Author's Notes:
All characters are at least 18 years old, except where stated otherwise.
It's the beginning of the Half Term holiday at the end of May. Jake, Amy and their schoolmates are in the middle of taking their A level exams. They'll be starting at university in September or October.
Please note that this chapter starts immediately after the previous one ends.
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--
I stood at the bottom of the stairs, looking up, transfixed by the vision of beauty before me.
Amy was wearing a long, midnight-blue dress, which shimmered as she slowly descended. She wore her hair up, revealing the graceful curve of her neck, around which she wore a simple silver necklace with an aquamarine pendant. In one hand she carried a pair of black heels and in the other a small clutch.
"Wow," I said, "You look amazing, stunning. You're so beautiful!"
She reached the bottom step, pausing so that our eyes were almost level. I made to kiss her.
"Careful," she said. "I don't want to get lipstick all over you, well not yet anyway!"
I kissed her forehead instead, wrapping my arms around her, feeling the cool fabric of her dress. I couldn't resist letting my hands slip a little lower to give her butt a gentle squeeze.
"Ooh!" she giggled in delight.
She slipped on her shoes and opened the door. I hadn't seen her in high-heeled shoes before; somehow they completed her transformation from girl to woman.
"Come on," she said, looking back over her shoulder at me, "the taxi's here!"
--
I'd been to the Crown Hotel before, when I was nine or ten, for my grandparents' Ruby Wedding anniversary. It was the place where the local townsfolk and villagers celebrated significant milestones. Occasionally it would be featured in the weekend supplements of the broadsheets, billed as a charming small-town retreat convenient for the capital. As a child, I'd always thought of the place as being somewhat dark and gloomy, installing better lighting inside apparently forbidden by fire regulations and various preservation orders.
By far the oldest building in the town, it looked slightly incongruous right next to the 1950s shopping centre. The front dated from the Tudor period and Queen Elizabeth herself was supposed to have stayed for a night. The dining area was spread over two floors, with the top reserved for private functions. The hotel bedrooms were a comparatively recent addition at the rear and were often filled at the weekends by wedding parties. It was a safe choice for the two of us for dinner together; the chances we'd run into anyone we knew were minimal and most of the other clientele would be at least over fifty, if not considerably older.
We were ushered to a small table at the back, partly hidden behind a wooden panel. There was a single, tall candle between us with a small vase of flowers that might have been sweet peas, it was difficult to tell in the semi-darkness. Her aquamarine pendant sparkled as the light played across it.
I looked across at Amy, "You look even more beautiful in candlelight," I said softly.
It was true. Was it that moment, or the moment when she stood at the top of the stairs in her midnight-blue dress that I realised I was head-over-heels in love with her? I'm not sure; certainly the warm memories of that night have stayed with me ever since.
"One thing I didn't say before," she said, "I'm paying for this meal, all of it, this is my treat, my thank you to you."
I began to protest, but she cut me short.
"No, I know you want to be a gentleman," she smiled, "but this is what I want to do and it's what I'm going to do."
I mumbled my thanks, slightly embarrassed, then I had an idea, "Well if you're going to pay for the food, at least let me pay for the wine," I said. "Please, I want to."
Amy relented and we began to study the menu. I realised that having committed to paying for the wine, it was then up to me to choose it, something of an own goal having minimal knowledge of such things. It was the sort of establishment whose wine list seemed the length of an encyclopedia, with the house wine almost the same price as a main course. I don't think Amy would have cared, but I decided to go for the third-cheapest bottle of chardonnay, on the grounds that it was a grape variety that I had heard of and I didn't want to appear too stingy.
Our main courses arrived. I was a man of simple culinary tastes and had chosen a fillet steak with all the trimmings. Amy ordered something vegetarian containing squashes, pumpkins and courgetti's, which looked fairly indistinct on her plate in the dim light.
I'd been steeling myself to ask Amy a question, and this seemed as good a time as any. "Would you like to go on holiday together this summer?" I ventured.
"Holiday?" she asked, looking up at me, a little surprised.
"Yuh," I said. "I wondered if maybe you'd like to go somewhere in Europe for a couple of days at the start of next month, once our exams are over? Maybe take the train to Paris or fly to Rome, just the two of us?"
Amy paused considering.
I continued nervously, "Or maybe go away for a little longer in September before university. Interrailing or something? Maybe around your birthday? We can do it quite cheaply, staying in youth hostels."
"Yes," she replied thoughtfully. "That would be really nice to do, in September maybe." She paused and looked a bit embarrassed. "But I really need to finish learning to drive and I'll need to get a summer job to save up for it. And no, you're not paying for me, Jake."
"Have you worked anywhere you can go back to, for the summer I mean?" I asked.
"I worked in the newsagents' round the corner last year, but I think the owner has taken someone on permanently now and I don't think I'd be able to go back. I've done some office work for Mum as well, but that was deathly boring and I'd only do that again if I was desperate."
I'd been nurturing an idea. "What about working at the Stables?" I suggested. "Jackie's often looking for stable hands to help out over the summer. She pays fairly well and you'd get some free riding time thrown in."
"That would be great," she said, but then her face fell, "but how would I get there every day? I can't drive yet."
"Well you'd be welcome to stay with us," I said, "but if you want to stay at home, you can get the train," I suggested. "Ask your mum to drop you at the main station in town when she goes into work, and then it's just one stop down the line to the village. Maybe a ten- or fifteen-minute walk to the stables from there? Quicker if you bike. It's further on to our farmhouse obviously, but the Stables are much closer to the station."
"Hmm," she said, "that might just work. Let me talk to Mum about it when she's back and see what she says. If that's OK with her, I can ask Jackie."
"That sounds good," I said.
"I'd get to see you every day. And we might finally get the opportunity for that roll in the hay together!" she added excitedly, her eyes flashing in the candlelight.
