A
“New Captain Scarlet” story for
Valentine’s Day
By
Skybase Girl
“For Valentine’s Day, 14th February. A deeply sensual chocolate experience with a
touch of romantic glamour and the excitement of hidden messages.”
Wow! This is
some catalogue. I’m salivating already –
no wonder she’s so keen on this stuff. I
had no idea it could be so – well, so seductive. I mean, chocolate’s chocolate, right? It’s a sweet fact, you either like it, love
it, or hate it. I know there are people who
think it hits more erogenous zones than sex, but I’ve never been able to get my
head around that one. I think they must
just be doing it wrong – the sex, not the chocolate, of course.
But The Chocolatier’s House – this is a whole
different world as far as I’m concerned. It’s a bit like an introduction to a
new religion, one which exists solely for the worship of hedonistic
pleasure. At one time, I would have
scoffed at the idea of chocolate as an aphrodisiac, but looking at this, I’m
prepared to believe it.
“The Luscious
Lips Gift Bag. An irresistible bag of
goodies to melt your Valentine’s heart, with love hearts and hot lips in milk,
dark and white chocolate.”
Irresistible, eh? That sounds promising. And this is only page one! I don’t know, though. Maybe those hot lips are a bit tacky. Don’t
want to send out the wrong message; I’ve only kissed her once and I am prepared
to go on record in declaring it as one of the most delicious, sublime,
heartfelt experiences of my entire life. Definitely nothing tacky or cheesy
about it. It was kismet, or more
accurately, kiss-met; as soon as our lips touched, it was as if we were meeting
each other all over again for the first time.
The most amazing thing is that I got the distinct impression she felt
the same; one of those stops-you-in-your-tracks events, when you know that afterwards,
nothing will be quite as it was before.
The law of averages tells me that when two people get to that place at
the exact same moment, something is definitely happening.
“Sealed
with a Kiss. A glamorous collection specially selected for those hopelessly head-over-heels;
with liquid caramels, ravishing truffles and melting pralines, all in the shape
of beautiful hearts, passionate lips and more.”
Hmm. It
seems we’re back to the lips again; and
it’s a heart-shaped box. Whilst I’m not
doing this in traditionally anonymous fashion – hell, I want her to know who sent them, for goodness sake – I also don’t
want to scare her off. Maybe this is a
bit too blatant – perhaps I should stick to flowers this time around. On the other hand, maybe it’s just me being
too cowardly to wear my heart on the proverbial sleeve. Men don’t, do they? It’s an indisputable fact, something all
women learn the moment they hit puberty.
Okay, I concede that some men probably do – those who are either braver
or more in touch with their feminine sides than I am ever likely to be. But then, if I’m prepared to send her flowers
and chocolates on Valentine’s Day without concealing my identity, surely that is wearing my heart on my sleeve. Maybe I shouldn’t be such a wimp about all
this.
“Melting Choc
and Cookie Chip Block. A glorious fusion
of mellow milk and praline chocolate studded with shortbread and cocoa cookies,
for a satisfying contrast of crispy crunch and smooth chocolate.”
Well, this just sums her up, really. She is a
glorious fusion; all that smooth milk chocolate skin and those amazing eyes
combined with an intellect that could certainly be described as crispy. As far as I’m concerned, there’s nothing more
irresistible than that. I imagine that if I were to lick her body, she would
taste just like the product in this picture.
God – maybe I’d better turn the page now; the idea of licking her all
over has been fuelling my most erotic dreams for some time now. I find myself becoming too easily distracted,
for want of a better word.
“Room Service. A real adventure, with flavours to stimulate
both mind and body for a smooth night in.
Tongue-tingling prosecco, lickably soft milk chocolate, spreadable Smudge,
a black satin blindfold and more...”
Oh, no.
No. Spreadable chocolate, satin
blindfolds.... oh Christ, that’s more distraction than I can cope with. Down, boy.
Remember we’re still on baby steps here; this is about romance, not
lust. The raw sex, if there is to be
any, may be a whole lot further down the line.
