Nick
Addison was the eldest son of Simon and Eleanor Addison.
Who
at the age of 23 was currently the assistant manager of the Bakers shop in
Shallowfield?
The
Addison family lived in Tower House which was at the Shallowfield end of
Teardrop Lake, and they were an old Teardrop family who were also very
important to the local economy as they were one of the largest employers in the
area.
The
family owned and operated the Addison’s Bakery in Shallowfield and more than
two dozen baker’s shops and an equal number of coffee shops throughout the
county of Downshire.
Simon
at 48, was the Patriarch of the family and managing director of the company and
his wife Eleanor was two years his junior and was the finance director.
And
they weren’t the only family members employed by the firm, there were more than
thirty in all, aunts, uncles, nephews, nieces and cousins and among them was
Nick.
Nick
had been working at the Bakery since Christmas and he had got to know a lot of
regular customers over that time but only one of them caused his heart to pound
and his pulse to race.
Antonia
Mazzone was the same age as Nick and she had been a waitress at the Phoenix
Restaurant for almost 9 months in fact she had been there since it opened.
She
was tall and lean with short straight blonde hair which hung longer at the
front than at the back and was held off her face by a clip.
And
when she came in the shop they would always smiled politely at each other and
exchanged pleasantries but nothing more than that.
She
normally wore the traditional waitress attire of a white blouse, black skirt
and black tights although she would often alternate the skirt with black
tailored trousers.
Nick
always looked forward to her going into the shop or even just walking past it.
He
liked it particularly in the evenings especially if she was late for her shift.
She
always wore heels and when she was late for work she had to walk fast and as
she did so it forced her to lean forward from the waist and the consequence of
the heels and the leaning forward pushed her bum out backwards which he found
rather a delicious sight.
And
he really loved that, he liked it when she was late.
But
as it turned out it was not the most delicious sight she had in store for him.
On a
particularly warm and sunny Monday morning in May as she approached the shop
with the sunlight behind her.
It
rendered her new white blouse almost invisible and displayed her well filled
white lacy bra to great effect.
He
glanced sideways and realized that he was the only one in the shop who had
noticed her revelation she he turned back to enjoy some more.
She
pushed open the door and stepped inside the shop and she was fully clothed
again.
Antonia
smiled as she walked inside and approached the counter.
“Good
morning Toni” Nick said
“Hi
Nick” she replied “isn’t it a beautiful day”
“It
is” he responded “do you want your usual?”
“Yes
please”
Her
usual was a Pecan Platt Danish pastry.
She
called into the shop every morning around ten o’clock on her way to work.
Nick
put her pastry in a bag and handed it to her but as he did so he leant towards
her and whispered.
“Don’t
take this the wrong way but your blouse is totally see through in the sunshine”
She
gave him a puzzled look as he took the money from her and turned to face the
till.
And
as he turned back with her change the penny had obviously dropped.
“Oh
God” she said and put the Danish back on the counter and quickly put on her
cardigan and she was blushing vividly as she took her change and said.
“Thank
you”
She
walked to the door and half turned as she opened it
“Thank
you” she said and smiled
Though
she wasn’t thanking him for the pastry but rather for his gallantry.
Though
to his shame his actions weren’t driven so much by gallantry as selfishness
because he didn’t want anyone else to see what he had seen.
However
Nick came to wonder if he had done the right thing after all because he didn’t
see her in the shop for the rest of that week and most of the following one and
when he did see her through the shop window she was walking on the opposite side
of the street.
That
was not the desired effect he was hoping for as a result giving her the heads
up about the blouse.
He
had hoped that it might have been like an ice breaker, a prelude to something
other than the customer/purveyor interactions they had hitherto been restricted
to.
Now
it appeared to him that they weren’t even to have those interactions anymore.
For
Antonia avoiding the Bakers was a double edged sword, not only was she having
to forgo her guilty pleasure namely her daily Danish, but she was also having
to give up what she would have liked to have become a guilty pleasure in the
future, the Assistant Manager Nick Addison.
