It was a beautiful June evening when Neil Etherington and his colleague
Jonathon Hardman were sat by the river in the beer garden of the Mulberry Tree
in the village of Brocklington, which was about six miles downstream of the
River Deighton discussing the upcoming weekend.
The two friends both worked for a firm of architects called New
Horizons whose head office was in Sharpington by Sea.
Neil had a cottage in the Village and Jon was staying with him while
his house the Dulcets was being fumigated.
The reason they were discussing the weekend was because he had two tickets
to the Downshire versus Surrey one day match at the Abbottsfield cricket
ground.
The main topic of the conversation was whether they would drive to
Abbottsford early on Saturday morning or go up the night before and stay at a
hotel and they were on their third pint of Mornington Ale when Neil’s phone
rang.
He picked it up and checked the caller ID and saw it was his boss Russ
Evans.
“Hi Russ” Neil said
“Hi Neil, sorry to interrupt your evening, but I need you go to the
Abbottsford Regents Hotel tomorrow morning to meet a potential new client” Russ
explained
“Sure, who am I meeting” he asked
“Sam Barraclough” Russ replied “it could be a very lucrative
commission, so use kid gloves”
After the call ended Neil’s mind was made up for him regarding the
weekend because as he was going to be in Abbottsford all day on Friday it made
perfect sense for him to stay at a hotel that night.
It was Friday morning and another glorious June day as Neil set off
from the village and as he drove he planned his strategy for the meeting as
Neil had been instructed to treat the potential new client with kid gloves.
An all-day meeting at a plus Hotel like the Regent was one of the few perks his
job had to offer so why wouldn’t he jump at the chance and it meant as he would
be out of the office most of the day he could dine the client at the Hotel on
expenses, another rare perk.
It was an hour and a half drive from Brocklington to Abbottsford even
on a good day and that Friday morning was apparently not a good day.
So as he sat in the queuing traffic his thoughts turned to his
meeting, with his client, Russ hadn’t been very forthcoming with the detail so
he wasn’t really sure what to expect, but with a name like Sam Barraclough, he
was expecting to meet a Yorkshire man with whippet on a lead, with a copy of
the pigeon fanciers weekly laying on his knee, so in short a dour Yorkshireman
wearing a cloth cap and a tweed jacket.
Despite the horrendous traffic, he was only a few minutes late when he
walked up to the grand entrance to the Regents Hotel, he hadn’t been in their
before, it was a bit too rich for his blood, but as he got closer it became
clear why it wasn’t in the £50 a night category.
But if Neil was unprepared for the grandeur of the Hotel he was doubly
unprepared for what was to greet him inside.
When Neil Etherington arrived a few minutes late at the Abbottsford
Regents Hotel for a meeting with Sam Barraclough, he was totally unprepared for
who it was that was waiting to greet him in reception, the whippet wielding
Yorkshireman he was expecting, because of the name, turned out to be a very
pretty young woman by the name of Samantha, who was a petite young blonde, and
was stunningly beautiful, that would teach him to jump to conclusions or indeed
to Judge a book by its cover.
“Hello” he said “I’m terribly sorry for my tardiness”
“That’s perfectly fine” she responded “I’m only on time myself because
I’m staying at the hotel”
Neil was instantly spellbound by the delicious tones of her voice as
she introduced herself with a broad smile and a hearty hello and in response he
stuttered out his own introduction and the beautiful young woman offered her
hand to him in greeting which he accepted gladly.
Her hand was soft and smooth like silk and it gripped his firmly and
in his large paw her little hand was almost like that of a child.
In silence they continued to shake hands and they both smiled.
They continued to hold each other's gaze and hand perhaps slightly too
long and they both laughed nervously and Samantha’s cheeks blushed brightly.
“I have a meeting room booked, do you want to follow me” She said and even her
voice was beautiful, pure Carrington Chase educated perfection, Carrington
Chase being Downshire’s version of Roedean, although those in Downshire thought
it was the other way around.
