(Chapter 18)
"A Moment of Madness" (circa-1988)
The six mile Metro journey to Newcastle was relaxing and uneventful. The train was packed with Monday morning commuters heading for their all too boring and familiar places of work. As usual everyone was wearing their trademark sour faces and no one offered a kind look or even a hint of a smile.
Men reading 'the tabloids' had their eyes fixed on either today's naked image on page three or the back page for the sport. A smartly dressed man reading a 'broadsheet' newspaper held a pen precariously between his thumb and index finger studying the daily crossword puzzle.
A middle-aged woman with her head buried in a romantic novel shuffled uncomfortably in her seat and a younger woman sitting opposite casually thumbed through a glossy magazine, pausing occasionally when the article featured men, sex or the occasional celebrity gossip.
The rest of the commuters just sat in silence, wishing they were home in bed.
He was nervous. His head was in chaos. He hadn't slept. He couldn't eat. His heart was banging like a drum inside his chest, the true reality of the court hearing at Newcastle Crown Court at ten-o'clock hanging like a lead weight in the pit of his stomach.
"Fuck me," a voice cursed from the chaos inside his head. He could find himself out of a job by the end of the day. "Fucking hell," the voice echoed. He could be spending the night in Durham Prison.
He shuffled uncomfortably in his seat, breathing slowly and deeply threw his nose, trying to calm the racing heartbeat inside his chest, the confident words of his solicitor the previous day giving him some comfort.
"Bring your cheque book to court rather than a tooth-brush," he told him with reassurance. "With an unblemished record and exemplary character, he should expect to receive a community service order and a substantial fine rather than a custodial sentence.
The wind and rain hammered mercilessly against the carriage windows sending waterfalls streaming in uneven patterns across the dirty glass, making visibility almost impossible.
The soft seductive voice of a woman - who could have earned a fortune on one of those telephone sex lines - breathed the name of the approaching station through the tannoy system, the noise of brakes screeching on metal and the sound of a door buzzer signalling the train had stopped at the station.
Running his hand over the murky glass, clearing a layer of condensation and looking out onto the platform, a warning sign fixed to a steel post forced a smile.
'DONT STAND TOO CLOSE TO THE PLATFORM EDGE OR YOU MIGHT GET SUCKED OFF.'
An anxious crowd of commuters all surged forward towards the automatic doors, shaking wet brollies and stamping their feet, a wall of impatient people with no consideration for others, pushing and squeezing their way into the comfort of the warm carriage.
A fat man with a jolly face waited patiently until everyone had boarded the train before helping a blind woman and her guide dog into the overcrowded carriage. After placing her hand firmly on the vertical support rail the golden Labrador obeyed her command and sat down next to her.
The train jerked as it pulled away from the station, tightly pressed bodies holding onto high level support rails, arms outstretched above their heads, swaying precariously with the momentum, shuffling unsteadily on their feet, trying to find purchase on the wet floor.
The dog's ears suddenly pricked. His black nose started to twitch. He lowered his head, an inquisitive nose following the scent of a familiar smell, searching between the legs of unsuspecting commuters, probing between the pleats of a middle-aged woman's rain coat, the unexpected acquaintance of a wet nose sniffing her bottom forcing her to let go of the high level rail and turn quickly on her heels.
Her eyes were instinctively drawn to the fat jolly man standing directly behind her, the force of an umbrella and a string of verbal abuse taking the smile off his face, her hasty departure to another part of the carriage leaving the blind woman and her faithful companion oblivious to the unfolding events and a cluster of nervous commuters shuffling uncomfortably on their feet, trying to gain as much distance between them and the lecherous man.
The fat man fiddled nervously with his shirt collar before brushing a layer of perspiration from his forehead and forcing a cough into a clenched fist, shaking his head and lifting his shoulders in his defence, pointing an accusing finger at the dog, offering an 'I'm-not-guilty' smile at the other commuters.
But his crimson face and virtuous gestures did little to proclaim his innocence.
The train was warm and comfortable. The peaceful rhythm of the metal tracks clicking over joints and the gentle rocking of the carriage provided the perfect mix for a sleepy cocktail, the moment of calm before the inevitable storm inside the courtroom giving him time to look back over the years.
The memorable and more cheerful times in his life and the most recent event that led to his appearance in court today.
It was a bitterly cold morning in January when he walked into the main reception at Newcastle Civic Centre to begin his first day in a new job.
