At the time he had known her
for roughly six months and had had a crush on her since the first moment he saw
her.
She was in his sister’s
bible study group which was held at his house every two or three weeks.
When the diminutive woman
standing 4 feet 11 in her stocking feet looked at him with her large saucer
sized eyes he was ensnared.
Even before she deployed the
warm mesmerizing smile he was smitten.
But as remarkably beautiful
as her face was, her figure on the other hand was singularly unremarkable.
She had short chubby legs, a
flat chest and a barely distinguishable waist.
Though her bum was an
altogether different proposition and each buttock was beautifully defined
inside her cargos.
Colin however despite being
attracted to her didn’t envisage that anything would ever come of it, he was 12
years her senior and she was a sensible Christian girl.
So, it came as quite a
surprise when his sister Jane volunteered him to help Angela retrieve something
from the stationary cupboard and he ended up helping himself to a snog.
After the event Colin felt a
surprising lack of guilt about it even though he had snogged a fellow
congregant on church property during the Sunday service while his sister Jane
sat in the congregation.
He didn’t know if Angela
felt guilty however, he hadn’t seen her to ask her.
Though in fairness it was
Angela who had initiated the action in the cupboard when she feigned a slip
from the steps and fell into his arms.
He remembered so well
watching Angela taking her seat after the event, when she looked across at him
and smiled,
Colin winked at Angela and
her face went scarlet and she looked away.
But when a moment later she
turned and looked at him again she smiled broadly, and he knew the stationary
cupboard kiss was a proper beginning.
However in the week
following that eventful Sunday, Colin was away in Nettlefield on business so it
hadn’t been the beginning of anything and so it was the next Monday when he
decided to act and he decided to visit one of the places she worked and talk to
her away from the church.
Angela had a wonderful work
ethic, which was something else he admired her for and she held down three part
time jobs.
Monday to Wednesday she
worked at Abbotts Gardens Centre, Thursdays and Fridays she worked Dustbusters
Domestic Cleaning Services and at weekends she worked in the café and bookshop
at St Joseph’s church, which was situated on the edge of the town centre.
He visited the Abbotts
Gardens Centre numerous times but failed to see her, so he went into the St
Dunstan’s café and bookshop on three separate occasions just in case she was
doing extra shifts but there was no sign of her there either.
So, he thought that she was
obviously racked with guilt and was either keeping a low profile or had left.
Colin couldn’t keep turning
up at the church looking for her as people would doubtless notice and be
suspicious, he had already visited the bookshop more times in one week than he
had in the previous two years, and that would have been that had it not been
for an overheard conversation between his sister and the café and bookshop
manager, Mrs Patmore.
“Yes, I can do a couple of
hours on Saturday” Jane said “And I hope Angela is better soon”
After Jane had hung up the
phone Colin asked
“What was all that about?”
“Mrs Patmore is looking for
help at the café while Angela is laid up” she replied
“Why what’s wrong with her?”
his asked casually
“She fell off those rickety
steps last Sunday” Jane said in her “I knew that would happen” kind of way
He and Jane hadn’t been to
St Dunstan’s that day as they had a christening to attend at St Lucy’s in
Sharpington
“Oh dear” he said wondering
if she was thinking about the previous weeks’ antics “is she ok?”
“Badly sprained ankle” Jane
said
It was Wednesday when he got
the news about Angela’s fall, and once he realised, she wasn’t seriously hurt
Colin wondered if it would be classed as a fall from grace.
Particularly if she was
reminiscing on the previous outing on the steps.
He spent the next couple of
days trying to think of a plausible ruse that would enable him to go round and
see her.
The ploy would be
superfluous for Angela as she would know why he was really there; the ruse was
for the benefit of Judith who was Angela’s flatmate.
He racked his brain for a
solution, but none came so he resigned himself to the fact that he wouldn’t see
her until she returned to work.
On Saturday morning he was
busy in the garden pruning back the shrubbery when Jane appeared at the
backdoor
“I’m doing a shift at the
café this afternoon” she called
“Ok” he replied
“There is a bunch of flowers
on the table” she continued “I don’t have time to drop them off, so can you do
it?”
“Sure” he replied, “who are
they for?”
“Angela of course” she said
“why do you never pay attention”
Flowers, why didn’t he think
of flowers, it was perfect.
So as soon as Jane had left,
he went upstairs and showered and shaved, then he got in his car and drove the
six miles to the small block of flats where Angela lived.
He walked up to the first
floor and rang the bell and a few minutes later it was opened by Judith Small
the flat mate.
“Hi Judith” he said “I have
flowers for the invalid”
“Hello Mr Capel” she said
politely “Do come in”
As he followed Judith down
the hall staring at her denim clad derriere he thought that Angela’s flat mate
had the three main attributes that Angela lacked youth, height and breasts, but
despite that there was something Judith didn’t have and that was the equal to
her bum and more importantly her heart.
“It’s Mr Capel” Judith
announced as he walked in
“Hello Colin” she said
recumbent on the sofa with her sprained ankle resting on a chair supported by a
large cushion.
She was wearing a blue
fleecy dressing gown over the top of pink striped pyjamas.
“What a lovely surprise”
“I come bearing gifts” he
said and proffered the bunch of flowers which Judith snatched from his grasp
and took them away to the kitchen
“They’re lovely” said the Carrington
Chase educated girl and motioned with
her head like someone watching the grand prix and has just seen the car race
down the home straight.
He sat down on the sofa next
to her.
“I would have come sooner”
he said after Judith had gone.
“But…” He didn’t finish his
sentence as Angela had taken hold of his hand which she continued to hold until
Judith reappeared.
“What happened?” Colin asked
with concern
“I fell off those blessed
steps and you weren’t there to catch me” she said
“Or kiss me” she added in a
whisper
“I wish I had been” he said
and she blushed
Just then Judith’s mobile
went off and she took it out of the room to answer it and the moment she went
out the door Angela took hold of his hand again but released it a moment later
when Judith returned
“Will you be alright if I
just pop into town?” she asked “I won’t be long”
“Of course” Angela replied
“Colin will keep me company for a little while, won’t you Colin?”
“Oh yes” he replied “I’ll
take good care of her”
The second they heard the front door close Angela took
hold of his hand again and held it against her cheek.
“How’s your ankle?” he asked
“Not too bad” she said and Colin took that to mean
that she wanted a cuddle so he put his arm around her.
“I was hoping you would come to see me” she said in
her posh wanton accent
“I came as soon as I could” he explained
“I know” she said holding his palm against her cheek
and he moved closer to her and kissed her mouth.
She reciprocated instantly with lips, soft and
yielding, and her mouth was hot and her tongue inquisitive.
In the hour and a half that Judith left them alone
together they did more than kiss, they declared their love for each other.
However they decided to keep it to themselves for the
time being which they thought made their relationship
all the more exciting.
