It was towards the end
of June when Iain Akhurst drove along the promenade at Sharpington-by-Sea.
It always made him smile
when he visited the traditional seaside resort which he was pleased to see
still boasted a Victorian Pier, The Palladium ballroom, and of course the
Sharpington Fun Park.
He liked it because it
was like stepping back in time with the illuminations, crazy golf, and the amusement
arcades in fact all the usual things to have a great time by the seaside
He parked the car and
walked along the promenade and paused to sit in the well-maintained gardens and
looked out to sea.
As he left the gardens
after a few minutes he looked across to the Sharpington Fun Park.
It was the first purpose-built
amusement park to open in Britain, and had an assortment of rides, like the
Rotor and the Wild Mouse, The Cyclone and the Morehouse Galloper, all very tame
compared to a 21st century roller coaster but was still great fun, and he spent
many a happy hour in there during his youth.
He toyed with the idea
of going in but instead headed towards the seafront hotels.
After checking in he
sat in the lounge bar of the Seaview Hotel and was enjoying a pint when she
walked in.
He didn’t recognise
her at first and he had to do a bit of double take.
She was still as
beautiful as ever but her lustrous brown hair that used to be cut in a tidy bob
now flowed in brunette waves over her narrow shoulders and the business suit
she customarily used to wear had been replaced by faded denim jeans, a pink top
and a long flowing cardigan cut in the style of an Afghan coat with fake fur
trim and bright brocade panels.
Francine Delise looked
so different from the young woman he had last seen 18 months earlier at their
mutual friend Ran Michaeli’s New Year party.
Her eyes were sharp
and intelligent behind her gold rimmed spectacles that sat on her aquiline nose
and with her finely chiselled features she was the attractive side of beautiful
but only for the fact she wasn’t wearing a scrap of make-up.
But despite the hair,
the clothes and a lack of makeup, the eyes and the smile could not be
disguised.
It was a case of “what
you see is what you get with Francine” just as it was the first day, she walked
into the office straight out of University.
That was eight years
earlier and as the old man of the team at 33 he adopted the role of the
avuncular and took her under his wing and showed her the ropes and of course
try as he might, not to, and despite the 12-year age difference he fell in love
with her.
There was no double
take for Francine, she recognised him instantly and she beamed a broad smile
and he realized as she walked towards him that he was still in love with her.
“Iain Akhurst! She said,
“What are you doing here?”
She was never a tall
girl but in her flat shoes she had to stand on tip toes, and he had to stoop so
they could properly embrace.
“I had to see a client
locally” Iain said “It ran on later than expected so I decided to put up here
for the night”
In truth he always
liked booking a meeting late on a Friday and then he could stay at a local
hotel for the night, two if it suited him.
“Not Brocklington
Broadcast International?” she said “I’ve been trying to nick him off you for
two years”
“I know, keep your
hands off, BBI is my pension”
Iain said and they
both laughed
“Anyway, what about
you?” he asked “What brings you here?”
“My sister lives in
Sharpington” Francine replied “and she’s just had twins”
“Wow Aunty Francine”
he said “that still doesn’t explain why you’re here”
“Because I’ve only
been an aunty for five days and I’m exhausted”
She said and slumped
down in her chair
“Oh dear” he said “No
stamina, you youngsters”
“Honestly if I don’t
get a good night’s sleep before I drive home, I won’t make it” she explained
“So, this is as far as
you got?” he asked
“I so need a good
night’s sleep” Francine said and hugged the cushion to her chest and Iain found
himself feeling so jealous of that cushion
“Do you think you
might stay awake long enough to have dinner?”
Iain asked
“It depends on who’s
paying” Francine answered peering over the top of the cushion.
“My treat” he said,
and it really was a treat to see Francine again and he knew in that moment he
was still hopelessly in love with her.
Iain’s hand was
shaking as he was stood at the bathroom sink to shave and he paused to look at
his reflection.
“Who am I trying to
kid?”
Since he’d last seen
her 18 months earlier, she hadn’t aged a day while he thought he looked as if
he’d aged 10 years and that he stood less chance of getting her than ever.
He did nothing about
his attraction toward her in the years he worked with her but imagine.
There was a near miss
beneath the mistletoe at the last office Christmas party she attended.
But as every man in
the office had the hots for her they didn’t give her a moments peace, and the
sought after kiss beneath the mistletoe never happened.
The following year at
Ran Michaeli’s New Year’s Eve party he found her on the dance floor and once
again they had a moment but once again it came to nothing and like smoke it
slipped away, and she slipped through his fingers and that was the last time he
had seen her which was 18 months previously.
So understandably he
felt that it would never be.
Despite his misgivings
he shaved and showered and made the best of what he had, such as it was, and he
went downstairs to the bar to wait for her.
When he got there, she
was already sitting at the bar perched on a barstool waiting for him.
Francine was still
wearing jeans, but she now wore a white smock top decorated with tiny pink
roses and she was made up to perfection and was already halfway through a large
glass of white wine.
