deserted and so was the beach, the breeze singing to a sleeping audience. Alan walked for about a mile trying to get his head straight, looking across the water as the moonlight danced on its surface. He had never considered so many aspects of his life in such a short space of time before, and by the time he got back to the hotel, he knew he would have to tell Lisa. He now knew he couldn't let her go to the Isle of Man without letting her know how he felt.





                                                                             .......................






     The next morning Lisa woke up feeling bright and optimistic. As she ran her bath, she put her ear to her mother's door and could hear nothing, which was good. She was generous with the bath oil to the point of decadence, and having soaked for at least half an hour, she dried herself off and applied a generous covering of Jean Paul Gaultier body lotion, yet another indulgence of her mothers'.

 As she wiped away the steam from the large mirror in the bathroom, she studied her reflection. Wide almond shaped green eyes, a small nose dotted with the odd freckle, and full lips. Lisa was happy with the way she looked, but she couldn't understand the effect her looks had on men. If she was to believe her mother, she was lucky to have anyone look at her twice, but Nick, amongst others, had told her otherwise. He'd told her she was the most beautiful woman he had ever met, and that was good enough for her, especially as he was the one she was going to spend the rest of her life with...

     Lisa was about to take her bag and case downstairs from her room, but she thought it might irritate her mother if she saw them, so she decided against it. As it was nearly ten o'clock, she decided to take her mother a cup of tea and, in the spirit of the night before, pander to her a little.

      "Morning, Mum," she called brightly as she moved the abandoned bottle of wine to the other side of the bed in her mother's room in favour of a freshly brewed cup of tea.

Having collapsed into a drunken sleep as soon as Lisa had helped her into bed, Fiona was still in the clothes she'd worn the day before. She was annoyed at the light hearted tone of Lisa's voice and assumed she hadn't believed her when she'd told her she wasn't going to The Isle of Man the night before. Fiona decided to remind her.

      "You're not going, you know!" she snapped, in an effort to remind Lisa she was in control.

      "Yes I am, Mum, " Lisa replied. "Are you going to get up?"

She had decided that nothing her mother said to her would rattle her. It was far too important that she should stay calm.

     Her mother looked confused. She had just played her trump card and Lisa was acting as though she didn't care. If she thought that she was going to take her to the airport, she had another think coming. Feeling annoyed by her cheerfulness, Fiona stared threateningly at Lisa and tried again.

     "I mean it! You're not going, Lisa, I meant what I said last night, and I'm not going to change my mind!"

Having won the day with diplomacy the night before, Lisa decided on the same tactic while handling her mother now. Knowing her mother couldn't stop her, enabled her to keep calm. Lisa just smiled and tried to placate her.

      "Come on, Mum; don't be like that...drink your tea,'" she suggested.

Lisa thought that it was a good time to escape downstairs and grab some breakfast before Alan arrived to collect her, but Fiona lay on the bed looking decidedly hostile, ignoring the cup of tea. Lisa looked back at her from the bedroom door.

      "We'll talk about it when you come down, Mum."

     Although, "You're not bloody going!" followed Lisa down the stairs, she still felt optimistic about leaving without an argument.

     As she waited for the kettle to boil, she heard the sound of a car horn, and when she looked out of the window, she saw Alan had arrived. He was half an hour early, and worried incase he might knock on the door and antagonise her mother even more, Lisa shot down to his car and tapped on the window.

      Due to his lack of sleep, Alan didn't look too good. In fact, he looked as though he'd been up partying all night. He wound down the window and looked up at Lisa with heavy eyes.

      "What happened to you?" Lisa asked jokingly.

There was no way he was going to tell Lisa that he'd had less than an hours sleep because he had been thinking about her all night.

      "Don't ask," he replied, throwing his hands up in the air.

      "How did you get on with your mother when you got home last night?" he asked her.

Lisa did a perfect imitation with her hands.

     "Don't ask... She's in a bad mood with me because I went out... but it doesn't matter now you're here. Come on up and have a coffee, and I'll hide you in the porch while I say goodbye to her."