It’s quite strange actually; it’s hard to pinpoint
when the lust began, although it’s true to say that she and I hit it off the
moment we both arrived on Skybase.
That’s a little surprising, considering we don’t really have all that
much in common – apart from what we do for a living, of course. Our backgrounds couldn’t be more dissimilar
and we don’t always like the same things.
For instance, I’ve always been really sporty and she has absolutely no
interest in watching men “chase each other round a pitch”, as she puts it. She’s very musical, whereas it would be
impossible to overstate my inability to carry a tune. She’s elegant, feminine, and full of grace;
I’m large, powerful and pretty masculine, I like to think, but no-one would
ever call me graceful. But the thing is,
she gets me. Really gets me, you know? Despite
our differences, she just delves right into the heart of me in a way no-one
else can. I absolutely love that about
her.
“Serious Dark
Fix. A dark chocolate adventure brimming
with deep cocoa flavours; smooth pralines with hazelnuts and chilli, truffles
with Scotch whisky and West Indian rum, oozing caramels and more.”
Thinking back, I guess things started to change when
she had that awful experience with the Mysteron bugs that were trying to
destroy Skybase. I remember being taken
aback at how protective the whole episode made me feel – overnight, it was like
she’d become my responsibility. I’ve
never told her that, of course, because I suspect she wouldn’t be too
pleased. She’s one of the toughest, most
resourceful people I know and she doesn’t really need looking after. I just enjoy being responsible for her, that’s
all.
However, responsibility issues notwithstanding, I
guess true possessiveness didn’t really kick in until she almost lost her life
at the hands of her father in the nuclear reactor incident. God, that was
dreadful – I couldn’t believe how close I’d come to losing her. I never ever want to feel anything like that
again. After it was all over, I did worry about the effects of the radiation
she’d been exposed to, despite Doctor Gold’s reassurances, but to be honest, I
was more bothered about her mental state.
In order for her and Scarlet to get out of that place alive, she had had
to kill her dad. Okay, he turned out to
be a Mysteron scumbag who hadn’t hesitated to sacrifice her, but still......most of us would never in a million years
imagine that in trying to save the planet, we’d be forced to murder our own
father, even if it was in self-defence. So I knew that despite outward
appearances, she had to be in a really dark place. Fixing her, putting her back together again,
became my pet project, the details of which I won’t bore you with here. Suffice to say that it didn’t happen
overnight, but something else did. I
fell in love.
“The Chocolatier’s House, Saint Lucia, West
Indies.
For the ultimate chocolate experience, visit our exclusive hotel, perched
spectacularly between Saint Lucia’s iconic Piton Mountains. Stay in one of our Cocoa Pods and
discover what it takes to grow the rare and vintage cocoa that features in all
our products; or choose a Cocoa Villa and explore cooking with cacao in your own
kitchen.”
This is
amazing. These people think of
everything. The Chocolatier’s House
actually has its own hotel! Looks
beautiful, if these photos are anything to go by. I remember her telling me that her family
used to holiday in Saint Lucia when she was a kid and how much she loved
it. I can see why, now. I’d love to take her there someday, try to
make new, good memories, so that not everything is tainted by what the
Mysterons have done to us.
I guess I haven’t mentioned the moment I knew she’d
become my girl. Well, it’s kind of
corny, I suppose. Towards the end of
Project Serena, when she could smile and laugh again, when the light in her
eyes had returned, I took her to a concert in Baltimore. Not just any concert, you understand; this was
Joan Alexander and her band. If you
haven’t heard of her, don’t worry – neither had I until I found out that not
only is she the greatest jazz singer of her generation, but she’s an absolute
icon as far as Serena is concerned.
Tickets for this thing were rarer than gold dust, so I knew I’d played a
blinder. And it was fabulous; jazz is
not really my thing, but it was worth it to watch her so enraptured. She was singing along to everything, knew the
words off by heart; to my tone-deaf ears, she knocked Joanie into a cocked
hat. All right, so I’m biased. But when it ended, when I grabbed her hand to
fight our way through the throngs heading for the exit, I noticed she was crying. It wasn’t until we finally got outside into
the late night air that she explained the last time she had seen Joan Alexander
in concert was just before her twelfth birthday and her dad had taken her as a
treat. That was, she said, the last
happy memory she had of him.