In
truth she was heartily embarrassed to make such an exhibition of herself and
for it to have been the object of her affections to have been the recipient of
the peep show.
Not
that she was a prude about such matters and if her lustful desires ever came to
fruition he would get to see it all.
But
she was hoping that would have been at a time and a place of her choosing and
not on the street outside his place of work.
So as
a result of her exposing herself they were now restricted to distant sightings
of each other.
They
had reached an impasse, he fancied her and she fancied him but neither knew the
others disposition and were too afraid of going out on a limb.
But
if he didn’t speak to her outside the shop and she wouldn’t go in the shop then
nothing would ever come of their individual desires.
In
the end it was events beyond either of their control that broke the stalemate.
Some
might say that fate took a hand to bang their heads together.
Almost
from her first day at the Phoenix restaurant as a waitress Antonia had shown an
interest in what went on beyond the pass.
She
could have had chosen a different path and gone into the Mazzone’s family
business and had an easier life.
The
Mazzone’s began with one barbers shop fifty years earlier and that had grown
into a beauty business empire, Unisex salons, spas, nail bars and tanning
salons.
But
she didn’t see her future in hairdressers and beauty salons she wanted to be a
Chef.
From
day one at the Phoenix she had impressed the owners with her willingness to do
absolutely anything that was asked of her and quite a lot of what wasn’t.
Head
Chef Jane Cooper and her partner, in every sense of the word, manager Terry
O’Neil valued her very highly and believed strongly that she would be a very
valuable asset to them in whatever capacity turned out to be her natural bent.
Which
is why after nine months Jane asked her if she wanted to train with her as a Chef.
In the early stages it would necessitate her keeping a foot in both camps so to speak and do waitress shifts while she trained but still she jumped at the chance.
The
news came two weeks after the see through blouse incident and she was so happy
she wanted to go over to the Bakers and share her news with Nick but halfway
there she had second thoughts.
“He
probably won’t be interested”
She
said to herself but in truth she was still a little embarrassed.
If
she had gone into the shop she wouldn’t have found him there anyway, he was
over in Northchapel for two days, training staff for the new shop that was
opening the following week.
On
Saturday night Nick left the Northchapel shop with the new manager Ian Frazer at about 9.00pm and after locking
up they went into the Town centre to have a curry before they both headed off.
It
was after 11 when he returned to his car and he was absolutely shattered.
He
set off and was really looking forward to his bed when he got a puncture, he
hadn’t gone more than half a mile.
“Bollocks”
He said and pulled over into a convenience layby but when he went to the boot
for the spare it was flat and he didn’t have a pump.
He
had RAC cover so he could have phoned them but he couldn’t be bothered to wait
around for God knew how long.
So he
locked the car and walked back into town getting to the station with 15 minutes
to spare for the last train to Shallowfield.
It
was known as the rattler as it rattled along stopping at what seemed like every
station in Downshire.
Antonia
was also out that Saturday night celebrating her change of career with some
friends in Childean.
And
as a certain amount of alcohol had been imbibed with their meal she and her
friends were also catching the train home.
Childean
however was one of the few stations in the county that the Northchapel rattler
didn’t stop at.
Nick
was struggling to keep his eyes open as the train rattled its way through the
darkness.
He
was only two stops from home and if he missed his stop he would end up in
Abbottsford for the night.
The
train pulled into Purplemere station and came to a stop.
The
sliding doors opened and a cool blast of air hit him which perked him up a bit
and then a tall blonde giggling girl fell into the carriage and plonked down on
the seat opposite him.
And
when she had settled and brushed the blonde strands of hair from her face he
realized it was Toni.
She
was still giggling when he said
“Hello”
It
took her a moment to focus on him and then she beamed a smile at him
“It’s
you” she said “I’ve been celebrating”
“I
can tell” Nick said and smiled
“What
were you celebrating?” he added
“I’m
going to train as a Chef” she said proudly
“So
where did you go?” Nick asked
“The
Chinese place in Childean” she slurred
“Oh I
see” he said a little puzzled “so how come you got on the train at Purplemere?”