It was certainly no chore for him to follow her, and he walked through
a cloud of her exotic heady fragrance which was left in her beauteous wake.
She went out though the door and silently led him down a corridor in
the direction of the meeting rooms and as he followed he was mesmerized by her
perfect form and was happily admiring its perfection.
Even wearing four-inch heels he marvelled at her daintiness as even in heels
she only reached the dizzy height of five foot three.
Her straight blonde hair cascaded softly onto the shoulders of her fitted silk
blouse which perfectly complemented her waif like frame.
Samantha had the tiniest of waists and the slenderest of hips to swing and pert
round buttocks contained within the expensive tailored skirt and then the
shapely legs, clad in stockings unless he was mistaken, he hoped he wasn’t
mistaken, and the overall effect was stunning and he was absolutely smitten.
As she passed an open door, sunlight illuminated her form through silk and
cotton and the sudden transparency left nothing at all to Neil’s imagination,
and he had a very vivid imagination, and she continued walking seemingly
oblivious to the effect she had achieved on the red-blooded man in her wake.
Not out of conceit she just wouldn’t have believed it possible that
she could leave grown men breathless, she just didn’t see herself as others saw
her.
Samantha pushed open the meeting room door and held it open for Neil to
enter.
Samantha pushed open the meeting room door and held it open for Neil
to enter.
“Thank you” he said and once again their eyes met and they held each
other’s gaze a moment to long and once more they both blushed again.
Samantha stopped by a vacant seat and slowly turned towards him as the room was
flooded with sunlight, which caused the illumination of the contents of her
blouse for Neil to see, an opportunity he did not pass up, and the gentlemanly
thing to do would have been to avert his gaze, but he couldn’t.
In the next instant the vent on her skirt caught momentarily on the arm of the
chair as she prepared to seat herself and showed him a tantalising glimpse of
lacy stocking top which to his delight confirmed the suspicion that he had
earlier.
Effortlessly and elegantly she slipped into the vacant chair and gestured for
him to sit beside her in the neighbouring one.
Samantha was neither coy nor reticent as she sat straight-backed, upright,
confident and proud and her beautiful cultured voice was strangely hypnotic,
clear, and crisp but not loud and once again he was completely enveloped in her
intoxicating scent as she opened her briefcase and deftly removed the relevant
documents.
She was like a precious work of art that he had admired from a distance on the
way to the meeting room but sitting next to her he could examine her in finer
detail, every brushstroke, and every nuance.
Her blonde hair cascaded onto her slim shoulders like fine golden rain and as
she moved the sun was highlighting the strands like spun gold again and again.
The golden rain tumbled down to caress the nape of her neck and coming to rest
on her soft white silk covered shoulders.
Neil could barely concentrate on the documents as he was transfixed by
the vision of her golden hair framing her pretty face.
A face of pale alabaster, pale like the porcelain on a doll or like a
Greek Grace and her eyes, stunning and captivating, were of translucent green
and her nose was small and angular sat perfectly in its place.
Her mouth was small and narrow but her lips were full and luscious and
as she spoke, her pale pink lips glistened moistly and sensuously.
When their eyes met, however fleetingly it might have been, they both
blushed to their roots and then a smile danced about her mouth provocatively.
He left no element of the perfect whole unscrutinised and turned his attention
to her slim pale arms, naked and bare where the suns illumination highlighted
like white gold the downy hair upon them.
And her small delicate hands with fingers so elegant and slim, with no bitten
or false nails just naturally well cared for and prim.
Also no rings adorned her fingers in fact there was no jewellery at all, but
then to Neil’s mind no jewellery could ever improve on the perfection of her
beauty.
Of course all of his admiration of her made it very difficult to
concentrate, but fortunately she closed the blinds and turned off the lights
and went on a Video and PowerPoint presentation which allowed him to get up to
speed without distractions.