Alan hadn't even stopped for breakfast before checking out because he was paranoid about missing the boat, so he needed something to help wake him up. Coffee might just be the answer because he had no idea how he was going to drive all the way back home, feeling as tired as he did.

      After Lisa had made Alan a huge mug of coffee and left him admiring the scenery from the front porch, she thought it would be a good idea to get her bags down for him to put in his car, but when she reached the bottom of the stairs, she saw her mother coming down, so she ducked back into the living room.

     "Mum, it's all right, you don't have to take me to the airport. Al..."

Her mother interrupted her.

      "You're right, I don't... because you're not going!"

Lisa suddenly realised her mother was slurring her words, and she remembered the open bottle of wine she'd left in the bedroom the night before when she'd helped her to bed. This was the worst thing that could have happened. It was only when her mother was drunk that she didn't care what she said or did. For the first time that morning, Lisa didn't know what to do.

     "I told you last night you weren't going, and I don't know how many times I've told you... but I haven't changed my mind!" her mother snarled, while trying to focus on Lisa without success.

Lisa started to panic. She had never known her mother drunk during the day before, so she was in uncharted waters. If she didn't leave soon, she would miss the boat, and if she missed the boat, she would miss the plane.

      "Mum, let's talk about this. You don't have to drive me..."

Lisa's mother couldn't understand why Lisa didn't understand that she wasn't going anywhere. She seemed to be impervious to what she was saying.

      "You're not fucking going! How many times do I have to tell you?" she screamed.

Lisa was mortified realising that Alan was sitting just outside the French doors to the living room and could hear every word. Her mother opened the drawer in the table where she kept her address book and drunkenly put on her glasses before she started leafing through the pages. When she found Nick's number, she turned back to Lisa.

      "I'm going to tell Nick why you're not coming... He won't want to get engaged to a little whore who goes with other men the night before she's supposed to be flying out to announce their engagement!"

She picked up the phone and started dialling Nick's number while Lisa stared at her mother in disbelief. She had suspected that her mother was jealous of her before, and now she knew for certain she was. She'd probably never intended to let her go to the Isle of Man in the first place, and Alan arriving, and her going to see him at the hotel, was just a handy excuse. Lisa had played right into her mother's hands. She felt the anger rise from the pit of her stomach, and she wrenched the phone from her mother's hand and slammed it back down on the receiver.

      "STOP IT!" She shouted, hoping against hope she could stop her mother from ruining her life yet again.

It had no effect, and her mother picked up the phone and started dialling the number again.

The panic Lisa felt engulfed her, and she made one last effort to stop her mother from ruining her life by slapping her face and knocking off her glasses. She had never raised a finger to her mother before, even in her defence... but this time she had no choice.

      When she looked back up at her mother's face, she saw a look in her eyes that resembled pure hatred...

 Just how, or at what point, Lisa's mother picked up the scissors which were lying in the opened drawer, Lisa would never know, but her actions coincided with Alan suddenly entering the room. He had listened long enough to the drama that was unfolding, and Lisa's panic the previous night now seemed totally justified. As he walked into the room, all he could see was a mad woman with a pair of scissors in her hand which she had raised above her head and seemed poised to strike. Unbelievably, Lisa just seemed to be standing there in a daze staring back at her, waiting to be stabbed. He shot across the room and grabbed Lisa's hand. He just knew he had to get her out of there, and as quickly as possible.

     "Let's get the fuck out of here!" he shouted, and pulled her out of the room, through the porch, and down the steps to his waiting car. Having bundled her into the front seat, he took off at break neck speed, nearly colliding with a neighbour's car in the process.

     Instinctively, Alan drove to the pier because he didn't have a clue as to what else he could do. He just wanted to get away, and if there was a boat every half-hour, they wouldn't have long to wait. He couldn't believe what he had just witnessed, and he shuddered to think what would have happened to Lisa if he hadn't walked into the room when he did. The whole thing was a complete nightmare. He parked the car beside the pier and looked over at Lisa who was shaking violently in the seat beside him. Neither of them had uttered a word since they'd run from the house, and still no words seemed appropriate. Lisa sat, her hands clenched in front of her, staring straight ahead...just as she had done the year before in the back of the taxi.