“I
got on the wrong train” she admitted and giggled
“Now
I understand” he said and laughed
Apparently
she had been so busy chatting away with her friends that she got on the train
with them.
The
problem was they were so tiddly they didn’t notice her mistake until they
reached Purplemere.
Nick
decided he would take advantage of her inebriated state and tell her how he
felt about her.
“You
haven’t been in the shop for ages” he said “I’ve missed you”
“I’ve
missed my Danish” she said
Not
the response he was hoping for in fact he was left a little deflated by her
response.
“It’s
clear where your priorities lay” he thought to himself
Then
she asked
“Did
you say you missed me?”
“Yes”
he said
“Because
you like me buying Danish pastries?”
She
asked
“No,
because I just like you coming in to see me” he replied
She
got up awkwardly and crossed the narrow gap to sit next to him
Just
as the train pulled into Shallowfield
“I
like you too” she slurred
“Come on” he said and helped her to her feet “or you’ll end up in Abbottsford”
Once
safely off the train he added
“I’ll
walk you home”
She
only lived about a hundred yards from the station but in her condition he
didn’t trust her to make it.
“I
like you too” she repeated as he took her arm and steered her through the
barrier
“Do
you?” he asked doubtfully
“Yes”
she insisted as they emerged from the station building
“I
really do”
“Hmm”
he said
“But
I do” she said “Why don’t you believe me?”
“Well”
he said as they turned into the end of her road “tiddly Toni might really like
me”
“She
does, she really does” she said holding on to his arm and looking at him
pleadingly
“But
when sober Antonia returns she will probably go back to avoiding the shop and
walking on the other side of the street”
“No
she won’t Nick I promise” She said “She was just embarrassed about you seeing
my boobies” she said “That was all”
They
had reached her front gate
“Well
here we are safely at your front door” Nick said
“Are
you going kiss tiddly Toni goodnight?” she asked very childlike
“No I
want our first proper kiss to be with sober Antonia”
And
he kissed her forehead “I want it to be memorable for both of us”
“Can
I see you tomorrow then?”
She
asked
“It’s
already tomorrow” he replied “and when you get up I can guarantee you won’t
want to see me”
“When
then?” she asked pathetically
“That’s
up to you” Nick replied “You know where to find me”
Nick
kissed her on the forehead again and hugged her
“I
really hope you like me as much as I do you” he said kissed her one more time
and walked away
“Goodnight
Toni”
As
she watched him walk away she set her jaw resolutely and said
“I’ll
show you Nicholas Addison”
Nick
meanwhile was hoping he hadn’t blown his chance with her.
It’s
just that he wanted her heart and soul and didn’t want something between them
to begin with her drunken infatuation based merely on a response of his
declaration.
As
predicted Antonia was disinclined to see anyone the next day and remained in
her room with a killer head and an ice pack.
She
also reran the conversation with Nick over and over again.
The
first time it made no sense at all but with each subsequent review it became
clearer and clearer until she knew what she should do.
On
Monday morning Nick opened the shop and was surprised to see Antonia was second
in line behind Mrs Mason.
Karen
Clarke served Mrs Mason and nick served Antonia.
“Hi Toni”
he said
“Good
morning Nick” she replied “it’s another beautiful day”
“Yes
it is” he responded “do you want your usual?”
“Toni
will have her usual Danish but the sober and responsible Antonia Mazzone has
come to claim the kiss promised to her in the moonlight”
Everyone
in the queue now was watching on in silence.
“Well
we here at Addison’s pride ourselves on giving the customers what they want”
And
Nick stepped around the counter and approached her
“I hope
this will be memorable enough for you” she said as they stood face to face
smiling at each other and then they kissed.
It
was a long slow and deliberate kiss.
“Tiddly
Toni wasn’t lying was she” she whispered when they had finished.
“No
she certainly wasn’t” he agreed and kissed her again
“Thank
Mr Addison that was quite delicious” she said
“Here
if I buy a Danish do I get one of those?” Mrs Mason asked and everyone laughed
“I’m
sorry Mrs Mason” he said “Special customers only”
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