The multidisciplinary offices occupied the first three floors of the building, employing two hundred professional and administration staff. The technical and professional disciplines included architects, technicians, building surveyors, mechanical and electrical engineers, quantity surveyors, structural engineers, and landscape architects.
The architectural design office on the third floor alone comprised of about sixty professional staff, a mixture of architects, technicians and building surveyors.
His first morning was moderately uneventful, most of his time taken up settling into the working environment and meeting the rest of the architectural staff.
The afternoon followed much of the same routine, visiting member of staff on all three floors, greeting faceless people, endless introductions, too many handshakes and certainly too many names to remember.
Then he was faced with a vision of purity and wonder.
Jill Wallis worked in the medical room on the ground floor of the civic centre. A Mona Lisa smile, a sweet innocence mixed with a hint of provocative elegance, sparkling blue eyes set against milky white skin, long dark hair almost reaching her waist, mouth-watering breasts bouncing enticingly beneath a white blouse, a stunning hour-glass figure poured into a pair of velvet trousers, the tight fitting fabric concealing the impossible curves of perfection
Jill Wallis was without doubt the Holy-Grail of feminine beauty.
For the rest of the day he couldn't get her out of his head.
His second day at work was just as bad. He feigned a headache just to visit the medical room, a little disappointed when he was greeted by an overweight nurse who gave him a couple of tablets and sent him on his way.
The third day started out much the same until he was invited to a lunchtime retirement party at a pub across the road from the office. A glimmer of hope... She might be there.
Jill was there but unfortunately for him so was her fiancée.
He gave her his best smile. It worked. Jill invited him over. She introduced him to her fiancée. He was immature and disrespectful. He was certainly punching above his weight. Jill Wallis deserved better.
On the fourth day he was already forging a plan.
It wasn't going to be easy. It was certainly a challenge. But he knew that if he wanted to be part of this woman's life he would have to be patient, using all his charm to gain her trust, melt her heart and win her affections. But he was old enough to know that patience was a virtue and experience had told him that if he employed all these factors into the chase, Jill Wallis would eventually belong to him.
Weeks turned slowly into months. He worked tirelessly. He made any excuse to visit the ground floor on the off-chance that he might see her in the foyer. He even volunteered for first-aid courses and feigned a range of different ailments just to visit the medical room.
He made a mental note of when she arrived and left the office. On a couple of occasions he waited in his car until she left the office and headed for the bus stop. His chivalrous offer of a lift home always greeted with a friendly smile and a kind word.
Was he making it a little too obvious? Was he turning into a 'voyeur' as well as a 'stalker'? But time was running out and he was becoming frustrated. Fuck it he thought. He decided to throw caution to the wind and make the call.
He wasn't sure if it was his heart-melting charm or his shameless pride that wouldn't take no for an answer, but it didn't really matter in the end. Jill Wallis agreed to go out with him.
They might have ended up having sex in the multi-storey car park, if it wasn't for a prying CCTV camera pointing directly at his car. He had only just pulled the car into a parking bay when their eyes met in a moment of intimacy, a quick check on the dashboard clock reminding him that they were already running late for their reservation at the restaurant.
The connection of hungry mouths, the endearment of two people alive with the sensation of touch, engaging in a flirtatious exchange of intimate enquiry, hormonal chaos exploding inside a young impulsive body, adrenaline fuelling oxygen, tremors of emotional bliss plunging into the well of her stomach, any thoughts of food brushed aside.
A sour faced Italian waiter looked at his watch and rolled his eyes before showing them to a table next to the kitchen. After settling into seats and ignoring the pandemonium of the noisy kitchen, a bottle of wine and the romantic voice of Eric Clapton singing "Wonderful Tonight," eased the anxiety and lifted the mood.
Jill did most of the talking. He pretended to study the menu.
Behind the surreptitious mask of the menu he watched her fingers playing carelessly with an engagement ring, staring openly into her beauty and breathing in her essence of youth, his eyes discreetly roaming over promising curves and shapely breasts, wondering about the enchanting secrets beneath the table, watching her lips forming words, listening to her soft innocent voice, offering a sincere reply to every question, always responsive, never critical, making sure he laughed at every appropriate junction.
Faces almost touching, eyes locked together in a courtship of promising intimacy, closeness and touch fuelling the fire of passion, her blue eyes sparkling with excitement, her sensuous lips almost begging to be kissed, the engagement ring quickly forgotten in a warm exchange of compliments and endearment, the sour faced waiter arriving with the bill interrupting their moment of flirtatious acquaintance.