Samantha Barraclough was approaching her 28th birthday and was a
project consultant for the family business, Barraclough Ventures and the project
that Samantha’s company was heading up was the regeneration of the former
Industrial Power House of the county, Northchapel.
There was a large amount of derelict property as well as a large
acreage of land that hadn’t been built on since the Germans bombed it, so it
was to be a huge brownfield Development of residential, commercial and leisure
and Samantha was one of several members of the company speaking to several
noted firms of architect’s.
The presentation came to an end and Samantha stood up and switched on
the lights.
“I think now might be a good time to break for lunch” she said
“We can recap on the key points when we return because I’m not sure
you were really paying attention earlier” she added with a twinkle “Well not to
my presentation anyway”
“No I’m sorry about that, I’m normally much more professional than
this” he said as she slipped the documents back into her briefcase.
“That’s ok” She said “I’m not offended”
And then she snapped her briefcase shut and added
“I took the liberty of booking a table here at the Hotel, unless you
had any other plans”
“No here would be perfect” he replied
It was a glorious June day and furthermore God had delivered the good
people of the Downshire a very hot day, the hottest day of the year so far in
fact, so they were fortunate to have a table on the terrace.
They were seated by the waiter and after they had ordered drinks Neil
said
“So you’re not from Abbottsford then”
Remembering that she said earlier that she was staying at the Hotel.
“No I’m not” she said “I live in the Dulcets, Dulcet-on-Willow”
The Dulcets were a
collection of villages and hamlets comprising of Dulcet Meadow, Dulcet St Mary,
Dulcet Green and Dulcet-on-Brooke, to name but a few, and of course Dulcet-on-Willow which was a large sprawling village
beside the gentle shallow River Willow, which ran unhurriedly from the
Pepperstock Hills to the more vibrant River Brooke.
“Really?” he responded “I live in Brocklington”
“Oh quite close” she said and then she suddenly dropped her napkin and
leant forwards to retrieve it causing her blouse to gape slightly, revealing a
glimpse of breast, just the briefest glimpse however with a hint of lace and
frill but enough to quicken the pulse and excite the senses.
But then she caught him looking at her and smiled as he averted his
gaze, it amused her that it made him look like a naughty schoolboy, but then it
was her milky white flesh that blushed in a crimson blaze.
The lunch lasted for over two hours and they chatted about everything
imaginable other than the project.
“So do you always hold your meetings here?” he asked as they drank
coffee
“Good heavens no” she replied “it was just convenient as I’m in Abbottsford
for the weekend”
She didn’t elaborate as to the reason however.
Sam and Neil went back to the meeting room and got back to business,
and she recapped all the salient points while he tried his best not to be
distracted by her beauty, which wasn’t easy.
Alas all too soon their business meeting was at a close
“We will have to arrange another meeting in a couple of weeks”
She said and he felt her soft delicate hand in his again but he was so
blinded by her beauty and so intoxicated by her sweet perfume he could barely
stammer out a sentence.
“Well now that the meeting is officially at an end I don’t feel that
my professionalism is in anyway compromised can I invite you for a drink on the
terrace before you go”
It was a bit bold for her, she normally just waited to be asked and
because she was pretty, they normally did, but she felt a bit of a connection.
“Well um…I” he stammered
“I understand if you want to get away and beat the Friday rush hour”
she said amiably, although she was disappointed
“No it’s not that” he said quickly “I’m actually staying in town
tonight anyway”
“What you’re staying here?” she asked
“Sadly no, I’m at the Black Heart”
“That’s a nice Hotel though” she said “so do you have time for a
drink? I’m not going out until 8 so I have loads of time”
She was suddenly feeling very nervous and a little bit vulnerable and as
a result she spoke very quickly.
“I’d love to” he said feeling rather pleased with himself, he would
never have found the courage to ask her and he was surprised that she asked him
and he assumed it was just because she had time to kill.
Because Samantha was uncharacteristically nervous she drank more than
was normal for her and subsequently she rather monopolized the conversation
which Neil didn’t mind at all because he was to in awe of her to have joined
in.
