I stood in the small village shop thumbing through the sparse selection of magazines that far from covered the shelves, vainly attempting to find something that might help to keep me entertained for the evening. It was still a few days until my pay day and I found myself in my usual position of being rather short of funds until my pay cheque arrived. I could hear Susan Smith talking to Mrs Gwent, the shop owner, although I couldn't quite make out what they were saying.
Susan was a very tall, slim lady who I guessed was about 40 years old. Always immaculately dressed she was a very well spoken woman who always seemed to sport a natural sun tan. I knew it was natural as she seemed to holiday almost as often as not. Other villagers, who knew her much better than I, often commented about her jetting off to the South of France, a Spanish Costa or some other exotic location 'to catch a bit of sun'.
I glanced towards the front of the shop and noticed that she was wearing a full length tan coloured leather coat and matching knee high boots and I thought to myself that the clothes she was wearing probably cost her more than I earn in a month.
She was also wearing her normal style of 'dangley' earrings. They always stood out as she wore her blonde hair very short, almost cropped. I had turned back towards the magazines when I heard Mrs Gwent mention my name. Instinctively I turned around to face her.
"I was telling Susan that you liked to visit the Theatre." she said.
"I do like to go and watch a good thriller if I have the time and money." I replied, "There is an Agatha Christie play this week at the Theatre Royal in Norwich I wouldn't have minded seeing, but funds as they are, well, you know the story."
"Well Sarah," Susan said, "I have two tickets going spare for tonights performance if you would like them. I was going with a friend but she has had to call off at the last minute. I hate visiting the theatre on my own so if you have a friend, or a boyfriend who you would like to take you are welcome to them." Susan announced.
"That is very kind of you, and I do appreciate the offer very much, but I don't have anyone to go with, and besides, I can't actually afford the train fare to get there at the moment, but again thank you very much for the offer."
"Well then, why don't you let me treat you to a night out? I would really like to see the play, the tickets are already paid for, and they will only go to waste if we don't use them."
Being embarrassed by my lack of funds I came up with a couple of excuses as to why I couldn't go but Susan wouldn't take no for an answer. In the end I agreed and she said that she would pick me up at about 6.30.
I was a little surprised with myself for agreeing, mainly because I didn't really know her. I had occasionally seen her in the village during the two years that I had lived there but this was the first time that I had actually spoken to her except to say hello as we passed each other in the street.
Apart from both liking to visit the theatre I didn't think we had much in common. For a start, age wise, being only nineteen myself made us a generation apart. The lifestyle she led obviously meant that she didn't have any money troubles whereas I lived hand to mouth for much of the time. I lived in a small cottage where the rent and running costs alone took up the large majority of my wages and she lived in a very large house with huge gardens. I couldn't afford to run a car and she drove a new, expensive sports model.
Although we were both slim I was much shorter than her, there was probably about six inches difference in our heights. My red hair just reached my shoulders and as previously mentioned she wore hers very short. We do have two things in common physically, we share the same shade of blue eyes and are both very slim and small chested.
I chose the clothes for the evening very carefully. I didn't want to look like Susan's poor relation on our evening together. I had picked a dark blue short skirt, the hemline about four inches above the knee and a matching jacket, complimented by a light blue blouse. As usual I didn't bother with a bra, my 34a breasts not needing any support.
I made myself a quick sandwich and had only just finished eating it when the doorbell rang. I looked at the clock to see that it had just gone 6.00. I opened the door to see Susan standing in the porch.
"Hello Sarah," she said cheerfully, "I hope I'm not too early. I thought we might have a drink in the bar before the play starts."
She looked stunning. She was wearing a loosely fitting light pink semi-transparent blouse beneath an open black jacket and tight black slacks. A sexy, black lacy bra was clearly visible through her blouse.
"Come in," I said as I beckoned her into the hallway, "I'm almost ready, I'll just get my coat."
To say that the evening was a disaster would be an understatement of the highest order!
Susan's car broke down on the way and as a result we arrived at the theatre as the curtain opened for the start of the play so we didn't have time for our drink. During the play itself I found myself sitting next to an old gent who nodded off just as the play started. He then snored loudly through the entire first act.
During the interval we arrived at the bar to find a large queue had formed so we didn't manage to get a drink then either. When we were making our way back to our seats Susan tripped over a bag that a member of the audience had left in the gangway and the contents of the bag of sweets she was carrying went flying over the balcony to shower the poor unfortunates below.
This was greeted by a load cheer from those who benefited from the unexpected free candy, much to Susan's embarrassment. This of course wasn't helped by me laughing loudly because I found it so funny. It did however have the effect of making Susan laugh as well as she soon saw the funny side.
The play itself was enjoyable and as it ended Susan suggested that as we no longer had the use of her car we would have to catch the late train home. She suggested that we should use the extra hour and a half to find somewhere to have a meal.
I told her that I felt a little uneasy with this as I didn't have any money with which to pay my way but she insisted on treating me as a way of trying to salvage something from the evening. How wrong she was!
We found a little Italian restaurant half way between the theatre and the train station. We both ordered a spaghetti dish and Susan ordered a bottle of white wine. The wine was very nice but the least said about the meal the better. The spaghetti was stone cold and the sauce burning hot. It was horrible.
Susan was going to complain but in the end we decided to finish the wine, leave the meal, cut our losses and leave.
The train ride home wasn't very pleasant either. The train was dirty and smelly and the heating didn't work. Two men, much the worse for drink, kept trying to chat us up and we were both relieved that we only had to endure a short journey of about twenty minutes.
We walked from the station to the crossroads about halfway between our homes and stood under a street lamp for a few minutes to reminisce about our disastrous evening. Susan said that although it didn't quite go as planned she had still enjoyed herself, and my company, and hoped that we could do it again sometime. I said that I would look forward to it.
She then leaned forward, gently put a hand on either side of my face and kissed my forehead before bidding me good night. As she did this I felt goose pimples run down my neck. Although taken slightly aback I found her actions to be very pleasant. She then turned away and started walking home.
It didn't take very long before another chance for a night at the theatre came along, just two weeks in fact.
I was sitting at home on a Tuesday evening when I was surprised to hear the doorbell ring. When I opened the front door Susan was standing on the doorstep.
