Downshire
is a relatively small English county but like a pocket battleship it packs a
lot in, a short but beautiful coastline, a channel port, the Ancient forests of
Dancingdean and Pepperstock, the craggy ridges and manmade lakes of the
Pepperstock Hills National Park, the rolling hills of the Downshire Downs, the
beautiful Finchbottom Vale and farm land as far as the eye can see from the
Trotwood’s and the Grace’s in the south to the home of the Downshire Light
infantry, Nettlefield, and their affluent neighbour’s, Roespring and Tipton in
the north but cupid struck its mark in the East, or more precisely, 20 miles
inland from Sharpington-By-Sea, equidistant between Finchbottom and Pepperstock
Green, in the sprawling village of Denmead where Charlotte St David was sous
Chef at the Angels Tears Restaurant in the village.
She
worked for her friend and boss Emily Goff who was head Chef and part owner, and
between the two of them they had built it up into a highly respected eatery
with a popular foodie following, but it came at a cost, to her personal life,
and now that they had made a success of it she really wanted someone in her
life to share in that success, someone she could talk to about the highs and
lows of her day.
Emily
had found her someone, in fact she was marrying the new Vicar at the Church of
Saint Jane Frances de Chantal, Humphrey Martin.
But
such happiness had eluded Charlotte, partly because of the long hours she
worked and in part because she didn’t meet many suitable candidates, but the main
reason was because she had lost her mojo.
She
knew that to be a fact, because when she did find someone who ticked all her
boxes, he was unresponsive, she flirted with him, using the full arsenal at her
disposal, flicking the hair, inclining her head when they spoke, coyly biting
her lip and giggling, and she drew a complete blank, it was like she was casting
pearls before swine.
The
object of her flirtations was Graham Jones an Engineer from
Purplemere who maintained all the Kitchen equipment.
Graham was from Wales
originally and moved to Downshire together with his younger sister Glynis, she
had got a job in the costume department at Purplemere Studios straight after
college and they lived together in his flat for 7 years.
As his parents had
charged him with looking after her, he was a bit of a mother hen to her, even
after she left the Studios, because of boyfriend trouble, and moved to
Mornington and stayed with their cousin Dave, he still felt responsible for her
and that was why he had been ignoring Charlotte St David’s rather obvious
flirtatious advances, not because he wasn’t attracted to her.
When she left for
Mornington she left a lot of her stuff at the flat incase things didn’t work out,
so he felt that he should be prepared for her return and for there to be no
distractions.
But then there was a
development at the end of January when the Welsh Patron Saint
of lovers struck on St Dwynwen’s Day, on the Tunnel of Love in The Sharpington Fun Park when Scott
Lazaro presented Glynis with a hand carved Welsh love spoon.
Now
in the years they had lived together he had witnessed her being in love at
close quarters, but she had never seen her so head over heels in love as she
was with Scott, so with Glynis fully loved up, big brother Graham was free to
go in search of love for himself.
Unfortunately,
it wasn’t until the 1st of March before he found himself heading towards
Denmead and the lovely Charlotte St David.
Which
he thought was quite apt given that it was St David’s day and she was a St
David.
But
having made the decision that it was time for him to find his own love he
wasn’t entirely sure how to achieve it, after all he had brushed off all her
flirtations in the past and he was concerned that now that he was ready her
feelings may have cooled.
So,
he decided on an all-out assault, a new shirt, A haircut and shave at
Mazzone’s, a liberal application of his most expensive aftershave and a fresh
Daffodil on his lapel for St David’s day, and he hoped good luck.
He
knew from past visits that his best chance of getting her to himself was
between 3 and 5 and he was on schedule to meet that window but as he was
driving over there he suddenly realized he didn’t have the first idea what to
say, he was a bit out of practice and on all his previous visits he had been on
the defensive, and she was flirting with him, and that was fine because he was
well versed at that, but now he had to take the initiative and that he was not
used to, and by the time he pulled up outside the restaurant he was in a mild
panic and it took him a few minutes sitting in the car to calm himself
down.
After
suffering a crisis of confidence after his last visit Charlotte was determined
this time to go all in and if he rebuffed her she would at least know once and
for all that it was not meant to be.
Charlotte
and Emily were sitting in the restaurant relaxing before they had to start
prepping for the evening, when she saw him pull up, and she braced herself for
action, and then he didn’t appear, and as the minutes past her confidence began
to ebb away and this threw her into a blind panic, and seeing her reaction Emily
smiled, because she’d been there herself, but when Graham finally appeared at
the door she put a reassuring hand on her shoulder and made herself scarce.
Charlotte
stood up when he knocked on the door and took a deep breath, Emily knew that
she liked him but what she didn’t know was that she had been in love with him
for several months, so him standing at the door and her in a “make or break”
frame of mind was a big deal.
“Hello
Graham” She said as she opened the door
“Hi
Charlotte”
As
he passed her, and she closed the door, she got the full effect of his
aftershave and she tingled all over then she saw the Daffodil.
Graham
walked slowly towards the kitchen, still unsure how to ask her out, then he
stopped and turned to face her, and in the instant, he opened his mouth to
speak, she kissed him, and he forgot what he was going to say.
The
second she seized the moment and her lips touched his, she had an instant of self-doubt
that she might have gone too far but it soon melted away as he returned her
kiss with equal intensity.
“Sorry
about that” she said “But you are wearing the Daffodil and I am a St David, so
it’s my day really”
“I
can’t argue with that logic” he said, “but is it just the one kiss that you’re
entitled to?”
“Oh
no it’s unlimited” she retorted
“That’s
good to know” Graham said and kissed her
“Well
that went well” he said to himself as he got back in the car after leaving the
restaurant
But
then he thought to himself and chuckled
“I
never did get to ask out a St David on St David’s Day”
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