They both rather lost track of the time and when her phone rang at
7.05 she went into a panic, because she had gone from having loads of time on
her hands to having no time at all.
“I’m sorry but I have to go” she said and Samantha went up on her tip
toes and kissed his mouth, with her pale pink lips, soft and gentle like the
touch of a butterfly’s wing and he was enveloped in her intoxicating perfume.
When she had gone he sat down and said to himself
“Did that just happen?”
As he began to get control of his faculties and tried to come to terms
with the fact that she had just kissed him.
“Did a beautiful, intelligent, classy and quite frankly drop dead
gorgeous young woman just kiss me?” he thought
“And not a peck on the cheek, or an air kiss but an actual lip to lip
kiss?”
Things like that didn’t happen to him, if anyone had witnessed their
embrace they would have unanimously said that he was punching well above his
weight.
Not that he was a bad looking man, he wasn’t, but he wasn’t stunning, sexy
or buff, he was middling.
He was an average man approaching his thirtieth birthday and he had
just been kissed by an absolute beauty of three years younger.
He thought for a moment that he would have another drink before he
left but instead decided to go and eat something to soak up the alcohol he had
already had.
Because he had had too much to drink Neil left his car in the Regents
Hotel car park and he stopped at the first fast food that he came to which
happened to be a an Emperor Burger Bar and ordered the biggest one he could see
on the menu with fries.
Having sufficiently filled the hollow with reconstituted meat,
saturated fats and carbohydrates he ambled his way to the Black Heart Hotel.
He would have liked to stay at the Regents but it was a bit rich for
his blood so he booked into the Black Heart which was only half as good but a
third of the price.
When he got to reception he checked in and as soon as he got to his
room he crashed out.
On Saturday morning Neil was up very promptly due to his early night
the previous evening, so he got himself ready and was the first one down for
breakfast.
He was still in the restaurant at 9 o’clock when his friend Jonathon
Hardman arrived.
Samantha Barraclough was also up early on Saturday morning despite
having had a late night out with friends.
Her problem was that she couldn’t sleep, because she kept kicking
herself for not getting his number the day before.
All was not lost of course, as her friends, whom she had bored rigid
the night before with talk of him had told her, she could still get hold of him
via New Horizons, but of course that wouldn’t be until Monday, whereas if she
had had the presence of mind to get his number when she was under the influence
of Picpoul, they might have been able to do something as they were both in
Abbottsford.
But she hadn’t done that so she got herself ready and availed herself
of the full English breakfast before leaving the Regents to meet up with her friends.
Because Neil was ready far too early and already breakfasted before
Jonathon arrived they left for the cricket ground on foot.
On the way there Neil recounted all the details of the previous days
encounter.
“Did you get her number?” Jonathon asked
“Erm no” was the reply
“Wouldn’t she give it to you?” Jon asked mockingly
“No, it wasn’t like that”
“But you did ask her?” Jonathon pressed him
“Well no I didn’t actually” he admitted
“You numpty” Jonathon said “you do realise that she might have been “the
one””
“The thought did cross my mind” Neil admitted
“So you might well have blown it” Jon added
“Yes”
“So how do you feel?” Jon asked
“Like a complete numpty” Neil said
It was a glorious June day and there was a good crowd at the Cricket
Ground and Neil and Jonathon went in as soon as the gates opened and after
getting some refreshments they found their seats and took in the ambience as
the ground began to fill.
Downshire won the toss and decided to bat first and they were in great
form and the atmosphere was absolutely electric as Downshire went to work with
the bat and they raced to 53-0 inside seven overs and declared on 225 for 7
after just 40 overs so the umpire called an early lunch, which pleased Neil no
end because his breakfast had worn off.
When Downshire declared on 225 for 7 and the umpires called lunch Neil
and Jonathon joined the throng to use either the facilities or one of the many
food and refreshment outlets.
