Paul walked into the hotel bar at 7 o’clock, an hour early, partly for some Dutch courage and in part because he had run out of things to do so he ordered a drink and then sat at the bar.
Even though he
wasn’t expecting her until eight, every time the door opened he turned to look
for her and when it wasn’t her his self-doubt crept in, and with every false
alarm the doubts got worse, what if she doesn’t come? What if she changed her
mind? What if she never intended to come? What if? What if? What if?
Then at a quarter
to the hour the door opened and there she was, the love of his life, and every
bit as beautiful to him as ever, in spite of the passing years.
Linda was wearing
a simple black knee length dress, black tights or stockings and four-inch
stiletto shoes, and he thought her legs were as shapely as he remembered them.
In fact he thought
that everything about her was as wonderful as he remembered, even though she
was thirty years older.
She held a black
leather clutch bag in her hand and her face looked a little anxious until Paul
stood up and then it lit up with the most radiant smile.
Relieved to find
him there, she walked towards him almost tottering on her heels and that made
her laugh.
“Hello” She said,
and he responded “Hi” and took her hand as she climbed onto a stool.
Paul kissed her
cheek and the fragrance of her perfume was quite intoxicating, going straight
to his head like a strong spirit and the combination of her scent and his
desire for her almost made him swoon.
He ordered her a
drink and they nervously made small talk, like two strangers on a blind date,
until the waitress led them through to the restaurant.
“How did your
lunch with your mum go?” Paul asked once they were seated at their table and
she blushed the deepest red in response
“The lunch date
was a little white lie” she admitted
“Oh?”
“Because I needed
the afternoon to get ready” she said, “for this”
“And the animated
phone call you were having when you left?”
“Was to my sister,
to rally the troops and get me presentable” she confided and they both laughed
and any awkwardness between them was gone.
“Well, all I can
say is that it was time well spent” he said, and she blushed again at the
compliment.
Over dinner they
talked with such an easy familiarity as if her departing taxi had only been a
week earlier rather than 30 years.
By the time they
had finished their coffee the restaurant was empty except for Paul and Linda
and a very weary waitress waiting to clear their table.
The evening seemed
to have passed by in the blink of an eye and had all too soon come to an end.
They got up and
made their apologies and Linda went through the door to the ladies while Paul
signed the bill.
“Good night” he
said, “and I must apologize again for keeping you so late”
After leaving a
large tip on the table he went in search of Linda through the same door she had
used, and he found her standing by the Christmas tree.
She had retrieved
her coat and scarf from the cloakroom, which were draped over one arm, and her
bag was in her hand.
Linda stood with
her back to him gazing out of the window, but she could see his reflection in
the glass and smiled at him and he gasped at the beauty of her and pinched
himself again.
He wanted to kiss
her so much, but he was afraid, afraid to break the magic of that special kiss,
that perfect moment when they kissed in the snow all those years earlier when
he let her slip from his grasp.
For 30 years he
had revered that moment, reliving it whenever on a winter’s night he heard the
Salvation Army play, or when the snow fell during Christmas time, or when he
felt a snowflake on his skin, or stood in a taxi queue on a winter’s night.
For 30 years he
had wanted to be back there in that moment holding her in the snow, and there
she stood a few steps away from him, yet he was hesitant.
But as if sensing
his turmoil, she turned away from the window and he took those few steps to
face her.
They stood beside
the Christmas tree for a few moments just looking at each other, then she
smiled her most heart melting smile as she caressed his cheek before she pulled
him to her and kissed him gently on the lips, a warm sensitive and tender kiss.
When their lips
touched electricity ran down his spine and it was as if they were young again.
When their lips
parted she smiled at him coyly and flushed a deep shade of pink and a second
later they met again, and her kiss became more intense, more passionate.
Her coat, scarf
and bag fell to the floor as their arms enveloped each other and they stood
locked in passionate embrace as the tree lights twinkled beside them.
Linda pulled away
for a moment before burying her face in his neck and then softly spoke in his
ear.
“You see, that was
as good as the first time”
“How could I have
doubted it would be perfect?” he responded and cupping her flushed cheek in his
palm before he slid his fingers beneath her soft brown curls and caressed the
soft downy hair on her nape as he pulled her head toward him, so he could kiss
her sweet lips again.
The next time they
paused she put her head on his chest, still holding on to him so tightly as
Paul kissed the top of her head and smelled her hair.
He held her and
didn’t want to let her go, and then he said
“Please stay, I
can’t watch you disappear from my life again in another taxi”
In response she
lifted her head from his chest and looked at him and said
“I’m not letting
you go again, not now, not ever”
Then she smiled at
him coyly and blushed like a virgin before she buried her face in his chest
again.
A moment later she
scooped up her coat, scarf and bag from the floor and took his hand and they
walked in silence to his room.
Outside in the
corridor she looked deeply into his eyes and kissed his mouth before Paul
opened the door and let her walk inside.
She immediately
dropped her coat and bag onto a chair and turned to face him as he followed her
and she reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck and whispered in his
ear
“I never stopped
loving you”
Paul’s arms
enveloped her and pulled her close to him and then they kissed, at first soft
and tender but then more urgently and he began to un-wrap his most special
Christmas gift, wrapped in lace and silk instead of paper and ribbon.
Caressing her body
from neck to lacy stocking top and their love was at last made absolute.
When their act of
love was complete, and their dreams realized they lay holding each other in the
afterglow, silently content until they drifted off to sleep.
Paul awoke to find
Linda stood silhouetted against the window, gazing out into the night, wearing
his shirt to cover her nakedness and she turned her head to look at him and
said
“It’s snowing”
Paul slipped out
of bed and joined her at the window, and standing behind her encompassing her
in his arms they watched as the snow settled on the courtyard and she hugged
his arms and said
“How perfect is
that?”
They stood for a
few minutes taking in the snowy scene, both thinking back to the last time they
enjoyed the snowfall together then she inclined her head, so he could kiss her
and when his hands moved from her soft belly and cupped her breasts she led him
back to the bed and they made love again.
He woke early the
next morning and lay in the half light and held Linda’s sleeping form in his
arms and as he lay there he thought how good the fates had been to them that
weekend.
If his car hadn’t
broken down, and had he not rejected the idea of taking the train, he would not
have been shopping on that cold grey morning.
He thought about
the moments he spent admiring that tree in the square and listening to the
Salvation Army band, and what thought processes made him do what he did.
Was it destiny
that he chose to start his shopping at Woolworths, and at the very that moment
Linda was preparing to leave, or just blind luck?
They could have
chosen any one of the five doors along Woolworths frontage but they both chose
the same one, surely that had to be fate.
Although it didn’t
really matter to him, all he knew for sure was that 24 hours before that day
his life had been so sad and empty and now it was full to overflowing and he
was finally with his soul mate.
Linda was in
Paul’s life at last and he wanted her never to leave it again, but if fate
decreed that the special embrace on one special night of that special weekend
was all they could have then he would have been content, but he didn’t have to.
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