You can imagine how I felt. I thought I’d ruined everything. But then she tucked her arm into mine and
told me that she was grateful to me for giving her the opportunity to relive a
good memory and that she finally realised that those were the ones she needed
to hang on to. So that was when I kissed
her. It seemed the obvious thing to do,
really. And she did taste of chocolate;
I knew it was the remains of the ice cream we’d eaten in the intermission, but
it was great anyway. In fact, the whole
thing was wonderful. And that, dear
reader, is why I’ve ended up here, nailing my colours to the Valentine’s Day
mast, in the hope that the genie who leapt out of the bottle on that fantastic
Baltimore night may be persuaded to work his magic again.
“The
Nibblatrons. Five milk chocolate mini
robots, programmed to be utterly delicious, presided over by the Chief
Nibblatron. Clad in his finest
circuitry, he has only one thing to say – We Will Obey!”
Oh, man. How
fantastic is this? Chocolate
robots! Forget Mysterons, think
Nibblatrons instead. Pity the Mysterons don’t melt away as these things
undoubtedly do. Still, thinking of the
Mysterons as chocolate robots makes them seem a hell of a lot less
threatening. These little guys are so
cute, I could really be tempted..... but
no, I’m not sure they give out the right sort of message on this occasion. Ah well, another time perhaps.
“The Love Book. Be the star of your own true romance with two
intricately engraved love hearts sealed with grosgrain ribbon – one heart in fruity
milk and cookies chocolate and the other in dark caramel and pecan nut
chocolate.”
Ah. This is
more like it. In fact, I think this says
it all, really. Simple, classy and pushes all the buttons. Let’s hope they’ll be the right buttons. Well, you’re used to living dangerously,
Svenson, so let’s just get on with it.
Okay, order completed, credit card details punched in..... so, that’s
it. No going back now.
“You Crack Me
Up. With one shell in pure milk
chocolate and the other in mellow milk with a dash of white, and ten
irrepressibly cheery chocolates inside, including smiley face pralines and
brownies, fried eggs, Easter bunnies and chicks.”
Oh, sorry.
You’re probably wondering what’s going on with me now. Well, time has moved on a little and this is
the Easter brochure I’m looking at. Now
that Valentine’s Day has been and gone, I’m a confirmed chocoholic. I’ve eaten more of the stuff in the last few
weeks than in the whole of my life so far.
There is a reason for that – not only did we have to nibble our way
through the Love Book, but then there was the box of Nibblatrons that she
bought me, together with two tickets for the Superbowl. (A monumental sacrifice on her part, I
realise – but hey, didn’t I tell you that this woman gets me?)
In fact, things are going so swimmingly well, next
Valentine’s Day, we may well end up at The Chocolatier’s House, Saint Lucia,
for the total chocolate experience, complete with our own “Love Dipping Adventure.”
The End
Authors notes
The idea for this piece of fluffy
confectionary came to me as I perused the pages of a “Hotel Chocolat”
brochure. I would like to place on
record not only my love for their products, but my deliberate and shameless pilfering
of words and images from their website. Despite Hotel Chocolat turning into The
Chocolatier’s House, I have borrowed some product names and descriptive prose
with artistic licence. In mitigation, I
can only offer up my whole-hearted thanks and endorsement of the fabulous
chocolate they make and my sincere hopes that they don’t sue me. As always, I would like to thank my
beta-reader Hazel Kohler for stepping up to the plate once more and Chris
Bishop for her efforts in making it fit for the website in double-quick
time. It’s a real privilege to have a
story posted so early into the tenth anniversary celebrations.
The usual
thanks go to Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and their colleagues, whose work over
forty-plus years has richly fuelled my imagination and given me so much
pleasure.
I hope everyone finds their own
little bit of romance on Valentine’s Day, whether or not chocolate is involved.
Skybase Girl
February 2011.
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