While Jonathon queued for two pints of Mornington Special, Neil joined
a separate queue for sandwiches and crisps.
Neil had just left the counter with his purchases and had begun
navigating his way back to his seat when a large middle-aged man unceremoniously
shoulder barged him and then a small woman wearing heels trod on his foot.
“Ow” he yelped and the woman said
“I’m so sorry”
“That’s ok really” he replied through gritted teeth thinking it
definitely wasn’t ok when he actually caught sight of his assailant.
“Hello Samantha” he said
“Oh it’s you” Sam said “How funny, I was hoping to run into you”
“Well you certainly did that” Neil said
“I really am sorry though for treading on your foot” she said with a
giggle
“I think I’ll probably survive” he said amiably
“Good” she said and squeezed his hand
“Anyway when you said you were in Abbottsford for the weekend I had no
idea you were coming to the cricket” Neil said “I didn’t know you were a
cricket fan”
“Oh yes I love cricket, I come often, the company have a box”
“That would make it a cricket box” he commented randomly
“Oh yes” she chuckled “I hadn’t thought of that”
“So you’re enjoying it then” he said “Oh yes I always do but today
even more so”
“How come?”
“Because of David Ball, our wonderful new all-rounder” she said
proudly
“Is that your boyfriend?”
“Goodness me no” she replied with a laugh
“Husband then?” he asked
“Of course not, now you’re just being silly” she chastised him
“He’s my stepbrother”
“Oh really” he expressed with relief
They had been walking slowly through the crowd as they chatted and
when they arrived at the door to the executive boxes Sam showed the signs, for
the first time that she was not quite as composed as she had appeared to be,
because her hand was shaking as she fumbled in her bag for her key card.
Neil noticed her trembling hand, but having finally retrieved it from
her bag Sam was having trouble with the electronic key.
“Would you like me to try?” he asked as Sam struggled with the lock.
But she just paused and took a deep breath and it worked, the light
turned green, the lock clicked and the door opened and her shoulders relaxed
and Samantha regained her composure and she gave him her business card, which
was what she was actually fumbling for in her bag.
“My private number is on the back” she said and smiled before she
strode purposefully in through the door.
“Oh yes” he said triumphantly when the door had closed and he headed
quickly to find his seat.
“Did you have to make those sandwiches?” Jonathon said when Neil finally
reached him.
“I have something better than sandwiches” he said and waved the
business card under his nose
“Result” Jonathon said as he turned the card over in his hand “But I
hope you got the sandwiches as well”
She was delighted to have trodden on his toe and instigated a
prolonged conversation and then after
successfully giving her number to Neil by the door to the executive boxes
Samantha was feeling very pleased with herself and immediately told her best
friend Isabelle Decoene.
“Thank god for that”
she said “Perhaps you’ll stop going on about him so much now you have his number”
“Oh bugger” Sam
exclaimed
“You did get “His”
number didn’t you?” Izzy asked
“Oh bugger” Sam said
and plopped down in her seat
“Oh bugger” Isabelle
echoed because she knew she was going to talk about her missed opportunity all
afternoon.
He had no idea Samantha was among the crowd on that hot June day and
once he knew that she was he could think of nothing else
So he wasn’t really fully paying attention when the 20-year-old Debutant,
all-rounder David Ball joined the bowling attack and clean bowled Surrey’s star
man Gillmore with his first ball, a dismissal that sparked a spectacular
collapse.
Surrey were all out for 165 with 12 overs to spare and Downshire won
the match by sixty runs and the delighted fans disgorged onto the streets of
Abbottsford in great spirits even before the tea interval.
Jonathon and Neil decided to return to the Hotel on foot and planned
to stop for a pint or two along the way, they made slow progress however and
bypassed the first three pubs because of the huge crowds and their perseverance
paid off as the crowds began to thin out as people started to disappear up side
roads in search of their cars.
The two men were both
tall and as the crowd thinned they could lengthen their stride.