      "Shit!" Alan muttered in frustration as he banged the palm of his hand down on the steering wheel.

      "That woman should be locked up...she's a fucking head case!"

Lisa looked back at him and realised how awful it must look to someone who hadn't lived with that kind of madness. She had almost become conditioned to it.

      "I'm sorry, Alan... I didn't intend getting you caught up in all of this...It's not your problem..."

Alan shook his head. Lisa had no need to apologise. He now understood why she'd got into such a state the night before. Her mother was the bitch from hell.

      "It's not your fault, Lisa, she's the lunatic! ... I couldn't believe it when I walked in there and saw her with those scissors. I thought she was going to kill you!"

 Lisa started to cry. Silently she let the tears roll down her cheeks and drop onto her hands in her lap. Alan instinctively put his arm around her and pulled her towards him as her shoulders shook and the awfulness of what had happened hit home.

      "Don't cry, Lisa," he said gently, and stroked her hair.

After a few minutes, she pulled away from him and tried unsuccessfully to wipe the tears from her face with her hands.

      "I'll have to go back," Lisa announced with a resigned voice.

Alan looked at her in disbelief. He wouldn't let his worst enemy walk back into that house.

     "No way! I'm not letting you go back to that!"

Lisa shook her head. She had nothing. No clothes, no money, no ticket...no choice. She had to go back. .

     "You don't understand, Alan, I've been here before and there's nowhere for me to go. I don't have anyone up here who can help me...I have nothing!"

Alan turned round to face her and took her hand, determined not to let her go back. When he saw the loneliness and desperation in her face, he understood why she had thought that going to the Isle of Man might be her only option.

      "You've got me," he said before he could stop himself.  "I mean you've got me as a friend to help you... I can take you somewhere... somewhere you'll be safe. You must have friends who can help you, surely?"

Again Lisa shook her head.

      "My friends are all in England. I was at a boarding school in the Borders. I never made friends with anyone when I came home because of my mother. You've seen what she's like. Would you want to meet her again?"

Alan drew in his breath and shook his head.  "No way!"

      "Well then, that's what I mean... I'll have to go back, Alan, don't you see? I just don't have a choice!"

  Alan watched the cars beginning to queue up for the boat and he started to panic. He didn't want Lisa to go back, under any circumstances. From a personal point of view, he just wanted to put some distance between them and her lunatic mother.

      "Look, Lisa, I'm not taking you back there. Let's get to Glasgow and see if we can figure something out on the way. We can always go to the police and I can tell them what I saw."

Again Lisa shook her head remembering what had happened the year before.

     "You're wasting your time. Who do you think they're going to believe? You, an unknown holidaymaker, or my mother... the local upstanding resident?"

Alan had to agree with her there. If he were in trouble he would much rather be at home where his family commanded some respect and they could help him. It then dawned on him that he might have come up with a solution. Alan was sure, if he explained the situation to his parents, they would let Lisa stay.He had moved into a flat in town which he shared with his mate, Mike, so Lisa could have his old room at home, and his nineteen-year-old sister could help out with clothes and anything else Lisa might need. He turned to Lisa and grinned, believing he'd come up with the perfect solution.

     '"I'm taking you home with me," he announced, before turning on the ignition.

Lisa stared back at Alan unable to believe that someone she hardly knew would want to help her. Much though she wanted it, she couldn't let him get involved.

      "You can't!" Lisa cried, trying to be realistic.

      "Why not?" he asked with new found confidence.

Lisa couldn't believe what was happening. The line of cars started to move forward, and Alan resolutely followed it.

      "Because you can't take home a complete stranger, especially one with the kind of baggage I've got... It's madness!"

Alan grinned, feeling pleased with himself for thinking of something that meant not only that Lisa didn't have to go back... but she didn't have to go to The Isle of Man either.

      "Any better suggestions?" he asked with a touch of sarcasm.

Lisa had to admit that anything had to be better than going back. She shook her head.

     "Well, that's it settled then," Alan decided. "I'm taking you home..."