“Hi” he said as he
leant in and kissed her cheek
Her hair was freshly
washed and was subtly scented with the fragrance of apples, while her skin
exuded the aroma of coconut and he lingered by her cheek, perhaps a little
longer than he should have.
While he was in such
close proximity to her his senses were assailed by the scent of just a little
too much Channel, which was unusual for her, she was normally more subtle than
that.
She was always a very subtle
girl, or at least she had been when he’d worked with her.
“You look lovely” he
said when he had come up for air.
“And you smell good
enough to eat” he added to himself
“This is the only
thing I had left that didn’t smell of baby sick” She confessed “but to make
doubly sure I doused myself with perfume”
Well that cleared up for
him the little mystery of the unsubtle scenting.
“You smell delicious”
he said “not a hint of baby sick”
“Honestly?” she asked
“Honestly” he replied
just as he caught the barman’s eye “Do you want another?”
“Hmm yes please” she
replied and drained her glass
When the drinks appeared,
they made their way to the restaurant, it was a walk they had done many times
before during his mentoring days.
It was a favourite of
Iain’s and they had stayed at the Seaview Hotel many times before and had eaten
in the restaurant more often than not.
But that was in the
distant days when he was mentoring her in his avuncular role and fancying the
pants off her.
Iain and Frankie sat
in the restaurant and as they ate their starters they talked about the old
days, the colleagues they both knew, mutual friends and how both their careers
were going.
However what Iain really
wanted to talk about was her, the personal stuff, what she had been up to in
her life over the 18 months since they had last met and the two years since
they worked together, and more importantly who was in her life.
“What about you?” she
asked taking him by surprise as he tried to frame that same question in his own
head.
“What?” he asked
“What about you?” she
repeated this time with more than a hint of a slur “are you spoken for”
To his amusement he
watched as she appeared to rerun the question in her head and seemed alarmed by
her realization of what she had actually said
“What I meant to say
is… um… err… are you… erm…”
It tickled him to
watch her struggle and getting more flustered but decided to put her out of her
misery.
“I’m still single”
“Oh” she responded
trying to appear indifferent “still not met the right girl?
“I wouldn’t say that
exactly” he replied but didn’t elaborate, the truth of the matter was he had
met the right girl, but she didn’t want him.
“What about you then?”
he asked
“Still footloose and
fancy free” Francine replied
Dinner came and went
as did desert and all the time their glasses were refreshed, but it wasn’t
until they were having liqueurs that he plucked up the courage to say what was
on his mind.
“I’ve really missed
you”
She seemed both
surprised and pleased by the revelation and Iain wondered if she heard him
correctly or if it was just the effect of the wine on her processing ability
“I’m sorry” she
replied
“Why did you go?” he
asked “I never understood why you left”
“I had to” she replied
earnestly
“But why?” he asked
more emphatically
“Because I knew how
you felt about me” Francine confessed
“You knew?” he asked
aghast
“Yes”
“You knew and you said
nothing?” Iain asked angrily
She nodded
“That was cruel” he
said and then there was an uncomfortable silence for a few minutes as the
waiter cleared the empty glasses from the table, when he had gone, she said
“I thought it was for
the best”
The waiter hovered
just out of earshot of them but made it obvious that as they were the last two diners,
and he was ready for them to leave.
“I think we have out
stayed our welcome” he said flatly and got up and Francine followed suit.
“Goodnight” he said to
the waiter and headed towards reception leaving Frankie in his wake.
“Let me explain”
Francine said as she trotted behind him but Iain ignored her and pressed on
along the corridor, but she caught up with him as he stopped to allow an
elderly lady to go through the fire doors.
"I thought if I
put some space between us, you would stop caring about me" she said from
behind him, and Iain spun round on her in response
"You thought my
feelings were so fickle, so insincere that they would just evaporate away if I
couldn’t see you?"
“No” she snapped at
him crossly
“I did it because I
thought that mine would”
“What?” he said
doubting his own hearing
“I left because I was
falling for you” she said
“And did it help?” he
asked
“No” she said and fell
into his arms “I fell for you anyway”
“So, you made us both
unhappy” Iain said gently and held her close to him
“Yes” she replied and
then Francine began to cry
“Don’t cry honey” he
said and in response she looked up at him through tear filled eyes and he
kissed her, a kiss he had longed for and dreamt of for eight years and when it
was over he was not disappointed.
After their long
awaited magical first kiss they walked hand in hand to the door of his room
where they kissed again and then Iain unlocked the door and pushed it open, but
Francine paused in the doorway.
“Before we go any
further” she said “I have a confession to make”
“You don’t have to say
anything honey” Iain replied
“I really do” she
insisted
“Ok” he replied a
little concerned at what might follow, some revelation that would undermine the
gravity of the moment, so he waited as Francine took a deep breath and blurted
out
“I haven’t shaved my
legs since the twins were born”
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