When I was in my mid-Thirties I was working as a technical consultant installing brewing machinery around the world. This took me to some pretty interesting places but the town that really stole my heart was surprisingly Cork. If you haven't been to Cork its on the Southern coast of the Ireland and the county's third largest city. Cork is still a relatively sleepy place with friendly people who like to enjoy themselves despite the damp weather. Relative humidity is above 80% for the whole year but fortunately it doesn't rain that much.
I'm John by the way. My story begins when I was installing some new equipment in Murphy's Brewery. I'm sure you've all heard of the world famous Guinness stout, well Murphy's stout is the main competitor with a slightly nutty flavor a hint of coffee and less bitter than it's rival. My job was to help the technicians at Murphy's install their new system and teach them how to use and maintain it for the long haul. The typical install was a two week stretch followed by a month long gap and another two weeks. The idea was to put the training wheels on and come back to deal with any problems that surfaced in the interim when the local team was running things.
My counterparts were an experienced master brewer, Pádraig, his second, Sean and their intern, Caitlín. From the first day I knew we'd hit it off, everyone was convivial and eager to learn. We worked hard each day and took to socializing in the evenings over a couple of pints at the brewery pub. That first weekend, Pádraig who had a wife and kids to go home to, nominated Sean and Caitlín to take me around the city to see it's major sights.
Sean was the classic lad, with lots of friends and an interest in cars. He's tastes were hardly mine but it was fun to see the city through his eyes - the youth, vitality and fun there was to have. Caitlín was almost his mirror opposite, intelligent, quiet, perhaps a little shy around men, but warm and eager to please. She had only just graduated high school and was taking the year off to work before going back to college. How to describe her? 5'5" with long ginger ringlets coming down a foot part her shoulders, green sparkling eyes, freckles covering her whole face, and nice "B" cup of pert breasts. Her hips were slim rather than womanly. At 19 she was a little less than half my 36 years.
It soon became clear that I had more in common with Caitlín, so we agreed that just the two of us would meet up on Sunday to see the more cultural sights on offer of which there were many. We managed to see St. Finbarre's Cathedral, St. Anne's Church, the Cork Public Museum and the English Market before night started to fall. It was then that Caitlín surprised me with two tickets to go to the Cork Jazz Festival. How could I say no escorted by such a lovely lass. I insisted I treat her to dinner first and I picked one of the nicer places in the city. Caitlín was a delight, full of life and smart and witty at the same time. The age difference melted away as she became more outgoing and shed her shy demeanor.
The jazz music was wonderful. Not too experimental but good old classics played to make the crowd sway in time. It wasn't long before we were dancing with the others and Caitlín was in my arms. The signals she was sending were clear - she was definitely into me but I wasn't sure whether I wanted a "holiday" romance with such a young Irish rose. I didn't want to take advantage and break her heart or mine. The night ended late with an awkward parting. I took her back to her parent's house where she lived and then went on to my hotel.
The next week was more of the same. Caitlín was friendly and flirtatious when no one else was around. My resistance was wearing down and finally I told her that I could stay an extra two days over the weekend if she'd like to keep showing me around. We happened to be behind a large vat when I told her and she fairly leapt into my arms and gave me a chaste kiss on the cheek. We decided we would pretend that I was leaving on the Friday night and simply stay at the hotel for a few extra days while she took me around the surrounding countryside where we were certain not to bump into any Murphy's employees that knew either of us.
Saturday morning came and I dressed casually with jeans and a warm jacket for the active day I knew to be ahead. My rental car was waiting at reception complete with a packed picnic in a wicker basket and an insulated container for champagne and two flutes. Caitlín came just at the appointed time looking as lovely as ever and trailing a small overnight suitcase - was I going to get lucky tonight I wondered?
