January
After
spending a pleasant few hours with Jade Kimberley, Craig Russell received a
withering look from her Titan of a mother after keeping her out too long, when
they returned to the Hotel.
When
he went to the reception desk to retrieve his key, he found a message waiting
for him to say that the meal with Angus and Sally was cancelled, as their child
Gregor was ill, so they postponed it until the following night, which meant he
was at a loose end that evening.
Craig
decided to have a word with Clifford, the concierge, to see if he could get him
a ticket for something, anything, for that evening.
He
came back to him an hour later, with two tickets for the ice Hockey match
between the Sharpington Sharks and the Finchbottom Flyers.
Unfortunately,
Clifford had misunderstood, he only wanted one ticket, but he had scalped him a
pair, so he paid him the money and just hoped it would be worth it.
Before
he went to the match, he decided to get a beer in the Hotel bar first as he had
some time to kill.
In
the end he had two and as he sat at the bar, he noticed the formidable Mrs.
Kimberley-Price and her lapdog crossing the foyer in all their finery, and he
started to wonder where Jade was.
Craig
was a hard bitten thirty-five-year-old sports hack who had managed to stay
single into middle age, though in truth it hadn’t always been by design, so he
shouldn’t have cared tuppence.
But
it was funny that since he had bumped into Jade for the third time that
afternoon, how he found himself wishing to bump into her again and as he left
the bar after finishing his third drink, he got his wish.
“Oh
hello” she said
“Jade!”
he exclaimed “I was just thinking about you”
“Oh?”
she said and blushed
“Yes,
I just saw her ladyship and her lackey leave the Hotel and I wondered why you
weren’t with them” he said
“They’ve
gone to dinner at Mornington Manor” she replied “not really my cup of tea”
“In
which case I think I have something that might be” he said
“Really?”
she asked intrigued
“Yes,
I’m off to the Sharpington,” he began “the Sharks are playing…”
“The
Finchbottom Flyers” she responded
“Correct”
he said slightly patronizingly
“And
I have a spare ticket”
To
his surprise she didn’t respond to his unspoken invitation, but he left the
silence unfilled for a minute before he said
“So,
would you like to come?”
“Me?”
she asked like she’d never been invited anywhere in her life
“Really?”
“Yes
you” he reiterated
“I’d
love to” she said, “have I got time to change?”
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