They had decided on the Downshire Castle as their port of call and
they were within sight of it and anticipating a refreshing pint when they were brought back to the moment by the sound of a
car horn, a very persistent car horn.
They both turned
around to investigate and Neil saw Samantha standing up in the passenger side
of a red Audi TT Roadster convertible waving franticly and grinning.
Isabelle and Samantha
had left the cricket ground from the members car park and were heading very
slowly back to the Hotel when Samantha spotted Neil ahead of them on the
pavement.
“It’s him, it’s him,
it’s him” she squealed
“Where?” Isabelle
asked
“Over there” she replied
excitedly and pointed
“Toot your horn, toot
it toot it toot it”
Having successful
attracted his attention Samantha gave him her most dazzling smile and said
“Hello again”
“Hi”
“There’s a big garden
party in the grounds of the Regents, we’re going back to there now” she said at
a hundred miles an hour “do you and your friend want to come?”
“Yes we’d love to” he
replied and then the traffic started moving and Isabelle had to drive off
“I’ll meet you in
reception” she shouted
“Was that him?” Isabelle
asked “the one you’ve been bending my ear about all weekend”
“Yes that’s him” Sam
said proudly
“He’s a bit ordinary”
Izzy said and Samantha frowned “His friend was alright though”
Samantha sat in silence for the rest of the journey and digested what Izzy
had said, she didn’t think he was ordinary, from the first moment she saw him
she knew he was anything but ordinary.
She wasn’t inexperienced with men, but most of the experience’s she
had had weren’t really memorable, or were memorable for the wrong reasons, looking
as she did she had always attracted men, the problem was she chose the wrong
ones, perhaps that was why she was attracted to Neil because he wasn’t the
“type” of man she normally went for.
While Isabelle parked the car Samantha proceeded into the Hotel and
rushed upstairs to her room to freshen up, so she would look her best when Neil
arrived then she went back downstairs to reception.
“I don’t think he’s ordinary” she said to Izzy
“I know that” she said “But the way you were talking I thought he was
going to look like Robert Redford”
“I wasn’t that bad”
she protested
“You were and I’ve
never known you to be so obviously smitten by a man before” she pointed out
“and I’ve certainly never known you to chase one down the street”
“Yes but ….” She
began, but didn’t finish because she saw Neil and his friend walking towards
them.
Introductions were quickly made and Isabelle who had liked the look of
Jonathon the first time she saw him, liked him even more at close quarters.
Neil could only look at Samantha in abject admiration, but he
appreciated her for slightly longer that he should and Samantha became
self-conscious and looked at her feet and blushed.
Jonathon suggested drinks and Isabelle volunteered to go with him
leaving Neil and Sam alone.
“I’m sorry” Neil said “but you look so stunningly beautiful, I couldn’t
take my eyes off you”
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath and said
“I want to apologize myself, well really I just want to say that this
is completely out of character for me” she blurted out before she breathed
deeply again
“And I don’t want you to think I make a habit of accosting men in the
street, and being forward”
“You won’t hear me complaining as long as I’m the one you’re being
forward with” he said and Samantha giggled and she was still giggling when
Jonathon and Isabelle returned with the drink and they walked out onto the
terrace and looked for a table.
There were no empty tables on the terrace but there was one with three
vacant seats so they decided to take them, but everyone hovered not wanting to
presume that they could have the chair so Neil put down his pint on the table
and did the same with her wine and then he pirouetted quite gracefully and in
one fluid movement sat himself on a chair and deposited Samantha on his lap.
“Problem solved” Neil said
“Nicely done” Samantha expressed and then she kissed him and
afterwards she thought to herself as she looked at him
“That wasn’t ordinary, you’re a definite keeper”
Samantha giggled and then kissed him again to be doubly sure and then
declared internally.
“Yes this time it will be memorable for the right reason”
And so it proved to be as that weekend in Abbottsford marked the start
of a new chapter in Samantha and Neil’s lives as well as their friends.
