December
When the
wedding party, Charlie, Toddy, Chloe, Kirsten, Stephen and Verity sojourned to
Abbottsford earlier in the month, shopping for the wedding outfits at the
Phoenix Shopping Centre, where they met up with Best Man Paul Day.
After a successful
day shopping, they stayed overnight at the Abbottsford Regents Hotel and most
of the party went to see a play at The Empire Theatre and then they all met up
again to have dinner at the Wooden Slipper.
Paul and
Kirsten were next to each other, and they made something of an instant
connection.
They had a
marvelous evening with good company, excellent food and a liberal amount of
alcohol thrown in for good measure and there was an equally liberal amount of
flirting between the two of them.
But amidst the
friendly banter, flirting and overindulgence, Paul and Kirsten had both reached
a milestone in their lives, namely that they were now open to a new beginning.
They had been
stuck in limbo since they lost their respective life partners, more than 9
years for Paul and just under three for Kirsten.
As a result of
their awakenings, they were both looking forward to meeting again at the
wedding where he was Best Man and she was Matron of Honour.
Although they
met in Abbottsford Paul’s home and Business were both in Sharpington, he was
staying in Abbottsford after they met up for some business meetings and had to
stay in town for a couple more days, otherwise he would have offered to drive
her back so they could continue to get to know one another.
He would have
to wait until the wedding.
As the wedding
reception was at the Barnabus Manor Hotel, Paul decided to book in on Friday
night rather than drive up on Saturday morning.
He phoned
Charlie first thing to say he would be in the Village, and did they want to do
dinner, but alas they already had plans.
So, midmorning
on Friday after he’d checked in at the Hotel, he phoned Kirsten Vaughan
“Hi Kirsten,
its Paul”
“Oh, hello
Paul, it lovely to hear from you” she said
“I’m at the
Barnabus Manor, and I was wondering if you were free for lunch or dinner”
“I can’t do
lunch” she lied
“But dinner
would be lovely”
“I can book a
table here if that’s ok, or we can go to a restaurant of your choice”
“The Barnabus
is absolutely fine” she replied
“Ok I’ll book a
table for eight, what time would you like me to pick you up?” he asked
“No that’s ok
I’ll make my own way” she said
After getting
showered, shaved, and dressed he walked down the stairs just in time to see
Kirsten walking through reception having deposited her coat in the cloakroom.
She was a small
Elphin featured woman with bobbed chestnut hair, and was wearing a red cocktail dress, black tights, and matching shoes
with a pashmina around her shoulders.
Her hair colour
was enhanced from a bottle whereas his silver fox look was natural, but he
liked what he saw.
“Wow! You look
good enough to eat” he said
“Thank you” she
said coyly and then added
“When you
invited me to dinner, I didn’t realize I was the dinner” she said, and they
both laughed.
“Shall we?” he
said offering his arm.
Once they were
seated at a table and the waiter had taken their order he said
“I’m so pleased
you were free tonight”
“So am I” she
responded smugly.
“I have been
looking forward to seeing you again” Paul said
“Me too” she
admitted
“But we would
have had tomorrow”
“Yes, but one
on one is so much nicer” he retorted with a chuckle.
Then after a
few moments thought she added.
“You’re a very
naughty man”
And in response
they both dissolved into laughter.
The evening
went by very quickly with exceptionally good food, a lot more laughter and a
liberal amount of wine, but neither of them mentioned what was really on their
minds.
Nor did it
raise its head during coffee or the accompanying liqueurs or even the nightcap
in the bar, although the attraction between them was never more than a moment
from their thoughts.
It was nearly
one o’clock when he checked his watch and said,
“Sadly, I think
the time has come for us to say goodnight.”
“It can’t be”
she snorted and then checked her watch
“How did it get
that late?”
“Time flies
when you’re having fun” he said.
“Perhaps
another nightcap?” she suggested
“Sadly, the bar
is closing” he said before adding “unless you want one in my room”
“Well then I
think you had better escort me to the mini bar” she said and giggled as she got
unsteadily to her feet.
“My pleasure
Matron” he said offering his arm.
“Ah a gentleman”
she said putting her arm through his “Though gentlemanliness shouldn’t be
overdone”
As it had done
all evening, laughter accompanied them all the way as they climbed the stairs
to the first floor and along the corridor but when they reached the door to his
room, Kirsten smiled as she turned to
face him and kissed him gently on the lips, a warm sensitive and tender kiss,
and when their lips parted, she smiled at him coyly and flushed a deep shade of
pink.
“I’ve wanted to
do that since the first time I saw you” she said, and Paul kissed her forehead
before cupping her flushed cheek in his palm, then he slid his fingers beneath
her soft chestnut hair and caressed the soft downy hair on her nape as he
pulled her sweet lips to his and returned her kiss.
When their lips
parted Kirsten’s arms enveloped him, holding him close, and so tightly, they stood locked in their embrace until he pulled away
for a moment and said
“Wow, that, was
worth waiting for”
“Very much so”
she concurred and took the keycard from his hand, unlocked the door and led him
inside.
When Paul and
Kirsten woke on the morning of the wedding and the realization of what they had
done suddenly dawned on them as they lay cuddled beneath the duvet.
“We’re really
doing it aren’t we?” Kirsten said as she hugged him
“Yes, I rather think
we are” he replied
“Wow” she said “We’re
moving on”
After a few
minutes she suddenly went rigid,
“Have we missed
breakfast?”
“No, I think
they’ve only just started serving” he replied
“Order room
service,” she said as she was heading for the bathroom.
She was so
excited by what had happened that she just had to share it, her first choice
would have been Toddy, but as the bride to be she had other things keeping her occupied,
so she went for her second-best choice, dialed the number and said
“Chloe!”
After half an
hour sitting in the bathroom with the door shut talking to Chloe, Kirsten emerged
just as breakfast arrived.
After opening
the door and taking the tray Paul walked towards the bed and Kirsten opened the
door again and hung the “Do not disturb” on the knob.
“This looks
great” he said “I’m starving”
“Don’t think of
it as food” she said with a leer “think of it as fuel”
“Enough said”
he remarked and bit into a sausage
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